Reducing grocery and dining costs

[disneysteve]

This topic has been mentioned here and there in various threads but I thought it would be useful to have a dedicated thread for the topic.

We all know that inflation has been rearing its ugly head lately. One place it's been very evident is at the supermarket and in restaurants. Prices on many items are up 10, 15, or even 20%, maybe even more. If you've been actively working to reduce your food spending, please share things you have done to accomplish that.

I have always done the vast majority of our grocery shopping at one store - Wegmans. They have everything we want and need so it's convenient one-stop shopping. Overall, their prices are good even though other stores might be better for particular items. I just haven't bothered to hit multiple stores in recent years to save a dollar here or there. However, now that prices have risen so much, and my income has decreased by 1/3 from me going part time, I have both more time to shop and more interest in trimming spending.

I've started checking the weekly circulars for the 3 other chains in the area - Acme, ShopRite, and Aldi. A couple of weeks ago, I hit ShopRite for a few items, all non-perishable so I could stock up, and saved $25 over what I normally pay. Last week, I went there just for soda and iced tea and saved about $8 more. I've also made a couple of trips to Aldi. The best thing there is some of their produce prices. I've also bought their tortilla chips which DW and DD were fine with and they're much cheaper than Tostitos.

We also belong to BJs and go there every few weeks normally, but on my last trip I spent some extra time browsing to see if there was anything else we could buy there that would save us money. I got a bag of their Italian rolls. Bag of 12 for the same price as a bag of 8 at Wegmans. I actually liked them better and they're a bit longer which is better for sandwiches. I think I bought something else new there too that I can't remember right now.

I've also tried a few more store brand items like switching the canned corn we buy.

We aren't eating in restaurants due to COVID and wintertime but we do still order out regularly. Whenever possible, we try to keep that cost down by combining take out with some at home components for the meal. For example, rather than getting complete meals from our favorite BBQ place, we just buy a pound of brisket but make sides at home. Or we order sandwiches and while I go to pick up the order, DW bakes some frozen french fries so they're ready when I get back. Much cheaper than including fries with our order (plus they're baked instead of fried).

We're also making a more concerted effort to use our leftovers and reduce waste. That's a biggie for us. Stuff tends to get lost/buried in the fridge and we forget it's in there until it's too late. It kills me when I have to toss out a whole package of something that cost several dollars. It's just flushing money away, but we're really trying to be better about that.

[QuarterMillionMan]

In Los Angeles I shop at Food 4 Less (Kroger) which is cheaper than Von's (Safeway), Ralph's (Kroger), and Albertsons (I think Kroger as well). Food 4 Less must have one notch lesser quality produce than the others but the savings is noticeable. I used to eat out once or twice a week. Now once a month I'll take out. My favorite is L & L BBQ Hawaiian restaurant chain. A mix plate consists of teriyaki beef, teriyaki chicken, kalbi (Korean marinated short ribs), 2 scoops of rice, and 1 scoop of macaroni salad for $15. Another favorite of mine is chicken katsu which is a crispy fried bread chicken with a dipping sauce which is sweet and flavored with tamarind & worchestershire sauce, $12. The portions are so huge I can stretch it to 3 meals after adding my own boiled broccoli/cauliflower, or mashed potatoes, or adding some canned corn, or cooking more rice too.

[Scallywag]

Going vegetarian (at least a few times a month), having bread & soup meals, noodles (all made nutritious by adding green veggie & small amounts of meats), eating lentils, beeans or eggs in place ot meat aa a maim source of protein have all slashed our grocery bills quite effectively.

We slashed cost to eat out by only eating out once a week. We tried once a month and didn't enjoy it. We're trying to up it to once every 10 days now. Work in progress, so to speak!

[bjl584]

We don't eat out much, so the majority of the time we cook at home
I'm a member of Costco and Sam's Club, so we bulk buy as much as possible
I have an extra fridge and freezer in my basement, so we can bulk buy meats when they go on sale, vacuum pack them, and freeze them.
I grow a rather large garden in the summer, so we do a lot of canning of vegetables.

[jenn_jenn]

We're also making a more concerted effort to use our leftovers and reduce waste. That's a biggie for us. Stuff tends to get lost/buried in the fridge and we forget it's in there until it's too late.

I’ve been trying to do this too. I take inventory of what things I already have and plan recipes for the week around that before I go to the store.

I also buy extra when things are on sale that we regularly use. I used to do this to an extreme and stockpile the really good deals. This can save a lot of money but, with just the two of us and not necessarily a ton of space for food storage, I find it works better for us to just pick up a couple extras.

Another tip is to have an easy fall back plan on those nights you unexpectedly can’t or are just not up for cooking to save yourself from the drive-thru line. I usually keep a frozen pizza on hand for these nights. Not healthy but better than fast food.

[myrdale]

I seldom take my own advice, but:

Portion size and sides and drinks is a big part of reducing cost for eating out.

A trip to Arby's and ordering the sandwich only with out the fries and drink can save a couple of bucks.

At Taco Bell, really only one or two tacos is sufficent, yet I seem to end up with a gordita and burrito on top of that.

I see coupons weekly for most of the places I eat out but seldom use them.

[disneysteve]

I see coupons weekly for most of the places I eat out but seldom use them.

