Saving $ on Food?

What are we all doing grocery-shopping to save $$ on food?

Yesterday, 2% cottage cheese was on sale, while the usual non-fat was not.
Would you make this switch to save a couple quarters?

For example, weight watcher bread (and all other 'diet/low cal/sugar free products) are much more expensive than regular. Do you purchase these?

I never purchase 'diet' foods on principle.   Things like WW bread are only charging you for advertising WW and I object to paying out for bread that is pumped full of air to make it fewer cals per slice.  It's a rip-off.

In fact, for a long time I simply don't purchase too many ready-made things at all and prefer a 'clean' diet.  To save money I'll buy seasonal rather than imported fruit and vegetables and I prefer to buy 'ingredients' with which I can make my own foods.  I can make vats of tasty lentil soup for a fraction of the cost of something nasty in a can, for example!  I only go with a special offer if it's a food I'd normally buy anyway. To really save money I buy a lot less meat and we go vegetarian for a week.  

I also dont buy name brand items for the same reason.  To answer the question though, yes I do always buy the lower calorie food.  Its habit for me now to look at the calorie intake for foods and compare the two.  If it's not too much of a difference I might go with the lower costing.  I have to buy two different milks because I want skim at 90 cal/cup but my boyfriend wont go lower than 2% at 130 cal/cup.  For me it's worth it to save 40 cal/cup.  Especially since milk is so awesome at 8g protein per cup.  I drink atleast 2 cups a day.

I buy balkan yogurt which is 6% fat.  It is usually cheaper then the low fat and sugary yogurts.

I try to only buy whole foods that you have to prepare, but this isn't always practical.

I only buy brand name when it is cheaper then the no-name brands.

I have a couple of staple items I just won't alter for a less healthier one, even if it's on sale.  For instance, I buy the Fage 0% greek yogurt and FF cottage cheese.  Yeah they're more expensive, but you just have to decide which items  are more inportant to you to have, price and all.

But the whole bread conversation, I've been buying the low-cal wheat bread, but I don't know why I couldn't just buy regular cheap WW bread and only eat half, lol.  Kinda makes me feel a little bit silly for paying such an insane price :P

This is my biggest gripe with eating "health-consciously."  I try to eat the best, most wholesome foods, and at the same time keep the calorie content to a minimum.  On top of that, I have come to the realization that "fat-free" foods (as a category) also taste the worst, so I almost always get the "low-fat" version, and make the sacrifice of ingesting a few extra calories.  But a loaf of whole-grain, great-tasting bread costs $1.50 more than the lower-calorie, bland, additive-loaded stuff.  From my experience, the trade-off for eating "right," unfortunately, is paying the higher prices.      

I just had a baby so we started buying almost all organic and are trying to have our diets consist of mostly produce.  Organic is expensive no matter what you do but we have managed to save some money by (a) joining a produce co-op in our area and (b) buying a lot of organic grains, pastas, etc. in bulk from our local Central Market (we live in the DFW, TX area).  I don't know what is available in other areas of the country but I do know that if you can skip paying for packaging, it really cuts costs.

some of it isnt worth it- i just started buying this diet bread- its 40 cals per slice, and its nearly 3 bucks here for just one loaf- i go thru quite a bit of bread, so when i go and buy more bread tomorrow i will probbaly just stick to the loaf thats only 1 dollar and its just 50 cals a slice- but cheese is a different story- the cheese i used to buy was 70 cals a slice, the fat free cheese i get now is 30 cals a slice, and the price difference isnt really bad.

Original Post by flonklar:

From my experience, the trade-off for eating "right," unfortunately, is paying the higher prices.      

 "Pay more, eat less".... what price good health?

I find that if you're both health conscious and $ conscious that you end up changing your diet to match.  Buy items that can be frozen in bulk and items like rice and beans that keep very easily and do your own preparation.  They end up tasting better anyway and you end up saving $.  You can still do the occasional pizza, just make sure you buy the frozen variety for $5 instead of ordering in for $20.

I've taken to making my own bread. For about $5 I can make 10 to 12 loaves (of whole wheat!). It has a few more calories than store-bought bread, but I know exactly what's in it! Plus I can add oats or anything else I want to it.

I shop by a combination of ingredients on the label and price, NEVER by brand.  Discovered that 9 times out of 10 (maybe more), the no name is more delicious and nutritious and cheaper than the big brand names.

Wait for the weekly specials and stock up on stuff you can freeze.  My fiance and I wait untill chicken breasts go on weekly special ($1.99/lb instead of $4.50) and buy 15 or 20 lbs, then freeze all of it and thaw them out as necessary over a few weeks.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Wait for the weekly specials and stock up on stuff you can freeze. My fiance and I wait untill chicken breasts go on weekly special ($1.99/lb instead of $4.50) and buy 15 or 20 lbs, then freeze all of it and thaw them out as necessary over a few weeks.

Wow, where do you shop?  Where I live, it can get as low as $.69/lb maybe once every month when it's on sale.