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Yawgmoth posted:Depends on what you buy. They'll rope you in with 3 cents of X and 10 cents off Y, then gently caress you in the butt on everything else in your cart. It was an amazing wake-up call when I went through the local grocery store with my wal-mart receipt and saw I was wasting like $5-10 a trip at least. Plus the quality of anything there not in factory-sealed package is complete poo poo so drop that extra quarter on food with actual quality and nutrients and doesn't feature three kinds of corn syrup and/or five kinds of sodium. I guess I can do some research first but I'm so hungry that it really doesn't matter. I work at Publix and it is a horrible place to work and to shop and unlike a lot of you, I don't have many choices. There are some ethnic markets but they're so far out of the way the drive isn't worth it. No farmer's markets either. I didn't want to poo poo up the thread about what is moral and not moral and whatever, I just wanted some advice on how to make the best of $30. Thanks for the advice though. copy of a fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Mar 10, 2012 |
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Mar 10, 2012 06:23
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I encourage anyone with a WinCo Foods nearby to go check it out. It's cheap, employee-owned, and they have bulk bins!
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Mar 11, 2012 03:38
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scuz posted:That's changed. I know a bunch of Ls that are open until 10, but some of the classier ones (Surdyk's comes to mind) are only open until 8 I think. Lucky. I knew i shouldn't have moved (though I can get booze anywhere anytime in CA) silversiren posted:I would rather shop at Walmart than Publix, which is just as bad if not worse. razz posted:Someone told me that Target is anti-gun and has donated money to anti-NRA causes before. As a hunter (even though not the NRA member gun-totin' conservative redneck type) that's a decent enough reason for me to not shop there. nm fucked around with this message at 11:24 on Mar 11, 2012 |
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Mar 11, 2012 11:16
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Hey guys, shut up. Wal-Mart is cheap and convenient, and, in a lot of small cities, that is the only place you buy groceries. At the time I made this thread, Wal-Mart was all I could afford because it was the only place to buy groceries without driving 20 miles away, and it was really cheap. If you are really concerned, just spend LESS there, but sometimes you can't afford to boycott it. Hell, even in the town I live in now it's the only place to buy fabric  Anyway, please end this derail, and continue talking about awesome ways to make cheap food.
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Mar 11, 2012 14:30
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That's just Wiggles' thing. I like the guy, but you can go off on a tirade sometimes man. Not that I disagree or anything.
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Mar 12, 2012 00:35
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silversiren posted:This was probably already answered. I looked over most of the thread but I am very tired and things just aren't sticking today. I know I'm going to get people who disagree with me but if the ethnic grocers are all too far and if you don't have access to a solid grocery store, the sad truth is that leafy greens are a loving bitch if you're poor and cooking on your own, and you are not going to be able to do the vast majority of Chinese, Indian, and Thai food you're going to want to. Maybe if you're lucky you'll find some Goya chickpeas and you'll have some garam masala and you'll be able to make an ok aloo mutter. Some of the best cooking I did when I was truly in the nadir of my poverty was Indian. Then again, I have good access to two Indian grocers. Stock up on frozen produce. That's my best suggestion. As for people knocking on someone shopping at WalMart, it must be great to speak from a position in which you have a good selection of grocery stores and can afford to shop at them! Great, except not everyone shares that privilege.
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Mar 12, 2012 06:42
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Whoever recommended halaal markets deserves a big sloppy hug. I was able to get some delicious steaks for the grill this weekend for like, half the price I normally pay at Harris Teeter.
Dirtbag Diva fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Mar 12, 2012 |
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Mar 12, 2012 17:33
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Dirtbag Diva posted:From what I understand from my a friend (who also hunts and lives off the land because he looks like Paul Bunyan) is that a lot of those anti-NRA groups are trying to restrict sales of hand guns at places like gun and knife shows since they're notorious for circumventing the law and waiting periods and potentially giving guns to dangerous people and that they typically don't focus on hunting rifles since they're classified as sports gear in a lot of areas like where we live. I'm not sure how 100% correct this is but it makes sense to me. This is questionably true, but probably not the place for this discussion. Can anyone recommend methods for finding ethnic food stores? Looking online is giving me crappy results. I'm in Milwaukee, there's got to be something.
