Has the recession affected your food choices?

Face

No it hasn't, yet.

Norm Apter

Yeah, our monthly food budget for 2 is about $350 but we rarely ever eat out (maybe once a month). And no, we don't ever eat bologna or spam. My wife will usually buy an abundance of whatever fruits are on sale at the time (enough to last a week)-- be it bananas, strawberries, peaches (lately), mangoes, grapes, etc. But we don't buy very much red meat either....in the meat department, we're mostly limited to chicken.

I also happen to like her cooking as much or more than most restaurants I've gone to in the past (certainly more than the typical Ruby Tuesdays/Olive Garden type of fare). And she likes the process of cooking (trial and error, and yes there has been some error!) quite a bit so it all works out. I haven't got the cooking bug yet, but I hope to one day.

AsSiMiLaTeD

A cooking class is an interesting thought, I'll have to look into that.

fatchowmein

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

We've talked about eating out much less. The biggest problem is that we don't like fast food or greasy food, so we tend to eat out at fairly expensive places that have healthy options. We're not eating at Del Frisco every night, but it's no Wendy's either, I'd say we spend on average about $40 a meal.

Wow. We're twins but you've got me beat by about 20%. Wife and I eat out most of the time but I absolutely agree that it costs more to eat healthier when you go out. We average $35. Heck, we've probably ran into each other without knowing it.

We've been cutting back. Maybe this will help you. First, try "to go" which will save you on drinks ($2.50 for tea each) and tips. Next, replace one night a week with eating in. I'm also brown bagging it but not daily. Cut back gradually.

fatchowmein

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

A cooking class is an interesting thought, I'll have to look into that.

The ones at Central Market are a lot of fun. I took the sauce class for $50.

http://www.centralmarket.com/Cooking-School.aspx

AsSiMiLaTeD

You in the DFW area, whereabouts? We're over in West Plano, our favorites are Jaspers, Zeas Woodfire Grill, Reds Grill, Houstons, Kobe Steaks, Picassos, Normas Cafe, Roys Hawaain, Fireside Pies, Momo's Pasta, and Cantina Laredo. Occasionally we'll visit Rafain or Ruths Chris when we're in the mood for good steak, and we'll hit Del Frisco or 3 Forks maybe once a year.

markmarc

In my house it hasn't changed much at all. I do look for sale prices between brand names, but I refuse to buy junk. We rarely buy soda, that money is spent on cheap but good wine. We eat out once a month and pick up a take and bake pizza once a month as well.

Willow

markmarc wrote: »

In my house it hasn't changed much at all. I do look for sale prices between brand names, but I refuse to buy junk. We rarely buy soda, that money is spent on cheap but good wine. We eat out once a month and pick up a take and bake pizza once a month as well.

That's what we do, eating out in moderation.

fatchowmein

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

You in the DFW area, whereabouts? We're over in West Plano, our favorites are Jaspers, Zeas Woodfire Grill, Reds Grill, Houstons, Kobe Steaks, Picassos, Normas Cafe, Roys Hawaain, Fireside Pies, Momo's Pasta, and Cantina Laredo. Occasionally we'll visit Rafain or Ruths Chris when we're in the mood for good steak, and we'll hit Del Frisco or 3 Forks maybe once a year.

I'm down in Grand Prairie but spend a lot of time in FTW, Plano, Richardson, and Frisco because of work, family and friends. We like Kobe, Cantina, Piccolo Mondo, Osaka, Carrabba's, McCormick, First Chinese BBQ, and Cafe Madrid. Been awhile since we've been to Picassos and Momo's. Been meaning to go to Roy's for awhile.

madmax

Jstas wrote: »

Well, he is full of fecal matter all the time and that must produce several industrial sized bowel movements every month...you know, the kind that you pants fit better when you're done?

On the top shelf just left of the tomato paste, out of the picture, is where I store the iced tea.

The plumber stuff is for the upstairs shower, it drains pretty slow. Two big jugs at Sams club was the same price as one smaller one at the grocery store...

All together I put about $2K into food and supplies for this survival project. Yep, even got enough TP for 6 mos.

cstmar01

I can and have lived off of 10-15 bucks a week for food. I did it when I was a lifeguard and dropped a TON of weight because I was saving money to pay for school and didn't want to spend a ton on crap.

I ate the same damn thing every day and now I can't really eat it anymore. It was Ramen (spelling??) and PB&J with the cheapest stuff I could find at wally world at that time.

Now I usually spend 30 bucks for 2 weeks worth of food that I cook myself and if I go out to eat it would be about 10-15 (per meal)bucks unless I drink then its a LOT more. I can drink a lot, soo with a meal I would rack up probably a 60 buck bill easily.the meal only being like 10 and the rest is drinks about 6 or so depending on what I get.

So has the economy really affected me with eating no. I have seen however an increase in stuff I used to buy like veggies and meat that I would normally buy and cook up for the week for a meal. Such as if I get the super lean cuts of meat I think it was an increase of 10-25% in cost from where the eco was before, but then again, when your living off a school food plan anything besides "that crap" taste good lol and eating out was a TREAT. Taco Bell was like the gift from God on a Friday night and free beer was the bomb.

