Ask Lemmy

Groceries will blame inflation and whatnot, yet they're printing record profits.

Wife has been canning for a few years now and we have a pantry of fruits, veggies, and dehydrated food. She goes to the farmers markets during harvest time and goes to town on entire cases of tomatoes, corn, beans, etc. That will last all year for our family of 5. We also pay a friend to raise a pig on her ranch and butcher that once a year. Just got ours (over 400 lbs!). Pork is A LOT cheaper that way. Haven’t found anyone to go half or a quarter in on a cow. We also would need another deep freezer and don’t really have room for it.

We also meal plan weekly so we only buy groceries for what we need to make meals. That saves a ton of money as you aren’t wasteful as much. Oh and we either do pick up or delivery as you spend more when you’re in the store and see things you want but don’t need.

We make almost everything we can from scratch. Wife recently found a recipe for baked oyster crackers with butter and seasoning on them that make dirt cheap snacks and they’re fantastic. The store brand oyster crackers are $1 for 16oz. That’s almost cheap enough to not make those from scratch too. We haven’t bothered yet.

1. Do not buy processed shit

2. Do buy real food (legumes, vegetables)

3. I mean it

i'm gonna assume this post refers to the US' prices.

it's definetely noticeable in germany, but i'll manage. my worker's union is currently negotiating prices with my employer, and so far it's looking pretty good.

but i pray for you guys, they really don't seem to make life worth living over there.

with a fair amount of help. food pantry, when i can get there--once or twice a month, for a bag of close or past-date produce and other perishables, and a few other things; and 'leftovers' brought to me by others a 2-3 times a week.

my 'grocery bill' hasn't gone up--because it can't. i spend the same, but get a lot less for it.

Left it all behind and moved to a cheaper country

Were vegetarians and don’t buy any prepared foods or much processed food. Inflation hasn’t been uniform. Rice, beans, tofu, and a lot of vegetables are at or near the same price as pre pandemic.

Meat = almost eliminated from my diet except for frozen ground chicken that's 10 dollars.

Potato chips = replaced by crackers, much cheaper.

Vegetables = all frozen now

Aldi.

If you have one near you, get your staples from there. It's so much cheaper than Kroger, Costco, Publix, and Target.

Not sure if it's just me but my grocery spending hasn't changed in the last year. It's definitely more expensive then say 2 years ago but seems like prices have stabilized.

I cook often so most of what I buy are produce and it's generally cheaper than other stuff.

food stamps

also, wtf is up with the food co-op?

All the wealthy retired hippies shop there. Their prices are crazy. All the employees make a smidge over minimum. Except the managers make a bit more. But still.

I haven't reached the point yet where I'm personally dumpster diving, but I have a friend who has an inside connection at a major grocery store. They call when it's time to take out the garbage, set it outside the compactor, and my friend swings by to snag it. It's incredible how much gets thrown out. He preserves what can't be used immediately and gives it away to those who don't have a problem with the source. I've benefited from a 5 lb bag of jerky and a box full of dried fruits, veggies, and other items.

Otherwise, I'm always on the lookout for sales and deals. When I find one I stock up, like the one going on now at Amazon for Sweet Sue canned chicken that worked out to 78 cents for a 5oz can.

I'm fortunate enough to have a few acres and access to water at agricultural rates, so I grow enough produce to supply myself and a few other families that subscribe to my farm-to-home service. It's enough to pay the costs and buy the grandkids some nice presents, but I ain't getting rich off it.

Stay away from prepared foods and buy more cheap staples like rice, beans, and potatoes. Shop the meats that are the best price per pound and know the highs and lows of fresh fruits and veggies to get better deals. Beef and fish have been basically unaffordable lately while pork and chicken have been more reasonable.

The prepared foods and snacks are getting ridiculous. A half gallon of cold brew coffee is up to $7. I can make it myself for a fraction of that, but it's more labor for me. A bag of cool ranch doritos was going for $7 a bag... I chose some cheaper chips I don't like as much, but got 2 bags for $4.50. A can of pad-Thai sauce is $12 at my grocery...

Fortunately for us we make a lot of money so we don't look at prices.

I continue to be spoiled by Costco's low prices. Seriously, check them out if you can.

I also imagine that similar wholesale clubs also have lower prices, but I cannot say from 1st hand experience.

Buy in bulk.

Buy lots of dried beans, rice, etc. (living in earthquake land, I like to keep our canned goods fairly stocked and just rotate out old ones only).

Buy from farmers markets when available, frozen veg when not.

Buy whatever the supermarket is trying to get rid of. In Japan, I end up with mystery seafood a fair amount, but just about anything is fine fried or in a stew.

Stay away from things out-of-season and pre-prepared foods.

Use any space you have to grow something. Even in my Tokyo apartment, I was growing herbs and chilis.

The above helps. I think everyone has some thing they don't want to give up and that's fine. When I first got out on my own in the US, I ended up surviving off of whatever I could get at the restaurants I worked at and boxed, instant mashed potatoes from the dollar store.

Eating fingernails with a side of depression

I buy staples as cheaply as I can, and most other things I only buy on sale. Plan my cooking for the week around that.

Starting with as raw an ingredient as I can. Processed foods adds a lot to the price per calorie. So I start with raw ingredients which is a ton cheaper, and then cook it from there.

Plus my stuff tastes like I want so that’s great.

On a similar note to what @lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee I have an instant pot and that's made cooking stuff that's cheap but usually takes time to make really easy, brown rice or a potato based soup are a click away. At of course the cost of an upfront investment.

Also, some recipes can be really cheap if you have the time. Rossotto, homemade bread (with yeast or baking soda), baked beans (from dry bulk pinto beans), pasta (homemade & store bought) naan bread & homemade wheat tortillas, and baked oatmeal are all things I enjoy that come to mind and might be worth trying. They taste good and can be made for super cheap.

Wishing you luck internet stranger

I shop at Aldi, buy only basic ingredients (as little prepared foods as possible), and eat less. Snacks are basically out, though I may get peanuts from time to time.

Rice, brother. Lots of rice.

I've been searching for lentil recipes.

My local grocery chain has decent coupons, and a debit card with cash back on their brand of products, so I've been making a lot of use out of those.

Been buying a lot of large orders of cheap dry goods that can last a while like rice and beans. Some rice, some beans, throw some cheese and some sauces in there, get creative with some seasonings, and you can make some pretty bomb-ass burritos at home for super cheap. I'm not vegan/vegetarian, but I often make them without any meat (but use some "meaty" seasonings), and you can easily just skip the cheese if you wanna make it vegan, I suppose.

Decent cost of living wage increase, then switched jobs to higher pay on top of that. But I was never struggling to pay for food. Housing is the big one in my budget. But I have a fixed rate mortgage so inflation has not affected that.

Seems like prices have stopped increasing much lately too so I haven’t given it as much thought as a year ago.

Hallowed is the Aldi.