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Post by craftedbys on Feb 9, 2022 17:28:17 GMT
With the increase of so many food items have you found yourself cooking or eating differently?
I no longer drink cokes (actually Dr. Pepper zero or Diet coke mostly) on a daily basis. I drink an extra half cup of coffee and then switch to water, which is actually a good thing for me. Cokes are now a weekend indulgence or special treat.
I have added soft margarine to the fridge to use for toast etc and save real butter for my baking. My Dad loves butter (probably more than he should, but at 94 who am I to scold him) and we used to go through a ton.
I am also switching out some ingredients or omitting them all together if it doesn't make a huge difference.
Instead of sun dried tomatoes (at almost $5 a package) I substituted a 99 cent can of fire roasted tomatoes with no noticeable change to the dish.
I am becoming more watchful about throwing away leftovers. We have Hunger Games one night a week and I try to incorporate leftovers into other dishes (adding firecracker carrots into soup).
So what changes are you making to stretch your food budget? What items are no considered treats instead of must haves?
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Post by epeanymous on Feb 9, 2022 17:32:46 GMT
Honestly in some ways it has had a perverse effect on me. I have to feed myself a few nights a week this year (usually my husband does the cooking), and I have discovered that, with rising grocery prices, it is often comparable or cheaper to just buy a store-prepared thing from the deli case at the supermarket for myself rather than buying raw ingredients and making a meal from scratch. It's also often cheaper to pick up cheap takeout than to cook for myself. So now I'm eating "treats" more often.
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tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,864
Jun 26, 2014 22:49:09 GMT
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Post by tracylynn on Feb 9, 2022 17:34:37 GMT
Honestly, not really. For the most part, meat is where I'm seeing the most increases and while I don't eat a ton of meat necessarily, I do keep myself stocked. It costs what it costs. I get my meat at Costco, so don't shop sales, etc.
My money is being saved by not eating out 2-4 times a week and having Starbucks every morning. I only go to town for groceries every week or two. On those trips I'll grab a Starbucks, but rarely do I grab restaurant food. Since I'm work from home still, it's been easy.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,330
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Feb 9, 2022 17:37:25 GMT
The biggest change at my house is DH are mostly empty nesters this year. We don't have to cook as much so that saves on the food budget. We also bought another 1/2 cow last Fall which will last a long time and saves us from paying variable grocery store prices.
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Post by papersilly on Feb 9, 2022 17:38:16 GMT
yes, i buy meat in bulk so i can divide and freeze. family packs are usually much cheaper than just a pound.
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Post by angieh1996 on Feb 9, 2022 17:38:52 GMT
I've switched to buying my beef from a local farmer. Its way cheaper across the board doing it that way. We buy a half a cow along side my sister. That will last us a little over a year or longer. I buy bulk from sams or costco and use my food saver when I find a good price on chicken and pork. I try to hit the sales and buy one for now and 2 for later on any canned or boxed goods and have stocked up quite a bit in our pantry. We also garden every year so we can a lot of veggies. I make my own Chicken and beef stock to save on that also. We try to go through our pantry and plan a few weeks of menus so we aren't always running for the store, which always leads to buying crap we don't need. Like you, I try to switch out some ingredients if something I normally use is super pricey. I try to take left overs to work for lunch so we are not throwing food away. I keep a freezer bag for veggie scraps, onion skins and meat bones to use in stock.
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Post by bc2ca on Feb 9, 2022 17:47:50 GMT
I'm buying less meat overall, more bone-in meats than before and paying more attention to what is on sale.
I just stocked up on whole spices at a Persian grocery store and they are way less expensive and give me a chance to play with a new mortar & pestle.
We are still eating pretty much the same things and have a fend for yourself night about every 3rd day so leftovers get eaten instead of tossed.
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Post by busy on Feb 9, 2022 17:50:13 GMT
I'm not. I suppose I should, but I'm not.
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Post by cmpeter on Feb 9, 2022 18:12:28 GMT
We haven’t really made any changes.
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Post by Merge on Feb 9, 2022 18:14:21 GMT
You know, I feel like we had already done so much to cut down on the cost of groceries that we've just had to absorb this latest increase.
We don't eat much meat to begin with.
