re: Do you believe it's possible for a family of 4 to live on a $500/month food budget and...

Chicken is generally $2 a pound for chicken breasts. So you can get 100 pounds of chicken giving everybody .75 pounds a day of lean protein. $.50 for canned green beans and peas gives you 100 cans for $50. You’ve still got $250 to play with if you want to get fancy one night a week and buy steaks or go to Applebee’s.

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They got rid of it? I never go to the candy aisle in bulk anymore.

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What I meant was, I don't have Sprouts around me anymore. It's been about 1.5 years, and I miss having it around.

Luckily, my city has Costco, Publix, Rouses, Winn Dixie, and a couple other stores, so I've got pretty good grocery options for being in a large city.

Meat plus 3?

I buy what meat is on sale in quantity and freeze it. Roast for 3.99/lb gives me at least two meals for a family of 4 -- rice or potatoes and green beans/carrrots/cauliflower and we've got a meal. A 3 lb Roast would be about $12/2 meals/4 people = 1.50 for the meat per person per meal and definitely not more than a couple of dollars for sides.

For me buying in sale and stocking up is key. I also buy chicken breast quarters when on sale and boil and debone. Put in ziploc bags and freeze for spaghetti, stew, chicken salad, enchiladas, etc. Also keep and freeze the broth -- way better than canned broth.