Why Groceries Are So Expensive Now (& How You Can Save Money on Groceries in 2026)

Summary

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Frugal Friends Podcast: "Why Groceries Are So Expensive Now (& How You Can Save Money on Groceries in 2026)"

Episode Date: January 13, 2026
Hosts: Jen Smith & Jill Sirianni
Producer: Backyard Ventures

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Jen and Jill dive deep into the increasing cost of groceries, exploring the complex reasons behind the persistent hikes in food prices and, more importantly, sharing practical, actionable strategies for saving money at the grocery store in 2026. Throughout, they maintain their signature blend of relatability, encouragement, and humor—emphasizing creative, manageable approaches over extreme frugality or food snobbery.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Why Are Groceries So Expensive?

[02:00–09:14]

• It's Not You—It's the System
  • Jill opens with, "You're not doing groceries wrong. Groceries are doing you wrong." [01:56]
  • Jen affirms, "Nobody gaslighting you here. Nobody telling you you're insane." [03:21]
• Historical Cost Increases
  • Groceries are ~30% more expensive than five years ago (BLS stat, late 2025). [03:58]
• Contributing Factors:
  • COVID supply chain breakdowns (2020–2022): Labor shortages in meatpacking, trucking, warehousing, causing wage increases that flowed into retail food prices.
  • Geopolitical events (2022–2023): The Russia-Ukraine war disrupted the global supply of wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil, key ingredients in much of our food.
    • Jill: "Turns out that both are major exporters... This is in nearly everything that we eat." [05:16]
  • Extreme Avian Flu Outbreak:
    • Culled 58.8 million birds, causing egg prices to spike 70% year-over-year.
    • Jill: "That caused. Here's a word for you. The culling of 58.8 million birds." [05:50]
    • Jen: "Was it a misprint? No, it's culling. It's so close to the real world. So just so of what killing the culling of. They made it sound nice." [05:57]
    • Eggs remain a nutritional bargain despite surging prices.
  • Greedflation and Corporate Concentration:
    • USDA 2021: Top 4 meat packers control 85% of beef processing, leading to price-setting power.
    • Federal Reserve: In some food sectors, over 50% of inflation was attributed to increased profits (2021–2022).
• Looking Ahead:
  • USDA projects food inflation will persist, but at a slower rate (1–2% annually), with prices not expected to decrease—just rise more slowly.
    • Jen: "Prices will not go down. They will not go down." [08:40]
    • Jill: "This is just the world we're living in." [08:54]

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2. Three Essential Money-Saving Strategies for 2026

[09:14–29:12]

"These are your 80%. You can find videos with like 40 tips... those are going to be the 20% tips. These are your three. These are your 80%." – Jen [10:14]

1. Reverse Meal Planning

[10:22–17:22]

• Concept: Shop your pantry, fridge, and freezer first; plan meals around what you already own instead of shopping solely for new recipes or cravings.
• How To:
  • Jen's practice: On Sundays, list 5 fridge items about to go, 3–5 freezer items, and 3–5 pantry goods. Build the week’s meals around these.
    • Jen: "You don't need a full inventory... On Sundays, I will typically go into my kitchen and I will make a list of five things in the fridge that need to go. That's my top priority." [12:22]
  • Use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to create meal plans from available ingredients.
  • Regularly date and rotate pantry items to use older foods first.
  • Benefits: Less food waste, smaller/faster shopping trips, and less stress.
    • Jill: "It saves me a ton of time at the grocery store because I do already know what I have on hand... I am finding I need to buy less." [13:40]
• Bonus Tip: Rely more on frozen fruits and vegetables—less waste, and sometimes even less work (pre-chopped, longer shelf-life).
  • Jen: "Do I pay a little more? Yes. Do I ever waste fruits and vegetables anymore? ...Not ever." [17:21]

2. The Four Meal Rotation

[19:51–23:35]

• Concept: Instead of chasing variety every night, repeat four core meal “templates” every week. Change up sauces and flavors for variety.
  • Jen: "We are conditioned, I think, in our age of social media to think that every meal has to be different... The people who are successful with eating at home are repeating the same meals every single month." [19:57]
• How It Works:
  • Identify four meal types your household enjoys and put them in regular rotation.
  • Examples: Soup night, rice + protein + veg, pasta night, wrap night, etc.
    • Use themes (e.g., "Meatless Monday," "Turkey Tuesday") so ingredient overlap is optimized.
    • Jill: "Something adjacent to this that I have done is having a theme every night of the week." [22:48]
• Benefits: Less decision fatigue, less waste/inventory, more shopping efficiency, and meals everyone loves become easier to prep and more enjoyable.