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Mar 12, 2012 18:07
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TheNothingNew posted:This is questionably true, but probably not the place for this discussion. Do you have any neighborhoods that are known for a high population of immigrants? They are the first place to look. Likewise, near high concentrations of ethnic restaurants - I know of three of ours are within spitting distance from a restaurant serving the same kind of food. Makes sense, especially if they're family owned and operated. How are you searching online?
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Mar 12, 2012 18:42
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TheNothingNew posted:This is questionably true, but probably not the place for this discussion. It's usually easiest to find lists of such stores online, than it is to find individual online listings. Local events calendars are among the most fruitful places to search: http://onmilwaukee.com/market/articles/ethnicgrocery2011.html http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/av-clubs-guide-to-milwaukee-ethnic-grocery-stores,30245/ http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/732445 http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Asian+Grocery+Stores&find_loc=Milwaukee%2C+WI etc.
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Mar 12, 2012 19:10
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TheNothingNew posted:This is questionably true, but probably not the place for this discussion. Point taken, I'll go back and delete the non-halaal comment. As for the ethnic food stores, if you have any universities nearby I've noticed ethnic food stores often crop up nearby. Even down in the rural area where I went to college there's a gigantic asia market a few miles away.
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Mar 12, 2012 19:28
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vonnegutt posted:Do you have any neighborhoods that are known for a high population of immigrants? They are the first place to look. Likewise, near high concentrations of ethnic restaurants - I know of three of ours are within spitting distance from a restaurant serving the same kind of food. Makes sense, especially if they're family owned and operated. Wait, are you talking about buying guns or groceries? Either way this is decent advice, just make sure to bring a friend with you.
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Mar 12, 2012 19:42
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bunnielab posted:Wait, are you talking about buying guns or groceries? Either way this is decent advice, just make sure to bring a friend with you. For more content, I just bought a 25lb bag of rice. Really good rice, holy poo poo, and it's going to last me a long-rear end time. Just take $20 to your local Asian grocery and grab a bag.
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Mar 12, 2012 19:51
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Ghost of Reagan Past posted:Why would you need to bring a friend when shopping for groceries? TO carry more rice, duh!
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Mar 13, 2012 00:21
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alucinor posted:It's usually easiest to find lists of such stores online, than it is to find individual online listings. Local events calendars are among the most fruitful places to search: See, what I was getting was mostly the first three of these: basically Whole Foods but with an ethnic take. Mostly chain stores catering to yuppies. That last one is perfect. I've got some places to check out later this week. Dirtbag Diva posted:As for the ethnic food stores, if you have any universities nearby I've noticed ethnic food stores often crop up nearby. Even down in the rural area where I went to college there's a gigantic asia market a few miles away. Hmm. I'd discounted anything too near a college as everything else near a college tends to be terrible and overpriced. Maybe I'll give that little indian head shop a look. Cheers.
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Mar 13, 2012 00:24
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ovanova posted:I know I'm going to get people who disagree with me but if the ethnic grocers are all too far and if you don't have access to a solid grocery store, the sad truth is that leafy greens are a loving bitch if you're poor and cooking on your own, Luckily leafy greens are retardedly easy to grow. And you don't need a garden, just a window and a box.
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Mar 13, 2012 02:00
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quote:Why would you need to bring a friend when shopping for groceries? Also if you have any wholesalers or bulk supermarket you can buy together then split everything in half which will save a bundle. On a general food economy note if you get to know your local butchers and are willing to do some fun cooking ask the butcher for off-cuts or less favoured cuts as these are likely to be cheap. Pig cheeks taste like pork belly but are a fraction of the price, pork rind you can get for free for a cheap snack, trotters are 25p each here and beef heart is a cheap alternative to stewing steak.
