My partner and I are both terrible cooks, we are not natural in the kitchen. I'm also a very picky eater, struggle with appetite if food isn't healthy/clean which usually means more expensive.
So what happens is we usually end up buying the same stuff which feels boring and unhealthy (eg. Ramen or pasta over and over again), and buying healthy stuff feels expensive. So we end up kinda giving up and just not going to the grocery store enough.
What that means is, we are starving, look at an empty fridge and end up ordering Uber Eats.
Then I suddenly had a "revelation"….
Last week we spent a week with my sister inlaw at their holiday home. They are rich, so the fridge was stocked with everything. All the fresh berries, fruits, "fancy" fresh veggies (eg. prepped veggies, ready to eat), cherry tomatoes instead of normal tomatoes, organic free range eggs etc.
The entire week I was inspired to prepare 2-3 meals a day from the well stocked fridge with all the appetizing and healthy stuff. Ended up cooking for everyone.
When we got back home, we went grocery shopping and I told my partner "why don't you buy some burger patties from this organic butcher", and he said "each patty is $5, that's way to much". But then we go home and have nothing to eat, and end up ordering burgers for $18/each + delivery charges.
So I've been thinking it's better we spend on food we like and that makes our lives easier, makes us inspired to cook, rather than trying to save at the grocery store, only to resort to Uber Eats.
Sorry this is probably obvious to everyone, but I feel like it's life changing for me. And will save us so much money!
Stocking up fridge with "expensive" items, still better than ordering out
byu/Sweet-Suggestion-411 inFrugal
Posted by Sweet-Suggestion-411
14 Comments
Yes yes yes!!! 🙌 The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Also, I’m a big fan personally of having Trader Joe’s frozen dinners in my freezer for days like this as well.
I think you’re on to something. And if you and your partner start cooking together, and enjoying the fruit of your labor, it can help bring you closer.
Become someone who looks through flyers every week to see if the good food you want is on sale. Costco is also a great option if you have one nearby because they carry good quality food for cheaper if you’re willing to buy in bulk.
Look up “crockpot dump recipes” and get a cheap crockpot. The secret is that you set it in the morning, then your house smells amazing when you get home. You don’t want to order food when there’s already something ready for you!
If you cut out the processed food in the grocery store and just buy whole foods, you’ll save even more, even if it’s spendy whole food. Of course, you don’t have to be strict about it, but little by little if you go in that direction, you will appreciate the difference.
This is the original reason I learned so much about cooking ^.^
Unfortunately there’s plenty of things in the current inflation wave of the last couple years that have almost equaled out for a bit, groceries nearly as expensive as takeout (if not quite uber eats levels, thats a level beyond greed lmao) but I still get my money’s worth with baking alone. Plus at least enough to fill up on compared to the shrinkflation its turned into.
btw if you like fried zucchini thats like the #1 for me compared to takeout portions. takeaway feels like 1/8 of what i get from even a single zucchini while costing what feels like 4x as much (especially when a single box of panko & breadcrumbs goes further than just that). satisfies the “I want something greasy and carby” while at least supplementing fruit n veg intake.
Look up sheet pan dinners
Eating at home can be both tasty and affordable. You could even ask ChatGPT for a weekly menu and a grocery list!
I’ve totally had this revelation too, and couldn’t agree more! I went from growing up on food stamps to having a job with a decent income and gradually ordering restaurant food more and more often. It was a form of “lifestyle creep” that I didn’t realize the severity of for a while. Yet when I’d grocery shop, my poverty/scarcity mindset would make me think anything $4 and above is an absurd splurge.
When I did the math, I could more easily afford a bunch of grocery store splurges (prepared meals, more-than-budget-price ingredients, etc) than ordering a bunch of takeout or delivery bullshit that was a letdown half the time. And I love to cook, so this was a joy to realize.
Now I let myself get “nice” items at the grocery store without guilt, and even though I still shop on a budget it feels nice to have some extra-good sounding options and remember that it’s still cheaper than eating out.
When I’m grocery shopping and see something expensive that I’d like to buy, a good steak or the like, I always compare it to what I’d spend for fast food for the two of us just that one meal. The good food almost always wins out.
Absolutely. I spend a fair bit on fruit. My kid loves fruit. It’s expensive but not eating-out-expensive. And it gives us so much joy when a certain fruit is in season. How good are grapes.
Yes! And also Costco has some very good ready-to-heat refrigerated meals, like stuffed peppers, chili, chicken street tacos, and recently , lobster mac & cheese. And of course, rotisserie chicken. Lots of good frozen stuff, too.
Buying pre cut veggies ( squash, onions, broccoli florets, peppers etc) take a lot of time off of meal prep. You can easily make a sheet pan with enough for 2 days of meals with those, potatoes or rice and whatever protein you choose.
I always have a nice wedge of real parmesan, makes even meager meals taste great. I also make sure I have a stock of protein shakes, the $2/drink price might seem steep but being able to curb hunger quickly saves me so much money. My takeout meals usually cost me $14-20, I can get 2-3 meals from Trader Joes for that price including a snack or two.
I do something like that, but I try to buy things I love (like expensive cheeses like grana padano or some parmigiano) on discount or at Lidl which is a bit cheaper than other shops here. You can also buy some basmati rice, noodles, dried mushrooms, soy sauce, fish sauce, miso paste and other things in bulk/bigger package at Asian stores and combine them with fresh produce and get restaurant quality meals. Hope this helps!