Those are SALE prices? YIKES!

[Cyngbaeld]

Just pulled up the HEB sale fliers since I was planning to run pickup a few things. I know it has been a while since I went to the grocery, but that is ridiculous! I'm planning a big garden this yr, but some things we just can't grow ourselves. Thank the Good Lord we have some stuff stashed back already that I bought in bulk. If this keeps up, though, some foods are dropping out of our diets and I don't mean convenience foods since we already don't use them.

How are the rest of you managing? Gardens, livestock, bulk buys, cooking from scratch? Anything else?

[CarolynRenee]

We normally have fresh eggs & milk from our farm, but the chickens haven't been laying & the goats are dried up for now. We had company driving to visit us for several days so I figured I'd go to the grocery store to buy milk / eggs. I almost fainted. It was $4.15 for a gallon of milk and $3.36 for 18 eggs. I cannot believe how much groceries have gone up! How does a "normal" family that depends on grocery stores manage???

We buy our grains in bulk & wheat, popcorn (for cornmeal) & rice have skyrocketed, as well as powdered milk (for when the goats are dry). So even though 90% of our meals are made from scratch, it is still hurting.

We very rarely buy fresh produce at stores, mostly because it is soooo expensive. Cucumber was 79 cents......bell pepper 89 cents...each, not per pound!

We've just committed ourselves to eating out of our food storage until we can get fresh veggies from the garden. I suppose we're spoiled in that we were used to getting produce cheaper, but think of it...in the "good old days", you only had fresh produce in the summer, fresh milk in the spring / summer & did with canned & dried foods in the winter.

Going to have to really get going on making the garden beds larger this year...can't hardly afford to buy groceries these days!

Chicken / Goat feed has also gone up. I try to supplement chicken food with leftovers, I also dont mind asking friends for their throw aways. The goat feed is harder though now with no greens left in the goat area, so just have to buy the $8.50 bale hay & $7.00 bags of all stock.

Hunker down & keep saving.....it's only going to get worse!

[Melissa]

I just read the Sunday paper checking out the sale ads for the main grocery stores here and there is very little that is on sale this week. It is getting harder and harder to stay on budget. I try to spend about $50 a week, usually I find better deals with clearance items than sale items.

[NativeRose]

It is scary when you see groceries going up weekly like the gas prices.

I use coupons as much as possible and usually only for those things I regularly buy if I can find them.

Beans(pinto and other dried varieties) and rice are a major part of our diet. We have lots of meatless suppers. Beans, rice and cornbread, with onions and iced tea. Actually this is one of my favorite meals.

I hav just about quit buying all the "goodies" we don't need to eat anyway.
No chips, candy, etc....besides I am diabetic and don't need the stuff anyway.

I shop at the dollar stores and the newer 99 cent store for laundry detergent and things of that nature. The 99cent store also has some canned goods that are fairly reasonable. I am sick of Walmart and don't shop there unless absolutely necessary. Often...very often their shelf price does not match the price at check-out and if you are not careful you will pay more that what the shelf says. Check your reciepts no matter where you shop as mistakes are made and it can add up.

I am planning as big a garden as I can handle on week-ends since I keep my grandbabies out of town and get home after dark usually. I am sure ready for the longer daylight hours of spring.

I used to enjoy grocery shopping. Now I hate it

[farmwife]

Yup! I think we will be much healthier eating what we grow too! I heard their is stealing going on at a grocery store 20 minutes south of us. They are going in the back door doing early morning hours. They are stealing meat mostly.

[Murron]

Lots of potatoes, onions and frozen bagged veggies here, as well as cooking from scratch. DH gave me a FoodSaver, and it has helped tremendously with long term storage - especially meats. And I watch bargain/dent bins like a hawk now. I've cut out the soda and "extras" quite a bit, 'cause I just refuse to skimp on other quality (organic) foods.

But with the prices rising, it has motivated us even more, and we will be raising chickens and growing our own produce this summer. We had planned on it for next year, but pushed it up!

DH works away from home for 24 hr shifts, so I commit to making his lunch, dinner, and snacks when he's at work. He can easily spend $30 per shift if I don't pack a "feed bag" for him!

