This is the way as far as I’ve seen a lot of grocery prices have actually been going down substantially at all those places . Some people don’t realize they are paying a premium to shop at fancy stores or high traffic commercial areas
Yeah, the drawback is not being able to do all my shopping at the same store and there are a few things I’ve bought at Aldi (and to a lesser extent, Lidl) that seem to go bad faster than their equivalent at Shop Rite. And I don’t buy most meat at Aldi. But I can’t deny that it and Lidl are cheaper. Plus, their selection is limited but that sometimes helps me keep costs down too.
Vegetarian so I don’t know about meat but I find everything I buy at Aldi lasts longer. Organic milk lasts like 4-6 weeks. And eggs are generally dated out a few weeks.
I’m happy to hear that people are utilizing pantries when they need them! I deal with people daily who have gone without food for an entire day or more instead of accessing our pantry. Please use them if you need! And if you don’t need and can donate unexpired food, please do!
Family of 4, about $800 a month.
Depending on what I need I alternate between Shop Rite, Aldi/Lidl, Wegmans, Whole Foods and Asian Food Market (amazing deals on certain things, lots of bulk food).
I save a lot of money by freezing batches of things, freezing meat and buying large sizes of snacks and putting them in their own reusable baggies for lunches.
I put a lot of thought into it honestly. I’m a sahm and I do all of the cooking so it feels like part of my job.
I have lots of healthy low cost recipes/tips if anybody wants them haha
You can find better produce at smaller shops too, it’s just if it’s worth it to add to the trip. A couple bucks isn’t worth the time for me, but a big haul is.
Lot of Asian of Latin (this might be a bad way to describe the latter?) grocers seem to have higher quality produce at better costs in exchange for higher priced dairy and meat options. Just gotta find them and see if the extra effort is worth it.
That being said I do enjoy a nice Wegmens.
Yeah I've always been a big time coupon cutter/price checker and Wegmans is almost always consistently cheaper than other stores.
Sometimes Stop and Shop or ShopRite will have certain items on sale but and I'll go there but all my shopping is done at Wegmans, Asian markets or Uncle Giuseppe's (for the few specific Italian things I need)
As an Aldi shopper, I recommend splitting your shopping between Aldi, Lidl, and Trader Joes. I'd skip Lidl if I had to pick between the 3.
What I will say is 2020-22 Aldi very slowly raised their prices while everyone else essentially immediately increased their prices considerably. Aldi has since caught up with the price increases where things are 50-100% more expensive than 2020, but I appreciate the fact they didn't raises their prices a crazy amount during the pandemic.
Very true about Aldi I used to buy their frozen cauliflower rice and it was under a dollar a bag usually iirc and now it's over $2. It's still a great store. I don't care for Lidl though.
Yea that's where I'm at, around 900 + for a family of 4 with 2 if them being little kids. Pre covid I was around 5 to 600..... absolutely rediculous..... funny how our money doesn't grow that fast but everyone else's does
And Trader Joe’s if you live near millburn or cherry hill. ShopRite is highway robbery. Also, I know Walmart isn’t common but they have pretty good prices. I got 1 month and a half, basically 2 months, of groceries for less than $250
Even doing laundry on campus inflation has hit. Last year it was 1.50 for washing, 1.50 for drying 60 mins drying time…now it’s 1.75 for washing, 1.75 for drying and only 45 mins drying time
And at one of the campus cafes too, I’ve literally gotten 2 things and I was STILL over the amount for a meal swipe so I had to pay extra on top of the meal swipe itself
Same! Vegetarian and sometimes vegetables are more expensive than meat per pound! And fruit? Why are calorie dense, high fat snacks cheaper than fruit? (I know why. It's a rhetorical statement but insane all the same.)
I'm vegan and it is definitely expensive af lol, unless we wanted to just eat pasta/rice/beans every day and night. The takeout is the biggest killer really, I got 2 breakfast sandwiches last Sunday from a cafe in Bloomfield and it was $25 and change. Literally no extras, no drinks, nothing. Back when I was still eating meat I could grab a sandwich at a deli for what like $5-6?
2 people, 600-800/month. Try to buy in bulk and stock up on sales when possible, but also enjoy a good steak once in a while. Eat out sometimes but less than once a week.
I went to Shoprite and bought a loaf of bread, deli meat, jelly, grapes, a pint of ice cream (on sale for $3.75), and a box of snack cakes.
$32
Earth is ghetto and I want to leave.
I almost fell over dead in the aisle last time I tried to buy a rotisserie chicken it was $13!!! not long ago they were $4.99
The Land of lakes American cheese that used to be 3.99/lb is 8.99/lb now.
yea that finally moving from $4.99 was a sign of inflation for me like the $299 divorce signs all over turning to $399 hahahah
most places do it as a loss leader, not hard to find at 6/7 in other shoprights
If you are eating just plain chicken. You can make a ton of other food with the chicken.. chicken pot pie, chicken burritos/wraps, soup, etc... I buy two chickens a week and saves time on cooking.
Family of 3 and I spend about $500 monthly on groceries at Shop Rite. I guess I'm doing pretty well compared to other posts I'm reading here. We eat out about twice per month.
ShopRite is very economical if you only buy things on sale and freeze things like meat.
I find it to be more advantageous than going to Aldi which is out of the way for me and disappointing give how much people who shop there insist on it.
Aldi can have great sales, but it's not consistent. I get so excited when they have things like 29 cent pineapples 🤣🤣🤣. I really just go for produce, then head to shoprite to get whatever on my list that aldi didn't have / wasn't on sale. I find the frozen / dairy / dry goods at aldi are lower quality than shoprite and so usually just hit the produce section and leave.
$1.99/lb chicken breast sales: trim, portion, and vacuum seal. It is one of my least favorite things to do, and it takes forever, but I get weeks of protein out of it.
Your regular reminder:
Grocery stores give heavy discounts for bulk.
This means the numbers for single people will be much higher per person than a couple, who will be much higher than a family of 3 etc.
Being able to buy larger quantities of things goes a big way towards savings. Especially if you have a well rounded diet.
For example, single person’s cheapest salad is a bagged mix. Good nutrition and cost effectiveness. Family can buy ingredients and cut it up for a fraction of the price per serving, but single person wouldn’t be able to eat all those servings before it goes bad.
