Save Money on Groceries with the $1 per pound rule.

[debee]

You can get bananas and apples at Safeway in Washington, DC for less than $1 per pound. The prices/location are on their home delivery website.

[chicagoannie]

This is just soo unrealistic unless you live on nothing but beans and white rice. Even if you lived by the ocean, unless you caught your own fish (and then you'd need to shell out $$$ for a license) you could NOT buy ANY fish for under $1-- at least, nothing edible. You can't buy any kind of cheese either. Not even peanut butter for crying out loud. You'd have to make your own tofu to stay in this budget as well. I can't imagine you'd want to live like this for any length of time.

hee hee heee heee!!!! I guess I am having a moment here, but I am cracking up and little tears are leaking out...just picturing keepsmiling making home made tofu BWAHAHAHAHAAAA...don't ask me why I find this post so funny, I just do! hee hee hee, I better go to bed - older kids think I've lost my mind!

[keepsmiling]

Glad I made you laugh, Annie.
Yep, no way making my own tofu. Gotta draw the line someplace.
I do want to brag about the turkey sausage I found recently for .59 a pound.... and fortunately I do have a big freezer. If you have the time to scour all the cases, racks and shelves for clearances and deals and the luck to hit them at the right time, and the time to research and clip coupons, you might pull this off somewhat healthfully and somewhat successfully ( but forget about fish, unless you score some dented cans of tuna) Keep in mind that time is money too.

[tobee43]

Here's the thing...the purpose behind the idea is to at least get you thinking about how you buy groceries and establish some benchmarks. Is the $1 per pound feasible, yes...but with recent food inflation, at this point, I concede, it is probably too limiting. But the point is to get you thinking about what you buy. I am talking about mind set. Now it sounds like IamOld and Keepsmiling have a pretty good idea of what things costs and perhaps know how to control spending, but most don't, most people buy on habit and get what they "think" they need. So the idea behind this post is to establish a benchmark. But I will concede, because of inflation, the amount probably needs to be raised to $1.50 per pound so as not to be too limiting.

But on the flip side, if you REALLY HAD TO DO IT, could you?

i am going to have to say a big YES you can!!!

first i have to comment on safeway in washington dc...i haven't ever seen a safeway on the east coast. maybe there is one, but i don't know where it is. could be one there??? i know they are online in the bay area in calif.

ok...this week at shop and save chicken thighs for 39 cents a pound.....bananas were 49 cents a pound...caggage was almost free.

it can be done but it's hard and you have to run here and there to get it done. however, there is another way to get that amount down. if you purchase boneless chicken breast on sale for $1.99 a pound and cut them in half and then half again and pound them out you have now tripled the amount of food you have. with that i made chicken three different dishes and we ate for 6 days on the those two little chicken breast. that results in actually than LeSS t $1 a pound. then we go to the out door town markets for produce and fruit and just buy what's on "special" that week.

another example is if apples are on sale...i make apple sauce, apple crisp, apple dumplings ....LOL!! baked apples and so on and so forth. i freeze some. we no longer have a large freezer because of the cost of the electric, but have a side by side frig and just fill it and use everything by date, then replenish as needed.

rule of thumb whether we are in california..(where is cost $4.79 for a loaf on rye bread on special!!) or florida....or in new jersey where food was cheaper than either of the other areas i mentioned, one can do it, by stretching your protein and buying veggies and fruits that are in season and cheaper.

we have a great time making a "game" out of it. we also find prepared foods are more expensive and unhealthly unless your in wholefoods were they are way out of our price points. although a few weeks ago i got dinner for 6 for $ 15.99!!!! a whole cooked chicken, roasted potato, two types of veggies....it lasted us for 4 dinners and 3 lunches....wow!!

[keepsmiling]

Tobee, love ya and I get what you are trying to say but...
a pound is a pound is a pound. Pound it thin, grind it, roll it up in a ball--- but a pound of chicken at 1.99 is still a 1.99 a pound of chicken. Of course once cooked it's even less...

I think you are now getting at a per meal cost, which is a different story altogether.

[tobee43]

Tobee, love ya and I get what you are trying to say but...
a pound is a pound is a pound. Pound it thin, grind it, roll it up in a ball--- but a pound of chicken at 1.99 is still a 1.99 a pound of chicken.
Of course once cooked it's even less...

I think you are now getting at a per meal cost, which is a different story altogether.

yes, your right...i'm just breaking down the actual meal, as though it was paid for at 99 cents a pound...by pounding the meat!!! LOL!!!

i guess, what i'm attempting here is, it's a way to reach the same sum or results... just using a different method to get there??


i think i should start to do some rolling though, that's a great idea!

