I have to go to the grocery store. Again.
*sigh*
I was just there last week. And the week before. And the week before that. Really, it’s a never ending cycle.
I swear, I spend more time in grocery stores than I do anywhere else except for Jenworld, which is only not my home, but also the location of my office, so I am here ALL THE TIME. And I’m happy with that because I can be surprisingly anti-social nearly every day at times and like not having to interact with other humans having the house to myself.
Why does grocery shopping have to be so time consuming? Is it because I shop at — I am not making this up — six different stores? Yeah, that probably has something to do with it.
- There’s Whole Paycheck, which I visit weekly, because there are just certain foods I will not compromise on, including hormone-free milk for my pre-pubescent daughters.
- There’s also the regular grocery store. I’m usually there every other week. The stores I go to vary depending on my mood and where in town I happen to be that day, but I pretty much rotate between Kroger and Harris Teeter — the former because the prices are low and the latter because it’s nicer and doesn’t depress me when I’m there.
- There’s also Sam’s Club, which I reluctantly visit about once per month. I truly hate going to Sam’s and put it off as long as I can. Currently, Sam’s and I are not speaking to each other and I’m seriously considering a divorce. I only get a few things from there anyway and I’m wondering if the hassle of going there is worth the angst it causes me. Without fail, I fuss and fume for hours after I go and I think Pete might be a bit weary of hearing my kvetching.
- I also go to Target about every 2-3 weeks and stock up on certain things, including our favorite organic blue corn chips for Nacho Nights. Toilet paper always seems to be on my list. It doesn’t matter if I buy 6 rolls or 24, we seem to run through toilet paper rapidly.
- Finally, there are two local grocery stores in our town that I visit approximately once per month. One is an all-natural store and is a good source for soaps and other personal care products, plus it’s where I buy popcorn to feed our insatiable need for buttery salty kernels every weekend. The other store has great produce and pretty terrific prices, but it’s across town and not convenient. But, it will be only five minutes away once we move, so I’ll probably shop there more often.
Based on all of the above, it’s safe to say that I’m out scavenging for comestibles for my family at least twice per week, sometimes more often than that. I keep running grocery lists for each store and go as needed. Whole Foods is usually my Monday stop, because I’ve just planned our meals for the week and my family really appreciates it when dinner is on the table each evening at 6:30. I know, they’re so demanding that way.
One thing I’ve been noticing — okay, one thing we’ve ALL been noticing — is how much food prices have gone up this year. It’s crazy and it makes me sad when I see someone at the grocery store carefully adding numbers to see if they have enough cash in their wallet to pay for their purchases. It’s usually a mother with a child or two in tow and it’s clear that she doesn’t have quite enough money to feed her family for the week.
I understand that food costs money and that I have to pay for it, but it does gall me that, for example, dried beans have gone up dramatically. We eat beans at least once a week, especially slow-cooked pinto beans (see Nacho Night, above). This year alone, pinto beans have gone from $0.59/bag to $1.09. I know it’s not a lot of money, especially when you consider that I only cook half a bag at a time and then we’ll eat leftovers from that for a couple of days. But it’s those little things that add up.
[Side note 1: Ablog that I'm loving these days is The Lean Green Family, because Leah's focus is showing people how to both live green and save green.]
[Side note 2: You should also take a look at Eco Women today, because I wrote a post on soup that will hopefully make you drool a bit and then inspire you to start tossing ingredients into a large soup pot.]
You know how I’ve talked about my Mommy Mochas? Those things are not cheap — anywhere from $1.75-$2 / bottle. I only drink a half a bottle a day, but that’s still an extravagance that bothers me a little because that’s money that I know I could spend on something important, like all those funds we’re directing toward the new house. However, my need for my mochas is great enough that I try to ignore the guilt.
Then, last week, I made an amazing discovery. I discovered a store-brand version of my mochas that is JUST AS GOOD as the Starbucks version. Really. I didn’t do a blind taste test or anything like that because, hello? Too much caffeine + Jen = Scary Jittery Jen.
I will henceforth be calling my caffeine of choice Recession Mochas.
Recession Mochas are still $1.50 / bottle, so I’m not saving that much money, but I’m still inordinately pleased by this for reasons that I just cannot explain.