Willow

madmax wrote: »

On the top shelf just left of the tomato paste, out of the picture, is where I store the iced tea.

The plumber stuff is for the upstairs shower, it drains pretty slow. Two big jugs at Sams club was the same price as one smaller one at the grocery store...

All together I put about $2K into food and supplies for this survival project. Yep, even got enough TP for 6 mos.

If you run out of TP...you've got enough of the liquid plumber!

AsSiMiLaTeD

We do have zero expense on alcohol or tobacco or anything along those lines, I guess fine dining is our vice...

TECHNOKID

Has the recession affected your food choices?

Nope, not at all... In fact there is a substantila increase due to healt product I know buy in specialised health store. Go to restaurant regularly (could be easily 2 - 3 times a week) no 5 stars restaurant but no junk food either. I smoke close to 2 packs a day, pamper both of my sons and both grand sons every once in a while and lately, trying to double or triple payments on the house (depending what is extra at the end of the month). All of that on a very humble income and in Canadian $$$ at that Big thing I threath my self but buy wisely, at times I am not sure how I do it (just came out of 5 months of un-employment and sick leave = minimal revenues).

madmax wrote: »

I started with a 2 month supply, see the pic. After that I decided if there were a massive food scare I might need more so I loaded up the freezer and doubled the pantry. Mostly soups, pasta, sauces, boxed stuff, water, veggies etc. I date everything and rotate it. Never hurts to be prepared!

Goodness, that looks exactly like my corner store

j allen

Wait, people can afford to eat meat?

On a serious note, I'm almost subsisting on green giant frozen vegetables at present. Catch 'em when one of the grocery stores does the 11 items for 10 bucks sale, but 22, eat until the next sale.

I also get free meals at work, but compared to what I eat at home, it is overly rich, and often makes me sick.

tx_polkhead

We keep very close to our $100 per week grocery budget. That feeds a family of 4 quite well. One trip to our 'regular' grocery store per week, plus alternating trips every other week to either Sams, or a local specialty grocery store. No spam, no sodas lots of real food. A nutritionalist once said if your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, it's likely not good for you. We try to limit going out to eat to about once a week. Buying in bulk helps save big money. I limit my Sams purchases to flour, sugar, cheese, coffee beans, and household cleaners. The problem with Sams is buying the mega super pack of whaterever impulse item you are sure you love only to grow sick of it a week later! As someone mentioned a cryo-pack of beef that you butcher yourself is a huge money saver!

Norm Apter

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Nope, not at all... In fact there is a substantila increase due to healt product I know buy in specialised health store. Go to restaurant regularly (could be easily 2 - 3 times a week) no 5 stars restaurant but no junk food either. I smoke close to 2 packs a day, pamper both of my sons and both grand sons every once in a while and lately, trying to double or triple payments on the house (depending what is extra at the end of the month). All of that on a very humble income and in Canadian $$$ at that Big thing I threath my self but buy wisely, at times I am not sure how I do it (just came out of 5 months of un-employment and sick leave = minimal revenues).

Hold on a second hear, given all you've said (which suggests living quite well, what with eating out, smoking (luxury) and such with increasing mortgage payments even after a 5-month stint of unemployment and a "humble income" I have to ask -- are prices for things like food, cigarettes, and housing just super cheap in Canada? Not giving you a hard time, just genuinely wondering.

Probably a thread crap on my part but since I started the thread I hope to be exonerated

TECHNOKID

Norm Apter wrote: »

Hold on a second hear, given all you've said (which suggests living quite well, what with eating out, smoking (luxury) and such with increasing mortgage payments even after a 5-month stint of unemployment and a "humble income" I have to ask -- are prices for things like food, cigarettes, and housing just super cheap in Canada? Not giving you a hard time, just genuinely wondering.

Probably a thread crap on my part but since I started the thread I hope to be exonerated

You are exonerated (also with legitimate questions)

1. First I should mention I manged to stay away from the expensive cigarettes ((almost 10$ CDN pack) for about 3 months)

2. I've went through hell (financially) quite a few times in life so, been used to live on a tight budget. Family is raised (both of my sons are now self sufficient) so, this is like having a raise :cool:

3. I don't like to buy cheap food but will check for deals (I'm quite a fan of COSTCO).

4. I'm not an impulsive buyer, I get what I want but always buy at the lowest price possible and at the right time. My humble military pension is my lever to make sure my credit card is always paid before or close to the end of the month thus not giving my hard hearned money in interest to a rich bank.

5. Unfortunately my house should be paid by now (slightly over the 20 years point) but life has its surprises so now, when my humble luxury cravings are at zero, that means instead of paying credit card, I dump the money on the house (I managed to dump 5K while I was sick and due fo mortgage renewall).

6. Fact is, the surgery and sick leave were a wake up call and I am determined to try to pay the remainder of my home before I get to 60 years of age as I realize a mortgage free home is much better then RRSP for quality of retirement.

7. I don't owe any money, I also chose to buy good shape used car versus mortgaging a car. Normal maintenance routine while sometime costly ($1700.00 last week :eek: ) is much cheaper than car payments. I use to do my own maintenance but unfortunately the health makes it harder to do so nowadays.