3. The "Buy Once, Use Thrice" Rule

[23:35–29:12]

• Concept: Every ingredient should appear in at least three different meals that week.
  • Jill: "Whoa, whoa, that sounds insane, Jill. I don't know. I don't know about this." [23:41]
• Examples:
  • Rotisserie chicken: tacos, salad, sandwiches, soup.
  • Rice: protein bowl, stir fry, side for another dish.
  • Spinach: omelettes, pasta, smoothie.
• Tips:
  • Follow food accounts with overlapping ingredients (for simplicity).
  • Limit purchases to 2–3 proteins and 2–3 vegetables per week—don’t overbuy.
• Lower the Barrier to Entry: Make eating at home easier than eating out; start with meal kits if needed, then graduate to prepping and batching when comfortable.
  • Jen: "We want to make sure at least four meals a week are meals that we are just repeating all the time that we can make in our sleep..." [28:28]

---

3. Mindset, Food Waste, and Having Fun

[29:25–31:58]

• Eating Out is Even Worse:
  • Jen: "It's still more affordable to eat at home... the price of food away from home had not [slowed]... it's worse out there." [29:25]
• It Must Stay Fun:
  • Jill: "If it's not fun, it's not Frugal Friends. So we are all about living the most full, fun life." [31:24]
  • Get creative with sauces and spices.
    • Jen: "Get yourself a good hot sauce." [29:12]
    • Jill: "Make that fridge door fridge full so that you could just really enjoy yourself." [29:15]

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4. Bill of the Week

[32:06–36:00]

• Listener Story (Maeve, Boston):
  • Maeve bought $10 inline skates (plus pads) at a rummage sale, now regularly skating, building community, and being active—demonstrating the joyful side of frugality.
  • Maeve: "[I] have loved zooming around, being in nature, being in different parts of the neighborhood that I normally wouldn't be in... every time I go out, without fail, someone will say hi to me, I'll strike up a conversation." [32:38]
  • Jen and Jill reflect: buying secondhand, leaving the house, and forming unexpected connections are core frugal joys.

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5. Wrong Answers Only: Grocery Saving ‘Fails’ & ‘Thrives’

[38:59–47:56]

Jill’s “Fail”

• Living within walking distance of multiple grocery stores has led to frequent trips and micro-hauls (e.g., for $2-$10 each time), causing unplanned extra spending.
  • Jill: "I think what I'm realizing is not only have I gotten a little bit more lax on my planning because I'm like, if I forget something, it's right there." [41:00]

Jen’s “Thrive”

• Focusing on meal prep and pre-portioning meals. Admits she hates cooking, so prepping meals ahead of time removes daily stress and keeps eating out to a minimum.
  • Jen: "Groceries have honestly been a thrive for me this year... I am not going to eat out, so I'm going to meal prep pre-portioned. So that is the hack I'm bringing with me." [43:39]
• Meal prep can be surprisingly fast: Jen: "I made four meals last night in an hour and a half." [44:50]
• Jill expresses awe at Jen's efficiency and wants to see it in action.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Food Prices:
  • Jen: "Nobody telling you it’s just eggs." [03:27]
• On Changing Strategies:
  • Jill: “We’re the everyday girl.” [30:33]
• On Fun and Food:
  • Jen: “If it’s not fun, it’s not Frugal Friends.” [31:24]
• On the “Bill of the Week”:
  • Jill: “You are doing a new hobby that you were able to get into at very low cost because you bought secondhand.” [34:26]
• On Joyful Frugality:
  • Jen: “And you bought something and you used it. That’s a whole nother thing to be proud of.” [35:19]
• On Creativity and Cooking:
  • Jen: “Your creativity is a muscle and you’ve got to exercise it in order to build it.” [15:00]

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------| | 02:00 | Why groceries are so expensive | | 05:06 | Global disruptions: war, avian flu, supply issues | | 08:40 | Inflation projections for 2026 | | 09:14 | Transition to strategies for saving | | 10:22 | 1. Reverse meal planning (deep dive) | | 13:40 | Benefits: less waste, more time, less stress | | 16:17 | Frozen produce: Jen & Jill’s different approaches | | 19:51 | 2. Four meal rotation method | | 22:48 | Weekly theme ideas, ingredient overlap | | 23:35 | 3. Buy once, use thrice rule | | 26:49 | Shopping/simplicity tips | | 29:12 | Eat out costs vs. home cooking | | 32:06 | Listener "Bill of the Week" (Maeve, Boston) | | 38:59 | Wrong answers only: fails & thrives | | 43:39 | Jen’s meal prep “thrive” | | 44:50 | Meal prep time efficiency | | 47:56 | Wrapping up & community engagement |

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Final Takeaways

• Grocery costs are not dropping—plan for continued high prices but slow growth.
• Saving money in 2026 is about embracing three core strategies: reverse meal planning, a manageable meal rotation, and maximizing ingredient use.
• The hosts emphasize practicality, enjoyment, and avoiding both overwhelm and deprivation.
• Community, creativity, and fun remain at the forefront of a joyful, sustainable approach to saving money on food.

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For full episodes, detailed show notes, and more tips, subscribe to Frugal Friends wherever you listen to podcasts!

Transcript

[Jen]

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[Jen]

Try it [e-mail] why are groceries so expensive now? And how you can actually save money on them in 2026.

[Podcast Host Intro]

Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity.

[Podcast Co-host Intro]

And live a richer life.

[Podcast Host Intro]

Here are your hosts, Jen and Jill.

[Jill]

You're not doing groceries wrong. Groceries are doing you wrong.

[Jen]

Today we are breaking down why grocery prices are so dang high. Are they going down? And regardless, how can you actually save money this year on groceries?

[Podcast Co-host Intro]

All right, I got 20 bucks in my bank account. The goal is to be able to get groceries without going in the negative. If I eat three meals per day and I need food for an entire week, then how much can I spend per meal? Yep, that's not happening.

[Jen]

Welcome, Frugal Friends. I'm Jen.

[Jill]

I'm Jill.

[Jen]

I am also Couch because I am same color as couch.

[Jill]

It's a good color.