Today, let’s talk about the recession and how it’s affecting everyone’s grocery shopping. Are you buying less food or having to decide between cheap wine and decent wine? Or, has it had no impact on you whatsoever?
Yes, I’ve noticed a huge increase in my grocery bills. At first I thought I was just buying too many expensive items, but no I realize everything is costing more. It makes me hate grocery shopping even more. I started out the school year with a comprehensive plan on how to have all my meals laid out for the entire month including shopping lists, so I’d just have to print out the list and voila! easy-peasy. Not working quite so well, now that we are in the third month. And I still hate going for groceries.
Oh. My. Life. Do NOT get me started on grocery shopping. While my wallet would prefer to feed people Ramen noodle, my SELF still thinks people should eat fresh vegetables and such. What’s killing me is the produce thing. Iceberg Lettuce used to cost .99 a head. Now? It’s almost $2. And why on earth is the cauliflower $2.79? WHY! I don’t understand.
And the milk. Don’t even get me started on the MILK! Mind you, I still have 2 people in diapers and 1 girl who takes a bottle at bedtime.Ugh.
Grocery shopping=pure madness.
I sure have noticed the prices going up. I’m going for more of the cheaper brands, if there’s a big price difference. And looking for bargains in the meat aisle. But I’m still buying as much as ever.
I haven’t noticed a huge change in my grocery bills…but that’s probably because I’ve always been a coupon clipper/sale shopper. I’ll check out the flyer for my store of choice (one of the “lifestyle” Safeways) and plan my meals around whatever they’ve got going. It helps to have a SIL who farms cattle, relatives in Illinois with lots of corn, friends who will share their venison, and a severe addiction to my garden. My freezer is currently overflowing and I’m looking to see if I can actually cut my weekly visit down to just yogurt, fresh fruit, and milk every other week or so for the kid.
Here’s my question for someone wiser than I – why is it the good organic milk has such a major league long shelf life compared to the non-organic hormone hopped up stuff? Seriously. The last container I bought about a week ago or so had an expiration date of DECEMBER 7TH! That’s crazy! (But makes me very happy as the boy is the only one who drinks it.)
I’ve noticed the prices go up, but on the same side of things, my kids’ appetites are growing with them so I have NO hopes of ever seeing my grocery bill go down until they leave the house. (3 teenaged boys someday–I’ll HAVE to go back to work just to feed them!) I’ve been buying store brand for many things for my whole life, so no change there. I guess if anything, we’re eating more bagels than cereal because that’s a lot cheaper, oatmeal, too instead of bowls of Cheerios.
Either The Hubby or I do the grocery shopping. Once a week, usually on Sunday. We try to sort of alternate between Trader Joe’s and VONS, but sometimes we have to go to both on shopping day. If we run low during the week, we scrounge up something out of the pantry or freezer, because both of us will do just about anything to avoid the grocery store.
We have always been pretty good about looking for the specials, so the grocery bill hasn’t gone up too much… but we have noticed the rising prices!
I’m noticing now that I shop more at Tesco because it’s across the road from work, that it is cheaper than Sainsburys as a rule. But everything is going up, I noticed that Kirsten’s bagels were £1.20 for a pack when they were £1 last month.
I’m also noticing that a proper family shop for a week to ten days is setting me back £80-£100 rather than £60-£80.
Even as a serious coupon clipper, I’ve noticed a big jump in prices on certain items. Milk and produce are crazy expensive. I also noticed beans were up. Sales are not as good. My last couple of triple-coupon weekends at Harris Teeter have not been much better than regular trips.
I hit some combo of HT, Kroger, Food Lion, and CVS (free gift cards + Extra Bucks = $0) every week and stock up on whatever’s on sale. I save anywhere from 25% to 50% off the everyday price total.
I’ll be going back to visiting the recycling center every couple weeks for extra coupons, too.
Yes, the grocery is what is killing me. I’m buying the same basic foods and my bill is approx $60 higher. Milk and eggs have gone up 21% in my area. I’m hoping the lowering fuel prices will start bringing food prices down.
