We budget $1000 money to "food"
That may seem like a lot for 3 people (Im not full mustachian) but consider:
Contrary to the article I'm not a fan of complicated budgets and prefer to put charges into very few categories, so whatever can be bought at a food store or drug store or any restaurant or ABC store goes into this budget.
I get the plan ahead thing, but it can be hard with picky eaters & weight loss and I find that stocking more food = more waster. We have the extreme fortune of being walking distance to a good grocery store, and I prefer the simplicity of not having a TON of food in the fridge/pantry. Essentially we live next to a VERY large fridge/pantry, we figure let THEM hold the stuff for us. Fresher stuff, MUCH less watse, and for someone like me trying to lose weight, less temptation. Ive always felt like the more food you have the more you seem to want to eat to "clear it out" / "not let it go bad". When you don't use a car to obtain groceries, impulse purchases are restricted because you got to carry that back. Needless to say we are not at all fans of the big bulk feed stores. Planning ahead = 3-4 days tops. I do NOT need 2 family size bags of chips lying around.
So, yes, we do "lose" money on not buying in bulk (I'll buy ONE fun size chip bag a week or two, so the worst I can do is eat that whole bad instead of the whole FAMILY bag) or stocking up during BOGO sales. Ive had to teach myself that the money saving is going to be in health.
They are mostly correct on eating less meat to save money. If you are buying pink-slime quality processed meats its pretty inexpensive, but if you are like me a believer in "it's either grass fed organic hipster $15/lb happy cow, OR none at all", yes eating less meat saves you money
In my local area I don't find much more than 10-15% name brand vs generic, probably because most the walkable grocer is a bit on the expensive end (publix). This is highly subjective, not all generics are equal. Generic canned veggies are essentially the same to me, but the quality of the aluminum foil is night and day. Distilled white vinegar, the generic is 5% concentration, name brand 6%, so you got to figure that into the price difference.
Im thankful publix prints "price per unit/oz" so it makes the price comparison very easy. Often you'll notice that of the 3 size options, the medium is almost the same price/oz as the large, so again to avoid a heavily stocked house I 'take the hit' on the medium, or even the small if its something I'm not likely to use all of or isn't a regular staple, bout the only thing I buy "large" is the whole gallon of milk because, well... kid and wife drink a ton and I don't care for it, so it can sit there and not tempt me! Unlike a soda, in which only ONE single serve glass soda to be shared by me and wifey is bought as a "special treat" (that it should be thought of as, NOT as a staple)* that way its high price per oz is a self induced luxury tax.
*anyone else think its a bit absurd that most grocery stores, or ours at least, has a WHOLE AISLE for chips and soda ONLY!