[RoseGarden]

I have found a couple of alternative grocery stores, places where you buy the dented and...what do you call it when freight is turned away from warehouses...? like misorderd/over-ordered stuff that is fine except for being refused for some reason? Anyway, I've found a couple of places that sell this stuff but it's very hit and miss as to what they have, and sometimes it's just weird stuff I wouldn't buy anyway like canned items from South America such as canned squid or cactus.

I'm also planning a garden that will be a bit larger but more importantly, one that I am determined I WILL take better care of in order to maximize what I get out of it. And I WILL freeze/can whatever comes out of it and NOT let it go to waste as chicken food. Also not planting a lot of experimental stuff I haven't grown before. This year I'm sticking to things I know I will eat and that will grow and fruit well here.

I got some chicks last summer and they are pullet sized and should start laying soon, now that the days are getting longer. Going to endeavor to raise more chicken food plants too. They already love kale.

I am thinking about buying some Americaunas and maybe a trio of Silkies somewhere to raise to sell. There is a flea market here that allows animal sales and the times I've been, everyone is sold out of pullets/hens. Maybe I could make a bit of extra money there as well as keep my own flock going better.

Going to take a few more fishing trips to the coast, too. I know the cost of fuel is high but I can take my little car and put a cooler in the trunk. The price of fresh fish is crazy too, and maybe I can catch enough for my own needs.

I am just trying to find alternatives to the grocery store, period! Growing my own food, hunting it, fishing for it, whatever else I can think of.

[Cyngbaeld]

I know I shouldn't complain. We do eat a lot better than many people. I was astonished at the price of meat, but we don't buy meat. I lost all my fruit trees and buying fruit hurts nowadays. I'll plant lots of melons this summer and that will help us get our fruit fix. Melons are one crop the fire ants don't bother too much. Daughter loves orange juice and that is out of sight now. I want a greenhouse! LOL We both love cheese and that has taken a huge jump. I bake all our baked goods. I'm going to have to give up purchased pasta and start making it completely from scratch too. It is a good use for the soft white wheat. We have plenty of eggs and a bunch of roosters I need to cull for meat and the two pigs are doing good. They are tilling the garden for me! Summer is coming, and I'm cutting the poultry back on the bought feed too. We still eat lots of beans and rice. It is good healthy food and filling. I think I'm going to start a bucket garden for salad greens if I can find a spot the chickens can't reach. Might be the living room! LOL I might skip the grocery store visit and just go to the salvage food store tho I really do want some cheese!

[Cyngbaeld]

Think I'm going to have to give up coffee.

[chickenista]

DS likes the Barilla Tortellini and sometimes I get it for a treat.. less than a year ago it was $2.78...then $3.08 and the other day it was $3.78!!!!! In less than a year. It is horrifying. Needless to say he gets no tortellini anymore unless we make it at home.
And my chicken feed is now $13.79/50# &*(&%%^$^&*(&(*&(!! it.

[Murron]

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

Think I'm going to have to give up coffee.

Don't do it! Don't do it! Coffee is a necessity. Remember that!

[NativeRose]

The fire ants give me a fit also. I am planning to use some organic treatments that were recommended by one of my books. I do a lot of my gardening in giant tubs and buckets that our cattle mineral lick came in. I can control the ants a lot better as well as provide better organic soil than my "sorry" soil type. I also have the buckets up off the ground on cinder blocks. This is easier on my back and I can then treat the ants and not the plants. I checked my buckets today and those I left on the ground I will have to dump the soil and start over as fire ants have moved into them. I have multiplying onions, heirloom garlic(my great grandmother's) rosemary and some other garlic varieties that survived.

Cyngbaeld, you can grow the dwarf fruit trees in large buckets. Check the feed stores in your area for returned empty, protein molasses lick, buckets. After our few cows finished with the ones we have we kept them instead of returning them for the deposit. However, they are very heavy when filled and need to be placed where you want them and then the soil added so it won't hurt your back. The advantages also to having them up off the ground is that you don't have to bend over and strain your back and they are so easy to weed.

[Cyngbaeld]

Rosemary, I keep meaning to ask about those. What does the deposit run?