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Mar 13, 2012 09:09
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Dangphat posted:Pig cheeks taste like pork belly but are a fraction of the price Wrong, cheeks taste better than belly. Jowl bacon is the best bacon, hands down. It fries up so so nicely with lots of delicious porkfat to do your eggs (and everything else) in. Or its highest calling, making cornbread.
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Mar 14, 2012 19:29
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Dangphat posted:Also if you have any wholesalers or bulk supermarket you can buy together then split everything in half which will save a bundle. Pig/beef cheeks/trotters are excellent for slow cooking, but be aware that offal - liver,kidneys, brain, tripe, etc are loaded with cholesterol and not particularly good for you. They make a nice treat once in a while but they should not form part of your regular weekly diet.
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Mar 15, 2012 02:10
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I know it's been mentioned, but Aldi has gotten me through some tough times (when I had $25 a week, max, to spend on food in a very high cost-of-living area). You can still eat processed microwavable stuff, but it's eminently affordable. Their frozen chicken alfredo dinners are less than $2 each, so I would grab 5 and take one to work for lunch every day. Margarine is cheap, milk is cheap, a box of cereal is $2-$3, eggs are $1.25 or less per dozen, a case of pop is $4, hot dogs + buns are $2-3 for 10. For a few months I lived on cheap diet soda, a 3-egg cheese omelet for breakfast, a frozen dinner for lunch, 2 hot dogs & ketchup for dinner, and cereal for snacks. Not exactly a healthy diet, but it'll sustain anybody. This is good advice for someone who, like me, doesn't have the time or energy (or knowledge/desire) to cook. I was dealing with a pay-cut and post-breakup depression simultaneously. If someone had told me I'd have to prepare beans and chicken stock from scratch or die, I would have starved to death. Because,  .Now that I make enough to spend a bit more on food, I can afford stuff like pita chips and hummus, delicious jarred peaches, balls of fresh mozzarella cheese, and those weird appetizer cookies from Belgium and Italy. Aldi is a loving madhouse, and I will love them forever.
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Mar 16, 2012 05:51
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martyrdumb posted:Not exactly a healthy diet, but it'll sustain anybody. This is good advice for someone who, like me, doesn't have the time or energy (or knowledge/desire) to cook. I was dealing with a pay-cut and post-breakup depression simultaneously. If someone had told me I'd have to prepare beans and chicken stock from scratch or die, I would have starved to death. Because,
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Mar 16, 2012 07:58
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The affordability of certain things like that alfredo dinner is kind of skewed because you're only looking at it at a per portion price. You can get dry fettuccine for $1 a pack (1 lb usually), butter is $2 for 4 sticks, going cheap-ish on the cheese front you can sub an american grana for parm and that'll run ~$6/lb So let's take this recipe for instance: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/The-Original-Fettuccine-Alfredo Those convenience meals are usually very small servings so I'm going to go ahead and say this recipe serves 6 even though realistically this is probably more than those frozen meals provide. So cost analysis: that is 1 pack of pasta at $1, 1/2 lb of butter at $1, and 1/2 pound of cheese at $3 for 6 servings. $5 for 6 servings of real fettuccine alfredo. It is always cheaper to buy whole, raw ingredients and cook for yourself. If this wasn't true, companies selling ready made foods would not make any money. Now the whole thing because you're going through poo poo. I get that. For me, I love to cook because it takes my mind off of my other problems, it is stress relieving. Not trying to be a therapist or anything, but there have been many people in dire straits that turned to food and it turned out to be something they became quite passionate about and eventually very successful with, maybe you should give it a shot before you say that you're too depressed to do anything.Certain things that you mentioned are legitimately cheap and worth buying. For instance, eggs. It is the cheapest source of protein. Buy eggs. A case of pop is not something worth buying. There are many reasons why store bought soda is awful for you and if you're really stretched that thin, $4 can buy you a sack of potatoes, or 3 dozen eggs, or upgrade you from your carcinogenic margarine to real butter. anyway, food for thought. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 11:28 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 09:56
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Our 'totally organic, no GM foodstuffs' household is having itself on if it thinks it can eat well AND save up for a house. Until I met this thread. Thanks to you guys I made American Chop Suey last night and it disappeared. With an all organic pantry and one pack of free range organic chicken mince from the overpriced deli (bought Quick Sale! Due to go bad [but not really] chicken mince!) I made dinner for essentially 7 in a house of 3. 1 teenager scarfed half of it in one go and the other 2 had dinner and lunch the next day for an overall cost of $2 per person per meal!
