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7 Expensive Food Items Frugal Shoppers Leave Behind

October 30, 2024 by Amanda Tyler Leave a Comment

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Frugal people sometimes find themselves in a bind when shopping, prioritizing, or giving up something to save money. It’s hard to prioritize what you should spend money on- especially when it’s something important like food at the grocery store.

But they’re also often more than happy to leave things off their shopping list because they know their value—here are seven examples of expensive food items that smart, frugal shoppers leave on the shelves.

1. Pre-Cut Fruits and Veggies

Pearland, TX, USA - March 10, 2022: Fresh cut fruit and vegetables in the boxes or bowls on the shelves in a supermarket.
Image Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock.

Convenience isn’t always worth the cost for frugal people. Pre-cut produce is a good example; it’s significantly cheaper to take a few minutes and cut things up yourself.

2. Unitask Kitchen Gadgets

Various kitchen gadgets.
Image Credit: Rosamar/Shutterstock.

Frugal people know how enticing unitaskers are, primarily since they’re used to cooking. However, they know you get much more mileage from versatile tools that can handle multiple tasks, so they’ll usually pass these gadgets by.

3. Pre-Packaged Meals

Pre-packaged sandwiches put up for sale in a commercial refrigerator.
Image Credit: monticello/Shutterstock.

Frugal people are no strangers to needing assistance when things get busier. But if they can help it, they’ll never bother with pre-packaged meals and will instead rely on their meal planning to help them through.

4. Bottled Water

Bottled Water.
Image Credit: Oporty786/Shutterstock.

Buying a water filter is considerably more economical, and that’s precisely what the frugal person does. Bottled water doesn’t register as something they ever want or need because they have fresh, clean water on demand.

5. Costly Coffee

Cup with coffee, costing on coffee grain.
Image Credit: allstars/Shutterstock.

The daily grind of getting coffee in the morning is simply not for frugal people. They’d much rather brew their own at home, opting for a nice coffee maker and maybe even a grinder to enhance their experience but still spending less than heading to a cafe.

6. Brand Name Food

Nikolaev, Ukraine - December 19, 2021 Snickers chocolate bar on blue background. Snickers is a brand name chocolate bar made by the American company.
Image Credit: Mouse family/Shutterstock.

Generic or store brands are the frugal person’s bread and butter. If there’s a cheaper generic available, that’s always going in the cart over the name-brand option.

7. Whatever’s Not on Sale

Tasty pastries on table, closeup.
Image Credit: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock.

Alternatively, some of the more extreme penny pinchers would argue that something isn’t worth buying unless it’s on sale, a deal, or they have a coupon for it. Not every frugal person operates with this mentality, but for others, it’s hardwired into their shopping.

Read More:

Elderly woman with bruised eye.
Image Credit: Barbara Sauder/Shutterstock.
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  • 12 of the Unhealthiest Items at the Grocery Store 

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