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The impact of the cost of food to your food spending habits?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Surfguy, Jul 30, 2022.

  1. Mr. Brightside

    Mr. Brightside Contributing Member

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    I make an avocado smoothie.

    Half banana, some frozen pineapple, a few pecans and a small avocado with some almond/coconut or regular milk.

    There are many different variations to this smoothie online, but I can whip this up in under 5 minutes. Add protein/ collagen powder or some cacao nibs if you are inclined and blend.

    Bananas are still super cheap at Sam's/Costco. Frozen pineapple at these places are like $8.99 for a massive bag which lasts a long time. A bag of 6 small avocados are generally between $5.99-$9.99 at Sam's/Costco depending on where you live in the mainland. Avocados and other vegetables can be found cheaper at your local farmer's market, if you have those in your area.
     
    #21 Mr. Brightside, Jul 31, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2022
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  2. Andre0087

    Andre0087 Member

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    Been buying in bulk when I can and bought a large deep freezer to store it all. I've also cut back on beef and have been eating more chicken, fish, and seafood in general. It's hard out here...
     
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  3. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    Even though it's just me, I've thought about buying a small freezer to store some food, but I swear with all these power/grid issues and my luck, I'd stock it with crap and we'd have a 3-day outage. lol.
     
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  4. Andre0087

    Andre0087 Member

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    Get a generator and you're golden...I had a friend of mines who's an electrician setup an interlock on my panel so I can plug it in and power most of the house. With all the hurricanes and now freezes I don't trust the grid either.
     
  5. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    I don't make smoothies as much as I used to, but am thinking about getting back into it. I usually just buy frozen fruit for smoothies. They have frozen cherries, too, btw. Most of the time the fresh fruit I end up buying is a crapshoot as to whether it'll taste sweet enough or "right", so I'm not hugely picky when it comes to frozen fruit. The frozen dark cherries aren't quite as good as fresh ones from what I've noticed, but they're "good enough". Most of the frozen fruit is cheaper and you don't have to worry about them spoiling in a week, or sometimes, like strawberries, a few days, so you can stock up.
     
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  6. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    Yeah, I've thought about that, but then I really don't want to put any more money into this house or worry about trucking my generator to a new house. And again, with my luck, it'll be a waste because the power won't go out. :D Up here in the DFW area, I'm more worried about the summer grid and winter freezes. Hopefully no hurricane strong enough to do too much damage up here.
     
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  7. Phillyrocket

    Phillyrocket Member

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    Haven’t changed a whole lot though of course noticed that everything is more expensive.

    The biggest eye opener for me is for how all those “value” meals you would get at McDs, Taco Bell, etc that used to be like $5 are now closer to $10. SMH. After the Great Recession all those places started offering $1 menu items. Now it’s damn near as much as a legitimate restaurant for lunch.

    Unfortunately for all of us parents of school age kids who were enjoying free school lunches the last 2 years; that’s over.

    Going to have to start funding schoolcafe again.
     
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  8. body slam

    body slam Member

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    There are a few things I stopped buying and others I load up on when on sale, but for he most part my grocery store habits have not changed, I have a weekly amount I try to stay around.

    Eating out is a different story. I use to like venturing out and trying different things just to get out of the house. Now I stay close to home and have a handful of places I go. The price of fuel has just as much to do with it as the higher price of eating out.
     
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  9. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost not wrong
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    I went from shopping at typical big chain grocers to shopping at places like Aldi and Lidl.

    Better quality for less money. An easy change I won't revert after inflation calms down.

    Used to hit up Costco bi-weekly, now that's monthly.
     
  10. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    I’ve never thought of an avocado smoothie, I’ll give that one a try

    I have a bag of frozen pineapple and mango from Costco in the freezer…I usually do tropical type smoothies…orange juice mixed with pineapple, mango, sometimes guava, juice from half a lemon, then I add spinach and scoop of chia seeds

    I’m getting tired of spinach, so avocado might be a good change of pace
     
  11. pmac

    pmac Contributing Member

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    We tried Aldi a couple times but didn't really see a big difference from buying in bulk at Costco. It was way cheaper on stuff that we don't buy much like snack foods.

