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[eznark]

hmmmm...I think I might have to try this on the next baby. Diapers are really the only thing that I don't want to think are damn near impossible to drop down considerably on. We have searched long and hard for good coupons, but you can never manage to save more than a buck or two on a box.

Those cloth diapers are pretty expensive but they're fantastic. Excellent quality. Also, get some damn soft wash cloths. Stop spending money on wipes.

 

[AlteredBeast]

No.

Have you been to the grocery store recently? Bread costs $5, milk costs $4-5, eggs $3, fruits $3-4, vegetables $3-4, cereal $3-4, cheese $2-3, and etc.

When you cook your own food (my wife cooks), it can actually get expensive because you have to get a variety of ingredients that need to refilled every few days when you need to feed four people for 3 meals a day. That's 12 portions a day. 36 portions over 3 days. 84 portions in a week, 360 portions a month.

Ironically it's the McDonalds and cheap pizza places (Lil' Ceasers) that are the inexpensive options for feeding a group of people, which is why we have a lot of fat people in America who are usually low income. If you want to cook your own food from mostly normal healthy ingredients, the costs add up. It's the high-fat unhealthy instant foods that are dirt cheap.

Dayum! Where do you live? Even better, where do you live where Bread costs 5 bucks a loaf?!?! Eggs for 3 dollars? Cereal for 4?

 

[HamPster PamPster]

Its funny how a discussion of tax rates turns into "the poor spend too much on groceries!" Talk about clouding the issue. The point remains the same if they spend $100 or $1000 or even $10,000 on groceries

 

[Invisible_Insane]

Dayum! Where do you live? Even better, where do you live where Bread costs 5 bucks a loaf?!?! Eggs for 3 dollars? Cereal for 4?

He's not making it up. (LI/NYC)

I'll take this opportunity to grumble tangentially about corn subsidies.

 

[Black Republican]

id love to see the reaction if the gop won weiner's seat

 

[TacticalFox88]

If you cook your own food, you can easily feed a family of 4 on $11 a day over the course of a month. You start throwing in McDonalds and ordering out pizza 2 nights a week, then no.

$11? I'd say you'd have to triple that number. There's no way in HELL 11 dollars can get a family of four by. 11 a day for one person? Sure. Four? Not a chance in hell.

 

[The Chosen One]

Dayum! Where do you live? Even better, where do you live where Bread costs 5 bucks a loaf?!?! Eggs for 3 dollars? Cereal for 4?

Southern California.

At the local Albertson (regular grocery store, not some health food place), the only half decent wheat bread costs ~$4-5 per loaf. There's cheaper white bread but again it's not very healthy. And yep, eggs cost $3 and cereal costs $4 with the boxes getting smaller and smaller. The larger (normal-sized) cereal boxes are over $5.

 

[besada]

5,000 views already. Why aren't we stickied, again?

Weiner's press conference is on, by the way.

Edit: Holy shit, hecklers screaming pervert. That's just ridiculous.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

He's not making it up. (LI/NYC)

Yep, it's like that in Park Slope in Brooklyn. Honestly when I first saw the post and prices I thought it looked pretty normal for me.

Another reason I can't wait to move out of NYC: Cheaper consumer goods.

On the subject of taxes, I have to wonder if most people are savvy enough to ensure they tax advantage of work related pre-tax deductions for thinks like transportation, flexible spending, and childcare.

One neat trick (well it's not hidden, it's more like an extra plus) is if you drive and use subway, train, ferry,etc you can amounts removed for both the parking and the actual method of transport. You can hit the limit on both.

 

[GhaleonEB]

No.

Have you been to the grocery store recently? Bread costs $5, milk costs $4-5, eggs $3, fruits $3-4, vegetables $3-4, cereal $3-4, cheese $2-3, and etc

Where do you live?

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Republican books: What do they tell us?

Good read

 

[reilo]

$11/day to feed a family of four? Damn. Where do you shop? That seems fairly out of touch with my day-to-day shopping experience.

I could feed myself on that much money a day, but three more people?

 

[TL4E]

Is it just me or did someone say "are you more than 7 inches?"

