Urban friendly grocery question

[kmeyrick]

Okay, first off, I certainly have an earth box, but I do not have the means or space to have a full garden, so growing my own food is out. I would like to know some strategies to help me figure out the best way to grocery shop, or rather, food shop, frugally. Also, what is the wisest to by? As in, should I get canned or frozen as a rule?

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Can you join a CSA? I live on the edge of a small city, but there is no place convienent for me to garden nearby that is also accessible by bus, so I joined my local CSA. I worked out a deal where I work a minimal amount of hours in the summer to get a very reduced fee for my veggies. It is the most incredible deal I have found.

[Paxjourney]

First think of how much freezer space do you have? If you are say buying veggies (not fresh produce) do you have the space to freeze them or would having canned be better space wise. Are you stocking a pantry (1mo,3mo,6mo,1yr food stock). If you eat meat than I would use freezer space for that. You can also freeze butter and Cheese without issue.

Personally I buy canned veggies over frozen ones.

[Paxjourney]

I look at produce etc this way. We eat seasonally and fresh produce first. I also buy canned to stock the pantry, frozen from time to time if I get a great deal.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Also remember that frozen veggies are nutritionally superior to canned. Canned are MUCH easier to store though. Just throw them on a shelf and they are good for a long time. Personally, I really dislike the taste of canned veggies, although I do keep some to put into soups and chili or to add to mac and cheese to boost it up a bit.

[kmeyrick]

Thank you all for your responses. I can look into a CSA. I was also wondering if I could rope my apt complex into letting me have a roof top garden. I'd have to actually go up there and see if it's not covered with stinky rubbery tar top.

I am stocking up a supply just in case, you know, doomsday comes along. Little by little, since I don't make much money. I've been buying cans that are on sale, canned veggies. And cup o' noodles. (I'm having a bowl right now, it's salty but edible). My freezer is just a regular one on an old fridge- nothing fancy. But I probably could stock it with a month's supply. Are there particular times of the month when the prices go lower for restocking?

Stupid questions, I know, but I was thrust into the real world with uh, heh heh, NO BASIC LIFE SKILLS!

[Purple Sage]

Check the sales flyers to all the local stores. If you see a good deal (one of the stores here has whole chickens on sale this week for 50-something cents a pound), stock up. You can see all the flyers online if you don't get them in the mail.

[Paxjourney]

I found www.afullcup.com to be a really helpful site in couponing and stocking up on items. I would reccomend that you keep track of what you normally eat in 1 month and then multiply that amount by how ever many months to stock up on. Doing it little by little is great. Stock up on what you normally eat. Stock what you eat, eat what you stock is a saying I've read over and over again. Nothing worse than throwing away food.

[maryeliz]

For cheap fresh veggies, you might try any local ethnic markets. When I lived in Chicago my local Mexican and Korean markets often sold veggies for less than half the price of the chain supermarket. I also buy some frozen and canned veg when it's on sale. It might be worth doing some comparison shopping on items you buy a lot. If you can find the cheapest local sale price and then stock up it can save you a lot. I don't know that there is a specific time of the month that items go on sale, but there is a cycle. Some things go on sale before specific holidays-canned pumkin before thanksgiving, cabbage before St Patricks Day, etc. Other stuff like canned goods seems to be on a six week cycle.

What's cheap right now will depend on where you live. Here in the northeast I'm eating alot of cabbage, kale, carrots, and citrus.

[honeybunmom]

I second the local grocer suggestion. I'm in Chicago also. There is a great produce store that is not exactly around the corner from me. But, it is often up to $1.00/lb better than Whole Foods where I buy my meats and some other items. Generally, though, all produce and eggs come from this "local" grocer.