A good example of wisely spending and shopping, I wanted home theater seating for about 2 - 3years and finally bought them last month since I knew I would be able to get back on my feet this month and I actually paid half of the original price tag along with a 7 months no payment no interest. This is not 100% but my HT seating package wiil more likely be paid before the deadline and without giving the credit company a single penny.

For example, received my first come back pay check yesterday evening, not even cashed yet as the idea it to deposit toward the credit card payment (remeber, I mentioned 1700$ car expense last week ).

Overall, I think I spend my hard earned dollar wisely. My home payments are basically cheaper than rental after 20 years and with lower bank rates. I also have to admit that Canada was never hit as hard as the US or many other countries during the last recession. Fact is according to the news this week, Canada would have already recovered the job lost during the recession.

Oh, forgot to specify that unemployment benfit are kind of generous in Canada. Usually I find work before a single check shows up but this time around it was different and to my surprise and with a litlle belt thighting I was just doing just as good if not better than what the job allowed me since my usal expenses were way down (minimal gaz for the car, dining out and so on which are normally pretty high due to work)

joeparaski

Food costs? Heck I don't even want to calculate what we spend on food per week. With this new "healthy" eating lifestyle, things have changed for sure. How about $7.50 for a loaf of bread (sprouted grains)? Maybe it balances out since we've cut out on a lot of things like expensive meat. But I don't know and I don't want to know what the weekly grocery bill is.

Joe

Norm Apter

TECHNOKID wrote: »

3. I don't like to buy cheap food but will check for deals (I'm quite a fan of COSTCO).

OK, that makes sense. By the way, we were at COSTCO while you typed this One of the big savers for us are those 40oz bags of Seattle Mountain coffee beans...something like US$8.99 and will last both of us a month or so (we each drink two cups a day, great flavor to boot). That would get you what?...like two specialty drinks at Starbucks (if you're lucky) :cool:

jdhdiggs

Nope, only thing we "cut down on" was buyin a 1/4 cow instead of a weekly trip to the local farmers market and that's just because the MIL bought us a deep freeze. the 15% paycut we all took just changed my investment habits, if anything I'm eating better now than 3 years ago.

TECHNOKID

joeparaski wrote: »

Food costs? Heck I don't even want to calculate what we spend on food per week. With this new "healthy" eating lifestyle, things have changed for sure. How about $7.50 for a loaf of bread (sprouted grains)? Maybe it balances out since we've cut out on a lot of things like expensive meat. But I don't know and I don't want to know what the weekly grocery bill is.

Joe

Looks like we sail the same type of boat. Yesterday it costed me sligthly over 100$ for 2 bottles of supplement (one was 80$ :eek: ) and a batch of turmeric (curcumin-curcuma) (helps with inflamation) not counting 80$ to meet with the naturopath-osteopath. You'll save money if you totally move away from the bread (IMHO I think the healthy breads are gross anyway).

TECHNOKID

Norm Apter wrote: »

OK, that makes sense. By the way, we were at COSTCO while you typed this One of the big savers for us are those 40oz bags of Seattle Mountain coffee beans...something like US$8.99 and will last both of us a month or so (we each drink two cups a day, great flavor to boot). That would get you what?...like two specialty drinks at Starbucks (if you're lucky) :cool:

They usually carry great coffee and are nicely priced too :cool:

hearingimpared

vc69 wrote: »

To me, eating right doesn't have to be more expensive. However, it will probably be the last thing I sacrifice should things go (further) south.

I've tried to get good nutritional food such as fresh fruit & veggies and meat and always come up short no matter how many different stores I raid for sales in one shopping trip. What's your secret?

hearingimpared

madmax wrote: »

I recently put together a 6 month emergency food supply (of stuff I actually eat) and find I eat more now because it is there. I have also changed the habit of getting the good brand name when the store brand is almost as good at half the price. I am in a better position right now than I've ever been but I can say this is due to the recession because who knows what will happen next month. I'm saving up for the bad times right now.

I always buy store brands at Dollar General if available and find in most products they taste same as the brand name and if you read the labels are made by the big name brand companies. E.g., Clover Valley (DG store brand) mayo is made by Hellmans.

hearingimpared

concealer404 wrote: »

Ouch. Our monthly food expense is probably around $450-$500, and i eat CONSTANTLY.

Here's a small sampling of what i tend to eat on that budget.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89815

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

What the hell are you eating that you're able to feed 2 people a month for that much?

It's pretty sad to see how much I spend a month on eating, and at 165 pounds I don't even have much to show for it. Damn that Wells Fargo Spending Report, I was getting along so much better before I saw that...

Um, we're lucking to get $300 per month to feed my wife, my 13 year old and me. By the last week and half in each month we're are down to scrouging but ya take what handed to you.

madmax

cstmar01 wrote: »

Now I usually spend 30 bucks for 2 weeks worth of food that I cook myself and if I go out to eat it would be about 10-15 (per meal)

I know most of my expenses exactly but food has been a hard one to calculate. Maybe I'll keep a log for awhile. I THINK I spend about $10 per day or $300 a month but I'm not sure.