Grocery Shopping Frustration

I hate going to the Grocery store, it is one of the things I hate doing the most.  I buy for 3 different types of eaters.  Not because they are picky but because we all need different types of food. 

I am on a diet so I need food for my lighter eating habits.  My husband is a big eater ... Marine Corps mentality...three squares a day Meat and potatoes and no skimping or he is up all night trying to find food to eat and of course stays completely fit...go figure.  My daughter 5'8 102 lbs a Sophmore in high school needs fast easy food for her busy schedule and could use to gain a few lbs.

End result a whopping $165 grocery bill and I have to go back in three days to get food for the weekend.   My grocery bill is outrageous!  Anyone else have this problem?  I can't seem to combine any plan it just seems to be me in the end that I sacrifice!

My solution is I stopped catering to everyone.  Instead I buy healthy foods that everyone will eat.  My husband is the meat and potatoes type of guy...well meat and potatoes isn't healthy so whether he wants it or not...he is now eating my healthier food.  And surprisingly he has liked it thus far!  I made spinach-feta personal pizzas last night and both he and my son wolfed them down.  I did have to make him an extra serving or two for anything that I make because generally one normal serving isn't enough for him but thats okay.

Healthy food can be fast and easy you just have to find reciepes that make them fast and east.  Personally I don't have time for anything so I stick to easy reciepes...or else I make a big crockpot meal and measure out all the servings so I know exactly how much I can eat for my alloted calories. 

Have you tried grilling the meats?  It's not as fatty that way and still tastes great.  To me, it tastes better making it that way.  And it's a good way to incorporate hubby's help with dinner if he's the kind that worships his grill.  Mine isn't.  Have you considered shishkabobs.  Those you can custom make the scewers (sp?) for each person and still basically have the same meal.  Extra veggies on yours, extra meat and potatoes on his.

I hate goin grocery shopping too, just because the prices... I spent $85 last night and its probably going to last me 1 week :P

Our grocery bill is about $600 a month at wal mart.

Once, we spent $1000.
It was crazy.

If I take Hubbie to the grocery store, we wouldn't get out of there for under $250 and almost need a second cart!  I don't take him he costs too much and buys everything!

I once read something about how American's view food....they said we view food as entertainment instead of fuel for our bodies. 

I thought that was interesting and then I think of all the times Hubbie says its date night at home and we run to the grocery store and pick up movies and TONS of snack food and snack all night. 

I am going to try an earlier post about increasing portion size for hubbie with healthier food.  It's just weird for me to cook 2 small pieces of fish for me and 6 for him I hope I can control myself to just the two!  lol

Unfortunately, with the cost of living skyrocketing, there's only so much you can do.  You can trim and shave, but you have to eat, and, yes, eating good/healthy does seem to cost more in terms of food costs alone (excluding medical/insurance/healthcare, long-term cost issues arising from NOT eating healthy, of course). 

If you don't belong to a discount club, such as Sam's or Costco, check into it.  If you have a friend or family member in your area willing, split the cost of membership, go together, and buy and split the things you cannot possibly use all of yourself before it goes to waste (such as those industrial sized spice jars), which are a BARGAIN at discount clubs.  This is just one example.  You CAN save money at these stores.

Buy store brands whenever you can.  Usually, there is very little difference in product quality, sometimes for a substantial savings.  If you buy the store brand and find you don't like it as well as the brand or the quality (or lack thereof) doesn't justify the savings, don't buy it again.  It only takes buying it once to know.  If you DO like it just as well, you can save yourself $$ long-term, especially for things you buy every trip.  Again, buy the largest size container of anything you can that you can use up before it expires or goes bad.  It costs you more upfront but is cheaper per unit and saves you tons in the long run. 

If you are not shopping at Wal-Mart, start.  Yes, some people have objections to the corporate monster and how they treat their employees, yadda yadda, yeah, whatever.  I need to eat, people.  (No offense to people who work there and may be among those mistreated.  My BIL has worked for them for 10 years, so I know it happens.  I mean no disrespect or offense).  I have a list of things my family needs and a certain amount of money to pay for it all with.   'Nuff said.

