Grocery Budget

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #1

Just wondering, especially for those who but for more than themselves (family, SO, etc)

How has your grocery budget changed compared to pre-keto?

  • Lower because of fasting
  • The same
  • Lower
  • Higher
  • I don’t remember

0 voters

(Susan) #2

I still have to buy all the same foods for the rest of the family; and stuff I can have, so it has gone up. I have also added vitamins and supplements and butter, and EVOO, and other things that I was not buying before as well. I am wearing the same clothes, even though they are baggy. I have clothes that are sitting waiting for me that I I can wear in another 100 pounds down… and some I can wear at goal weight (130 pounds less then now). We are very tight on budget, so I do try and keep the Keto costs as low as I can.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #3

I just feel like we are spending so much more on food now…

And with getting stuff for school lunches we spent much more than I planned on groceries… :cry:

(Ashley) #4

I think something to look into (not that I’m saying you don’t) trying to find cheap basic meals for usually day to day. And then a once or twice a week have a different meal, this have saved us dramatically. Although I am only a household of 2. But I’m very basic on eggs, bacon, burger meat. I eat a lot of the same meals and then switch it up a few days a week just for variety.

(Jane- Old Inky Crone) #5

I’m fairly certain that it’s about the same, but there’s just the two of us, and we are both Keto. I get good, high quality, meats from butcher box. The price averages out and we get to have some great cuts along with the lower priced burgers and chuck roast. I just bought a sous vide setup and it seems to be magic for turning a tough roast into a melt-in-your-mouth delight!

#6

I can’t really vote accurately. I have three other people in the house – including a teenage boy. So, yeah … we still buy a lot of food.

But for me, personally, since I now bring my lunch 99% of the work week (whereas I would buy half the time), I know I am eating less and for much cheaper.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #7

It’s just me. I eat less food but it’s better quality and more expensive so it evens out and is basically the same.

(Andi loves space, bacon and fasting. ) #8

My algorithm is this:

(higher quality foods) - (fasting) + (avocados) - (alcohol) = savings,.

I think my savings is equally from not buying wine and from fasting.

(Jane- Old Inky Crone) #9

Yes, I forgot to factor in the fact that prior to Keto we were eating out about 8-10 times a month, now we rarely eat out because the great Keto food we cook at home is so much better! So I’m probably spending a lot less now overall.

(Marianne) #10

This is us, too.

Both of us are down to OMAD, and once a week I fast for 48 hours (should/can do 72, but just don’t like fasting). I think what helps with our food costs is that we seem to prefer pork over beef, and pork cuts are really cheap - pork steaks and pork ribs are less than $2.99/lb. and have sufficient fat on them. We buy the 74% hamburger (and all our meat) at BJs in the big tubes (like Sam’s/Costco), and that is really cheap. Ham at BJs is really cheap, too.

(Marianne) #11

Yes, forgot about that! If we go out to eat now once a month, it’s a lot. I agree, our meals are better at home. We were paying a fortune on eating out - between drinks, dinner, tax and tip, it would typically be $50 every time.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #12

Same boat. I just spend less on carbage, and more on beef :slightly_smiling_face:

(PSackmann) #13

Mine has gone down overall. Before Keto, even when I was eating low carb I always had snacks during the day. that has stopped, plus I don’t eat breakfast most days, so that’s less right there. My husband and son’s food has stayed the same, so with one less person snacking and/or eating breakfast, it’s gone down.

#14

I’d say higher (it’s hard to remember, really). That’s mainly because I was eating so badly before I went low carb decades ago. I was living on pasta with red sauce out of a jar, crackers and cheese, and other junk food. My diet revolves around high quality protein now.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #15

I feel mine had gone up. I used to eat lots of pasta! Pasta is so cheap and it was so easy to make. But now with my kids getting older, it seems to be getting more expensive.

(Stephen Readman) #16

I think it does go up, most overly processed carbs are cheap to buy in bulk, and easy to cook for large groups.

(KCKO, KCFO) #17

Lower, but not much. We both do at least low carb often strict keto, for all meals. We use Costco even more now, that helps heaps. We have always bought what we want, without a lot of regard for price. I never did buy a $200 wagyu steak but that is about it in the denial department.

We have cut way back on eating out, just easier to fix a bit of something we know will work for us. Eating out is a rare occasion except for the one breakfast out each week now, rarely do we have dinner out. That is where we have really saved some serious money. I am a foodie and I used to go out for entertainment a LOT. Not so much anymore.

(Jane- Old Inky Crone) #18

To qualify my earlier statement about it being less expensive or staying the same: I have a TON of food allergies, and celiac. So prior to Keto I was eating a lot of gluten-free junk, organics, and specialty items. Now, I’m mostly just eating grass fed beef and pork, eggs I buy from neighbors, and a few organic frozen veggies. This is not as expensive for me because it takes a lot less food to fill my belly, and once I eat each day I don’t get hungry again, or if I do, I don’t want much. Before, I was eating constantly, and the kinds of things I ate were so expensive.

(Jane) #19

My husband does most of the grocery shopping and he says our food bill is less now. We are both keto with no kids living at home so simple to shop for the two of us.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #20

Definitely less now. No eating out except a few times a year, TMAD instead of three meals and snacks. I grow vegetables now to pretty much cover my needs except for occasional stuff I don’t grow. The food I eat now sustains me longer without the in between meal slumps that made me snack. I spend about $30-45 a week now. My bank account is growing and I live on disability, I already saved over $2000 in the last 6 months for a trip to Indonesia next summer for three months. I haven’t had money like this in years. :cowboy_hat_face: