Do you look at food just in terms of $$?

[neguy11]

The reason I ask is, all the time I see things like $.39 lettuce and $.79 bread. But honestly, I'm not going to buy iceberg lettuce or generic store bread.

I guess to me it doesn't make a lot of sense to be buying a $.79 loaf of refined bread, with little to no fiber or nutrients, when I can pay $2.29 for one with a lot of fiber and nutrients (not to mention better tasting.) Same with the lettuce. I'd rather pay $2.49 for the bagged salad blend that has the phytochemicals and vitamins, than the iceberg lettuce that really has little nutritional value. Even pasta -- the regular kind is SO cheap, but I'd much rather pay $1.42 and get the Barilla Plus with the extra fiber, protein, and Omegas.

I try to save money on food but unless it's a matter of me starving, I think it's better to spend a little more to eat healthy, then eat as cheap as possible. And with all of the health problems in this country, many related to food, it seems like it might actually save money in the long run.

Does anyone else think like this or am I alone?

[Lori63]

I almost always go for cheap (out of necessity right now), but I try to buy the boys as many 'good' things as possible. I bought a watermelon and string cheese yesterday that were not in my budget.

[PrincessPerky]

I try to balance it, in general I want good food, but I still havn't convinced DH of it all..and I don't think I could ever give up mac n cheese!

Whole wheat is a requirement, but I buy the cheapest whole wheat I can find.....brown rice same thing, pasta is still white, can't get DH to go for the 'plus' stuff, though I think I could prolly talk him into whole wheat if they sold it, or the spinach kind they used to have when I was a kid.

lettuce....well we only eat iceberg!

[poundwise]

You can defintely buy good food while being frugal. My wife and I formerly shopped at a Whole Foods market; buying natural this and organic that. Wow, our grocery budget was high. But since we started seriously addressing our debt, shopping at a conventional store (mainly Wal-Mart Supercenter) we've been able to find increasingly better and cheaper ways to still eat well while slashing our grocery budget.

Some quick general tips to accomplish this:

Buy fresh fruits and veggies

Buy meats (lean cuts) on sale and in family packs (We don't typically buy meat at Wal-Mart; better quality and sales lead us to get meat at grocery stores)

Cook your own real meals (not prepared meals, packaged meals, or microwave versions)

[cschin4]

I buy food that we like and enjoy and that we will actually eat. If something is cheap but I end up throwing most of it away because nobody eats it, then that is no savings at all. I do try to look at cost per meal rather than price per lb. I would rather buy $5 worth of meat that is completely consumed rather than $7 and thow some away. And, we are not big fans of alot of leftovers, so some food usually does get thrown away. I do make freezer TV dinners when I have larger meals but some things don't freeze as well.

[DivaJen]

I tend to look at the nutritional value as well as the price. The OP's examples of bread and lettuce are good examples of my thinking too. I think of food as an investment in my and my family's health.

[jaksilee]

I look at it as I can still buy the store brand of those items, Ie. the bread, $2.49 is for one of the "name brand" whole wheat bread, but I can buy the store brand whole wheat bread for not that much more than the "cheap" bread. I think you have to look at it that way and not use the "well it's better for me" reasoning to rationalize buying the "name brand" stuff, when the store labled stuff is just as good.

[markio26]

i tend to mix the food buying up a bit... we have good white bread and cheap white bread too... everyone differs in their taste at my home...we usually go to the bread store once a month...my spouse loves the 12 grain stuff.. i personally am bored with it right now..i am tired of the wheat and rye bread too... so, i have white or italian, french bread....in the winter months i eat the good for me bread more with lots of soups and casseroles.

[boefixepa]

It's a balance and I have found that I do the best when I cook. Learning to make my own pasta, yougurt, whole wheat bread. It's been fun and challenging. I just had my first phyical in about 3 years and the difference now and three years ago is amazing. Just in losing 50 lbs and being a bit more active, nothing extreme, I have lowered by cholesterol over 40 points! My doctor looked at my blood work and said that it doesn't get much better than how it looks. So I know what I am doing is great. It is also just as important what you DON'T eat. Lots of processed foods, lots of soda and sugar and all that. So you have to not only evaluate trying to eat the good stuff, but at the same time cut back and finally eliminate the bad stuff.

[PrincessPerky]

Congrats boe!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by neguy11

The reason I ask is, all the time I see things like $.39 lettuce and $.79 bread. But honestly, I'm not going to buy iceberg lettuce or generic store bread.

I guess to me it doesn't make a lot of sense to be buying a $.79 loaf of refined bread, with little to no fiber or nutrients, when I can pay $2.29 for one with a lot of fiber and nutrients (not to mention better tasting.) Same with the lettuce. I'd rather pay $2.49 for the bagged salad blend that has the phytochemicals and vitamins, than the iceberg lettuce that really has little nutritional value. Even pasta -- the regular kind is SO cheap, but I'd much rather pay $1.42 and get the Barilla Plus with the extra fiber, protein, and Omegas.

I try to save money on food but unless it's a matter of me starving, I think it's better to spend a little more to eat healthy, then eat as cheap as possible. And with all of the health problems in this country, many related to food, it seems like it might actually save money in the long run.

Does anyone else think like this or am I alone?

You've described us exactly! Health is more important than cost (assuming you have the funds to make that choice). I'm a physician and so many of my patients suffer from preventable conditions that are majorly impacted by the crap they eat. We're pretty frugal but groceries are the last thing we would cut if the need arose.

