How are you coping w/ rising food prices?

[scfr]

It's not news to anyone that food prices have been going up-up-up.

What have you been doing to cope with the increases?
Have you increased your food budget?
Changed where you shop, how you shop, or what you eat?

I am doing basically what I did in the past, but I am definitely being more diligent and disciplined about my shopping.

I've been alternating my shopping trips between 2 grocery stores, so that I can take full advantage of any weekly specials at both and scrounge the discount racks/bins at both. I've also been trying to make sure I spend a bit of extra time when I go to the store, scanning for clearance items (different from regular sale items ... generally items that are being discontinued or perishables that are at the expiration date). I've also been really trying to keep open mind about trying new things if I find a bargain. (For example, my HEB was discontinuing a certain brand of coffee. I bought a great big can for $2. It wasn't as good as my usual Kirkland Signature coffee, but once I got used to it, it wasn't too bad, and I certainly could not beat the price.)

On some items, if I can't combine a coupon with a sale price, I just skip buying it.

I've started going to Costco a bit more frequently (fortunately it's just a slight detour on my way home from my current job, so it's no longer the drive it used to be ... I factor in the extra driving cost when deciding if the savings are worth making the trip). Since Costco equals bulk buying, that means eating more of the same things over and over again. I've decided that I can be just fine with that ... there are worse things in life!

So far, I have not had to increase my grocery budget ... I am ready to do so, but I'm just trying to delay it for as long as possible.

[ThriftoRama]

I started shopping at Aldi's. I had never given them a thought before. I also now make a point to go to Wal-mart for items that are significantly cheaper there than at other stores, such as Shampoo and heavy cream for the hubby's coffee.

If I see something on sale that we use often, I get it. Otherwise, we shop as usual. If we need it, we get it, although we may buy store brand instead.

I also joined a CSA farm co-op this year. Last year, they supplied all my veggies from May to September for only $250. It was more than we could eat and it was all wonderful, locally grown organic food. So we jumped right on for this year at the same price.

We also plant a veggie garden every year. Last year, between the farm co-op and the garden we didn't buy one veggie at the grocery all summer, except a couple of bunches of spinach. Not too bad. The garden plants cost us $26 and we bought them from a school fundraiser. Double goodness. We ended up with 50 plus pounds of tomatoes from 12 plants. We made pasta sauce from those and the green peppers and zucchini we grew. We just finished the last of it from the freezer last month.

(Mind you, I grow tons and I live on a small city lot and only use my traditional flower beds for veggies.) I like growing my own so much that I'm removing all the evergeen shrubs and planting apple and cherry trees this summer. I can taste the pies already...

[cicy33]

couponing, couponing, couponing. I am trying to catch things on clearance. Like muellers spaghetti this week was on sale .50. We eat a lot of spaghetti noodles. well, the kids do! I try to stock up on what I can when I can get it super cheap. Then it is easier when it is not on sale. I will be planting a garden this year. Couldn't last year due to the construction at my house but this year will plant tomatoes, cucumbers, onions. stuff like that. my mil grows corn and beans so we will pick and freeze those. and she takes my extra tomatoes and makes homemade salsa for the kids and hubby.

[pjmama]

I've been shopping at Aldi when I can (I love thier stuff, and it's so cheap!) Also, I've been only buying the bare minimum, and using as much stuff I have on hand already at home. Leftovers are a big help too. And just being versatile (I have no problems eating breakfast for dinner, etc).

[LuxLiving]

I've been food price concsious for a long time and bargain & bulk shop...but I've been trying to 'Do The Math' a little more consistently, checking price per ounce.

Even doing the bag weighing in the produce aisle. A '10 lb. bag' of potatoes can vary in weight you know. So I'll weigh just a few and get the heaviest of the three. I value my time enough not to stand there and weigh every bag in the store.

Something I do when times are particularly tight is when making the menu plans I start by labeling the days vaguely w/cheaper ingredients before getting specific:

M-pasta
T-rice
W-beans
Th-eggs
F-leftovers or pizza
S-sandwich
S-meat

This strategy can keep me down in the spending. This doesn't mean that we only eat meat on Sunday, but that's the day I will usually focus the entire meal around a major meat dish such as fried chicken, or a roast, something of that sort. Pasta night might be spaghetti w/meat sauce, but the major portion of these meals is made w/the cheaper ingredient in the spotlight.

Thriftorama, be careful if you are planting apple trees to keep them away from cedars...(can't recall the exact problem, but think it has to do w/some kind of rust-disease they can cause the apple trees.) Even if they are in neighbors yards!

[Caoineag]

Well, cooking from scratch helps, mainly because we alternate between two grocery stores, one of which has extremely cheap produce. I figure I will have to start spending more on food eventually but for now the budget is holding.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Hey, that is cedar-apple rust that transfers between cedars and apples. My apple tree suffered from it. It makes weird crown galls on the leaves. It can transfer between cedars and apples growing as much as a mile apart, as the spores are wind borne.

