Fred Meyers haul

Fred Meyers haul.   35.00.    

Eggs were a dollar as well as raspberries and three tomato sauces amd two bunches of radishes.  

Blueberry pie was 3.49.  Sliced cheese was 3/5 - about the same as grocery outlet ,   Cottage cheese 2.00 and lemons and grapes.    Of course,chocolate was 1.25 -- can't pass that up!   (1/2 price) and I had stacking coupons for Hillshire farms sausage which included chicken, Polish, and regular sausage with a August 30 pull date.    Plenty of time to ration it out to minimize processed meat.   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective.
The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until ot goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis.

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week.
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level.

You often are laying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( cooking) by cooking more efficiently.

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.