Con: Fruits and vegetables can be expensive.
Seriously. My produce addiction may be cheaper than a smoking habit or a penchant for Louboutins, but my grocery bills are up there.
I’m very fortunate that my parents still pay for my groceries and understand my healthy ways, but my goal for September is to be more price-conscious of the items in my cart. I started my challenge today, and I daresay I did pretty well! By swapping things like pink ladies for galas and choosing salad tomatoes instead of heirloom, my bill definitely came out to way less than I’m used to. Being a produce snob is definitely healthy, but it sure ain’t cheap J
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Today’s afternoon snack was a tomato and hummus sandwich on Arnold bread, with the remaining tomato on the side:
Last night’s dinner was such a success that I knew I had to have it again! It helped that I’d only used half of everything J
Tofu, chayote squash, okra and red onion roasted in EVOO and salt, served with a Cedar’s whole-wheat tortilla and a heap of salsa.
I also enjoyed a “mocktail” made with cranberry juice and Sprite Zero. No matter how hard I try to kick the habit, a diet soda every once in awhile will always be my vice J
Homework time…have a great night loves!
What are your best tips for scoring cheap produce? Are you a produce snob?
Any not-so-viceful vices you can’t seem to give up?
42 comments:
Best cheap produce- farmer's markets or roadside stands. It's true that some are organic and some aren't, but I love being able to ask the farmer about how he/she grew everything.
My vice will always be Mexican food... I could eat it every day!! :)
ah I just bought so much produce and a roast chicken. total? 34 dollars. somehow that doesnt seem right! but Ill take it- I have to, whats life without fruits and veggies!?
I can totally relate to this - my parents recently put me on a grocery budget. A fairly generous one, but organic out of season berries are no longer welcome in my cart. I've been trying to go to TJ's for all of my veg and fruit needs, but occasionally I have to suck it up and pay a little more at Giant Eagle. Me and my parents both understand that it's better to pay a little more for fresh greens so that we're happy and healthy for a long time to come.
My vices: multiple cans of diet soda a day and a pack or two of orbit a week. and I recently fell in love with Cool Whip. I have no shame.
Buying what is in season is a great help! Also the things in front of the store on display are usually on sale/in season. But 90% of my food shopping is produce..so sometimes ya gotta buy whats not on sale :P
Hurry up slow poke!!! I finished those jars in 4 days :) JK I wish I still had $16 worth of nut butter. That would be nice.
I'm not a produce snob, but I love to get my goods at a produce stand where I can get a whole week's worth of fruits and veggies for about $20 - and that's saying a lot, because I eat so many!!!
My vice is definitely coffee...although that most definitely is a vice-like vice! Gotta keep awake somehow!!!
o boy greek yogurt and frozen yogurt!!!!so expensive.
yes, i agree farmers markets are good...the only thing is they can be a little hard to track down. i also tend to pick things in season and are abundant and are cheaper. like for the fall, apples and in the summer, berries and cherries and such......ooooo boy. i hear you on the homework:-( how long til summer vacation again lol
xoxo
I am a high raw vegan and we go thru TONS of produce. Here was my tips to save money feeding a family of 3 without breaking the bank. Seriously girl, I used to be like you. Then real life happens with mortgages, car payments, and 3 mouths to feed and I have gotten very good at cutting corners without feeling like I am sacrificing ANYTHING in terms of quality.
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/09/tips-for-saving-money-on-your-grocery.html
Sorry for the link drop, just delete this comment if that's not cool, i totally understand :)
Thank you soooo much for the Pantene tip!! I am all over that!!!
xoxo
LOL, I do not consider it being a snob. I just care about my body and want to eat the most natural products. You are what you eat, so why eat the chemicals when you have access to fresh produce? I go to the farmers' market. :)
Also frozen produce is packaged right away so sometimes it can be better than fresh!
hahaha sometimes when i'm making dinner i'm like ugh i had the sameeeeee thing last night and then i'm like who the hell cares if it tastes good i'm doing iiiiiiiiiit
being a produce, gum & coffee snob puts SERIOUS dents in my wallet. but hey it's worth it ;)
I go WILD in the produce department every week, too! It's definitely where I spend the majority of my grocery money. I wish I had tricks for scoring cheap produce...except I do check the grocery store circulars before I go every week and try to buy stuff only on sale. But that doesn't always pan out.
ummmm I love how similar our posts are and how we pretty much posted them at the same time. Creepy?! hahah.
