Prices Of Gluten-Free Foods? Anyway To Save?

[KnightRobby]

So I've been shopping once at Sprouts, which has a great selection of packaged Gluten-free foods. The thing is they are ridiculously expensive. I know, overall, that prices can end up being 40-70% more expensive than the regular glutenized (that should be a word ) foods.

Are any of the stores better priced when it comes to Gluten-free foods? Any ways to save?

Thanks again for your help.

[sa1937]

Welcome, Robby! I don't have Sprouts, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or any of those type of stores where I live. I just shop at regular supermarkets. Any time you start buying prepackaged gluten-free foods, you will find they are expensive and some aren't even very good.

Your best best is to stick to whole foods...things that you can find at any supermarket or even Wal-Mart. Think fruits, veggies, meats, dairy (if you can tolerate it) with the occasional gluten-free pasta and bread. Hopefully you can cook ? That'll bring the cost down considerably.

You might find it helpful to check the Newbie 101 Info.

[Persei V.]

What Sa said. Eating whole foods like fruits and veggies I can find at a regular supermarket saved my family a whole lot of money. Of course I needed to adapt my taste a bit to accept a wider range of veggies... But overall, I ended up spending less on food.

[Eric-C]

What Sa said. Eating whole foods like fruits and veggies I can find at a regular supermarket saved my family a whole lot of money. Of course I needed to adapt my taste a bit to accept a wider range of veggies... But overall, I ended up spending less on food.

Well until the new health care law limits FSA's to $2,500 you can use that to buy food.

If you have a HSA/FSA and say a box of gluten-free Spaghetti is $5.00 and a box of regular spaghetti is $2.50 then you can use the $2.50 difference out of your HSA/FSA and buy the extra cost pre-tax.

The new health care laws however will limit that to $2,500 in total which will create additional tax revenue. We easily hit 6-7 thousand dollars a year in FSA/HSA spending between prescriptions and the rest.

Bulk purchases of staple foods usually help. We order a few hundred dollars at a time of gluten-free pasta's because BiAglut is expensive but buying in bulk reduces the cost about 40 percent.

[Darn210]

There are a couple of items that I buy in bulk to save money but first a few caveats worth mentioning here:

1) You've got to have space to store it.

2) Try it first before you order it online . . . even if it comes highly recommended. Everybody's tastes are different and there is nothing like having a case of something that you don't particularly care for. I learned this the hard way

Some grocery stores will let you buy in bulk and save something like 10%. You would be buying a box/case at a time and the quantity would depend on the product. The grocery store would be able to tell you how much you would have to buy. I'd check there for any refrigerated/freezer type items.

I buy in bulk from Amazon. I get Tinkyada pasta, Glutino Crackers and Pamela's Baking/Pancake mix from them. They have a program called Subscribe and Save which is the same as placing a standing order. You get an additional 15% off of the bulk price and no shipping charges (even if it is under $25). You sign up to receive your order every 1,2,3 or 6 months. They send an email to tell you that they are about to ship so if you still have a lot of product, you can delay/skip a shipment as long as it hasn't shipped yet. You can get into your account if you run out of product early and have it shipped sooner. You can cancel at anytime . . . even after the first shipment. Not all products are available in the program though. I don't think the spaghetti I buy is, but it's still cheaper for me to buy it 12 pounds at a time.

[mommida]

If you can find a co-op like (united natural foods). You can buy in bulk or split cases with other members.

Order in bulk. (from on-line sources)

see if your local health food store will help you out.

when you bake make a double batch and freeze the second half. (you will have to experiment and see if the item freezes well.)

look at your favorite gluten free products web site and some have on-line coupons available.

if you shop at a larger grocery join their savings club, they then can give you special saver discounts for your most purchased items.

[kareng]

This is a good way to try a few gluten-free items. They will ask for a donation but you don't have to give one now if you can't afford it. Think of them in a few years when you are back together again.

Open Original Shared Link

[shadowicewolf]

I save quite a bit.

I generally stick with whole foods like the others, meats, veggies, apples, rice, etc.

More often than not i do not buy the gluten free stuffs. The only things i regulaly buy is rice chex, my pasta, and bisquick.

[lpellegr]

Agree with the "whole foods" replies - the less you buy the gluten-free substitutes for processed foods, the less you will spend and the healthier you will be. Learn to make do without (or as little as possible) bread, pancakes, muffins, etc. Don't buy into the "fat is bad for you and grains are good" line - that's bogus. Gluten-free breads and pastries are full of simple carbohydrates and are close to junk food. Replace that with protein and fruits and veggies. Limit the substitutes and your wallet and your body will thank you.

[shadowicewolf]

I realized when i was at the store yesterday that i spent less (like 2/3s less) then i would have before i went gluten free. This was with my rice chex and a loaf of udi's.

[T.H.]

Yeah, whole foods is the way to go, if you don't want to spend too much.

It's healthier, anyway, when you think about it. A good analogy might be building a house. I could make a house out of papier-m