When T and I first moved in together – in the dark days before budgeting and saving – we bought anything and everything at the supermarket. At the local Foodtown, no less – one of the most expensive chains around. Result: our bills veered crazily, anywhere between $100 and $200, and kept ballooning.
We have a grip on grocery shopping now, but it’s not as fun. A static spend means we eat a lot of the same foods over and over. Now that his mother kindly gifted us a slow cooker, he’s been experimenting with crockpot stews and soups (oxtail anyone?), but I still dream of being about to buy seafood and fish, cheese, good quality oils, berries, chorizo, dressings, and really good steak on a regular basis. And I’m sure there’s more divine yet expensive ingredients that I’ve forgotten. (For a country full of sheep and cows, our dairy products are NOT cheap. But at least they’re of good quality. Cheese should never be orange, IMO…)
What a heavenly picture! Did you take that?! I love it — makes me think of how really good ingredients absolutely sing on one’s palate. (And couldn’t agree with you more about dyed cheese. It’s an abomination.)
I think you still can buy food like that – if it’s important to you both, and you prioritize it. Jordan and I budget $450/month on groceries….for two people. A lot of folks think that, that is too much – we would rather have a full pantry and eat well – then spend more in other categories.
I wish food was that cheap…we spend that much for the two of us, for pretty basic food.
If he ever finds another job, I would love to increase the grocery budget.
Wow, I don’t know how you managed to spend so much at the supermarket… Our household grocery purchases for 3-4 people (i still live at home, heh) are around $150 and we have aaaaaallll sorts of luxuries in our fridge and pantry: wine, beer, brie, other sorts of cheese to cook with, regular sirloin, frozen prawns to cook up whenever… Maybe you just need to pick out a better supermarket and get better deals/specials on your grocery shopping?!