[Jen]

Yeah. I want to welcome you here if you're looking for ways to save money on groceries and especially if you have $20 in your bank account and you're trying to buy groceries for an entire week, best of luck to you. And you should hit subscribe because we talk about stuff like this all the time. You are truly going to find value, whether you have $20 to spend on groceries or $150 for your family. We have a lot of good tips. And you're definitely going to want to be subscribed for the year 2026, because it ain't getting any better out here. It is.

[Jill]

It is so expensive. Can we just have a moment to all collectively say it's so expensive.

[Jen]

Nobody gaslighting you here. Nobody telling you you're insane.

[Jill]

We're the frugal friends.

[Jen]

Nobody telling you it's just eggs.

[Jill]

We're out here putting eight years of tips and experience into practice, and we're still saying it is so expensive.

[Jen]

Why it's so expensive? And so I asked that question and then I did some research. Why it's so expensive. Like, am I delusional? And no.

[Jill]

One day I could buy steak, you know, every other week. And now I can't.

[Jen]

Now I can't buy steak.

[Jill]

It's not for me anymore.

[Jen]

So, yes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics news analysis in late 2025 notes that grocery prices are about 30% higher than five years ago. Let's a moment of silence for our grocery budget. Thank you. So what has been leading up to this? Because I think if we look back at the history of why prices increased, we can deduce whether they will flatline, decrease, or just keep on going crazy. So we'll take it. We all know that this started back in 2020, and it started with obviously global supply chain breakdowns because of all of the COVID shutdowns. There were also labor shortages. So they even in places where they wanted people to work, people could not work. And this happened a lot in meatpacking, trucking, warehousing, and grocery retail. And so then wages increased, which flowed through to retail food prices. And so that started back in 2020-2022.

[Jill]

And then you move into 2022, 2023, the Russia, Ukraine war, which wasn't on.

[Jen]

My bingo card of things that increased food prices.

[Jill]

No, never would have guessed this, but turns out that both are major exporters of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil. This is in nearly everything that we eat. And so war, that war disrupted the supply train, drove all of those prices on those ingredients, things that have those ingredients upward. And then also this one did not make it on my bingo.

[Jen]

It didn't have that either.

[Jill]

The Extreme avian flu outbreak.

[Jen]

And I do remember this fly back. Yeah.

[Jill]

That caused. Here's a word for you. The culling of 58.8 million birds.

[Jen]

It's like. Was it a misprint in the article that I read? No, it's culling. It's so close to the real world. So just so of what killing the culling of. They made it sound nice.

[Jill]

Mean, like they died of natural causes or.

[Sponsor Representative 2]

No.

[Jen]

Were we.

[Jill]

I don't know. We're not going to dig deeper.

[Jen]

We're not digging.

[Jill]

We just know it affected 58.8 million birds and that jacked up the price of eggs 70%. Yeah, 70% year over year. It's totally fine. But the largest increase of any grocery category, which is a big bummer because eggs are such a staple. It is usually. And I am still buying them. I do still think for what they provide to us nutritionally, how versatile they are. They are one of the best things that you can have in your grocery cartoon to provide you what you need at still a relatively low cost.

[Jen]

If you're comparing them to other things that offer the same nutrient density, they are still less expensive.

[Jill]

It's just saying never in my life did I think that I would be at the grocery store and see like $12 listed for a dozen eggs. Still. Those are the like expensive.

[Jen]

We're not getting that.

[Jill]

Those aren't the ones in our cart. But it's possible you could.

[Jen]

Yeah. And then of course now we have greedflation, which this is debatable. But A White House USDA 2021 report did show that the top four meat packers control 85% of beef, 70% of pork and 54% of poultry processing. And we all know with any concentration, with any monopoly that enables price raising behavior that contributes to higher consumer prices. And then the Federal Reserve bank of Kansas City also found that profits accounted for over 50% of inflation in some sectors during 2021-2022. So I think knowing that history helps us to believe when you know, the USDA's Economic Research Service predicts that food inflation. Well, it has shown food inflation has eased since 2023. And then the outlook for 2026 projects that grocery prices will rise, but more slowly than the 20 year historical average. But prices will not go down. They will not go down. So they're going to rise more slowly, maybe 1 or 2%. And honestly the goal for grocery price inflation is 2%. Like because overall inflation is 3. And so it might go, it might go below that or it might just Go average.

[Jill]

So this is just the world we're living in. And we gotta learn how to now navigate this new world and recognize it will keep increasing. Okay, here we are. We've said it. We've all said it. It sucks. It's not going down. It sucks. Let's talk about how to deal, my friend.

[Jen]

Yeah. Because who knows, there could be other things, more avian flu outbreaks that happen. So we need to think about strategies that aren't just couponing because people love their coupons, and that's great for you, but we have to think about strategies that hedge against these kind of quote unquote, once in a lifetime, like emergencies that cause these 70% inflationary prices. We have to make these strategies habit now to account for those in the future. So we have 1, 2, 3. 3. I wrote the outline and I still counted. We've got three methods and strategies that you are going to need to incorporate in 2026 in order to legitimately save money. And this is the 80% that you need. There's. You can find videos with like 40 tips for saving money on groceries, and those are going to be the 20% tips. These are your three. These are your 80%.

[Jill]

Because we do think it's possible, while we cannot be buying groceries for a week for $10.

[Sponsor Representative 2]

Right. That's.

