No Longer Affordable Groceries

[marvholly]

With the BIG increases in price of some items and the increased price of perimeter shopping items (produce, dairy, meat, fish, bread.....) I have had to drop some items I used to buy and quite a few are on my may go soon list.

GONE

soda, red meat, shrimp, bacon, nuts, ice cream, crackers

Limited/soon to go:

cheese, bakery and pkg sweets, chips, pretzels

how has your grocery shopping changed? What do you foresee as changing?

[Shooby]

Well, red meat is really expensive. So, I do limit my buying but I am not going to stop buying it. I can eat a half a steak instead of a whole one. Or, slice it up thinly and make a steak salad. It goes further if you slice it up before serving.

[whoisjohngalt]

May 6, 2014 5:48:38 GMT -5 marvholly said:

With the BIG increases in price of some items and the increased price of perimeter shopping items (produce, dairy, meat, fish, bread.....) I have had to drop some items I used to buy and quite a few are on my may go soon list.

GONE

soda, red meat, shrimp, bacon, nuts, ice cream, crackers

Limited/soon to go:

cheese, bakery and pkg sweets, chips, pretzels

how has your grocery shopping changed? What do you foresee as changing?

I didn't really buy most of those items to begin with.   I rarely buy ice cream and we usually buy beef locally.  I do buy  A LOT of cheese, though.  I haven't noticed increase in regular cheese, only organic. 

I did two things this year to cut out our grocery budget - I only go to the store once a week and I try REALLY hard not to eat out.   So far it saved us ~$700-$800 over the first qtr. 

We'll see what happens for the rest of the year

[Deleted]

Do you know anyone who hunts? I buy some beef now and again, but venison and moose help round out the red meat needs. 

Do you have any CSAs in your ares. Most are vegetable, but I also belong yo a meat one. Most CSAs (community supported agriculture) will have work or part work shares so that you can trade labor for your food. 

Planting a garden is good. You don't really need a lot of space. 

Personally, I don't eat a lot of the things on that list, but I have my own 'treats' so I know what you mean... But you didn't usually buy ALL of that stuff at once, did you? I'd make sure you pick one or two treats to buy each time. 

[resolution]

You may want to google "Share Food" for your area. Make sure you do "share food" and not "food share" because share food is the one with the discounted boxes of groceries, and the other one is the food pantries.

It is a locally run program that will sell set boxes of food for a discount. Usually you pay around $20 for $40 worth of food. There are set packages of food in the boxes, so you can't customize it, you just pick the box you want to buy. You are also required to volunteer with them a couple hours a month to participate.   sharefoodprogram.org/programs/share-food-boxes/

Here are other share sites. sharefoodprogram.org/other-share-sites/

Here is the senior package for $20
Tray Pack Bone In Chicken Breast; Tray Pack Bone In Chicken
Thighs; Fully Cooked Black Angus Burgers; Eggs; Fresh Vegetables;
Fresh Fruit; and Shelf Stable Items.

The grill package for $23
6-5oz. Hamburgers; 2-5 oz. Top Sirloin Steaks; 4-5 oz. Boneless Pork
Chops; 4-4 oz. Boneless Chicken Breast; 12 oz. Beef for Kebabs.

[resolution]

I don't think I could give up bacon, but the turkey bacon isn't bad and it is about half the price of the pork based bacon.

[Deleted]

I was going to say bacon! Sure it's not good for my health but my taste buds are suffering!! 

ETA: there was something else that surprised me last time I looked for it...maybe orange juice?? 

[Iggy aka IG]

May 6, 2014 5:48:38 GMT -5 marvholly said:

With the BIG increases in price of some items and the increased price of perimeter shopping items (produce, dairy, meat, fish, bread.....) I have had to drop some items I used to buy and quite a few are on my may go soon list.

GONE

soda, red meat, shrimp, bacon, nuts, ice cream, crackers

Limited/soon to go:

cheese, bakery and pkg sweets, chips, pretzels

how has your grocery shopping changed? What do you foresee as changing?

I stopped buying soda, ice cream, crackers, packaged sweets, frozen prepared foods, chips, etc. after the recession hit.  It helped to reduce my monthly grocery bill by approx $200.

I sill buy beef, shrimp, bacon, nuts, and cheese.  I wait until I find a manager's special for ground beef, shrimp and bacon goes on sale, and use coupons for nuts and cheese.  I follow a low carb lifestyle, so these items are important to my intake. 