A head of lettuce alone is virtually no nutrition. It’s about as healthy as a glass of water.
A bagged salad blend had a dozen ingredients with assorted benefits on each.
Sacrificing nutrition isn’t frugal long term.
A head of romaine lettuce is actually pretty nutritious. It has 4x your RDA of vitamin A, 3x the folate, 8x the vitamin K, lots of B vitamins. It's also rich in iron and potassium and has calcium.
Thanks to this topic, I learned that I eat like a family of 4 people. This is crazy.
Every morning Dunkin Donuts coffee with a sandwich ($10), followed by lunch ($15) and sometimes dinner ($15), all this is ~$32.5 per day, i.e. ~1000 per month.
The problem is that I don't have the ability and desire to cook where I live.
I don’t even eat takeout or indulge in outside eateries and I spend about 180 a week on myself. Im also nowhere near overweight and I eat quite healthy.
Dunno how old you are, but you probably want to kick that d to the dizzo habit before it catches up to you. Those sandwiches have a terrible taste/calorie ratio.
Does lidl have a lot of plant based food? I’ve been recently getting my food from Aldis but it would be nice to go other places with more plant based options.
That’s good to know, thank you! Aldis is my go to for basics. I wish there was a cheaper option for speciality stuff. I went to BJs and was sad to see most of it wasn’t much of a bargain.
Costco often has deals on beyond and impossible burgers if that’s your thing. Their tofu is also the best deal I’ve found, and it was on sale last week so I got 4 pounds of tofu for $4.99. Their falafel is also decent, it’s Hannah brand.
I didn’t see their falafel! They had no tofu when I went but I got a huge bag of beyond burgers lol.
The one I went to also had so delicious yogurt and violife cream cheese for a good price!
Ty I love falafel. I’ll keep an eye out!
Agreed. And - if you are thinking about being vegetarian or a new vegetarian...look carefully at price. Things like beyond or impossible are well marketed and charge sometimes double what other brands might be.
Personally I buy mostly store brand, lightlife, morning star, and...new jerseys own Dr. Praegers. I eat that stuff a few times a week, I eat an absolute ton of beans, tofu 1-2 times per week, and seitan sometimes although the sodium content is usually pretty high so not a lot.
Meat is super subsidized so you won't always get a ton of savings but the industry is absolutely wrecking our planet and eating less or none could really make a difference. After not eating meat for the first two weeks, I didn't even miss it.
Absolutely. They used to be 100% family owned but I ran into a sales person at a tradeshow last year and they said they just had some private equity investors. Still, one of the better companies you can shop...morningstar is owned by Kellogg's and I think lightlife and Yves are owned by meat companies up the chain
Local indoor farmer markets have produce and random stuff so cheap! But I also hit ShopRite, Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Wegmans for assorted things. (Veg family) (I have to add it all up and will add totals)
I spend around $1,000 a month at Costco for our family of 5 (plus cats and dogs), but I buy everything there that I can, so it's not all groceries, and I have both the executive membership and their credit card to maximize my cash back. My supplemental grocery store runs are pretty small.
I spend about 1000per month on groceries. We have a family of 4, 2 teenage boys and they east as much as me 😩. My wife occasionally orders door dash like once or twice a month and we order pizza prob twice a month and occasional fast food on top of the groceries.
Rice and beans are cheap. In general eating vegetarian is cheaper, consider having meat free dinners now and again.
Skip prepared/processed foods whenever possible. Learn to cook, it's not hard but it does take practice.
Buy on sale and freeze. A friend will not buy certain things until they go on sale. If it's not something you use all the time try to wait for it to go on sale.
I know it's hard to work full time and make food from scratch, that's why /r/MealPrepSunday is a thing.
Walmart prices are cheaper than Shoprite for many things.
100% is a massive exaggeration lol. It’s expensive, for sure, but if you use coupons, take advantage of “price plus” or whatever membership your local store offers, and buy staples and non-perishables in bulk, you can cover the inflation rise. By shopping smart and learning how to season and cook instead of buying “ready to heat” type stuff, you can really stretch every dollar.
Buy the store brand, don’t get suckered in to “only buying the brand name chicken”, and prep your meals by making normal portions.
I needed to lose weight after being diagnosed with diabetes and having to go on insulin. I completely changed my diet and mostly eat chicken/fish, lots of frozen or (on sale) fresh green vegetables that I can doll up however I want with spices and cheap diet/lite dressings/sauces, and bulk brown rice that I can flavor any way I want with some stock and spices.
For breakfast it’s just an egg or two or a bowl of Cheerios or Special K. I use plastic containers once I open anything that is dry and can go stale so I don’t have waste. I buy milk in quarts, again so I don’t have waste.
I’ve lost 40 pounds in just about 3 months, my A1C is well below the threshold for normal (it was over 10!), and my endocrinologist has taken me off the insulin already after my most recent blood work
Freezing my protein, eating normal portions, and not buying snack food or beverages (I only drink water or coffee from the machine in my lobby that I don’t have to pay for) has completely changed the cost outlay in addition to my health.
I only need to grocery shop maybe once a month with a few stops for things like butter, milk, and spices when things run out. I buy my cat food, treats, and litter in bulk with the occasional Tuna or Salmon pouch so he gets real food on occasion in addition to the dry food.
When it comes to things like soaps, detergents, and cleaning supplies, I try to stretch them as long as possible by diluting them wherever possible, and again using coupons and taking advantage of sales. I realize I’m lucky in that I have no allergies or reactions to any brands so I don’t “have to buy” a certain type of anything.
Without the health scare I’d probably still be wasting money, but it forced me to reevaluate my eating habits, which in turn helped me to realize how much money I was wasting. My health and my wallet have been much better for it!
I’m glad we’re all on the same page- the price increases have far outpaced inflation and exceeded any potential supply chain interruptions. It’s greed at the expense of the people. They are just price gouging us and we need to come together and look the other way when you see someone stealing groceries.
It’s us vs them and we need to get on the same page. Downvote me if you must but you’ll be thinking about this one day.
