# Omg! Grocery prices!



## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

I go into the city about once a month. I buy staples on a rotational basis, and shop at both a restaurant supply/warehouse type place and a big "it's got everything" store. Basically, it's got everything from clothes to warehouse-sized packs of pretty much anything you can imagine.

Today was the day. The kids and I hopped in the van early, and headed off to the city. We stopped first at the big restaurant supply place, where I picked up large boxes of the spices I use regularly, etc. I needed brown sugar for baking, and I was also getting a 20KG bag of unbleached flour (about 45 lbs) for market baking.

The brown sugar -- 20KG bag -- $52.00. One month ago? Same bag was $43. The flour -- 20KG bag -- Same brand and everything as last month. Last month it was $12. Today -- $18!

Then, I went to the Superstore. TOILET PAPER has gone up from $10 for a 30 roll pack to $18. Yes, you read that right -- $18!!!

I had to buy my son some deodorant. What was $4 last month when I bought some for my husband (same brand, same size) was $7 today.

Butter was actually down 50 cents a lb, but it was a loss-leader sale this week, so who knows what next week will bring. Fresh fruit was about the same, as were the things we checked out in the baking section. 

Overall, my cart was half as full as normal, and priced out nearly the same.

And my garden is crap this year. 

Pigs are growing beautifully, though -- and I've got plenty of wheat stored. We might be eating a lot of pulled pork sandwiches this winter!


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Our prices started going up like that in January. Unbleached white flour was $12.50, now it's $19.50.
I bought 2 bags of bleached white flour for $12.50. It was on sale. But that was 2 monthes ago. I get the feeling we may be using our stored wheat soon.


----------



## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

Tracy, you never mentioned any brand names so I'm curious to know - do you only buy made in Canada products or are some of them imports?

I have to go do a big shopping this afternoon so I'll do some comparison pricing while I'm at it to see what's gone up and if there's any big difference in prices between Canadian and American products.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I bought dh a pound of butter for a treat. I cann't beleive we have gotten so butter is a treat.


----------



## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

I've noticed the same here and my garden has not performed well this year. 

We too have pigs and will make food stretch as well as lamb and venison.

Thank goodness I have plenty of flour in the freezer and wheat berries, but sugar and coffee is killing me. I know I should ditch the coffee, but heck, I don't want to. LOL


----------



## Guest (Aug 2, 2011)

I get sticker shock every time I buy groceries.


----------



## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

Paumon said:


> Tracy, you never mentioned any brand names so I'm curious to know - do you only buy made in Canada products or are some of them imports?
> 
> I have to go do a big shopping this afternoon so I'll do some comparison pricing while I'm at it to see what's gone up and if there's any big difference in prices between Canadian and American products.


I buy Prairie Mills Unbleached Flour 20KG -- Manitoba mill.
The brown sugar was Redpath 20KG bag.
Toilet paper was Royale.
Deodorant was Mennen.
Butter was a Manitoba dairy brand -- I can never remember the name of it... starts with an F, I think.

I try to buy only things made in Canada or the US. We follow a very loose version of the 100mile diet -- if I can get it from within that area, I'm willing to pay a little more, or compromise on EXACTLY what I want, if I can get some sort of substitute, but I don't go without things that we really enjoy -- for instance, I buy spring roll wraps, and they're imported. I buy coffee and chocolate and sugar -- none of it originating in Manitoba


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

I get sticker shock if I don't follow my own grocery rules. I try to shop the loss leaders as much as I can to have at least a year's worth of each type of goods stocked up. Then when I see a sale on something that we use, I try to buy as much as the store has. I do this with meat a lot. Otherwise, we couldn't afford to eat it as often which would make hubby pretty grouchy.


----------



## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

I know. It's scary. I've been working VERY hard on stretching meals. We've cut WAY back on eating meat, and it's helped keep our grocery bill from climbing very much. Eating out at restaurants? Happens maybe every 6 weeks now. We used to do it once or twice a week.

I doubled the size of my garden from last year, I'm going to have to double it next spring, too...


----------



## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

all this drought and floods etc is jsut now starting to work its way in.it started back in mid winter IMHO.just wait till this heat and drought in more places starts getting factored in.wait till the cattle being sold off in these drought areas gets out of the system.meat will sky rocket from waht it is now.a local grocery store here ahs stopped stocking certain cuts of beef because of price.he said it wasnt selling so they jsut stopped ordering it and then selling it at a loss.theres no way i could sell off a beef critter now if i had a freezer and canning jars.you cant buy back what you are selling off.and dont forget gas and disel prices being factored in now too.diesel ahs been at almost $4/gallon for months.

we all are on the verge of poop storm....in fact some already are.

its 6pm here at still 100F.....the garden is being cooked....ugghhhh


----------



## Guest (Aug 2, 2011)

elkhound said:


> all this drought and floods etc is jsut now starting to work its way in.it started back in mid winter IMHO.just wait till this heat and drought in more places starts getting factored in.wait till the cattle being sold off in these drought areas gets out of the system.meat will sky rocket from waht it is now.a local grocery store here ahs stopped stocking certain cuts of beef because of price.he said it wasnt selling so they jsut stopped ordering it and then selling it at a loss.theres no way i could sell off a beef critter now if i had a freezer and canning jars.you cant buy back what you are selling off.and dont forget gas and disel prices being factored in now too.diesel ahs been at almost $4/gallon for months


That's what worries me. They're saying this midwest drought will last another year.

What with all the crop failures, and cattle being sold off, grocery prices are going to rise even higher over the next few months.


----------



## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

ladycat said:


> That's what worries me. They're saying this midwest drought will last another year.
> 
> What with all the crop failures, and cattle being sold off, grocery prices are going to rise even higher over the next few months.


amen sister !!!!

heres a clip from national news.look what one town is going to do with waste water.tokyo get its drinking water from their waste water .

[ame]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619//vp/43956632#43956632[/ame]


----------



## Colorado (Aug 19, 2005)

Store brand canned veggies have jump in month 36% . Their cheapest store brand. Milk is holding. I eat shredded wheat as no sugar and salt and this year up 61 cents. Rest is worse. I have been trying to refigure my diet so can cut on some things Iam buying. If not for this dumb diet (medical) and I am working on ideas for that. I have got to cook from scratch so can control what goes in things.


----------



## Melissa (Apr 15, 2002)

This is one reason why I have always shopped once a week- the loss leaders! I have found that is the best way to really keep the grocery budget low. There is always something on sale and if you can stock up enough of the sale item to last until the next sale you can really save money. I know some people live too far from town to do that, but if there is any way it is usually worthwhile.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Melissa said:


> This is one reason why I have always shopped once a week- the loss leaders! I have found that is the best way to really keep the grocery budget low. There is always something on sale and if you can stock up enough of the sale item to last until the next sale you can really save money. I know some people live too far from town to do that, but if there is any way it is usually worthwhile.


Yup,pantry and 'shop' from there,big savings.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

SquashNut said:


> I bought dh a pound of butter for a treat. I cann't beleive we have gotten so butter is a treat.


Seafood and fruit are treats for me. Steak is just a dream.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> I buy Prairie Mills Unbleached Flour 20KG -- Manitoba mill.
> The brown sugar was Redpath 20KG bag.
> Toilet paper was Royale.
> Deodorant was Mennen.
> ...



I saw that show about the canadians who do the 100 mile diet. I was totally impressed. it is inspired me.


----------



## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

My garden isnt doing as well as normal. my beautiful bunches of grapes withered on the vine.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Hanging out with you guys has rubbed off on me, I started stocking up on stuff. This week I bought 15 bags of dried beans and 20 cans of sardines in water. I am going to buy 20 more cans of sardines and I am going buy 10 cans of olive oil before the winter sets in. 

I started stocking up on clothes last year. I am totally set for clothes for about three years.

Prices have jumped here also. I do not shop in mainstream super markets unless they are having a really good sale. I see no sense in Bj's and Costo, they really are not places to find a deal. You may get a deal on one or two items but the rest are pricey. I go to asian markets. I get eggs for 60 cents a dozen and everything else is cheap. I get a weeks worth of food for one person for about $10. Here is an example of some savings...one small tofu at the mainstream place $5, four times that size at the asian market cost $1.20.


----------



## julieq (Oct 12, 2008)

I just had to pay 2.99 for wide mouth canning jar lids at our small local grocery store, where they're usually the cheapest. I thought 2.09 a few months back was high. I should have bought another case then.

Tell you what dear people, I really believe that we need to buy what we able to now as I don't think groceries are going to be any cheaper with the devalued dollar. At least that's what I keep telling myself at the grocery store, i.e. "This is going to go up in price soon." Makes me feel better as I watch the big hits on my checking account.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

City Bound said:


> Hanging out with you guys has rubbed off on me, I started stocking up on stuff. This week I bought 15 bags of dried beans and 20 cans of sardines in water. I am going to buy 20 more cans of sardines and I am going buy 10 cans of olive oil before the winter sets in.
> 
> I started stocking up on clothes last year. I am totally set for clothes for about three years.
> 
> Prices have jumped here also. I do not shop in mainstream super markets unless they are having a really good sale. I see no sense in Bj's and Costo, they really are not places to find a deal. You may get a deal on one or two items but the rest are pricey. I go to asian markets. I get eggs for 60 cents a dozen and everything else is cheap. I get a weeks worth of food for one person for about $10. Here is an example of some savings...one small tofu at the mainstream place $5, four times that size at the asian market cost $1.20.


What does the rice cost? do you know?


----------



## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

City Bound said:


> This week I bought 15 bags of dried beans and 20 cans of sardines in water. I am going to buy 20 more cans of sardines.


Oh yuck. I have a big stack of sardine coupons I'll never use, because food that looks back at me creeps me out. :yuck:


----------



## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

City Bound said:


> Prices have jumped here also. I do not shop in mainstream super markets unless they are having a really good sale. I see no sense in Bj's and Costo, they really are not places to find a deal. You may get a deal on one or two items but the rest are pricey. I go to asian markets. I get eggs for 60 cents a dozen and everything else is cheap. I get a weeks worth of food for one person for about $10. Here is an example of some savings...one small tofu at the mainstream place $5, four times that size at the asian market cost $1.20.


This is the one thing -- well, besides the theatres -- that I miss about living in a large, multicultural city -- the ethnic markets! Such wonderful places for basic ingredients for REAL food!!! And much cheaper than the grocery chains, too!


----------



## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

ladycat said:


> Oh yuck. I have a big stack of sardine coupons I'll never use, because food that looks back at me creeps me out. :yuck:


Sardines are DELICIOUS!!! And wonderfully nutritious. 

They do not have the heads still on, at least, the ones we get in Canada don't.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> Sardines are DELICIOUS!!! And wonderfully nutritious.
> 
> They do not have the heads still on, at least, the ones we get in Canada don't.


