In a tough financial spot.

[CO3]

I'm running really low on cash. What are some really cheap groceries to buy? Am I right in thinking that the bulk of my foodstuffs should consist of ramen and sandwiches?

[Kate]

I don't know if it's what you're looking for or not, this is probably the more bang for your buck than it is the actual lowest price option. But I'm all about getting my groceries at Costco (Price Club, whatever). For most things it's way cheaper per unit than it is in smaller portions at regular stores. And you're getting a lot of it, so that's good too.

Meat, especially. Well, I know chicken anyway, is a sweet deal. And I usually get all of my veggies there too. They keep forever.

Farmer's market's are good places for veggies and stuff too - super cheap and super fresh. Plus, buying local.

[X-Factor]

Things I do to save money:

- Get the shopper's card for whatever grocery store you shop at (i.e. giant, safeway etc...)
- Only buy stuff that is on sale
- Buy in bulk
- avoid name brand items and buy the store brand

Some food stuffs that often are pretty cheap:
yogurt, white bread, store brand stuff, pasta, frozen veggies (when compared to fresh, they last longer too)

[Godkarmachine O Inary]

Coupons. Make them your bitch.

Buy that crappy "Manager's Deal!" meat that's usually available. It's the shit that's going to expire in like 3 days so they put a stick on it to knock 2 bucks off of the price, buy it and freeze it and you're good to go.

Generic foods are always a good buy, canned generic corn is like $0.30 here.

I live near a bulk food store. I buy my flour, sugar, spices and seasonings from the bulk containers. That way I only pay for what I'll be using. A cup of sugar for $0.12? Don't mind if I do. Fuck, I'm still using the $0.28 bag of cayenne pepper I bought almost two months ago. Plenty of other good shit there as well.

Rice, beans, shit like that.

Things I do to save money:

- Get the shopper's card for whatever grocery store you shop at (i.e. giant, safeway etc...)
- Only buy stuff that is on sale

Problem with the shopper card is they find ways to still fuck you on the price. Safeway is closer to me, but I often drive past it to WinCo because a sale from them is sometimes $1 more than the price at WinCo. Other times it is indeed a sale, so they aren't always bad.

Shopping around is another good way to save money. There's three stores around me, and often times I find something cheaper at one store than I do the other. It's time consuming, but you'll save cash (unless you're burning gas to get between stores).

[X-Factor]

Problem with the shopper card is they find ways to still fuck you on the price. Safeway is closer to me, but I often drive past it to WinCo because a sale from them is sometimes $1 more than the price at WinCo. Other times it is indeed a sale, so they aren't always bad.

Shopping around is another good way to save money. There's three stores around me, and often times I find something cheaper at one store than I do the other. It's time consuming, but you'll save cash (unless you're burning gas to get between stores).


That's true. At least during college, I just bought the stuff on sale. I didn't have the means to get from store to store to shop for prices. I ended up shopping at Giant all the time.

Also, you could try stores that aren't necessarily American. I.e. H-Mart is a good place to get vegetables. I find that they have much greater variety and can be cheaper too.

[Lucas]

Check out this guy, he lived off of $1 a day. Let's see if you can match him. :)

[Liam]

On the subject of cheap food and drink, may I please just let any Americans know how much they take cheap booze for granted? I saw a 24 pack of beer at a WALMART for 12 bucks. A 24 over here is $40 and you can only buy them at provincial outlets (NSLC or Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.) Likewise any booze you buy in the states is about 2 times cheaper or more than its Canadian equivalent.

[CO3]

On the subject of cheap food and drink, may I please just let any Americans know how much they take cheap booze for granted? I saw a 24 pack of beer at a WALMART for 12 bucks. A 24 over here is $40 and you can only buy them at provincial outlets (NSLC or Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.) Likewise any booze you buy in the states is about 2 times cheaper or more than its Canadian equivalent.

It's also likely two times shittier.

[Liam]

A majority of the price is just provincial tax :(

[tassietmaniac]

Same sort of thing happens here in tasmania, a bottle of vodka will set you back about $45 here, and a 24 pack is usually more expensive. My advice? Lots of pasta, can't go wrong with migoreng noodles and bulk pasta

[Dragoon]

Buy bulk foods. You can get a 20 pound sack of rice for like 10-15 bucks, same for beans.

[screaminmonkee]

Check out this video :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wrGJvblB_k

[mrvankid]

"Check out this guy, he lived off of $1 a day. Let's see if you can match him "