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The Cost of Food

post #1 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:17pm
Thread Starter 
I went grocery shopping last night; and I was shocked at what I found. I knew prices were on the rise; but some stuff has doubled in cost!! The price of both butter and margarine are through the roof! I ended up choosing margarine because there's no way I can afford butter and not sacrifice something else for it!

I'm really freaked out about this! I can barely afford to survive as it is! I know there's been a lot of discussion about this around MDC; so I don't figure I'll get much discussion about it; but it's just weighing so heavy on my mind right now, I had to 'out' with it!!
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post #2 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:19pm
my friend and i were just talking about this a couple hours ago. i just did some minor shopping today, picking up odds and ends and things that were on sale and i spent $77. i just spend $75 last week and i still have things i need to pick up from another store. we have a family of 5 and its getting a bit out of hand. i noticed gas went up today by ..40 a gallon too. its 3.79 now
post #3 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:19pm
It's hurting us too.
post #4 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:22pm
Yep, ouch.
post #5 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:22pm
I have also noticed. I'm even more determined to buy in bulk, buy locally, stay away from processed foods, and don't let anything go to waste.
post #6 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:28pm
For some reason, I haven’t noticed. Is it a regional or specific to certain ways of eating and shopping?
post #7 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:30pm
Yeah I don't know if it is my area or teh foods I buy, but the prices have not gone up here yet. I am bracing for it though.
post #8 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mata View Post
...buy in bulk, buy locally, stay away from processed foods, and don't let anything go to waste...
I'm going to print that and call it my bible!!! (no offense intended towards a real bible)

I just can't believe it! I mean, I was even AT the No Frills grocery store where things are usually cheap. This is such bad timing for things to be so costly. Not that there's ever a 'good timing'; but more that this is the worst timing for me. I'm already skipping a lot of necessary stuff to help my pregnancy be at it's best. I just keep trying to remind myself that at least I have something, and that's better than nothing.
post #9 of 257
5/7/08 at 3:37pm
I have noticed a rise in my food bill, especially the milk, eggs, dairy stuff. And while I can afford the increase, still, we feel it.

I could not imagine being where we were a few years ago, now. We would have had to really change our eating habits (and I am not talking about dinners out, but choice in groceries).

I am sorry so many here are struggling
post #10 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:04pm


It's hard, I know. Groceries are always are our biggest money drain--we were spending about $800/month on groceries just a few months ago-- but we were finally able to work out a system that works for us. Now (even with the increasing food prices) our bill is down dramatically. (I sound like an infomercial, don't I? )

It was actually the frugality forum on MDC that was the catalyst, since that's where I learned to shop from the sales fliers at my local stores (for us this means going to three different stores every week, but it's worth it for the $ we save), and use coupons on those sale items as much as possible. I use www.thecouponclippers.com, which costs me about $4/week, but saves me at least $40-50/week, so again, totally worth it. Then, if we stockpile as much as we can afford on the sale items, we don't have to buy it again until it's on sale again, so we're always buying below retail price.

(That is, except for flour and rice, which I haven't been able to find any coupons for, and which are costing an arm and a leg right now!)

P.S. You say, "I'm already skipping a lot of necessary stuff to help my pregnancy be at it's best," and that's worrisome. Do you qualify for any kind of aid, like WIC, to make sure you get all the nutrition you need?
post #11 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by beccalou79 View Post
...You say, "I'm already skipping a lot of necessary stuff to help my pregnancy be at it's best," and that's worrisome. Do you qualify for any kind of aid, like WIC, to make sure you get all the nutrition you need?...
Thanks for your concern. I'm in Canada; so our help system is different than yours; and I'm already using all of the help available to me. It's precious little, unfortunately. I'm right in the middle of a transition at the moment; which is draining my finances (moved; and had to pay rent on two apartments ) so things will get better; it's just bad timing for them not to be good. I do the best I can to be crafty with my food (for example; when I make meatloaf; I use tofu to make more of it cheap and healthfully; and toss it things like spinach and such).