Add in a few meals to alternate to whatever you are cooking now that are "stretch-a-buck" meals, such as homemade red beans and rice, tacos (beef or chicken) where you can use a smaller amount of meat and add in things like no-salt-added tomato sauce, Ro-Tel, Mexicorn, any flavor beans to make the meal go further.  These add-ins are the cheapest thing you can buy practically and help stretch a meal and let you use less meat, which is, obviously, more expensive. 

If you make red beans and rice, buy a 1-pound center-cut bone-in ham steak.  Use one-third of it (the part including the bone) to season your beans and use the other 2/3 of the ham for another dinner.  I make "twice-baked" potatoes using cubed ham and a VERY small amount of shredded low-fat cheese, a bit of butter, and either Light Philly or Laughing Cow Light wedges.  Top with green onions and add a green vegetable or a salad alongside.  A 1-pound hamsteak is about $3 to $4 and you have just gotten 2 dinners out of it.  (I'm cooking for 3 people, and my husband eats large double portions, and this works with plenty of food).

Most importantly, plan your menus in advance.  Go the store with a shopping list of EVERYTHING you need to make whatever meals/snacks you are making for the week or for 2 weeks.  Don't buy anything off your list.  Buy in bulk.  Buy whatever brand is on sale.  Buy larger sizes.  Buy store brands.  Look through sale papers.  If something goes on sale somewhere that is not Wal-Mart and beats their price that week, buy it there instead.  If its a REALLY GOOD price, stock up on it. 

You CAN save money.  You just have to think about it.  It does require thought and planning.  Having said all that, our "household" expenditure is about $750 to $800/month for 2 adults and one 2-1/2-year old.  I cook 3 complete, healthy meals a day for 2 people and a good dinner for all 3 people.  Everyone has what snacks they like usually available at all times.  Hubs drinks 3 cases of Coca-Cola product every 2 weeks, eats crap (crap cereal, Pop-Tarts, honeybuns, muffins, etc.) for breakfast, and takes snacks to work.  Everything that enters our house is included in this figure, not just food.  My point being, yes, groceries are expensive, particularly healthy ones, and going up EVERY DAY.  You have to really work at it, but you can save some here and there if you make modifications and plan.

Jdbcmt -great post. It is work to cut costs is it not?

nsgardener:  Thanks!  No doubt, it absolutely is WORK, but you can do it if you put your mind to it.  I keep a Word document open and minimized on my computer at all times that contains the running "master list" biweekly shopping list.  I make swap-outs and changes every time, and I add whatever comes up in between time that we run out of or need that is not an every-trip thing.  On this same document, I plan all meals 2 weeks in advance corresponding to that same shopping list, which is broken out by the 3 stores I do all the shopping, each store for specific items/reasons.  Since I pretty much buy most of the same things every time and/or remember what things cost, I add up the total (including tax) of everything on my list for this 2 weeks.  I round up on my calculations, so I rarely get surprised in the check-out line.  If it goes way over my budget, I make changes, like swap out 1 or 2 more inexpensive meals for ones that cost more to prepare or omit a few things that are "luxury" or nonessentials and plan for them next time if I can swing it.  I take a calculator to the store and add every single item, exact price.  If something is on sale that I had not planned and I have a few extra $$, I might splurge on something for somebody or add back something I had previously cut to make budget.  It IS work, and it requires planning and a time commitment.  But, if it is important, you can do it.

As a long time student with almost no money, I've actually found a different approach quite useful. It is also the same approach my parents used raising us. (and still use today) Along with figuring out the specials before hand, Rather than planning meals in advance so much, I see what is discounted first, buy that, then plan the meals. So rather than going out thinking i need, peppers, beans, pumpkin and eggplant for my curry, I'll get to the store, and buy either the veges on special or the discounted ones (evenings and on sunday afternoons are good for this) and make the curry from what there is.