I think if you flood those tubs the ants will move out. You might have to do it more than once.

[cchapman84]

We just got home from the grocery store, and spent around $110 (we go to two different stores that are almost right next to each other to shop sales for both). That did include some things other than food (laundry detergent being one, and since I'm allergic to just about everything, it's $5.59 for a regular size jug, they had the large one's on sale for only $6.99, but didn't have the perfume and dye free one).

This is for two people! We don't buy juice, don't buy soda or any other junk food (except I did splurge on a package of cookies this time). We bought a 20# bag of rice to add to our preps, but other than that it's basically just food for us for 1-2 weeks. Didn't buy any meat either (we're too fickle about meat, and usually buy it on the day we're going to eat it or else we end up not eating it and forgetting to freeze it and it goes bad - which is too expensive with meat prices now).

Everything is going up in price. I did manage to get my eggs for $2.50 for a dozen cage free eggs. Organic milk was supposed to be on sale, but it was $.20 higher than advertised (I didn't have the flier or the patience to deal with it). A half gallon of organic milk is $3.49, and that's for the store brand!

It's really getting ridiculous. We're trying to cook more at home and not eat out or from a box anymore, but it doesn't seem like our grocery bill has gone down at all. We don't have much space for a garden (and I'm not that big on veggies anyway). I'm going to forage for blackberries and raspberries this summer to make jam (I often take peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch), and I need to find a good recipe for potato bread that I can make in my breadmaker to help offset costs (potato bread is about $3.50 a loaf now).

[NativeRose]

Cyngbaeld, The feed store where we trade let Jim have the empty ones he had for $2.00 each. Those plus the ones we saved have really been great for gardening and just about everything else around here on the place. They are 20-25 gallon buckets. We mixed our compost with sand, peat moss and topsoil to fill them.

[NativeRose]

Do any of you buy bread from the "day old" stores/outlets? There is one in our town but I forget to go by there. I guess I will have to start shopping there. I love homemade bread but try to stay away from it as I am diabetic and don't need the carbs. However, I will trade all the candy and sweets in the world for homemade bread and cornbread...especially my 79 year old mama's homemade bread and rolls.....

[GrannyG]

We are having some "meatless" meals...tostados, which I love anyway....more casseroles that require a little less meat, salads, but tomatoes are $2 a pound, I buy only one and it gets stretched...LOL....this year, hopefully the garden will do well. Had alot of hail damage last year that got alot of it. I can really stretch a rump roast, so that helps. I try to bake bread and cinnamon rolls each week.

[Queen Bee]

Thankfully, we have our own beef and fish. I purchase chicken, pork and other meats when it is on sale, in bulk and freeze it. I actually have a freezer full of meat. I also have a freezer full of veggies and fruits. I am hurting in- the milk (dh will drink almost a gal a day), butter, cheese and eggs--fresh items department. Dh is going to the groc. this week and maybe he will think twice about getting my coop built..

The kids and grands (13 total) were here today and I cooked two dozen eggs for breakfast, they drank over a gal of milk, 1/2 gal of oj, sausage and bacon!! While I was cooking, I was thanking the Good Lord for having ENOUGH and that I do not HAVE to feed them daily. . I just don't know how large families make it anymore..QB

[tamsam]

Everything is going up and if you look at the price of fuel for the trucks you will see why. 4.15 a gal Fri night at one place here. I know not where it will end but it has to soon. When you are on a fixed income and things go up if you can't work there is no way to keep up. I hope things level out soon or we will be eating bark off the trees here or making oak soup to go with our pine cone tea. If it wasn't for the deer in the freezer it would be potatoes to go with potatoes. Any ways you all be good and I won't complain as we haven't gone hungry yet. Sam

[Murron]

cchapman - Yeah, I can spend about the same for DH and me every week or so - around $100. Even with scratch cooking and freezing. When we lived in the city it was take out a few times a week, and I did't cook that much. But even thought it seems like a lot to spend for food, we never eat out, DH and I spend nearly nothing when we are at work for meals, and the credit cards are getting paid off! I am planning a trip to Amherst on Tuesday to Whole Foods for a few special items, and will be interested to see how sky high the prices are there!