I had a can once, the dogs loved them.


----------



## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

SquashNut said:


> I had a can once, the dogs loved them.


I used to keep them on hand to mix with medicine for the cats. The smell nauseated me.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

SquashNut said:


> What does the rice cost? do you know?


I am not sure. I do not cook rice. The last year I saw massive bags of rice at the asian market for about $11.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> Sardines are DELICIOUS!!! And wonderfully nutritious.
> 
> They do not have the heads still on, at least, the ones we get in Canada don't.


Sardines are great and if you trying to stay nurished on a buck sardines are packed with nutrients. I pay $1.20 a can. The price went up a dime since last year.


No heads on mine.

Maybe people are thinking about anchovies???? Anchovies are a little hard for me to eat.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> This is the one thing -- well, besides the theatres -- that I miss about living in a large, multicultural city -- the ethnic markets! Such wonderful places for basic ingredients for REAL food!!! And much cheaper than the grocery chains, too!


yeah, once I found the asian and russian markets I was hooked. You find strange stuff there too, like sweet potatoe vine, wolf berry tips, and all kinds of strange chinese veggies, ices and ice cream made from red beans, peas, peaunuts, and corn, grass jelly, kimchi, and stuff that I have no clue what it is. How about tiny fish, dried and covered in sugar as a candy snack? 

I would never be able to afford sea food at all, but I go to one asian market and I buy 12 live crabs for $3 or $6 depending on the time of year. Clams are cheap there also.

I guess you have to shop around.

I could go to a health food store and spend $10 for a loaf of whole grain bread without preservatives that was made in california, or I could go to the russian market and buy the same bread for $2.90 and it was made two days ago in a bakery in Brooklyn.


----------



## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

We joke with each other about our delicate stomachs, but all joking aside our diet has changed due to our age and health conditions. Sardines wouldn't even be opened here. However we do keep canned salmon and tuna, just not an enormous amount. Most of our meat prep is sitting in the freezers and we're hoping nothing disrupts power to mess that up. We have a generator now, but wouldn't want to count on that for anything long term. 

Our protein source in survival food stock is beans and lots of different varieties. We're still going to be plenty sick of beans though. I'd hate to buy the big cans of Bush beans now in the grocery. The cans we got for $1.29 are now double that. We stocked major amounts of canned goods last year and tried to get long shelf dates on all of it. Even at that most of the stocked cans are expiring at the end of 2013. 

Last week Kroger had their 15+ oz cans of vegetables on sale for 69 cents a can. DH tried to get some cases but they were out except for a few varieties that we wouldn't eat like green beans. Kroger also had the 15+ oz cans of fruit on sale for a $1 a can. He came home with a variety of all but no cases. 

So many sale items are completely out of stock by the time our grocery run happens. He always gets a rain check to use later when they have the item in stock. 

I put household products from the dollar stores into preps here back in 2009 but we're nearing the end of many of those in our supplies. I really like the Mean Green products and especially the window cleaner. The smell doesn't bother me like other products and it's deadly on killing bugs. I paid a $1.50 for 64 oz but I'll be surprised if this is the same price today.


----------



## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

I'm finding I'm pulling out more of my "cooking from storage" cookbooks. The ingredients are less expensive then our what was our "normal" food and the change of menu is fun - and tasty. I now need to start planning to get more beans into our diet as it's not a enjoyed food here....but slowly I may be able to adjust our taste buds. Being out of propane helps our bottom line....I'm not running to the market (8 blocks away) to get fresh meat to cook last minute.


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

If you only shop once a month, you're pretty much stuck with whatever the prices are that day. I shop more often, but only buy stuff on sale.

I'm not very far from a couple of stores though and perhaps you are.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Club cards save you tons of money


----------



## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

mnn2501 said:


> If you only shop once a month, you're pretty much stuck with whatever the prices are that day. I shop more often, but only buy stuff on sale.
> 
> I'm not very far from a couple of stores though and perhaps you are.


I'm about an hour's drive away from the city. We have a small grocery store in the local village, but the prices there are terrible.


----------



## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

City Bound said:


> Club cards save you tons of money


I go into Sams now and again with a free guest pass. They are expensive!!

One of the things we used to get there that really was cheaper was my mother's artificial sweetener. There were big bulk boxes of the packets that were wayyyyy cheaper per unit than what we could get anywhere else. Since we never knew when we would get the next free pass, we'd get as much as possible while we could so it would last.

But now that I get all the artificial sweetener free from my couponing, that's no longer a reason to go in there.

I haven't bothered to go in there at all in a long while.

We don't have any other club stores here, so I have no clue what the pricing is like with the others.


----------



## bigfoot2you (Oct 3, 2007)

ladycat said:


> Oh yuck. I have a big stack of sardine coupons I'll never use, because food that looks back at me creeps me out. :yuck:


It's the crunching of those litttttttle bones that get me............:yuck:


----------



## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

bigfoot2you said:


> It's the crunching of those litttttttle bones that get me............:yuck:


Ewwwwwwwwwwwww.


----------



## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

I bought 25 lbs of brown rice today for 10.99. 1 lb bags of bean soup mix were 1.29 which I thought was high, but I like it and we eat it so in the cart it went. 3 bags today and I will go in a few days and get more for winter. I splurged on canned oysters today to put up for Christmas eve dinner, a family thing, but they were 1.29 also so why not, they are only going to get higher.

Tomorrow i am going to go get some more flour and sugars and salt.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

No. No. No. Not a club card to a big box bulk store, those places do not really save you much money. I am talking about a club, or a member discount card, from regular super markets, like pathmark, keyfood, shop Right. They have sales every two weeks and you can not get the sale price if you do not have a card. The cards are free and they save you a lot of money. I have a Wellness card from Riteaid, I get some good deals some times, like batteries half price, vitamins buy one get one free, dental floss buy one get one free.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

City Bound said:


> Club cards save you tons of money


Our safeway here has a club card. But they play games with their prices. Yes they have b1g1f but they double the price of the one you buy.


----------



## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

City Bound said:


> No. No. No. Not a club card to a big box bulk store, those places do not really save you much money. I am talking about a club, or a member discount card, from regular super markets, like pathmark, keyfood, shop Right. They have sales every two weeks and you can not get the sale price if you do not have a card. The cards are free and they save you a lot of money. I have a Wellness card from Riteaid, I get some good deals some times, like batteries half price, vitamins buy one get one free, dental floss buy one get one free.


Oh, ok. The only store here that has a card is CVS.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

I have been happy with what I get with my card. I am not buying fancy things. I buy generic brands and store brands. Sometimes brand names are on sale. if you want a good deal Modells has a great black friday sale every year. I am assuming it is nation wide. I bought zip up hooded sweatshirts for $10 each the original price was $30. Socks buy one get one free.


----------



## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

City Bound said:


> if you want a good deal Modells has a great black friday sale every year.


What is Modells?


----------



## time (Jan 30, 2011)

City Bound said:


> No. No. No. Not a club card to a big box bulk store, those places do not really save you much money. I am talking about a club, or a member discount card, from regular super markets, like pathmark, keyfood, shop Right. They have sales every two weeks and you can not get the sale price if you do not have a card. The cards are free and they save you a lot of money. I have a Wellness card from Riteaid, I get some good deals some times, like batteries half price, vitamins buy one get one free, dental floss buy one get one free.


Just so everyone is aware, these cards are a way to track your purchases. All purchases with the cards are recorded and kept as a record with your name/information. Law enforcement(goobermint) can access this information.

Anyone with privacey concerns and big brother worries may want to aviod them. In short, your selling your information to the store. They offer savings to those that use them for a reason.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Time, they do that to keep track of what the demand is. I think it is pretty harmless. No one is going to throw you in jail because they found out from your card that you bought eggs.


----------



## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Modell's Sporting Goods, store.

http://www.modells.com


----------



## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

Last year I was caring for an elderly neighbor which included her weekly shopping - now every time we buy something @ Tops I get a receipt coupon for ensure & depends based on last year's purchases.
Good thing it wasn't beer & rain coats huh.

I wonder if the authorities are able to track supplies bought by meth makers who use their store cards.


~~ pelenaka ~~


----------



## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

> Oh yuck. I have a big stack of sardine coupons I'll never use, because food that looks back at me creeps me out.


Send the coupons to me!!  My hubby & son love them.

As far as the store tracking what I buy, I am actually glad. I get coupons from Kroger all the time on the items I buy. I will also get coupons to save $10 on a purchase of $100 or more. I spend more than that a week most of the time. They can keep sending me coupons, I'll use them.


----------



## Forlane (Jul 17, 2010)

We went shopping tonight also it cost us $56.77 which will be dinner for 4 adults for a week and lunch for 3 adults for the week nothing is frozen.

Normally the household spends around 150 a week on junk dinners like Hot pockets and $1 pizza's 

Just started a menu meal plan to try and convince the family to stop eating such nasty junk frozen food all of the time.

Thank you for this thread, although I am saddened at everyone spending more money for less food it has inspired the Wife and I to get smart about food shopping.

-Chris


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Forlane said:


> We went shopping tonight also it cost us $56.77 which will be dinner for 4 adults for a week and lunch for 3 adults for the week nothing is frozen.
> 
> Normally the household spends around 150 a week on junk dinners like Hot pockets and $1 pizza's
> 
> ...


It can be done, but it takes time. I think they put some thing in the hot pockets, where you cann't live with out them. probably the same thing that's in chocolate.


----------



## Forlane (Jul 17, 2010)

SquashNut said:


> It can be done, but it takes time. I think they put some thing in the hot pockets, where you cann't live with out them. probably the same thing that's in chocolate.


LOL Thanks for the encouragement, I hope to help my wife's mother and sister off the junk as her mother needs heart meds and sister needs meds by the handfuls.

Although at Walmart the other day I saw no less than 3 carts in front of me in the same line that had the 24 pack boxes, all using EBT to pay for a shopping cart of similar quality junk. 

By the time it was my turn I was too embarrassed to use our EBT after the previous shoppers made EBT users look so bad.

Sorry for the thread derail.


----------



## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

City Bound said:


> yeah, once I found the asian and russian markets I was hooked. You find strange stuff there too, like sweet potatoe vine, wolf berry tips, and all kinds of strange chinese veggies, ices and ice cream made from red beans, peas, peaunuts, and corn, grass jelly, kimchi, and stuff that I have no clue what it is. *How about tiny fish, dried and covered in sugar as a candy snack? *


Like this, eh? This is a typical Asian dollar store just around the corner from me. On your right you see the bin on the top shelf with the bright red tag, those are little candied fishes. I have not got a clue what all the rest of the stuff is but it's all edibles. :happy2:










And the Chinese flower shop next to that hangs these paper umbrellas from the rafters to provide shade for the plants below.