The last time I looked at ground beef not on sale it was $5.99/lb if I remember correctly.  The words "Holy sh*t" came out of my mouth!    

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Bacon went awhile go. Sometimes Hy-Vee or Super Saver has a good deal and I'll buy some but it isn't a regular thing.

I haven't stopped buying meat. I have several tricks to get around paying full price. Sam's still consistently has the cheapest chicken. For ground beef I either wait till the 10 lb tubes are on sale at Super Saver OR I wait till Hy-Vee has a meat bundle sale. With the Hy-Vee sales I can get several pounds of various types of meat all for a single price. The $50 is the one I tend to watch for since it generally offers what I use the most of.

Milk prices are giving me a heart attack. I told DH if it gets any higher I am going to figure out how to make my own almond milk and make him drink it. I'm sure there is a YouTube video on the subject.

[Deleted]

For sure. It's apparently not hard at all, do you have a Vitamix? ... But then almonds aren't always cheap either. 

Raw cashews are my weakness... And allergy free chocolate.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I'd love to give up milk entirely. I don't drink milk so having dried/evaporated to cook with works for me just fine. But DH and the kid love the stuff.

Honestly I think DH would starve to death before drinking almond milk, but it's tempting to DIY it at times.

[Deleted]

Yeah, it's not something I'd drink. I use it in stuff haven't made my own yet.

[Tiny]

I don't buy many of the things on your gone list - except for soda on a regular basis (the other things are a couple times a year - usually around the 'Holidays'). I have noticed the increase price in soda and I have cut back my consumption. ::sigh::. I was already spending the most that I wanted to spend on soda and while I have the $$ to keep drinking the stuff I taking this an opportunity to ease off the 'chemicals'.

On your soon to go list I do use/buy cheese regularly - but a long time ago I changed cheese from being a 'condiment' or a 'snack' or an 'ingredient' to being the 'protein' part of a meal (usually a light meal) I also pay attention to portion size. Because of this I stopped buying 'cheap' cheese. I pay more for less but I'm eating less (and it's way yummier!!).

The other things on your 'gone' list were things I don't typically buy.

I eat mostly vegetarian (I'm a flexitarian so I do have a meal or two during the week that has meat in it) and watching my weight so I haven't really noticed a big uptick in the price of things I normally buy.

I have noticed a big uptick in the cost of 'fast foods' or 'convenience' foods which I often have at weekend get togethers with friends. I was in a hurry and decided to buy a pre-made fruit OR veggie platter and I just about passed out from sticker shock! $10 for a small tray of sorry looking brocoli florets, celery sticks, baby carrots and grape tomatoes with a quarter cup of watery ranch dressing. The fruit plate (an 8inch tray) was also $10. I'll stick to making my own 'platters'  and dips from scratch - I have more servings and better quality for the $10 cumulative price of the 'ingredients'  

[justme]

Bacon is the only thing I've noticed, but I found out my local store sells it from some Virginia farm for under $4/lb! Which is what it used to be. Their meat is also really low prices so I haven't stopped eating anything. I can even get rack of lamb for $10/lb (got it for $8 when it was on sale) and grass fed beef for $5/lb (the steaks are a bit more, but still cheaper than Publix Greenwise). 

[Tiny]

I did notice that eggs have been over $1 a dozen ($1.39 to $1.89) even at Aldi. The price didn't drop below .99 a dozen even at Easter. Eggs are still a good value for me, so they are still a 'staple' I'm not dropping from my shopping list.

[kittensaver]

My grocery shopping has changed significantly since I got a plot in a community garden two years ago. Changed, meaning the cost has gone down because I buy almost nothing in the produce section.

I cooperate with two other women/families and among us we have grown (and continue to grow) an astonishing amount of food. Most of last winter we lived on chard, kale, beets, broccili, cabbage, turnips, carrots, broccili rabe, cauliflower and romanesco. Since March we have been eating some of those same things but also fava beans, peas, radish, mesculin and other lettuces, celery and spring onions. Last weekend I harvested the first of the baby squashes and tomatoes (my Bloody Butcher tomato plant actually had its first two fruits ripen! Yay!). This summer we will continue with the carrots, beets, radish, garlic, onions and celery, and will also have squashes (yellow and zucchini), about a dozen different types of tomatoes (YAY!), 2 types of eggplant, 4 types of beans, corn, cucumbers and lettuces. Just about the only produce I'm buying at the store is fruit and potatoes.