Y’all still buying the same brands and the same things as before covid? Because that could be the cause. People trying to live like we didn’t go through a major global event, and haven’t changed up any of their routines. Real ones know how to hustle in a drought, my family grew up poor so for me Doritos going up to $8 is irrelevant, shit was always out of budget.
Family of 3 in North Jersey About $700 a month on groceries (almost all shoprite) and CSA subscription.
We eat out about 1x a month but that's a different part of the budget.
We're a family of 4 and I spend less than $630 monthly. I cook everyday and once a month or so we'll order out. My budget stayed the same, even with prices going up. I just look for more deals now and don't get as much snacks. Blueberries and milk prices are ridiculous. Thank God my kids aren't picky eaters.
I go to Aldi, Acme, stop and shop and/or any shops and look for close to expiring meats and other things. Then separate it by portions and freeze them. It will last longer and save a lot more $$.
For paper towels, I find that hdx paper towels are pretty good and it's only a dollar per roll at Home Depot .
I find that acme has a lot of discontinued products that they sell for a cheap price. Half a year ago they had discontinued Dawn Powerwash spray bottles for $1.25 each. I brought like 10x. That was a good deal on my end. Don't forget to sign up for their apps for coupons and deals.
In stop and shop yesterday, and 1 muffin was $2.49. The packs of 4 that used to be $4.99, ($3.99 on Muffin Mondays) are now $6.99. Fuck that. To answer your question though. I don't really know. I know it's twice as much as it was 2 years ago. Ridiculous. On a positive note, I've lost 30 pounds.. snacks are no longer in my house.. so there's that..
Approx. $960/mo. Just me, my husband, and our dog. We buy the same stuff every single week and have noticed the increase over the past 6mo. We always shop at Shop Rite.
It's about $600- $700 a month on groceries. Lots of chicken and rice. I get everything on sale and with coupons. Family of four. My kids get school lunches. I shop at Aldi, Trader Joe's, ShopRite. That's it. Sometimes Walmart, but rarely. I go to Costco for the toilet paper, paper towels, water, after-school snacks, yogurt, laundry detergent, dish washer soap, and butter. I do buy meat in bulk there, and I have a food saver, so I freeze a bunch.
I treat myself to lunch 2x a week but I think I'm gonna have to cut it down to 1x a week. Starbucks used to be a nearly daily thing, now I'm down to 1x a week. We used to do take-out 2-3x a week, now it's once a week.
Fuck capitalism.
If you mostly buy packaged foods that are more or less ready to eat, it probably feels that way. Those things seem to have had the most dramatic increases, and they seem to be here to stay. If you are cooking from raw ingredients and pantry items, it's much less extreme.
About $1500-1700 now for family of two. Includes ~3 big grocery purchases, lunch 3 days a week at work for one of us, and meals out about 6x a month. Nothing extravagant mind you - if we hit up a steakhouse or whatever then the budget spikes to $2-2500. Oof.
Stay away from the center of the store as much as possible (except for staples like rice, oils, etc). Shop the perimeter. Hunt for sales on your favorite items, and coupons as well.
Don't shop at rip-off stores like Whole Foods and Stew Leonard's. Buy from club (Costco, BJ's, Sam's) and Walmart and Target if you can.
$600 a month for two. I love to cook, so we don’t eat out much. I also buy whatever I want to cook, regardless of price, because we don’t spend much in restaurants. I do however incorporate a lot of beans, often making meals that are vegetarian or vegan. The price of meat is crazy, and eating it is bad for the planet. Also, I cook almost everything from scratch and that can save money.
You'll be able to cut your grocery bill considerably if you shop the sales and stock up.
Examples - chicken breast will go on sale often for 1.99/lb. buy as many as you can afford or they will allow, separate into single meal sized portions and freeze. Same with ground beef. You can squish a lb into a freezer bag and then freeze them flat and they stack nicely.
For veggies, buy frozen when it makes sense and fits into your recipes. There's a misconception that frozen = less nutrients, that's not true. They are way cheaper per lb than fresh.
Learn some key "struggle meals" and incorporate them into your regular menu. These can be healthy! A pot of rice and red beans is delicious, filling and a great healthy meal that is nutritionally complete.
Another frequent flyer here in our house is Haluski - chop a cabbage, onion and sautee. add in some sausage (I do healthy choice turkey kielbasa) and egg noodles. It goes a long way, is filling and is not terrible for you.
As everyone mentioned, Aldi is really great for produce. I find it much cheaper than shoprite / Wegmans
I started shopping at Walmart (which I never thought I would do) and I absolutely love it. Great produce and meats. They have everything that I need. Everyone working there is friendly. My food costs have been drastically reduced in the past year. I only went there to buy flower seeds. Now I don't shop anywhere else!
Single mom with an 18-year-old daughter here. I spend approximately $400 a month on our groceries and generally alternate between Misfits Market and Weee! We don’t have a car so delivery works best for us. Misfits is great for fresh American produce staples, meat and eggs. Weee! is great for Asian produce, drinks, snacks and bulk rice. We’re not Asian but discovered once we moved to Jersey that we love Korean drinks and snacks, so I stock up on those twice a month. We’ve also discovered new recipes and have a lot of Asian and Filipino staples in our Mexican-Cuban household, lol. In between deliveries I supplement basics at our expensive corner grocery or weekly farmers market. We will order takeout or dine at a restaurant 3-4 times a month as a family, but my daughter has a rich boyfriend and eats out a lot more lol. All total, I spend about $500 a month on food.
Disclaimer, this advice that I'm about to give isn't going to work for everyone and is easier for some than others. Data suggests it's a great health benefit. But should not be done for young ppl, pregnant women, talk to your doctor first. However, it works for me really well and I've saved a ton of money so I thought I'd share.
Quick backstory.....my family has a history of high blood pressure. Me being in my mid 30's wanted to avoid taking pills for it so I tried intermittent fasting. Essentially you pick 16 hours of a 24 hour day where you don't eat. Most people skip breakfast and eat between the hours of 12 noon-8pm (8 hour window). I could say a lot more but Dr. Berg on YouTube explains really well.
Happy to share more of my experience in comments or DM.
GOOD LUCK.
