Posted on 12/16/2021 9:47:02 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis.– It’s not just you: the price of everything from clothes and cars to gas and groceries is up. According to the Department of Labor, prices have increased 6.8% from 2020. That’s the highest rate of inflation in nearly 40 years.
Some of the most noticeable impacts are at the grocery store, where it’s getting harder to not only find some products but also reasonable prices. The average family is spending an extra $30 per month on groceries compared to November 2020.
RELATED: Two years ago, the average household paid $113/week for groceries. Today, they’re paying $144.
“The only way you’re going to see a grocery store rollback a price increase is if the suppliers and supply chain who gave them that product reduce their prices,” Brandon Scholz, the president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, said.
Those challenges have only worsened in the past year, and that’s why prices have gone up and continue to do so.
“You can check advertising and go online and do all that research,” Scholz added, “but no, there’s not a simple way to say, ‘Who’s got everything I want at the right prices?'”
Here are a few ways customers can shop smarter:
When products are on sale, buy extra. Most items go on sale every six to eight weeks. Avoid food that spoils quickly. Feeding America found the average family of four throws away $133 of produce each month. Shop in-season. Many Dane County Farmers’ Market producers offer their products online, even during the winter.
“A lot of people have this misconception that the only people who come to a food pantry are ones who are experiencing homelessness or are unemployed,” said Helen Osborn, the director of operations at The River Food Pantry Madison.
“That’s not true. Many of them do have housing, and they are employed. But with all the costs, all their bills, sometimes being employed isn’t enough,” she continued.
More than 3,500 new families registered to pick up curbside groceries at The River during the pandemic, and the Madison-based pantry continues to serve 1,000+ families per week.
“If you’re facing concerns about paying your bills and feeding your family, please reach out to us,” Osborn said.
Yes, natural gas really jumped up.
North Korean tree bark soup.
I recently watched the 1968 comedy “Yours, Mine, and Ours”. Biggest laugh I got was when they go grocery shopping, filling a whole convoy of carts for the 18-child household. After everything was rung up, the total was a horrifying $122 and change.
Buy a FoodSaver and use it. I put it off for a long time but finely bought one. No more freezer burned meat, avocados alone will pay for it. I even found soup can be frozen and then put through the FoodSaver.
Even tho I am now paying more per item I am spending $50-$100 less per trip.
I could certainly afford to spend more, but why would I? Just to have something to complain about?
Good question, Don! I’m like you and have employed ALL the tricks. Back in the day, I fed three adults and three teen boys for about $300 a month. This was in the mid-90’s.
Now that there are just TWO of us, I can’t seem to get it below $400/month! And we hunt and fish and grow a HUGE garden as well as canning and raising our own beef steer - who we got FOR FREE.
It’s a never-ending situation, it seems, made doubly worse by Socialist Democrats, for sure.
Food Pantry use is up all OVER the place. And it’s NOT just homeless and unemployed people using them, either.
Here’s a site that has the best times to buy all sorts of things:
https://www.liveabout.com/best-time-to-buy-everything-1387782
We used to do very well with the Sunday newspaper coupons, especially on canned and prepared foods; but there don’t seem as many for food at all as there used to be.
Is it a Shur-Fine store? Love their brands. Our Piggly Wiggly (Yes, REAL name!) has really good deals, and I’ve gone back to shopping with them. They are even beating Walmart on some things these days.
For a while there my grocery bill was going up, but I was stockpiling a little bit. Now, I plan on making it my mission/hobby to see how cheaply I can feed us (just two of us with occasional guests for dinner) each week in the healthiest manner possible. I need to add more food items from Dollar Tree, too. Just canned stuff. Wish we liked pasta dishes more, but carb-wise I’m glad we don’t. Luckily Beau is basically a meat & potatoes guy, so that simplifies things a bit. We eat 3 meals a day every day, so I’ve pretty much switched us to soups & cheese and crackers for lunches. Beau likes a BIG breakfast, too.
I look forward to the challenge. Bring It, Brandon! ;)
I use a FoodSaver for lots of things, but for hamburger I like to put one-pound portions into quart Zip-Loc bags and flatten them. If you get all the air out, it’s just as good as the FoodSaver, plus the packages stack well in the freezer and thaw fast later.
OK = $30 a week or $30 a month? Both are far from the truth
of the matter. TPTB would like nothing more than families
travel to the BAIT shop, pick up a few cups full of fishing
worms and attempt to publish recipes to make these
creatures palatable. Good luck with that! Cream of worm soup, french fried minnows? The condiments? Rather than grow our own parsley, they’d prefer we use mowed grass (cut with a hand pushed mower!) No tarter sauce, nor ketchup.
And NO HUSH PUPPY for you! They exclaim to the hungry masses.
I’m not sure which store. We have pig’s here too, I shop their meat specials, they have good deals. Try quinoa (kean-wha), that goes a long way, and is a great source of protein. You can find it by the rice. Instead of hamburger, I make chili with the red quinoa and it’s great.
this is L.A. we have a food bank at every corner to feed the useless, I mean homeless.
I went to one weeks ago for research for a TV production. The church charity gave away fruits, vegetables and meat from Target, Vons, Ralphs, Gelsons and Trader Joe’s. They were NOT expired. I challenge any leftard who says we have hungry people in America.
She plots out what we're going to eat on each day of the week, and shops just for what is needed. She says it lets her plan for re-vamping leftovers and avoid spoiled food. It also avoids the "what can we have for dinner" debates because she already knows.
Even if she sneaks in a few special treats, it certainly cuts the food bill WAY down. The downside is that it takes time.
14 Nights of Dinner Ideas All Under $2 Per Serving
https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/cheap-dinner-ideas-under-2-dollars/
I love that movie. Loved the organizational ideas they TRIED to use to keep the kids in order, LOL!
Eat more Ramen.......
Great suggestion. We use ours a lot. It really does help keep things fresh a LOT longer in the freezer.
Day one, roasted chicken. Breastmeat for me, legs for her. Day two, she picks it clean for chicken tacos. Day three, those bones go in a soup pot with veggies and leftover rice or noodles.
That chicken is screaming for peace by the time she's done with it.
My parents had a time trying to keep things in order with six kids. Good thing there weren’t 18 of us (20 by the end of the movie).
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