At MSN Money, Liz Pulliam Weston has an article about fighting what she calls food-budget killers, those items at the grocery store that can put an extra strain on your pocketbook.
Weston’s story gives tips for how to save money on the five foods with the biggest price jumps in the past year: flour, eggs, sweet peppers, milk, and dried beans. But the article got me thinking about food-budget killers in a different way. High costs on staple foods put a dent in everyone’s budget, but often the real culprits are the foods we splurge on to treat ourselves.
I picked up a bottle of maple syrup the other day, for example — real maple syrup, not the imitation stuff — but I was so fixated on the nutrition information that I didn’t notice the price until I got home. $10! For a bottle of syrup! That, my friends, is a budget killer. Fortunately, it’s not a regular occurrence (and that bottle of real maple syrup will last me a year).
We do have a few recurring weaknesses, though, such as:
- Fancy cheeses. Kris and I like good cheese. We often treat ourselves to fancy cheeses we find at Costco or natural food stores. Not cheap. We control costs a little by buying only what we know we’ll use, so that nothing goes to waste.
- Juices and protein drinks. Since starting to focus on fitness, I’ve tried to cut back on soda pop — I mostly drink water. For a bit of variety, I’ve been picking up protein shakes and juices from Naked and Odwalla. These are expensive, so I make a point of only buying them when they’re on sale.
- Coffee beans. Quality coffee beans are expensive, but Kris isn’t willing to settle for second-best. She doesn’t make coffee very often, but when she does, she wants it to taste just right.
- Dinner parties. When we entertain, we spare no expense. We just spent a small fortune on six pounds of fresh halibut for our book group tomorrow night (at which we’re discussing M.F.K. Fisher, who believed that eating well was one of the “arts of life”). Fortunately, this only happens a few times a year.
The costs are high when I make clam chowder, too, but it’s worth it. (It’s delicious, and it produces a huge batch.) I stock up on clams and clam juice if I notice them on sale, which doesn’t happen very often.
If these examples were typical of all our food purchases, we’d have a problem. They’re not. Most of the time, Kris and I are pretty good about shopping for bargains. Kris, especially, makes a habit of planning her purchases, waiting for sales, and finding coupons for products we use often.
I suspect that even the most frugal shoppers have certain foods that put a dent in their grocery budgets. What are your weaknesses? Do you have any strategies for keeping costs down, even on the things you splurge for?
Fresh parmesan cheese! We will spend about $10 for a 5 – 8 oz. block of the really good stuff. We grate it, put it in a baggie, and freeze it. Then we pull it out of the freezer as needed – it thaws in about 10 minutes. That’s about as economical as we can be with our splurge.
Just can’t go back to that tasteless sawdust stuff that comes in a green can!
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I think that if you are getting enjoyment out of a good purchase, than it’s worth it. Not everyone is a foodie, but those that are will be willing to save money in other areas to be able to afford the good stuff. As your article said, these things are an occasional treat, not every meal.
I’ve noticed our food budget has been climbing, but it’s partly because of trying to buy more organic, local, and fair trade foods. It’s actually the topic of my most recent blog post!
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as much as it pains me, i have to stay away from the fancy cheese section of the grocery store. occasionally we’ll have just salad with a piece of cheese on the side, and then it’s worth buying a small piece. if i don’t have specific plans for it though, i won’t buy it just to snack on.
we buy the growth hormone free milk, and $6 a gallon is starting to be a splurge.
if we are eating seafood, i try to buy smaller portions.
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It’s worth spending money on real maple syrup. There is no comparison in taste, you are supporting the livelihood of maple farmers and the continued existence of maple trees rather than the business of some company pumping out flavoured hydrogenated corn syrup, and as you say, it will last a year. It’s a luxury but the amount per usage is actually quite small.
The best way to save money on groceries is to reduce the amount of meat that you eat. This has the added benefit of helping to save the planet. I’m not advocating vegetarianism, though that’s an option for some, but treat meat as a luxury. Then you can afford to buy the best.
As you’ve said before, frugality is not about being cheap, it’s about making sure you get good value.
