topic Re: grocery prices in Community Chat

grocery prices

cherry — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:13:21 GMT

We eat out a lot, so I don't grocery shop every week. When I do buy food its only a couple of cloth bags full, or 1/2 full. It always seems like a lot of money.

We went today and I got a loaf of bread, ingredients to make 2 pumpkin pies, 3 boxes of K cups, 2 bananas, some deodorant, and it was around $ 45.

I always feel it's cheaper in the long run to eat out

Re: grocery prices

QVCkitty1 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:18:15 GMT

Last week I remember thinking, when did everything in here cost 3.99 ?? Some things were more of course, but it just seemed like even the small things were 3.99.

Re: grocery prices

151949 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:22:25 GMT

It is certainly not cheaper to eat out, I can buy the groceries to eat at home for breakfast 7 days , dinner 7 days and lunch 4 to 5 days for about $125/week. You would never be able to eat 3 meals a day out for that much. Plus restaurant food is not usually very healthy - they use a ton of fat and salt & sugar in restaurants, plus the portions are much larger than you would eat at home. I can think up a lot of reasons to eat out every day but economy is certainly not one of them. I think people who always eat out do not usually eat 3 meals a day but we do at our house - I cook & serve 3 meals a day every day - except the 1 or 2 times a week we go out for lunch.

Re: grocery prices

Carolm — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:20:10 GMT

I've always felt that for one person it would be less costly to eat out, and that's been my lifestyle. However, I recently read an article that pointed out restaurant meals have risen in cost significantly, and its less expensive to buy meals at the grocery stores. I believe they were referring to prepared meals. Not sure which is less costly, but I also consider the time it takes to shop and prepare the food, and the ultimate waste involved.

Re: grocery prices

Kachina624 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:22:52 GMT

I absolutely do not think it's cheaper to eat out. I can cook four complete meals with meat and vegetables for less than two meals purchased at a fast food restaurant, which would consist of burgers, fries and a soda. The fast food meals contain too much fat and little nutrition. Your recent purchase consisted mostly of non essential grocery items, I. E. K-cups and deodorant, expensive and not nutritious.

Re: grocery prices

ValuSkr — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:23:24 GMT

The K cups are a killer. You could have saved a lot by substituting for regular ground coffee.

Re: grocery prices

cherry — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:23:29 GMT

@151949 wrote:
It is certainly not cheaper to eat out, I can buy the groceries to eat at home for breakfast 7 days , dinner 7 days and lunch 4 to 5 days for about $125/week. You would never be able to eat 3 meals a day out for that much. Plus restaurant food is not usually very healthy - they use a ton of fat and salt & sugar in restaurants, pus the portions are much larger than you would eat at home. I can think up a lot of reasons to eat out every day but economy is certainly not one of them.

We don't eat 3 meals a day. Thats too much food for us. It depends on where you eat, and what you eat. My food comes unsalted and unsugared. The portions are average sized. Maybe Fl does it differently

Re: grocery prices

151949 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:27:14 GMT

@cherry wrote:
@151949 wrote:
It is certainly not cheaper to eat out, I can buy the groceries to eat at home for breakfast 7 days , dinner 7 days and lunch 4 to 5 days for about $125/week. You would never be able to eat 3 meals a day out for that much. Plus restaurant food is not usually very healthy - they use a ton of fat and salt & sugar in restaurants, pus the portions are much larger than you would eat at home. I can think up a lot of reasons to eat out every day but economy is certainly not one of them.
We don't eat 3 meals a day. Thats too much food for us. It depends on where you eat, and what you eat. My food comes unsalted and unsugared. The portions are average sized. Maybe Fl does it differently

Unless you are eating at the hospital cafeteria every day you ARE eating food that is highly seasoned with salt & sugar and full of fat. Did you every watch the chefs cooking on TV? they throw in sugar & salt by the handful.

Re: grocery prices

Annabellethecat66 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:29:04 GMT

@cherry I'm like you, I eat my big meal out 4 to 5 times a week at a restaurant (not fast food). I have a friend (another widow) I eat with. Sometimes she pays, sometimes I pay, it all varies and is very comfortable and easy.

I still have someone shop groceries for me (I do it on the computer and pick it up). My neighbor brings them in for me. I pretty much buy the same things. I just buy what I want as I'm not on a budget (can't take it with you, right)? I buy a lot of canned cat food that adds up.

If I don't use what i buy I give it to a friend of mine and he sometimes gives it to other neighbors or relatives. It doesn't get wasted.

For instance I keep buying 18 eggs in the carton and I've not been eating them. Now I have 3 cartons of 18 eggs that I'll give him. I have weird eating habits and won't eat anything that's very old. Just me and the way I was raised.

It all gets eaten one way or another. When you have cats, between the food and the litter it adds to the cost of groceries. I sometimes buy it at the pet store but surprisingly sometimes the grocery store is cheaper.

