The Cost of Food - Page 5

[madskye]

Yup, I am in central NJ and our farmer's market gets going around Memorial Day, and then I will be a regular. And I plan my meals based around what we buy there, it helps tremendously. This year we are putting in a big garden, and I am really hoping that I can can some salsa and tomato sauce for the winter.

I had sticker shock on coffee the other day--my "cheap" fall back has jumped from 3.99 tp 5.99 per lb. (That's 8 O'Clock coffee, fyi--which isn't bad, but at that point I'd rather pay 3 more dollars and get what I really like.)

I do buy bulk, but in a small way as we don't have a lot of storage. I am always BLOWN away though, even on small things like a 1lb of oats or rice, what the mark up is between the bulk bag and the prepackaged stuff. If I could get back all the $$ I've spent over the years on boxes of oats and bags of rice?!!?!

I like what someone said upthread about getting creative with their budget and meals, and my heart goes out to everyone who is having a tough time making ends meet. Hang in there, mama's....

[my2girlz]

I haven't read all the replies yet so sorry if I'm repeating everything.

I've noticed that prices have gone up as well. I think the gap between them and organic foods is getting smaller. I've decided to switch over to more organics now. I haven't noticed a big increase in organics yet. When I wasn't buying organics prices were going up left and right.

store brand cow's milk went from $2.69 to $3.29
eggs went from .77/doz to $1.69/doz
store brand bread went from .99 to $1.29
store brand sugar went from $1.27 to $2.77
yogurt went from .40/container to .59/container
box of perogies went from $1.99 to $2.69
bananas went from .44/lb to .69/lb
store brand pretzels went from $1.50/16oz bag to $2.50/16oz bag

Meat has also gone up. Even the cat's food went up last week. I was buying a small bag for $3.89 and now it's $4.49.

I've decided to make some changes in our house though. My budget has always been $400/month. I used to go over that on a monthly basis. I started making a monthly menu, started stocking up on the loss leaders to last me till the next sale, and started looking for coupons on the items I did buy. I do most of my grocery shopping at SuperTarget since they have better prices in my areas. They have store coupons on their website that I combine with manufacturer coupons. I've found tons of printable coupons for items I already use as well. Now I'm no longer struggling to keep it under $400 for a family of 5.

[majazama]

I always get big bags of grains in the caselot sale at the end of summer. I got a bag of orgainc oats for 20.00$ CAD last fall. I'm still working on it. I also get bags of organic white flour and rice. It's alot up front, but I'm still working on those bags.

You can get bulk dried fruits and nuts/seeds from distributors too. I've done that in the past, and want to do it again this year.

[Belleweather]

My mom is fairly wealthy and tends not to panic about things like this, but she was worried enough about our family that she bought us 50lbs of flour and 50lbs of rice to have "just in case".

I've noticed the prices rising, but they seem to be rising the most in the normal supermarkets. We've been doing more shopping at the mexican and oriental stores in town and their prices seem to be a bit more stable.

We're also aggressively looking into other ways to get food -- I know it's really easy to say that you "can't" garden, or buy local meat and cheese, or go to the farmer's market, and for some people that's really true. But when I hear that I also hear myself circa about 18 months ago saying that I can't garden because we live in a rented house, and I have two kids, and it's too hot, and I have a black thumb and on and on and on. At this point though, I don't feel like I have a choice. So we have containers, and a community garden, and buy meat by the half-cow and I have plastic buckets of flour and rice in my corners and canned tomatoes under my bed. Eventually, you do what you've got to to keep yourself fed.

[b&c'smama]

Belleweather, could you tell me more about buying meat by the half cow? How much does this save. How do you go about finding someone who sells it that way?

[CarrieMF]

Farmers Markets here are more expensive than in the stores & by quite a bit so I tend to not buy much there. Anything that isn't super expensive I grow myself.

The only thing that has gone up here is flour. I used to get it on sale for $7/22kg, now it's $11. If I bought it on sale before it was $4, it hasn't been on sale since it went up 2months ago.

Everything else(knock on wood,lol) is the same price or it is so small I haven't noticed.

Rice was on sale last week which I found interesting with this shortage that supposed to be going around. Of course that probably means the price will be jacked up once that stuff is out of stock.

[Baby Makes 4]

I went to the farmers' market today and the prices aren't that great. No better than the grocery store. On the other hand it is all local and organic so I will make it a weekly trip this spring and summer for sure.

Here's what $37 got me at the farmers' market today:

4 pounds of tomatoes ($2.50/lb)
2 pounds of peppers ($2.50/lb)
1 long english cucumber ($1.00)
1 package bison sausage ($6.00)
1 loaf olive bread ($5.00 ... sooooo good!)
6 smallish cookies ($2.00)
4 strawberry plants for the garden ($4.00)
2 bags of BBQ flavoured dry roasted corn ($4.00)

It'll all be gone by midday tomorrow.

[jeca]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

We're also aggressively looking into other ways to get food -- I know it's really easy to say that you "can't" garden, or buy local meat and cheese, or go to the farmer's market, and for some people that's really true. But when I hear that I also hear myself circa about 18 months ago saying that I can't garden because we live in a rent

It's actually in our lease that we can NOt plant a garden. We can grow flowers in the front but that's it. I don't mind trying but it's not allowed.
I want to do some container gardening though gotta go to diggin in teh arth and find out how though. I know nada.