.


----------



## ghmerrill (Feb 22, 2011)

Since were talking about changing cooking habits, I'll share here:

Our grocery cart used to be like the poster above-frozen foods, and other microwave junk. Over the last year things have gotten pretty tight, and we have decided to cut the garbage out of our diet, for both health and financial reasons....milking the goats for dairy, chickens for meat and eggs, baking rather than buying bread and snacks.....our kids had a friend over today, son of a co worker of my wife. I thought it would be best to have breakfast on, since she was dropping him off early-waffles- which all kids love, right? Except, these didn't come from a box, I used goat milk, and we don't do store bought syrup-its homemade blackberry syrup, jams, jellies, or honey. Poor kid wouldn't eat. Couple hours later, everyone wants a snack.... He won't touch the homemade granola....lunchtime rolls around, and I know he likes peanut butter and jelly, so that's what I tell them we are having. 

Nope.... He wouldn't even take a bite to try the honey almond bread I made his sandwich with. Poor kid. I scrounged in the cabinet and found an old packet of walmart brand fruit snacks-he was happy as a clam with those! 

I can't imagine the cost of feeding a family with those kind of picky eaters, given prices of stuff now.


----------



## time (Jan 30, 2011)

City Bound said:


> Time, they do that to keep track of what the demand is. I think it is pretty harmless. No one is going to throw you in jail because they found out from your card that you bought eggs.


I'm not surprized that some find it harmless. To each his/her own. The store knows what it sells, it doesn't need to know *who* it sold it to, to know what the demand is. It's not conspiracy stuff, this has been covered by MSM.

I no longer find it odd in this day and age a person would sell their privacy for 20 cents off the price of eggs.

Most preppers don't want the world to know they bought/buy large quantities of anything. Especially uncle sam. My comment was relevant to this forum. It was not direcected at you but was information for anyone that is interested. But, thanks for the remarks anyway. I have one(card) and don't use it. The checkout clerk always uses a generic card kept behind the counter so I get the savings anyway.

The fact is, all purchases(with time and date, your name and address, ect) the card is used with are kept in a database and is and has been accessed by goobermint. It's your choice to sell them the information. Just be aware that you are doing so.

Just one link here, it's late so I won't look for more. Dismiss it if you like.

http://blogs.forbes.com/moneybuilder/2011/01/26/is-the-government-tracking-your-credit-card-purchases/


----------



## megafatcat (Jun 30, 2009)

I am currently working in the San Francisco area. The prices of everything here is insane!


----------



## jessimeredith (Sep 12, 2004)

ghmerrill said:


> Poor kid. I scrounged in the cabinet and found an old packet of walmart brand fruit snacks-he was happy as a clam with those!
> 
> I can't imagine the cost of feeding a family with those kind of picky eaters, given prices of stuff now.


Don't feel bad...he would have starved here too! We don't do the junk buying anymore. Groceries at the Commissary are expensive enough (very few store brands) and are topped with a 5% 'surcharge' for the privilege of using the Commissary. Non-issue IF we were Stateside where I could seriously shop around. But here, in this tiny little German town, our options aren't huge. I do shop the economy a lot (juice, fresh fruit and veg, tea and a few other things are WAY cheaper out there) but the exchange rate still kicks our butt once the purchases have been translated back to dollars.

Now don't get me wrong...I love the Commissary, but we getting kicked in the teeth with the prices. Bananas are $.90lb (not including the surcharge) there but 39 cent Euro out in town. Same brand. The list of differences can go on and on.


----------



## house06 (Jan 4, 2007)

If I am not mistaken for those living overseas, you also get a COLA to help pay the difference between paying on military installations and local economies. Aren't you still allowed to use expired coupons in the commissary? If you are I have many and know that others might, who would be very happy to send them to you.


----------



## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

All I've got to say is Aldi. I routinely save 30-40% on my staples there. Canned veggies are half the price of our local grocery store. .48 for green beans or corn,.59 beets and carotts, .29 tomato sauce. Since our garden is basically dead in the drought I've been stocking up this way. 5# all purpose flour $1.39, sugar $2.09 for 4# which at .50/lb is the cheapest I've found. Filled all my buckets. Butter still $2.79/lb and we get great coffee beans that work out to $5.92/#; their Zambian blend. Plus ours has really nice fresh veggies for 1/2 local price. I can't be picky stocking up for hard times for 8 people. It may not be organic or grown within 100 miles but we'll be eating! Continue to put up what we can buy locally or keep alive in the garden plus our beef will go to freezer camp soon and the new pullets laying so fresh vegetable quiches back on the menu. DEE


----------



## Melissa (Apr 15, 2002)

Most stores will give you a card without a driver's license or anything, you can just fill in any name and they give you the card, if you are really concerned about it. I like getting the coupons and I don't buy enough in any place that uses a card system to worry too much about it.


----------



## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

ladycat said:


> Oh yuck. I have a big stack of sardine coupons I'll never use, because food that looks back at me creeps me out. :yuck:


Couldn't agree with you more. For me, though, it's only fish that do that. I've helped raised beef and birds for food, played with them, named them and had no trouble putting them in the pot. But fish, creeeeppy!


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

beaglebiz said:


> My garden isnt doing as well as normal. my beautiful bunches of grapes withered on the vine.


Shoot,mine was a 99% failure this year.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

City Bound said:


> Maybe people are thinking about anchovies???? Anchovies are a little hard for me to eat.


Those here come as little filets,yumm.

I dont shop at stores with cards but just down the hill from me is a multi million persons vallies,we have tons of shopping choices.And we will drive an hr each way to fill a vehicle with food when we do our serious pantry by the cases shopping.Glad Winco moved a couple stores closer to us.There are usually a few deals worth getting cases of.So I might have cases of green beans,peas,and corn and mango oranges and refried beans,maybe oil,whatever.

Lists? only a little of non sale items.But the pantry will have what I need eventually.Right now I still have a ton of canned green giant veggies....they'll get eaten but at 50 cents a can we bought cart loads.When i go to the regular store and see em at a buck or 1.39/can,yup,it was worth that 2 hour round trip to store and 12 dollars of gas.

When you live out with only a choice or two its mighty hard to shop cheaply.You do what you have to do then,be it Wally or club cards,if you need food and its half the price and wallet isnt packed you suck it up and politics gets lost in survival.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Part of the attack on middle class. Bought 2 bags rabbit pellets,1 -100 cracked corn and 100lb chicken grower= $78.00. This is part of our "grocery store". 2 hogs go in tomorrow and today I make the call on how much I'm going to put in jars, and the other cuts for the freezer. It all used to go in the freezer, but I'm not going to count on always have electricty anymore. Dh looked at the price of large mouth lids-$3.00. That is almost double from last year.


----------



## newbie (May 27, 2011)

house06 said:


> If I am not mistaken for those living overseas, you also get a COLA to help pay the difference between paying on military installations and local economies. Aren't you still allowed to use expired coupons in the commissary? If you are I have many and know that others might, who would be very happy to send them to you.




I would as well, I hate throwing the expired ones out every month, but we don't have any stores here that will accept them.


----------



## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

I've noticed that the price of heavily processed frozen foods haven't really went up at all. Most of the stuff is the same price it was 3-4 years ago meanwhile staples keep climbing up and up. I love pinto beans but the Wal-Mart I shop at got rid of the 25 pound bags and instead has 10 pound bags of them for nearly the same price. Now that I work in the grocery section of Wal-Mart I hear about price changes more often. My supervisor remarked that all the price changes have been on the order of 50 cents to a dollar more on almost everything.


----------



## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

I'll just roll out a few prices, so you can all feel better 

Cracked corn at WalMart because it's cheaper. 40 pound bag, $8.68, 50 pound bag $9.48
Oyster shell for the layers-$26.41 a bag
Toilet paper-big box store, Kirkland brand, 36 roll package-$24 to 28 depending on brand
Paper towels-8 to 12 roll bundles-$16 to $23
No roll USDA whole rib steak cut-$6.49 a pound, uncut.
Burger, bulk store, $3.99 pound
Dried beans-kidney-$1.69 a pound, 15 bean soup blend, $3.89 pound
Sugar, bulk store-25 pounds $19
Brown sugar, large bags-4 pounds? $3.68

Heck I dug out a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese just over the weekend, for a lunch for my son. These are running almost $2 a box singly now. I thought-gee, seems like a pretty small amount-checked box and the contents are now 7.25 ounces-instead of the 12 we used to get. I like to keep some boxed stuff around for quick meals-not a lot, but some. 

Rice a Roni, staple in many households....bulk store, $1.25 on promo. Used to be dollar about two months back. Same box in grocery stores is $1.70, roughly. 

Don't even go there on mayo, ha! Medium size jar, bulk store-just under $4 on promo. Grocery store, over $6.

Decent breads are now running almost $4 a loaf, anywhere. 

If the liars ever added in fuel and food to the consumer price index, they'd be in deep doo doo.


----------



## BoldViolet (Feb 5, 2009)

ghmerrill said:


> Since were talking about changing cooking habits, I'll share here:
> 
> Our grocery cart used to be like the poster above-frozen foods, and other microwave junk. Over the last year things have gotten pretty tight, and we have decided to cut the garbage out of our diet, for both health and financial reasons....milking the goats for dairy, chickens for meat and eggs, baking rather than buying bread and snacks.....our kids had a friend over today, son of a co worker of my wife. I thought it would be best to have breakfast on, since she was dropping him off early-waffles- which all kids love, right? Except, these didn't come from a box, I used goat milk, and we don't do store bought syrup-its homemade blackberry syrup, jams, jellies, or honey. Poor kid wouldn't eat. Couple hours later, everyone wants a snack.... He won't touch the homemade granola....lunchtime rolls around, and I know he likes peanut butter and jelly, so that's what I tell them we are having.
> 
> ...



Heh. We never got to be picky. Mom would make what she was making and if we didn't like it, tough.

Never went hungry, though! And I learned quick not to be picky.


----------



## jessimeredith (Sep 12, 2004)

house06 said:


> If I am not mistaken for those living overseas, you also get a COLA to help pay the difference between paying on military installations and local economies. Aren't you still allowed to use expired coupons in the commissary? If you are I have many and know that others might, who would be very happy to send them to you.


Thanks for the offer house but I'm good (give away coupons like crazy myself)...I do know there are a few web-based sites that take in expired coupons for sending to military installations over here. 6 month or less after expiration.

We do get COLA and personally we (me and the Soldier) make darn good use of it. Right now I've got our budget set for base pay only, which means the COLA goes towards savings/paying bills off faster. It's really the only way to set up a budget based on military pay overseas since the COLA rate can vary sooooooo much from month to month. 