I know Pat grows and preserves a lot of her own food also. It takes time, energy and dedication but it can be done - especially if you can find a community garden and cooperate with others. It is not easy and it is time consuming, but I've discovered how much I really like it, and how much satisfaction it gives me. However as always - YMMV.

[dancinmama]

I sure wish you had a Grocery Outlet and/or 99 Cent Store.  Between those two stores we are able to eat high quality deli, dairy, and produce for a fraction of what it would cost us compared to taking advantage of sales prices at Safeway.  Even with those two stores, there is no doubt that we're spending more on food per month than we ever have in the past, but so far, we haven't changed what we eat or how often we eat it.

A couple of months ago the Grocery Outlet had 16 oz. packages of Oscar Mayer bacon for $1.97/ea. because they were approaching their "sell by" date.  I scooped up several packages and immediately put them in the freezer.  Rinse and repeat for cheeses, sausage of all kinds, nitrate/nitrite free hot dogs, etc.

The only time I shop at Safeway is when they give me a $5/$20 or they have something on sale that is truly a good price.  These days I look at their ad prices and just shake my head. 

[NancysSummerSip]

I make ice cream, so I'm not buying it. Not a bacon household, so that's not an issue, either. Shrimp is the only shellfish DH will eat, so it stays, but the others are gone. No expensive, fancy steak cuts (I do buy roasts and stew meat, marinate it and cook in the crockpot).

I dropped my milk consumption drastically when a gallon went well over $4. I still eat other dairy, so the calcium intake is good.

We both love chicken breast, so I watch for a sale, buy a lot and make up my own packages. Eggs can still be found here for $1 to $1.30 a dozen, and we love eggs.

No more frozen veggies, rice/pasta mixes, or soda.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Frozen vegetables are still dirt cheap here.

Some fresh items are getting insane. Asparagus went from $1.99/lb to $3.99 in a little over a week. Good thing I gobbled up as much as I could while it was on sale. I love asparagus but I don't love it enough to pay $4/lb.

[The Captain]

May 6, 2014 12:46:13 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I make ice cream, so I'm not buying it. Not a bacon household, so that's not an issue, either. Shrimp is the only shellfish DH will eat, so it stays, but the others are gone. No expensive, fancy steak cuts (I do buy roasts and stew meat, marinate it and cook in the crockpot).

I dropped my milk consumption drastically when a gallon went well over $4. I still eat other dairy, so the calcium intake is good.

We both love chicken breast, so I watch for a sale, buy a lot and make up my own packages. Eggs can still be found here for $1 to $1.30 a dozen, and we love eggs.

No more frozen veggies, rice/pasta mixes, or soda.

I'm sooo sorry!

[The Captain]

May 6, 2014 11:58:36 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I did notice that eggs have been over $1 a dozen ($1.39 to $1.89) even at Aldi. The price didn't drop below .99 a dozen even at Easter. Eggs are still a good value for me, so they are still a 'staple' I'm not dropping from my shopping list.

I noticed this as well, we go through about 2 dozen eggs a week or so.

We've never been much on meat as the main, more as a flavor component.  We do a lot of beans, rice (yes white and brown!), barley, veggies, pasta, etc.  I have noticed some of the basic staples like barley have gone fro .69c a # to .99c a # or more over the last year.  Go thing it goes a long way.

We have a main red meat dinner (like steak and potatoes etc) maybe two - three times a month.  Most of the time we eat a lot of chicken.

I try to get fish in the menu 2-3X's a week, that's getting very pricey as well.

[Deleted]

May 6, 2014 12:51:44 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Frozen vegetables are still dirt cheap here.

Some fresh items are getting insane. Asparagus went from $1.99/lb to $3.99 in a little over a week. Good thing I gobbled up as much as I could while it was on sale. I love asparagus but I don't love it enough to pay $4/lb.

I buy a pound or 2 every week.  If it's less than $3.99 a pound I'm thrilled.  I think it's even more expensive at the farmer's market.

[NancysSummerSip]

I still use white rice sometimes, like with black bean soup and rice. It's just how I've always had it.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

While the price of beef has gone up, I still have managed to get some deals recently. In fact, last night I wound up making chili out of sirloin because it was cheaper than the chuck that I would normally use! Chuck at over $5/lb I just can't wrap my brain around that one!

The price of eggs has always been expensive. We go through about 3 dozen/mo and I usually get them at Costco rather than pay nearly $4/dozen at the store. Cheese is never going to be off the menu, we have about 4 different ones in the fridge at any one time. Again, it is cheaper at Costco.

