mondeo
New member
Yep, frying is a pretty cheap way of getting calories. Fruit and veggies aren't cheap.
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Useless maps
- Thread starter RootDKJ
- Start date
Geoff
Well-known member
Sort of. I've been in austerity mode for most of the last year and I've made a game of eating healthy for cheap money.
If you shop carefully, apples are $0.99/pound, bananas are $0.49/pound, romaine hearts are $2.00 for a 3-pack.... Lean and healthy protein sources can also be had for cheap dollars. You can buy lean pork loin for $1.79/pound. You can buy boneless chicken thighs for $2.00/pound. You can buy and freeze turkeys at Thanksgiving for $0.49/pound. Canned chunk light tuna is around $9.00 for a 12-pack. Eggs are around a buck per dozen. Those are standard prices at either BJ's Wholesale or DeMoula's Market Basket (eastern Mass and southern NH). You can also easily pay 2x that amount at Shaws, Hannafords, Grand Union, or Price Chopper. For those stores, I use the supermarket flyer.
When I look in the shopping carts of the lard ass food stamp people, they're filled with processed food and junk food. I do all my own cooking. I drink tap water and green jasmine tea most of the time instead of soda.
I figure many people are poor because they're lazy. If you're lazy, you eat off the dollar menu and load your shopping cart with processed food. It has nothing to do with food cost. It takes work to educate yourself on what is healthy to eat, to learn to price compare, and to cook your own food.
severine
New member
Depends on where you live. We've been eating on a budget for the last 2 months... even at Price Rite (what has been dubbed "the food tag sale"--Shop Rite's discount cousin), bananas are $0.54/lb, I rarely see meats as cheap as $2/lb (unless it's body parts that will go unnameable here), and eggs are usually $1.50/dozen--though you'd be better off health-wise splurging for the free-range (what they do to non-free-range chickens is atrocious). I don't count places like BJ's because they charge a $40/yr membership fee--if you're going to pay that, you need to factor it in to your costs for products. You're not saving as much as you could--grocery sales are usually cheaper, especially when paired with coupons (and YES! there are coupons for fresh meat and produce from time to time!).
WIC (Women Infants Children) is a horrible program. They give people credits for food that has little to no nutritional value. It's really very sad. On the other hand, food stamps can be used at the farmer's market here, so they are trying to encourage healthier eating with that program. BUT, while I encourage and recommend eating locally for many reasons, the farmer's market is not cheap. The last time I went, for example, tomatoes were $2.99/lb for hot house (it was too early for ones grown outside). Vine-ripened tomatoes at Stop & Shop were on sale for $1.99/lb that same week.
We are not wealthy because we are a family of 4 living off of one income, for the most part, while I attend school (now full-time) and take care of our kids. But we do the best we can. That's one of the reasons why I sell Wildtree. It's all-natural food that tries to make it easy for you to eat healthier and many times, it's at a savings over the OTC natural and organic foods. By selling it, I get a discount of 20% so it's more affordable for us. I'm talking about seasoning blends, grapeseed oil (which is SOOOOO healthy for your heart!), sauces for spicing up your meats, and that sort of stuff. There are some baking mixes but I generally prefer to make from scratch if I'm going to do that.
With all that said, even WITH that knowledge (which took many hours of research to acquire, as well as meeting with a naturopath and surrounding myself with people who are in the health foods industry) I am, admittedly, overweight. I try not to point fingers. Nobody is perfect.
WIC (Women Infants Children) is a horrible program. They give people credits for food that has little to no nutritional value. It's really very sad. On the other hand, food stamps can be used at the farmer's market here, so they are trying to encourage healthier eating with that program. BUT, while I encourage and recommend eating locally for many reasons, the farmer's market is not cheap. The last time I went, for example, tomatoes were $2.99/lb for hot house (it was too early for ones grown outside). Vine-ripened tomatoes at Stop & Shop were on sale for $1.99/lb that same week.
