What are you doing regarding rising food prices? What is your strategy to manage your food budget?

Rice prices more than tripled in the past year, and in China they rose another 50% in the past month. Price of a bushel of wheat has more than quintupled in the past year. Faced with higher prices at the grocery store, what are you doing? Increase your budget? Change the way you shop or where you shop? Exchange unprocessed foods for processed (such as buy a whole chicken instead of skinned, boneless breasts or chicken nuggets)? Reduce waste? Reduce consumption? Eliminate snacks %26amp; "junk food"? Or what? How do you cut your food costs or can you afford to increase your food budget?

What are you doing regarding rising food prices? What is your strategy to manage your food budget?
I have always been very good at being cheap while not comprimising on quality for my families food. I love to cook, which probably works in my favor. My husband says I can make dirt taste good - which in very lean times was almost true.


Things that take time to prepare are usually always a bargain. Like another responder mentioned whole chickens are almost somewhere, in some store for less than a dollar a pound. If you learn how to cut one up, even better - what you would pay for the breast meat alone, would probably buy you 3 whole chickens.


Pork tenderloin, butt and picnic roats are usually a pretty good buy. Lately at some stores, they are selling cuts called pork tri-tip which has been pretty cheap.


With beef, usually high no matter what, goes on sale and roasts can usually be pretty reasonable.


I have always ground my own hamburger, and other meats. I can take a $7 chuck roast and get enough meat for several meals and the meat is much better than that crap they call hamburger in the store.





Slow cookers can make a tough, cheap peice of meat taste like heaven when cooked long and slow.





I buy my rice at Asian markets - I buy a 10lb bag for less than $10. I would buy a bigger 25lb bag, but I don't have anywhere to put it. I buy flour in big bags, ditto for the space to keep a bigger bag, however I bake a lot during the winter, so a 20lb bag goes pretty fast. Much cheaper than the little bags but if you don't use a lot of flour, it can get buggy.





I rarely buy processed foods with the exception of boxed mac and cheese and breakfast ceral and a few other items. If I have a coupon for chips or crackers, I might use it for that, but otherwise would not buy it on it's own.





I save around $5-$10 per week using coupons. I try not to use them for things I would not normally buy otherwise.





I also can foods like spagetti sauce, bbq sauce, jams etc. Most people don't do this, I know but I got 13 pints of bbq sauce that tastes great and will last all summer for about $10 for all the ingredients. (I also submit same bbq sauce to the county fair and win every year - so I know it's good!).


I also take advantage of our local 'canned goods' store, which sells a lot of grocery items for less than half the cost in regular grocery stores most of the time.





I really feel sorry for people who 'live' off of pre-packaged crap and fast food. They have probably never had to think about cooking the same meal from scratch even though it would be cheaper and better for them. A 10lb bag of potatoes for $3 goes a lot farther than a frozen box of Stouffers potatoes au gratin for $5 that is full of chemicals and only tastes good because of them.
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Reply:I buy larger quantities of meat at sam's club, I can buy two whole chickens and cut them up into 8 pieces each and package them 4 pieces in a freezer bag and get several meals for a much lower price. I buy the whole pork tenderloin at 1.68 a pound, cut it into a couple of roasts, lots of chops and cube some for spiedies or stews. I also buy larger quantities of rice and flour, the price per pound is cheaper and I don't have to shop as often which saves me gas money.


I can't afford to increase the budget for groceries, unfortunately your pay doesn't jump up as much as gas prices, so it forces me to be more creative with what I already have or buy.
Reply:I not only use coupons but I always buy store brand items and not the expensive brands. It's the same ingredients, just read the back. Taste the same to me also. Some of the cheap food is better. For example, I will buy Walmart brand ketchup instead of Hunt's. It has the same exact stuff in it and taste the same to me. It also saves me about $1.00 which doesn't sound like alot but it adds up!!! It is ridiculous the prices of food in the grocery stores. I saw cereal the other day and it was $4.00 for a box- HOLY CRAP!!!
Reply:Buy the cuts of meat that are not premium cuts. Stewing Steaks, Lamb Shanks or Neck chops.


Look for the bargain trolleys.


When you buy celery use all of it. Don't just chop the tops off and discard. Keep it for when you make stock.


Make your own stock instead of buying it.
Reply:Well use coupons here read this link.





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