[Logan]

I think the best way to save money on food is to shop at a grocery store with reasonable prices. There are 3 stores in my are, Stop and Shop, Shaws and Market Basket. Market Basket is by far the least expensive store and in many cases cheaper than Costco and Trader Joes. When you go into Shaws and Stop and Shop it is never as busy as Market Basket ad they basically have the same stuff.

Logan

[tobee43]

we don't have market baskets here unfortunately. but really the bottom line is the way you shop and what you buy for your $.

[Logan]

we don't have market baskets here unfortunately. but really the bottom line is the way you shop and what you buy for your $.

Market Basket allows me to buy more for less.

[debee]

... first i have to comment on safeway in washington dc...i haven't ever seen a safeway on the east coast. maybe there is one, but i don't know where it is. could be one there??? i know they are online in the bay area in calif.

There are 54 Safeways in the Washington, DC area. About 40 in DC proper, and the rest just outside the ring.

If you want to see their precise location, click this link: http://www.safeway.com/ifl/grocery/Store-Locator and then enter "washington, dc" in the store locator space.

To see the prices in Washington, DC (which is what I did before I posted), you enter a Washington, DC zipcode in their home-delivery/shop-from-computer space here: http://shop.safeway.com/superstore/d...&page=corphome

[chicagoannie]

we don't have market baskets here unfortunately. but really the bottom line is the way you shop and what you buy for your $.

True. Before I filed I was feeding myself and 4 kids for under $70 a week, out of dire necessity. The kids HATED it - believe me, I bought nothing anyone liked to eat BUT no one starved and the meals were nutritionally sound. I baked a lot, too, which saves so much money over buying things like Chips A Hoy cookies or box mixes of brownies and cakes.

[tobee43]

Market Basket allows me to buy more for less.

the stop and save is about the best we can do here.

debee, my niece lives in that area, i just never have seen one at all on the east coast, we both have never discussed where she shops....glad she's lucky enough to have the safeways there. i also LOVE the fact about safeway with my parents living in the bay area we have an account and if they don't feel well, i just go on line, from florida and order their groceries. at least that way i KNOW they are getting good food. i really MISS not having one.

my favorite is abertsons, but we only have 2 and the closest is 45 minutes, but worth the ride in savings every month or so.

[tobee43]

True. Before I filed I was feeding myself and 4 kids for under $70 a week, out of dire necessity. The kids HATED it - believe me, I bought nothing anyone liked to eat BUT no one starved and the meals were nutritionally sound. I baked a lot, too, which saves so much money over buying things like Chips A Hoy cookies or box mixes of brownies and cakes.

yes, it's amazing what one can do when they have to!

[IHateToBeEmo]

Interesting exercise to buy food for $1/pound or less!

While I'm not willing to do that, I have recently begun shopping at ALDI and no longer buying brand name products at better-known grocery stores.

I used to be a snob about buying brand-name products, but at today's prices I'm now going for most bang for the buck.

I did see them stocking fresh chicken from boxes labeled TYSON, while the individual packages themselves just had the ALDI label.

If you've got an ALDI in your neighborhood check it out. I've found the prices to be unbeatable.

Some things take getting used to, like depositing a quarter to get a grocery cart and getting the quarter back when you return it, bringing your own bags or paying separately for them when you check out, and having to pay by cash or debit card, no credit cards.

As grocery prices keep rising, more people are going to have to look for alternatives to traditional grocery stores and their name-brand products.

[IamOld]

Sounds great!!! I'm trying it on Sunday!!!! I see their orange juice is 2 and change...do they have fruit??? ANd how much do say apples run??

Interesting exercise to buy food for $1/pound or less!

While I'm not willing to do that, I have recently begun shopping at ALDI and no longer buying brand name products at better-known grocery stores.

I used to be a snob about buying brand-name products, but at today's prices I'm now going for most bang for the buck.

I did see them stocking fresh chicken from boxes labeled TYSON, while the individual packages themselves just had the ALDI label.

If you've got an ALDI in your neighborhood check it out. I've found the prices to be unbeatable.

Some things take getting used to, like depositing a quarter to get a grocery cart and getting the quarter back when you return it, bringing your own bags or paying separately for them when you check out, and having to pay by cash or debit card, no credit cards.

As grocery prices keep rising, more people are going to have to look for alternatives to traditional grocery stores and their name-brand products.