When my family was young and my husband was alive I enjoyed cooking, now it's boring and not worth the trouble. My friend says the same thing.

Re: grocery prices

cherry — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:31:06 GMT

@151949 wrote:
@cherry wrote:
@151949 wrote:
It is certainly not cheaper to eat out, I can buy the groceries to eat at home for breakfast 7 days , dinner 7 days and lunch 4 to 5 days for about $125/week. You would never be able to eat 3 meals a day out for that much. Plus restaurant food is not usually very healthy - they use a ton of fat and salt & sugar in restaurants, pus the portions are much larger than you would eat at home. I can think up a lot of reasons to eat out every day but economy is certainly not one of them.
We don't eat 3 meals a day. Thats too much food for us. It depends on where you eat, and what you eat. My food comes unsalted and unsugared. The portions are average sized. Maybe Fl does it differently
Unless you are eating at the hospital cafeteria every day you ARE eating food that is highly seasoned with salt & sugar and full of fat. Did you every watch the chefs cooking on TV? they throw in sugar & salt by the handful.

WE don't get seasoned food. I am smart enough to tell when there is salt and pepper in something . I don't get sweet things either

I think you like to set yourself as the authority on everything and everyone

Re: grocery prices

spix — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:32:40 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
The K cups are a killer. You could have saved a lot by substituting for regular ground coffee.

@ValuSkr I won't pay more than 50 cents per k cup, & usually much, much, less, watch for sales, some off brands, just have to try them, I've found many that I really like, they're the large boxes, 80 k cups, even Menards has them on sale often.

Re: grocery prices

esmeraldagooch — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:39:03 GMT

I was buying two 100 pack of K cups per month at Costco. I decided to buy the refillable K cups and use the coffee of my choice. I'm saving 60.00 a month.

Re: grocery prices

Noel7 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:46:56 GMT

Considering that most Americans throw out or waste a lot of food (many studies on that) @cherry makes a good point. She might indeed be saving money. More importantly, it must be easier for her and her husband, saving time shopping at various stores and the money for gas and wear and tear on her car.

Re: grocery prices

Beth-QVC — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:46:50 GMT

This post has been removed by QVC because it is argumentative

Re: grocery prices

scatcat — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:47:31 GMT

It all depends on where you eat out ($1 menu vs steak house) and how you grocery shop (coupons, Aldi vs Whole Foods etc). So really hard to generalize on this topic.

Re: grocery prices

dex — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:47:50 GMT

@spix the best kcup deals are at Costco if you have a membership.I cook all of our food and I know that it is cheaper than eating out.I do agree though if cooking for one it can become boring and too messy to make healthy food.If I didn't have such a cleanliness phobia I would probably choose to eat out as I am sick of cooking.

Re: grocery prices

Noel7 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:54:24 GMT

Americans end up throwing out about one-quarter of the food they buy and about 97 percent of that waste ends up in landfills, contributing to greenhouse emissions. At the same time, there are nearly 50 million food-insecure Americans who are going without.

**********************

There is a lot of startling info online about the American waste of food.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/food-waste-strategies-in-households_us_5632588fe4b00aa54a4d2e88

Re: grocery prices

Noel7 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:58:51 GMT

@scatcat wrote:
It all depends on where you eat out ($1 menu vs steak house) and how you grocery shop (coupons, Aldi vs Whole Foods etc). So really hard to generalize on this topic.

********************************

I agree. Anyone who believes all restaurant food is just about poison for us must be eating at the wrong places.

There has been a big movement for clean food at various restaurants.

And being a nurse or an MD doesn't guarantee knowledge of nutrition, in fact, it's usually lacking.

Re: grocery prices

Goldengate8361 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 20:01:39 GMT

If you are a low carb eater - as I am - its almost imperative to eat at home. I can have a thick juicy steak at home (bought at Costco) for about the same price as fast food. The quality of food is so much better when you eat at home! It's a no-bainer for me; I save money, time, and eat much better by buying my Costco food and eating at home. (yes; I cook for one person - me).

Re: grocery prices

151949 — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 20:10:04 GMT

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
If you are a low carb eater - as I am - its almost imperative to eat at home. I can have a thick juicy steak at home (bought at Costco) for about the same price as fast food. The quality of food is so much better when you eat at home! It's a no-bainer for me; I save money, time, and eat much better by buying my Costco food and eating at home. (yes; I cook for one person - me).

We eat lunch out once or twice a week mostly because we go with friends and we enjoy the social aspect. Among our peers we usually prefer to eat lunch out vs dinner because it is less expensive and we prefer to be at home in the evenings. When we have lunch out then we usually consider that our main meal for the day and just have soup or a sandwich for dinner. Usually a dinner "out" for us is because we are invited to someone's house for dinner, or we go to a party.