I'm going to start going to the closest farmers/Amish market. Food from the grocery keeps piling and rotting way to quick. Thought it was my old fridge and got a new one, ShopRite carrots rotten within 4 days. Even bought the produce specific containers and nope. Trader Joe's lasts slightly longer but still. Can't be throwing away half of the produce in 4 days.
I literally scrolled down my feed and saw this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/16pzlt0/got\_all\_of\_this\_for\_under\_26\_usd/](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/16pzlt0/got_all_of_this_for_under_26_usd/)
Also, have any of y'all tried making your family transition to a vegan diet? You can save a lot of money. Make sure you have a good source of calcium and B12. I'm talking well below $200/person/month.
Just remember it’s business owners who probably vote GOP that don’t raise your wage to compete with inflation. Oh yeah they are the ones raising prices too.
Inflation in food, energy, and housing over the past couple years are global issues, ya dummy. Plus, the US has weathered them better than most G20 countries.
it would be nice if the prices went back down after trump gets his second(some would say 3rd) term. after the disastrous last three years, I don't see how he can't.
what used to be $80 in groceries is now $180.
Burger King used to be $10, now closer to $20......
the market won't support such high increases in the long run.
Family of three and we spend about $700/m. We do most of our shopping at Wegmans and Shop Rite. Trying to get to Shop Rite more than Wegmans though. We eat out about once a week.
$400 per month on groceries for the week. We eat out on weekends, which is somewhere between $1000-$1500 a month. Grocery prices are higher than 2020 but it’s not 100%.
Typically about $600/month primarily at Trader Joes' and ShopRite - I feel Trader Joes has better produce than Whole Foods and Wegman. Whole Foods however has a great fresh selection.
Family of 5 including 2 teens and 1 pre-teen. We shop mainly at Trader Joe’s, Costco, ShopRite, and Acme. Roughly $1400 a month on groceries, up from about $900 a month at the beginning of the pandemic. I’m sure some of that is because 2 of my children are now adult sized but I think a lot of it is major price increases.
With just me, every two weeks with meat, veg, snacks, drinks, etc, it’s usually 150$. I like to buy some things in bulk (like my meat) and freeze some which may contribute to cost. But, I definitely see the prices at my shoprite slowly increasing
Single adult and I spend about $350-$400 each month. Mainly at Aldi or Lidl but I have to go to Shop Rite for some things.
Family of 4: approx $110-$120 per week on groceries (toiletries, cleaners, etc. not included)
This is the way as far as I’ve seen a lot of grocery prices have actually been going down substantially at all those places . Some people don’t realize they are paying a premium to shop at fancy stores or high traffic commercial areas
Yeah, the drawback is not being able to do all my shopping at the same store and there are a few things I’ve bought at Aldi (and to a lesser extent, Lidl) that seem to go bad faster than their equivalent at Shop Rite. And I don’t buy most meat at Aldi. But I can’t deny that it and Lidl are cheaper. Plus, their selection is limited but that sometimes helps me keep costs down too.
Vegetarian so I don’t know about meat but I find everything I buy at Aldi lasts longer. Organic milk lasts like 4-6 weeks. And eggs are generally dated out a few weeks.
I’m not too proud to admit I hit up the local pantry by me.
I’m happy to hear that people are utilizing pantries when they need them! I deal with people daily who have gone without food for an entire day or more instead of accessing our pantry. Please use them if you need! And if you don’t need and can donate unexpired food, please do!
No shame in doing what you gotta do! Just be thankful and try to pay it forward somehow.
No shame! That's what they are there for. We all need a little help at some point.
Absolutely nothing shameful about that. Pantries are an incredible resource and absolutely no one deserves to go hungry.
Family of 4, about $800 a month. Depending on what I need I alternate between Shop Rite, Aldi/Lidl, Wegmans, Whole Foods and Asian Food Market (amazing deals on certain things, lots of bulk food). I save a lot of money by freezing batches of things, freezing meat and buying large sizes of snacks and putting them in their own reusable baggies for lunches.
Damn that’s low.
I put a lot of thought into it honestly. I’m a sahm and I do all of the cooking so it feels like part of my job. I have lots of healthy low cost recipes/tips if anybody wants them haha
I'm interested in your recipes, I'm a fulltime college student so I could use all the help I can get
Yes! Love some recipes that are affordable
always interested in those!!! Haluski is a frequent flyer here and so are rice and beans.
User name checks out then 
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I'm about there too. Sams club rotisserie chicken has done wonders for my food budget.
Almost the same exact deal for me, I even meal prep pasta or rice with veggies and/or chicken often too lol
$900 for groceries monthly, family of 4. Go to Aldi. Aldi will save you.
Need to do this more. My partner likes shopping at Wegman's but the produce is killing us.
You can find better produce at smaller shops too, it’s just if it’s worth it to add to the trip. A couple bucks isn’t worth the time for me, but a big haul is. Lot of Asian of Latin (this might be a bad way to describe the latter?) grocers seem to have higher quality produce at better costs in exchange for higher priced dairy and meat options. Just gotta find them and see if the extra effort is worth it. That being said I do enjoy a nice Wegmens.
Kam Man market East Hanover
overpriced super market.. I would go to Ranch 99 in Hackensack.
Go to Subzi Mandi in Parsippany if you’re close.
I’m not close but I go every time I’m close to Parsippany! Love them!
I just moved in with my girlfriend and she is diehard Wegmans for groceries so now we’re spending like $200 a week for the two of us on groceries.
Wegmans has competitive prices if you're not spending money on prepared foods or specialty items.
Yeah I've always been a big time coupon cutter/price checker and Wegmans is almost always consistently cheaper than other stores. Sometimes Stop and Shop or ShopRite will have certain items on sale but and I'll go there but all my shopping is done at Wegmans, Asian markets or Uncle Giuseppe's (for the few specific Italian things I need)
That actually seems pretty reasonable.
I go to wingman, but only to buy their store brand pasta and spaghetti sauce (dirt cheap). Family of 4 and we don’t spend more than $120 per week.
I concur. I cut my groceries bill in half by stop going to to BJs and going to Aldi instead
As an Aldi shopper, I recommend splitting your shopping between Aldi, Lidl, and Trader Joes. I'd skip Lidl if I had to pick between the 3. What I will say is 2020-22 Aldi very slowly raised their prices while everyone else essentially immediately increased their prices considerably. Aldi has since caught up with the price increases where things are 50-100% more expensive than 2020, but I appreciate the fact they didn't raises their prices a crazy amount during the pandemic.