    I think when I last checked prices Joe Vs was the best deal here but my wife is too bougie to shop there every week.
     
  12. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    I don’t use cherries for smoothies, I just eat them fresh. For smoothies, I really only have frozen pineapple and mango from Costco as well as guavas that I buy and freeze

    I love fruit so my fridge is stocked up with grapes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries when the price isn’t crazy, kanzi apples, and watermelon at all times

    I just need to find ways to incorporate vegetables other than spinach into my diet on a consistent basis…if it’s not for these spinach smoothies I make, I could easily go the whole week barely eating any vegetables
     
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  13. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    Yeah, the cherries I use, i usually let them thaw a bit in the fridge and snack on them with frozen strawberries. For smoothies, I just get bags of stuff like mangoes, blueberries, pineapple, tropical fruit mix, strawberries, other mixed fruits, etc.
     
  14. Bobbythegreat

    Bobbythegreat Member
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    I buy a cheaper cut of steak more often than I used to.

    That's about the only difference thus far. I imagine things are going to get worse before they get better, so we'll see if any real changes happen.
     
  15. Surfguy

    Surfguy Contributing Member

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    One thing I've noticed is that Tom Thumb charges almost twice as much for a package of fresh chicken breasts than Kroger's does at approximately the same weight. I honestly don't understand how that could be? Granted, they are different brands but these aren't the higher priced brands I'm referring to. That pisses me off a little bit. I do tend to end up going to Tom Thumb and Kroger's for different items due to one having lower prices on certain items than the other. It's kind of a pain in the arse. I also try to use digital coupons when I can. And, check the weekly ads for sale items. Occasionally, there is a weekly $20 off when you spend $100 coupon I will take advantage of mainly at Tom Thumb.
     
    #35 Surfguy, Jul 31, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2022
  16. TimDuncanDonaut

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    If can't buy bulk or want smaller quantities... If you don't mind it, is the Dollar store, where some sell food (snacks, can goods...etc). The dollar stores might have it as 1.25 now since inflation, but because of the "theme" of the store, everything is priced at $1.25. The selection isn't the best, but name brands can still be found. They can't food price gouge like some of the big grocery chain.

    I use it occasionally as a supplement; good deals can be found.
     
  17. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    Aldi is good for different snacks and the occasional bargain. They own Trader Joes so I guess they know a thing or two about random value suppliers.

    Amazon Fresh has been printing out these 20 for 40 dollar flyers. Their 10 dollar pizza is pretty good.

    I thought you moved to Sweden? Curious if you moved back to where you used to live.
     
  18. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Contributing Member

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    I really haven't noticed it with groceries. Our weekly bill may be 5 or 10 bucks more, but that's negotiable. Kroger sends me a bunch of coupons every month or so for all the stuff we get every week. Nice algo-rhythm they have going in that regard. They sometimes send me a 20 dollar off coupon if you spend more than $200, which we always do. And we definitely take advantage of their fuel points.

    Eating out, my wife and I have started sharing dishes more often. There's always a "sampler" in the appetizers that we can split and save about 15 bucks right off the bat. If I'm still hungry, I'll just finish off the kids meals. We always take them home but never eat them when we do. We also try to take advantage of happy hours.

    We have a 'dash pass' with DD and we only order food from the dash pass places. Again, we will get 3 meals for the wife and 2 kids...then I'll just eat everyone's leftovers - which is usually equal to a full meal.

    What's killing me right now is my electric bill and my water bill!
     
  19. SuraGotMadHops

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    I am a sale based shopper only, thats the only way it stays cheap. Instead of a shopping list that has my desires, i.e. I want to pick up apples, ribeyes, chicken breasts, and green beans. I look at the circulars and buy only the meats and fruits on sale that week. So instead of my desired list above, it may be peaches, chuck roasts, leg quarters, and squash, and I just make it work.
     
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  20. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Haven't really changed. Though when I go to the grocery store, I have in my mind what is a reasonable price for beef or pork or whatever, and I might look at what they're selling and say, 'they want how much? Forget it!' But my mental list of what's a reasonable price has seen some upward movement since I realize the price of meat won't be going down again.
     
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