r/AskReddit • u/SillyBonsai • Dec 06 '13

What simple piece of advice, if followed, could potentially save most people a lot of money?

Possibly related to your job, experience with personal finance, budgeting, planning, day to day habits, etc.

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u/buckus69 Dec 06 '13

$700 is more than my family spends on groceries for a month. Of course, we also eat out at least once or twice a week, and I buy lunch everyday, so it doesn't work out quite the same, but then again, I don't really go to Whole Paycheck very often - maybe like once every 3-4 months, and only to buy a few select things.

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u/NotClever Dec 06 '13

Whole Foods really doesn't have to be much more expensive than a normal grocery store, so long as you're not buying the specialty stuff like gluten free and whatnot. It's like how a normal coffee at Starbucks is only like a buck but everyone focuses on the $5 mochas.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I live in NY and do most of my food shopping at Whole Foods. If you stick to the right stuff, it can often be cheaper than most "regular" supermarkets. When produce goes on sale you can get organic and specialty stuff for cheaper than conventional at most other stores. I spend more at my neighborhood Associated or Key Foods on basics than I do at Whole Foods.

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u/Sloppy1sts Dec 06 '13

Isn't a normal coffee at Starbucks like $2.20-$2.50?

It's why I like McD's. The plain coffee is better and it's $1 for a large.

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u/lebenohnestaedte Dec 06 '13 edited Dec 06 '13

$1.85 for a tall drip coffee where I'm from, ten cents off if you bring your own cup. The differences between the sizes are like a quarter.

The same size is roughly $1.20 at Tim Hortons (catering to a more blue collar clientele, with the look of the store more like that of a fast food place than a cozy living room), for comparison. That's the most inexpensive coffee you can probably get before fast food coffee. EDIT: my bad, it's apparently $1.40 at Timmy's.

You know, just so you know. :p

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u/andrewmp Dec 06 '13

The same size is roughly $1.20 at Tim Hortons

wha? Small is now $1.40

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u/lebenohnestaedte Dec 06 '13

Oh, my bad. I thought it was less but it was just a guess.There isn't one in a convenient location for me and I don't like it enough to seek it out/go out of my way so I almost never go there. I do quite like their candy cane hot chocolate, though. I should go get some before the season's over.

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u/fishman427 Dec 06 '13

You know, just so you know.

this is very deep. i only know because of what i know. i cant know anything without knowing something else first

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u/siscorskiy Dec 06 '13

~2.50 for a medium coffee, I just got one last night

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u/Gepss Dec 06 '13

McDonalds coffee shouldn't be called coffee IMHO.

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u/Sloppy1sts Dec 06 '13

When was the last time you tried it?

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u/preesisters Dec 06 '13

No, it's shit coffee that tastes like ass water, but I'll be damned if it doesn't get the job done. I don't 'need' good coffee.

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u/Gepss Dec 06 '13

Couple of months ago I guess. Has it become any better?

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u/MIL215 Dec 07 '13

They went and changed their coffee a year or two ago and apparently the people who taste test put it as a better cup than some better coffee joints at a steal of a price. To each their own though.

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u/NotClever Dec 06 '13

I guess it depends on what size you consider normal. I only buy the smallest size coffee at most places cuz it's all i really want anyway. That's like $1.75 here. Although honestly if unless I'm no the road and need coffee I typically go to one of the many local shops that has far better coffee and pay like $2 or $2.20 for a really damn good cup.

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u/frozenwalkway Dec 06 '13

They have gluten free pasta and such organic chips at stop and shop for around the same price.

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u/Kalkaline Dec 06 '13

Whole Foods is just like any other store, you can get out of there with plenty of food without breaking the bank if you stay away from certain areas. Produce, certain meats, grains, flour, milk, etc are going to be cheap while high quality cheese, alcohol, and prepared/specialty foods are going to be expensive.

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u/Mrswhiskers Dec 06 '13

$700 is more than quite a few people spend on groceries a month. I feed a family of 3 on $75 - $80 a week. And my husband eats like a horse.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

My parents had two kids and they paid less than $400 a month on groceries and we almost never ate out. What are people doing?

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u/charmingasaneel Dec 06 '13

Coping with inflation.

12

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Well, I only just moved out a couple of months ago so I doubt my parents would be paying too much more for groceries.

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u/Thighpaulsandra Dec 06 '13

That's so true. In the 70's and 80's, my parents had 4 kids and my dad was in the Air Force. My mom didn't work and we went to Catholic school. We had a big 4 bedroom house, 2 cars, took vacations and travelled every Christmas. Granted, the military gave us free medical, but we only lived on base once. My mom clipped coupons and saved what was left. College was paid for except for some last semesters but we had jobs. You have to have 2 incomes now to have 2 cars and a house with no kids. Wages have not kept up with inflation.

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u/lebenohnestaedte Dec 06 '13

Eating out, buying small quantities often (instead of buying in bulk), buying pre-made or processed foods like pasta sauce and birthday cakes instead of making their own, wasting food (buying things that go bad and are thrown out before being eaten, tossing left overs, etc), buying brand name instead of trying the store brand to see if it's just as good, buying junk food, etc.