 

[StopMakingSense]

Southern California.

At the local Albertson (regular grocery store, not some health food place), the only half decent wheat bread costs ~$4-5 per loaf. There's cheaper white bread but again it's not very healthy. And yep, eggs cost $3 and cereal costs $4 with the boxes getting smaller and smaller. The larger (normal-sized) cereal boxes are over $5.

Do you have a Trader Joes nearby? They have a bunch of great bread choices starting at like 1.99.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

It's kind of funny actually. Just hearing hecklers at a freaking resignation speech is just sad.

 

[RustyNails]

Dayum! Where do you live? Even better, where do you live where Bread costs 5 bucks a loaf?!?! Eggs for 3 dollars? Cereal for 4?

A cheapo white bread costs $2.49 in Chicago. A good whole grain goes for $4. A gallon of milk is easily above $4. If you want to get into even more detail about the scenario we're discussing, a loaf of bread would be finished every 2-3 days along with the gallon of milk (lets say every 4-5 days, being generous) for a family of four. So you're already spending roughly $3-5 a day on just breakfast alone.

Edit: (well assuming your breakfast consists of just milk and bread...I'm sad now)

 

[TangMeng]

lol at the heckler. What an asshole.

 

[Evlar]

Gallup: Unemployment now at 8.9%

http://www.gallup.com/poll/125639/Gallup-Daily-Workforce.aspx

Been that way since yesterday. Not a single article in the general media about it. I suppose it goes against the "tanking economy" narrative.

So much for the media's "liberal bias".

Or maybe it's

Because results are not seasonally adjusted, they are not directly comparable to numbers reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which are based on workers 16 and older. Margin of error is ± 0.7 percentage points

 

[Meus Renaissance]

"ARE YOU MORE THEN 7 INCHES! SIR SIR."

 

[PhoenixDark]

No.

Have you been to the grocery store recently? Bread costs $5, milk costs $4-5, eggs $3, fruits $3-4, vegetables $3-4, cereal $3-4, cheese $2-3, and etc.

When you cook your own food (my wife cooks), it can actually get expensive because you have to get a variety of ingredients that need to refilled every few days when you need to feed four people for 3 meals a day. That's 12 portions a day. 36 portions over 3 days. 84 portions in a week, 360 portions a month.

Ironically it's the McDonalds and cheap pizza places (Lil' Ceasers) that are the inexpensive options for feeding a group of people, which is why we have a lot of fat people in America who are usually low income. If you want to cook your own food from mostly normal healthy ingredients, the costs add up. It's the high-fat unhealthy instant foods that are dirt cheap.

The costs add up when you cook your own food, but you spend less money over time since your food lasts. Rice, potatoes, boneless chicken breast, mixed veggies, etc won't require being bought monthly, they'll last. $44 a month - hell lets raise it to $50. I think that's doable.

 

[eznark]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

 

[reilo]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

Are you Chris Farley's Superfan character, waiting for a coronary to happen?

 

[RustyNails]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

Aldi's is surprisingly cheap actually. I loved shopping there. Screw their bring your own bags/bags cost $0.25 policy though D:

 

[Invisible_Insane]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

something something healthcare spending

 

[PhoenixDark]

Are you Chris Farley's Superfan character, waiting for a coronary to happen?

And when he goes to the emergency room after a heart attack we all pay the bill *grumble*

edit: beaten haha

 

[besada]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

Not everyone has an Aldi's. They just opened up down here. Pretty nice for cheap staples, though. I like how fast you can get in and out. Now if they only carried Diet Coke.

 

[StopMakingSense]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

For some things, like bread like I was specifically mentioning, Trader Joes is really cheap compared to other Grocery Stores.

 

[AlteredBeast]

I live in Nebraska, cost of living is extremely cheap compared to other parts of the country, as evidenced by the other posters in NYC and SoCal. Of course, my job in SoCal or NYC would pay me 20 grand more a year, so there is that...

Price of living in Heaven I suppose


I just checked online at my local grocers, I can easily find quality wheat bread at or below 2 dollars a loaf, cereal 2 for 5 bucks (cheaper still if you buy bagged cereals or grocery brands), dozen of eggs under 2 bucks and etc.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It's totally possible to feed a family of 4 on 11 dollars a day.