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I still haven’t fully felt the effects of the economy on our food budget. That is because we live in the city and have access to a wide variety of merchants. We shop at the independent markets and only go to the big chain grocery store for certain things or when we’re lazy. I suppose milk is more expensive these days, but the big chain grocery store must sell it as a loss leader because it’s always on sale. Cereal is something I would never buy at the big chain grocery store, and I stock up when I go to Target, Walmart, Trader Joe’s or the warehouse store. (TJ’s is especially awesome for cereal)
Our food costs have climbed more as a result of an effort to eat healthier and more natural, or as a result of less free time and more dining out.
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I think that if you are getting enjoyment out of a good purchase, than it’s worth it.
I agree, as long as you’re not spending beyond your means. In my original draft of this post, I pointed out that Kris and I know that we spend a lot on food, and we’re okay with that. We make up for it by cutting back in other areas. Neither one of us spends much on clothes, for example. We drive old cars. We don’t go out for non-food entertainment very often. We’d rather spend our money on good cheese and on dining out!
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I also love good cheese- and a good piece of steak.
Fred Meyer has a basket of 50% off cheeses and occassionally there are some great finds! The FM at Johnson Creek has an uber-specialty cheese selection and bought some great Parm-reg and blues for half off the half off. Score!
FM also has a marked-down meat bin where you can get some choice cuts at a resonable price.
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Having grown up in WI (though now in PA), I can absolutely understand and relate to desiring good cheese. There really is no substitute. I find that our budget gets beaten up on organic food for my children. All else the same, I just get this feeling that paying a little more for organic things for them is worth it (yet don’t necessarily adopt that thought for myself?!?).
We just look at it like this: as long as we’re paying cash for it we’ll just chalking it up to “budget variance” – you HAVE to have wiggle room for food!!!
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I try to keep all my food purchases to less than $.20/ounce. There are staples, such as meats and cheeses (though I’m becoming a vegetarian I think, mainly b/c it’s cheaper) that can’t fall within this category, but my diet consists of mainly fruits and vegetables, rice, bread, peanut butter, nuts (also expensive, but at Whole Foods you just shovel them into a bag instead of buying a brand name with a container and cashews are only $4/lb), beans, pasta, tuna, pop tarts (my one snack food), oats, yogurt, etc.
The one thing I do buy that is expensive is beer, and I don’t buy the cheap stuff. But I try to get it on sale and I don’t drink much anyway. All together my grocery bill is about $150/month and I eat incredibly healthy. It’s weird: healthy food is often cheaper than unhealthy food…
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I consider myself a bit of a foodie — mostly because I strongly prefer real food, not prepared or processed items. It’s more expensive (I guess) to buy the real stuff and make meals from scratch, though I couldn’t say because I don’t buy the other stuff.
Among my strategies:
Costco. Safeway sells a gallon of Naked orange juice for $19.99; same thing appears in Costco’s cooler for $9.99. Costco also has excellent cheeses that you can buy in bulk. And I buy a package of rib-eye steaks there, cut each steak in three pieces, and end up with many meals’ worth of meat. This wouldn’t work with a family that includes a grown man, because it probably wouldn’t be enough for him — but half of one of those steaks would do most men, if you provided enough vegetables and starches to fill the plate.
I also have bought coffee at Costco; the beans there are almost as good as the premium stuff I buy at the overpriced purveyor of gourmet goods that I prefer.
Costco’s maple syrup, btw, is incredibly cheap compared to what you’ll pay at a grocer.
If you have a Trader Joe’s in your area, check out the prices there. TJ’s cheeses are just fine and they sell for a fraction of the price of similar cheeses elsewhere. Wine and beer are even cheaper at Trader Joe’s than at Costco, which consistently underprices grocery stores. Maple syrup: much better prices. Nuts: can’t be beat for variety or price. Cereals: TJ’s has some that are actually good for you — naturally, not because artificial vitamins have been dumped into them. TJ’s carries a lot of organic produce, it that’s your thing.
