Remember a few years back when we covered grocery shopping and doing everything possible to save a buck? Well soon after that we began shopping organic and raised our food budget accordingly but recently we’ve had to raise our budget again and even cut back on what organics we purchase in order to stay within our budget. Unfortunately beginning this week we just couldn’t do it anymore and we finally had to raise our food budget to feed our family and we’re not alone.
According to this article which was syndicated across the Forum Communication media outlets, such as The Farmington Independent, everyone is starting to feel the pinch and are altering their grocery budgets as rising food costs begin to eat away at available cash.
From the article:
Grocery and restaurant prices are forecast to rise 3 to 4 percent due to higher food commodity and energy prices, and strong global demand for food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture 2011 Food Price Outlook.
[...]
Food inflation was stable in 2010, inching up just 1.5 percent in 2010, the Consumer Price Index shows. But in January, food prices rose 0.5 percent for the month, and “all six major grocery-store food groups posted increases,” the U.S. government reported.
We were getting by on $500 a month (already up from the $400 we were spending back in 2008) but after consistently being unable to meet our budget we’ve had to increase that another $100 a month to $300 every two weeks–something which is difficult when feeding a family of three on one income. We’re already limiting organics purchasing to most vegetables, almost all items for The Rooster, and meats but if prices continue to rise we may have to see where else we can cut while remaining healthy.
Have you been hit hard by the rising prices either in restaurants or at the grocery store? Have you had to raise your grocery/eating out budget to meet the food price inflation? What suggestions do you have for others to help them avoid cutting out healthier foods such as fresh produce or organics to save money if they can’t afford a larger budget? Whatever you have to say about rising food costs go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
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March 9th, 2011 at 7:18 am
I’ve seriously noticed it as well, especially in milk. Milk seems to be one of those items, like gas, that I always seem to know the price off.
I’ve noticed it in meat and produce some. I sort of avoid organic food, unless the quality is significantly better. Once place we’ve saved some is using more frozen veggies, nutritionally they’re the same and by buying house brands we can save a some.
Interesting note, for our family of 4, 2 adults an 2 teenagers, we typically spend $125-$150 a week at the grocery store.
March 9th, 2011 at 7:36 am
Bill, are you including going out to eat in your budget?
The Wife is fairly good at keeping the food to around $100 – 125 a week (average) for two adults, a toddler and a mush eating infant. Not including wine or beer of course. Coupons, carefully planned Costco trips, eating less meat, and making more from scratch (home corned beef anyone?) is how we lowered our food budget.
For fruit, the Rainbow and Cub stuff always seems to rot within a day or two. Particularly the stuff on sale. For us, it is cheaper to buy fruit at Kowalski’s or Byerly’s. It costs more, but is fresher and seems to last longer.
March 9th, 2011 at 7:43 am
No that doesn’t include eating out. That’s a separate budget.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:06 am
We pay more by design because we have our groceries delivered. THis is because we’re lazy, and I hate grocery stores (Ironic, since my dad was a grocery store manager) but we stick to around 200-250 a month, we buy lots of things we don’t really need but can afford since we don’t have kids. Should we ever end up with children, we’ll have to adjust and *gasp* may have to resort to doing our own grocery shopping.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:08 am
I would estimate we spend between 75-100 per week on groceries for us. We do try and coupon shop and stock up on meat products and pop when they are on sale, and stuff the freezer, so those weeks we might go a little over that amount, however overall we eat pretty simple meals, and my lunches at work are the same sammich each day, which costs me about 7$/week to buy the fixing from the deli.
Last week, we stocked up on chicken at Cub with a BoGo sale, and we’ve still got a few seasoned roasts in the freezer from last summer that we plan to use for Fondue soon.
Overall, we don’t go overboard on food unless we have weekend guests. I may have noticed a slight increase in my bill, but I typically attribute that to changing up my menu of meats or vegetables now and then.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:14 am
I joined an organic food buying club. I am getting fresher organic fruits and vegetables twice a month at a cheaper rate than the grocery stores. It is awesome, granted I hooked up with a group of very organized women (mostly stay at home/home schooling moms) that can take care of the nuts and bolts of it, while, I just order what I want and pick it up.
It just started but there are plans to include meats, eggs and dairy.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Over the last couple of years we have trended to more and more organic eating while cutting down on the ‘out to eat’ budget. With a family of 5, (3) 7 and under we are at about $200 per week. We buy most of the produce from Valley Natural, certain supplements from Amazon, and other items from Target – who has surprisingly decent prices on some organics. We are also looking into CSA’s for summer produce. Have you looked any more at joining one? They seem to range from $27-$40/week for a mixed seasonal assortment.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:40 am
We have a similar family – 2 adults and a 10 month old and budget about 600 bucks a month. That’s been pretty steady and I haven’t noticed too much pressure on it but it was probably already a little on the generous side and we’ve gotten more focused on coupons and deals as well as being smarter about what we buy at Costco.
