The grocery store.....Inflation is here!

Originally posted by brilab45
reply to post by hp1229

 

Your number 5 solution is something most of us should be doing. I've got a few pounds to lose. I'm sure I would save more if I put down the BAG OF $4.50 POTATO CHIPS.

Speaking of potato chips, why are they so darn expensive? They are one of our cheapest starches/vegetable on the market.

Thanks. Health is Wealth.

Potato chips are expensive since many people consume them (mostly impulse buyers). It tastes good just like Alcohol & Cigarette SO guess what? jack it up if there is a demand.

I have been noticing this a lot lately!!

I have always been the one to do the shopping and I'd always budget it before I went. I knew the prices of everything and was always within a couple bucks of the total cost in the end.....Now though not so much! Seem everytime I go prices are jacked up. I started shopping at three different stores to get deals and thankfully they are all pretty much in a row down the main strip so I dont have to drive all over town.

Example, I noticed the 6 packs of canned soda have gotten smaller and the prices are the same. I am not a soda drinker but i noticed this the other day while in Publix. I also noticed that many stores are getting rid of their brand of items, which was always cheaper!

I can't believe how much a gallon of milk costs, almost 5 bucks! I remeber when you could get a gallon for 2.29! Bread prices are high but thank god I make my own anymore, cause for what I pay for a loaf of bread I could make a dozen loaves of bread on my own


I am a single female and I spend about 50 a week on groceries, which to some is low but I am just me and that is high considering 100 a month use to last me and now it doesnt. I make a lot of my own foods now because it is just too expensive to buy it in stores plus it's not good for you! I can make chicken soup and turn it into 3 meals for the week, each being something different!

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
I have been noticing this a lot lately!!

I have always been the one to do the shopping and I'd always budget it before I went. I knew the prices of everything and was always within a couple bucks of the total cost in the end.....Now though not so much! Seem everytime I go prices are jacked up. I started shopping at three different stores to get deals and thankfully they are all pretty much in a row down the main strip so I dont have to drive all over town.

Example, I noticed the 6 packs of canned soda have gotten smaller and the prices are the same. I am not a soda drinker but i noticed this the other day while in Publix. I also noticed that many stores are getting rid of their brand of items, which was always cheaper!

I can't believe how much a gallon of milk costs, almost 5 bucks! I remeber when you could get a gallon for 2.29! Bread prices are high but thank god I make my own anymore, cause for what I pay for a loaf of bread I could make a dozen loaves of bread on my own

I am a single female and I spend about 50 a week on groceries, which to some is low but I am just me and that is high considering 100 a month use to last me and now it doesnt. I make a lot of my own foods now because it is just too expensive to buy it in stores plus it's not good for you! I can make chicken soup and turn it into 3 meals for the week, each being something different!

Hey Manolo The hell with the groceries, I'd rather buy shoes

Originally posted by Neopan100
reply to post by KhaliWitch

 

you could do what they do in the philippines--epoxy broken glass and tacs to the top of fence wall. Can you get a dog of some kind to protect the garden at night?

Things are getting crazy.

Blessed be,
If I put broken glass on top of the wall, I will get arrested by the police if a trespasser cuts him/herself on it.
And a dog is a nono due to the fact that we have a cat that doesn't like dogs
And security cameras are a) too expensive and b) will be destroyed within 3 hours of installation!
But thanks for the tips anyway!

Namasté

Originally posted by hp1229

Originally posted by brilab45
reply to post by hp1229

 

Your number 5 solution is something most of us should be doing. I've got a few pounds to lose. I'm sure I would save more if I put down the BAG OF $4.50 POTATO CHIPS.

Speaking of potato chips, why are they so darn expensive? They are one of our cheapest starches/vegetable on the market.

Thanks. Health is Wealth.

Potato chips are expensive since many people consume them (mostly impulse buyers). It tastes good just like Alcohol & Cigarette

SO guess what? jack it up if there is a demand.

They most certainly do. In fact, they are doing me a favor. I will not buy overpriced junk food.

Best regards.

I've started trying to take more store brands on a test run. Those are fine for the most part, and often the stores will have real bargains on them, like diced tomatoes and such, and when they do I try to stock up. A can of those in the saute pan with olive oil, basil, and garlic......let it simmer for a long time...great just like that over pasta. Cheap cheap.

A few months ago I heard peanut butter was going up 50%, and more recently I've heard it's going up 250% but I still haven't seen the change, has anyone else? I have to keep it because my dogs have food allergies and it's about the only thing they can eat as a "treat".

But I've definitely noticed how "small" things are now. Some cans are even getting smaller, or they are moving to small "jars", too, I've noticed.