I'm not doing anything different. Just keep doing what we have been doing. Husband does most of the grocery shopping, but I have increased doing some of it in the last year or so. We go to 5 different stores, but not weekly, of course. If food inflation should really skyrocket in summer, I would go ahead and plant some more late summer vegetables, which I don't usually do, and I would plan to expand the food garden for the next year. I do not freeze much from the garden, as we don't have much freezer space.

[Ima saver]

I still eat out and so far the owners have not raised their prices! It is cheaper for us to eat out than to cook and clean up.

[Snave]

Our budget for food combines our grocery money and a few eating out nights over the course of a month. We are just not eating out as much as the grocery bill is up a little bit. My wife does a great job with the coupons, so it's not too bad.

[Aleta]

I haven't raised my food budget but basically do most of of the suggestions already listed. I'm definitely more serious about coupons and shopping at CVS and Walgreens.

I try to make a dish and let it be for lunch and maybe another day. I'm definitely watching the sales even more carefully than I ever have.

I also look at items that could be affected by oil prices. Any kind of plastic such as Storables, plastic wrap, any container that has plastic is something that is bound to go up.

I also am paying more attention to the news about items that are rising which could be coffee and try to stock up.

I also shop between stores and make sure that I do my errands in a circularly fashion as not to waste gas.

[Maismom]

I haven't really changed my shopping habit. I keep price book, so I basically know which store to go for certain items.

Bananas, sour-dough bread, and OJ for Trader Joe's. Snack items for Safeway when they have a promotion. Ice cream for Longs Drug or Walgreens, etc.

I don't find Costco that cheap especially they don't take coupons. I get toiletry products, such as shampoo/conditioner/soap for free at drug stores.

I also don't go to Walmart very often even though there's a super Walmart near my house. Yes, their price may be lower than other grocery stores, but other grocery stores offer even cheaper price when they run promotion.

For example, I am planning to go to Safeway today and buy a dozen of 100 calorie snack that DD takes to school for lunch. The price is $2.5 per box, and I have 55 cents coupons. So, 2.5 x 12 = $30 Less coupon .55 x 12 = $6.6 So, I will pay $23.4 and will get $10 off good for next shopping coupon. Final price $13.4 that makes $1.12 per box, cheaper than Wal Mart or Costco.

I do the same for many other food items.

[Aleta]

I have found that most of these low cost stores have good every day prices. (Walmart, Costco, B.J.'s) I can always save more if I shop the loss leaders in the stores and buy in bulk.

[pjmama]

Originally Posted by LuxLiving

Something I do when times are particularly tight is when making the menu plans I start by labeling the days vaguely w/cheaper ingredients before getting specific:

M-pasta
T-rice
W-beans
Th-eggs
F-leftovers or pizza
S-sandwich
S-meat

I really like this idea, Lux I'm going to have to try that sometime!

[LuxLiving]

Thought I'd use this thread to post a list I found yesterday while online looking at the state of the growing squeeze w/grocery prices...

I'll go look for the author as I didn't grab it at the time I grabbed the list. This is for those who think building a one year storage program is a wise idea. Of course if you don't have a grain mill you're not going to want to be buying wheat. So, replace it with something your family will eat, but understand that the wheat was taking a big portion of the need for adequate nutrition on it's shoulders.

I'm not sure of when this list was created so I'm unsure as to whether inflation has gotten to it or not, but it's a nice little place to start.

This is a five dollar a week pantry stockup plan. I'll also add that if you are trying to get a year supply together then obviously you'll want to set this food aside away from your normal usage. Then, after you get a year's together you'll want to watch the dates and use it by the package dates and then REPLACE what you use up. I'd date these as I bought them.

"Food storage for $5 a week

Set aside $5 a week to buy the specific items each week. You will have
a kitty set aside that you put the $5 in and you can't touch it for
any reason but to buy the food storage item for that week. Put in the
remaining change back into the kitty. Some things in the beginning are
going to be cheap and then later will be more expensive. In order to
pay for the expensive stuff later you need to keep the leftover money
in the kitty. Weeks 38 and 44 you will have "off" to replenish the
kitty.