We bought a quarter of a cow, a mass of bacon and are in a CSA, and that’s included in that total. It monkeys with the cash flow but I don’t know that it saves us that much when I look at it. We tend to work the buy one get one free deals at cub on meats (not organic, obviously). I think the CSA is actually costing us more, but I enjoy the quality of the produce and having it around in the summer to make things I wouldn’t otherwise make.
March 9th, 2011 at 8:51 am
I’ve been lucky being that I’m a thrifty grocery shopper. It takes longer — clipping coupons and scoping out sales — but I haven’t noticed too much more in the way of grocery costs.
March 9th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Not only are the groceries costing more, but I seem to be getting less for what I pay. I’ve noticed almost all the packages that I actually touch are slightly smaller now, and I’ve noticed the prices creeping up. If i remember they were predicting a big bump for 2011 back in 2009. I assume it has a lot to do with the world wide weather issues, as well as transportation costs, and general lack of competition as smaller companies fail and are eaten up by the larger companies.
March 9th, 2011 at 11:24 am
There’s only the two of us now, so the food dollar stretches farther. I buy organic when I can – and it irks me that the growing families are the ones who need it most, and can’t afford it. I agree that it is pointless to buy a fruit or vegetable that won’t keep, so I usually buy those at Byerly’s, or Costco if we absolutely will eat it or be able to freeze it. (My husband is in love with the peas at Costco right now. I heat up some chicken stock for lunch, throw in ramen noodles (sans flavor packet), add a couple of chopped mushrooms and a handful of peas. Yum!)
We tend to divide up the Costco stuff and pass it on to our kids. Otherwise, it’s just gluttony.
I’ve mentioned it before, but a friend who comes from Iowa has noticed how much more expensive groceries are here in the metro. Anybody have any idea why?
March 9th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Michele,
I find that my organic vegetables keep best if I cut them into slices (or chop them whatever) and put them in Ziploc containers in the fridge. They’ll keep twice as long this way for whatever reason.
As for why prices are higher here, it’s COL. There are many factors which influence it from rents (on land, on businesses, on fleets) to gas, to wages, etc. So many items it’s not even worth going into.
March 9th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
We shop mostly at Cub, since we dont set or keep to a budget i am not sure what we are spending, but we do buy some meats at Costco and split them up and freeze them. Also we go to Aldi once in a while for some basics, and to do some treasure hunting… German mustards, chocolates, etc. I am always amazed at what we bring out and the bill for it being so low. The Aldi quality is really no different , and sometimes better, than store branded stuff at Cub. in some cases it is significantly better.
March 9th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
I think that it’s not easy to compare grocery budgets unless you also compare the number of meals prepared at home per month – some people eat out and/or buy their lunches frequently.
We shop everywhere – we want certain items from certain places and we also seek out new things and new places. It would bore me silly to have to shop at Cub every time we need food – it is an ugly place. Why do chain grocery stores have to be so unpleasant to shop in? That said, we probably get 30-40% of our groceries at Cub.
March 9th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
We eat out 2-4x a month. I make 99.9% of my lunches and rarely buy. I honestly cannot fathom how people like MSPD can eat at McDonalds 5x a week for lunch.
March 9th, 2011 at 7:05 pm
I am not going to do this math. Nope, no way.
March 9th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Thanks for the tip, Bill; I’ll pass it on to the main chopper in the family. (It’s true; he even pre-slices onions so that I don’t have to.) We often keep everything in its original packaging, which is probably a big mistake.
March 10th, 2011 at 8:33 am
I have 5 mouths to feed and we have cut about 20%-30% out of our annual food budget by purchasing a whole hog and a 1/4 cow each fall from local organic farms. We find that this combination will last our family exactly one year (with the exception of maybe additional lbs. of ground beef). I have tried many farms and have been the most happy with Zweber Farms in Elko. On a splurge, we will also get some of the organic, free range chickens they offer. Our average food spend after this once a year purchase is about $100 a week.
March 11th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Cobern’s Delivers typically has deals for first time users to try and get you hooked. The discounts probably change, but for us it was cheaper to have groceries delivered versus the store. But this was only for the first four orders.
We did this when our second child was born and it was great! Also a good gift idea for new parents.