Like pulykamell, I buy beef less often, at least steaks. I used to buy a whole tenderloin at Costco now and then, and trim it and cut it up myself into steaks, a roast, and trimmings, and fill the freezer. A whole tenderloin used to cost between $50 and $75 when I first started doing this. Now? They’re well over a hundred dollars each. No can do.
Now our steak purchases from Costco have been reduced to one pair of New Yorks bought rarely. And these I cut up into smaller servings so that there are three pairs of small filet-sized steaks.
I used to buy fancy French cheeses now and then, like a good Camembert or Roquefort, but this has become a rarity due to cost. My cardiologist approves, though.
Packaged cereal. Used to be $3-4 a box, now it’s $5-7. Now we make granola at home, and even though pecans have gotten expensive, a two-week supply costs less than a single box of cereal.
I’ve never heard of that brand, and I could immediately taste it (“There’s a whole drumstick in every pint of our turkey-flavored ice cream!” “And try our new Dressing ‘N’ Cranberry Swirl.”)…
We’ve basically cut out ice cream and beef, mostly for health reasons, but the price hikes have helped us eat healthier. Do I want to be fat AND poor? Naah, guess I’ll skip the ice cream sandwiches…
Around here, $5-$6 a dozen large at highest point; $1-$2 pre-pandemic. While I say we still eat pretty much the same thing, I am absolutely price aware and buy different things at different stores based on pricing. I have an Aldi, a Target, and a Pete’s Market (local chain) within two blocks of each other, so there’s really no fuel cost or much extra time to factor in. I’m not buying that $7 normal-sized box of Krave at Pete’s for the kids when I know I can get a family-sized at Target for $4.50. Same with eggs—I’m going to Aldi for that and milk.
I pretty much buy the same things that I’ve always bought. I probably buy more Great Value items rather than the name brands. I haven’t noticed a difference in flavor yet. My husband likes the Olive Garden salad dressing. It’s now $4.18 for 16 oz. A few weeks ago I noticed that there is a Great Value Restaurant Style Italian Dressing priced at $1.97 for 16 oz. It’s even in the same shaped bottle that OG dressing is in. I bought it hoping my husband wouldn’t complain. I saw him using it and never heard a word. Then one day about a week later he asks about the salad dressing. I thought to myself, here we go, he’s going to complain about it. I asked him if he liked it and he said it’s pretty good. Then I told him the price difference and he said - it’s just as good as OG.
I eat less beef now. I never ate a whole lot anyway but now even less. Even the “cheap” cuts are expensive…to the point I really don’t see any cheap cuts. Ground beef is getting ridiculous in cost.
I still go for my taco Tuesdays though (although maybe not every Tuesday).
None really. I don’t really know prices that well because I don’t do the shopping but my husband hasn’t changed anything. We have always tried the store-brand copycats and used them if we like them as much as the name brand and there have always been some items that we only buy on sale - but that’s really a matter of just finding the best price. If the sale price in 2023 is the same as the regular price in 2022, we’re still buying it.
I’m in a weird position. I could pay the inflated prices they’re demanding, but I just don’t want to. It’s been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that a huge part of this recent inflation is the industry increasing their profits, even as they whine and moan about “barely making a profit”. That kind of blatant lying pisses me off, and I don’t want to reward them for it.
Alas, I do need to eat something, so I can’t just go cold turkey on their lying asses. It’s interesting to note that a lot of products that I could go cold turkey on (like beer, for example) haven’t seen the same kind of inflation.
It’s almost like the food corporations know they have us over a barrel. Almost.
Same here. It’s probably a place where I could, with little impact to quality of life, save a bunch of money. But I hate shopping, and will almost always go to the expensive but close stores (Gelson’s, Bristol Farms, Whole Foods) rather than drive farther to go to the less expensive shops (Ralphs, Vons). And honestly, if you stopped me as I was walking out, right past where the Girl Scouts lie in wait, and asked me how much I just spent, I’d guess I couldn’t tell you within $20 most of the time. I just press the green OK button and go.
