I am a vegetarian and like to buy most of my groceries at health food stores or at special organic sections in various supermarkets. People often say to me that they couldn't afford the things that I am eating, but at closer inspection, it turns out that on average I am only paying $5-$10 more than they do. I rarely waste any food or money as I don't need to buy packaged goods but can get whatever quantity I like from bulk containers. As for Fresh Produce, I always get great deals at the farmer's market. What is your experience?
We eat organic foods and organic, grass-fed meats. I've found that if I shop around locally for my meat and my raw milk, I can get it for around the same price that I would regular milk and meats. It's a matter of hunting down the deal and talking to farmers. We also shop a lot at Trader Joe's, a natural food store. A lot of their own store brand line is organic and it truly is the same price as shopping at Wal-Mart. We also like Wegmans and I can actually find a lot of organic things at Aldi's, which is a discount store chain. It's very, very cheap. I don't know if you maybe have one of those or something similar. Also, I buy some items in bulk on Amazon using their subscribe and save feature, which is nice because I get a lot of something I need for a really good price.
I am also a vegetarian, but I don't go for organic because they are way more expensive. So I wonder how you are able to do it. I am a heavy eater. When I eat, I really eat. I just don't taste a food or eat to satisfy my hunger. I eat for pleasure and because of this, I eat only good foods, and not those junk ones. And also, being a vegetarian is pretty quite a hassle, because I would always have to go to the supermarket to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
I'm not a vegetarian but have been strongly considering becoming one, and I'd agree that I don't think it really costs that much more to be one considering a lot of the products you'd be giving up as a vegan/vegetarian are already highly priced so you'd pretty much just be displacing your expenses. Also, I think that being vegetarian will make you a lot less prone to health risks, so if you factor in the fact that you'd most likely not have to spend as much on hospital bills and medicine, I think it's a very practical choice.
I eat a mostly vegetarian diet. I went vegan, then back to eating a little meat. But I really have lost my taste for meat. I just don't want it. Eating vegetarian is cheaper for me. Meat is very expensive especially the good stuff like grassfed or free range. I do need to eat more vegetables. I eat a lot of beans, legumes and seeds. I have a health store that sells them in bulk so I get them for cheap. I stay away from of refined foods like soy products.