I don't know about the US, but in Australia, if you figure out when the stores discount their produce (usually around 8pm or so) you can get discounted meat, breads and veges pretty easily (normally going out of date the next day or so) freeze what you won't use immediately. I've never had a bad experience, as far as off food, doing this. For years I only ate discounted bread!

Eat the fruit that is in season, if it isn't don't buy it (unless it is as a treat). You do not need bananas at 6 dollars a kg.

Also I strongly support the idea of stocking up when things are on sale, there is usually a cycle for discounting, and most things will be cheap in some brand at one of the major stores. Assuming you can afford it, buy enough for 3-4 weeks. If you do this you can really manage not to eat anything that wasn't bought on special.

Take this approach even futher with non-perishable items, if toilet paper, your favourite brand of shampoo, etc is a good special, BUY!!! even if you just bought a new bottle last week (you will need it eventually and then it will be full price again). 

This is a great way to save, because these things are often disocunted by relatively large amounts, but perhaps not as often. As my dad says if you can save 20% on shampoo etc, that is better than interest in the bank which is only 5% or so. I admit though this approach requires that you don't have a very tight budget, but if you can average your costs over the year, some months when everything is on special spending much more, than others when little is, then you can save alot over the year.

The problem with buying everything for 2 weeks is that you can't buy fruits and vegetables that are going to last that long. At least not down here in Texas or out in Arizona for that matter. Plus with meat, especially chicken lately, I have had many instances where I buy it, freeze it, and when I thaw it out, for some reason it has gone bad. I have finally succumbed to the idea of shopping each day for whatever it is I am going to eat. Meats, fruits and vegetables I buy the day of. It's the only way I can be assured that it's "Fresh". Although nowadays, down here, "Fresh" fruits and vegetables are hard to come by. The grocery stores are selling stuff that half the time is going bad right there on the shelf. Lettuce is a real bad one. Half the time its already brown on the bottom and spreading. You can go to other stores like whole foods or such, but then your bill is twice as much. 

I'm thankful that DH has gotten into eating healither with me, but my step-daughter is picky plus has allergies to foods and my DD is a vegetarian, so it makes planning and cooking a challenge. 

As for cost, I go on the web often and look for new recipes that are inexpensive but will satisfy everyone.  Soups are a big thing that I can do now that cooler weather is coming.  Everyone likes them and they are more cost effective.  Plus a bowl of soup and a salad will be ok for me.  The rest of the family can have more soup plus load up on bread if they want to do so.  I use my bread machine a lot.

My biggest issue is the junk food.  DH and the kids want it/buy it.  It's pricey plus if it's in the house, I want it.  And I can't take DH or the kids shopping  - hte gorcery bill goes nuts if I do. 

I also do a LOT of coupons.  I save an average of $25-30 a week that way.

Yeah, darraign, that is all true.  I'm in Louisiana and I can totally relate to the crappy produce issue, particularly lettuce this year.  It's pathetic.  I guess I should have clarified in my posts, and I have mentioned this before in other posts, but I realize not everyone is on here practically 24/7 and reading every post like I seem to be!  I do a "big shopping day" every 2 weeks.  I do a "middle week" shopping day where I buy things like milk, bread, bananas, fruit, veggies, etc., things that do not/will not last for 2 weeks.  The monthly figure I gave includes all those trips, though.  I still take a list for the middle-week trips and stick to it, though.  And again, that is why I've said, I shop at 3 stores every 2 weeks.  I buy produce at one store in particular, Brookshires.  Yes, it costs more, but I'm a fanatic about fresh produce, so I'm willing to pay a bit more for quality and freshness, which you generally cannot get with Wal-Mart produce.  I buy ONLY produce there, because EVERYTHING generally costs more there, things I can get the exact same product cheaper somewhere else.  The only other items on my list for Brookshires are bread (Wal-Mart doesn't carry many choices for good WW bread here and, again, I'm willing to pay more for the brand/type I like) and yogurt (Wal-Mart until recently didn't have any yogurts that didn't contain HFCS or AS, until now, I see they have a large vanilla Horizon, which I will be buying next at HALF the usual cost of my Stonyfield at Brookshires).