I totally hear ya, girl!!! Not only do I drop SERIOUS change on produce each week, it's a total pain to lug it all home! (apples/squash/sweet potatoes - these things weigh a small child!!)
My cheapest, but still good (essential), produce comes from the greenmarket and Trader Joe's. Nothing else comes close to those deals.
Oh diet soda is such an evil temptress!!
I can't even begin to imagine how good OIAJ will be in the chocolate hazelnut butter...oh wow!!!!
And go you! I'm SO bad at being a thrifty shopper..
Honestly, my best tip for scoring cheap produce is shopping at the farmers' market! It's always much cheaper to buy our produce there...plus it tastes better and supports the local community!
I hear ya on the produce thing! I swear my shopping trips are 90% in the produce dept. The rest of what I need I can grab in five minutes, whereas I spend practically half an hour oogling all the produce :P I used to be a huge produce snob - and now I usually just get what's on sale/less expensive unless it's an occasional thing or something I really love. Like broccoli. Luckily, broc is cheap :P I found it funny, though, that Galas are my favorite apples and they are what you "traded down" to! haha
i can't kick the diet soda habit either - though i switched to zevia, it's hard when you're not near a health food store like i am right now!
Oh I am most definitely a produce snob. I've been trying to not spend as much on it(at my mom's request, haha) by buying in season and going to the farmer's market. But I always get the "dirty dozen" list organic!
I feel ya. I've read a bajillion words of advice on how to eat economically, but I pretty much fail miserably in that department, and I can blame most of it on the produce! It's just so easy to eat a ton at once (ahem, 2 zucchinis for dinner tonight), so planning my meals ahead just a little helps me buy only what I need.
Happy back-to-school!
Justin's hazelnut butter is something I am willing to pay 10 dollars for. You are SO lucky that it is about to be OIAJ status, however that means you will have to buy another jar.
Love the mocktail!!
I'm not a produce snob - wish I was!
My vice is definitely caffeine!
Wow I SO FEEL YA! I was so proud of myself for not eating out at all the first week of school...just to realize that instead i racked up over $200 in grocery bills- in less than a week. And yup, it's all for fresh local organic produce, my insane greek yoghurt habit, the whole foods frozen foods section, whole foods readymade section, and maybe some parmigiano reggiano and grade a maple syrup.
AHH and as for the justin's hazelnut choc butter....i bought one of the mini packets from WF yesterday! So stoked!
My saving tip: Print coupons and check online for what stuff is on sale that week
I also LOVE big plate of tofu and veggies roasted in the oven with evoo and salt and pepper. So simple, but so so delicious. :)
I feel your pain. I think I could spend my entire paycheck at Whole Foods. And, yes, heirloom tomatoes are amazing but incredibly expensive. Fruits and vegetables make up the bulk of my grocery budget too. I do think it's worth it to spend money on healthy things like that, but I also try to be realistic. Which means not taste testing all the cool fruits I want to.
I'm a total produce snob, but I, like you... need to cut back for sure. I've been trying to be more conscious of buying produce on sale lately!
Eugh, I totally hear you, girl! My parents just gave me a food budget, and now I'm realizing when I have to buy more than snacks at the grocery store, it really adds up. I second the farmers' market thing; it's sooooooo much cheaper than the grocery store. It really is a bummer though that there are never coupons for produce!
I used to spend so much money on froyo - it was ridiculous but I loved it so much. I stopped eating dairy (for the most part) and now making banana soft serve at home is SO cheap (love cheap bananas) compared to my froyo habit. I still pay an arm and a leg for berries, pineapple, etc.
ugh! fruit and veggies are SOO expensive! haha
I usually get a big bag of them at BJ's Wholesale or something like that- you only get one flavor usually, but its usually about 7 dollars for a bag, with 10 or 15 ish apples in a bag :)
I also found this one store by me that sells the best tasting organic apples for only 1.79 a pound. I literally LOVE them, so I will keep on buying them! I also hear to buy in season things, I think they are cheaper.
I ALSO saw target had bananas once I think for like, 19 cents each! 5 for less than a BUCK! woo!! :)
g'nightttt!
I hate how expensive product is...you know we eat a lot of it too! I won't even tell how much we spent today at WHF. I try to buy things on sale, but unfortunately is never really produce. We tried growing our own produce, but that ended badly.
Good luck at school!!
