Last January, in the midst of my freshmen year of college, I made to switch to self cooking. The $1400 meal plans for 16 weeks of food just weren't worth it. Plus, unlimited food at the cafe meant I wasn't exactly eating healthy. Since then, I've been stocking up at Sam's Club and shopping at Walmart. I've managed to keep my spending to $30-$35 a week. I lift regularly so some of the food I eat for protein/health makes saving a little harder. My diet is closer to 3000 calories/day diet than 2000 calorie/day so that makes reaching my goal of $25/week a little harder.
Trying to figure out where I could cut, I decided to make the switch to ALDI. I have no idea why I didn't do this sooner. ALDI is closer to my campus, cheaper, and less busy at the time I shop. It's a win/win/win.
I couldn't exactly exclaim to some of my friends that I'm saving a few dollars a week but I figured people here on the forum would appreciate it.
On a side note, they don't take credit cards. I won't be getting my 3% grocery rewards now. It's still much more worth it to shop there though.
Also, they don't give grocery bags so I'll have to pick up some reusable bags.
I don't think I've been this excited to go shopping in a long time...