When we do eat meat (pasture raised and finished) it's in a "surprise box" from a local farm. We get a certain number of pounds for a set price each month. Mostly bone-in cuts, not necessarily the most popular commercial cuts. It lasts a long time because we don't eat much to begin with.
I shop for produce based on what's in season because it's better and cheaper. I rarely buy pre-cut produce - I can cut my broccoli into florets myself and slice my own apples. Much cheaper.
We've seriously cut back on diet sodas for our health. We've also started drinking more regular water from the tap and less carbonated water in a can.
We buy very few packaged meals or snacks. I cook from scratch most of the time.
I'd say as we get older, we're also trying to be even more cognizant of what a reasonable portion looks like. We try to snack less and not eat if we're not hungry. Less food consumed.
So our prices have gone up, but realistically I've already cut back as much as I'm willing to.
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
Jun 26, 2014 0:29:24 GMT
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Feb 9, 2022 18:15:59 GMT
I already planned meals around the sales, bought produce in season, served limited meat. I haven't really changed how I cook, it's just costing me more.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Feb 9, 2022 18:22:50 GMT
I have discovered that, with rising grocery prices, it is often comparable or cheaper to just buy a store-prepared thing from the deli case at the supermarket for myself rather than buying raw ingredients and making a meal from scratch. It's also often cheaper to pick up cheap takeout than to cook for myself. So now I'm eating "treats" more often. Same here. We are empty nesters so only two to cook for, and neither of us are big on leftovers. DH has been doing a local meal plan for a couple of months, so mainly I'm just cooking for myself. It's easier to buy a meal from the store deli counter and not any more expensive. When I do cook, I am paying attention to prices, trying less expensive cuts of meat, focusing on fruit/produce that is in season. I am also using my Food Saver more now to make produce last a bit longer and to store extra servings of soups and sauces in the freezer.
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iluvpink
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,281
Location: Michigan
Jul 13, 2014 12:40:31 GMT
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Post by iluvpink on Feb 9, 2022 18:34:52 GMT
Not much yet. But I am bad about shopping for deals and often just order online without paying much attention to prices. That's going to have to change. I need to start planning better and shopping sales. It's just getting ridiculous and the short cut items I use cost too much. Instead of buying the thin cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I need to start buying the big packs of regular ones and portion them out and pound them thin myself before cooking.
Of course I also need to find the big packs of the chicken breasts that aren't the store brand at our local store. Those tend to be tough and stringy at times.
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Post by chitchatgirl on Feb 9, 2022 18:39:03 GMT
Not really. Prices aren’t going to go down and Im not at the point of changing how I cook. I was already shopping sales and eating leftovers. I work at home so I almost always eat leftovers. Being able to work from home offset a lot of these rising costs.
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pilcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,916
Aug 14, 2015 21:47:17 GMT
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Post by pilcas on Feb 9, 2022 18:44:42 GMT
I really haven’t changed anything about the way I cook. I always took leftovers to work for lunch, I have always made some type of vegan bean soup once a week and we still buy chips and cookies for the kids to snack on or they will end up buying it themselves. My husband always stocks up on things when they are on sale and we don’t have a problem alternating brands.We go out to dinner once a week and if we wanted to save a some money cutting out one week of dining out would be a more substantial savings.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Feb 9, 2022 18:45:23 GMT
I haven't really changed the meals that I make, but I am trying to cut down on snacks. I would love ideas on how people ration snacks for kids. My boys go through snacks so quickly and it drives me crazy.
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keithurbanlovinpea
Pearl Clutcher
Flowing with the go...
Posts: 4,267
Jun 29, 2014 3:29:30 GMT
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Post by keithurbanlovinpea on Feb 9, 2022 19:02:36 GMT
I've been trying out more generic and store brands, and despite how much I loathe it, I have started shopping at more than one store (thank goodness for curbside) in order to take advantage of big sales. I won't drive to two or three stores to save 50 cents, but this is where meal planning has helped me out. Once I know what I need, I check prices at the three stores that are on my go-to list and try to group sale items together at each store. I especially keep an eye on meat sales. The other thing is I am doing more casseroles. I feel like it stretches my meat budget further
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 13, 2024 7:28:58 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2022 19:35:30 GMT
I haven't really changed the meals that I make, but I am trying to cut down on snacks. I would love ideas on how people ration snacks for kids. My boys go through snacks so quickly and it drives me crazy. Mine are teens now, so it doesn't apply as much, but when they were younger I had a basket of pre-portioned snacks like cheese its, granola bars, trail mix.... They could pick something from there once a day. The rest of the day they were welcome to have as many fruits or cut up veggies or string cheese that they wanted the rest of the day. (If they went crazy with the string cheese I would have limited that as well, but they were reasonable.
