"Polly Esther" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> "sandi" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "cshenk" > wrote in
>> :
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Been a bit since we have had a thread on this and the scene
>>> has changed a bit in both produce and items we may be finding.
>>> I'd be interested in what items the rest of you are using now
>>> that you enjoy.
>>>
(snippage)

>>> Thoughts?
>>> Carol
>>
>> 75% of the time I buy items that are on sale and that I have a
>> coupon for. (Lots of double coupon stores in my area.) Day old
>> bread, marked down meat that is at the expiration date or a bit
>> later. And by the store brands for staples like flour, sugar, salt
>> etc.
(more snippage)

> We've been really surprised since we retired at how much our cost of
> living dropped since we don't do so much eating out. Grabbing a sausage
> biscuit and OJ on the way to work and for lunch, even a soup/salad sort of
> quick meal really added up to a lot of money.
>
It always amazed me (when I worked) how much money people spent grabbing a
fast food lunch. They'd pay close to $10 a day for some crappy food (think
a burger, fries and a cola drink) five days a week. Then they'd bitch about
not having any spending money. Meanwhile I'd be enjoying nice tender chuck
roast, mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans. Or spaghetti. Or
sauteed chicken with rice. Real food I saved a bundle cooking at home
and taking leftovers for lunch.

> Just a few at a time, I've checked out store brands. Some have been real
> duds but some are happy winners.

Store brands - it depends on what you're buying. Things like canned goods
are all the same. They come from the same processing plant and just slap a
different lable on them. I buy store-brand frozen veggies all the time when
buying I'm buying veggies that aren't in season. I can't tell any
difference between (for example) store brand broccoli florets and Green
Giant... except for the price. I use coupons whenever possible. I check
the weekly sales fliers (which often come out on Thursday and prices run
through the weekend). Sales fliers are available online for lots of grocery
stores. Also look for "grocery" items at odd places. I got a dozen eggs
yesterday at Walgreen's (which is a drug store for those who don't have them
in the area) with a coupon for 99 cents. The last time I bought eggs
(anywhere) they were almost $2 a dozen.

Jill