The other thing is when we eat the healthy, whole grain, high fiber stuff, we are filled up and satisfied longer so we snack less. That saves money indirectly.

[miclason]

hmmm...half and half? we always get 2 loafs of bread: 1 whole wheat and 1 white...the white is usually the cheapest brand, since we only use that for toast...if we can find something that has a similar nutritional value, but lower price....I also buy a lot of "refill" type things instead of the ones that come in containers, and that is cheaper...

[flash]

You can do both! In a recent shopping trip, which is written up at saving advice's grocery site:

http://www.grocerycouponguide.com/sa...groceries.html

I purchased Laura's lean ground beef, salmon, fresh express baby greens salads, organic produce, chicken...$310 and paid $27. I then made several other trips to continue to try to illlustrate that you CAN eat healthy, organic foods on a budget.

My husband and sister BOTH have had cancer, and we are fairly careful how and what we eat. But occasionally people use "health" as an excuse for not reducing their grocery bill. I'm not saying ANYONE here is doing that...I was. Last year, I was spending $400 a week between Trader Joe's and Costco. That's $1200 a month for 2 people! Now, we eat basically the same foods, just paying MUCH less.

[Lori63]

Coupons are a lifesaver for us

[lrjohnson]

I try to get good nutrition and good flavor, but pay as little as possible. It's a balance, yes.

For example, I don't like the cheapo bread. But I can pay 75 cents for the fancy whole grain nut flax dense $4 loaves at my Bread Thrift Store. I'll pay up to a dollar for good bread. I would not pay $2.29 for a loaf of bread, no. (Unless it's french or italian rustic bread, unsliced, for cheeses at parties.)

I don't like iceberg myself. I also don't like to pay a lot for salad greens-I think 2.49 is high depending on the size of bag. I'll either go with spinach, which is lower cost and sald friendly, or just go without a tossed salad.

I like buying produce, but I can be happy sticking with carrots, cabbage, zucchini-stuff that's usually cheap, and also focus on items in season. Bulk foods is a great way to get whole grains cheap. I use bulghur as my rice-super cheap, very healthy.

I spend 102 a month on food for myself. I could go ramen, pasta, cabbage, oatmeal and spend a lot less. I am trying to buy some organic foods, to encourage the "trend" so that later on organic produce becomes cheaper.

[lrjohnson]

I was thinking about this topic all through my bath.

Sometimes with purchases I have the choice to get a large quantity of cheaper items or a small quantity of higher quality (or rarer) items. Of course my goal, a lot of peoples goal, is to get the high quality/less common item at a low price, for example my 75 cents fancy-pants bread. But sometimes we make a choice for one or the other. When I choose higher quality, or fancier, or rarer, I get smaller amounts.

So I get fresh pineapple every now and then, and apples a lot. I get spinach all the time, and asparagus sometimes and in season. And sometimes I bypass even cheap items, because the taste or nutrition just isn't worth it.

When I mentioned spending $102 on groceries to a co-worker (the topic came up naturally) she assumed that that meant a lot of empty calorie, starchy, not so great foods. But I am managing to eat healthier, especially since I'm working at (and succeeding at) losing some extra weight.

I'm cooking from scratch a lot, I'm eating a lot of whole grains and veggies and fruit, I'm eating beans and tofu. I'm not eating overly processed sweet and/or fatty items.

I'm not sure why I'm pondering this so much.

[flash]

Most people ARE pondering it these days! I'll admit, I've enjoyed the fancy greens at BOGO with a $2 coupon, and fifth one free. Now, coupons expired on 6/30, so new plan.

If you can stockpile expensive high quality items on extreme sale and with coupon (i.e., almost free), they are actually cheaper than stocking up on the wholesale bulk, which is only a bit cheaper than buying the smaller packages on most things. It's a balance. If I don't have coupons, or time to find coupons and shop sales, the balance changes. You have to be flexible to eat well and stick to a budget.

The good news is, as organic and high quality manufacturers grow their businesses, they are more available, lower priced, able to afford to put more coupons out, etc. DH is a triathelete surviving cancer. He eats high end protein drinks and nutrition bars, etc. But, there are ways to get better prices, coupons, discounts, for the items we've been paying loads for in the past. He can only use Biotene mouthwash, 3 bottles a week, at $7.50 a bottle online; I wrote to the manufacturers, and they actually sent me to Target where it is now available, and cheaper. And, a great friend, DivaJen, alerted us to a sale at Target, and we paid I think $3 - 4 a bottle.

This is a great site to get help on finding the balance.

[DivaJen]

I've never checked out the bread thrift stores in town - and I think there are two of them. May be time to pay them a visit and see what I can find. My impression was that of wonder and webers, nothing real nutritious, but now I'm hearing that I may be way off base with that thinking.

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by poundwise

You can defintely buy good food while being frugal. My wife and I formerly shopped at a Whole Foods market; buying natural this and organic that. Wow, our grocery budget was high.

Off topic, but I like to refer to Whole Foods as "Whole Lotta' Money" We don't have one in town, and it's likely just as well. Trader Joe's and a locally-owned independent store work well for us.

[lrjohnson]

Divajen:
If you don't see "good stuff" at the bread thrift sore, either come again, or check with the clerk and see if they ever have other breads. At my place it is very hit and miss; sometimes I hit the jackpot, and sometimes it is a lot of white bread. The prices vary too; sometimes the good stuff is 75 cents a loaf, other times it's $1.50. I know $1.50 isn't a lot, but it is double 75 cents. Good luck; I'm curious to see if either place works out for you.