Week 1: 2 cans tuna fish, 2 boxes salt
Week 2: 5 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese
4 cans tomato soup
Week 3: 3 cans mushroom soup,
1 2.5 lb peanut butter
Week 4: one bottle 365 count multi-vitamins


Week 5: 4 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 6: 1 bottle aspirin (500 tablets)
Week 7: 1 100 lb container wheat
Week 8: 1 5 lb powdered milk

Week 9: 1 5 lb honey
Week 10: 4 cans tuna, 4 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 11: 1 10 lb sugar, 1 box salt
Week 12: 4 cans mushroom soup

Week 13: 1 bottle 365 count multi-vitamins
Week 14: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 15: 1 box macaroni and cheese
Week 16: 1 5 lb honey

Week 17: 2 cans tuna, 4 can tomato soup
Week 18: 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 19: 1 100 lbs of wheat
Week 20: 2 10lbs of sugar

Week 21: 1 10lb powdered milk
Week 22: 1 can mushroom soup, 1 10 lb sugar
Week 23: 1 can tuna, 4 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lbs sugar
Week 24: 1 10 lbs sugar

Week 25: 2 cans tuna, 2 cans mushroom soup
Week 26: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 27: 3 10 lbs sugar
Week 28: 1 10 lb sugar

Week 29: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 30: 2 10 lb sugar
Week 31: 1 can tuna, 3 cans mushroom soup
Week 32: 1 can tuna, 4 cans tomato soup

Week 33: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 34: 2 cans tuna, 1 box salt
Week 35: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 36: 2 10 lb sugar

Week 37: 4 cans tomato soup, 2 boxes salt
Week 38: Stash $5 in the kitty
Week 39: 1 100 lb wheat
Week 40: 1 10 lb powdered milk

Week 41: 3 10 lb sugar
Week 42: 2 cans tomato soup, 1 10 lb sugar
Week 43: 2 cans tomato soup, 2 cans mushroom soup
Week 44: Stash $5 in the kitty

Week 45: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 46: 4 cans tomato soup, 4 cans mushroom soup
Week 47: 1 10 lb powdered milk
Week 48: 4 cans mushroom soup, 1 10 lb powdered milk

Week 49: 7 cans of tomato soup
Week 50: 7 cans of mushroom soup
Week 51: 2 10 lbs sugar, 1 box salt

By the end of the 52 weeks, you should have:

700lbs of wheat,
240 lbs sugar,
40 lbs of powdered milk,
13 lbs of salt,
10 lbs of honey,
5 lbs of peanut butter,
45 cans of tomato soup,
32 cans mushroom soup,
15 cans tuna fish,
10 macaroni and cheese dinners,
500 aspirin, and
730 multiple vitamins
They suggest adding 6lbs of dried yeast and 6 lbs of shortening and
this should be enough to sustain 2 people for a year. For every 2
people you have in your family add $5 more and double or triple the
amount of whatever you are buying that week.

source:
The Outlands - Homestead Pantry

I, for one, am continuing to stock up!

[Ima saver]

Hope you like tomato soup and tuna. I don't! I haven't used 5 pounds of sugar in the past 5 years.

[LuxLiving]

I do Ima!


Of course practicality must come into play and people who are trying to do a food storage plan are always encouraged to store what they eat and eat what they store by rotating it through their regular meals.

If your family wouldn't touch tuna with a ten foot pole you'd probably swap it with some other form of canned or storable protein. People who don't do regular sugar would of course store their sweetener of choice.

Do they sell steak in a can Ima???

[Aleta]

LuxLiving: That is a great list and a website with alot of information. As for tuna, I also make a tuna fish casserole. What I get from that list is that you can adjust what your tastes are.

For Hurricane time, I start buying earlier than the June start date. For sure you won't like what's left over when a hurricane watch and warning is announced. You certainly won't like the long lines either. But that is a good plan that could actually let you buy things a litlle at a time. I think that weekly I'd look for items on sale that is on that list. Or things that have coupons and is on sale also.

[LuxLiving]

Right Aleta, that list is for people who would be doing baking from scratch. If a person can't grind wheat and make it into bread then, yeah, they need to store what works for their family and to work it into their every day buying.

I do a lot of baking and I have a wheat grinder. So, it would work for me if I was starting from scratch. The idea to present it is that some people say it's too much to do or unaffordable to get a year's worth of nutrition in the home storage so they do nothing. This format showed that it was easy to break it down into an affordable, doable plan.

If someone is wanting to stock up their pantry due to the rising grocery costs then you would obviously want to store what works for you.

[stressedmama]

Aldi's has great prices if you have one close by. I've found that making a monthly dinner menu is also helpful. As prices go up I find that I need to pencil in more low cost dinners like spaghetti and chili. If I stick to my menu, I also wind up spending less at the grocery stores because I'm not picking up one of everything and impulse buying.....well I don't impulse buy to much! I can usually spend $80 per week for food and diapers for 2 adults and 2 young kids (not including baby food/formula).

This is my first post on the forum, but I have been reading it for awhile. Thanks for all the good advice!

[Aleta]

When people think about investing , they forget about commodities. I don't have to go out and buy commodities. All I have to do is to buy items before they go up in price and store items before inflation starts kicking in and I'm in the commodities market. Most people don't think about that. Of course, you don't want to store so much as to have to rent a storage faciilty.