Pricerite (North-east cheap food store, and where I shop)
Not Frozen Chicken Patties (10) : 4.99
White Buns: .89
2 lbs Frozen French Fries (which is like 4 meals): 2.99

And still have money left to get a 2 liter of off-brand soda and some cheese.

Any poor kids eat lunch at school for no cost, and just skip breakfast.

 

[Manmademan]

If you have $11 a day you should be shopping at Aldi's and Wal Mart not Trader Joe's. Man, you guys are out of touch. When I was in college I could get 100 hot dogs and 10 packages of mac n cheese from Aldi's for $11. Food for a month!

I remember those Aldi days. Shopping there was nearly half the cost of the superstores.

I'm not nearly as hard up now, but I doubt my daily costs per day to feed myself go much over $15.

breakfast = 3 eggs. (dozen eggs= around $1.50 to $2.00)

lunch = soup (varies) plus a greek yogurt. Drink hot tea during the day but there's tons of that around that work pays for. maybe $3 to $4 total.

Dinner = bag of stir fry vegetables (2.00) and a chicken breast. (usually 3 per pack @ 6.00 per pack. less if I load up when its BOGO)

usually drink water, a beer, or some of the woman's crystal light mix w/dinner.

 

[timetokill]

For some things, like bread like I was specifically mentioning, Trader Joes is really cheap compared to other Grocery Stores.

Trader Joe's bread also goes bad about 30 minutes after you buy it. I guess you can freeze it though.

 

[eznark]

For some things, like bread like I was specifically mentioning, Trader Joes is really cheap compared to other Grocery Stores.

I think every grocery store I've ever gone into has house brand bread for $0.99

As to healthcare, split between 4 people that comes to less than a hot dog a day, suckers.

I remember those Aldi days. Shopping there was nearly half the cost of the superstores.

I'm not nearly as hard up now, but I doubt my daily costs per day to feed myself go much over $15.

I don't even have the foggiest notion anymore of what our grocery bill is.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Heh, well isn't this interesting.

High Food Prices Changing Diets

Almost two-fifths of consumers surveyed in 17 countries said high food prices have changed their diets, with people in poorer nations hit hardest by increased costs.

More than half said they eat different food than two years ago, mainly for cost and health reasons, according to the survey of more than 16,000 people by Globescan Inc., a Toronto-based researcher, for Oxfam International. Global food prices have increased 37 percent in the past year, the United Nations says.

“Huge numbers of people, especially in the world’s poorest countries, are cutting back on the quantity or quality of the food they eat because of rising food prices,” Raymond Offenheiser, the president of the U.S. affiliate of Oxford, UK- based Oxfam, said in a news release. The results of the survey were released today.

The world’s population is forecast to jump to 9.3 billion in 2050 from an estimated 6.9 billion in 2010, requiring a 70 percent increase in food production, according to the UN. In February, when the rise in food prices peaked, the World Bank said the increased costs had pushed 44 million people into “extreme poverty” in a little over half a year.

Costs or Health?

Corn, wheat and soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were all up at least 49 percent in the past year as of yesterday. The U.S. is the world’s biggest exporter of all three crops.

Oxfam’s survey, which included wealthy nations such as the U.S. and Germany, rising powers like Brazil and poorer countries including Kenya and Ghana, asked whether people were eating the same food as two years ago. If there was a change, respondents were asked whether it was prompted by costs or health reasons.

Worldwide, of people who said they’d changed their diets, 39 percent said it was because certain foods were becoming too expensive, and 33 percent said they were trying to eat more healthily.

In the U.S., where food prices have risen 3.1 percent in the past year, almost half of the 56 percent who said they changed diets cited health reasons, while 31 percent pointed to costs. In the U.K., where 46 had adjusted their eating habits, 36 percent attributed the change to health and 41 percent credited costs.