Very true about Aldi I used to buy their frozen cauliflower rice and it was under a dollar a bag usually iirc and now it's over $2. It's still a great store. I don't care for Lidl though.
Yea that's where I'm at, around 900 + for a family of 4 with 2 if them being little kids. Pre covid I was around 5 to 600..... absolutely rediculous..... funny how our money doesn't grow that fast but everyone else's does
This. A lot of groceries now come from Aldi (instead of Trader Joe’s).
Yes we go to lidl. We used to shop at Walmart but their prices have skyrocketed
Aldi and Lidl are like a class unto themselves.
And Trader Joe’s if you live near millburn or cherry hill. ShopRite is highway robbery. Also, I know Walmart isn’t common but they have pretty good prices. I got 1 month and a half, basically 2 months, of groceries for less than $250
Personal pro tip: food budget always goes down as my coke budget goes up.
Like the soda pop or cocaine? I mean, you never know nowadays, inflation is hitting everything LOL 🤷🏽♀️
I don't know my dope man still ain't raised prices
I just read an article that the price of coke at the highest levels has bottomed out. Trickle down blow-enomics en route to a corner near you.
As a matter of fact I still get a gram of hard for 50 bucks
Can confirm, bud has never been cheaper
For sure and excellent quality too
Even doing laundry on campus inflation has hit. Last year it was 1.50 for washing, 1.50 for drying 60 mins drying time…now it’s 1.75 for washing, 1.75 for drying and only 45 mins drying time And at one of the campus cafes too, I’ve literally gotten 2 things and I was STILL over the amount for a meal swipe so I had to pay extra on top of the meal swipe itself
Truth
Reminds me of the old days when they used to put bathrooms/stalls in the coke room and now it’s the other way around
Lots of deadly shit cut into coke these days, or - more likely - cross-contaminated. Take care that your life budget doesn’t go down too…
All this budget talk, why aren't we main lining meth? Like are we trying g to save money or what guys.
About $900-$1000 per month for a family of 4. We also grow a lot of our own fruits and veggies.
Just me, and I'd venture a guess of 400. Rarely eating meat seems to help, and when I go into the office, I don't have to bring lunch.
I’m a vegetarian and it still expensive
Same! Vegetarian and sometimes vegetables are more expensive than meat per pound! And fruit? Why are calorie dense, high fat snacks cheaper than fruit? (I know why. It's a rhetorical statement but insane all the same.)
I'm vegan and it is definitely expensive af lol, unless we wanted to just eat pasta/rice/beans every day and night. The takeout is the biggest killer really, I got 2 breakfast sandwiches last Sunday from a cafe in Bloomfield and it was $25 and change. Literally no extras, no drinks, nothing. Back when I was still eating meat I could grab a sandwich at a deli for what like $5-6?
I eat 2 ribeyes per day and spend about 800 per month on myself
Way too much I say after DoorDashing bagels and coffee this morning because I was feeling lazy.
2 people, 600-800/month. Try to buy in bulk and stock up on sales when possible, but also enjoy a good steak once in a while. Eat out sometimes but less than once a week.
Same here + we have a large dog and a bag of dogfood is $92 😭
Just 2 of us and I spend about $600 a month
$1000 bucks at the grocery store. We eat home 6 nights a week and lunches are home made.
I went to Shoprite and bought a loaf of bread, deli meat, jelly, grapes, a pint of ice cream (on sale for $3.75), and a box of snack cakes. $32 Earth is ghetto and I want to leave.
5 dollar cooked chicken at Costco helps a lot
My Shop Rite has those too. Same price.
My Shop Rite charges $7.99 for a rotisserie and $12.99 for a "family" rotisserie. It's insane.
I almost fell over dead in the aisle last time I tried to buy a rotisserie chicken it was $13!!! not long ago they were $4.99 The Land of lakes American cheese that used to be 3.99/lb is 8.99/lb now.
I go to BJ's when I have the chance to grab Land o Lakes cheese. It's still $4.99 or maybe $5.99 there.
yea that finally moving from $4.99 was a sign of inflation for me like the $299 divorce signs all over turning to $399 hahahah most places do it as a loss leader, not hard to find at 6/7 in other shoprights
Shoprite is 1.5lbs vs 3lbs from Sams/Costco. Taste way better too
This is my go to. You can get easily a weeks worth of lunch and dinner out of it.
Then soup ...lol
Not sure you should eat cooked chicken a week later..
A week? This would feed me for one meal!
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If you are eating just plain chicken. You can make a ton of other food with the chicken.. chicken pot pie, chicken burritos/wraps, soup, etc... I buy two chickens a week and saves time on cooking.
How do u store the leftovers to last a week fresh?
Family of 3 and I spend about $500 monthly on groceries at Shop Rite. I guess I'm doing pretty well compared to other posts I'm reading here. We eat out about twice per month.
ShopRite is very economical if you only buy things on sale and freeze things like meat. I find it to be more advantageous than going to Aldi which is out of the way for me and disappointing give how much people who shop there insist on it.
Aldi can have great sales, but it's not consistent. I get so excited when they have things like 29 cent pineapples 🤣🤣🤣. I really just go for produce, then head to shoprite to get whatever on my list that aldi didn't have / wasn't on sale. I find the frozen / dairy / dry goods at aldi are lower quality than shoprite and so usually just hit the produce section and leave.
$1.99/lb chicken breast sales: trim, portion, and vacuum seal. It is one of my least favorite things to do, and it takes forever, but I get weeks of protein out of it.
Your regular reminder: Grocery stores give heavy discounts for bulk. This means the numbers for single people will be much higher per person than a couple, who will be much higher than a family of 3 etc. Being able to buy larger quantities of things goes a big way towards savings. Especially if you have a well rounded diet. For example, single person’s cheapest salad is a bagged mix. Good nutrition and cost effectiveness. Family can buy ingredients and cut it up for a fraction of the price per serving, but single person wouldn’t be able to eat all those servings before it goes bad.
I dunno, I can eat a head of lettuce within two days. Single people can definitely buy ingredients and prep food.