[Jill]

That's nowhere in the realm of possibilities. But given where prices are currently, we think it is possible to be able to cut our spending a little bit with these types of practices. And so the first one is reverse meal planning. We actually did an episode on this and gave even more strategies. So we'll link that in the description as well. So catch that if you want a deeper dive. But essentially what this is is shopping your pantry first. I think a lot of us just go to the grocery store. We're gonna stop at the grocery store on our way home from work. Or we are meal planning, but it has nothing to do with what we already have. It's, oh, I saw this recipe on Instagram, or it looked really good, or my friend gave me this thing that I want to try, or here's what I've been craving. And we're making a list that is not only just a hodgepodge, but each one is using drastically different ingredients. And so then we're just writing our whole grocery list with all these different things. When in reality we need to be starting at home, we need to be looking at our fridge, pantry, freezer, what do we already have, and build our meal plan around that. So what meats in the freezer, what veggies are about to go. What shelf staples do I already have? Maybe you're a person who already knows how to put those things together into a meal, but you can also use the Internet. You can ask ChatGPT and say, hey, here's all the ingredients that I have already on hand. Create me a meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next seven days using these ingredients, letting me know the supplemental things that I need to purchase. Done.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And then you build your. You build your grocery list, and then you go shopping.

[Jen]

Yeah. And you don't need a full inventory of everything in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. On Sundays, I will typically go into my kitchen and I will make a list of five things in the fridge that need to go. That's my top priority. Four to five things in my freezer that need to leave my freezer and get used. And then three to five things in the pantry cabinets. So this is spices, pastas, beans. Just like random things in my pantry that have been there for a while. And something really smart that I don't do, but I always wish that I've done that I do is write the date that I got the thing on. I will typically try to put things in the back and like, move things up front, but it doesn't always happen perfectly. But if you start doing that and then, you know, I got this, you know, this time, and I got this, this time. I need to use this this week. And so then you have a list of about 10 to 12 to 15 things that you're going to build your meal plan around.

[Jill]

And it sounds super complicated. Like, not that, but it sounds like, oh, that's going to take me a lot of time. But like you're saying, it doesn't have to be that complex. It's just a list of a couple of things. But what I've also found is it saves me a ton of time at the grocery store because I do already know what I have on hand because I store started with what's in my pantry, and I actually am finding I need to buy less that, oh, maybe this week I actually don't have to get meat at all. I can totally skip that section of. Of the grocery store because my meal plan doesn't require me to purchase that thing. So eventually there is time savings in using this method.

[Jen]

Yeah. And I will go, so I'll make that base of, you know, five things from my fridge, and then I'll pull three things from my freezer, and then I'll Notice two of the things from my fridge would go well with the broccoli in my freezer. And so then I add that over. And so then I just naturally am using, I don't have to inventory 100% of things because I'm naturally pulling in things that might go well. And so one of the tenets of frugality that we talk about all the time is, is being creative. Like we're not trying to deprive ourselves, we're trying to get what we love and be creative in how we pursue that. And so this is one of those things that can help build creativity because you're building parameters. They're self made parameters that you can get creative within. It's like, okay, I'm gonna challenge myself to not buy any carbs at the grocery store this week. So let me look at all the carb options I have at home. And these are going to be what I am incorporating into my meals throughout the week. And then I, then I can get creative with, okay, I have green split peas or whatever. Okay, how can, like I'm searching on Google, what can I make with green, you know, split pepper, split peas that isn't split pea soup? And I'm getting all these ideas that I wouldn't have thought about or probably wouldn't just come across randomly on Instagram. And so your creativity is a muscle and you've got to exercise it in order to build it. And the more you're being creative intentionally, then when you're out, you'll see more opportunities for creativity organically and so much.

[Jill]

Less food waste with this approach. And a bonus tip is utilizing the freezer as much as possible. I know you do a lot more frozen veggies than me, but it's, it's aspirational for me. Like I want to do that because I think for a lot of us, it's the veggies that will go, they're, they're not going to last for as long in our fridge as, you know, maybe some other things might. And so if you do want that nutrition in your diet regularly, but you're afraid about constantly throwing out and wasting food, wasting money. Yeah, get the frozen stuff and then.

[Jen]

You don't have to use the whole.

[Jill]

Bag and then it lasts over multiple meals.

[Jen]

It's already pre chopped and like pre skinned or whatever. I saw that, yes, fruits and vegetables were my biggest waste. So I stopped buying for the most part fresh fruits and vegetables and only do frozen. Do I pay a little more? Yes. Do I ever waste fruits and vegetables anymore.

[Jill]

Never.

[Jen]

Not ever.

[Jill]

Not this one.

[Jen]

Never. And a big barrier to cooking was having to chop vegetables. And so I take that off the top table pretty pretty much for the most part.

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[Jen]

So next we have the Four meal rotation.

[Jill]

Okay, Buckle up.

[Jen]

We are conditioned, I think, in our age of social media to think that every meal has to be different every week, every day, every month. And in reality, the people who are successful with eating at home are repeating the same meals every single month. And for the most part, the same four types of meals. And you get to choose what those types are based on what your family eats, based on what you like. Some families are soup families. And so in the winter, there is a soup on the table once a week. My husband, at least. Yeah, yeah. My husband doesn't like soup, so soup is not on our rotation. But he really likes rice and pasta. So rice is in our rotation every single week. I'm making, you know, two cups of rice every week. My kids live on rice and beans. So you have to choose what your four meal rotations. For me, I have a protein carb, veggie. Like, that's kind of my meal template. I need a protein, I need a carb, and I need some kind of micro nutrient. And that's. That's it. That's probably like a one meal rotation template. So I'm just redo. Yeah. And what I do is I'm batching it. So last night I batched, I did three meats, two carbs, and two veggies, like combos. And I'm pre portioning it out into meal prep containers so that I don't have to think about lunch or dinner for the next three to four days. And so I'm. And you don't have to meal prep. That's not what we're saying. But repeating identical meals every week and just changing up one thing about it. So like the seasoning or et cetera.

