Grocery Shopping

jeepinmatt said:
This thought never even crossed my mind. I like to keep bread at work, but sometimes I only eat a couple slices a week. I tell the wife to give me the loaf from home when it gets low, because if she buys a new one for me, I rarely eat more than 1/3 of it before it molds. 90% of the time its for cheese toast or some other type of heated bread, so now I just feel like a dumbass for not just keeping it in the freezer at work.
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Dumbass
 
shawn said:
I like that you felt so strongly about this that you put a question mark at the end of the sentence.
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Well depends if it’s time I could be working and I’m not or if it’s time that I could be riding my dirt bike!

RatLabGuy said:
Nobody said anything about the value of time here, this is about cutting costs and saving money, which is what @shawn says isn't happening. If I valued my time highly I'd just have everything delivered by doordash.
But it isn't hard for it t work out.
Lets say you take the Fed estimated cost of mileage, which include repair, gas, devaluation, etc - currently $0.65/mile. For most people with a halfway gas efficient car, and people on this board that do their own (or no....) maintenance its way less. I average about $.20.
But anyway....
If you go 10 miles out of your way, 20 miles round trip - which is a LOT of driving around a town, then you expended $13. On a $200 shopping trip that is 6.5%. For us we easily save $13 by selecting the store properly. And that is a worst case scenario. Realistic is probably more like a cost of $.35/mile and 10 extra miles, or $3.50 difference.
We pick stores that are on the commuting path so the extra vehicle cost is probably $2 monthly and the time is minimal.

You said saving money. The value of time is a totally different subject. The monetary value of my time is irrelevant if the equation at hand doesn't have any means to actually collect on it.
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Please use DoorDash. Even if it costs more I’m trying to stay employed and we need more people that pay for convenience
 
DSM Turbos said:
Please use DoorDash. Even if it costs more I’m trying to stay employed and we need more people that pay for convenience
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Honestly I never have, nor do I plan to, especially with the new deal of setting a tip before delivery. Sorry.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Honestly I never have, nor do I plan to, especially with the new deal of setting a tip before delivery. Sorry.
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I think it’s been that way for a long time.

I have used it once 😂
The white label delivery side of things interests me more and that is what I deal with supporting
 
trailhugger said:
Bread freezes and thaws super easily. I started stocking up during covid shutdowns when they'd be short sometimes and I just put extra in the freezer. Thaws back out overnight or you can just put a couple of slices in the toaster if you're reeaally bad at planning ahead. I typically do this for hot dog / hamburger buns and other bread products on sale, so we have them when we need them without having to pay full price or make an extra trip.
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Yes! And chips and cookies in the fridge too once the bag is open.
 
R Q said:
Yes! And chips and cookies in the fridge too once the bag is open.
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I don't seem to have a problem with chips and cookies still being in the bag after it's open.
 
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Cherokeekid88 said:
So we have done Walmart pickup, but the problem is, they give us all stuff that expires in 1-2 days. meats, salad stuff, etc.
We haven't tried HT pickup. I really love the pick up option because I just get so annoyed with actually going, but it seems like I can control the amount of money spent, but its all up to the discretion of the person who is picking out the items.
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I got to call you out a bit here. It sounds like you're trying to do it all online for curbside pickup? You're paying for convenience and letting them pick the food that you eat? Most of the time a simple comparison between two items will result in a savings or at least a higher quality product.
Can goods, staples, etc., FoodLion, Walmart, or Aldis. HT and Publix are for specific items in my book. I paid $.99 a pound for chicken legs tonight at FL and the 14 in the package gave me dinner for tonight and tomorrow plus a good snack during the day tomorrow and there will be a couple leftover. The 14 pack was $5.39 total. Legs at HT on Sunday were $2.49 a pound.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I don't sem to have a problem with chips and cookies still being in the bag after it's open.
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Lol! I buy a pack of Chocolate Chips and eat 3 or 4 per night at most. A pack lasts me all week or more. I don't even buy big bags of chips usually. I buy the individual snack packs but they are the most expensive! But they'll last me two or three weeks easy. I'm not big on junk food.
 
trailhugger said:
Thaws back out overnight
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We started freezing bread a couple years ago. We usually take the loaf and sick it in the oven, turn the oven on (which is auto set to 350) and when it beeps for finish preheating the bread is perfect. We mostly do this for hogie rolls or bread like that. With 3 preteen to teen kids sandwich bread doesn't live long enough to die at our house.
 
Dawnpatrol said:
I could see that being an issue. Most of the time I've had good experience with HT online, but it could vary from store to store. It might be a little more work but you could order everything but the meat online for pickup, and then just go into the store for the meat on your list.
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We have also thought about this, as well as with our household products. Even thought about something like Grove that delivers all your household paper products, although I haven't looked into pricing.
 