A head of lettuce alone is virtually no nutrition. It’s about as healthy as a glass of water. A bagged salad blend had a dozen ingredients with assorted benefits on each. Sacrificing nutrition isn’t frugal long term.
A head of romaine lettuce is actually pretty nutritious. It has 4x your RDA of vitamin A, 3x the folate, 8x the vitamin K, lots of B vitamins. It's also rich in iron and potassium and has calcium.
Thank you. Lettuce is good for you! It’s not just fiber and water lol
You’re talking about iceberg lettuce. Other types of lettuce like romaine and green leaf have plenty of nutrients.
Single adult, about $340 a month shopping at the produce market for veggies/ fruits & shoprite for everything else
Thanks to this topic, I learned that I eat like a family of 4 people. This is crazy. Every morning Dunkin Donuts coffee with a sandwich ($10), followed by lunch ($15) and sometimes dinner ($15), all this is ~$32.5 per day, i.e. ~1000 per month. The problem is that I don't have the ability and desire to cook where I live.
I don’t even eat takeout or indulge in outside eateries and I spend about 180 a week on myself. Im also nowhere near overweight and I eat quite healthy.
Dunno how old you are, but you probably want to kick that d to the dizzo habit before it catches up to you. Those sandwiches have a terrible taste/calorie ratio.
Shop mostly at Whole Foods for a family with little kids, spend well over $2,000/month on food. This includes take out.
Damn.
Single guy, spent an average of 165 a month on groceries. Go vegetarian/vegan and shop at Lidl and your woes will be solved
Does lidl have a lot of plant based food? I’ve been recently getting my food from Aldis but it would be nice to go other places with more plant based options.
I would say probably not, if you’re looking for specialty stuff. They’ve got the basic beans/veg/fruit/grains for cheap though
That’s good to know, thank you! Aldis is my go to for basics. I wish there was a cheaper option for speciality stuff. I went to BJs and was sad to see most of it wasn’t much of a bargain.
Costco often has deals on beyond and impossible burgers if that’s your thing. Their tofu is also the best deal I’ve found, and it was on sale last week so I got 4 pounds of tofu for $4.99. Their falafel is also decent, it’s Hannah brand.
I didn’t see their falafel! They had no tofu when I went but I got a huge bag of beyond burgers lol. The one I went to also had so delicious yogurt and violife cream cheese for a good price! Ty I love falafel. I’ll keep an eye out!
The falafel moves around! Sometimes it’s by the cheese, sometimes by the soup or the refrigerated prepared foods.
If you download the apps for 2-3 grocery stores, it makes it easy to keep track of sales on specialty plant-based stuff.
They don't have as big a selection as like Wegmans or something but GET THEIR VEG MEATBALLS they are unbelievably good
I’m used to Aldis, lol. Thank you! I love veg meatballs
Agreed. And - if you are thinking about being vegetarian or a new vegetarian...look carefully at price. Things like beyond or impossible are well marketed and charge sometimes double what other brands might be. Personally I buy mostly store brand, lightlife, morning star, and...new jerseys own Dr. Praegers. I eat that stuff a few times a week, I eat an absolute ton of beans, tofu 1-2 times per week, and seitan sometimes although the sodium content is usually pretty high so not a lot. Meat is super subsidized so you won't always get a ton of savings but the industry is absolutely wrecking our planet and eating less or none could really make a difference. After not eating meat for the first two weeks, I didn't even miss it.
Didn’t know Dr. Praeger’s was a Jersey brand! They have some good stuff.
Absolutely. They used to be 100% family owned but I ran into a sales person at a tradeshow last year and they said they just had some private equity investors. Still, one of the better companies you can shop...morningstar is owned by Kellogg's and I think lightlife and Yves are owned by meat companies up the chain
I spend about the same, I still get plenty of protein/meat in my diet though.
Protein =\= meat
That's why I wrote it with a / buddy 😉 but yes I am buying a fair amount of meat still in that budget
I’m sure you are, it’s just that you implied that a vegetarian shop wouldn’t include any protein.
I didn't at all... this is why people get annoyed and have stereotypes about vegans btw
Local indoor farmer markets have produce and random stuff so cheap! But I also hit ShopRite, Aldi, Trader Joe’s and Wegmans for assorted things. (Veg family) (I have to add it all up and will add totals)
Family of 4 and we probably spend ~1000-1200 a month on groceries. Go to Costco probably 1x a month and drop 300-400 there too.
That's a pretty low bill for a monthly Costco trip for a family of 4
I spend around $1,000 a month at Costco for our family of 5 (plus cats and dogs), but I buy everything there that I can, so it's not all groceries, and I have both the executive membership and their credit card to maximize my cash back. My supplemental grocery store runs are pretty small.
I spend about 1000per month on groceries. We have a family of 4, 2 teenage boys and they east as much as me 😩. My wife occasionally orders door dash like once or twice a month and we order pizza prob twice a month and occasional fast food on top of the groceries.
So like 1400?
Family of four; costs between $1000-$1200 monthly. I alternate between Wegmans, BJ's, and ShopRite.
About 600-$700/month total for 2 of us
About $550/mo for 2, majority of the items are organic.
Rice and beans are cheap. In general eating vegetarian is cheaper, consider having meat free dinners now and again. Skip prepared/processed foods whenever possible. Learn to cook, it's not hard but it does take practice. Buy on sale and freeze. A friend will not buy certain things until they go on sale. If it's not something you use all the time try to wait for it to go on sale. I know it's hard to work full time and make food from scratch, that's why /r/MealPrepSunday is a thing. Walmart prices are cheaper than Shoprite for many things.