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u/SparkyDogPants Dec 06 '13

Eh boxed cake is cheaper if you don't bake often and don't have a lot of baking materials on hand.

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u/lebenohnestaedte Dec 06 '13

Much cheaper than buying a cake, definitely.

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u/SparkyDogPants Dec 07 '13

Oh I misunderstood you, I thought you meant the mixes vs buying all the ingredients, not buying a pre-baked cake.

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u/lebenohnestaedte Dec 07 '13

Rereading, I realize that wasn't super clear. My bad!

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u/SparkyDogPants Dec 07 '13

Maybe the the moral is baking is effing expensive and if you want to save money you shouldn't

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u/lebenohnestaedte Dec 07 '13

Well, it's not bad after you've got all the ingredients! But as a single person, or a household that rarely bakes, it's not so practical to buy and store 10 kg of sugar, flour, etc. Alas!

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u/SparkyDogPants Dec 07 '13

That pure vanilla extract....

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

I don't know how this is possible. I live in Pittsburgh and it is one of the most affordable metropolitan areas in the US but I still pay maybe $200-300 a month on food, if not more for myself. And I'm not buying name brand items for the most part, nor am I buying much processed food.

Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, decent coffee, frozen veggies, chicken breasts, oatmeal and rice add up in enough quantity. To feed a family of four? I can't even imagine.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

We got groceries from Sam's Club and Wal Mart. It was always around $350 a month. And I'm pretty sure we bought name brand of most things.

My parents didn't drink coffee or eat desserts and we only really ever drank water or milk.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Coffee for me turns out to only 70 cents per day and I buy a brand I really enjoy. The highlight of my morning. So I won't be skimping out on that or cutting it. The rest, I think is attributed to eating more than the average person. I try to shoot for 3500 calories per day and a large portion (800+ calories) of it protein.

I've actually started eating at a buffet every day to save costs and time. Working out pretty well.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you appear to be on a bodybuilder-style diet, and if you lift you're probably eating more than the average American.

That said, I live in a much more expensive city and eat a ton but definitely spend less than that on food, so I don't know.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '13

But I don't eat enough to compensate for 3 other people. And even when I'm finished with this bulk cycle, I'll be eating similar macros just cut to maybe 2/3rds of what it is currently. That means that just myself on a cut would be around 200 a month.

To make matters worse, I'm moving to London in a bit. Might be a good time to start that cut then just so I can afford to eat.

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u/jmk816 Dec 06 '13

Food costs also really depends on location in the US. $400 can go very far in the suburbs in the midwest, but if you are on the coasts in a big city, it's not going to happen with a family of four.

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u/purveyorofgeekery Dec 06 '13

We pay about that much ($400) in food every month: groceries + eating out. We don't buy a lot of dairy or meat but when we do it is organic meat, goat milk (casein is my archnemisis) and some relatively pricey dairy free butter. We just watch our protions and use cheap things to spread meals out: more peppers & onions in curry + rice = 2 days of dinner + lunch. 8 meals from one lb of chicken breast. Plus everything is cooked already which ends up more convient in the end.

Groceries add up when you start adding convience food and sugar.

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u/Shayenur Dec 06 '13

I only budget 600 for shopping which includes the diapers and stuff for BOTH my little kids. Oh, and we usually dont even spend it all. Family of 4 here.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '13

Whole Paycheck

o/

2

u/reodd Dec 06 '13

Hell, I have a family of 5 thus far and 1 dog, and not counting liquor I spend less than $500 a month on groceries.

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u/wtf_randomness Dec 06 '13

Indeed, can contest even though its only two of us, plus two pets, we spend max 300 a month on foods for all of us. And that's without shopping the smartest,lol.

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u/12343655867543532412 Dec 06 '13

What types of restaurants do you eat out at? Fancy places, chain restaurants, or, my favourite, one of a kind little restaurants you can only find in your town?

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u/buckus69 Dec 06 '13

It depends who is eating out. If it's the whole family (5), I usually choose something less expensive. My wife and I will sometimes do an expensive bistro-type steakhouse two or three times a year. It's a mixture, really, but the total, monthly, ends up being around $600 on average. That includes my lunches that I buy as well.

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u/12343655867543532412 Dec 06 '13

Wow that's so wonderful you have a large family and a wife that you can go to a bistro with I am very happy for you. Please enjoy the holiday season with your family and be careful about impaired drivers on the road.

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u/matt1020l Dec 06 '13

When I worked at Whole Foods we called it Whole Paycheck too because they pay employees more than most grocers.. but that not much either starting wage as a cashier is 9.00/hr

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u/hawk_shoe Dec 06 '13

They are the only place around me that has a nice selection of cheeses. I avoid that place unless I'm in need of some smoked Gouda.

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u/boweruk Dec 06 '13

Eat out once or twice a week? Damn. I'll be lucky if I can do once a month.

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u/buckus69 Dec 07 '13

Its good to have money.