Bdaiss – I may be way off on an answer to your question about the organic milk with an expiration date way into the future. The milk I buy for myself is organic “ultra pasteurized”. I choose this because I only use a splash of it in hot tea and very little in cereal. “Ultra pasteurized” is less healthy than just pasteurized but it doesn’t bother me since I use so little of it each day. The “ultra pasteurized” often has expiration dates way off in the future and lasts long after you open it. This way I get to use all just about all of it with using very little each day.
The prices are driving me crazy, because Hubs is so cheap to begin with. We shop at the discount grocery store once a week, and then I pop into the nice grocery store once or twice a week to buy better produce and meat. And shopping with my children in tow is driving me mental. Yesterday Bad smashed a glass bottle of shrimp cocktail sauce all over the aisle and I had to finish the shopping (5 more aisles!) with him tucked under one arm, kicking and screaming. I’m sure people think I’m a terrible mother, but I wasn’t putting him down, and I wasn’t coming back, and we need to eat…..
I’ve noticed the bills going up about $20 per week for the groceries I buy. I just bite the bullet and pay it. Because really, what choice is there? I already buy store brands for almost every packaged item I buy.
I track how much I spend on food each month and the amount has definitely gone up. And I’m feeding a family of six, so I spend more for food each month than I do for our mortgage. To deal with it, I’ve compromised my standards somewhat. Also, we eat more vegetarian meals and I serve lentils once a week–usually lentils & rice or lentil burgers. The increase in the price of dry beans has me really irritated too. Even if the increase is only $.50, that’s still a 100% increase, which is totally ridiculous. There is no excuse for that.
Yeah, it’s freaking me out. Formula is so freakin’ expensive too – it used to be $10 for a 35 oz can and now it’s only a 25 oz can. Now we go through 2 cans a week instead of just 1.
I had a goal to spend only half of our normal grocery budget and put the rest into savings, but I just can’t make it stretch anymore. And we NEVER buy meat unless it’s like a can of chicken, and the only fresh produce we do are bananas, sometimes apples, and potatoes. The rest we get frozen or canned. It’s bad news.
I’ve gone back to stretching the milk by using powdered milk for cooking. I also doubled the veggie meals and cut way back on the chicken & fish. That’s actually a hassle since fresh veggies aren’t generally slow cooker friendly and I’m not in the mood to play in the kitchen after a day at the office.
I’m sorry to say we’re eating a lot more potatoes, rice and pasta. Not a smart choice with my diabetes, but a cheap one, anyway.
It’s the same in Australia. I work at a grocery store and have watched prices climb steadily over the last 6 months. I buy a lot of generic, plan my meals for a month to avoid the shops as much as possible, buy in bulk and have just found a lady who will deliver half a side of beer, all dressed and ready to go, for heaps less a kilo than even the butcher. Thank goodness for my chest freezer!
My grocery bills are *definitely* going up, but that’s partly because we’ve stopped eating out.
But prices are definitely higher–(when did Pepperidge Farm bread hit $4.00 a loaf???) I’m saving money by serving more real food: more stir-fries, home-made soups, chili, and stew, tacos, home-made pizza, roast chicken that will last for three meals, eating eggs, pancakes, or oatmeal for breakfast.
I came home from Girls Scouts with a bunch of leftover pumpkins. I’m going to cook them and freeze the puree for pie, bread, soup, and ravioli.
Unfortunately, being cheap takes a lot of time!
Serious issues. Hubby does 99% of the grocery shopping, so when I went to Giant to get something for lunch, I just stood in front of what I’d planned to buy — and just stood there. The price! Holy nuts. I had to let that pass and have cereal for lunch again.
Hi, Jen:
Thanks for the shout out to my blog The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal). As far as saving money at the grocery store, I was just reading an article in Woman’s Day, by Mary “Everyday Cheapskate” Hunt about ways to save money. She recommended trying to go one week without a regular grocery shopping. I think I might give this a try this week. I stopped in at the grocery store yesterday to stock up on some necessary ingredients–organic onions, organic potatoes and a box of rice–and spent $16. I’ve got enough food frozen, stored and planned for the rest of the week’s meals, so maybe I really can forgo my $150 shopping trip. Imagine if we could all do that each week? We’d save a ton. Leah