Food prices are up

[manning]

Huh huh. blame Manning for that Plano. He was busy patting himself on the back for starting a walmart thread. Can't blame that on us. lol

Plums are 1.99 here. not sure if that's outrageously expensive as I'm the only one who likes them so I usually only have to buy two or three, which is about a pound

I've got guest coming over for a barbeque this weekend. want to talk about some thing outrageously priced. We always do a crab fest. the price of crabs is mindboggling.

They actually had a size for $79 bucks a dozen!!!!

I'll keep you posted on the price of hamburgers.

Excuse me a moment.

Pat pat...pat pat... pat pat.

There, I feel better

 

[Monykalyn]

just dropped 300.00 at sams club, aldis and Kroger today for two weeks worth of groceries..By the time we filled up our tanks we were out 400.00 off the top of my husbands check..crazy how much things cost..

When we lived in AR a few coworkers and I would get together about every 2-3 months and pool money, buy bulk, then spend a weekend assembling/cooking entrees to freeze. our entrees would then come out to a few cents per serving-our idea was so popular that we had people who offered to pay more to have us do the work (we were still cheaper than Dream Dinners or those other assemble yourself places) and they could get in on the food. By the time I moved away I was getting good 6-8 good entrees for $1-2 each (not per serving but each) that served 6+. the downside is we sacrificed a weeknight shopping and an entire weekend of 10 hour days

That sounds like a great idea! Any advice on how to get started? Any recipes that worked well?

Casseroles worked extremely well, as did "loss leaders" at grocery store (chicken legs 25cents/pound etc) that we would do a marinade and toss with the chicken. We also did dishes where one sauce could be adapted to different tastes (ie beschemal (sp?) and then add cheese). or where ground beef could be "stretched" (Nacho/taco filling-add black beans and season with spices and not expensive packets-rachael ray "uber nachos") Or soups (we used recipes from "Dream Dinners" cook books or "Don't Panic-Dinner is in freezer" cookbooks), we also did enchiladas and lasagnes and meatballs (but these are time consuming layering/rolling tortillas, or rolling the balls). We would look at prices or sales coming up (even buying those "butcher" packages and storing extra meat in a freezer). Typically we would also do a vegetarian meal as one of the gals who did this with us was vegetarian.
Once in a while we would get a store to give us a "bulk" discount on things (canned tomatoes comes to mind, or cream condensed soup) and we would just save what we didnt use for the next month.
I've also heard of neighborhood "supper" clubs-each neighbor participating cooks enough for all others and delivers that meal on their day (within a max/min $limit)-so if you have 5 families participating you cook enough for 5-one for you and 4 for others and deliver on your night. Theoretically you buy and cook for one night (although multiple servings) and have 4 night where meals are delivered to you. Been trying to get my current neighborhood into this

 

[Egdisney]

It is too hot to cook or eat much so I stopped into the store for lunch meat. The least expensive ham they offered had risen from 5.99(which was too much anyway) to 6.49!!! I almost had a fit. Dip was on sale for .99, that sounds good, let's get some chips. 3.99 for a bag of lays! I am having a tough time this month, we are out of meat until our 1/2 gets processed and I will not pay 5.00 for crappy beef. Sales have been horrible so I am spending way too much on groceries. Time to get back to serious budgeting and menu planning. And make the kids stop drinking milk. 4.50 for a gallon, good lord! I live in MO, these things should be less expensive!

 

[Monykalyn]

I am not much into couponing, so i do Checkout 51-scan receipts and get cash back. Lays is on there this week

 

[Planogirl]

Excuse me a moment.

Pat pat...pat pat... pat pat.

There, I feel better

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am not much into couponing, so i do Checkout 51-scan receipts and get cash back. Lays is on there this week

Thanks! Just downloaded it.

 

[manning]

The least expensive ham they offered had risen from 5.99(which was too much anyway) to 6.49!!! I almost had a fit.!

That's a little over an 8% increase.

 

[mom2my3kids]

It is too hot to cook or eat much so I stopped into the store for lunch meat. The least expensive ham they offered had risen from 5.99(which was too much anyway) to 6.49!!! I almost had a fit. Dip was on sale for .99, that sounds good, let's get some chips. 3.99 for a bag of lays! I am having a tough time this month, we are out of meat until our 1/2 gets processed and I will not pay 5.00 for crappy beef. Sales have been horrible so I am spending way too much on groceries. Time to get back to serious budgeting and menu planning. And make the kids stop drinking milk. 4.50 for a gallon, good lord! I live in MO, these things should be less expensive!

Wow I just paid 2.69 a gallon at sams for milk, school is back in session in a couple weeks so I wont have all the extra summer food to buy..

 

[leebee]

Butter is $3.99 a pound at Walmart, cheap store bread is $3.29, grocery store eggs are $2.29, 2% milk is $4.19 a gallon. We are eating out of the freezer as much as possible, but there are some things that just can't be frozen!

