What Am I Denying Myself? I spend about $12 a day on food

[GreatGazoo]

Saw lots of discussion about the USDA Sec saying we could eat on $15.64 per day. Most of the responses found that number absurdly low so I did some math and looked at my credit card bill. I average right around $12 a day so now I feel like I should be spending more or seeking out more expensive food. Open to suggestions.

I think food prices in my area are pretty typical (?):

ground beef $6 pound
eggs $3 dz
bread $2.50 loaf
chips $2 bag 12oz
spinach, prewash $2.60
pasta $1.40 pound
cheese, preshred, cheddar $4 pound

I broke out costs for a day's worth of meals:

two eggs, pico de gallo, cheddar cheese, hot sauce $1.50
flour tortilla, large $0.30
tea $0.20
Breakfast $2.00

1/3 pound beef burger $2.00
two slices of bread or roll $0.30
chips 0.50
lettuce, tomato, cheese $1.00
Lunch $3.80

8 oz pork chops $1.25
caramelized onions $0.30
mashed potatoes $1.00
salad $1.10
carrots or brocolli or both $0.60
Dinner $4.25

Snack such as ice cream, cookies, dry roast honey peanuts, chocolate, or beer $1.50

Total: $11.55 + tax

What am I missing?

[cbabe]

1. Something extra? Chocolate on your pillow?

[GreatGazoo]

6. I like the way you think! It's in there. I love chocolate

buy Ghiradeli 60%. It went up -- $7.12 for 10 oz

[niyad]

25. Geez, at least get some GOOD chocolate! Choc-o-love, Theo's.

Endangered Species. Merci.

[Ocelot II]

2. Where on earth are you getting pork chops for $1.25/8 oz. ($2.50/lb.)?

Around here they are $5.00 - $8.00/lb. Most of your prices look astonishingly low.

[SheltieLover]

8. Wondering the same thing

[GreatGazoo]

11. $2.39 per marinated boneless pork shoulder, $2.09 boneless pork loin roast

https://www.aldi.us/results?q=pork

but for similar price:

Mama Cosi Supreme pizza $2.89 ALDI
Tuna
Chicken thighs $2.29

[TexasBushwhacker]

22. Yes, I shop the sales - Houston deals this week

I live alone, so I have a whole fridge to myself. I like to meal prep and freeze individual dinners.

I can buy 10 lb bags of frozen chicken leg quarters for $6 most of the time. That yields 6 lbs of cooked chicken, plus bones for bone broth and crispy chicken skins to snack on.

Most grocery ads are published online on Wednesdays.

[niyad]

3. For one thing, I do not see anything to drink.

[malthaussen]

18. Perhaps he drinks tap water.

Of course, that would increase his water bill by some amount, which should rightly be included in the price of the daily ration.

Tap water is only an option to certain people. In many regions, it is undrinkable. I suppose it could be made drinkable by using the military-grade filters which are very cheap and last for hundreds of gallons, if he knows of them and can get them.

He does mention "tea .20" for breakfast only.

-- Mal

[GreatGazoo]

19. Tea, OJ, beer and tap water

Mostly water. I live in the mountains. Water is tested but I filter it anyway.

That 1.5-quart of OJ will last a month or more because I use it to marinade or drink a juice glass full about once a week.

Beer with pizza or chili.

I gave up soda around 2005 after years of drinking it daily. I was dating an LNP who suffered from Type 1 diabetes and they talked me out of it. I don't miss it. Diet soda is even worse -- metabolic syndrome -- and makes you hungry for sugar (!)

[TBF]

4. You're missing the forest for the trees -

while Trump's "usda" has you fighting about whether hamburger is $6 or $8/lb (which is probably the lowest quality etc) they are stealing the farm.

Trump and his family are increasing their family wealth by billions each year he's in office. THAT's what you're missing.

[GreatGazoo]

7. I get all of that. I was wondering how others are spending $20+ / day

on food. I'm thrifty and I like to cook but thought I might be over doing it. Paying more for heat than food this month.

