It's not the meat, its the....

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

CHEESE! I often see suggestions to cut back on meat to save on the food budget. We have always been big eaters of cheese, though. I eat cheese more often than meat. Cheeses are getting to be expensive. I pay more per pound for cheese than meat. And quality of cheeses varies so much. Lately, I've been passing up the cheese at the grocery more often.

[sweeps]

Agreed, cheese has gone way up. (As opposed to milk which I've found is, if anything, lower than 6 months ago.)

Side note: I shop at SuperTarget and a 32oz block of cheese costs MORE than 2 16oz blocks of cheese, and sometimes a 16oz block of cheese costs more than 2 8oz blocks of cheese. I wonder how many people fall for bulk packaging ripoffs like this.

[Caoineag]

I definitely pay more for cheese than I do for meat and use it more too. However, despite the rise in prices of certain food items, my grocery bill has remained the same. Such is the advantage of finding a store with very cheap fresh produce.

[jodi]

I shop at a discount food store that sells expired or damaged foods (I know, too much of an "ick" factor for a lot of folks). Luckily, cheese is one thing that they have in abundance - and that I know it's safe to consume or freeze within a few weeks of the expiration date, so I don't have to cut back on one of my favorites I have about 5 or 6 bags of low-fat shredded cheddar (which, for some reason, is hard to find at times) in my freezer right now, along with some mozzarella and Parmesan that I get for $.99/8 oz bag - about half the price of the cheapest stuff I can find elsewhere. I also bought an entire package of Sargento cheese sticks for the kids for a buck - 24 sticks. Some varieties of cheese lasts a lot longer than the date indicates, and can be frozen well too, so it pays to stock up when you find a good price.

[sounderella]

I've seen a lot of people mention these discount stores that sell damaged goods. Are there national chains that do this or are these just local stores?

By the way....I didn't know you could freeze cheese.....good to know

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Some cheese really crumbles after being frozen, but for some purposes that is no problem.

[sweeps]

Mmmm... frozen expired cheese. Sounds delicious.