I really have no right to gripe...we don't pay rent, electric or water...we get COLA to offset shopping costs on the economy...we have the Commissary and Exchange (overpriced but we have them at least). But I still like to gripe that the exact same fruit and veg at the Commissary costs twice as much if not more. lol


----------



## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

Pouncer said:


> I'll just roll out a few prices, so you can all feel better
> 
> Cracked corn at WalMart because it's cheaper. 40 pound bag, $8.68, 50 pound bag $9.48
> 
> ...


----------



## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

SquashNut said:


> It can be done, but it takes time. I think they put some thing in the hot pockets, where you cann't live with out them. probably the same thing that's in chocolate.


 Quite possibly true..lol.I just told my hubby I loved hot pockets and really want some. I will not buy them though...but still...


----------



## Andrea289 (Mar 30, 2011)

I've been trying to cut down on the groceries at much as possible. I've come to the realization that I am no longer as picky about what I eat because I just can't afford to be picky. I live in Texas and today it was about 107 degrees outside. The vegetables died a long time ago. So I'm having to buy from store or eat from stockpile.


----------



## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

pamda said:


> Quite possibly true..lol.I just told my hubby I loved hot pockets and really want some. I will not buy them though...but still...


try making some...
use pizza dough, ham, cheese...or sausage or meatballs and sauce and sweet peppers, even make a phila cheese steak one
I make them, and freeze...my boys can warm them up in the toaster oven or microwave for a quick snack


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

7thswan said:


> Part of the attack on middle class. Bought 2 bags rabbit pellets,1 -100 cracked corn and 100lb chicken grower= $78.00. This is part of our "grocery store". 2 hogs go in tomorrow and today I make the call on how much I'm going to put in jars, and the other cuts for the freezer. It all used to go in the freezer, but I'm not going to count on always have electricty anymore. Dh looked at the price of large mouth lids-$3.00. That is almost double from last year.


I bought enough flats to last us 5 years back when small mouth were still $1 a box.
And another 35 doz from a yard sale for $10. If you hit estate sales, be sure to look for canning equipment.


----------



## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

I have a pretty good stash of canning lids. This spring, I got worried and bought a full case plus a few more of the standard lids for $ 1.50 per dozen. I figured I would be golden for quite some time. Then I ran into a ad on craigslist for some jars and some canning lids. The jars were gone by the time I made a connection with the seller, but the lids were available. I got a full case of 60 dz standard lids , ball brand, for $ 60. The case is still in shrinkwrap. I figure if I need them, I got them. And they sure won't go bad, as long as I keep them in a dry storage area. 

One thing I am noticing is the price of used jars at garage sales. I like to buy them at .25 per jar or less. Recently I am seeing them at 50 cents each, and the seller does not want to come down in price. I bought a good number of cases of jars when Kmart had them on half price special a bit ago. That was a major good deal. 

And our silly Rescue Mission thrift store, thinks .99 PER jar is a fair price  
I have got them to come down sometimes in price, but it all depends on who is behind the counter waiting on people.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

If you buy all the jars the thrift stores have they some times give you a discount. The St. Vincents I used to buy from would give them to me for $2 a doz. But I had to clean their jar shed out. non canning jars were free. Some of those can be boil bathed in. Or if they have lids you can store dry good in them.
We must have cleaned the shed 3 or 4 times, before they went out of business. We'd get 15-20 doz jars each time. plus the mayo jars.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Unfortunately, a few years back I started to get rid of every jar that was not a true canning jar. Now I'm regretting than, not that I really need more jars, but since they can be used for water bath,....and,,, I've gotten more worried about the "what if" side of things. Same thing with canning itself, I don't "Need" to cann another bushel of Beans, but "what if". Luckly I have a good stock of lids, I buy them at the Mennonite store in "sleeves". We went thru this in the 70's, my Mom canned and I can remember the shortage of lids and Sugar.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

7thswan said:


> Unfortunately, a few years back I started to get rid of every jar that was not a true canning jar. Now I'm regretting than, not that I really need more jars, but since they can be used for water bath,....and,,, I've gotten more worried about the "what if" side of things. Same thing with canning itself, I don't "Need" to cann another bushel of Beans, but "what if". Luckly I have a good stock of lids, I buy them at the Mennonite store in "sleeves". We went thru this in the 70's, my Mom canned and I can remember the shortage of lids and Sugar.


I know, my dh didn't want to bring home the mayo jars, but I insisted.
Now every jar I get is used for some thing.
This is a what if year. The garden seems to be going in slow motion. Beds that I ususally get 2 crops on my only get 1 this season.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Yup, better safe than sorry, even if you start questioning your own sanity.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

7thswan said:


> Yup, better safe than sorry, even if you start questioning your own sanity.


That ship has sailed.
there are days when I am so tired. I don't want to do any thing more and i hate this whole process. I don't know what snaps me out of it, but I just start back up getting ready for, what i don't know.
That is till I get to the store, then I remember why we do it.
Some time I think we prepers have an over active survival gene.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Our thrifts think canning jars have silver linings,poor source around here.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I am afraid, if you weren't one of the ones who saw what was coming used canning jars may no longer be the best option.


----------



## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

I emailed ChristinaF this posts. :buds: She replied the prices in Liverpool are jumping fast there also. It is a world wide problem.

Whatever we can afford to buy now will save us a lot of money. In six months we will really tank and the food prices will rise accordingly. I see a lot of food prices much higher than it was a few weeks ago. :smack

"Now where is that food store flier with the lost leaders sales"? :shrug:


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Inflation is used to stimulate the economy.You go out and buy and even buy MORE than you would...hence sales up.

Its all planned,gov has made perfectly clear and said so,they are going to inflate the economy for that reason,well one reason,anyhow.


----------



## Gena (May 25, 2011)

SquashNut said:


> Our safeway here has a club card. But they play games with their prices. Yes they have b1g1f but they double the price of the one you buy.


This is where a price book comes in so handy. Sometimes the bogos are crappy, sometimes not. They are better if you can luck into a coupon, of course. I was feeling all nostalgic (or paranoid...you pick LOL!) a few days ago. I pulled out my 2008 price book. My stock up price on b/s chicken breasts then was 99Â¢/lb. Now it is anything lower than $1.88/lb. Burger was the same 99Â¢/lb. Now I'm lucky to find it under $2/lb. Every day price now is almost $3/lb for the cheap fatty stuff. That said, a somewhat local IGA has theirs on sale this weekend for $1.79. Depending on their limit, I'll try get enough to supplement our venison and last us through next summer. I may try canning some of it even though canning meat feels a little scary to me yet.


----------



## Gena (May 25, 2011)

time said:


> Just so everyone is aware, these cards are a way to track your purchases. All purchases with the cards are recorded and kept as a record with your name/information. Law enforcement(goobermint) can access this information.
> 
> Anyone with privacey concerns and big brother worries may want to aviod them. In short, your selling your information to the store. They offer savings to those that use them for a reason.


Never has a rewards card asked me to prove the information I gave them was correct. My late Great Grandma is quite the purchaser with her garbled up combination of my, mom's and sis's address and a work phone number from Kentucky LOL! Hard to believe a woman born in 1910 still needs prenatal vitamins :whistlin:


----------



## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Stopped at the store when I was in town running other errands today.
Challenge brand butter is up to $4.19/ pound--eek!
I had a coupon, but still.

Gonna have to make a mental note to stock up on butter the next time I see it on sale. It's freezes well, and doesn't take up much room in the deep freeze, so it's a good item to stock up on.


----------



## Gena (May 25, 2011)

farmergirl said:


> Stopped at the store when I was in town running other errands today.
> Challenge brand butter is up to $4.19/ pound--eek!
> I had a coupon, but still.
> 
> Gonna have to make a mental note to stock up on butter the next time I see it on sale. It's freezes well, and doesn't take up much room in the deep freeze, so it's a good item to stock up on.


Typically you'll find the "best" deals of the year on butter, flour, sugar and such in November and December. Although, even the loss leader sales this past holiday baking season couldn't touch Aldi's. The past few years Walmart has had pretty good canned veggie sales in December and January. It is nice to combine the rollback with my "Christmas gift" of 10% off on food to stock up on those.


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Gena said:


> This is where a price book comes in so handy. Sometimes the bogos are crappy, sometimes not. They are better if you can luck into a coupon, of course. I was feeling all nostalgic (or paranoid...you pick LOL!) a few days ago. I pulled out my 2008 price book. My stock up price on b/s chicken breasts then was 99Â¢/lb. Now it is anything lower than $1.88/lb. Burger was the same 99Â¢/lb. Now I'm lucky to find it under $2/lb. Every day price now is almost $3/lb for the cheap fatty stuff. That said, a somewhat local IGA has theirs on sale this weekend for $1.79. Depending on their limit, I'll try get enough to supplement our venison and last us through next summer. I may try canning some of it even though canning meat feels a little scary to me yet.


Gena, I find that meat is one of the easiest things to can, I was surprised when I got over that scary feeling. The taste is amazingly good. I put a chicken bullion cube in with chicken and a beef cube in with each jar of venison/beef.


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

farmergirl said:


> Stopped at the store when I was in town running other errands today.
> Challenge brand butter is up to $4.19/ pound--eek!
> I had a coupon, but still.
> 
> Gonna have to make a mental note to stock up on butter the next time I see it on sale. It's freezes well, and doesn't take up much room in the deep freeze, so it's a good item to stock up on.


Aldi's butter is usually around 2.79 a lb. I was skeptical that I'd like it and then found out that it really was decent. I usually buy 10 lbs at a time.


----------



## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

I wanted to make home made mac and cheese so I stopped in the store for some cheese and well, no mac and cheese tonight. Store brand was $3.79 for 8 ounces of cheddar.

Butter was on sale for $3.00 a pound and Milk (which I don't buy at the store but noticed the price) was $4.49 a gallon. Eggs (have chickens thankfully) were $2.29 a dozen for white medium. 73% ground beef was $3.79 a pound, glad I bought a load of it months ago on sale for $1.49 a pound.

I just don't know how people with lots of kids and no animals or garden can afford to feed their families.

Today's sale paper came out and a store has cheese for $2.00/8oz. so guess I will go buy a bit to put away.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

7thswan said:


> Gena, I find that meat is one of the easiest things to can, I was surprised when I got over that scary feeling. The taste is amazingly good. I put a chicken bullion cube in with chicken and a beef cube in with each jar of venison/beef.


I don't put any thing in it.


----------



## Guest (Aug 4, 2011)

TheMartianChick said:


> Aldi's butter is usually around 2.79 a lb. I was skeptical that I'd like it and then found out that it really was decent. I usually buy 10 lbs at a time.


That's one thing I'm going to check the price of at Aldi, if that dang store ever opens. Butter is high, and it's one of the few things that is usually cheaper to get store brand than to get a name brand with coupons. If it's cheaper there, I will stock up.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Yeah,butter is butter IMO,brand name doesnt matter.


