The High Cost Of Living...

Yesterday I had to go grocery/supply shopping, and I swear that most things have gone up in price at least 10-20% just in the past few weeks! . A roasting chicken that used to cost around $2-$3 was almost $6 (I can remember when you could get one for less than $2). A can of soup was more than $1 - unless you buy the store or off-brand, which generally doesn't taste as good or is watered down. In most cases veggies are more than a dollar a can: I can remember when you could get 4 for a dollar. Even a loaf of bread costs almost $3 (or more) - unless you want to buy the store brand which tastes awful. I wanted to try the banana Cheerios, but I wasn't willing to pay that much for a box of cereal. Even cat food is getting outrageous, but I refuse to buy the "cheap" stuff - which is so full of junk that your cats would be better off not eating at all. Not only are you paying more, you're also getting less volume in the packaging - or watered-down stuff (like more water in a can of veggies instead of actual veggies, for example). If this keeps up, I don't know what any of us is going to do...

I just bought some chicken fryers at Costco, and they were the same .99/lb they've been for the last several years.  Beef and lamb are the meats that fluctuate the most for me.

I participate in an online produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets, and even splitting an order with a friend I get plenty of fresh fruits and veggies to fill the week with.

I have my own sourdough starter going, and have learned to make bread.  It took a few tries, but once I got the hang of it I couldn't believe how easy it is. So easy, in fact, that hubby has been grousing that I haven't been using the bread machine he got me.   Sourdough starter is also good for pancakes and some sweet breads like "Amish Friendship" bread.

I don't buy much canned stuff anymore.  I make my own soups on the spot, it might take longer, but I feel like it's healthier in the long run.  I can my own fruits and pickles, but that's about it.  Home canning is great because you can use the jars for almost anything.  If they break, they are recyclable, but you're not constantly filling the recycle bin with them like you might with cans.

I haven't bought cold cereal in ages.  I usually nuke up a bowl of oatmeal with fruit, pour a cup o' jo, and call it good.

I understand that a lot of these things take time, but maybe that's what we really need to do anyway.  Take time.

What really frustrates me are the smaller packages that are still the same price. Ice cream containers, cake mixes, a lot of convenience packaging. Tuna.....for crying out loud, what in the world can you do with a 5-ounce can of tuna anymore? My cats eat more than that! Most of the recipes that I use tuna in call for two 6-ounce cans (12 ounces). In order to get those 12 ounces, I have to open 3 cans and I usually feed the leftovers to the cats. Now, though.....I use two 5-ounce cans and make up the other 2 ounces with extra veggies or something.

We had a thread here on the darn cake mixes. Jell-O puddings (it will snow around the equator before I ever buy a 4-pack of Jell-O pudding or a cake mix.....ever). Orange juice. Everything. It's a shame.

For several years now, we have kept our grocery budget to $80 a week. That's for us and for the cat supplies. When we were going through the budget back in December to prepare for this year, I told Rick I can't do it anymore. I cannot keep the grocery budget at $80; we increased it to $95, and even that doesn't work some weeks.

We don't buy a lot of convenience stuff; I don't believe it's all that great and most of it isn't worth the money. Most of the cans in our house are from cat food with some from tomato products and a couple here and there from canned tuna. That's it. We don't buy a lot of glass-packaged stuff either. No jars of pasta sauce, no store bought pickles, nothing like that. Rick does have a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, but he still wants cereal for something sweet at night if I don't have anything baked for him. We buy pretzels every week, but I can't tell you when the last time was that we had potato chips or anything like that (I do buy a box Cheez-Its when Rick goes to Oregon; it's my guilty pleasure). Yet, I haven't been able to give up my diet Mt.Dew.   We bought Slim-a-Bears the other week, but only because they were on sale and I had a coupon.

That's partially why we started gardening again.....even produce is expensive. Zucchini goes for $1.99 a pound....in season! That's so ridiculous! A "good" sale on squash is when it's down to $1.49 a pound. Corn is 6 ears for $2.00. I do hit the farmers market in town, but even their prices can be high sometimes. The only time I buy meat is when it's on sale. When ground beef (85/15) is on sale, I'll buy 5 pounds and then we divide it up into 1/2-pound or 1-pound portions and freeze it. Same with pork tenderloin, chops, beef chuck, etc. I buy it when it's on sale, divide it, and then freeze. We hit our local butcher, too, when he has some good sales going on. But when one green pepper is $1.00? There's something wrong.

I've been baking bread for years now and it's probably one of my favorite things to do. There is nothing in the world that will ever compare to the aroma of a loaf of bread just taken out of the oven. I'm always baking my garlic-parmesan rolls and throwing them in the freezer. I don't do much in the way of sourdough baking, but I should. I did go through a stage with the Amish Friendship Bread and I was begging friends, neighbors, and relatives to please take some starter!   I bake a lot of muffins, too, and throw them into the freezer for nights when we have soup or chili.

The cats eat Friskies Buffet. Yes, we've tried the more expensive foods and they won't eat them. Even when Mollipop was a kitten and then again with Tabby, we gave them Blue Buffalo and Taste of the Wild cans. The little brats turned their noses up at it and went after the "big kitties" food. We gave up. They eat Friskies Buffet for their two meals and they get Purina Indoor dry and the Hills TD for their snacks. Muffin get the Friskies Delights for her snacks; that's what Mom started her out on and I've never changed it. So between their food, their snacks, and their litters (Tidy Cats and Tidy Cats scoopable), it's a small fortune every week just for them.

