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Cost of shopping

Andy_Warlow

Well-Known Member
Messages
116
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Cycling,
Hi

Since I have started my journey of getting and keeping my blood sugars in the normal range.

My shopping has almost doubled in price, Don't me wrong I use fresh ingredients more and cook more than I ever have.

I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience.

Also any tips in reducing your shopping bill apart from fasting.
 
Reactions: ert
How are your overall costs? Are you including costs of takeaways/ eating out?

I haven’t tracked my bills, but suspect that any increase in grocery shopping has been more than offset by far less frequent ordering in.

In terms of tips - buy in bulk and batch cook; get stuff when it’s on offer and freeze until needed; buy the cheaper (tastier) cuts of meat; don’t seek out ‘replacements’ for carbs - they tend to be expensive.
 
Hi Andy. I've read a few threads on this topic. Many seem to be adamant they have saved money but I'm with you on this. Both sides could be right since food preferences are highly individual. My issue is I basically eat salad so batch cooking/bulk buying doesn't work. We bought half a pig - probably last me 2-3 years. We but olive oil and acv in 5 litre containers but that was to avoid shops. Doesn't help that my wife and I eat entirely different meals almost every day. Since we never really used Takeaways or meals out that isn't a saving.
 
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Reactions: ert
I think it depends on what you used to eat and what you eat now. I ditched cakes, biscuits and chocolate (expensive) but also ready meals (cheap) in favour of a lot more fresh veg and meat. But... since my diet has changed so much and I still want ‘treats’ I buy more, and better quality, of what I only used to buy occasionally because I considered them too expensive for frequent consumption - like lamb chops (£4 for a couple of nice thick ones! ), and good smoked salmon and posh bacon. But this is somewhat balanced by much cheaper staples like chicken legs, decent sausages, pork chops, eggs....

I think it does come out marginally cheaper overall, but possibly only because I eat less frequently (never more than twic3 a day, and no snacks), and I plan my meals much more than I used to because of lockdown. I only shop once a week now whereas I used to trot over to the supermarket daily, and of course it’s impossible not to come back with a bagful when you only went in for loo paper.

I just try to make sure that I eat everything I buy and don’t throw anything away.

You may find that things become a bit less expensive as you settle into your new way of eating and get a bit of a routine going.
 
Food prices in general have increased a lot. Supermarkets have not felt the need to encourage shoppers with low prices and special offers when they have customers desperate to get delivery slots. What I find annoying is that there are daily reports of the difficulty and expense of exporting food after Brexit but no attempt to sell it (ideally cheaply) in the UK.
 
To be fair, I tend to shop for small quantities off peak almost daily.

Usually the are some yellow stickered "mark down" cuts of meat of fish that can be had..
If it's for a meal on the same day?
 
My costs went up, but that is because I buy things like ground almonds and coconut flour plus truvia to make low carb cake and spend more on chicken and fish. I buy more ready prepared veg too and I still buy some ready meals but the lowest carb versions are much more expensive (3 to 4 times the price).
I usually shopped online before covid, so that didn't change and it does mean I miss out on the end of shelf life sales.

It is possible to save money and eat low carb - but I'm disabled so many of the cheaper options such as preparing loads of veg and cooking everything from scratch aren't possible.
 
yes, the cost of my shopping has gone up because of what I buy specially for me, but it has also gone up generally on the items I buy for my non-diabetic family members. Our weekly food bill has gone from £60+ a year ago to over £80+, sometimes more.

It is counterbalanced a bit by eating less quantity

I use a freezer to make sure I can take advantage of bulk buys, or am covered when the delivery is "out of stock". Also expensive items like keto cake is instantly portioned and frozen so I get the full 16 portions rather than bingeing too many pieces at once. So I get more value from the ingredients I have bought.

I bulk meals with cheap green veg. And freeze celeriac when in season
I do not buy expensive out of season fruit and veg.

I use factory farmed eggs rather than free range as I really can't tell the difference in taste. That gets me 15 instead of 6 for the same money.

Small changes to offset big costs
 
I have noticed a general increase in the price of food over the past few months.

The difference in price switching to low carb can depend on your choices around protein. I havent noticed a change upwards in that regard, if I take into account the amount I used to spend on carbs.
 