[Jill]

So yeah, that can look like you're doing a chicken rice veg one day, beef pasta veg another day, pork potatoes veg, turkey bread veg. You get to decide. And I do love the idea of. Yeah. Changing up the seasoning, changing up the sauces. This is where our. Our condiment door can come in super handy. Or even changing up the theme of the week. Maybe we're doing med Mediterranean one week, maybe we're doing Asian another week, maybe we're doing French inspired the next.

[Sponsor Representative 2]

You.

[Jill]

You could decide. But then.

[Jen]

And your pantry shopping will decide, that is you have this four meal rotation and your pantry shopping is what decides what the themes are, what the veg is, what the protein, carb, et cetera is.

[Jill]

Something adjacent to this that I have done is having a theme every night of the week. So maybe like A meatless Monday and a turkey Tuesday and a wrap Wednesday. And, you know, you get the point. It's mostly about alliteration. And then you've got that version of a template that you can then fill in. Okay, what type of wrap is it going to be this week? What's the meatless dish we're going to make? And a lot of those are going to use overlapping ingredients. Which leads us to our third tip, to save money on groceries, which is using the rule buy once, use thrice method, meaning every ingredient should serve you for three meals. Whoa, whoa, that sounds insane, Jill. I don't know. I don't know about this.

[Jen]

That's what. That's where batching comes in. Really clutch for me is because I made a pork tenderloin, 3 pounds, roasted it in the oven, and that from. For me, because I'm eating high protein, that's eight meals right there. And so I can serve two with potatoes and broccoli, which is what I'm eating for lunch today. It's what I ate for dinner last night. Two or four go with like, orzo and cheese and maybe peas or something. And then another one is going with rice and asparagus. So it is batching, not too much. And you can also, if you're like single or something and you're making a three pound pork tenderloin, you can cook that and then chop it up and freeze sections so you don't have to have pork all week every day. You can freeze it and then have it at different times.

[Jill]

Yeah, so here's some examples. Rotisserie chicken. You didn't even have to cook that chicken, my friend. You can get that $5 rotisserie chicken wherever they sell. $5 rotisserie chicken.

[Jen]

Don't. Don't lie. It's Costco. We love Costco. Hey, Costco, sponsor us.

[Jill]

Hey, Costco.

[Jen]

I don't think Costco sponsors. Well, maybe they do they. Not us.

[Jill]

Not. Yeah. Anyways, you could use that in tacos, soup, salad, chicken salad. You know, the kind with the mayo, not the kind on the left like, I mean, I listed for it for you. There you go. Rice. Rice can go into some sort of bowl with your protein and your vegetable. It can be a part of a stir fry. It can be on the side of another dish. Spinach. They can be mixed with eggs. In the morning, they can go into a pasta. They can be added to your smoothie. You get the point. One ingredient can go serve you over multiple meals that week. Not just multiple dinners, but breakfast, lunch, and Dinner might use similar ingredients. And one trick that can help with this is following just one food account. So if you find an account that you really like, you know that they make, they give you simple recipes, easy to use. You've always enjoyed them. A lot of times when you look up recipes from that same person, they, they're going to be using similar ingredients. So that's one way that you can be sure that you'll have ingredient overlap, be able to use up everything that you've bought for that week. But it also limits then how much we're getting at the grocery store. That means we are really only getting probably maybe two, possibly three meats that week. We're getting two to three vegetables, we're getting one to two carbs. Like we're not going nutso. We are not going gourmet five to seven veggies in our cart. If we do, we're doing something wrong.

[Jen]

You don't need to, like, you don't have to.

[Jill]

That's what's going to spike the bill.

[Jen]

It's what makes it harder to eat at home. And if you're finding it hard to eat the food you have at home, then we need to be lowering the barrier to entry, like to the ground through floor. Honestly, I mean, we could even start with something like, like a hellofresh. If you're looking at how many times you eat out during the week and you're like, I just can't eat at home. Like, I'm too busy. Look at what you're spending on takeout versus what it is per meal on a hellofresh order. And maybe that's where we start. And then we just work our way up to okay, I'm feeling more comfortable. I'm gonna buy just a bunch of frozen veggies that are pre chopped. And that's gonna be where I'm going. I'm gonna get like pre chopped pre cooked frozen chicken. And we are working our way up. But I think so many people make the mistake of thinking like, okay, 2026 is gonna be the year I eat at home more. And then you try to replicate what food professionals are doing on their Instagram accounts or on their food blogs. And baby girl, that's not where we start. That's absolutely not where we start.

[Jill]

If we've got some extra time on a Saturday and it's our alternative to impulse spending or shopping as an activity. Absolutely. Try that really interesting leek recipe that you saw on Instagram. But it is not going to be a part of our rotation for Our weekly meals when we're super busy and we're too tired to cook, that's not when we're pulling it out.

