Budget shopping at the most expensive grocery store in America
This post is a collaboration between me and @macgyvermedical.
Okay listen, it would be nice- very nice- to live next to a WinCo or an Aldi. But whether it’s a lack of affordable transportation or simple distance, sometimes the grocery store you have access to is not the most affordable option. And by “not the most affordable”, I mean potentially a Safeway or even, God forbid, a Whole Foods.
So today we went to a Whole Foods to see what one could potentially afford if they’re looking at the dirtiest of dirt cheap at the most expensive grocery store chain in the USA. And folks, I’ll be honest, it’s pretty bleak. Not impossible, like, you can do it. But nutritionally complete will be the only thing it will be, and you’re still going to be paying a minimum of $8-10 per day per person (if you were willing to do beans and rice and onions and frozen spinach for every meal, you could get it down to $6/day, but that would be tough).
But if it’s what you’ve got, it’s what you’ve got. And we’re here to give you some ideas as to how it might look. To get us started: The cheapest protein is dry beans, coming in at $0.75/lb (that’s after cooking, as purchased at $2.99/lb) (runner up, peanut butter at $1.92/lb). The cheapest meat is whole chicken at $2.49/lb. The cheapest starch is all-purpose flour at $0.64/lb (runner up white or brown rice, both $0.80/lb). The cheapest vegetable is carrot at $1.05/lb, (runner up, yellow onion at $1.69/lb, frozen spinach at $1.92/lb). The cheapest fruit is banana at $0.69/lb (runner up pears and plantains at $1.29/lb). The cheapest fat is vegetable oil at $2.08/lb.
There are a number of other foods we found that could work in moderation for a less expensive diet. There were a number of vegetables (among them various types of cabbage, squash, and daikon radish) at $1.99/lb. White potatoes make a slightly more expensive starch at $1.09/lb. Frozen fruit and vegetables tended to be in the $2.50-4/lb range (except spinach). Milk was $4.09/gal, eggs were $0.28 each, and butter was $4.48/lb. Shredded cheese (the cheapest version of cheese) was $5/lb. Meats other than whole chicken are almost not worth mentioning, but you could get ground pork and pork butt for $6/lb. Split peas and lentils were $4/lb. Pasta ran $1.29/lb and pasta sauce was $2.24/lb.
Notice that, like when pricing out everything for any other store, trying to put everything in the same unit price will help compare fats to fats, protein to protein, vegetable to vegetable, and starch to starch. Most of the labels at Whole Foods had a unit price in ounces, which we converted to pounds by multiplying by 16 because it was easier, especially for things like protein and vegetables, which are frequently sold by the pound.
So, here are some ideas for relatively inexpensive meals with the least expensive foods at Whole Foods. You are going to have to cook, even things like tortillas and homemade bread and other things you’d probably be able to afford to buy pre-made at other stores (bread and tortillas were prohibitively expensive here, but flour was reasonable. We didn’t look at yeast, but if you were really strapped flatbreads are good or there are many good recipes for sourdough starters out there). These are meals that would reasonably keep you spending about $8-10/day per person at Whole Foods:
Beans, rice, frozen spinach, hot sauce, onion, a banana (this is the absolute rock bottom cheapest meal I could make that was more than just beans and rice, and it works out to a little less than $2 for a third of a day’s calories.)
Mixed sliced banana and frozen strawberries for fruit salad
Homemade tortillas with beans and cheese
Homemade pasta with sauce and cheese
Peanut butter and jelly on homemade bread
Rice pudding with brown rice for breakfast
Oatmeal with cinnamon and diced pears
Baked squash with chicken
Rice and edamame with soy sauce and homemade pickled radish
Sheet pan frozen french fries and frozen cauliflower with cheese
Black bean burgers with homemade buns, cheese, and homemade pickled red onion
Fried potatoes or taro (a standby for adding calories to a meal in our house!)
Oatmeal with peanut butter and bananas
Chicken and rice stew with onion and carrot
Stir fried rice with cabbage, onion, carrot, and ground pork
Quiche with spinach and homemade pie crust
Cheese pizza with homemade crust (or bbq chicken pizza with homemade bbq sauce)
Curried lentils and rice with california blend veggies
Sausage-carrot- rice casserole with homemade cream of soup
Cabbage and mashed potatoes with sausage patties
Onion soup (need to buy beef bouillon)
Strawberry or mango smoothie
Copper pennies (a kind of pickled carrot)
pancakes or waffles with fruit or jam or homemade brown sugar syrup or fruit compote