Even being near the water, shrimp does not seem to have gone on sale as regularly as it normally does. As it and other seafood is part of our diet, we've just been sucking up the increase in price. Fortunately, the price of lamb has been fairly stable.

Bacon we buy Hempler's from the butcher case. I bought 4 lbs of it several months ago when it went on sale at $5/lb and had them wrap it in 0.5 lb packages. Price not on sale is $6.50/lb but it is really, REALLY good lean bacon.

We just don't buy or eat a lot of bakery goods or crackers. Soda's only purchased occasionally when it goes on sale. We do go through a LOT of produce and fruit.

We go through about a gallon of milk a week. Used to be able to get it for $2.50ish/gallon, last time I bought it it was $3.19.

[yogiii]

No chips, pretzels, bakery items or packaged sweets here.  We do eat a ton of nuts and cheese as well as some crackers.  I tend to buy nuts at a wholesale place.  I haven't noticed much of an increase in cheese.  Beef has definitely skyrocketed but we don't buy that too often, only buy steaks on sale and if chuck goes on sale we'll buy a couple, grind them up and form burger patties.  We then freeze those with a piece of wax paper between each one .. such good burgers.  As for chicken and pork if it's on sale we'll buy a ton, marinate and freeze in portion sizes (a portion for us would be 2-3 days worth for our family).  I'd say we spend about $400/month on food for two adults and two kids.  Not sure if that's good or not but I don't think we could really get much lower without sacrificing quality of food.

[marvholly]

Shooby
I limit all my protein (meat, chicken, fish, ….) to 3 oz portions weighed after cooking. Still, the steak I paid $5/lb for 6 months ago is now $7/lb and the shrimp I paid $5/12 oz is now $8-9/12 oz.

Oped
Live in metro Chicago. NO ONE in my circle hunts nor do we have any CSA veg or meat. U used to be able to allow myself $1-$2/week in treat money. Those funds are now needed to buy the basic from store perimeter shopping.

Resolution
Will look into. Looks like the old Angel Ministries program which had locations WAAAY out of my area and NOT a safe ones for an elderly, white female to venture into. I do have & use turkey bacon. It has doubled in price in the last 6 months and I do feel it does NOT taste as good.

Tiny
I am keeping eggs too as long as they stay under $1.50. Cheap protein.

Dancin
I do have Dollar Tree BUT they do not carry any produce. I have also found I do NOT care for many products (especially those not in BAM) like pancake mix or syrup, Preserves, salad dressing. It is more of a place I buy the very rare salty snack. Have commented on missing GO. Miss the meat markdowns at Dominicks (Safeway). No other store here does that. Wonder what they do w/’old’ meat/deli.

Nancy
Plan is to stock up on chicken breast next week. Local market is running for $1.49/lb WAAAY below anything I have seen in a VERY long time. I can still find frozen veg for $1/16 oz and sometimes Flavor Pack or PictSweet has a coupon.

My basic weekly entrée meal plan is 3 chicken, 2 fish (rotate canned tuna w/filets or shellfish) and 2 veg (lentils, beans, tofu, pasta).

Coffe is probably going to hit the gone list soon. Just saw a 20% increase on this week's ads.

[yogiii]

Not sure I can live without coffee, you're brave!

[Shooby]

Coffee - I couldn't believe people choose to switch to the Kuerig thing. What could possible make coffee MORE expensive than this?

[yogiii]

May 7, 2014 6:41:49 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Coffee - I couldn't believe people choose to switch to the Kuerig thing. What could possible make coffee MORE expensive than this?

Also, IMO doesn't taste very good.

[Shooby]

Yes, I can't stand Kuerig coffee. We had one of those at our condo on vacation. No thanks, I will keep my 4 cup Mr. Coffee. But, to me, that is going to make the cost of coffee skyrocket when they can sell it tiny cups at a high price.

As for groceries, the things that I could eliminate are the snacks and carbs. My younger son loves milk. Between the 5 of us, we drink a gallon a day. I love high pulp OJ. I buy brand name OJ, yes it is more expensive, but I like it. Proteins are important in our diet so I will continue to buy meat and eggs. We rarely eat fish though. We just don't care for it. So, it is chicken, beef, pork or turkey. A really inexpensive meal is to buy a large thawed turkey breast in the meat section and bake it. It pretty much serves all of us. Very cheap.