[Jen]

And that's. And that's why also it's a four meal rotation method too. From the last one is because you can experiment once a week if you want and you can incorporate eating out if you want. But we want to make sure at least four meals a week are meals that we are just repeating all the time that we can make in our sleep. The ingredients are always on hand and it's just so super simple. The barrier to entry. It's harder to eat out than it is to eat in. And it's still enjoyable to eat in. It's not plain chicken breast, broccoli, dry rice stuff. Right. We want to make it enjoyable.

[Jill]

Get yourself a good hot sauce.

[Jen]

Hot sauce, man.

[Jill]

Get into some salsa. Get those sal. Make that fridge door. Fridge full so that you could just really enjoy yourself.

[Sponsor Representative 2]

Yeah.

[Jen]

And then use it.

[Jill]

Uhhuh.

[Jen]

Yeah. So the horrors persist. But again, it's still more affordable to eat at home. The USDA Economic Research Service report showed that the price of food at home had generally slowed from 2023 to 2024. That's the increase in price, but that the price of food away from home had not. The cost of eating out has risen steadily over the past two years, a trend that has continued since 2020 and continues to persist with no signs of letting up. So it's worse out there. It is worse out there by a long shot.

[Jill]

But you know what? We're all in this together and this is the type of content we love talking about. So please do subscribe. We're going to keep pumping out. How do you save money on groceries?

[Jen]

And let us know in if there's specific things you want to know. We are not extremists. Like we're not going to do an episode on how to eat for a week on $20. We're also not food professionals. We're not chefs or food influencers.

[Jill]

We're the everyday girl.

[Jen]

Right. I hate cooking. And that's why I meal prep, because I hate cooking. And so I'm not going to do cooking videos. But if there's something else that you want or if you, if you do want suggestions, I could probably give you suggestions on some of my favorite people. But if you want anything on like spending psychology and saving money on groceries, I think that's where we shine anywhere else.

[Jill]

I mean, we do a lot on food.

[Jen]

We do, we do a lot on.

[Jill]

Food savings And I do think we kind of shine here. We do know how to do it.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And reducing food waste.

[Jen]

So much of it comes down to not over consuming and actually following through with eating what you've bought.

[Jill]

You know what our big banner is, though? If it's not fun, it's not frugal friends. So we are all about living the most full, fun life. But that doesn't mean we have to spend a ton of money. So all of our content is going to be we're saucy girls.

[Jen]

I think on food we love sauces. And I think we're saucy girls. So maybe.

[Jill]

And sometimes spicy girls.

[Jen]

So maybe that's what you want. An episode on spices and sauces that make your food fun to eat at home. I don't know. Let us, let us know.

[Jill]

Let us know. Do you know what's also saucy? Spicy. We sprinkle every episode with it.

[Jen]

The Bill of the Week.

[Podcast Host Intro]

That's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck bills, Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton. This is the Bill of the Week.

[Maeve]

Hi, frugal friends. This is Maeve from Boston. And my Bill of the Week is a classic thrifting tale. So my wife and I were at a rummage sale at a local church, and I immediately saw this pair of beautiful, gently used in my size inline skates. So I knew I had to have them. They were only $10. And we also got a full set of knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. It's summer here in Boston, so I have loved zooming around, being in nature, being in different parts of the neighborhood that I normally wouldn't be in. But the best part is the investment in community that I've made. So every time I go out, without fail, someone will say hi to me. I'll strike up a conversation. I'll meet other people skating. There was one point, even when I fell close to our apartment and this older gentleman came over and checked on me and we got to know each other a little bit. So it's been so fun. And that's my Bill of the Week. I am so grateful for everything that you do. Take care.

[Jen]

Bye, Maeve. First of all, I love your name.

[Jill]

It's a beautiful name.

[Jen]

Maeve is such a beautiful name. Second of all, I know I joke a lot about, like, making the call on Bill of the Week. But I think my second best tip is leave your house. And Maeve, girl, that's what you're doing. You are leaving your house. You found a flower free, creative way to get out into the community. You are like building relationships, even if they're just like acquaintance level. How beautiful.

[Jill]

You are doing a new hobby that you were able to get into at very low cost because you bought secondhand. And you know what? I'm going to believe what I'm inserting into your story is that that elderly gentleman who helped you, I bet his name is Bill. You didn't mention it, so it must not be, but it is what I am now assuming.

[Jen]

Maybe his mother didn't name him Bill, but he is a Bill.

[Jill]

He's a Bill at heart. Really.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

We know bills are the type of people.

[Jen]

I know a bill when I see one.

[Sponsor Representative 1]

Exactly.

[Jen]

I know a bill when I hear one.

[Jill]

And that was an awesome bill of the week. And we feel so seen because, yes, we want to get a deal and we want to shop secondhand. We want to get out in the community. We want to be buying and spending and doing on our values. And like, like, you really get, girl. Us and frugality.

[Jen]

And you bought something and you used it. That's a whole nother thing to be proud of. You bought something with an intention, and you didn't just let it sit there and then feel guilty for not following through with the intention. You bought it and you used it. And I see you sitting at home and you want to leave your house. And I know you're like, no, I don't. No, you do. You do want to leave your house. You just don't know it yet. And I encourage you. Go for a walk. I know it's not summer in Boston anymore, but you're. Maybe you're sitting in the South. Maybe you live. Maybe you're a Texan girl. Maybe you're a Florida girl. California girl. Go.

[Jill]

Yeah, get out there.

[Sponsor Representative 1]

Get out there.

