You guys, I am just so beyond tired of the grocery prices. It's disheartening to go into the store and realize that even if you pick up the bare minimum to eat, you are still going to walk out with almost $500 in groceries.
I understand that it differs for every family, of course, and I'm speaking for myself and mine. I remember being able to do a bi-weekly grocery shop for us all, for $200. Now? I spend $450, don't get nearly as much as I used to, have cut back dramatically on meats and other products, and feel completely defeated. Not to mention, I am having to do top up shops at least once sometimes twice a week, for things we run out of. I guess if I really look at it, it's not just $450 but way more, once you add in those little trips to the store for top ups.
*sigh*
I just can't wrap my head around this. I look at the bags and that's about half of what I used to get. Maybe it's just me, but that amount of bags should not be the price it is. What is happening?
I've cut back, I've redone the grocery budget, I menu plan and try to make cheap healthy meals. I have redone the budget itself many, many times over and I am stuck in a rut of juggling food and bills. I know I'm not the only one, but since this is my blog, feel I can vent a little, or a lot. Right?
Would love to hear from you all, how you are getting around the constant rise of grocery prices, meals and so on.
I've actually started pulling out some cookbooks to try and come up with a plan of attack, in case things keep going up the rest of the year. Also been watching many videos on YouTube about depression era cooking and cheap meals. It's a fight after a battle, constantly, but I believe we can do it. The important thing is to acknowledge that there is an issue and then work on a solution, so I'll remove my head from the sand and stop pretending nothing is happening, and just come up with a way around all of this, or a way through it rather.
Can I just say that I really don't like Ramen Noodles? I know, weird, strange fact to throw into this conversation, but just noticed them in the picture and it reminded me how much I dislike them. But, my husband and son love them as a quick lunch, so I try to keep some on hand. Those will last all month long and they're also pretty inexpensive.
I think it's easier for people who like or enjoy things like that, whereas for me who is trying to maintain a healthy way of eating and also doesn't like those kind of meals, it makes it even harder. The healthy food tends to be the most expensive, so for me I'm sticking with yogurts and fruit, a multigrain sandwich or some scrambled eggs for my lunches.
I thank God every day for making my dream come true, of having chickens. We get a daily supply of eggs which is wonderful and certainly helps with the food budget too. Just need to plan more a garden year round to try and cut back on grocery store purchasing of fruits and vegetables. Well, vegetables at least, we have some fruit trees but they're not producing yet, and I don't have a banana tree which I would love to.
Our local nursery is amazing though, and I've been following them and looking into purchasing a banana tree to try and get it growing in my yard, it can be done in our area and that would certainly be a learning project for me.
One thing I do at the store, is to purchase some of their sale items, especially fruit which is going ripe, and use that for my breakfasts or for banana bread, or sometimes I bring them home and freeze them.
That bag of apples you see me adding to the fruit basket above, was on sale for a little over $1. It contained 6 apples that still looked good, just had some bruising here and there. They will get eaten pretty quick here at home so there's no risk of them going bad.
Sometimes the commissary has bags of peppers that also need have a little spot here or there, or a wrinkle, so they put them out for very cheap, and I bring those home, chop them up and freeze them. They're great to add to meals or salads.
Honestly I find feeding my family easier during the winter months, because I can do more stews with minimal meat and more vegetables, or soups and some sandwiches. Summer time for some reason, has always been harder, it definitely reflects on my budget.
So, I'm very much looking forward to the cooler months, not just because I'm sick and tired of these horrid temperatures, but also for the warm filling soups and stews. Pair them with a slice of fresh homemade bread and that's a meal that will leave everyone satisfied and full, and be lighter on your pocket too.
I'm already planning for the cooler months, getting ideas and preparing meal plans and grocery shopping lists.
For now though we will continue shopping and crying, at least for a few more weeks right? Hahahah
I would love to hear from you all, how are you getting around these prices, are you planning, have you had to change your meals accordingly, or cut back on certain items?
Let's chat in the comments, maybe we can help each other with great ideas.
6 comments:
I wish I had an answer for you but it seems you are figuring it out better than I am. It's been quite a struggle with a family of 4 and even when I go to the discount grocery stores I'm still draining the bank account. Grocery shopping and meal planning has become my least favorite chore. Trying to decide what affordable options there are that are also healthy. The cheap items are the processed unhealthy things but that's what's been my go to lately. We have a small garden of just tomatoes and peppers but next year I'd like to add more. We've done what we could to try to cut other expenses to help. I really do believe it's the grace of God getting us through. I do pray we find relief from the prices soon.
Grocery prices have seen a gradual increase here, especially the supermarket basic items. I'm careful how I shop, and I meal.plan, but I still spend far more each week now than I ever used to. Xx
HOWDY FROM KANSAS! It may not be anything you would want to do, but sometimes have two meals a day, no breakfast. We have breakfast for supper sometimes. I actually like cereal for supper. Cutting corners when we have pop corn for supper every once in a while instead of a full blown meal. I know when my mom was a girl, they might have bread and butter for supper and that was it. I'm starting to make more bean dishes and vegetarian. Making taco potatoes with ground turkey is a winner that's very affordable. Less expensive than beef and less fat. And then there are all kinds of dishes to make that only have 3 ingredients in them. We eat a lot of egg dishes and potato dishes. It isn't pleasant to have the grocery prices continuing to climb, but I do my best to do what I can and I have been a full time homemaker for almost 50 years. Bless each meal and trust in the LORD. AMEN. Don't give up. You have a creative mind and will come up with inexpensive meals that are delicious and nutritious. God bless.
~d from homehavenministry.blogspot.com also known as life on the prairie w/d
I use everything I get from my garden to keep me from buying at the store. I will also buy from local produce stands first. I have found I can use 1/2 of a pound of breakfast sausage to make 12 egg cups vs using the entire pound for patties as a side. I just try to think about how to make what I do buy go furthur. Are garden didn't do as good as last year, but every bit helps. We also stay away from processed foods and try and focus meals on real foods in the meals. I do buy cheeses but perfer feta in our salads. I have thought about crocheting some items and offering a barter with friends who have gardens as well.
Have to say, yes, some prices are out of sight. We watch the "scratch-n-dent" aisle for bargains. Some of the $4-5 bread for less than a dollar; I get and freeze. Find Aldi's has their brand which is just as good as Kroger/Publix (good weekly BOGO items there - especially coffee two (2) bags for less than $9)! Just the two of us and my husband has eaten just about anything I prepare, except for the over-salted rice (who knew) when we were first married. Have tomatoes, peppers, sweet/white potatoes, an assortment of beans in the garden, but it's been too hot this summer, so production was down. Re the banana tree, we have had at least 10 growing for many years, two blossomed this year, small bananas, but don't think they will ever be big enough to harvest/eat. Tree dies back in the winter. The fig tree produced tremendously this year (have 9 gallons frozen for wintertime smoothies as husband doesn't eat them, other than jam or while he picks them)! Are we not fortunate to have choices like these while the rest of the world suffers and is less fortunate? God Bless us all and America with good shopping/meal preps!
I just told my husband, as he was looking in the pantry for chips last night, that I won't be buying chips at $5 a bag! I just can't do it! I buy my meat from Omaha Steaks and then buy everything else from Walmart. I like doing grocery pick up because I can see what I'm spending. By ordering once a month from Omaha Steaks, I can plan my meals around the meat and just add a veggie and/or side dish. This also helps me decide what I'm willing to spend on meat for the month. If I walk into the grocery store, I spend way more than I want to. So I limit myself to the store, maybe once a month, and the rest of the weeks, I order online and try to keep it to $100 per week.
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