What have you done to combat food price increaes?

[Aqua Blue]

I have been thinking a lot about how much groceries have increased. Sometimes it really worries me and I don't feel nearly as food safe as I used to. Is it an issue for you? Have you changed the way you buy groceries? I pretty much only buy marked down meat now. I totally stopped buying pop, partically for health reasons but also I just am not willing to spend that much on a consumable with no food value. I used to treat myself to bought cookies (oreos) now and then, but at almost $5 for a small sack I have stopped. I have started occasionally baking cookies(once a month), but I freeze them and only allow myself one at a time. I did my first order of Bountiful Baskets and felt it was a good deal for the price, it does mean not as much personal choice, but the trade off is worth it. It also means I need to scramble to eat it all and that means I eat less junk, which is good, I figured it was about 1/2 the cost of what I could buy in the grocery store for the price, even watching sales. this is a good compromise, because I used to have a big garden, but the hand arthritis makes that impossible. Mostly I just can't process that much at one time, whether it is frezzing or canning. I have started looking for recipes to make things at home rather than buying them. I have two right now I haven't tried, but will. One was for homemade corn syrup. while I don't use it often, and currently have a bottle to use up, I do have a couple of recipes I use fairly regularly that use it. It was be an added benefit to me as it uses table sugar instead of corn and I have migraine issues with too much corn. I also recently found a recipe for "ice cream" using canned milk. I can make canned milk for about 50c a can and the plus would be it makes a small batch. I frequently end up throwing out some of a carton of ice cream. I am not a big ice cream eater, but once in a while I get a craving. I have been trying to make more groceries. I started making my own coffe creamer using powdered milk for the sweetened condensed milk. I figure I get 3 bottle for the price of one boughten one and it tastes better. As far as bread goes, I have been trying to eat less for health reasons and what I do I pretty much is homemade. I have fallen in love with Naan. It is super easy to make. I use it inplace of taco shells, I use it inplace of pizza dough and sandwiches etc. I too like candy, but I have stopped. I decided I get enough candy out and about. I do buy the high cocoa chocolate chips and occassionally have a few of them with a few walnuts when I need a fix. The dog gets less treats and less food. I also have taken to giving him more carrot tops, apple cores, snow pea ends etc. He actually seems to enjoy it and had a good vet checkup recently. He likes peanut butter in his kong, but his peanut butter jar now has to last 2 weeks, I date it with a sharpy and try to ration it, but when it is gone it is gone. I also started doing my own dog biscuits from a simple recipe I found. I try to do them when I have something else to bake. He actually will always pick the home made ones when I offer him a choice. My brother usually comes over once a week and we had gotten into the habit of eating out usually fast food. The last time several monthes ago when it cost $14 for the two of us we started buying a meat together(usually at Sam's) and then using my BB veggies(which I probably couldn't get thru by myself anyway) to fill out the meal. Right now we are grilling hamberger patties, which should last us several weeks. My grocery bill has actually been down a little since the beginning of the year. Somewhat from eating less and using stockpiled things, but someI think because of the changes I have implemented. What changes have you made?

[Mrs-M]

Honestly, no changes. I'm really at the bottom of what I am able to do to curb added expense in the way of our food bill. We garden, albeit minimally, but just the same, it helps, I can, every year, which is a big help, and I cook and prepare everything from scratch. Wiggle room has been all but diminished. I like to think that I have it down to a fine science now, but even then, we still feel the pinch related to expense.

[pinkytoe]

We have almost completely eliminated pre-packaged food except for pet food, canned tomatos, tuna and a few other staples. My pantry is now almost all bulk items like dried beans, quinoa and rice. No more boxed cereal or chips - organic oatmeal at $2.00 lb goes a lot further than any boxed cereal. If we want a salty snack, we air-pop bulk popcorn. No more frozen foods other than fruit for smoothies. Meat we aren't eating nearly as often - maybe once a week - small pieces of salmon or chicken added to stir-fry or soup. The freeaer is full of beans, curries, etc for those nights when we are tempted to eat out. Don't buy lunchmeat or much cheese anymore other than parmesan - it doesn't appeal like it used to. We stopped buying sodas at least ten years ago. I brew various kinds of iced regular and herbal teas and always have a pitcher if we want something besides water. Our bill has stayed about the same overall though the quality of our food has gone way up. Our big splurge is wine but its cheaper than drugs

[redfox]

We buy bulk dried beans instead of canned, only local meats that are grass raised and eat them in very small quantities. Veggies local too, and we garden. No processed foods like pop, hot dogs, etc.

[bae]

We buy bulk dried beans instead of canned, only local meats that are grass raised and eat them in very small quantities. Veggies local too, and we garden. No processed foods like pop, hot dogs, etc.

We follow the same approach, as well as foraging, fishing and hunting.

[Jemima]

I decided to cut back in other areas rather than cut back on food, where I've been habitually frugal for a long time. I've been in the habit of cooking from scratch for years, initially for economic reasons and now, in addition, because it's so much healthier to cook my own meals instead of relying on micro dinners and fast food.

I'm eating somewhat less meat and more canned fish, but that is mostly because free-range chicken is hard to find around here. I'm also keeping a close eye on prices for organic foods as there seems to be quite a difference between stores. I've learned to use tea bags twice, something I should have been doing all along as I use four to five boxes of decaf tea a month. Now that I'm retired, I find I also have the time and energy to make use of leftovers and scraps, and come up with ideas for cheaper meals.

[Rosemary]

Everything homemade. We still buy organic and locally whenever practical. We got a Costco membership last fall and that allows me to buy more organic products at a lower cost. In the summer we grow a fair amount of fruits and vegetables in our yard.

When I recently reviewed our food costs over the past few years, I saw an increase of about 25% from 2009-2011 in our at-home food costs. I have noticed price increases at many restaurants during the same time, and have certainly seen huge jumps for particular items at grocery stores. We eat out even less than we used to, so our total food cost is still about the same as before the big cost increases. Last time we were at a restaurant, DD asked me how much it would cost to make the same meal at home, and I estimated $4 for enough food for the 3 of us. Even with a coupon and often sharing entrees, we can't eat out for less than $20... 5X the amount of cooking at home! - and that's a conservative estimate - usually ends up being closer to $30.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I was actually advised to eat more packaged food today . When I realized that vast quantities of my life were falling through the cracks one way or other .... but despite that .... must make my own salad dressing, I must buy heads of lettuce and chop themselves, cheese must be grated, juices must be fresh squeezed (I don't drink a lot of juice but ...). "Would a frozen pizza kill you?". Maybe not - it's at least from TJ's right? Superwoman is crashing and burning here (and I don't even have kids).

[JaneV2.0]

I don't eat at restaurants as much as I might like. (In a perfect world, I'd eat ethnic takeout or delivery on a daily basis, but I don't live in NYC, so that's out.) I shop loss leaders and at my local Grocery Outlet and cook mostly from scratch, just out of habit--the same as always. Food prices don't seem that much higher to me. Except for artichokes, which I hardly ever buy anymore.

[cattledog]

To be honest, I haven't really noticed the prices too much. I went from commuting/working 11+ hours a day, plus trying to maintain a house and raise a young child. I did as much as I could ahead of time for our weeknight meals on the weekends, but sometimes I had other things to do, so would rely on hot bar food, take out, etc. I quit my job and our food costs are about half what they were. I'll get a better sense of what our average costs are in a few months though.