Fresh vegetables are ridiculous. Oh, and the bakery items! Even the fruit pies..apple, peach, cherry...are ten dollars and they are not as large as they were previously.

reply to post by angeldoll


You sound like a gourmet cook.

I'm not a coffee drinker, my other half is. Coffee has gone up nearly 30% plus. I eat peanut butter, but in small amounts. Don't really notice that price difference either.

However, I am sure the price will go up. Seems like every manufacturer seizes on a good depression/recession.

I feel like food manufacturers are definitely taking advantage of us.

I'd like to make a suggestion...

Go and get yourself a Depression Era cookbook or a cook book with recipes from the Great Depression. You will find recipes that use some clever substitutes... like "appless apple pie"... and usually the recipes and ingredients are cheap and easy to get.

Also, go to a farm supply store or on the net and get, access, or subscribe a few of the magazines on country and frugal living skills... BackHome, CountryLiving and SmallStockJournal, Acres...all of these have recipes, tips on shopping, how to advice, how to improvise, and gardening skills for those that can't garden or with little space... for example...

Get some large containers, barrels, tubs and use as planters... get another large tub or barrel to gather rain water to water the garden planters... then put some sort of eating fish that does well in the water tubs...carp, perch, maybe even catfish... then build a series of rabbit cages over the water tubs holding the water/fish.... the droppings and spare rabbit feed feed the fish... you can eat the rabbits and the fish... the richj water will then feed your garden and you get veggies to go with your rabbits and fish... plus the veggie scraps feed the rabbits...kind of a small container ecosystem for your food supply... you can look this setup and find the particulars...just one of many ideas.

reply to post by AlreadyGone


You are a survivalist. I envy your determination. Chickens I can deal with. Maybe I need a new paradigm. However, I feel that paradigm would mean eating bugs and worms. I'll go there when it is absolutely necessary. I'm stocking up on water and canned goods now.

Really, you do have good survival skills. I'm just too weak for it.

reply to post by brilab45


Ok... how about this. Instead of catfish in the tubs for eating, you raise Koi...and the rabbits you breed and then you sell both for pets... that way you can maintain a simple and semi-vegan diet with no animal processing, and also generate a residual income to finance your grocery bill, or savings, or survival prep... what if you could generate maybe an extra 50-100 dollars a month... or go into it big time and generate 500 a month. I know at my farm store, we buy rabbits for resell at 10-15 dollars a piece every spring... selling 10 a week for march/ april will turn about 800-1000 dollars.

In the past, I have and still am raising feeder pigs/ hogs for my own meat and sell the excess piglets at about 50 dollars a piece. If my sow has about 10 piglets on avg in a litter, save 2 for me... sell the other 8 equals 400 dollars. However, a growing phenomenon or hobby is raising mini-pigs and or pot belly pigs. They eat less, take up less space, and yet the offspring can turn 50-100-150 dollars apiece based on breed and size and health and sex. A mini-sow can have a litter of 8-10 piglets... at 8 weeks, you can sell at 100 bucks a pop or 800-1000 dollars... and what you don't sell, you can eat as suckling pig or at 50lbs... have a BBQ pig picking... eastern NC style.

Just some ideas to help with the grocery bill.

Costs have grown substantially in the past 18 months in the northeast US. A gallon of organic milk is almost $6 now. Living in a city, without a car, I shop online and have my groceries delivered for $12 once a month.

When they have a big sale, I stock up. Heck, I'm not carrying it! The delivery men would carry bags into my kitchen if I didn't insist they stop at the front porch (I have three cats and would like to keep it that way). So I may buy a year's worth of canned tomatoes or pasta all in one delivery if the sale is right.

I wish I could find coupons for food items that weren't either processed or containing GMO corn or soy, which seem to be in practically every single processed food. I've always enjoyed cooking, but I cook everything now. I got a bread machine since all bread not coming from a bakery has soy flour in it. And it makes nice pizza dough. I bake my own granola bars and all other sweets like brownies.

The cost of coffee is quickly becoming insane, and no matter how much I try, I'm just not a Maxwell House kind of girl. I like it organic and dark and chocolatey. I'm starting my seeds now for my spring garden, and have a bunch of stuff I've wintered over so I can eat from my garden in the next 6 or 7 weeks. Living in a city, direct sunlight and outdoor space are tough issues when gardening, so I make trade-offs. Instead of growing tomatoes in the summer, I grow collard greens - substantially more output for the garden space and limited sunlight. I'm working on building a vertical garden for one wall out back - that may expand my territory if I design it correctly.

But if you want decent food, you need time, storage space and hopefully a little outdoor space for gardening to do it anywhere close to cheap. And cats who will eat a can of food that isn't Fancy Feast without clawing each others' eyes out in sheer frustration.