Around here there’s a chain called Sprouts. It’s a low-rent answer to Whole Foods. At Sprouts you can get many grains, beans, cereals, and other products in bulk at substantial savings. Sprouts often has good prices on produce, including organic fruits & veggies.
Reconsider organic. In many cases it’s not worth the cost. You can wash most pesticide and fertilizer residue off many produce items simply by dipping in a sinkful of dilute dish detergent and then rinsing well. There was no such thing as organic food when I was a kid; today I’m an old bat and I’m neither dead nor sick.
Excellent tea can be had at relatively reasonable prices at Cost Plus World Markets, and ethnic grocery stores often carry rice and beans in bulk.
And finally: I make my own bread, mixing & kneading it in a breadmaker and baking it in the oven. It’s infinitely cheaper and infinitely better than anything you can get in a store.
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I completely get the fancy cheese being a budget killer, but I am having a hard time contorting my mind around dried beans being a major strain on one’s budget.
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Buying organic foods gets us. Have to be careful with that one. So we only buy organic for the foods most affected like apples, and then only if it’s something we eat daily.
Otherwise, our grocery bill has been fine the last few years. We’re semi-vegetarian, so we only eat meat when visiting relatives on the holidays or when we eat out, about 3 times a month. This saves a lot of money.
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Replace those Naked & Odwalla drinks with Green Smoothies. They’ll turn out to be cheaper, more nutritional, & you know EXACTLY what’s going inside your body. All you’ll need is a blender & a plethora of fruits & veggies (which are probably in your garden).
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showpost.php?s=1d2f22a3c371bae99efe8c33ac9a8b84&p=438347&postcount=1
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You should probably quit drinking those odwalla and naked protein drinks.
Get yourself a 5lbs tub of just straight protein powder (whey). Cheaper. Throw some fruit and cinnamon and natural PB in there to make a shake that tops your bottled stuff.
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Beer is my grocery buster. I like good beer. Don’t drink that much – maybe a bottle every other night. I prefer Sam Adams and their varieties. But I’m also partial to Abita Beers and Leiney’s Red. Those are all now close to $9/six pack.
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Good meat and cheese are my grocery busters, last week I ordered 2lbs of chipolatas from the butchers and it came to $23 (I’m still recovering from that). But it’s so worth it to get good quality products from people who know what they are talking about.
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i shop the fresh meat departments later on in the evening, when they put out the “manager’s special” aka stuff that’s reached its sell-by date. usually, the package says to use or freeze by x date. i buy it super cheap and use it immediately or freeze it. works great for me!
i have 2 salmon filets in the freezer that cost me under $2 each, a portion of shrimp also under $2, and i have been enjoying salmon entrees that normally go for $8.99 each but cost me under $4. unfortunately, i haven’t had as much luck with the beef and chicken lately. i haven’t had time to shop around at different stores at night.
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I switched to the cheap store brand of coffee for my espresso machine and I noticed the difference, way more bitter. After I use it up I’m switching back to Arabica beans. I don’t need to buy the expensive Starbucks brands, the store brand is just as good.
I’d rather cut back somewhere else where I’m not as picky.
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I now make food in smaller portions and more veggies / less meat. This ends up being healthier and stretches my money more.
Whereas before I used to stuff my self silly every meal, I only do that for breakfast and cut back with smaller portions for lunch and dinner. I also tend to make dishes that aren’t meat-centric as much too.
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re: “protein drinks”…. Humans don’t need tons of protein. High protein diets have been linked to cancer. You’re probably getting plenty. I would suggest you check out the book “The China Study”.
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Organic milk! You think gas is expensive…$6.29 a gallon for the Whole Foods brand. I think it’s worth it however, since this milk comes from pasture fed cows. After doing some research on non-organic milk I decided to switch to organic dairy products. I can’t stand the thought of feeding my kids milk from cows who stand around in their own waste and are fed a crummy diet. We do ration the servings. No drinking milk like it’s water.
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M.F.K. Fischer was a fascinating woman – and an even more fascinating writer! I’d venture a guess that her How to Cook a Wolf would make for a fascinating series of posts for your GRS blog. And if not, fill us in on your discussion and menu!