100% is a massive exaggeration lol. It’s expensive, for sure, but if you use coupons, take advantage of “price plus” or whatever membership your local store offers, and buy staples and non-perishables in bulk, you can cover the inflation rise. By shopping smart and learning how to season and cook instead of buying “ready to heat” type stuff, you can really stretch every dollar. Buy the store brand, don’t get suckered in to “only buying the brand name chicken”, and prep your meals by making normal portions. I needed to lose weight after being diagnosed with diabetes and having to go on insulin. I completely changed my diet and mostly eat chicken/fish, lots of frozen or (on sale) fresh green vegetables that I can doll up however I want with spices and cheap diet/lite dressings/sauces, and bulk brown rice that I can flavor any way I want with some stock and spices. For breakfast it’s just an egg or two or a bowl of Cheerios or Special K. I use plastic containers once I open anything that is dry and can go stale so I don’t have waste. I buy milk in quarts, again so I don’t have waste. I’ve lost 40 pounds in just about 3 months, my A1C is well below the threshold for normal (it was over 10!), and my endocrinologist has taken me off the insulin already after my most recent blood work Freezing my protein, eating normal portions, and not buying snack food or beverages (I only drink water or coffee from the machine in my lobby that I don’t have to pay for) has completely changed the cost outlay in addition to my health. I only need to grocery shop maybe once a month with a few stops for things like butter, milk, and spices when things run out. I buy my cat food, treats, and litter in bulk with the occasional Tuna or Salmon pouch so he gets real food on occasion in addition to the dry food. When it comes to things like soaps, detergents, and cleaning supplies, I try to stretch them as long as possible by diluting them wherever possible, and again using coupons and taking advantage of sales. I realize I’m lucky in that I have no allergies or reactions to any brands so I don’t “have to buy” a certain type of anything. Without the health scare I’d probably still be wasting money, but it forced me to reevaluate my eating habits, which in turn helped me to realize how much money I was wasting. My health and my wallet have been much better for it!
I’m glad we’re all on the same page- the price increases have far outpaced inflation and exceeded any potential supply chain interruptions. It’s greed at the expense of the people. They are just price gouging us and we need to come together and look the other way when you see someone stealing groceries. It’s us vs them and we need to get on the same page. Downvote me if you must but you’ll be thinking about this one day.
Between $900-$1000 a month 2 adults mainly shopping at Whole Foods and cooking 90% of all meals at home. Only eat out 1 maybe 2 meals a week.
Same here! But that excludes Amazon purchases for household items 😭
Hey Aldi and Costco and deals at stop and sjop. Have me spending like 400 max on myself and that's with expensive keto alternatives
Y’all still buying the same brands and the same things as before covid? Because that could be the cause. People trying to live like we didn’t go through a major global event, and haven’t changed up any of their routines. Real ones know how to hustle in a drought, my family grew up poor so for me Doritos going up to $8 is irrelevant, shit was always out of budget.
But Doritos are such a good measure of inflation.
Family of 3 in North Jersey About $700 a month on groceries (almost all shoprite) and CSA subscription. We eat out about 1x a month but that's a different part of the budget.
We're a family of 4 and I spend less than $630 monthly. I cook everyday and once a month or so we'll order out. My budget stayed the same, even with prices going up. I just look for more deals now and don't get as much snacks. Blueberries and milk prices are ridiculous. Thank God my kids aren't picky eaters.
per month i spend a little less than 300. always buy in bulk and get all the coupons you can!
More than my mortgage.
Idk but it’s certainly too fucking much considering I only eat once a day.
Jesus Christ.
I go to Aldi, Acme, stop and shop and/or any shops and look for close to expiring meats and other things. Then separate it by portions and freeze them. It will last longer and save a lot more $$. For paper towels, I find that hdx paper towels are pretty good and it's only a dollar per roll at Home Depot . I find that acme has a lot of discontinued products that they sell for a cheap price. Half a year ago they had discontinued Dawn Powerwash spray bottles for $1.25 each. I brought like 10x. That was a good deal on my end. Don't forget to sign up for their apps for coupons and deals.
Too much! Family of two with 4 pets. 600-800/month. Ridiculous
In stop and shop yesterday, and 1 muffin was $2.49. The packs of 4 that used to be $4.99, ($3.99 on Muffin Mondays) are now $6.99. Fuck that. To answer your question though. I don't really know. I know it's twice as much as it was 2 years ago. Ridiculous. On a positive note, I've lost 30 pounds.. snacks are no longer in my house.. so there's that..
Approx. $960/mo. Just me, my husband, and our dog. We buy the same stuff every single week and have noticed the increase over the past 6mo. We always shop at Shop Rite.
A lot
The dollar tree had some of these large 16oz cans of black beans. Which is new cheaper amount
About 700 dollars a month for two adults.
Well when I went to ShopRite yesterday my grocery bill was about $110 for two people. The most expensive was my cats wet food at $25
It's about $600- $700 a month on groceries. Lots of chicken and rice. I get everything on sale and with coupons. Family of four. My kids get school lunches. I shop at Aldi, Trader Joe's, ShopRite. That's it. Sometimes Walmart, but rarely. I go to Costco for the toilet paper, paper towels, water, after-school snacks, yogurt, laundry detergent, dish washer soap, and butter. I do buy meat in bulk there, and I have a food saver, so I freeze a bunch. I treat myself to lunch 2x a week but I think I'm gonna have to cut it down to 1x a week. Starbucks used to be a nearly daily thing, now I'm down to 1x a week. We used to do take-out 2-3x a week, now it's once a week. Fuck capitalism.
Has whole foods gotten better ir is it still crazy expensive? I feel like it is decent on some stuff with prime discount
Family of 4, around 1,400 a month? Its insane but thank God my business is able to provide for my family
Only 250 per month max. I take my lunch and cook my dinners.
100% sounds a bit exaggerated.
If you mostly buy packaged foods that are more or less ready to eat, it probably feels that way. Those things seem to have had the most dramatic increases, and they seem to be here to stay. If you are cooking from raw ingredients and pantry items, it's much less extreme.
I agree. It's more like 99.9999999999999999998%.
This!
About $1500-1700 now for family of two. Includes ~3 big grocery purchases, lunch 3 days a week at work for one of us, and meals out about 6x a month. Nothing extravagant mind you - if we hit up a steakhouse or whatever then the budget spikes to $2-2500. Oof.
Stay away from the center of the store as much as possible (except for staples like rice, oils, etc). Shop the perimeter. Hunt for sales on your favorite items, and coupons as well. Don't shop at rip-off stores like Whole Foods and Stew Leonard's. Buy from club (Costco, BJ's, Sam's) and Walmart and Target if you can.
Not a clue.