I was just so shocked at how MUCH things went up. Like I said, I knew it was coming, but I didn't expect it to be so sudden and dramatic. I hope it's not going to go up any more (or at least not much more!!).
post #12 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:23pm
Look into the Drugstore game, see Money Saving Mom for lots of details. http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

go to the grocery outlet (check their website for locations)
use coupons, get the Mambo Sprouts one. I saved $1 on organic butter (making it cheaper than the regular, even on sale) with a Mambo Sprouts coupon.

go to our Frugality forum for lots of tips.
post #13 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:23pm
I'm weird, and sometimes I put my grocery bills on my blog just so I have a record for the future one day. I blogged a few last year and hadn't done any in a long time, but I put my Trader Joe's receipt on my blog the other day.

A half gallon of whole milk with the Trader Joe's label was $1.59 last year, it was $1.59 last week. I think it's been $1.59 any time I've ever bought it, but I'm sure it will go up eventually. I did notice eggs were higher than normal. The Chino Valley eggs are normally $0.99 or $1.19 depending on the size, but they were like $1.79 and higher. I paid $4.79 for a pound of organic butter and $3.49 for a dozen organic, cage-free eggs. There wasn't much rice available, but I got a brown rice medley, brown rice mixed with black barley and daikon radish seeds. It was $1.99 for 16 oz.
post #14 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:25pm
Almost all the stuff I normally buy are the same price but some stuff has risen a little (like less than 20 cents)
post #15 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:30pm
Yeah, we're really feeling it, too. I esp. notice in the things I buy for my youngest, who is underweight. A gallon of organic whole milk is over $6 now, and all the dairy foods I rely on for him are just as bad. I can't stand the thought of giving him conventional dairy, but I might have to. I've never been able to buy organic everything, but my youngest is just so small, and his immune system is somewhat compromised, so I've usually managed to get at least most of his food organic. He eats 3-4 avocados a week, and they're outrageously expensive now. Fortunately peanut butter hasn't gone up much!

I'm feeling fortunate right now that we're vegetarian. If we weren't, I'm not sure we could afford meat anyway, and at least this way it's our choice. I'm feeling extremely fortunate, too, that my decisions so far are about what kind of food to buy, when I know some people are unable to buy enough of what they need.

to all who are struggling. I'm afraid we may be in for a bumpy ride.
post #16 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:39pm
Most of what we eat hasn't really changed but I have noticed it with dairy and eggs. We were getting tillamook brand cheese for about 4.98 per 2 lbs of medium cheddar and thats gone up a dollar in just a few months time. Thankfully we have plenty of wheat stored and haven't needed to buy any in a long time.
post #17 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:40pm
I'm sorry the increase in food prices is hurting you and so many others. We spent almost $100 on food today (no meat or dairy) and it does seem to be more than what this amount of food would normally cost. We're plotting ways to save on food and store large amounts of things we eat a lot of, but this will have to wait until after we move this summer. Being vegetarian certainly helps, though, as a pp mentioned.
post #18 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:42pm
We're struggling too between gas and groceries and we cut out non-essentials months ago so I don't know how much more we can cut. I've decided we're going to be eating way more veg meals (dh doesn't know this yet!) and I'm cutting back on some things so that we can still get our organic stuff occasionally. Just in the past few months I've switched to mama cloth, family cloth (dh hates this one!) and cloth wipes and kitchen cloth. We have some cloth dipes but I can't afford a full stash for twins who will be potty trained soon anyway. We don't use shampoo or conditioner and I make my own deoderant and laundry soap. We're still using bulk dish soap and toothpaste and I quit using the dishwasher so that's helped quite a bit too. Still, I don't know how much more we can cut if this keeps up. It's terribly stressful!
post #19 of 257
5/7/08 at 4:43pm
I've noticed it mostly with produce and flour. A month ago I bought a 5lb. bag of organic flour for just over $3. The same bag is now over $6!
post #20 of 257
5/7/08 at 5:16pm
I've noticed coffee is through the roof. The cheap kind is now as expensive as the name brands were, if not more so, and the name brands are insanely pricey. I'm not talking Starbucks; I'm talking Folgers.

Luckily I am OK with drinking cheap coffee : as long as it's brewed and waiting for me at 6am!