Our food bill has risen not from buying low carb food items but food manufacturers increases due to lack of supplies, freight charges from higher fuel costs etc.

Buying food which is lower in carbs is not nearly any more expensive than high carb stuff, our food bill including meat is around $250.00 a week for the two of us from the major supermarkets. We get a lot of food that is on special.

Weekly farmers markets are good places to get cheap fruit and veggies.

We do not shop in so called convenience shops as the price of food / groceries in these are inflated.
 
that translates to £180 a week for two. My food bill in total is £80 a week for three adults. That includes extra protein for me (mainly eggs, milk and cheese)
 
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I think @Riva_Roxaban is in Australia. Have been there a few times and find that food is much more expensive there than that in the UK, generally
 
I'm in Canada so it might be different here. For me, I buy mostly pork and chicken for meat. I buy beef locally an din bulk from a farm every year or so. I buy whole chickens and break them down myself. It's an incredibly useful skill that pays for itself easily. I get breasts, thighs, wings, drums, and homemade brothnfrom the caracsses.

I stock up on sale and try to coast to the next sale. For example, butter goes on sale frequently, and when it does I'll put 10 - 20 pounds in the freezer.

Until the very last word of OP I was composing my semi-serious fasting punch line. For real though, try fasting. Just joking (not joking).
 
Good question @Andy_Warlow

Pre DX
I used to eat regularly, 3 meals plus snacks
But all cheap enough

Once DX'd I made huge changes
I tried the more exotic ingredients for LC recipes etc ..
None of which personally was worth the effort
Poor cook. Yeah, but I gave it a go.

End result is I now usually eat twice a day.
Breakfast egg bacon etc or yoghurt n fruit
And quite often skip that and wait until evening meal.

Now that meal can be more expensive, steaks, chops, lamb usually, chicken, mince etc
And decent veg.

But none of it breaking the bank
And compared to the 3 meals plus the snacks and the more common takeaways, I think this is cheaper overall.

I have many times cooked a meal and used half next day
The "belly gets fuller, quicker on LC" fills me up so I don't always feel the need to eat everything in one sitting

Think point was made it settles down once you find your sweet spot meals, I agree

To;dr
Seems like it at first,
But once you find the foods you enjoy
I think it's as cheap, if not cheaper.

Do agree that foods got more expensive
Missus said same other day.
 
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When you think about a LCHF way of eating being more expensive than eating "normally", you are saving money buy not buying carby foods like cake, biscuits, lollies / candy / sweeties, fizzy drinks, most fruit juices, alot of fruit etc. Then you have your your killer foods. pasta, rice, takeaways whatever.

By not buying these your saving money, so you may buy more food that have low or zero carbs like meat and bacon, poultry, dairy products including cream, yoghurt, cheese all are normal grocery items.

Buy generic store home brand items, you can save money this way on low carb food, the supermarkets we shop at has at least $2.00 difference on a small tin of salmon compared to a tin of the same size John West salmon. Both have the same John West contents, just a different label on the generic tin.

There are lot of generic food items on our shopping list.
 
My groceries are pretty expensive because I buy items like almond milk, which are pricey. I also eat a lot of smoked salmon which isn’t cheap. While I do try to be somewhat frugal, during hard times I’d rather cut something like cable TV than cut into my diet
 
I think it can vary depending on your food preferences.

I suspect our food bill has gone up a bit as I previously wasn't a fan of meat very much. I ate a lot of carbs. On the other hand we have takeaways a lot less and also eat out a lot less (also contributed to by covid). I find it more difficult to eat out as very rarely do they have anything I can't have at home. Most of the things I would eat going out are high in carbs so I don't. We do things like freeze food so that helps.

Another cost has been more clothes as I lost weight- more clothing is available so that is also a factor.

Another factor for me has been my children leaving home so fewer people too cook for.

We are fortunate to have sufficient to not really worry about our weekly food costs and I am very grateful for that.
 
I recently discovered Iceland. they do packs of cheese slices, two for 2 pounds if I'm not wrong. Perfect for breakfast and for snacking. Their steaks are fine, and very cheap. They also sell pork scratching in a big bag, which is my replacement for packs of crisps in the evening.
 
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