I'll be honest....I don't know what else to do to save on the grocery budget. I'm at a loss. We're not starving, far from it. But it galls me to have to spend that much money on groceries every week. 

I've found a lot of good deals at the cultural markets.  The Mexican market I go to has great produce that fills the gaps (mostly peppers, lemons, & cilantro, lol) from the basket co-op. 

The Asian market is good for fish, organ meats (for kitties), and other "odd" produce (ginger root, lemon grass).

The Western Meats (franchise) butcher is well established here, but I usually only hit them up for kitty meats.

There is a "u-pick" orchard up in our end of town.  Not only do they have apricots, apples, pears, pomegranates, and peaches; they also have a couple large fields that they plant with various crops.  So occasionally we'll head out there to grab some tomatoes, zuchs, okra, peppers, eggplant, carrots, or whatever... they even had peanuts one year!  They sell it all at a flat price of .50/lb, if I recall  (it's been a while).  Oh yes, and they make their own apple cider that is to die for.

Thing is, it takes a special shopping trip to hit all those spots.  I do it about once or twice a month.  I'm glad my little Escort gets pretty good gas mileage. 

We're fortunate that DH loves gardening. Between the greenhouse in the backyard, the orchard, and a plot of land he rents, we have to buy very little in the way of vegetables or fruit. Some of the fruit and most of the veggies are frozen, and DH does some canning. Grocery prices are going up here, but food is one of the few things now cheaper in Germany than in the U.S..

Everythings going up but my paycheck.   I'm usually just cooking for myself now but fortunately I don't mind leftovers so I often eat the same thing 3 or 4 days in a row rather than resorting to processed food.  I used to bake bread when there was 5 of us but I don't anymore.  I've thought about trying the 15 minute artisan bread.  The recipes that I've seen make a large amount of dough that will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.  I can tear off a small amount and bake it.  It doesn't make loaves but the free form round 'loaves'.  My cats are used to the more expensive food so thats what they get mainly because of Patches having IBD.  Who knows maybe he would do better on the cheaper food.

I have a cat I took of Science Diet W/D and put on friskies and he IMPROVED.

I get ANGRY that the coupons have gotten so bad.  They are now coming out as off 2 or 3 products for same cent off they used to be for 1.  Or altogether stopped. I buy many cases of friskies and have not scene a coupon in long time for the regular friskies.

We have mainly bought storebrand everything even growing up so it don't phase me except few items I prefer real brand so I wait for the sales and stock up(and coupon to if there is one!)
 

I totally hear you and agree.  It's getting to the point that I can't afford the proteins except as a garnish. I try to suppliment with eggs because a man I work with sells eggs his chickens lay here at work for a very good price.  But now I can get a pound of hamburger and a pound of chicken and I divide those up for my two weeks of meals until it's time to shop again.  So mostly I'm moving toward high grain staples like brown and wild rice, sweet potatoes and then lots of canned veggies which I can get on sale and putting in an ounce or two of meat.  Some days my meals don't have any meat.  And then things like trash bags and laundry detergent are just crazy expensive, even the "cheap" brands are expensive.  I can find good deals sometimes at Family Dollar or Dollar General.  I refuse to go to Wal-Mart and I think they aren't that much cheaper any way.  I get things at Aldi but even if I shop there my $30-$50 a week for groceries are getting less and less.  The cat food I get is relatively affordable, so I'm thankful for that.  Plus Gabe has a medication he has to take every other day that I get at a compounding pharmacy so that's about $25 a month too.  I agree, I'm not sure what we can do ... it's getting to the point of being very worrying.

The idea of using meat like a garnish is a healthier way to eat.  I know that is the traditional way that Chinese, and probably other Asians, eat.  Maybe this will be a way to begin to turn around the obesity problems here in the U.S. as long as we leave the processed food alone.

We spend $1,000 a month on groceries and that does not include litter for cats and food for dogs and cats. There are five adults in our household so it equals out to about $200 a month per person which I think could be way lower if it wasn't for some picky eaters, one who eats way more than he needs to and the buying of processed foods.

I make dinners during the week and my mom makes them on the weekends. She does the grocery shopping (I used to go with her but she drives me insane at the store, I did offer to go alone but she refused lol). She always comes home with so much junk food that does me no good for preparing meals. I try to do as much from scratch as I can and it saves money and I end up with more leftovers but she still keeps buying canned pasta sauce, taco seasoning, chips and all sorts of other stuff we don't need. My dad is a smaller man but he eats like a horse and it makes me so angry because we could feed three people what he eats alone.

With the price of food it's important to watch what we consume but I seem to be the only one doing it lol, it's an uphill battle. I have a guilty pleasure, that cheese in a can (I know it's gross lol) but at $3.00 for a can that will last a day or two, no thank you!

I might add that I keep tarantulas and they are by far the cheapest thing to care for. I think I spend $1.00 every few weeks for crickets and I feed those crickets leftover veggies and cat/dog food.

I'm thankful there are people in the world to care for the tarantualas.  I'm equally thankful it doesn't fall to me.