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

FYI, here's my local Sam's Club pricing:

Butter unsalted, 4 lbs $10.12 today. On 2-28-11 it was $9.98.

My local Kroger's has it on sale at $2.99/lb.

ETA: I've noticed a much higher increase in pricing at Krogers and Walmart than at Sam's. I'm saving more now than last year at Sam's in comparison to even sale prices at Kroger and Walmart. No, I don't work for Sam's Club.


----------



## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

I keep a record of prices, last year you could buy "London Broil for $1.89 lb, Top Sirlon $2.99 lb, Porterhouse $3.99 lb.

This year "London Broil" $3.99-$4.99 lb, Top Sirlon $2.99 lb and Porterhouse $4.99 lb.

What amazes me is the price of "London Broil" has climbed 50 to 75% and the Top Sirlon is the same as last year. What is controlling the price of "London Broil?

Are they getting better prices over seas for "London Broil"? What is the deal?


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Packedready said:


> I keep a record of prices, last year you could buy "London Broil for $1.89 lb, Top Sirlon $2.99 lb, Porterhouse $3.99 lb.
> 
> This year "London Broil" $3.99-$4.99 lb, Top Sirlon $2.99 lb and Porterhouse $4.99 lb.
> 
> ...


Shopping at Staters I see......they have boneless chuck at 1.99 until tuesday....


----------



## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

I went to the store the other night and literally- what I bought - 5 yrs ago would have cost me around 45-50 dollars- cost me 91 bucks- it is wrong just wrong


----------



## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

Becka03 said:


> I went to the store the other night and literally- what I bought - 5 yrs ago would have cost me around 45-50 dollars- cost me 91 bucks- it is wrong just wrong


Not possible. The gubmint says our inflation is 0.3%.


----------



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

The "best price" here for Butter recently has been $2.50 per lb. 

I'd like to take to making my own but am not sure how far ahead I'd come out, if at all. How much milk does it take to make a pound of butter? Obviously milk composition will make a difference, but lets assume it's raw, whole milk from pastured and grained holsteins. How do I even figure that out? I guess I'm just going to have to get a couple gallons and give it a try and see where I stand.


----------



## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

Trixters_muse said:


> I just don't know how people with lots of kids and no animals or garden can afford to feed their families.


They only purchase loss leaders, buy those in bulk, then they plan their menu around their pantry and shop in their pantry.


----------



## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

You just don't take milk and make butter. It takes cream, lots of cream, to make butter. I make it if I am blessed with some cream, but it would be very expensive to make it if you have to buy it.


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

stamphappy said:


> They only purchase loss leaders, buy those in bulk, then they plan their menu around their pantry and shop in their pantry.


around here they take their kids to school for free breakfast and lunch.


----------



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

pamda said:


> You just don't take milk and make butter. It takes cream, lots of cream, to make butter. I make it if I am blessed with some cream, but it would be very expensive to make it if you have to buy it.


Cream comes from milk.  Obviously it must be raw or at least non-homogenized in order to separate the cream from it, but it does start out as a component of milk itself. 

As to how expensive, I guess that depends on how much you pay for the milk to begin with. 

I won't say I would come out ahead, because I've been putting off trying it so I really don't know. But I do think it would be close in our case simply because of the difference in prices I am paying now. 

Right now we drink non-homogenized, but pasteurized milk that I pay almost $5 per gallon for. Plus butter separately for $2.50 per lb. If, theoretically speaking of course since it's illegal to buy raw milk and I would never break the law, I had a source of raw, whole milk for $2 per gallon. I did a little googling and it seems that it would take the cream from about 3 gallons of average milk to make 1lb of butter. So if I bought 3 gallons for $2 each, for a total of 6 gallons and that yielded 1 lb of butter plus 2 gallons of skim milk that's much less than $12 I would have spent on 2 gallons of milk and 1 lb of butter at the store -- and that's with buying butter only on the best sale they have at the store. Of course that's all on paper. I would have to test the milk from the theoretical cows to see what their actual yield is... but there's potential there. Then figure one gallon of that skim milk could go to yogurt for additional savings... it's possible... maybe.


----------



## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

11 lbs lentils day before yest. 67Â¢/ lb.


----------



## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

There is a shortage of pinto beans, I am not sure why, but the price is going up.


----------



## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

Packedready said:


> There is a shortage of pinto beans, I am not sure why, but the price is going up.


Oh my. Do you have any links?


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

There is a shortage of food , all the prices are going up.

If your in the spokane area the Northwest pea and bean place may still have some left.


----------



## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

Packedready said:


> There is a shortage of pinto beans, I am not sure why, but the price is going up.


I've searched and I can't find anything about a shortage of pinto beans. :shrug:


----------



## Win07_351 (Dec 7, 2008)

I've found that regular powder works well for deordarant/anti perspirant, and has many more uses besides.


----------



## Becka (Mar 15, 2008)

Two months ago at save-a-lot vs. yesterday's trip:

jennie-o turkey hot dogs $.89. . . . .now $1.39
rotini pasta noodles $.99. . . . . . . .now $1.29
saltine style crackers $.79. . . . . . . now $.99
deli style pkg. lunchmeat $2.99. . . . now $3.69

These are items I buy on a regular basis to keep my budget down. Sigh. The GOOD news is that I finally found canned mushrooms there that are a product of USA! I haven't eaten canned mushrooms for a few years since they were all from China. The mushrooms I bought yesterday were $.69 for a small can.


----------



## shaycool (Sep 1, 2004)

$2.55 per pound for butter at Aldi's


----------



## julieq (Oct 12, 2008)

SquashNut said:


> If you buy all the jars the thrift stores have they some times give you a discount. The St. Vincents I used to buy from would give them to me for $2 a doz. But I had to clean their jar shed out. non canning jars were free. Some of those can be boil bathed in. Or if they have lids you can store dry good in them.
> We must have cleaned the shed 3 or 4 times, before they went out of business. We'd get 15-20 doz jars each time. plus the mayo jars.


Used canning jars at our local thrift store are .25 cents each. I think we've paid .75 to 1.00 for half gallon jars, which they have occasionally. We've bought them out multiple times!


----------



## ghmerrill (Feb 22, 2011)

Shopping today at a new store.. We went to the big city.... Definitely saved some money. Pinto beans were $12 for 20 lb! I was excited, that's the cheapest I've seen around here.


----------



## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

olivehill said:


> Cream comes from milk.  Obviously it must be raw or at least non-homogenized in order to separate the cream from it, but it does start out as a
> Right now we drink non-homogenized, but pasteurized milk that I pay almost $5 per gallon for.
> 
> Milk is still really low here,at 2.24 I think is what I paid this week. I will stop buying it at 3.00. I just do not use enough of it to pay that. And there are no kids here anymore. I got raw milk a while back, it was 5.00 for a half gallon. I was the only one drinking it then my son found it...grumble. It was so good and it did not hurt my intesinal tract. I want to get more but it cannot be budgeted in right now.


----------



## Guest (Aug 6, 2011)

Win07_351 said:


> I've found that regular powder works well for deordarant/anti perspirant, and has many more uses besides.



BEWARE: from my own personal experience I ended up with a very very painful lump under my arm that ended up being a clogged sweat gland that required a couple different antibiotics before the infection was taking care of..I don't put powder anywhere near my private area either!


----------



## 36376 (Jan 24, 2009)

beaglebiz said:


> My garden isnt doing as well as normal. my beautiful bunches of grapes withered on the vine.


The deer ate every single one of my grapes overnight. :Bawling:


----------



## justincase (Jul 16, 2011)

I can not keep up with the costsof the food. I have a neighbor that works at my local grocery store and she said she is raising prices 1.00 on items every week......these prices are killing us, less money to prep with and my garden is dying because of drought and horrible heat here......so frustrated


----------



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

pamda said:


> olivehill said:
> 
> 
> > Cream comes from milk.  Obviously it must be raw or at least non-homogenized in order to separate the cream from it, but it does start out as a
> ...


----------



## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

ladycat said:


> Oh my. Do you have any links?


I was in a major resturant suppy store yesterday. They would only allow you to buy5 (50) lb bags of pinto beans. The price averaged out to .67 per lb. Last year I paid .33 per lb.


----------



## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

olivehill said:


> pamda said:
> 
> 
> > . Suppose I just have to bite the bullet and do so. It just makes me a bit nervous. Raw milk from my own cow would be one thing. Raw milk that I have no control over... it makes me pause a bit. I would really love to make raw butter, yogurt, etc though ... and not have to wait the 4-5 years it will take me to get set up for my own dairy animal, too.
> ...


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

SquashNut said:


> I know, my dh didn't want to bring home the mayo jars, but I insisted.
> Now every jar I get is used for some thing.


I went into a serious funk when they stopped making glass mayo jars. Only glass mayo to be found now is a "sandwich spread"... actually bought some a few years ago, but it went bad before I could use it all... imagine buying something you don't even like or use, just to get the glass jar? :grin: A few months after that purchase, is when I stumbled into a double truckload cache of canning jars and mayo jars. I'd wrassle a small grizzly bear for a couple crates of glass mayo jars!



mightybooboo said:


> Yeah,butter is butter IMO,brand name doesnt matter.


If you've ever had fresh made butter, the taste is unique. I've tried every butter in this quadrant of the Universe, and HEB's "house butter" {unsalted, amazingly enough} is indistinguishable from the fresh homemade stuff. True, most all butters, except the HEB brand, DO taste the same. Just eating a spoon of the HEB stuff brings back fresh churned memories in my grandmothers living room...

On sardines... I've seen the time that I'd'a been willing to sacrifice a few small countries, for a can of oil based fishies... You spend a week on low quality low quantity carbs, and your stomach starts gnawing on your ribs, and some things just get in your brain and fester around, till you think your going mad.... things like unlimited mexican food, big thick steaks, sardines... milk shakes, etc. 

Can't think of much that has went down, and stayed down, foodwise.

When something "is" on sale, I bulk up... and slaughter em on the loss leaders...


----------



## Guest (Aug 6, 2011)

texican said:


> I went into a serious funk when they stopped making glass mayo jars.


That made me so mad! Even peanut butter is in plastic now.



texican said:


> If you've ever had fresh made butter, the taste is unique.


You are so right!!!


----------



## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

Two years ago, the mfg stopped making "classico pesto" in 12 oz atlas canning jars...a nice size for salsa or jelly. I buy it and stock it, because pesto is one item you have to freeze, and this is really quality stuff. they had the 12 oz (usable) jars in front of the junk 10 oz jars, I bought I think 20 jars of the stuff. I still have some, and Im still so mad about the whole thing, I probably wont buy more when I run out.

