Food/Grocery
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- Last Updated: Saturday, 18 April 2026 21:51
- Published: Friday, 16 September 2022 22:28
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Food/Grocery
This section deals with all food/grocery items that we have to purchase on regular basis. Here I'm listing prices for these, more details on these may be found in "Diet" section.
FUN FACT: Any food item that sells for > $20/kg (as of 2025), is not within my buy zone. Why? Because nuts, which are on of the most expensive food items sell for $10-$15 per kg as of 2025. So, the cost of production for most of the other food items have to be less than those of nuts. Also, protein powders which sells for $50 for 2.5 kg (i.e $20/kg) are one of the most protein packed food items, so anything selling for more than this has to justify their price.
Approximate prices of various food items as of 2025:
- Vegetables:
- Potata:
- Tomato:
- Onion: Red onions are the ones that give the aroma and taste of onions. Yellow onions are cheaper, but they don't have the sharp taste of red onion. Indian grocery stores will many times have onions for $0.50/lb on sale, while their regular price in american grocery stores is $1/lb. Onions can be stored in your pantry for months, as they don't go bad. So, buy 1-2 month supply of onion when on sale.
- Fruits:
- Apples: Usually $2 for 3 lb pound on sale. $1/lb is regular price for most types of apple
- Oranges/Tangerine:
- Grapes: Usual price is $1.99/lb, but on sale very regularly for $1/lb.
- Fruit Juice: You have all kind of fruit juice, where some fruit juice have only 5% juice in them (rest is water), while some are 100% juice. Always buy 100% juice, otherwise you are just paying for water.
- Bread and Butter:
- Dairy: (look in "diet and supplements" section to find out nutritional content of these. Here, I'm just listing price). Most of the dairy products can be very easily be made at home, and saves you $500-$1000 a year compared to buying at grocery stores. Total dairy cost runs about $2K/yr for typical family.
- Milk: Milk is one of the most consumed grocery item. it has gone from $1/gallon in 2000's to $2 in 2020 to $4 in 2022-2026. These are the prices for cheapest brand of milk sold in superstores as Kroger, HEB, walmart, Target, etc. A family of 4 easily consumes 2 gallon milk/week, so 100 gallons consumed per yr. That's about $500/yr in milk cost.
- Cheese: Cheese is most widely used byproduct of milk.
- Yogurt: If you buy yogurt from Grocery stores, they sell for $4/kg. If you make it yourself, it's 3X cheaper. Assuming 2-4 kg of yogurt consumption per month, you'll save $100/yr preparing yogurt at home. See in diet and supplements" section for details.
- Paneer (Indian Cheese): As mentioned in "diet and supplements" section, making paneer at home costs about $5/kg, while the price of paneer in grocery stores is 2X-3X higher than comparable paneer made at home. Paneeer is sold at American grocery stores too as Costco, HEB, etc. Assuming 2-4 kg of paneer consumption per month, you'll save $300/yr preparing paneer at home.
- Ghee: Ghee can be bought from stores or be made at home. Again ghee can be made at home for about $6/liter, but costs $12-$15 at Indian grocery stores., Amul Ghee was last selling for $15/liter in year 2026 which is about 2X-3X more expensive. Assuming 1 liter of ghee consumption per month, you save about $100 per year preparing ghee at home.
- Nuts: Keep all nuts in refrigerator, as they tend to taste bad after being out for few months. Amazon, Walmart, Costco and Sam Club are all known on have deep sales on nuts, so buy them when they are highly discounted. CVS/Walgreens may also get you good deals on nuts with coupons, etc.
- Almonds: Prices for almonds in India start at Rs 400/kg and go up to thousands of Rupees. In US, $10/kg ($5/lb) is very regular price. Indian stores will have sale from time to time, where they sell 4 lb bag for $12 (at least at India Bazaar in Dallas, they used to have these sales in 2020). Almonds are the ones that go on sale most often than other nuts, so don't buy in bulk, unless you get a good price. Amazon and Walgreens have these on sale from time to time.
- Walnuts: Walnuts are slightly more expensive than Almonds, due to fewer sales as they are not as commonly eaten as Almonds. Prices for Walnuts in India are about the same as that for almonds. US prices of $10/kg is typical. You may find find Walnuts on sale for $5/kg. When you get it for < $5/kg, buy in bulk.
- 12/15/2024 => Walnut @ Amazon for $8 for 3lb (~$6/kg) => https://slickdeals.net/f/17989959-3-lb-kirkland-signature-walnuts-7-99-free-ship-w-prime-or-on-orders-35
- Cashews: Cashews are expensive and $10/kg is a good price to buy them. In India they sell for Rs 600 - Rs 900 per kg (as of 2025)
- 11/16/2025 => Cashews @walmart for ~1KG for $12 ($12/kg) => https://slickdeals.net/f/18810994-great-value-deluxe-cashews-30-oz-11-48?src=frontpage
- 05/12/2025 => Cashews @amazon for 1.3KG for $14 ($11/kg) => https://slickdeals.net/f/18306958-44-oz-amazon-brand-happy-belly-fancy-whole-cashews-14-48-w-s-s-free-shipping-w-prime-or-on-35
- Ice Cream:
DEALS:
2024:
01/20/2024: Printable coupon for Free Dannon Yogurt => expires on 01/31/2024
Need to provide phone number, and then print coupon with barcode. Redeemable at any big store. Seems legit
2023:
10/10/2023: Target : Free 10 Progresso Canned soup + $8 money maker=> expires on 10/31/2023
Buy 10 Progresso Canned soup for $17 and get $25 via rebate, resulting in $8 Money maker. Not bad to earn some extra dough for all the hard work. Seems legit
04/14/2023: Sam's Club : Free Chloe's Frozen pop 12 ct box => expires after 1st 5000 redemptions
Limit 2 per submission. Need to provide phone number and your venmo or paypal details. As per comments, no one could find them in Sam's Club, nor is it available online. So, call your local Sam's Club, before you head there. Limited to first 5000 redemptions.
Link: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/sams-club-free-chloes-frozen-pops-12ct-box-after-rebate-limit-2/
Sam's Club Link (shows nothing avilable for shipping or pickup) => https://www.samsclub.com/p/chloe-s-strawberry-and-mango-pops-12-ct/P03013845
2022:
09/14/2022: Amazon: 3lbs Whole Almonds bag for $9 :
Very good price for almonds. It's $3/lb, which is as cheap as it can get. You get 5% discount for subscribe and Save (S&S). You can get 15% off if you have 5 or more order on S&S for that month. If you don't have 4 other items for this cycle, order 5 of these on 5 different orders and you can get 15% off.