I guess what I mean is, on what products should I spend the extra money in my grocery budget? And where can I go super frugal? Stating specific brands as best bang-for-your-buck would be super appreciated.
LEAST
Pasta: I tend not to see a whole lot of difference between the quality in my dry pasta. My go to is trader joe’s 99 cent packages of 16oz rottini, penne, and farfalle.
Produce: it seems to me that the super cheap avocados, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, etc that I find at aldi are every bit as good as the more expensive alternatives at Trader Joe’s, Kroger, etc.
Flour/Corn Tortillas: honestly, I just look at calories per dollar on this one. Shit all tastes the same to me.
Dry spices: this one is a bit misleading. I think there definitely is a difference in flavor based on cost. I just don’t think it’s worth it. The cost at an aldi versus a kroger is often 3-6x price. It definitely doesn’t taste THAT much better.
MOST
Condiments: there are some exceptions to this. But, I find the generic soy sauces, steak sauces, and hot sauces to be pretty terrible. The quality of mid-range sauces trumps them. Give me huy fung sriracha. Give me Lea & Perrins. I’ll even take kikkoman.
Wine: can’t go with the absolute cheapest stuff; it’s real bad. The heavy sugars in cheap, cheap fruit wines give me an instant headache. I can handle the next step up, though. A $6-$9 old world from trader joes or one of the better bota boxes is so worth the extra expense.
Parmesean cheese: the shit I grew up on is fine if you’re in it for something other than taste. For some reason, I’m into the texture of covering a pizza in the dusty stuff. But the good parmesean is so worth it for me. It’s so much more pungent and salty. I just recommend buying a block and shaving it yourself. Still more expensive than the big ass 32oz thing at sam’s club. But I actually taste shaved, aged parmesean.
June 17, 2019 at 08:53PM