[Jill]

Get out there. Meet people. Maybe their name will be Bill. Let us know if you have a bill that you want to submit. If it's about being Bill who's helping people on the side of the road who have fallen because they're skating or you are getting skates at the thrift store or a yard sale or a rumage sale or literally anything having to do with Bill, you let us know. Googlefronts podcast.com bill we're at the stage.

[Sponsor Representative 1]

Of life where we're defining our personal style, figuring out what actually looks good on us. And at the same time wanting quality pieces that last. I don't want a closet full of trends anymore. I want staples I can reach for again and again. And that's why we've been loving Quince.

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[Sponsor Representative 1]

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[Jill]

Code frucall and now it's time for.

[Jen]

What grocery saving hack will you bring with you this year? Wrong answers only. Just kidding. What would Your wrong answer be though.

[Jill]

Sometimes what I currently do.

[Jen]

Oh, my God. Are you shopping on vibes?

[Jill]

Not quite, but all right. Frugal. Frugal fail. My friends Eric and I moved into an apartment.

[Jen]

We all know, we've heard 20,000 of you watched the video. And if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for?

[Jill]

And within walking distance. So blessing and a curse here we have Aldi, Walmart, and a brand new sprouts. For those of you who don't know.

[Jen]

What sprouts is, literally, I can see them.

[Jill]

Well, now you're giving away too much of my location.

[Jen]

I can see something out the window, and it is a tree. I literally see a tree.

[Jill]

I see a palm tree. Yeah. So these things are within walking distance. Sprouts is like a whole foods only. Yeah. No, it's like smaller, crunchier, Even crunchier. Yeah. Okay, so. So good thing. Here's my good thing that I pretty much solely shop at Aldi, so I base my meal plan all these things at Aldi. Of course, I've gone to Sprouts because I'm just like, grocery curious.

[Jen]

She crunchy adjacent.

[Crowd Health Advertiser]

Great.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And there are a couple of things that I have bought there, but I really. They've been open for more than a month, and I've not hardly spent money there. But sometimes it's nice if there's like an ingredient that I want to get and I want to walk.

[Sponsor Representative 2]

Great.

[Jill]

The real problem is it's within walking distance. So I think what I'm realizing is not only have I gotten a little bit more lax on my planning because I'm like, if I forget something, it's right there. But then that's happening. Like, I'm beginning to cook and realizing we are actually out of soy sauce. We are actually out of salsa. And then, you know, I'm sending Eric, and then he's coming back with more than whatever I send him for. And so we just have so many more more transactions for like, literally $2 and 18 cents. $9.80. 2498. Then my actual trip, that's like 75.49. So it's just all these little things. And I'm like, what did I do before? I didn't lit. Like, I had to drive to the grocery store. I did run out of stuff. I figured out the substitutions, but I'm finding myself so often in these situations where I'm like, there's no substitution. We've got to go to Aldi. So it's not breaking the bank, but it is something I've gotta. Not bring with me into the new year.

[Jen]

Is the like.

[Jill]

Yeah, we are. We're there constantly. Like a bunch of Europeans micro halls.

[Jen]

It's not Europe micro halls.

[Jill]

Micro halls. Yeah. I mean, we're not. Yeah, micro. It's my.

[Jen]

Yeah, that's. I mean, you also live so close to Walmart that you could just do a grocery pickup and then just stay out of the grocery stores.

[Jill]

I could try that. I like getting out though your whole thing. Leave the house.

[Jen]

I know.

[Jill]

I like walking.

[Jen]

Walking is great. Walking is good.

[Jill]

But then you're tipping people too. So, like, how much are you saving?

[Jen]

Not pickup.

[Jill]

Not even. You're not.

[Jen]

You're not tipping anyone in pickup? No.

[Jill]

Should you be, though?

[Jen]

There's no option. Oh, I get mine delivered and I tip the driver. That's who I tip. It doesn't allow me to tip the associate shopping.

[Jill]

Yeah. So, yeah, good and bad. But the good is I primarily base it. I do make a meal plan. I base it around what I know Aldi has, but then, you know, walking distance, so.

[Jen]

Okay, well, we're not bringing that with us. We are bringing better plans and more creativity when we run out of something.

[Jill]

Yes, ma'. Am. All right, your turn.

[Jen]

Okay. What I.

[Maeve]

So.

[Jen]

Groceries have honestly been a thrive for me this year.

[Jill]

I love it.

[Jen]

We have eaten out so much less in the last six months than the first six months of the year. So honestly, it has been a real thrive for me. I would say the saving hack that I'm bringing with me this year is the meal prep. The prep part has been what I'm bringing with me because I hate cooking. I'm tired at night and I don't feel like making dishes get dirty so that I then have to clean them. There's just so much involved and I am not going to eat out, so I'm going to meal prep pre portioned. So that is the hack I'm bringing with me.

[Jill]

It's always shocking to me how little time you say it takes you to prep.

[Sponsor Representative 1]

Right.

[Jill]

It's usually just like a couple of hours for you to. To batch, make the protein. Usually some sort of veg.

[Jen]

I made four meals last night in an hour and a half.

[Jill]

That is like baffling to me. I have prepped before, but it is an. It's an all afternoon ordeal. Like, I think we need to watch you do it. Like, I need a time lapse video.

[Jen]

Maybe that's the video that we're doing is meal prep with me. And I'm not. But it wouldn't do well because like meal prep is just associated with like bodybuilders and I'm. And like really, I think meal prep is just so closely tied to like the fitness section. And I don't. That's not how I meal prep. You have to do your own thing.

