In 2014, I plan on eating healthier. So, I am wondering where to get inexpensive vegetables? Whenever I go to the grocery store (Safeway), they are always a bit pricy. The only way I save money is through online coupons or paper coupons.
Look for local farmers markets, or even sometimes local greenhouses will also sell vegetables in addition to their flowers and other plants. They are pretty much always much cheaper than the grocery stores, and their produce is generally a lot fresher. Avoid the organic stuff if you are looking to save money, plus some vegetables are a waste to spend extra on their organic counterparts since you are peeling them or removing them from their skins anyhow. While red, orange and yellow peppers look nice, green peppers are generally much cheaper. Try to avoid any specialty veggies unless you are certain you will use them all up. A little head of radicchio is like $6 at our grocery store. I would never spend that much on it, when I would only use it to add some color to a romaine salad. If there is a special on buying some stuff in bulk, like onions or potatoes, make sure you use them up or get them chopped and in the freezer for later use so you don't waste them. They also often mark down veggies that are on the verge of going bad - if you can use them that day in your meal, grab those instead. Price out the frozen and canned counterparts to see which is the cheapest - and which tastes best of course. Sometimes I can get a good deal on a large bag of frozen chopped peppers (multi colored too) at Trader Joes, which is much cheaper than buying those peppers fresh. Frozen spinach is much cheaper than fresh too.
I look for local coupons and purchase items then I buy can vegetables I mostly find them like 3 for 1.00 and get as many as I can when they are on sale, I check newpapers for sales and I use coupons when they have thee frozen ones on sale.
I go to farmers. Honestly, the size difference is huge.. you really stretch your dollar. I was one of mannnny who said I couldn't afford to only eat real foods, but I was quite shocked when I finally took the plunge and my food actually kept me full.. it was bigger and lasted longer.. and it was far more delicious and grown right in my city, no growing on a long truck ride to my dirty supermarket. I highly recommend even trying it for a week. I can only speak from my own experience and the size and prices here.. but you might get lucky plus if they're like my farmers, they might deliver for you
The one big caveat with shopping at farmers markets though is you generally need to use up their produce pretty quickly. Whereas grocery stores will get stuff in that is coated with wax, radiated, and such (pleasant, huh?) the farmers market stuff is often free of all this, but consequently expires quicker. Don't try and stock your fridge with enough produce for two weeks, count on 3-4 days max - and just buy a little at a time from the markets. You could also freeze any unused stuff for stocks if you don't think you will be able to use it up in time. Also, sometimes you have to plan your meals differently because of the deals you are getting at the Farmers markets. For example they might have a great big bag of fresh basil for like $2 - but how on earth do you plan on using all of that in a few days. You could freeze some of it off in ice cube trays, perhaps make some fresh pesto, some fresh pasta sauces, etc...
Where I live supermarkets usually have a veggie day when vegetables are cheaper than the other days. I will usually buy them on these days, or when they are on sale. I don't go to farmer's markets or anyhing like that, since I don't buy hat much I don't think It's worth it for me. You can find vegetables cheaper in outlet type supermarkets too, or somewhere like Walmart... Safeway is really expensive for vegetables!
I love the scratch and dent area at the farmer's market where they have the vegetables that are getting old marked down. When they have 10 spotty ripe bananas for $1, I go nuts and freeze a bunch of them to blend later.
I buy frozen vegetables. Walmart has huge bags of frozen vegetables for $6 dollars. Each one lasts me about a week and a half and they are great. I also buy the cheap fresh veggies like carrots, onions, celery, and lettuce. You don't have to buy everything, just buy a little of the same thing over and over, and you'll save money.
I grow and freeze/can most of the veggies we eat. If its something that we eat only occasionally I will buy that at a farmers market. When we get low on home grown stuff I wait for a good sale on frozen veggies and stock up.