In the meantime, keep up the great work. I truly appreciate what you do.
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Amen to organic milk – big grocery budget buster for me too. But it tastes so much better. It lasts longer, too. Milk from jugs just doesn’t last long – it always goes bad on me after a few days.
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I basically only buy staples–my food budget might see more of a hit than other peoples, but I wasn’t splurging on prepared foods anyway, so it probably started off lower. I use cooking to relax, so I save money by trying to avoid eating out. If I can buy a good cut of meat (or even just a meh cut of meat) and cook it perfectly so I don’t want to eat out, that saves me more money than being super careful with my purchases in a grocery store ever would.
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I too got rid of soda pop (a little over a year ago) and I’ve found that white grapefruit juice is a good replacement for that morning can of caffeine, at least for me. But the prices they charge for bottles/jugs of ready-made juice are too high for my taste, I’m lucky that my grocery store stocks frozen concentrates of white grapefruit juice. I’ve been to several other stores when traveling looking for it and none of them seem to stock it, or if they do they sure hide it well.
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I make my own protein smoothies using protein powder and fruit (usually a banana for a thick texture and frozen berries). Protein powder may seem expensive but a little goes a long way and it is cheaper than individual bottles of naked juice! Whole Foods and Trader Joes both carry their own brand of protein powder which is relatively inexpensive.
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We try to use mostly organic foods, which are usually more expensive than conventional. Lately we’ve hit the jackpot at our local Big Lots (also known as McFrugal’s in some parts of the country, but basically an overstock store). Since prices have been going up, seems there have been lots of overstock organic foods, and they end up at Big Lots for half off! Organic cereal, pasta, canned tomatoes, juices, even our favorite soy milk. It is hit or miss and you have to go often, but this has really helped our food budget.
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Our biggest food expenses are also entertainment… we LOVE having people over, and when we do, we go all out.
Groceries are our biggest expense each month, other than rent and savings. We don’t mind too much.
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Sorry to comment again so soon, but I just noticed Funny About Money’s comment about organics, the it is sufficient to wash off the pesticides from fruit and veggies. That only works for pesticides that get sprayed directly on fruit and doesn’t get absorbed! I used to think at least bananas would be safe, until I learned the the farm workers who tend and harvest the bananas have a much higher incidence of cancer than the general population.
For anything (pesticides or fertilizers) that goes in the ground and gets sucked up by the plant’s roots, it is in the fruit or veg and you can’t get it out by washing. Plus the USDA based the acceptable level of pesticides on what a 180 pound man could handle, so if you’ve got a 30 pound kid, they’re getting 6 times the amount of pesticide per serving.
Go organic! Its worth the price.
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We have gotten very simplified in our menus, especially during the week. Soup & salad on Mon., pasta on Tues (w/ or w/o meat), rice dish on Wed., eggs on Thurs., then homemade pizza on fri. Sat/Sun tend to be our ‘splurge’ days for ‘real’ meat, where we’ll roast, grill or bake something. As a result, our family of four has managed to get our food bill down to $50/week without planting a garden (something our non-green thumbs have trouble maintaining).
Our biggest food money pit usually occurs on the weekend when my husband, an over-the-road tractor-trailer driver, stocks up on ‘portable’ foods, which tend to be brand-name and convenience driven. Even so, it keeps him from eating the greasy food at expensive truck stop restaurants and diners.
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JD,
Not sure if someone above already mentioned it, but my wife and I by the Crystal Light mixes. It is healthy and adds a little variety every once in awhile to us “water” drinkers.
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That was the thing that always irked me about being frugal: there are always going to be things that are perfectly fine but that won’t fit in with the frugal philosophy.
The example of cheese is a good one: if I am financially responsible, why shouldn’t I buy 9 dollar cheese once in a while? Frugality, it seems, tends to put a cap on whatever item you’re trying to buy. Perhaps I’m interpreting it incorrectly, but the frugal philosophy seems to me to say “why buy one thing if there’s a cheaper alternative?”.
I think it’s why I advocate financial reponsibility rather straight up frugality. Frugality seems far more restrictive to me. And it seems like a lot of people, myself possibly included, would have a hard time living a philosophy of restriction.
