(03-05-2022, 06:07 AM)Caldrac Wrote: It's always going up. Like Oline pointed out though. If you're not overly picky about "organic" this or "cage free, no hormones" that? You can find plenty of options meal wise to get by on a relatively light budget. I do most of the cooking at my house anyway so my wife doesn't complain. I like buying the same [BLEEP] over and over and just making things in bulk to eat throughout the week.

Chicken and Dumplings
Beef Stew
Breakfast Bowl
Chili
Smoked Chicken or Ribs
Canned or Frozen Vegetables
Hotdogs and homestyle Fries
Spinach alfredo sauce and Pasta

All of that is relatively inexpensive if you shop right and if you have a crockpot or two laying around the house you can put most of this [BLEEP] in a pot, let it sit all day and be done with it. Just buy spices and seasoning so the [BLEEP] doesn't taste bland. Also, you can save money by making your own [BLEEP] from scratch. I make dumplings with cake flour, a pinch of salt, a little bit of milk and some baking powder. I can probably get 6 - 8 rounds of dumplings out of that Vs. buying a can of biscuits every time. They taste better too.

You can make an alfredo sauce with flour and butter at home, add your own cheese. It's better and cheaper to buy blocks of cheese as well instead of the pre shredded [BLEEP]. If you can't cook? Get on youtube. There's TONS of people on there daily posting videos, how to's and recipes that are stupid easy to follow step by step. After you do it a few times you'll feel like Gordon Ramsay in your house.

Exactly. For instance I save money by looking what kind of meat is on sale that week. I buy ground beef instead of ground chuck or ground round. I buy chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, not only because they are much cheaper, but because at the grocery stores near me, I the chicken aisles have nearly been wiped out of all the premium (white meat) cuts of chicken. I will buy a family size pack of chicken thighs and then I take it home and break it down into packs of 2 each. I have a cheap vacuum sealer and I put them in the deep freeze. When I do this, I get meals for pennies on the dollar. Always buy meat in bulk and break it down when you get home and portion it out. The savings is ridiculous. I buy whole pork loins and break them down into butterfly chops as well. I can get 5-8 meals off of one $12 pork loin, depending on how thick you cut them. I was raised in the country as well, so I'm not opposed to eating some things other people might not even look at. I love chicken gizzards and hearts. You can buy those dirt cheap. 

There is also a grocery store near me that is in an out of the way, small town that only the residents know about. They have the best tasting meat and they have a daily sale case that they keep stocked all the time (everything there is still in date.) All the meat in the case is 5 packs for $20. They can have anything from ground beef to strip steaks to Turkey legs, to pork roast to sausage to chicken breast and many more. I'll go there like 3 times a year and spend like $200 and I get a ton of meat. I then bring it home and package it up for the deep freeze. I have quality meat year round for cheap. My whole family goes there to get meat. The beef is very good. In fact, I quit buying beef from the large chain grocery closer to my house, because the meat started having no flavor and had the consistency of shoe leather. The stuff I buy now always comes out tender and juicy.

I eat baked chicken thighs a couple of times a week and it averages less than $2 per meal. Most of the meat I purchase does after portioning it out. It takes a little extra effort, but you can easily save a ton of money by looking for deals and packaging portions yourself. My deep freeze and vacuum sealer were two of the best investments I have ever made.

I rarely go out to eat.

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