| Author | |
NMMountainMom
Forum Newbie
Joined: July 05 2010
Location: New Mexico
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 43
|
| Posted: April 13 2012 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Are you feeling rising prices at the grocery store? We were really pinched this week financially and I decided to utilize my pantry and only pick up a few things at the grocery store. I still spent $100. We are a family of seven. If you feel it, how are you coping?
__________________
Danielle, making it work (some days better than others) with five boys, a family business and homeschooling.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Christine
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 23 2006
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1151
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 7:24am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We are definitely feeling the rise in grocery prices. Until May of last year, we were spending an average of $800 a month on groceries for our family of nine. Now, I am lucky to spend under $1000 a month. It is usually more like $1200 a month.
We try to grow a few of our own strawberries and vegetables. However, aside from the lettuce and the kale (our dog attempts to eat these), the children eat all of our produce before we can harvest it. At least, they are enjoying healthy snacks. 
We rolled our extra-curricular activity budget into our grocery budget to help cover the increased cost of food. In order to be able to afford the increase in grocery expenditures, gas and some unexpected medical bills, we enrolled in a virtual academy this year to help cover the cost of extra-curricular activities. Unfortunately, since the end of March, the program has stopped covering some of these activities and will no longer be covering any of them next year. I don't know what we will be doing about extra-curricular activities in the future. 
__________________
Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
pumpkinmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2012
Location: Missouri
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1028
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 10:10am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I will be watching this post to see what others suggest. We are starting to really be impacted by the increase in cost! I have tried hard to reduce our driving. We didn't sign our boys up for baseball this year because it cost us an extra $150 in gas each month (2 months) that we were driving around to games last year. My boys just play for fun and exercise, so this wasn't too big of a deal. We may get together with another family for a monthly family outdoor game night.
I plan to increase our garden this year, but you can't predict weather, so this may not work out too great. I also go to our local farmer's market, but they are only open from June through early September. A member of our church brings produce from his garden every Sunday from spring to fall and I stock up every week. So thankful for his free food! It is stuff I don't plant in my garden, so I love the variety.
Another thing that helps is that I try to buy less processed foods. For better health, but they are more expensive. We are 6 miles away from a Mennonite store that sells bulk foods and produce and is way cheaper. I get popcorn for 67 cents a pound and we pop it on the stove. Cheaper and healthy than microwave popcorn. We LOVE popcorn, so this is a big saver.
When we can, we buy a pig or beef from local farmers. This is cheaper than the grocery stores, but it requires paying for it all up front and having freezer space. I have found some items we use I can get a lot cheaper from Sam's Club. We live 45 minutes from one, so we don't get to take advantage of this too often. I have to be very careful because it isn't always cheaper to buy in bulk.
Sorry this got long! 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Christine
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 23 2006
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1151
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 2:32pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I just remembered that I shared grocery budget information on my blog a couple of years ago. Not all of it still applies (i.e. some of the food price limits and we eat more of a variety for breakfast now...omelets, scrambled egg, etc.).
I hope it helps someone.
__________________
Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 2:42pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Buy fewer "treats".. tweak recipes.. change which recipes we eat more.. like I try and have chicken fajitas and bean burritos more than tacos because the chicken is cheaper than hamburger  so it's been a whole paradigm shift in thinking about which meals are cheaper.. hamburger is no longer a cheap meat.. I often find roasts or round steak or the like cheaper than hamburger.. and pork and chicken are now cheaper and so I'm trying to move away from using my "cheap hamburger meals" since they're not so cheap anymore.. and replacing them with chicken and pork meals.. but at the same time.. knowing that those meals need to be ones that have less meat in them than the "nice meals" like fried chicken or pork chops or such.