Tanzania, Mexico

In Tanzania, 47 percent of respondents had changed diets. Cost was important to 49 percent and health to 21 percent. In Mexico, where 65 percent had adjusted eating patterns, 54 percent attributed the change to higher prices and 26 percent to health. Kenya had the highest percentage of people changing diets, 75 percent, and the biggest proportion citing costs, 79 percent. In India, 59 percent cited health reasons, the highest among all countries surveyed.

Prices for staple foods including corn will jump by 120 percent to 180 percent by 2030, with as much as half of the increase caused by climate change, Oxfam said last month in a report. The world’s poorest people, who spend up to 80 percent of their income on food, will be hardest-hit, it said.

Lower food intake and nutrition quality can lead to health problems and less-productive populations in poorer nations, according to the UN. In Kenya, the higher prices are leading to fewer fruits and vegetables on dinner tables, according to Marie Brill, an analyst in Washington at ActionAid International, which is studying changing diets in poor countries.

People “are reducing to one meal a day. Many families are required to take children out of school and put them to work,” she said earlier this week in a teleconference.

How depressing.

 

[gcubed]

Thank you for the smug reply

apparently i'm good at that today

 

[reilo]

It's totally possible to feed a family of 4 on 11 dollars a day.

Pricerite (North-east cheap food store, and where I shop)
Not Frozen Chicken Patties (10) : 4.99
White Buns: .89
2 lbs Frozen French Fries (which is like 4 meals): 2.99

And still have money left to get a 2 liter of off-brand soda and some cheese.

Any poor kids eat lunch at school for no cost, and just skip breakfast.

No wonder we are all fat and unhealthy if that is deemed an acceptable way to feed a family of four.

 

[eznark]

Heh, well isn't this interesting.

High Food Prices Changing Diets




How depressing.

Blame Iowa

 

[timetokill]

Heh, well isn't this interesting.

High Food Prices Changing Diets




How depressing.

Sounds like those corn subsidies are paying dividends!

 

[Manmademan]

No wonder we are all fat and unhealthy if that is deemed an acceptable way to feed a family of four.

that family will be dead of diabetes in about a year, eating like that.

I don't even have the foggiest notion anymore of what our grocery bill is.

the woman and I buy our groceries separately, since it's never anywhere close to an even split. she likes to buy a lot of nonsense I don't need (cereals, jams, granola bars, milk, breads, shampoos, feminine products)

I buy roughly the same thing every week, so I know how much it costs by now.

 

[eznark]

that family will be dead of diabetes in about a year, eating like that.

A chicken patty and fries for dinner will kill you in a year? Good lord. What do you people eat?

 

[Invisible_Insane]

A chicken patty and fries for dinner will kill you in a year? Good lord. What do you people eat?

I think the assumption is that they'd be eating food of that caliber daily, which is likely to produce some deleterious results in the long run.

 

[The Chosen One]

No wonder we are all fat and unhealthy if that is deemed an acceptable way to feed a family of four.

Seriously. He just validated the point I was making.

 

[TacticalFox88]

that family will be dead of diabetes in about a year, eating like that.

Diabetes doesn't work like that.

 

[Manmademan]

A chicken patty and fries for dinner will kill you in a year? Good lord. What do you people eat?

if that's all you eat? probably. low grade meat plus a load of breading, fries are all empty carbs- and soda LOL. might as well just eat at burger king every day.

there's no vegetables there whatsoever! you can scroll up to see what I eat everyday.

edit: weekends are different because i'll make omelettes then. 4 egg omelettes + goat cheese, pepperjack cheese, and black bean salsa.

spinach or broccoli on the side.

Diabetes doesn't work like that.

I was exaggerating, but poor eating habits over a long span of time can lead to things like type II diabetes.

 

[eznark]

if that's all you eat? probably. low grade meat plus a load of breading, fries are all empty carbs- and soda LOL. might as well just eat at burger king every day.

there's no vegetables there whatsoever! you can scroll up to see what I eat everyday.

edit: weekends are different because i'll make omelettes then. 4 egg omelettes + goat cheese, pepperjack cheese, and black bean salsa.

spinach or broccoli on the side.

I think there are probably a lot of people who eat fast food every day and shockingly they don't "drop dead of diabetes in a year." I have a sinking suspicion you are not a doctor?