Aw man now I want cheese.
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I won’t give up…
- avocado: I love it, plus it’s very healthy
- raspberries
- organic sliced bread
- Novi, an Italian cocoa-nut cream which is waaay better than Nutella, and with only the good fats in it
- coffee: locally produced
- good cheese
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That’s called cheap.
Buying the best cheapest item that will fill the need is more in line with being frugal, and where people get into disagreements about frugality.
eg. If I’m buying apples, I’m not going to buy the mushy ones with rotten spots for $0.99, I’m going to buy the cheapest ones that taste good.
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I try to follow a McDougall based menu. It’s a really healthy diet and because you’re not buying processed foods it’s a lot cheaper.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/
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My grocery busters, when I examine my receipt each week, are NOT food – they are cleaning products. I spent $10 on a “clean and green” book, and I’ve started using homemade cleaning products. NO bottled hand soaps anymore, just leftover soap bars. Etc. You’d be surprised how much you spend on non-food items!
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I’m with you. Good cheese is worth splurging on. We’re also meat eaters in our household, so I buy only organic ground beef, non-nitrite lunchmeats and uncured hot dogs. That way we can enjoy our sandwiches without poisoning ourselves. I’m a budget shopper on other things so that I can buy them.
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I have food allergies, and don’t eat out. This means most of my groceries are budget busters. Rice pasta, gluten free rice cereal, and allergen-free chocolate chips are all very expensive.
I don’t eat out, or eat many processed foods, so it does balance. I would give my eye teeth for a buy on get on special on my allergy-friendly foods though. They never go on sale.
brooklynchick-I try to buy those items outside the grocery store at K-mart or Target. It saves me 20-80% per item.
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I won’t give up organic milk, but it is a HUGE budget buster. To cut the costs, I only let the kids drink it at meals and the rest of the time they get water. We gave up juice a long time ago because it is just so expensive and nutritionally it just isn’t worth it. Better to give them an apple and some water than apple juice.
I also won’t give up meat although we’ve cut back significantly. Since we prefer the pastured/grass-fed variety, I’ve found the best way to save money is to buy directly from the farmer. Last fall my extended family went in together on a whole steer. And this year we’re going in on a hog. You end up paying a flat price per pound regardless of the cut. Plus you can have it butchered to your specifications. We ended up saving a ton. And our share of the beef lasted us a year.
The only downside is that we had to buy a separate stand alone freezer. The freezer of our little side-by-side couldn’t hold our share of beef. I don’t think the addition to our utility bill has diminished the savings from the bulk purchase, but I haven’t really done the math.
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Ah another Stumptown fan. They have a roaster up here next to my law school boy is it an impact to my budget. But the quality is so much higher than anything else around.
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If you’re really trying to lose weight and save money, you’ve got to ditch those protein drinks and juices. Protein drinks have more calories than it seems, when you consider most are “two servings,” and they’re very expensive per oz. Juices are more caloric, less filling, and less healthy than just eating a piece of fruit. Drink plain old water and eat simple fruits and veggies; maybe make a smoothie with them once in awhile and supplement w/ protein powder if you really think you need it (doubtful, if you’re eating halibut and cheese). If you miss having a “special” drink, put some lemon in a pitcher of water and keep it in the fridge; serve it on ice.
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I think you have to look at your overall food budget that includes restaurant meals, not just grocery stores when you’re talking about budget busters.
For instance, if you buy real parmigiano-reggino and whole wheat pasta to make a nutritious home-cooked meal rather than go out to Italian restaurants, you’re actually coming out ahead economically and possibly nutritionally, too.
Or, when I cook a fabulous birthday dinner of filet mignon (usually from Costco) to make the evening feel special, I need to compare this to the cost of what I would have spent at a restaurant to feel like I had a special meal.
As a separate issue, all of my doctors and nutritionists classify juice in the same category as they do soda. As someone who is pre-diabetic I can say I get as much of a sugar-headache from both. Nixing juice from a diet would be good.