Another vote for sardines. I have Goya, VanKamps and Bumble Bee for emergencies. For a treat, I get King Oscar once in a while. (I also buy anchovies for caesar salad).


----------



## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

and I thought I was the only one to lust after the gallon jars in the bulk size isle; trying to convince myself into eating some of that stuff.


----------



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

beaglebiz said:


> Two years ago, the mfg stopped making "classico pesto" in 12 oz atlas canning jars...


WHAT?! Shows how long it's been since I bought some but ... darnit! I loved those little jars. I didn't can in them but they are SO HANDY for so many things around the house and look nice, too. And like you, since you can't home can pesto I always liked having it on hand in the jars. Now I don't even want to have to think about restocking when we run out.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Got my 1.99 chuck roasts and steaks.Sourdough bread 2.49

Lady bagging was savvy...."You only buy sales dont you?' YUP!


----------



## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

85% lean ground beef; on sale last week...$2.49 lb, next week, 80% $2.99
Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.99 lb, next week split chicken breast (bones and skin included) $2.49.
Boneless half hams $2.99 lb this week, $2.99 next week with bone in.
Love getting the store flyer on Thursday and the prices change on Sunday...plenty of time to see what is going where.
I yearn for the days for ground beef at $0.99/lb and chicken at $0.89 lb (even drums, thighs and legs are $1.49), especially with to grade school boys who are already eating like teenagers...
Matt
PS and yes, got 12 lbs of beef and 14 lbs of chicken to top off the freezer. Granted, now that I bought a meat grinder, might be able to lower the cost a bit more.


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

Krogers has split chicken beasts at 99 cents/lb starting today. I can bone a breast in less than 30 seconds, freeze the now boneless/skinless breast and make stock for canning from the bones. Hard to beat these days.


----------



## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> Krogers has split chicken beasts at 99 cents/lb starting today. I can bone a breast in less than 30 seconds, freeze the now boneless/skinless breast and make stock for canning from the bones. Hard to beat these days.



That is an excellent price one which I haven't seen in over a year & then that was only when the moon & stars were aligned.

bbgf (barter buddy girlfriend) called she has a line on a grass feed cow two counties over from a butcher we really don't have a personal relationship with. We are planning on a meet & greet bringing pie & homemade bread. Will purchase a few cuts & see how the quality of his skills are.
As to the cow a friend of a friend said her last one from the same farmer was good.
Unsure of the exact price but what has been figured is still much cheaper than the mega grocery stores.


~~ pelenaka ~~


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

My stepdaughter asked for a little lesson in grocery shopping 101 today. She is newly single and has 5 children to feed on her salary alone. Today's lesson was in the art of the loss leader. She was shocked to leave the store with a cart and a half of groceries and she only spent $100. Keep in mind.. one child is still in diapers!

We focused on a lot of the cheap filler foods. Bread was buy 1 get 2 free at Price Chopper and she also got English muffins on a similar deal. 8 oz brixks of Cabots cheese was on sale for $2, so we each bought a few types to use in recipes. She picked out a couple of big packs of deboned chicken breasts @ 1.88/lb and then focused on things for the kids' lunches, since they go to a sitter for the summer.

She's called me back twice since this afternoon, all excited. She can't wait to shop with me again. I noticed that other people in the store were paying attention to some of the things that I taught her about food storage and finding reasonable prices.. There was one lady who (I believe) was following us through the store. I swear that she put the same stuff in her cart as we put in ours!

She has a deep freezer that is large enough to fit 3 bodies in, so the plan is to get her stocked up really well so that she doesn't have to shop so often. It isn't easy shopping with all of those kids in tow! We also bartered a few things between our households. She had 7 boxes of whole wheat thin spaghetti that we adore and I had a small box of whole wheat linguini to give her.


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> Krogers has split chicken beasts at 99 cents/lb starting today. I can bone a breast in less than 30 seconds, freeze the now boneless/skinless breast and make stock for canning from the bones. Hard to beat these days.


The skinless ones were around $1.68 lb at Price Chopper. You got a steal! Right now, Wegmans is selling chicken drumsticks and thighs at 99 cents/lb. I already had plenty of those, so I didn't get any more today. We mostly bought salmon, tilapia and yogurt at Wegmans.


----------



## Guest (Aug 8, 2011)

TheMartianChick said:


> She has a deep freezer that is large enough to fit 3 bodies in,


That made me laugh! :happy2:


----------



## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Pinto beans were up $8 for the 50 pound bag today.


----------



## TracyB (May 24, 2010)

TheMartianChick said:


> My stepdaughter asked for a little lesson in grocery shopping 101 today. She is newly single and has 5 children to feed on her salary alone. Today's lesson was in the art of the loss leader. She was shocked to leave the store with a cart and a half of groceries and she only spent $100. Keep in mind.. one child is still in diapers!
> 
> We focused on a lot of the cheap filler foods. Bread was buy 1 get 2 free at Price Chopper and she also got English muffins on a similar deal. 8 oz brixks of Cabots cheese was on sale for $2, so we each bought a few types to use in recipes. She picked out a couple of big packs of deboned chicken breasts @ 1.88/lb and then focused on things for the kids' lunches, since they go to a sitter for the summer.
> 
> ...


Too bad you're not closer to me! I could use some pointers. Maybe you could make a post with some of your favorite shopping tips when you have time? 
Or if not, maybe a PM?


----------



## cider (Nov 13, 2004)

Stephen in SOKY said:


> Krogers has split chicken beasts at 99 cents/lb starting today. I can bone a breast in less than 30 seconds, freeze the now boneless/skinless breast and make stock for canning from the bones. Hard to beat these days.


Wow, thanks for the heads up!!!


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

TracyB said:


> Too bad you're not closer to me! I could use some pointers. Maybe you could make a post with some of your favorite shopping tips when you have time?
> Or if not, maybe a PM?


I would be more than willing to share what I know, but I don't feel that I'm an expert on this stuff. I mostly shop produce seasonally and watch for loss leaders on anything that we can use. I do use coupons and loyalty cards to save money. I like to buy whole ingredients because they are much cheaper and I now buy some groceries at odd places like bargain outlest and a few healthy food items can be found at the Dollar Tree. I mostly cook from scratch, but there are some quick foods that I do buy from time to time. I try to reuse glass jars, make my own laundry detergent and many of my cleaning supplies. I don't own a dryer so all clothes are line dried.

In my stepdaughter's case, she had fallen into the trap of buying everything at BJ's or Sam's Club. She never thought about keeping track of the price per ounce or per pound before. Knowing that she has 5 children and is a single parent (divorcing), she doesn't get much of an opportunity to sit down and plan things out. 

It is unlikely that she will create a price book or do any of the things that some of the super couponers do. Instead, I asked her in a phone conversation about the types of meals that she cooks and how often she cooks them. In about 20 minutes, I had a good idea about what she uses on a regular basis.

Next, I scoured the local Sunday grocery inserts to find out what was on sale at each store. We tried to buy as much as we could within the $100 limit that we'd set and made sure to set aside an extra $60 to cover emergency gas and money for something unexpected during the next week. I also instructed her to hang her grocery receipts on the side of the fridge, so that we can refer back to them to compare prices from time to time. (Instead of a price book) 

I also thought that this would be a good time to teach her a few homesteading skills. (Though I don't call them that when discussing this with her!) I told her that we'd get together this week to make our own cookie mixes in ziploc bags. I figured that it would be fun and it would force me to do something that I'd been putting off.

For her, it is going to take a lot of babysteps. She has never really planned her shopping to last more than a week at a time. With 5 kids and a (lazy)hubby , she has been stressed for years and shows a lot of signs of being perpetually distracted. I am selling her on stocking up as a way of reducing her stress. 

A few weeks ago, she came by my house at 9:30 pm with all of the kids. The kids hadn't eaten and she was coming from the grocery store where she was buying tuna so she could make tuna helper. I couldn't imagine dinner being that late, but it is common in her household! That was when I first offered to help her to stock up. When she asked me again last week about grocery shopping together, I felt that it was time for me to drop everything and help her.

Some of her comments yesterday really made me realize that these are basic life skills that are not taught in school, but are sorely needed right now. This generation doesn't have a clue as to how to manage a household economically and most don't know enough to ask for help. When the Great Depression happened, the majority of people still had some homemaking skills. That is no longer the case.


----------



## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

dont forget, pancakes and waffles are super easy to make, freeze beautifully and are much cheaper than english muffins (although I adore a toasted eng muffin with butter and jam)
you can even heat them up in a regular toaster


----------



## cnichols (Jan 5, 2010)

Speaking of english muffins. 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/traditional-english-muffins/detail.aspx

Great recipe and easy to make. 

And TMC, you are correct that "homemaking" is not something alot of people are familiar with. Unfortunate but true. Even now, I personally still struggle with it, as prices continue to rise and certain "pleasures" have to be cut.


----------



## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

In case anyone is running the numbers on the 99 cent/lb split breasts, I actually remembered to weigh the results of my first trip to buy:

Purchased 24.17 lbs split breasts
Yielded 14.2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts
and enough carcass with meat attached to easily can up 60 pints of chicken broth.


----------



## ccfromnc (Jul 23, 2011)

The Food Lion here has a Fri-Sat-Sun special.... 5 lb white potatoes for $1.37. Best price i've seen this summer. Time to fire up the pressure canner.


----------



## therunbunch (Oct 5, 2009)

I've been noticing the package prices going up, the packaging getting smaller, and the quantities getting smaller for YEARS. It's getting more drastic and more noticeable now though. Lots of crops in different areas of the country tanked this year. Bad time for prices to be going crazy. UGH.


----------



## salmonslayer (Jan 4, 2009)

Food prices are really up around here as well but luckily we have an abundant garden this year and we have been busy canning. Thankfully we got a ton of tomatoes, corn, beans, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, squash and various peppers and the black eyed peas are producing pounds and pounds of peas which we dry so we will be well fed this winter.

But bacon was almost $9.00 a package yesterday for a non-big brand. Ground chuck $2.89 a lb, cheap store brand chemical air sandwich bread was $1.30 a loaf, chicken is through the roof etc. Meat in general of any type is very high so we have been sticking to either our own production or bartering with other farmers.

But the freezer and pantry is full, hunting season is almost here, and we are just hunkering down.


----------



## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

Becka said:


> Two months ago at save-a-lot vs. yesterday's trip:
> 
> jennie-o turkey hot dogs $.89. . . . .now $1.39
> rotini pasta noodles $.99. . . . . . . .now $1.29
> ...


Wow- you have cheaper prices than we do! Turkey hotdogs are close to 3.00 a pack 
Rotini is usually around 1.49
Saltines are 1.99


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

The produce prices at Aldi's were crazy yesterday! I did buy a bag of apples to use for snacks to take to work or on photographic missions to keep me from snacking on bad stuff.