 

[havaneselover]

Butter is $3.99 a pound at Walmart, cheap store bread is $3.29, grocery store eggs are $2.29, 2% milk is $4.19 a gallon. We are eating out of the freezer as much as possible, but there are some things that just can't be frozen!

I'm doing pretty well. I get 4 lbs. of butter for under $10 at Costco, 18 xl egglands best eggs for $2.99 at target, and pay maybe $2.89 for milk (skim). I rarely buy bread but I think a loaf of whole wheat nature's own is about $2.70 at Walmart.

I've seen some prices move up while others have dropped or stayed the same. I've become a smarter shopper and haven't had to increase my budget.

And according to the CPI, food prices are up just over 2% from last June.

 

[Eastern]

I noticed that beef prices took a jump last week. I actually put the package down and didn't buy it because I couldn't get my head around the total price.

Food prices in general scare me lately.

 

[kymom99]

Wow I just paid 2.69 a gallon at sams for milk, school is back in session in a couple weeks so I wont have all the extra summer food to buy..

I can feed mine cheaper at home. School lunch was $3 last year. Not sure if it will increase this year. That wasn't enough food for him. He usually spent $4 a day. That is $20 a week or $80 a month. Just for lunch.

 

[xbatman]

Butter is $3.99 a pound at Walmart, cheap store bread is $3.29, grocery store eggs are $2.29, 2% milk is $4.19 a gallon. We are eating out of the freezer as much as possible, but there are some things that just can't be frozen!

I saw the 1 lb for $3.99 also. The 2 lb. package was $4.98, so I bought that - much better!

 

[tvguy]

We must have an egg glut because several of the stores are advertising a dozen large eggs for 99 cents in their flyer this week.

 

[Colleen27]

Butter is $3.99 a pound at Walmart, cheap store bread is $3.29, grocery store eggs are $2.29, 2% milk is $4.19 a gallon. We are eating out of the freezer as much as possible, but there are some things that just can't be frozen!

The local differences are amazing to me! I can still catch butter on sale for $1.88 or 1.99 often enough that I don't pay full price. I pay $2/doz for free range eggs from a 4Her in my daughter's club. Milk is up to $3.29 regular price but even with just two groceries in town I seldom have to pay retail; this week I paid $2.69.

Bread is a killer for me. I don't like most cheap brands because we try to avoid HFCS and minimize the chemical softeners and preservatives in our break, so I bake my own (not cheap; it works out to $2.50+/loaf depending on variety) or if I'm going to be in the city I stop at the bakery outlet and stock up on close-dated natural brands (usually $2/loaf - fortunately I have an upright freezer so I can buy a bunch and take it out as needed). We go through a loaf a day during the summer, with my three kids home all day and usually a few extras hanging out here too, so paying grocery store prices for decent bread would kill our budget.

 

[Colleen27]

I can feed mine cheaper at home. School lunch was $3 last year. Not sure if it will increase this year. That wasn't enough food for him. He usually spent $4 a day. That is $20 a week or $80 a month. Just for lunch.

I can feed mine cheaper at home too, even though our school lunches aren't a terrible deal ($2.25, and enough food that even my 16yo doesn't buy extras). What kills me about summer is all the other people I'm feeding. Today for breakfast we had DS16, his stepsiblings (17 & 19), his best friend (15), DD12, her friend (13), and DD5. That's pretty typical of summers around here and my budget will definitely breath a sigh of relief when we're back to only feeding the children we brought into this world!

 

[pat fan]

Butter is $3.99 a pound at Walmart, cheap store bread is $3.29, grocery store eggs are $2.29, 2% milk is $4.19 a gallon. We are eating out of the freezer as much as possible, but there are some things that just can't be frozen!

You CAN freeze butter. I bought a case through my work and it worked out to just over $2.00 a lb and I threw it in the freezer. See if a local mom & pop store, your local school, anywhere that buys bulk from a distributor will let you buy through them.

We have chickens, probably not the cheapest way to get eggs, but I know what they eat, how they're treated and how old the eggs are.

 

[manning]

Sure you can freeze butter.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Thanks, monykayln! Those are great ideas! The supper club is great too. Cook once and eat four times!

 

[pigletto]

I've noticed there are more and more things I am just walking by these days that used to go in the grocery cart. I can't justify the price increases and am learning to do without things we always bought "just because". Meat..beef in particular is a big one. Ground Beef is in quite a few of our usual recipes and the price is so bad I maybe buy a small pack for one meal once a month now. Steak? Forget it. Chicken can still be found on sale reasonably and sometimes pork chops. I used to get all beef hotdogs in the summers for the kids, but they were over $4 a pack today. I used to pay less than $2 on sale. Forget it.
At least produce is local, fresh, reasonably priced and abundant in the summers. We'll switch to frozen and canned for most in the winter.
I have the space and will be planting a big old garden next summer. I had stopped for a few years, but I might as well grow things myself. I enjoy it, and every bit helps the budget.