Ack! Arghh... oh, my... and all that. I've been trying to get a new laptop with a new to me operating system in shape so I can actually use it! And I'm getting behind on everything else!
Anyway, today I used the last of a Christmas gift card and bought a few things at the grocer's... my goodness, the prices are still going up. That means we have to be even wiser about the way we spend our money on food.
A few quick tips that have helped me:
Don't go hungry
Don't go without a list
Don't go with someone else
Do watch closely for sales and be ready to adjust your list when you find them.
Keep an eye out for mark downs - ready to expire, dented cans or just tired products. Only grab them if you'll use them, though.
It could be the single most money saving move of all: Don't waste food. Make use of all leftovers one way or another. Don't serve more than your family will eat. If you make the plates, cut back on serving size. They can always come back for more, but if they have too much and leave it on their plate, it's wasted food.
Hang tight... I don't think this thing is over yet.
Oh Pat, You are so right about prices going up and up, not just on groceries either! Freinds who used to just buy and buy are even asking me how we manage, and how to save on their groceries! Here I notice Bread just jumping in price weekly. I am using my bread machine to mix up batches of dough, but I do like to buy the odd loaf of bread, and the kind we like has jumped by just over 60%. I used to pay $1.99 and now it is $3.29 just for 1 loaf. Did I mention that it was left on the shelf? This is not the most expensive bread either! Some loaves are over $4/loaf. Now not all of that rise in price is flour, a large bag of flour here is up by about $1. Also I noticed that there is next to no pasta in the stores. The shelf space has dropped here by about 1/2. I noticed the same thing when we crossed the boarder and went shopping in Bonner's Ferry. They didn't have as much pasta on the shelves either. I don't know if it was because of road conditions and trucks not comming in, or that they couldn't buy it. Another item I notice that didn't go on sale like it usually does in late Jan./ early Feb. was rice. I usually buy a big bag once a year and store it in a large bucket. I bought my big bag, but it was $3. more this year than last. ( true that's not much more/serving, but it is a total food cost increase). These items are the back bone of many low cost meals and will affect everyone. I am going to have to start having a baking day, devoted to making up the bread, buns and goodies we eat. I don't like to just heat the oven for 1 or 2 loaves of bread or a dozen buns. I do sometimes use the bread machine to make the bread, but I use it much more lately for the mixing of breads, buns and pizza crusts.
ReplyDeleteTake Care,
Kootenay Annie still following you around the net.
It's scary, isn't it? I can't help but wonder where it will wind up. I used to buy flour tortillas for about a dollar a dozen. Suddenly they're TWO dollars a dozen! I found a recipe and tried to make them again and this recipe was good. I'll never buy them ready made again, so maybe something good came of the awful prices. :)
ReplyDeleteFood prices and yes gas prices, I paid 3.39 cents a gallon for gas today ouch. I did notice that bread is at 3.99 a loaf so this weekend I will be making my own bread for lunches next week.
ReplyDeleteThose are terrible prices! Baking your own bread is a good way to deal with that price. I suspect we'll all be doing more of that sort of thing before this is over, but if you can, it might be wise to stock up on flour or grain right away.
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