----------



## whiskeylivewire (May 27, 2009)

Doing my big shopping on Friday and I'm dreading it. I've told DH and the kids I will buy no more: oreos, hot pockets, frozen pizzas, potatoes chips etc. DSS10 refuses to eat anything anymore and he will literally go all weekend not eating until he can "go somewhere where they'll give me what I want". Well, he can starve because his favorite Red Baron french bread pizzas are 3.50 for 2 of them in the box. I can make them much cheaper-we'll see if that will work.

I've baked over 4batches of cookies since Monday because it's cheaper(and I can sneak in whole wheat flour as well). Chickens are laying just enough for it. Kids had pancakes for supper because it's cheap and I'm running out of stuff until Friday.

I will splurge on frozen precooked shrimp at Aldi's it's 3.99 a bag for the large size-around 30 shrimp in the bag. Ahai Tuna is super cheap frozen at Aldi's as well(but still not a great deal). 

It is a lot cheaper to buy food that you have to cook than premade-I know that and I am sticking to it now. There for awhile I wasn't in the best of health(still not really) so I was buying a lot of the premade stuff so I wouldn't have to cook...but now I'm just going to force myself to do it.

Anyway, I'll see what the prices are on Friday-I'm thinking of going to one of the local packing plants to stock up on burger, it's usually cheaper there. I stock up on coffee everytime I'm at a WalMart- it's at least 2 dollars cheaper than the local store(DH has to drink the Folger's Simply Smooth because of his heartburn). 

School starts in a week so that will save on the grocery bill as well. I can't convince the kids that boredom is NOT a reason to eat. The school district is now going through a company to provide the meals-supposed to be homemade and better choices, I hope so. 

Garden was horrible this year.


----------



## ghmerrill (Feb 22, 2011)

I hear you on the home cooking. two years ago almost everything we ate was frozen dinners, or those horrid betty crocker meals in a box that have enough sodium in them to preserve a dead body. We spent around $900 a month on groceries, and were pretty much out by the end of the month. Now, even with higher prices, we are spending around $600 a month for for the 6 of us, and that gives us enough extra to build up a pantry. We probably have two months worth on hand now. We still buy some commercially prepared stuff like lunch meat, tortilla chips, and a few snack items, but most everything is now home made, and I count it as a victory every time I find another recipe for something we used to buy..... Last night we had burritos, and I used the recipe for taco seasoning instead of using packaged seasoning, and I made home made chocolate syrup to put in the kids goat milk, and on the home made ice cream we had for dessert!


----------



## Guest (Aug 11, 2011)

ghmerrill said:


> Last night we had burritos, and I used the recipe for taco seasoning instead of using packaged seasoning,


I stock up on the mexican seasoning packets for free during the Cinco de Mayo sales, and by george, I'll keep doing that.

It would cost money to make my own tex-mex seasoning mixes, and those packets are just the right size! :bouncy:


----------



## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

I've been really busy lately, but today is the day to cook from scratch. I have shrimp thawing and I'm going to bake some cookies. I have one tired onion and a couple of green peppers to dehydrate. Once I clean the fridge, I'll start making up some entrees that can be popped in the oven or microwave to heat. If there is any time after that, I'm making angel biscuit dough to see how it does in the freezer.Tomorrow will be waffle day. The last time that I made them in my heart shaped iron, I made 20. They only lasted a week and a half. This time I want to make at least 50 or 60.


----------



## Guest (Aug 11, 2011)

I'm trying to cut down my grocery bill as the STICKER SHOCK is just to much for me anymore..it took some time to build up my pantry and the large selection of seasonings to this point..I can pretty much make alot of the commercial seasoning packets just from searching the internet finding a good recipe and pull out what I need from my spice rack ..I love this convience! I do not buy Italian dressing mix or dressing..I make my own taco seasoning..I make my own ranch dressing mix..I make my own bread as well as my own scratch frosting & brownies..I will continue to learn all I can to get away from the convience type foods..


----------



## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

I've figured it out!! I went yesterday for this month. I multiplied the number of items by 10.00 I was only a little short.


----------



## Guest (Aug 11, 2011)

salmonslayer said:


> Food prices are really up around here as well but luckily we have an abundant garden this year and we have been busy canning. Thankfully we got a ton of tomatoes, corn, beans, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, squash and various peppers and the black eyed peas are producing pounds and pounds of peas which we dry so we will be well fed this winter.
> 
> But bacon was almost $9.00 a package yesterday for a non-big brand. Ground chuck $2.89 a lb, cheap store brand chemical air sandwich bread was $1.30 a loaf, chicken is through the roof etc. Meat in general of any type is very high so we have been sticking to either our own production or bartering with other farmers.
> 
> But the freezer and pantry is full, hunting season is almost here, and we are just hunkering down.






:shocked: I can't believe how much they are asking for Bacon at your store..:runforhills: that is just plain rediculous! I guess I should be happy that I bought 24lbs of store brand hickory smoked bacon for $1.99lb..and just think I was upset that I had to pay that much when I use to get it on sale matched with a coupon for $1.50 or less per pound!


----------



## hengal (Mar 7, 2005)

TheMartianChick said:


> My stepdaughter asked for a little lesson in grocery shopping 101 today. She is newly single and has 5 children to feed on her salary alone. Today's lesson was in the art of the loss leader. She was shocked to leave the store with a cart and a half of groceries and she only spent $100. Keep in mind.. one child is still in diapers!
> 
> We focused on a lot of the cheap filler foods. Bread was buy 1 get 2 free at Price Chopper and she also got English muffins on a similar deal. 8 oz brixks of Cabots cheese was on sale for $2, so we each bought a few types to use in recipes. She picked out a couple of big packs of deboned chicken breasts @ 1.88/lb and then focused on things for the kids' lunches, since they go to a sitter for the summer.
> 
> ...


That is really nice of you to help her in that way. A lot of people know others do it (shop and save that way) but have no idea how to get started. What a wonderful friend she has in you!


----------



## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

Becka03 said:


> I went to the store the other night and literally- what I bought - 5 yrs ago would have cost me around 45-50 dollars- cost me 91 bucks- it is wrong just wrong


And if you had bought $500 in gold back then , you would be doing pretty good today at $1750/oz.

Reminder folks, it is not prices going up, as much as the value of the USD FRN [Federal Reserve Note] going down due to inflation.


----------



## ne prairiemama (Jan 30, 2010)

Not everyone has the $ to invest $500 in gold even though it might be a great idea  

I like your siggy!


----------



## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

ladycat said:


> That made me so mad! Even peanut butter is in plastic now.
> 
> You are so right!!!


 The Maranatha nut butters are still in glass jars. Around $6-10 for almond or cashew.


----------



## Guest (Aug 11, 2011)

GoldenCityMuse said:


> The Maranatha nut butters are still in glass jars. Around $6-10 for almond or cashew.


Most of the organic pnut btr is in glass, and yes, the Maranatha is, too. My mother uses the almond butter.


----------



## ghmerrill (Feb 22, 2011)

ladycat said:


> I stock up on the mexican seasoning packets for free during the Cinco de Mayo sales, and by george, I'll keep doing that.
> 
> It would cost money to make my own tex-mex seasoning mixes, and those packets are just the right size! :bouncy:




I've tried to coupon, and we do what we can with it, but having the finances st the same time the sales and coupons line up is the hardest part! 

I do like the fact that I can pronounce the ingredient list in home made items. :spinsmiley:


----------



## Guest (Aug 11, 2011)

ghmerrill said:


> I've tried to coupon, and we do what we can with it, but having the finances st the same time the sales and coupons line up is the hardest part!


I don't understand your statement. FREE doesn't take finances. :shrug:


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

shaycool said:


> $2.55 per pound for butter at Aldi's


2.25 yesterday at Costco,4 lbs/9 dollars.

Sugar was about .60/lb


----------



## whiskeylivewire (May 27, 2009)

I did a little shopping today, mostly just for today's meal.

Ground Beef(which is really nasty, mostly fat, I'm going to look at my local options)-2.59lb
Best Choice Hamburger Buns-1.19
Best Choice dill pickle slices-2.89(16oz I think)
Red Diamond tea with splenda-2.99 a gal. It was a splurge-but I won't do it again
Best Choice fries-2.89
Bananas 69 cents/lb
white onion-69c lb

The red diamond tea is a stupid buy I know that but the beef is so nasty for the price that I've got to find a better alternative until we get our beef butchered next year. Looking back, I could have bought potatoes and sliced them for fries instead of buying the frozen ones. *sigh, I still have a lot to learn.


----------



## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Well for me yesterday it 
Hot dogs
Chicken scrapins ina tube were 1.00
Dent pro and beef were 3.99 -4.99

Olives 3.50 a small bottle stayed on shelf
VElvetta 6.00 a box. stayed on shelf
BAlogna the same as hot dogs
Beef, What is that?
Hams 2.59-3.59 lb stayed on the shelf
Campbell Soup 1.30-199 stayed on the shelf
Butter 2.99-3.99 stayed on the shelf
Styrofoam ice cream 2.98 Good stuff 6.-7.00
Crackers 3.00 a box
Cream 4.00 a qt
Milk is still decent 2.69
Flour and sugar 1.99 four lb

For me it seems that the only way is to make it from scratch. The problem is time and that just maybe what they realize.
Its definitely 1980's all over again


----------



## Colorado (Aug 19, 2005)

I went shoping yesterday. 
Milk and bread. At kroger's plus some half price vitamins. Milk whole 2.99 

I Went to dollar store and got :
10 cans greenbeans
10 cans peas
2 sardines
10 cans cream of chicken soup
4 cans corn
1 dish soap.
2 1 qt cherry soda

$20. Soup .50 a can and most of the veggies. Kroger's had jumped their .50 veggies to .68. I thought I had gotten some carrots but not on the ticket or in the bags. Got to get put away. Need to get carrots. Dollar store does not have beets right now. 

Took back recalled turkey I had in freeze. Just one as had ate the other one. Got refund. 

Last month got cheese some thing like velveeta but white with peppers and Kroger brand. Not bad. 2 pound box was just under $5. I did not like velveeta prices either. Butter last week was 2.99 the cheapest. Got 2 then. I can not eat margerine now or shortening. That does make my bills higher. Peanutbutter I have to buy one with out the soybean oil. I found one. Skippy natural. This diet does not help my food bills any.