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Post by sean&marysmommy on Feb 9, 2022 19:45:16 GMT
We haven't really made any changes. I'm feeding 2 growing kids, and I want them to eat healthy. I'd rather budget and cut back in other areas, vs. cutting back on our grocery spending.
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Post by maryland on Feb 9, 2022 19:51:06 GMT
I keep telling my husband the cost of groceries so he doesn't complain when he sees our credit card bills! He wants to eat as we always have and he still wants me to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, so he can't complain about the cost. I agree about sometimes take out is almost the same cost, so I prefer take out as I hate to cook and clean up!
Our three girls are out of the house now (grad school, working, college) so it's so much cheaper. I can't imagine what our bill would be if we were still feeding three hungry girls as well as us!
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Post by MZF on Feb 9, 2022 19:56:30 GMT
No, still pretty much the same as usual.
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Post by jenna on Feb 9, 2022 20:04:24 GMT
I haven't changed anything around here 🤷 We buy in bulk, eat whole foods.. honestly I haven't noticed too much of a price increase on things we get. A couple months back (November maybe?) Costco had their pork loins for $8 off at the register and I think I grabbed 3, maybe 4? We've basically had some form of pork chop 2-3 times every week since then We're 3 adults and last month I put us on a strict food budget much to the annoyance of my mom lmao But hey it worked to clean out the freezer!
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Elsabelle
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,608
Jun 26, 2014 2:04:55 GMT
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Post by Elsabelle on Feb 9, 2022 20:06:38 GMT
We haven't made any changes.
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peppermintpatty
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1345
Posts: 3,838
Jun 26, 2014 17:47:08 GMT
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Post by peppermintpatty on Feb 9, 2022 20:12:05 GMT
No changes. Same as usual. Actually, we spend a lot less because my ds is away at college and not eating us out of house and home. Dd is in grad school so she isn't here either.
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Post by canadianlinda on Feb 9, 2022 20:20:17 GMT
I’ve definitely been watching the fliers for sale items, which is something I rarely did. I can’t believe how much groceries have gone up in price recently!
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christinec68
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,128
Location: New York, NY
Jun 26, 2014 18:02:19 GMT
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Post by christinec68 on Feb 9, 2022 20:46:58 GMT
We have pork a little more frequently and beef a little less frequently plus we make a much better effort to eat leftovers.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 13, 2024 7:28:58 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2022 21:05:40 GMT
Because of food allergies and specific medical nutrition for rare conditions, I haven't changed how I cook.
I still shop sales and stock up.
I still meal prep.
I still save specific vegetable scraps for stocks.
I still serve left overs for lunch next day or for dinner.
We still have 2 meatless meals a week.
I am thankful that we can adjust our grocery budget instead of adjusting what we buy at the store. With specific meals needed for 2 persons (dd and myself) going without would be bad.
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Post by peasapie on Feb 9, 2022 21:30:49 GMT
If we were beef eaters we would def cut back there. As it is we eat a lot of non-meat meals so that’s not relevant.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Feb 9, 2022 21:37:16 GMT
Yeah, I really am.
Meat is insanely priced, so I buy Manager's Special (usually 50% off on fresh meat with an approaching sell by date), and use less meat in most dishes.
I've been making lots of bean dishes, lots of lentil dishes. Vegetable soups like they're going out of style.
I eat a lot of leftovers meals.
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pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,529
Nov 14, 2016 23:47:03 GMT
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Post by pinklady on Feb 9, 2022 22:02:29 GMT
Luckily no. While grocery prices are getting outrageous, I'm not on a limited budget so I am able to continue purchasing groceries as normal.
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