[majazama]

Originally Posted by Baby Makes 4

I went to the farmers' market today and the prices aren't that great. No better than the grocery store. On the other hand it is all local and organic so I will make it a weekly trip this spring and summer for sure.

Here's what $37 got me at the farmers' market today:

4 pounds of tomatoes ($2.50/lb)
2 pounds of peppers ($2.50/lb)
1 long english cucumber ($1.00)
1 package bison sausage ($6.00)
1 loaf olive bread ($5.00 ... sooooo good!)
6 smallish cookies ($2.00)
4 strawberry plants for the garden ($4.00)
2 bags of BBQ flavoured dry roasted corn ($4.00)

It'll all be gone by midday tomorrow.

youre right that the farmers market is not necessarily a better deal. I got confused with the idea to buy local=cheaper. Not always the case. But the long term benefits are great, supporting a local organic farmer, so they have more incentive to grow more, etc. I'm just thinkin if the whole economy crashes, and we end up without any more regular grocery stores...

[Flor]

Just got back from the farmers market. We have a year around market and it's local, some organic. It isn't cheaper than the store, but it looks better, is fresher and the farmers are nice! Lots of people skip the Friday "farmers market" and go to the Saturday swapmeet. I have no idea where the produce comes from but it is dirt cheap and super ripe.

[barose]

I do agree that farmers are not cheaper that grocery stores in general (with a few exceptions) its just we or at least I have not seen an increase in prices there. Even a few of the local produce stores are about the same price when it comes to local, organic food - despite the high fuel prices.

[bwylde]

Yeah, it's terribly heavy on my mind. I've basically had to double our grocery bill since the new year and it's just going to get worse. We don't eat organic or fancy food either; just whatever is cheap (but while trying to maintain some level of healthfulness . We do occasionally have ramen or Kraft Dinner, but not every day like some people we know). As it is, half of DH's income goes towards groceries so I don't know what we're going to do. Every time I listen to the news, it's always about prices skyrocketing: food, gas, electricity, ect... When will it end? I have just been spending every spare cent we have on food storage before the prices of bare essentials goes up.

[HydeParkB]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

I've noticed the prices rising, but they seem to be rising the most in the normal supermarkets. We've been doing more shopping at the mexican and oriental stores in town and their prices seem to be a bit more stable.

That's not the case here. We were actually in the Oriental market this morning. The rice prices used to be written in marker on the ledge above the type of rice. The scribbled out prices were in the range of $13 / 25 lbs and $25 / 50 lbs, depending on type and brand. Now, it's basically $1 / lb.

I am hoping to go to our CSA farm tomorrow, and load up on veggies. And in a month our garden should start producing.

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by bwylde

Every time I listen to the news, it's always about prices skyrocketing: food, gas, electricity, ect... When will it end? I have just been spending every spare cent we have on food storage before the prices of bare essentials goes up.

Sometime I wonder if this isn't the real problem. I think the more the media talks about it, the more people start to panic & the more it allows grocery stores to jack up the prices. I mean, I realize that some of it is reality, but just like the gas companys over inflateing gas prices, I can't help but wonder if everything else isn't seeing the samething. Especially when the media is constantly talking about it & making everyone paniced. Maybe I'm just becoming more of a conspiracy theorist.

[spiderdust]

I find it interesting (and somewhat a bit of a relief) that the prices haven't skyrocketed in the more expensive areas yet, like the Bay Area in California. I'm sure our price hike is coming, I'm just not sure what's delayed it.

It's possible that because a lot of the country's produce is grown in California, our food doesn't have to travel as much & so the prices haven't gone up because less fuel was needed to get it to the stores.

I *have* noticed price increases in things like flour and milk, but we're still pulling through right now.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by maciascl

Sometime I wonder if this isn't the real problem. I think the more the media talks about it, the more people start to panic & the more it allows grocery stores to jack up the prices. I mean, I realize that some of it is reality, but just like the gas companys over inflateing gas prices, I can't help but wonder if everything else isn't seeing the samething. Especially when the media is constantly talking about it & making everyone paniced. Maybe I'm just becoming more of a conspiracy theorist.

There are very real economic pressures causing prices to go up.

[wife&mommy]

Has anyone noticed more sales on organic things in regular grocery stores? I wonder if this is due to rise in prices on conventional things. I've gotten some amazing deals lately on organics.

[jeca]

the mazola oil that I normally buy went from $2 to $4 That's just too big so I bought another brand. The rice shelves have been prety empty for about 2 weeks now.

[Baby Makes 4]

For Mothers' Day my husband and older son are out in the yard digging up 70 square feet of flower beds and shrubs so we can get a vegetable garden in this year. It's gone from a potential hobby to a real necessity!

The question becomes, do we try to cut back our food budget by changing the way we eat or do we try to maintain our current (healthy) diet and cut back in other areas? What are your thoughts on that?

[barose]

Originally Posted by Baby Makes 4

For Mothers' Day my husband and older son are out in the yard digging up 70 square feet of flower beds and shrubs so we can get a vegetable garden in this year. It's gone from a potential hobby to a real necessity!

The question becomes, do we try to cut back our food budget by changing the way we eat or do we try to maintain our current (healthy) diet and cut back in other areas? What are your thoughts on that?

Personally, for me, its either healthy food that I can eat or medication that was never effective with some of the health challenges I face/faced anyway.

I guess my choice is healthy food or 'sick and miserable' like I was when I was younger.

My heart goes out to those who have less choices than I do.