We have BIG plot of countryside land. We plant a good amount of our own food. Get our own eggs etc. It does not SAVE money, it COSTS money compared to shopping for it. And no surprise really. We pay the premium for the knowledge it's from our own garden - it ain't no budgeting thing. And it takes work time too, a luxury which many less well-off people can't spare either.

I always try to grow. Each experience is a learning curve. Go from a bucket to a balcony, to a raised bed to a garden. I have no money. But I try each year to get better and better!

Sorry for the wall of text. I think my tip would be to go to an Asian grocery store and see their produce prices. The closest store for me IS an Asian grocery so it's my go to regardless. While the selection of staple produce will probably be less than a huge chain (they usually only have 2-3 types of apples instead of 4-5) I find the prices cheaper AND they typically have items I normally can't get, like Thai basil and chilies, lychee, etc. They have everything I NEED and a bunch of things that I want that I couldnt get at a regular grocer's so it's a win-win, Plus, there's a Middle Eastern grocery a few blacks done that sells galangal, fakir lime leaves, etc. They won't have a wide selection of "American" food/items but between those two stores I get everything I need for cheaper than I normally would. For more mundane, I stop by Target or Trader Joe's after work on my way to my train.

I recall a guru on cable news who was all about how he retired with a mllion by X age. (Dark Coward rhymes with his name.) He never mentioned he and his wife both had six-figure jobs. Which makes it a *lot* easier.

Try this: Buy a package of mung beans (it will last you for AGES), soak a tabelespoon full of them overnight in tap water and then place them in a glass on the window sill. Every day put some water in the glas, shake them around and pour the water out, leaving the wet beans. Within a few days they will sprout, and it is fascinating HOW MUCH these little beans grow! You can add these sprouts to sandwiches, your warm dishes or eat them as a salad. It is a really cheap and easy way to get a few vitamins and fibres; no need for a green thumb, no special equipment - just water and daylight. Only in the darkest winter months it might not work due to the lack of sun - depending on where you live, of course. Works with other seeds as well but I found mung beans especially easy for beginners and the crop is so rewarding!

Gardener here! The cost of gardening is not "cheap" like people seem to think. If you don't live somewhere with nice dirt you need to buy a raised bed or lots of pots. Then you need to buy dirt, gloves, an hand rake, and 2 to 3 sizes of shovels. You also have to water (my bill goes way up during growing season). You also would hope that the veggies and fruit you like will enjoy the climate you live in.

$64 Tomato, by William Alexander.

Yeah, carrots are super cheap. And you can't grow a garden everywhere. I live in the desert and the cost to have irrigation and the right kind of beds and dirt and pest control makes it not financially beneficial to grow your own veggies. The ppl I know who do that here are well off and it's a hobby for fun.

You are supposed to replant every year once you have invested in constructing the bed. It still takes about ten years to recoup your initial investment. Probably why there are so few farmers left..

One year I planted tomatoes, peppers, basil and oregano. I managed to harvest one pepper that a squirrel had taken a bite out of, and the herbs just shriveled up. So, the entire harvest consisted of one tomato. No brown thumb should try this.

Some subs on reddit are just batsh*t. I got a suspension for saying I didn't like Alex Jones.

It’s a nice hobby and we always grew some tomatoes and herbs on our little balcony. But the time and money investment isn’t worth the the harvest from a financial point of view. It’s just nice to be able to go out and get fresh herbs. For the tomatoes we got a few handful each year, so it’s not a lot. And of course it’s all ripe around the same time, so you’ll end up eating lots of it for 2 weeks, and that’s it.

If you have a yard, you also buy the $400 rototiller, than needs to be worked on every few years (by someone I have to pay). THAT is when the real savings happen.

I have a balcony garden for fun. The amount of time and money to start and keep it up, it would never make sense financially to grow anything. I'd need a lot more space and soil I didn't have to buy to get started.

Yup. Plant things that are expensive in the shops and require little effort. I suggest herbs and then fruit.

Growing veggies doesn't worth it on the money side. If someone has a garden, it's worth it, if you want to eat veggies you know wasn't treated with chemicals. Seeds could be cheap, but for example, here, where I live, you have water the plants. It costs money, even though I have a well, but the motor uses electricity, a lot of it. Then you have to buy manure, and other stuff, so at the end, it's not cheap at all.

I did have a balcony garden for fun and to teach my daughter about growing food, but it was actually far from a cheap project.

Why do these self righteous veggie warriors want everyone to be a farmer? That’s not my occupation, and I’d rather just support my local farmers

Yep. Plus, as my econ teacher pointed out, time is something that never gets reimbursed

The amount of time and expense it takes to garden, vs the cost of in-season factory-farmed produce, means that this is often the case. Where you can save a little money is in "Window-sill gardening" where you grow fresh herbs, or sprout dried peas, regrow green-onions etc. It's usually more of a convenience and waste-reduction measure, and you don't really save that much.

It true so many saves are a waste of printed work.

There was a man who bought some gro-bags. Gro-bags have pictures of tomatoes on them. So he put the bags outside his back door, opened the tops of the bags and watered them. Then he waited for the tomatoes. Gro-bags are just compost.

Its not cold 9 months out of the year in toronto. Its cold for 5.

Carrots are finicky little feathers, you will not eat well

For those wanting to garden more cheaply, do your research first. Find out what is native to your area, what suits the conditions, what is easy to grow etc. You can even find out what 'weeds' are already growing on your small patch of ground that are actually edible. Again, research well to be sure they are what you think. Talk to local permaculture growers and Landcare agencies for free advice. Find out if there are any seed savers/seed swap groups in the area to get cheap/free start up seeds. Use things like net curtains from a secondhand shop to cover fruit trees for cheaper than garden store netting to protect from birds. Use used coffee grounds or ground up eggshells to deter snails and slugs. Make a 'weed tea' by filling a bucket of water with invasive grasses or other weeds and steep for a couple of weeds to ferment, if you haven't got a worm farm to produce worm tea fertilizer to improve the soil.

Just live the wealthy advice "cut back on limo rides and caviar" when you're looking to stretch your instant ramen dollar!

only food that is easy to grow inside with a cheap grow light or good sunny window is kale really. grows prolifically in fact i got a cheap grow light and 6 plants downside i only use it for smoothies. tried strawberries, and various other things nothing grew in a reasonable quantity to be worth it.

Water is so expensive here that it's no longer cost effective to grow our own anything, except cannabis.

I'm not good with plants. They always die. So not a good option