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Food itself is our budget buster. We overspend that category nearly every month (it’s my current budget “project”). I don’t know if we’re buying more food or more expensive food than we did six months ago or if prices have gone up enough to “cause” us to overspend.
My general strategy is to stock up when it’s on sale and/or when I have coupons. We don’t drink pop. We don’t usually have juice (on a juice kick recently, too, though), and we usually buy chicken or ground turkey for meat and only then when it’s on a “buy one get one” sale. We usually buy milk at our local gas station because we can get a gallon of the name-brand (much tastier than store brands in our area) milk for $3.50 a gallon. We also accumulate “points” that we can redeem for discounts coupons for gas or other things in the convenience store. Lately our “splurge” areas have been cheese and juice (we’re not buying fancy juice, we’re just buying and that’s not something we normally do). Our splurge items vary from month to month. One thing we almost always have around, though, is ice cream. I buy it when it’s on a good sale or I have a coupon for buy one get one.
I’m always trying to find the happy middle ground between buying better-quality food and not spending a fortune on food. Still haven’t found it yet…
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Grocery Outlet has awesome deals for those of us in the NW. A lot of basics and a lot of splurge items at super-low prices: cheeses, wines, organic canned goods & coffee; the body care section is also a godsend for those who like natural skin care but can’t afford the hefty price tag.
When a block of good cheese is under $3 it doesn’t feel like too much of a splurge!
The inventory rotates regularly, and the deals help me avoid the guilt of buying items I’d otherwise forgo.
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It’s important to analyze meals, not just particular items. Maple syrup makes a lot more sense when it’s going to be used over a lot of different meals and primarily as an accompaniment to $1/box pancake mix, say. On the other hand, if you often have meals that involve $3/serving worth of meat, that could be doing a lot more damage. (I’m not a vegetarian, I just have found that’s one area that has the potential to add a lot to my budget.)
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“Lately we’ve hit the jackpot at our local Big Lots (also known as McFrugal’s in some parts of the country, but basically an overstock store). Since prices have been going up, seems there have been lots of overstock organic foods, and they end up at Big Lots for half off! Organic cereal, pasta, canned tomatoes, juices, even our favorite soy milk. It is hit or miss and you have to go often, but this has really helped our food budget.”
Ditto! That has been the best grocery saver for us. We make sure to hit it every week before we go to the grocery store or farmers market. I get Organic udon, or lo mein noodles for like 1.80. (We eat asian like crazy.) so I stock up every time. I also like most stated here skip the meat unless the free range no antibiotic beef is on serious sale I buy almost all they have and freeze what I don’t use. As far as our milk we are lucky enough to have a farmers market that sells organic so we buy our milk there for 5.00 a gallon. Only a dollar or so difference but that is an extra bag of noodles for us!
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Splurged this morning at Costco in the produce section. I bought 12 huge Gala apples, 1 lb baby spinach, 4 lbs of bananas, 4 lbs of green grapes, 6 bell peppers, 20 lbs of baking potatoes, a dozen tomatoes, 2 lbs green beans. All in larger quantities than we could usually consume in a week or so, but if we eat more fruits and veggies this week for the sake of eating them before they go bad, then the family is eating healthier for it.
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For me, it’s organic milk. I try to cut costs by using the milk to drink and also to make yogurt.
For the non-organics, it’s coffee, chocolate and ice cream. The coffee and ice cream are made locally (well, the coffee is locally roasted) and it’s really amazing. The chocolate is just my favorite brand. I just try to keep them as treats, and not everyday things.
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I do homemade smoothies instead of Odwalla, too. Rather than protein powder, I use vanilla yogurt, a banana and fresh or frozen berries. I’m not sure whether this is cheaper than Odwalla, overall, because the berries can be pricey, but I think it tastes better. (If you grow your own berries, it would definitely be cheaper.)
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Organic milk. I buy it for the kids. I buy the spouse and I a store brand that is “hormone free” but I go the whole way with the little ones and buy them (store brand) organic milk.
Which is way expensive. heh.
I try not to grocery splurge too much but I do go for fresher and organic produce vs the bargain bin stuff.
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