[Jill]

So obviously there's a gap. All you're saying to me is there's a gap.

[Jen]

Meal prep, like budgeting for the regular person.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

You let me know what you want to see in the comments.

[Jill]

I want to see it. Don't even wait for them to tell you. I'm telling you I need that.

[Jen]

Yeah. Because I did a sheet pan with chicken breast and veggies. I did the pork tenderloin over here. I put some bacon in the veggies. So I just, I cooked up the rest of the pack in a half pan next to the pork tenderloin. I had broccoli in the air fryer and then I had ground beef going in the skillet. And then all those things kind of finished at the same time. I let them cool down and then I portioned things and I ran out of veg. I didn't have enough room to put more veg in. Cause I put in the bacon, but worth it. So I will have to throw some veg in somewhere. Make a veg this week. Yeah, but that will be. I mean it's gonna be a frozen pre chopped veg. I treated myself to a few spice blends that I could just. On top.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

So.

[Jill]

And how often would you say you do go out a month? Like what are you allowing yourself?

[Jen]

I would say every other week we are doing something. We went out together on Friday.

[Maeve]

And.

[Jen]

I think before then I have to check my calendar. We went out probably maybe the two weekends ago from something. I can't. I probably should look at my transactions, not my calendar.

[Jill]

Wow. So like even on the weekends when you guys are busy doing stuff, you're still doing like breakfast, lunch and dinner at home?

[Jen]

Yes, yes. Honestly, we probably got. It was probably a week and a half. We probably picked up McDonald's because the kids love the play place and it's by Taekwondo. So yeah, that's it.

[Jill]

If we ever had to swap meal.

[Jen]

Plans, if we swapped budgets one week, what do you think that would look like? That would be interesting. Maybe we'll do that. Thank you so much for listening. Let us know what other grocery saving, food saving topics you'd like to see. We also, I mean, Jill can talk a lot about how to save money on eating out. We could both talk a lot about on how to save money on groceries. I can talk about what it's like to not go out for food, but to go out into the community for other things. So let us know what you want to hear more from us. If you have read our book Buy what yout Love without going Broke, you already know a lot of what we talked about today and our views on stuff like that. So thank you. We would love it if you would leave a review on Amazon like Paige did. Five stars. It says relatable and actionable. Thank you, Jen and Jill, for being so raw and real. The emphasis on the radical middle rather than the financial extremes we often hear about really hit home with me. The narration between the two authors was very well done and natural. I appreciated how relatable the stories and examples they gave are, as well as how actionable the takeaways are. 10 out of 10 recommend.

[Jill]

Oh, Paige, thank you so much. That's so, so kind. And thank you all for being here again. If you like it, please leave us a rating review. Pick up the book, buy what you.

[Jen]

Love book.com and hit subscribe.

[Jill]

We'd love that.

[Jen]

Smash that subscribe button, please jam it. We'll keep doing stuff like this for you. Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.

[Jill]

Yeah, I just really want to meal prep with you.

[Jen]

Yeah, we can do that. I've. I mean, I would say here's the thing. We're eating out. We definitely eat out more than twice a month. We have to, but it's not that much. And usually it's McDonald's because the kids love McDonald's and I love myself a plain hamburger and an Oreo McFlurry. That is my order at McDonald's, and that's really it. Like, sometimes we'll go to Torchy's this Thursday or Friday. I haven't decided which yet. Probably Friday I'm gonna treat myself. It's the last taekwondo of the year and one of my favorite restaurants is by the taekwondo and it's like a half hour away.

[Jill]

What is it?

[Jen]

A chichio Cali? Well, it's just Cali now.

[Jill]

Oh, I've never been, but somebody else told me that that was really good.

[Jen]

It's one of my favorites. We actually had it at our rehearsal dinner.

[Jill]

I want to try it.

[Jen]

So I'm gonna get takeout of that. But I've planned that. And yeah, I just. Eating is such an inconvenience for me. I love it, but it is such an inconvenience.

[Jill]

That's where I've come to realize that I need a mindset shift around it, where I think it is just this inconvenience. But I'm like, I literally have to do this every day, multiple times a day and for the rest of my life. So what if I were to really embrace that as part of what makes me productive in the day, what is most important and valuable to be doing, and then fill in the blanks around that. Otherwise I'm just going to constantly be butting up against my disdain for it, so. Yeah, but you're always trying to find ways.

[Jen]

Taking 20 minutes to make lunch because.

[Jill]

Because I want to enjoy it. I think that that's part. Part of it where I'm like this, this. I want to be good. And so I am leaning into how to make it good. Hopefully I can find other rhythms in life eventually where, like, it's thick, but you have.

[Jen]

You have more time to spare.

[Sponsor Representative 1]

Than.

[Jen]

I do and fewer barriers to living and operating, especially now that I'm in an apartment. Fewer people to drop off, fewer people to pick up, fewer people to keep alive.

[Jill]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Fewer people to bathe.

[Jill]

But in the grand scheme of things, 20 minutes to prep a lunch is also not that extreme.

[Jen]

But I take a minute and a half in the microwave. Yeah.

[Jill]

Because you, you do a great job of meal prepping.

[Jen]

Yeah.

[Jill]

And having all them left over, so. Yeah.

[Jen]

Well, it's time to.

[Jill]

It's time to eat.

[Sponsor Representative 1]

Yeah.

[Jen]

Let's go.

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