know the regular prizes, so you can detect real discounts from fake ones
buy in bulk (cheaper)
prepare several days food at once with that bulk and freeze it for later use.
skip expensive food (usually meat) on a regular base when on a budget and bij it only as a treat/for weekends
When you buy in season, there is usually a lower prize as it’s in abundance as it’s grown in the fields instead of greenhouses.
I’ve seen discounts that were the regular prize but the ‘original’ prize has been increases to make it seem a discount.
When you buy in bulk (say in a 2 person household for 4-8 servings) and prepare in bulk you can freeze in 2 serving potions. (saves preparation time and it saves on groceries runs ;) )
Defrost food in the cooler, which takes about a day to defrost and save a tad on energy for the cooler, Also you save on the preparing side as preparing a 4 serving meal doesn’t requires a lot less energy then 2x a 2 serving meal. (including the re-heating of the 2nd meal)
Save leftovers. Even half portions can be combined with others to make a fuul (and maybe even interesting) meal.
Also, when you eat meat less often you save a tad (when you eat meat, when you don’t the biggest saving is already achieved).
I don’t think it matters. An onion costs me $2. A McDouble costs me $2. I can get a whole processed burger for the price of a condiment on a sandwich I’d make at home.
You’re not using that onion correctly. Chop it up and stick it in something with other ingredients that you can eat for 8 meals, that costs $12 to make.
I’m certainly not eating the onion like an apple lol. But, to your point, a sandwich is exactly what you just said. Pick up an onion, some bread, some lettuce, some tomato, some mayo, some mustard, salt and pepper, deli ham (or roast chicken), some cheese. Buying those ingredients would be… What $40? And you’d be able to make 8 sandwiches. Maybe have some leftover cheese and mayo. Perhaps a chicken carcass for stock.They’d be pretty good sandwiches too, but without bacon because we wanna keep it budget. Or you could get 20 McDoubles. By caloric value, 20 McDoubles will give you more food. You’ll die from malnutrition over a period of time, but not from lack of calories.
I was curious and just priced everything out and you can get 20% more Mcdoubles/$ than sandwiches. 16 sandwiches with ham, lettuce, cheese, tomato, onion, mustard, mayo, salt, and pepper to 20 Mcdoubles. Calorie wise they are roughly even, I did not break it down by nutritional value but I would guess the sandwich would win on that. So you’re right that you can get more Mcdoubles for your money but I’m right that you can get almost 16 sandwiches out of 40$ (and you will have leftover mustard, lettuce, salt, and pepper). If you get your condiments from stolen packets or catch sales on meat you can probably even out the cost of the two.
I appreciate that you did some earnest calculations. Normalizing for McDouble calorie counts is a decent way to do lateral comparisons. I did think about it, rather than napkin math, but then the CRM exploded at work, so I got distracted.
This is what has been aggravating me lately. It USED to be very solid advice to try to cut out processed food and buy produce instead. Now, though, even produce has freaking skyrocketed in price. Shopping the same way that used to be very thrifty has become way less so, to the extent that I don’t know how people are surviving like this either. And we make decent money! But spending a guaranteed $200 every time I go to the store just for basic things we need for the week is killing me.
Do not buy processed shit
Do buy real food (legumes, vegetables)
I mean it
When you buy in season, there is usually a lower prize as it’s in abundance as it’s grown in the fields instead of greenhouses. I’ve seen discounts that were the regular prize but the ‘original’ prize has been increases to make it seem a discount. When you buy in bulk (say in a 2 person household for 4-8 servings) and prepare in bulk you can freeze in 2 serving potions. (saves preparation time and it saves on groceries runs ;) ) Defrost food in the cooler, which takes about a day to defrost and save a tad on energy for the cooler, Also you save on the preparing side as preparing a 4 serving meal doesn’t requires a lot less energy then 2x a 2 serving meal. (including the re-heating of the 2nd meal) Save leftovers. Even half portions can be combined with others to make a fuul (and maybe even interesting) meal.
Also, when you eat meat less often you save a tad (when you eat meat, when you don’t the biggest saving is already achieved).
I don’t think it matters. An onion costs me $2. A McDouble costs me $2. I can get a whole processed burger for the price of a condiment on a sandwich I’d make at home.
You’re not using that onion correctly. Chop it up and stick it in something with other ingredients that you can eat for 8 meals, that costs $12 to make.
That’s a basic cooking and money-saving concept
I’m certainly not eating the onion like an apple lol. But, to your point, a sandwich is exactly what you just said. Pick up an onion, some bread, some lettuce, some tomato, some mayo, some mustard, salt and pepper, deli ham (or roast chicken), some cheese. Buying those ingredients would be… What $40? And you’d be able to make 8 sandwiches. Maybe have some leftover cheese and mayo. Perhaps a chicken carcass for stock.They’d be pretty good sandwiches too, but without bacon because we wanna keep it budget. Or you could get 20 McDoubles. By caloric value, 20 McDoubles will give you more food. You’ll die from malnutrition over a period of time, but not from lack of calories.
You can get waaaaaay more than 8 sandwiches worth of ingredients for 40$.
Sure, a lettuce sandwich costs $0.79.
I was curious and just priced everything out and you can get 20% more Mcdoubles/$ than sandwiches. 16 sandwiches with ham, lettuce, cheese, tomato, onion, mustard, mayo, salt, and pepper to 20 Mcdoubles. Calorie wise they are roughly even, I did not break it down by nutritional value but I would guess the sandwich would win on that. So you’re right that you can get more Mcdoubles for your money but I’m right that you can get almost 16 sandwiches out of 40$ (and you will have leftover mustard, lettuce, salt, and pepper). If you get your condiments from stolen packets or catch sales on meat you can probably even out the cost of the two.
I appreciate that you did some earnest calculations. Normalizing for McDouble calorie counts is a decent way to do lateral comparisons. I did think about it, rather than napkin math, but then the CRM exploded at work, so I got distracted.
For 2 USD you should get 500g of onions
If it helps your calculation, CAD is the appropriate currency, and food prices are not pulled from logical sources. Best of luck.
Your onions are as expensive as McDouble? That’s really hard to believe
This is what has been aggravating me lately. It USED to be very solid advice to try to cut out processed food and buy produce instead. Now, though, even produce has freaking skyrocketed in price. Shopping the same way that used to be very thrifty has become way less so, to the extent that I don’t know how people are surviving like this either. And we make decent money! But spending a guaranteed $200 every time I go to the store just for basic things we need for the week is killing me.