meal planning and sale shopping

[dfunk98]

we are vegetarian, and i find that only 1/3 of what we eat is ever on sale. we just joined a csa and i plan on basing alot of our meals on those foods, once the season starts. however, what do i do about the rest? we try to eat mostly organic, including eggs and dairy, but my local grocery chain rarely runs sales on these foods and they're not really the kind of thing you can "stockpile", since they don't stay good forever. other than that, the store i shop at (stop and shop, here in ny) has their own brand of natural and/or organic foods (nature's promise) which i try to buy as much as possible since it is so reasonably priced and definitely comparable to the more well-known, but also very expensive brands.
anyway, i'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

[beansmama]

Honestly...I don't really shop "sales" when it comes to food.

We're vegetarians too, and i cook mostly from scratch so I buy a lot of my stuff either from the produce/fruit section or those bulk bins (I don't mean i buy 20+ pounds of flour at a time, i mean i buy how ever many scoops i need...kwim? This seems to confuse some people...).

The things we buy that occasionally go on sale are earth balance, soymilk, tofu, and occasionally some canned tomato products - but i typically buy those cheap anyway. I think the way i shop is cheaper than buying mainstream pre-made stuff on sale?

Also, I've always heard to JUST buy what is cheapest at the produce section, but I plan my meals 2 weeks at a time, make a list of exactly what i'll need THEN shop. I think if i shopped THEN planned my meals it would take me waaaay too much time. I don't know, i might be wrong - but i like my system...and we only spend $130/2 weeks food

[Alyantavid]

I shop sales. I stock up on what I can and plan from that. We freeze a lot of things. And eggs really do last quite awhile.

[Norasmomma]

Yeah eggs will last 5 week after their date, and milk freezes beautifully.

Trust me eggs last a long time, in Mexico they keep them on the regular shelf with a date of a month later. I thought that was so weird.

[BetsyS]

I think $65/week is pretty good, and if you don't have a real need to get it lower, I wouldn't worry about it.

I'd say, at that budget point, you are already doing a pretty good job of avoiding $6/lb asparagus in December, you know?

[dfunk98]

Originally Posted by beansmama

and we only spend $130/2 weeks food

i would love to be able to get down even a bit lower. right now, we spend about $400/month. I am planning on starting to make my own bread and am toying with making my own yogurt in my crockpot. most of our meals i already make from scratch, as well.

[annekevdbroek]

We are vegetarian too. Anyhow, I shop one store that always has lower prices (Aldis) for most things that I don't get from the CSA or the local dairy. I then shop the sales at Safeway for things that are cheaper then Aldis and will keep. This usually includes stuff like cereal, canned soup, pasta, etc. I *only* buy the stuff on sale and stash it away. We don't eat a lot of prepared food and this seems to work out pretty well. Even pasta, dried beans, etc. go on sale occasionally.