I'm all for saving money, but I am more focused on getting more food for my money, So even if I am spending $200 a week and can get more food at Walmart/Aldi/Lidl then I am a happy camper because realizing our spending habits on groceries and then going out to eat, when we have perfectly good food to eat at the house, and seeing what we were throwing away each week out of the fridge and what we were spending on going out to eat, was an eye opener for me. It also made me utilize our calendar to plan out our meals for the week and I am happy to say that last weekend, we ate out a total of 0 times, which hasn't happened in a while. Also, cutting our doordash subscription has really helped with the urge to just order something and having it delivered because it never failed, just me and my wife ordering something for dinner was never under $40.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
I'm all for saving money, but I am more focused on getting more food for my money, So even if I am spending $200 a week and can get more food at Walmart/Aldi/Lidl then I am a happy camper
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If you save money then you have more money to buy more food.
But the key is to not just buy more food, its to buy exactly how much you need (or will use). It's all tied into the same big picture, esp if you want to back off to a single income.
Cherokeekid88 said:
because realizing our spending habits on groceries and then going out to eat, when we have perfectly good food to eat at the house, and seeing what we were throwing away each week out of the fridge and what we were spending on going out to eat, was an eye opener for me. It also made me utilize our calendar to plan out our meals for the week and I am happy to say that last weekend, we ate out a total of 0 times, which hasn't happened in a while.
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Strong work!
My wife values not cooking on Fri and Sat evening, and I value her being happy enough to cook the other 5 days, so we set a budget of ~$40 for the weekend. These days that has become pretty challenging. So it's either 2 really cheap meals, or 1 bigger one then leftovers, etc. If for whatever reason we get take out during the week, it comes off the weekend budget.
Cherokeekid88 said:
Also, cutting our doordash subscription has really helped with the urge to just order something and having it delivered because it never failed, just me and my wife ordering something for dinner was never under $40.
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Strong work again. IMO doordash and the likes should not even be on the table for anybody serious about crunching their budgets (Sorry @DSM Turbos )
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
I'm all for saving money, but I am more focused on getting more food for my money
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Do you live in an apartment or townhouse? If not, do you have a garden? If not, why not? You could probably still sneak in a winter garden.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Strong work again. IMO doordash and the likes should not even be on the table for anybody serious about crunching their budgets (Sorry @DSM Turbos )
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You are so wrong here. DoorDash is for everybody! Take money out of somewhere else and use DoorDash!!!! Sacrifice your kids college if you have to, so I can afford to send mine there.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Do you live in an apartment or townhouse? If not, do you have a garden? If not, why not? You could probably still sneak in a winter garden.
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I live in a house. We have seriously talked about doing this. When we first moved in the house, the previous owners had started a very small garden, but with us being fist time homeowners and knowing jack squat about anything, killed it and got rid of it.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
I live in a house. We have seriously talked about doing this. When we first moved in the house, the previous owners had started a very small garden, but with us being fist time homeowners and knowing jack squat about anything, killed it and got rid of it.
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What's that old saying about don't bite the hand that feeds you?
 
No pic this time but the kids and I spent about 45 minutes in the store this afternoon, including the oldest ordering the deli sandwiches for supper (BOGO) while the rest of us gathered grocery items and took turns carrying the sleepy toddler. Dried beans were on sale (5 for $5 for 1# bags), as was peanut butter, brats and Italian sausages (BOGO), canned soup, shredded cheese (Buy 2, Get 3 Free), HT Raisin Bran, and some produce. The receipt says we bought 87 items for $294.72, before tax. This included 4 gallons of whole milk, 2 cartons of Lactose-Free whole milk, a case of beer, 2 cases of seltzer, 2 loaves of bread, 2 packs of bagels, 2 packs of hot dog buns, 5# potatoes, 3# navel oranges, 3# apples, 2# carrots, 2.5# bananas, almost 4.5# chicken thighs, 1.5# bacon, 1# sliced ham, 2# breakfast sausage, 5# Italian sausage (mentioned above), and 3# ground beef.

I spent more to stock up on the non-perishables that can go in the pantry, the meat that can go in the freezer, and, with Thanksgiving coming up, to get some things already in the pantry.
 
I ended up going to Aldi last weekend and was able to get what I think is a good amount of food. Enough for dinner each night this week, plus snacks and a bunch of other stuff for $180, which was $60 cheaper than my last trip to Walmart. My Aldi trip included Beef, 2 packs of chicken, Breakfast sausage, Tilapia, a bunch of frozen items, a bunch of fruit, almond milk, regular milk, bacon, pack of seltzers, pack of waters, TP, paper towels, coffee, canned stuff, mushrooms, pineapple, green onion, celery, 2 types of tortilla shells, chicken salad, hummus and a bunch of other snack stuff for our daughter. All in all, I think it was def a win. I brought my own bags, to keep from having to load up on boxes, so that made it easier.
 
trailhugger said:
No pic this time but the kids and I spent about 45 minutes in the store this afternoon, including the oldest ordering the deli sandwiches for supper (BOGO) while the rest of us gathered grocery items and took turns carrying the sleepy toddler. Dried beans were on sale (5 for $5 for 1# bags), as was peanut butter, brats and Italian sausages (BOGO), canned soup, shredded cheese (Buy 2, Get 3 Free), HT Raisin Bran, and some produce. The receipt says we bought 87 items for $294.72, before tax. This included 4 gallons of whole milk, 2 cartons of Lactose-Free whole milk, a case of beer, 2 cases of seltzer, 2 loaves of bread, 2 packs of bagels, 2 packs of hot dog buns, 5# potatoes, 3# navel oranges, 3# apples, 2# carrots, 2.5# bananas, almost 4.5# chicken thighs, 1.5# bacon, 1# sliced ham, 2# breakfast sausage, 5# Italian sausage (mentioned above), and 3# ground beef.

I spent more to stock up on the non-perishables that can go in the pantry, the meat that can go in the freezer, and, with Thanksgiving coming up, to get some things already in the pantry.
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Iim guessing a quarter of that cost was the beer.
 
Just another data point, but we’re right at $1000/mo right now with the 4 of us (kids are 8 & 12). We mostly shop at HT with a monthly Costco run and an occasional stop at the local carnicería for marinaded flank steak/tortillas. I haven’t really taken a hard look at our grocery shopping in a while. Probably would be prudent to order goldfish by the barrel and get one of those soda stream machines.
 
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