I'm not too much of a produce snob. I try to find the best deals possible as a student. Luckily, Gala's are my favourite apple anyways, and at 99 cents a pound (usually, where I'm from) they are very affordable!
After a while of being price conscious, you'll notice it becomes a habit. Honestly, I suggest figuring out what "bare bones" is for you - for me, it's making sure I have bananas, apples, two kinds of leafy greens, broccoli, and carrots on hand at all times (as well as oats, peanut butter, and a few other important things like chocolate) - and you'll figure out how much that costs you on a regular basis so then you can expand your buying based on how much you're willing to spend, as well as know when you can make room for a splurge. There are so many fun and exciting ingredients out there but they can get really expensive if you aren't paying attention to how and when you buy. Sometimes it pays to shop around - for instance if I can get to Trader Joe's I'll stock up on bananas because they're cheap there but I get apples at my local grocery store because they're good and cheap, and I buy avocados from the fruit stand guy on the street because they're cheaper from there than in any market I go to. Also, seasonal shopping ... well, do it. Citrus is dirt cheap in the winter, tomatoes are cheap in the summer, apples in fall, etc. Check out the price of asparagus next time you go to the grocery store - it's something like four or five bucks a bundle? That's a little outrageous, but that's because it's out of season. It's fun to be on top of what's seasonal so you can work with different ingredients different times of the year - it makes each season's food a little more special when you have special recipes that you only cook at a certain time of the year, if you know what I mean? Haha I've spent most of the past two years fixing my food spending habits, and it's actually turned out to be a lot of fun. Ew, growing up.
I miss you - I thought I'd be in the city today early, but school got in the way (lame). We need to do something together, soon!
Haha I take the stickers off the mass picked produce and fruit and put it on the locally picked fruit. No one ever know the difference. But I'll always pick the biggest apples, no matter what kind they are- I like to get the most I can out each piece of fruit.
How is that chocolate hazelnut butter?? Is it like healthier nutella?
Your dinner looks great, I don't blame you for wanting to eat it twice!
Congrats on day #1 down, hope it went well, and homework...hope that goes well too!!
I'm with you on the fresh, local produce being big bucks! I love love going to the local farmers market and supporting local growers and organics but it definitely comes with a hefty price tag!! I've heard about produce buy-ins where you get a shipment weekly of whatever's fresh... not sure if you'd be interested in that? or if it's more of a 'family' sized shipment... idk!
hey girl, havent commented in a while, but i wanted to ask you how you are liking your new camera. i really reallllly wanna get a rebel, but im scurred i wont be good at it or something. i dunno. do you think it was a good switch?
My bills used to be pretty up there too. Infact, I was having a pretty difficult time figuring out how to lower my bills. I have since started using grains as the base of my 'salads' instead of spinach (most but not all of the time- I've got to have my spinach!) and began to eat more nutrient dense foods. It's made a HUGE difference on my bills as well, infact I have even had money left over at the end of the week!
I love having the same meal twice- I do it pretty frequently. :)
I'm a produce snob too! I look for sales, use coupons on frozen, and of course shop seasonally :) It's better than poor health or having to pay for and take meds because of cholesterol, diabetes, etc.
My parents still pay for my groceries too, and I hate to say that I really take advantage of it. :P I prefer to buy local produce and I usually buy berries all winter long, even though they're out of season and really expensive.
I do save money by never buying convenience produce like precut fruit. It's so much cheaper to buy the whole fruit and cut it yourself!
@chuck: it tastes just like nutella but with way more texture- like a natural nut butter! and way cleaner ingredients. so good :)
@elise: i love mine!! my p&s was reaching the last of it's days, so i took the plunge and i couldn't be happier. i'm still getting used to it, but my pictures are already so much better!
Don't worry about that little vice...things could be worse ;) I've never been a big fan of (diet) sodas, but I definitely don't mind them as a chaser/mixer on the weekends! Haha....i guarantee that your produce-loving body is doing just fine...a little bit of soda every now and then can't hurt!
But oh, i'm definitely apt to spend extra $$ at the grocery store--especially on yummy snackage items and fresh produce! Food is a necessity though, and as my dad likes to say (when I'm complaining about spending money on such things...), "money is meant to be spent, treat yourself every now and then!" I can work with that :) xoxox
Hummus and tomato, really a glorious combination. Glad to see it getting some airtime. And diet soda..same..only health vice of mine and i'll live with it too.
Love the blog and have for a while!
Don't know why its taken me so long to comment
Annalee
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