----------



## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

I got a bag of bacon ends today at the butchers for 80cents. Im going to use for making a big pot of beans for the weekend. I always look around, sometimes at the deli in the supermarket they will have bacon ends there if you ask. He also had bottom round roast for 2.49 lb. this was cheaper than hamburger, so I bought a good size one for about $8, and partially froze so I could slice paper thin (one thing strip of fat on the bottom that was easy to slice off). I used that to make Phila Cheesesteaks for supper (using cheese I have stashed) on home made rolls, with sliced tomatoes and a garden salad for dinner tonight. there is enough left over for two lunches for tomorrow. 
Sometimes our grocery sells short dated cheese cheaply, I got six 10oz blocks of crackerbarrel monterey jack for .99 each. I already have a fridge drawer filled with cheese, but I have found if you store it in block form instead of shreds, it lasts for a really long time after date.


----------



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Velveeta is not cheese! 

LOL!


----------



## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

olivehill said:


> Velveeta is not cheese!
> 
> LOL!


But it IS AMERICANA


----------



## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

mmm- I love velvetta and salsa melted together LOL
I love crap like hamburger Helper, easy cheese, hot pockets, frozen pizza ,chef borardee...
Do I buy it? NOPE- LOL
my Hubby and kids will not eat that stuff- they are spoiled with me cooking from scratch !!!!
when Hubby goes out of town- I have been known to make a box of Tuna Helper tuna noodle cassarole - and eat the whole thing LOL....I of course get them on sale and with a coupon, then stash them until he is out of town as a treat for myself LOL
sad sad sad- I know


----------



## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

Becka, I know what you mean about that stuff being a treat. LOL It's funny how we use that "junk" food as treats and many people use that stuff to live on daily because they don't know how to cook real food from scratch.


----------



## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

PATRICE IN IL said:


> Becka, I know what you mean about that stuff being a treat. LOL It's funny how we use that "junk" food as treats and many people use that stuff to live on daily because they don't know how to cook real food from scratch.


I liken it to me growing up dirt poor literally dirt poor- and my mom making things like dandelion salad and eggdrop soup instead of chicken noodle soup when we didn't feel well- I never got the newfangled box mix foods LOL
a good thing cause I know how to cook- but I the 8 yr old in me wants Beefaroni for dinner! :thumb:


Our Local grocery store this week has 
Split Chicken Breast, Drumsticks or thighs for 99 cents
store brand jelly 1.50 for 20 oz
Sargento Shredded Cheese 2 for 5$ 7 oz bags
ground turkey is 3$ for 1.25 lb
Beef or Cheese Franks~ 3.00
Celery- 2.00 a bunch


----------



## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

:hijacked: I run our church's food pantry and I'm amazed at how many people cannot cook from scratch. They only want things that are quick and easy to prepare, like boxed dinner kits or food that can be cooked in the microwave. The old fashioned oatmeal is sitting there gathering dust because you can't just rip the packet open, pour it into a bowl and nuke it. :shrug: It's not hard to :stirpot: old fashioned oatmeal, I imagine you can even cook it in the microwave. I'm not sure of that because I don't own a microwave.  I know, I'm the odd one, but I don't want a *possible* cancer causing kitchen appliance in my home. 

Ok now I'm returning you to the original thread now........carry on. LOL


----------



## Guest (Aug 12, 2011)

PATRICE IN IL said:


> The old fashioned oatmeal is sitting there gathering dust because you can't just rip the packet open, pour it into a bowl and nuke it. :shrug: It's not hard to :stirpot: old fashioned oatmeal, I imagine you can even cook it in the microwave.


I wish you could send that unwanted oatmeal to me!!

Old fashioned oatmeal is so EASY.

I put 1.5 cup water into a pan. While it's heating, I add a little salt and butter. As soon as the water starts boiling, I stir in 1 cup oats.

It's ready almost as soon as it starts boiling again.

I have no idea about fixing it in a microwave. :shrug:


----------



## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

PATRICE, I hear you. It's scary how many people don't have a clue how to fix a meal.

You all don't know how lucky you are to have choices! We have 2 grocery stores here prices are pretty much the same in both, we're on an island so there are no choices.
I shop VERY little in town, rely primarily on what I grow, gather and order from Azure. I haven't bought fresh milk or store-bought bread in years. Who's got that kind of money! And boy is it getting worse.

Butter: on sale at $4.79
Milk: $5.29 a gallon
Bread: on sale $3.79, reg $5.19
Brown eggs $2.99
Organic eggs $3.35 for 6
Mayonnaise $6.50 a quart

Gas here is $4.79 I don't drive much but I have to think whether I can afford to run out the logging roads searching for berries or meat and make sure it's cost effective.
I am so glad I learned how to feed my family years ago. I'd hate to be one of those trying to provide for a family and not know how to cook real food.


----------



## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

You can make old fashioned oatmeal in the microwave. My kids do it all the time. They don't know any different than the old fashioned type. 

Even easier though is to make it "overnight oatmeal" add equal parts oatmeal and milk (soy, dairy, whatever you like) to a bowl, stir in seasonings and tid bits of your choice -- we sometimes add raisins, sometimes cinnamon and diced apples, sometimes dried cranberries, and so on and so forth -- cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning either nuke until warm or, in the hot months, enjoy it cold.


----------



## ghmerrill (Feb 22, 2011)

Ladycat, 

I'm just not that good yet! (just call me grasshopper! )

Groceries just got cheaper here today! Apples are ready to pick. Filled one 5 gallon bucket of apples- peels and cores, and ends made 16 cups of applesauce, the apples themselves went in the solar dehydrator. Thank you to whoever said they use the peels and cores for sauce, in whatever thread that was! I was amazed.... Less than a cup TOTAL in waste from a 5 gallon bucket of apples! The leftover waste went to the pigs, so I guess I really can't say it was waste....


----------



## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

We microwave "old fashioned" oats here, too - and olivehill's overnight method (post 172) is great. Makes for a very nice texture DH likes.


----------



## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

I hate the Microwave, dont know how to cook in it either and it takes up my precious counterspace, I only heat up my coffee in it.


----------



## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

[[[[....The old fashioned oatmeal is sitting there gathering dust because you can't just rip the packet open, .....]]]]]]

Perhaps you could hand out a recipe for home made granola with the oats. Very easy to make and a batch can last several weeks of quick and easy breakfasts.

But yes, it is sad. I used to eat a lot of food from the old commodities program. I knew people who would keep the butter and cheese and throw everything else away. I was given a lot of flour and cornmeal that they couldn't be bothered to learn to cook with.

My father owned a laundromat and every month when the commodities were handed out, his dumpster was full of flour and cornmeal, canned meat, dried eggs, and every thing else the government had handed out for free.

Now on the food stamps, they just buy heat and eat meals and junk food.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

whiskeylivewire said:


> I know that but the beef is so nasty for the price that I've got to find a better alternative until we get our beef butchered next year.


You are the perfect candidate for grinding your own burger,read this thread.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=407617

Not that we needed it but at Costco #10 cans of green beans and corn were 50% more product for half the price of six 15 oz cans.We figure when we open one we will freeze the remainder.They were 2.99 and 3.29 per #10 can.Figure we will flash freeze the remainder on a cookie tray and into a ziplock and just pour out what we need.

Thats a huge savings!

Last couple years has seen 100% inflation and more on Campbells soups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bash:

Want to hear my inflation rant and Gold and why it ISNT a bubble?.....nah,different thread


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

I'll admit its been a while since I bought printer paper but still.....its 400 sheets (20% less) instead of 500,and it costs 50% MORE.


----------



## Guest (Aug 13, 2011)

mightybooboo said:


> I'll admit its been a while since I bought printer paper but still.....its 400 sheets (20% less) instead of 500,and it costs 50% MORE.


If you're near an Office Depot, Office Max, or Staples, they have deals all the time where you can get it free or pennies on the dollar.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

ladycat said:


> If you're near an Office Depot, Office Max, or Staples, they have deals all the time where you can get it free or pennies on the dollar.


Examples? what does the freebie make you buy,limits,like to hear more.


----------



## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

Booboo, Walgreens just had that on sale last week for $1.99 a package, limit 3 packs. Watch the back to school sales, you'll find it on sale everywhere now.


----------



## Guest (Aug 13, 2011)

mightybooboo said:


> Examples? what does the freebie make you buy,limits,like to hear more.


I currently am using a 10 ream box (500 sheets per ream), that I paid $10 for. That's $1 per ream. I got it when Office Depot had it on sale, regular $40. Sale $20. I printed a coupon off the Office Depot website for $10 off any $20 purchase (excluding electronics).

With the coupon and sale, I got the 10 reams for $10.

You can also easily get free copy paper at stores that allow overage on coupons, or that have rewards you can build up. You can do this at Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and other stores.

All the office supply stores have good sales all the time. The best sales are during back to school.

The sales vary, I can't give one stock answer, it will be different at different stores and different times. Sometimes it's a MIR, sometimes instant rebate, sometimes something else.

*Sale that starts tomorrow at Staples: *
Hammermill 8.5x11 CopyPlus Copy Paper *50 cents a ream* after MIR- Limit 2
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forum...nical-pencils-7-pk-after-mir.html#post3034903

*Sale that starts tomorrow at Office Depot:*
Office Depot Brand Multipurpose Paper *1 cent per ream* After MIR Limit 2
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/forum...0-11-1-cent-paper-ream-limit-2-after-mir.html

(MIR = mail in rebate)


----------



## Trixters_muse (Jan 29, 2008)

Anyone near a Food Lion and wanting to stock up on beef should see if your local store has the Sirloin Tip I grabbed for $2.28 per pound. You have to buy the whole tip, but they slice it however you want free. Mine was $50, but they had smaller ones and bigger ones.

Also, my local Save A Lot had ground been for $1.99 a pound and yellow squash for 49 cents a pound.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Most MIR dont go to PO Boxes.....


----------



## Guest (Aug 14, 2011)

mightybooboo said:


> Most MIR dont go to PO Boxes.....


I've gotten around that lots of times by putting the street address of the PO on one line, followed by the PO Box on the second line. (Works better if you use POB # instead of PO Box #). The computer is looking for a street address and finds it, and is happy with that.


----------



## bee (May 12, 2002)

Mom just got one of those Food Lion sirloin tips and very happy with it. Had a few steaks cut but mostly ground.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Took a boneless chuck roast and cut off some fine looking steaks......


----------



## ghmerrill (Feb 22, 2011)

ladycat said:


> I've gotten around that lots of times by putting the street address of the PO on one line, followed by the PO Box on the second line. (Works better if you use POB # instead of PO Box #). The computer is looking for a street address and finds it, and is happy with that.


We started using this format:

ghmerrill
12345 some road, box 1234
Somewhere, ST zip


by doing the physical addy and the po box on the same line, no problems, and we always get whatever it is, whether ups, fedex, or us mail.


----------



## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

Vons -Safeway has London Broil as loss leader ad $2.27 lb. It is very nice and the fat is well trimmed. I had them grind 25 lbs and grind only once and slice 20 lbs and remove any fat for beef jerky. I am not sure if the price will get any better than $2.27 this year as last year it was $1.99.


----------