Other things I've just shifted to a cheaper (often less healthy) version simply because I can't come up with a good replacement for our family.. like peanut butter.. my preference is the natural type but at these prices.. I'm getting whatever is cheapest when I can.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 3:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have found that as we become more vegetarian, cutting meat back to three meals per week, I am spending less at the grocery store. Prices are always ridiculously high here for everything (milk is $5.50 per gallon), but I find I can fill my cart to overflowing with fruits and veggies for about half what it used to cost when I bought more meat.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
pumpkinmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2012
Location: Missouri
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1028
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 4:32pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
lapazfarm wrote:
| I have found that as we become more vegetarian, cutting meat back to three meals per week, I am spending less at the grocery store. Prices are always ridiculously high here for everything (milk is $5.50 per gallon), but I find I can fill my cart to overflowing with fruits and veggies for about half what it used to cost when I bought more meat. |
|
|
I've been wanting to take more meat out of our diet (healthier and cheaper), but I have yet to make the time to sit down and find new recipes. Thanks for the reminder! 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
joann10
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 10 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3493
|
| Posted: April 14 2012 at 5:53pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
The prices around here keep going up and up. It's unbelievable the difference from week to week.
It is really taking a toll on our budget, and with the cost of gas, (over $4.10 a gallon-and that is Indian reservation prices), we barely make it from paycheck to paycheck.
We have about $700.00 a month to spend..that includes gas, household products and food. I'm having a terrible time keeping the cupboards full. Snacks have all but been eliminated (except for popcorn cooked on the stove...drink for lunch and dinner is water--I save milk for breakfasts.
The biggest thing that helps us is that I have become a coupon shopper...scouring weekly store ads, and matching the specials to my coupons. It takes a lot of time, but it helps put a little food on the table.My recent couponing blogpost.
Another great resource is a nearby Amish store. This is wonderful for spices and staples, like flour and sugar...a great savings option we are lucky to have.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
imcatholic
Forum Newbie
Joined: Nov 20 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 48
|
| Posted: April 16 2012 at 12:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We do most of our shopping at Sam's - If you by your meat by the case they have a "case" price - boneless skinless chicken is .60 cheaper so I only pay $1.40 lb on a regular basis. ground turkey is almost $11 cheaper if you buy the case.
__________________
Beth
http://novoasark.blogspot.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stellamaris
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 26 2009
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2732
|
| Posted: April 16 2012 at 1:42pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We have a friend who raises beef basically organic, grass-fed. I asked if he would be willing to sell me some, and he was. I got a freezer full of grass fed beef delivered for $2.30/lb.
We also get low-temp pasteurized milk for $4/gal which is very fresh and comes again from grass-fed cows. Often, we have purchased eggs from 4H children for about $1.50-$2 a dozen. The quality is great for the price!
If you live in a farming community, ask around to see what you can purchase directly from the farm. The cost is usually lower and the quality higher.
Also, we are trying to move to move vegetarian options and cut back our consumption of milk/dairy. So, this week, we had large salads for dinner twice with a little meat (one time steak, another chicken), instead of meat plus a side. I used the chicken carcass (I always buy whole chickens) to make soup-basically a free meal.
In an effort to lower costs by not wasting food, we have "clean-out-the-refrigerator" meals. I just put all the leftovers out (usually at lunch) and let folks choose from them. I put the food out by categories-carbs, proteins, fruits and veggies--and the kids have to choose at least one from each category.
We don't ever purchase soda and only use juice for our ds who has to take medication for his kidney daily. No one else ever gets OJ unless it's Easter!!! I try to shop alone, but if I have to take the children I let them choose one nutritious snack for the week. We've cut down on snacking in general.
We limit the use of paper products as much as possible, but I still sometimes use paper plates, etc., on really busy days or if I'm sick or behind.
I take advantage of all of my grocery store's special "deals"--like a produce club that gives you a 20% off coupon for spending $50 or more on produce. In May, I'll shop on Tuesdays and get another 5% off because I'll be a senior . Bet they didn't expect a senior to shop for so many kids,  !
Also, I try to shop the sales and use coupons on the few processed foods we use. I used to be able to save about 25-30% a week just shopping the deepest sales with coupons (I used Grocery Game to track those, and it does cost something). I really need to do something like that again. I do get coupons in my inbox from my store and from Proctor and Gamble, but I have found that the coupons we can use seem to be getting rarer these days. I'm not sure if that's because we don't buy too many processed items, or if it's because times are hard and the suppliers aren't issuing as many coupons on popular products as they used to. Has anyone else found this to be a problem?
__________________
In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stellamaris
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 26 2009
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2732
|
| Posted: April 16 2012 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, yeah, and we buy TP only at Costco or Staples on sale.
__________________
In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Grocery Prices