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Mar 16, 2012 12:00
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Beep Street posted:I once got a whole chicken in Tesco for 20p! Sometimes they do crazy reductions. The day my freezer died a few months ago was a very sad day for me, it was full of uneaten bargains. But now I have a bigger freezer to house more meat so it's not all bad. If you only stopped to think what it took to make 1.2-1.8kg of bird WORTH only 20p, perhaps you'd have to then wonder what went into or more like what was LEFT OUT of that bird to make it so cheap.
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Mar 16, 2012 12:21
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BastardAus posted:If you only stopped to think what it took to make 1.2-1.8kg of bird WORTH only 20p, perhaps you'd have to then wonder what went into or more like what was LEFT OUT of that bird to make it so cheap. In my local supermarket you get deals like that at the end of the day when the foodstuff will have to be thrown out otherwise- it'll have been repriced down from 10 or 20 times the discounted price. VVVV Nice... VVV Pookah fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 13:45
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They have to put a sell by date on it, and when that date rolls around, they reduce the price so they can get something for it as opposed ot throwing it away and getting nothing. I get a lot of cheap beef this way. Like these prime new yorks I stocked up on, for $2.45 a pound:
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Mar 16, 2012 14:15
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GrAviTy84 posted:Now the whole Everything you say is true, esp. in regards to cooking as stress relief. Being able to focus on the basics of being alive - cooking, taking care of yourself with nutritious food and exercise, hygiene and taking pride in your appearance - is really helpful. It really goes much further than anyone would expect in getting your brain right. That said, I think it's a mistake to say that all convenience food is totally without merit. If we're talking strictly finances, having a frozen dinner or two in the freezer can be very helpful to someone on a budget - even if it is slightly more expensive than the raw ingredients. Keeping something handy that can be prepared quickly when you're totally drained can be a $3-$5 expense as opposed to a $10-$20 takeout expense. It's also nice to have some "quick meals" in the back of your head for those nights where you have the energy but not the time to soak some beans or roast a chicken. My quick meals: Breakfast for Dinner: bacon, eggs, toast Steak: cook a steak, saute some mushrooms in butter, make a pan sauce with the drippings from both, eat with a simple green salad or a baked potato (microwaved for quickness and then stuck in the oven for crispness) Simple Pasta: instead of a sauce, make a really quick pasta dish by sauteing cut up Romas with olive oil and adding any any other fresh vegetables, add parmesan, toss with noodles. In the summertime I like adding summer squash and shrimp. Salmon and Vegetables: Sprinkle salmon with any blackening spices (you can make your own or buy these), saute in a pan, add a baked sweet potato or some steamed broccoli.
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Mar 16, 2012 14:55
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GrAviTy84 posted:Now the whole On the different note, eating things that taste good will likely make you happier. There was a year when I lived (cheaply) off canned tuna on lettuce, spaghetti, tofu, fishballs, and bean noodles, and it was one of the most distressing years of my life. Eating good food makes me feel happy. Not necessarily the cooking part, since cleaning does not make me happy. It's just nice to come home, whip up a fast delicious meal, and sit down and eat it know it tastes better than take out and it was much cheaper. Even better if I can con the boyfriend into doing the dishes. On the other hand, cooking for yourself ruins you for eating out. Why the hell would I order chicken picatta or marsala when I know I can make it better and cheaper? etc, etc. I disagree about the soda, but only if it is something you don't drink often. If a can of soda is a pick me up every now and then, get them on sale (12 cans for $2.50) and drink it when you feel like you need it. I love soda, but I only drink a bottle/can/cup when I've had a bad day.