darraign:  How do you thaw your meats?  The only thing I can think of or wonder is if you are leaving your fresh meats in your fridge for too long before freezing or if you are thawing meats at room temperature?  Either of these things would surely cause what you are describing.  If none of these is the case, then maybe your meat is already going bad when you buy it.  I only say this because, for YEARS, I thawed meat at room temp, generally for 2 to 4 hours, which I knew I should NOT do but did it anyway and never had any  problems until last year.  I did this, thawed some chicken, cooked it, and tasted it before serving, and it was clearly bad.  From that day, I have NEVER thawed meat out at room temp. again.  I thaw it all in the fridge, which does take longer, but it's worth the peace of mind (not to mention saving money by not having to throw bad food out).  Since I plan meals days in advance, it's not that big a deal.  I just take out on Monday what I'm going to cook on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on whether I'm planning to also marinate it when it thaws.  Just some ideas. 

As far as that goes, I opened a brand new container of heavy cream yesterday with the expiration date of Oct 17, and it was ALL THE WAY BAD when I opened it up.  It had never been left out.  Been in my fridge for 3 days.  I was chapped.  Yeah, it was only a buck and a half, but still . . . I hate throwing food out.

I really love to go to the store.  I'll tell you why......I take pride in the items I put in my cart.  I love the feeling that I get when I know my cart is full of healthy foods like produce, lean meat, lean dairy and whole wheat bread - and a few treats because you can have them in moderation.  

Not that most people look into other's carts, but I see tons of people loading up their cart with just plain old junk and high sugared foods.  I feel sorry for the people who have their kids with them, and they just pile sugar after fat after sodium laced products into their cart. 

I still struggle with weight issues, but the satisfaction of the choices my family has made for our groceries pretty fulfilling.  I used to be one of the other kind of shoppers. 

Eating right is definitely more expensive than eating unhealthily.  I clip coupons, watch the sales, and shop at Sams Club. WM price matches, so I can get some good deals.  Don't worry - soon your entire family will eat more cohesively.  Your body and health are the best investment you can make.  Good food and workout shoes are so much cheaper than bypass surgery.  

Good luck!  It will turn out.   

I usually take the meat out of the frig to thaw. But I have never had a problem doing that before. Only recently has stuff gone bad while dong so.  I just think everything is on the verge of going bad when you buy it nowadays. So, usually I only buy stuff when I am going to make it. It works for now. I used to always buy bulk and stuff but lately my schedule has been so busy that I usually just buy on the fly and cook it when I get home. I just get sick of walking through the produce section of the grocery stores nowadays. It amazes me that they even try to sell some of this stuff, when it is clearly rotten. I just find it strange all of a sudden, that fresh fruits and vegetables are so hard to come by. Personally, I wonder if the whole "Organic" situation hasn't hurt us more than helped.

I'm a huge fan of Sam's Club or BJ's which is the same thing.  It's just me and my boyfriend so I don't get a lot of food there but get things like papertowels, toilet paper, shampoo.  Stuff that can sit in your bathroom closet for two months and still be good when you're ready for it.  But don't forget to save your "normal" sized bottles of shampoo because sometimes the one from Sam's are so big you can't handle them properly so I just refill the normal ones over and over.  Usually shampoo from BJ's lasts me about 6 months and about 4 if b/f is using that kind too.  My BJ's bill is usually $100 for 7-10 items but it's stuff I don't have to buy again for three months!  But you have to make sure you have the room for 30 rolls of papertowels!

My mom was always a stickler for not buying toiletry stuff at the grocery store and now that I'm paying for it myself I understand.  That suff (unless on sale or something) is always .50-1.00 higher at the grocery store and really adds up.  I find it's worth it to run down the street to k-mart/walmart and grab bathroom/cleaning supplies there.  Just a thought.