Survival of The Cheapest!

If you don’t already know, I am a cheapskate beyond belief. I can live on a stone, and I take great pride in it. Ask anyone who knows me!

I’d rather walk back and forth between a few shops, even if they’re not located the same place, just to check out prices and thus know where to get it cheapest. And yes, I do calculate price per weight, if it’s not already written on the price tag.

I also make a sport of spotting the cheapest places to shop, and shop different places for different things. I also usually refuse to buy stuff one place, if I know it can be bought cheaper. In fact, I don’t even have to KNOW it – FEELING or THINKING I can get it cheaper, is enough.
I also have a tendency to go out to buy a specific thing, but end up going home without anything, because I didn’t find it at a satisfactory price.

SO – I’ll give you a few tips on where to shop, what to shop for where, and what I consider low price on certain products. This is, mind you, compared to Danish prices, as I have no idea
I’m no fineschmecker, and thus do not care much for quality, to be honest.

Anyways, let’s go!

The foundation of my daily intake is: vegetables. I eat a crapton of vegetables every day. BUT – vegetables are not particularly cheap in Japan… well, that depends on where you get them, of course.

North of Funabashi station, which is 5 minutes away by bike, there’s a supermarket called “業務スーパー” (gyoumu super). I know it’s located around Japan, and I actually have two within biking distance.
Writing this, I realized I need to make a little short, so I’ll just list the products to get, and what prices they come at:

• Different frozen vegetables (for example broccoli): 194yen/kg
• Frozen spinach: 300yen/kg
• Natto: 300yen/kg (I eat a pack a day…)
• 0.5-1% fat milk: 88yen/L (the fattier, the more expensive)
• Kimchi and the like; prices varies, but this is cheaper than big supermarkets
• Frozen meats; more about that
• Drinks; prices varies, but don’t buy water! More on that.

I actually don’t know about white rice and bread (I got 5kg white rice for free, and I don’t eat bread), but I do know that this is NOT the place for brown rice. I’ll get to that now.

I have no issues whatsoever eating rice all day, including for breakfast. I do a mix of white and brown rice.

At a chain called “Don Quijote” aka. Donki, where you can get a lot of imported snacks and sweets. I buy two things here:

• Brown rice: 2kg for 789yen. That’s the cheapest I’ve ever found. But beware! It seems not all Donki carry the same products, so I can’t guarantee for anything. Only one of my three nearby Donkis carry it.
• Eggs: 10 for 100yen – this is not only Donki, but 100yen Lawson (convenience stores) carries it on occasion.
  This is not a bad place to buy eggs, but you CAN get them cheaper. I’ve spotted a few places that sell 10 eggs for 88yen if your total ends up in more than 500yen.

Now, let me say something about buying drinks. Or, let me start by telling about Japanese city tap water. It’s chlorine-y. That’s not a word, but I use it anyways. Chlorine messes up your tummy pretty badly, as it destroys gut bacteria – and it tastes pretty nasty.
”Just get bottled mineral water – it’s pretty cheap!”, “get a filter thingy!”………

Ohplz… You think I wanna PAY for water? For the sake of Money Saving, I do research. Let me tell you not just one, but two tips.

Tip no. 1)
- Boil it. The chlorine evaporates => drinkable water.
Tip no. 2)
– Get a big glass jar (there happened to be one in the house I staying – BONUS!), fill it with tap water, leave it there at least 12 hours, and most of the chlorine will evaporate. I’m not joking. Do you know how much money you just saved there???

Okay, lastly, meat products. Those are not very cheap – except for one thing;
                                     Chicken breast filets.

These can be bought ridiculously cheap – but also not-so-cheap.
In big supermarkets, it’s not unusual to have to pay 600-800yen per kg.
HOWEVER, certain places and certain (random, sadly…) you can get it as cheap as 300yen/kg. I am blessed to have access to a freezer, so when I see these bargains, I buy at least a few kilos, pack them conveniently and throw them in there.
Beef can be bought for around 800-900yen/kg for the cheap kind, and pork a little cheaper.

Needless to say, anything pre-made is gonna set you back twice what you’d pay if you made it yourself or even just bought it the right place.
Those drink vending machines are sure convenient, but don’t use them all the time. You can get a 2L bottle of a drink for those 100 or 120yen.

Well, I think that sums up my knowledge on food prices – at least for now.