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Mar 16, 2012 16:33
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squigadoo posted:On the other hand, cooking for yourself ruins you for eating out. Why the hell would I order chicken picatta or marsala when I know I can make it better and cheaper? etc, etc. I agree that cooking for yourself will show you just how bad (and overpriced) most restaurant food really is. Soda is a huge money pit for me. I spend way too much on soda, and it's so stupid.
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Mar 16, 2012 17:24
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CzarChasm posted:I agree that cooking for yourself will show you just how bad (and overpriced) most restaurant food really is. Get a sodastream. One canister lasts my bf and I a year, and we drink a litre of (sugar free) soda everyday.
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Mar 16, 2012 17:25
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Rurutia posted:Get a sodastream. One canister lasts my bf and I a year, and we drink a litre of (sugar free) soda everyday. Have you tried mixing up your own flavors from extracts or something like that? Do you use sodastream brand syrups only?
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Mar 16, 2012 17:35
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taqueso posted:Have you tried mixing up your own flavors from extracts or something like that? Do you use sodastream brand syrups only? I never used the sodastream syrups. I love Italian sodas so I always use those syrups (the brand starts with a D or someshit, I buy it online, it's what all the coffee shops used to use for their Italian Sodas). Crystal Lite works decently well too (just not the hunger control soy blend, which causes it to bubble over and you lose all the fizz), although the fizz lasts shorter. Basically you should use a syrup to get the best fizz, but a fine light powder works too.
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Mar 16, 2012 17:44
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That makes the system sound even better, thanks for the info.
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Mar 16, 2012 17:47
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I have a soda stream and we drink about 2L of carbonated water a day, a 60L refill lasts us around a month. About $15 to refill.
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Mar 16, 2012 18:03
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Appl posted:I have a soda stream and we drink about 2L of carbonated water a day, a 60L refill lasts us around a month. About $15 to refill.  We just bought our new one this month and we've had our old one since we moved to Seattle (last March). Maybe we don't drink as much as we thought we did. But I swear we go through one of their bottles at least once a day (if not twice). But yeah, either way it's pretty cheap in the long run.
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Mar 16, 2012 18:42
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The sodastream syrups are incredibly disgusting. Make your own or buy the branded mixes. Coke syrup is <$15/gal, which makes a truly stupendous amount of coke.
Test Pattern fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 18:43
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Rurutia posted:
If you construct your own carbonator it's significantly cheaper in the long run.
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Mar 16, 2012 18:47
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GrAviTy84 posted:If you construct your own carbonator it's significantly cheaper in the long run. Truly intriguing. <:
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Mar 16, 2012 18:49
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it's mostly in the refills. Refilling a 20 lb tank of CO2 costs as much as a 2 lb refill from sodastream.
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Mar 16, 2012 18:54
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This thread has helped me so much. Now if only I could convince my boyfriend to eat beans. I made cuban-style black beans and rice last week and they were delicious, if not as tasty as my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant's were. I found a bunch of ethnic stores in my area. Turns out we have a pretty awesome (if kinda sketchy) asian market a few miles from my work. It's a little on the pricey side for some things, but I found a big packet of five-spice powder for $1.50. My biggest expense is currently meat. My boyfriend's food groups consist of chicken nuggets and other meats, pizza, ketchup, fried potatoes and beer. He'll eat onions if I hide them in hamburger, but will use all sorts of tricks to get out of eating/trying vegetables. Mostly he'll cover his plate in meat and bread and then claim he's full when I point out he hasn't eaten his corn (which he claims to like and I can get in abundance because my grandfather has no sense of scale when planting corn). Essentially I need to hide vegetables in his meat to make the meat last longer and make him eat something that might keep him alive past 30 and keep my food budget below bank-breaking.
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