We are not wealthy because we are a family of 4 living off of one income, for the most part, while I attend school (now full-time) and take care of our kids. But we do the best we can. That's one of the reasons why I sell Wildtree. It's all-natural food that tries to make it easy for you to eat healthier and many times, it's at a savings over the OTC natural and organic foods. By selling it, I get a discount of 20% so it's more affordable for us. I'm talking about seasoning blends, grapeseed oil (which is SOOOOO healthy for your heart!), sauces for spicing up your meats, and that sort of stuff. There are some baking mixes but I generally prefer to make from scratch if I'm going to do that.
With all that said, even WITH that knowledge (which took many hours of research to acquire, as well as meeting with a naturopath and surrounding myself with people who are in the health foods industry) I am, admittedly, overweight. I try not to point fingers. Nobody is perfect.
A lot of good points. Definitely agree on the lazy front. Today I was lazy and slept in a bit and didn't bring my own lunch on the road. Had a turkey sandwich and a small soda at Arby's and it cost me over $7.00. For the same amount I could have had three homemade lunches. Fast food isn't cheap like it used to be outside of dollar menus.
As for the grocery store, the key to eating healthy is to be a perimeter shopper. I too mainly shop at Market Basket. My only issue with their stores is their produce and seafood selection and quality often sucks compared to Shaws or Hannaford.
drjeff
Well-known member
The funny thing about raising sin taxes as source of fund generation, is that eventually if you raise them enough, you will see folks stop using them, and hence potentially see a DECREASE in revenues for the state/feds. But fret not for our gov't, if they see a decrease in revenue from one source, I'm pretty sure they'll come up with an alternative revenue source
Geoff
Well-known member
Haddock at Market Basket is usually $5.00/pound at this time of year and you see it once in a while for $4.00/pound. They do a big volume in it so it's typically quite fresh. When I was living in Portsmouth, NH, I was buying that frequently. With most of their other seafood, I agree. The quality isn't very good but the quality at a Shaws or Hannaford is also dubious.
Another great value at Market Basket is their store brand eggbeaters. $3.49 per quart. I eat a cup of that as an omelet most mornings. I usually use things like frozen chopped spinach and a little salsa & cheddar cheese in it. 25 grams of protein. Maybe a couple hundred calories. Food cost is about a dollar. It's part of my morning routine and it only takes about 5 minutes to deal with breakfast.
For reasons I don't understand, most other grocery stores get $5.25 for that same quart of no-name eggbeaters. It freezes perfectly well so I stock up whenever I happen to be driving past a Market Basket.
Oddly enough, I bought Tuna Steaks at the Newington/Portsmouth Market Basket today for $8 a pound and they were quite nice. That store the seafood isn't as bad as some of the others. The closest MB to me is Stratham where all of the seafood is pre-packaged on a shelf, no actual counter. Even the Haddock there can be the pits.
Forget the name of the place, but best seafood counter I've found is in Portsmouth next to the South Street and Vine cheese and wine shop. Great stuff, but only for special occasions for us due to price.
Forget the name of the place, but best seafood counter I've found is in Portsmouth next to the South Street and Vine cheese and wine shop. Great stuff, but only for special occasions for us due to price.
Geoff
Well-known member
That's the fish market part of the Saunders seafood empire. They also have a lobster pound a block towards New Castle. I lived walking distance from there for a decade. The place was great until they remodeled a year+ ago. They raised their prices 20% to 40% and stopped being a good value. They are one of the few places in the area where you can find fresh shelled Gulf of Maine shrimp when it's in season. You can also buy 1 kg frozen blocks of shelled Gulf of Maine shrimp from them. I used to buy a lot of shelled lobster meat from them, too. Lobster rolls.... Mmmmmm.... I think the haddock at either of the Market Baskets in Portsmouth is fresher since they move so much of it and it's certainly a lot cheaper.
