What I Don't Buy At The Grocery Store

When you are eating for $5 per person per day, there are a lot of things that you don't buy at the store. I choose to focus my food budget around nutritious, whole foods. Consequently, I don't buy hardly anything processed. For one thing, unprocessed foods are much cheaper than processed foods. For another, they are healthier.

Here is a list of things I rarely, if ever, buy at the grocery store:
-Chips
-Candy
-Packaged cakes or treats
-Crackers
-100 calorie snack bags
-Soda
-Granola bars or cereal bars

Occasionally, I will buy these things if I know I will be too busy to cook, and thus, tempted to grab fast food on the way home:
-Frozen lunch entrees
-Frozen skillet dinners
-Breakfast bars where I can pronounce all the ingredients

The key to these "occasional" foods is if I can pronounce all the ingredients and if they come to less than $2.50 per serving (for lunch/dinner) or $.75 for breakfast.

Instead of spending money on the things on my "rarely" list, I like to spend my grocery dollars on more fruits and vegetables, wine, expensive meats (like good fish) or exciting condiments (like nice olives) to bring a meal over the top. I feel I get a bigger flavor bang-for-my-buck and I know I get a better nutrition bang-for-my-buck.