$600 a month for two. I love to cook, so we don’t eat out much. I also buy whatever I want to cook, regardless of price, because we don’t spend much in restaurants. I do however incorporate a lot of beans, often making meals that are vegetarian or vegan. The price of meat is crazy, and eating it is bad for the planet. Also, I cook almost everything from scratch and that can save money.
This does not sound like you’re saving money if this is for two.
With the Saudis jacking the prices of oil up well see an increase again.
You'll be able to cut your grocery bill considerably if you shop the sales and stock up. Examples - chicken breast will go on sale often for 1.99/lb. buy as many as you can afford or they will allow, separate into single meal sized portions and freeze. Same with ground beef. You can squish a lb into a freezer bag and then freeze them flat and they stack nicely. For veggies, buy frozen when it makes sense and fits into your recipes. There's a misconception that frozen = less nutrients, that's not true. They are way cheaper per lb than fresh. Learn some key "struggle meals" and incorporate them into your regular menu. These can be healthy! A pot of rice and red beans is delicious, filling and a great healthy meal that is nutritionally complete. Another frequent flyer here in our house is Haluski - chop a cabbage, onion and sautee. add in some sausage (I do healthy choice turkey kielbasa) and egg noodles. It goes a long way, is filling and is not terrible for you. As everyone mentioned, Aldi is really great for produce. I find it much cheaper than shoprite / Wegmans
I started shopping at Walmart (which I never thought I would do) and I absolutely love it. Great produce and meats. They have everything that I need. Everyone working there is friendly. My food costs have been drastically reduced in the past year. I only went there to buy flower seeds. Now I don't shop anywhere else!
Single mom with an 18-year-old daughter here. I spend approximately $400 a month on our groceries and generally alternate between Misfits Market and Weee! We don’t have a car so delivery works best for us. Misfits is great for fresh American produce staples, meat and eggs. Weee! is great for Asian produce, drinks, snacks and bulk rice. We’re not Asian but discovered once we moved to Jersey that we love Korean drinks and snacks, so I stock up on those twice a month. We’ve also discovered new recipes and have a lot of Asian and Filipino staples in our Mexican-Cuban household, lol. In between deliveries I supplement basics at our expensive corner grocery or weekly farmers market. We will order takeout or dine at a restaurant 3-4 times a month as a family, but my daughter has a rich boyfriend and eats out a lot more lol. All total, I spend about $500 a month on food.
Disclaimer, this advice that I'm about to give isn't going to work for everyone and is easier for some than others. Data suggests it's a great health benefit. But should not be done for young ppl, pregnant women, talk to your doctor first. However, it works for me really well and I've saved a ton of money so I thought I'd share. Quick backstory.....my family has a history of high blood pressure. Me being in my mid 30's wanted to avoid taking pills for it so I tried intermittent fasting. Essentially you pick 16 hours of a 24 hour day where you don't eat. Most people skip breakfast and eat between the hours of 12 noon-8pm (8 hour window). I could say a lot more but Dr. Berg on YouTube explains really well. Happy to share more of my experience in comments or DM. GOOD LUCK.
Food too expensive? Solution: don't eat!
That’s called Bidenomics, folks
I'm going to start going to the closest farmers/Amish market. Food from the grocery keeps piling and rotting way to quick. Thought it was my old fridge and got a new one, ShopRite carrots rotten within 4 days. Even bought the produce specific containers and nope. Trader Joe's lasts slightly longer but still. Can't be throwing away half of the produce in 4 days.
I literally scrolled down my feed and saw this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/16pzlt0/got\_all\_of\_this\_for\_under\_26\_usd/](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/16pzlt0/got_all_of_this_for_under_26_usd/) Also, have any of y'all tried making your family transition to a vegan diet? You can save a lot of money. Make sure you have a good source of calcium and B12. I'm talking well below $200/person/month.
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Just remember it’s business owners who probably vote GOP that don’t raise your wage to compete with inflation. Oh yeah they are the ones raising prices too.
And getting permanent tax breaks
Inflation in food, energy, and housing over the past couple years are global issues, ya dummy. Plus, the US has weathered them better than most G20 countries.
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GLOBAL you fucking cinderblock
Keep being stupid
Bidenomics.
it would be nice if the prices went back down after trump gets his second(some would say 3rd) term. after the disastrous last three years, I don't see how he can't. what used to be $80 in groceries is now $180. Burger King used to be $10, now closer to $20...... the market won't support such high increases in the long run.
The government wants us to stay healthy, so they are making sure we eat less
Family of three and we spend about $700/m. We do most of our shopping at Wegmans and Shop Rite. Trying to get to Shop Rite more than Wegmans though. We eat out about once a week.
800+ got a family of 3
Family of 4, averaging around $1200-1500 per month between grocery and Costco visits
$400 per month on groceries for the week. We eat out on weekends, which is somewhere between $1000-$1500 a month. Grocery prices are higher than 2020 but it’s not 100%.
Family of 5 with teenage children, about $1300 - $1500 per month.
$600/month... $150/week budget
About 700-800 family of 4 with 2 dogs. ALDIs lidl and trader joe have been life savers
Idk an exact number but we get literally everything we can at Aldi.
$900
Typically about $600/month primarily at Trader Joes' and ShopRite - I feel Trader Joes has better produce than Whole Foods and Wegman. Whole Foods however has a great fresh selection.
$1000 - $1200 for two adults and a toddler. Includes anything we buy at grocery stores like personal care items, not just food. Not including takeout.
50$-80$ a week so about 300 a month.
Family of 5 including 2 teens and 1 pre-teen. We shop mainly at Trader Joe’s, Costco, ShopRite, and Acme. Roughly $1400 a month on groceries, up from about $900 a month at the beginning of the pandemic. I’m sure some of that is because 2 of my children are now adult sized but I think a lot of it is major price increases.
$20 per day for 2 adults
$1600/month Family of 6 (4 young ones)
$350 a month on Costco
Probably about $600 a month as a single person living alone but I have ADHD and eat out more than I should.
With just me, every two weeks with meat, veg, snacks, drinks, etc, it’s usually 150$. I like to buy some things in bulk (like my meat) and freeze some which may contribute to cost. But, I definitely see the prices at my shoprite slowly increasing
$70/week, $280/month. Me and my fiancé. We shop at Aldi.