[hlthe2b]

12. Exactly. You cook and don't purchase fast or frozen prepared foods--As I do likewise and I eat simply...

But, for those families where both work long hours with/without kids, those figures are going to explode. Those are not the households who can necessarily cook for every meal--or perhaps most meals. The dependence on more convenient foods--even from the grocery store is going to raise those prices dramatically.

[TBF]

14. We are paying a lot less in house because our 18-yr old son

left for college! (however, paying on the other end with his tuition/board bills)

I think you're getting your food at a very low cost - maybe Aldi? I shop at HEB here in Houston, which is one of the mid-range stores. I paid $9/lb for lean hamburger last weekend, but that pot of spaghetti will last 3-4 meals with no kids in the house!

There are always ways to save. When my kids were young and we gathered food for the food bank here (via Scout programs, etc) - they always had really good lists including vegetables, beans, etc - things that were basic and nutritious but not fancy by any means. But, as you drill into minutia, I'd urge you to open up to the wider issues.

Our gas is cheap here in TX, also, because we are near the refineries - but when it's super cheap the industry starts laying off our neighbors. Also, when they ease air restrictions, then we got some odd smells in the air. So, I'm always trying to look at all of the factors. Is it worth it to save ten cents if it gradually brings down life expectancy.

Make no mistake, this administration is only looking out for the billionaires. We are only of interest to them if we can run their robots and fix them when they crash.

[GreatGazoo]

20. Yes ALDI

and WalMart.

I grew up working in restaurants. I make stuff in batches or "blank" because I don't like to stand by the stove too long. Blank is when you throw all 9 chicken thighs in the oven. Bake them naked and then you can use them in different things throughout the week -- BBQ sauce, burrito, chicken salad, with pasta and cheese, etc. Cooking it all at once also keeps the meat from spoiling before you get to it.

I cook for my dogs too. Big batches. Twice a week. Cheaper than kibble -- ground turkey or chicken, pasta, spinach, cranberries and carrots. Was buying cases of leg quarters at Restaurant Depot (40 lbs for $35) or thighs (40lbs/ $60) but that is just too much to deal with since I don't have a second fridge. Their 85/15 ground beef is about $150-$170 / 40# but I don't feed my dogs beef (and their beef is not the best). Their chicken was the freshest I have ever had. I miss it.

Food has definitely gone up quickly but what is really hurting people around here is electricity rates! Yikes.

[OldBaldy1701E]

35. That is the issue.

You cook and you have the time to cook.

This population has been programmed to believe that their time is far to valuable to spend on something like cooking.

Plus, the status of eating out is too much for some people to ignore.

Then, there is the matter of location. Some stores can offer things at lower prices.

Myself:

Morning: Coffee with Stevia and Creamer=around $1.75 a day.
Breakfast bars=75 cents a day

Lunch=depends on what I have. I would say between $5-$10 a day.

Dinner=Thanks to my gut issues, I usually have a small glass of milk and maybe another breakfast bar. So, around 50 cents a day. This figure can vary.

So, I am within their 'guidelines' it seems. I am also eating what amounts to junk, because I cannot afford 'decent' food. Fresh meat? Maybe once a week. Fresh vegetables? Don't make me laugh. The reason I am within that budget is because I don't buy 'rich people' food... which translates into food that only the wealthy can afford, which means the good stuff, since they made sure to price it out of reach for most of us.

I wish I could spend more on heating than on food... or anything. My bulk spending is on healthcare.

And it is just about as much 'junk' as the foods I am eating.

[Cirsium]

5. Everything

You are so focused on yourself that you are missing everything else.

Social issues, such as food insecurity, are not about your wonderful personal lifestyle choices.

[enough]

9. It's not hard to hold several different levels of thought in the mind

at one time.

[Cirsium]

15. Ah, but it is

It is extremely difficult. The social pressure to think only in terms of individualism is overwhelmingly powerful and omnipresent. That pressure distorts everything from politics to economics to social relations. It is tool that is used by those in power to divide and exploit us.

Again and again, right here, we see social problems addressed in individualistic terms. When we do that we are unwittingly accepting and advancing the fundamental premises of the political right wing and the interests of the super wealthy.

[GreatGazoo]

10. I live on very little money

and not because of a "wonderful personal lifestyle choice". Wow.