Throughout most of the pandemic, I have consciously avoided using restaurant coupons. I figured they are already suffering. They need the money more than we do and we've been happy to help support them. When COVID is pretty much behind us, we hope our favorite spots will still be there.So far, we haven't lost any of our regular local restaurants.

[disneysteve]

Another tip is to have an easy fall back plan on those nights you unexpectedly can’t or are just not up for cooking to save yourself from the drive-thru line. I usually keep a frozen pizza on hand for these nights. Not healthy but better than fast food.

We're good about this. Too good probably. We always have some convenience stuff in the freezer.

We've also been trying to stay in the habit of cooking some things in bulk like chili or meatballs or soup to keep in the freezer when we want something quick. That's even cheaper and healthier since it was all made from scratch.

[ua_guy]

We haven't been dining in with the rise of Omicron, so that's dropped a lot of meal expense between tips and alcohol. We're also trying to reduce our alcohol intake, which is low-hanging fruit for cost savings, and health. We're also back to counting calories, and it's not uncommon that we do "skip-meals" during the week to expedite our goals. Do breakfast later, and eat an earlier dinner. Or do something really small for breakfast like a small bowl of cereal, or yogurt, and go a little heavier on a healthier lunch. It makes a really big impact on the food budget.

Like myrdale said, when we do fast food (guilty!) we've been opting for fewer sides and add-ons. It's shocking how the price of soda has gone up. $3 bucks? I can buy a 2-liter at the store for less. McD's still does the $1 large which isn't a bad deal.

We've also been eating more of our leftovers. With just two of us, most things we make come in family-portion sizes, so we've done a better job of complementing fresh meals with saved sides, etc.

[disneysteve]

It's shocking how the price of soda has gone up. $3 bucks? I can buy a 2-liter at the store for less. McD's still does the $1 large which isn't a bad deal.

We don't go to fast food places but beverage costs at nicer restaurants have the same issue. $3 or $3.50 for an iced tea or soda. Plus tax and tip. I'll drink water, thanks.

[disneysteve]

I've also been staying on top of making iced tea at home. I drink a ton of water but sometimes I just want something else. 6 tea bags in a half gallon bottle overnight in the fridge and I've got zero calorie iced tea for several days that cost pennies.

[riverwed070707]

Great topic!

I've mentioned here before that I use a meal planning service. It saves me bundles of time and money. I get a menu delivered every Thursday, I pick the meals I want, click the ingredients I need, send it through InstaCart for delivery or pickup depending on my schedule and I have all my food for a week worth of meals and I'm not tempted to buy extras I don't need from browsing. I LOVE Aldi which is a big cost saver, but it used to take some planning and mental prep to go because of how busy it is and how long the lines often are... with delivery and pickup options I'm shopping there much more frequently.

New habits: With having left my job in November and the price of meat through the roof, I've adopted an almost entirely meatless diet (Sundays are meat days ). As a Midwest kid, I always scoffed at the idea of not having meat and potatoes every meal but honestly I haven't really missed it and as an added benefit, I'm feeling more energized and motivated and I've noticed changes in my skin and hair as well. Additionally, I have been contemplating quitting alcohol for quite some time - a phase I've been referring to as sober curious. I'm using an app called TryDry to track my spending and calorie savings from days I don't drink as a motivator to consume less. My 36th birthday is coming up next week and I've decided as a gift to myself I'd like to quit completely... I'd be embarrassed to admit how much savings this will yield in a month or year's time but its substantial.

My biggest savings fail that I would like to work on is reducing food waste. Everyone in my house seems to be allergic to leftovers and I am not big on breakfast or lunch so we end up throwing away too much. Since its sometimes more of a hassle than its worth to cook smaller portions, I think I'd like to start doubling recipes and freezing half for those nights I just can't bring myself to pull together something fresh.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So our eating out budget throughout the pandemic is probably 75% off. Our travel is down. Our groceries are higher but not significantly when you consider how expensive its gotten and 75% of our meals are at home now instead of eating out. We used to spend freely and have more people over so we spent more. But now we aren't and our spending for groceries is getting higher. I'm sure part of it is the kids getting bigger and eating more. But overall things are just so much more expensive. Eating out for a family of four is $100 now with tax and tip. That's not a fancy place but ramen. $15-17/bowl of ramen for 4 = $68. Tax makes it $75 and $15 for tip = $90 without a drink or appetizer. Fancier places are costing more in general. Even cheap sandwich shops aren't cheap anymore. I think we can barely get out of chick fil a with just chicken and fries for like $60

[QuarterMillionMan]

I add water to juices because it’s so sweet and it doubles the volume, 2 birds with 1 stone.

Also I freeze the bread loaf to avoid getting mold since it takes over a month to finish it as a single guy. I also freeze butter and use 1stick at a time. I use a vacuum sealer to freeze meats.

[GoodLiving]

We live in fly over country so our restaurant bills aren't as high and we don't go out as much. I think we get take out maybe once a week or every two weeks. We are currently in a period where we're tracking all of our spending and trying to be more mindful about spending including food. We're making menus before we shop and we have plans to do more batch cooking but will need a small freezer. Before we get a freezer, we need to find a place for it so it might require some sorting and downsizing in our storage area. I always appreciate "leftovers" and take them for lunch.