 

[Vague]

My husband and I prepare every meal and we make stuff in bulk in the evening and then eat it for a few days for lunch and dinner. Last night was turkey meat cooked like tacos with vegetables mixed in (without the taco shells and wraps or whatever) Breakfast is the only thing prepared daily, eggs and some kind of meat or cheese.

It costs us around $600 a month to feed both of us in Florida according to Mint, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on when we restock. $20 a day for two people that prepare everything the cheapest way possible by making bulk meals.

I can't fathom adding in two children while halving the budget yet maintaining the same quality of food that's healthy to eat. Are you kidding me?

 

[Kosmo]

No.

Have you been to the grocery store recently? Bread costs $5, milk costs $4-5, eggs $3, fruits $3-4, vegetables $3-4, cereal $3-4, cheese $2-3, and etc.

When you cook your own food (my wife cooks), it can actually get expensive because you have to get a variety of ingredients that need to refilled every few days when you need to feed four people for 3 meals a day. That's 12 portions a day. 36 portions over 3 days. 84 portions in a week, 360 portions a month.

Ironically it's the McDonalds and cheap pizza places (Lil' Ceasers) that are the inexpensive options for feeding a group of people, which is why we have a lot of fat people in America who are usually low income. If you want to cook your own food from mostly normal healthy ingredients, the costs add up. It's the high-fat unhealthy instant foods that are dirt cheap.

This is fallacy. I just went shopping yesterday - Midwest (maybe you are in a very expensive area). Bread - $2 (though you can get $1 cheap loaves), Milk $2.50, Eggs $1.29, unless you want "Omega-3!" which are like $2.79, fruit, veg, depends what you get - bananas are 33-cents apiece. Cereal we usually buy the generic store brand - usually 1.5-2X the cereal at less cost than a box.

McDonald's is in no way cheaper than cooking a meal. For a group of 4, you're probably looking at $16-20 minimum at McD's. For that, I can cook a whole fryer chicken ($5-6), throw in some potatoes, wedges of lettuce on the side, and more. The elftover chicken then gets turned into chicken salad or thrown into some chicken soup to also use up any leftover vegetables.

We have lots of fat people in America eating these meals because they are lazy, not because they are less expensive food options. I have 3 kids and we probably go shopping every 2½ weeks or so and spend around $450 a month - we could spend less.

 

[Invisible_Insane]

This is fallacy. I just went shopping yesterday - Midwest (maybe you are in a very expensive area). Bread - $2 (though you can get $1 cheap loaves), Milk $2.50, Eggs $1.29, unless you want "Omega-3!" which are like $2.79, fruit, veg, depends what you get - bananas are 33-cents apiece. Cereal we usually buy the generic store brand - usually 1.5-2X the cereal at less cost than a box.

Hear that, guys, you have committed the logical fallacy of LIVING SOMEWHERE OTHER THAN KOSMO.

Christ on a cracker.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Our family food budget is probably around $400 per month for my family of four, and that includes about $100 in eating out each month. My wife is a wizard when it comes to coupons and sales. We don't eat unusually, but we do a mix of bulk foods, name brand stuff on sale, store brands, farmers markets, and ample produce from her gardens (which are just ramping up this time of year - soon we'll be drowning in fresh vegetables).

For dinner once a week we do pizza, and a good frozen one is $4 (for Ddigiorno or something like it) with some fruit and veggies on the side. Not expensive.

 

[Manmademan]

I think there are probably a lot of people who eat fast food every day and shockingly they don't "drop dead of diabetes in a year." I have a sinking suspicion you are not a doctor?

*rolls eyes* don't get defensive. clearly I was exaggerating. eating like that won't kill you "in a year" but poor eating habits over a long period of time (say, fast food every day from age 5 to 20) will put you at risk for things like type II diabetes.

I don't dig fast food (never touch the stuff) but once in a while won't hurt you. Every day though? massive nutritional fail.

this isnt the thread for food lecture-age though.

 

[eznark]

This thread makes me think I should start paying attention to our grocery bill. Since we slaughter two pigs and a cow every year though our grocery bill is probably fairly low relative to people who have to buy meat.