[Cirsium]

16. Right

80% of the population live on very little money. That isn't why I said "wonderful personal lifestyle choice." I am referring to your post, not your budget.

[delisen]

13. I am growing dandelions. Great for Vitamin C

Well, actually they are growing themselves in my yard. I harvest them and wash thoroughly because I live near a highway.
I have affluent friends who buy their dandelion greens and sauté them.

[malthaussen]

17. I see two things that are missing:

Drink, except for one cup of tea at breakfast. Perhaps you only use tap water. I can assure you that is not a choice available to many, many citizens where the water that comes out of the tap is undrinkable. I suppose one could compensate for that by using the military filters which are very cheap and good for several hundred gallons -- if he knows about them and can get them. In any event, if you are drinking only tap water, that would increase your water bill by some non-zero amount which should rightly be added to the computation of the price of the daily ration. Of course, the price of water is something that varies greatly with one's location.

That's a checklist for one person. Try it with a family of four, some of whom are children and probably need more protein and vitamins.

In the larger sense, something missing is perhaps the willingness to ask the question: why should one be pinching pennies to feed themselves and their family when they have a full-time job in what is supposed to be the richest country in the world?

This is the part of all "austerity" arguments that baffles me. The ruling class claims a crisis and demands that everyone else suffer to combat it. They pay no price at all. Whether it's 15 or 20 dollars a day to feed one person is not really the issue. The real issue is how much that 15-20 dollars is as a portion of the individual's income.

-- Mal

[GreatGazoo]

21. "The real issue is how much that 15-20 dollars is as a portion of the individual's income. "

Well said.

[surrealAmerican]

24. I don't see anything wrong with your food choices.

Prices on just about every item are significantly higher where I live. If I ate the same things as you, it would cost me more than $16 a day.

[biophile]

26. Alcohol!

😂😈

[marble falls]

27. A jug of inexpensive red wine. I haven't done it for a while, but we'd get together for spaghetti and drink ...

... Carlo Rossi or Gallo Bros Mountain Burgundy. Every once in a while my wife and I would buy the red and the white Three Buck Chuck's, but I haven't seen them on the shelves in a while. Even $15 a day is a lot of money - $100 a week and per person. I know a couple of people on the food program here who get a little less than $100/month and they are also on social security only.

[womanofthehills]

28. I would say food quality

Free range chickens have higher quality eggs that also have Vit D. I have my own chickens but would never buy the cheapest eggs as those chickens are indoors and are barely able to move, eating GMO grains

Because of high levels of pesticides on vegetables- I would spend an extra dollar or two to buy only organic spinach.

I will only eat grass fed beef ( however I live in cow country)

Look for bread with the fewest ingredients preferably organic as US grains are loaded with glyphosate.

I would rather eat less food if healthier food costs more. I grow mini greens, arugula and mini tomatoes in my south windows.

[Donkees]

29. More antioxidants, superfoods, omega-3's to build health reserves, protect eyes

[GreatGazoo]

31. Thanks -- I do a multi, Vit D, creatine

and periodically, NAC.

Used to love salmon but it is all farmed now and as bad as tilapia. Bought some trout last year and LOVED it but I am going to have to learn to catch my own because brook trout is about $12 a portion. Great fish.

[OldEurope]

30. What about the things you don't buy daily?

Salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, spices?
To prepare food you also need energy.

And i would also have more fresh fruit, like apples.

[GreatGazoo]

33. My neighbor has apple and pear trees

Gives me more than I want. I grow tomatoes for my dogs and eat lots of those.

Bought a strawberry plant 15 years ago. Still producing and they are much better than Driscoll eg. not white in the center. Best investment ever.

People who do chili cookoffs turned me on to garlic powder. It is more consistent than cloves (which I also use) and easier to adjust. $1 a pop at Walmart. Their chili powder is the best I have tested, probably because it is fresher. Also $1 each.

I did leave out olive oil which is way up in cost. Point taken.

[AllaN01Bear]

32. wow.

[AllaN01Bear]

34. there are a number of grocery challeneges like this on youtube ,

but with the tarrifs and increase of prices of food many now dont work.