Resturant prices are up too, so I figure whatever I buy at the grocery store is going to be cheaper than eating out. So, I don’t look at the prices. I have noticed the totals tend to be considerably higher than before. I’m fortunate that it doesn’t matter to us, but I certainly understand it could be a huge deal for many.
I’m elderly and live alone. I certainly notice prices! But I’m retired, have some money, and don’t really deny myself anything since the nursing home or the grave yawns before me, and I don’t have any family to cook for… I shop around, buy a lot of basics at the Dollar General/Aldi/The Dollar Tree. I go out to eat with friends once or twice a month. I don’t eat a lot and love leftovers. If I do shop, it’s out of boredom - so? Let them build me a bigger coffin.
Definitely. I was recently in Italy and noticed restaurant prices were notably less expensive than in the US…especially alcohol.
I’ve backed off some on eating out but I still do it.
I’ve almost completely stopped using food delivery services like DoorDash. I’ve done the math on a few orders and wowzers…super expensive! (easily adds 30-50% to the cost of a meal).
I just checked and at Five Guys (fast food burgers) a cheeseburger, small fries and a Sprite cost $34 delivered (and, frankly, it is about $25 without delivery so still terrible).
I only buy meat once a week now. (Speaking of dinners only, folks do tuna and lunchmeat sometimes) i usually make it last through at least two nights. But we eat a lot more veggie dinners than we used to.
We are lucky to be able to afford the elevated prices, but we are still pissed at paying $5 for a bag of chips and $5-6 for a box of cereal. If it were just my wife and me, we wouldn’t buy them, but the 14 year old demands them. Ice cream has also skyrocketed, and shrunk in size, but the Tillamook (the good stuff) was just on sale for $3/half gallon (narrator: It’s not really a half gallon) so the 14 YO got plenty.
The only still good deal I find on meat is to buy a whole chicken (NOT organic…organic pretty much means expensive) which is about $2.50/lb. You can get a lot of meals out of a 6lb bird. Cook the whole chicken (if your family can eat it all in a couple days) or break it down into parts (a little hassle but pretty easy and quick), put the parts in a plastic bag and freeze them. Then, take out what you need when you need it. Then use the leftover carcass and bits to make stock if you want.
I have not worked real hard to find the best prices but I think that will be some of the least expensive meat you can buy.
I would also note that for some foods ;especially meat and cheese) I would rather buy a smaller amount of better quality, even if the price seems high. But I refuse to pay an exorbitant price for anything. I also think frozen and canned vegetables are perfectly fine, sometimes almost as good as fresh and occasionally better.
Various pork options have become my go-to for animal protein. On sale, boneless pork loin is frequently $2.49 / lb, and even normally goes for as little as $2.99. Bone in cuts can be as low as $1.99 or even a touch less on sale, so I’ve been making a lot of slow cooker or pressure cooker pulled pork, green chili pork, and the like.
On your earlier point about Fast Food, yeah, that’s also been utterly noped out for me. I mentioned this in another thread, but around New Years, had a friend fly in to spend the holiday with us, and we swung by Whataburger on the way home from the airport because he hadn’t eaten all day.
2 burgers, 2 fries, 2 drinks in combos was $24. And that’s at a large scale cheap chain, instead of a (ever so slightly) upscale chain like Five Guys. Not that I had fast food often, because it’s normally pretty junky food, but hell no would I pay that when even at current beef prices I can do so much better for less. If I need something fast, I’ll get a snack to tide over until then.
To put it in perspective, I just put together a basic order for Wendy’s (pretty ubiquitous nationwide), for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Medium Fries, Medium Drink Combo with no coupons, upgrades, addons and the like. Not exactly a premium sandwich, but not the cheapest option either - fully middle of the road.
Mrs T does the bulk of the food shopping; it’s not so much not buying things, it’s more like not buying them this week - wait until they’re on special offer. That’s why I have my favorite hazelnut yogurt this week…
Also to some extent skipping brands. Granola? It turns out that I actually prefer Sainsbury’s Own to Jordans - less sweet (plus you can recycle the packaging).
The only thing that I’ve personally noped out of recently is (on our regular trips to France) cans of confit de canard. Yeah, I know, it’s down to the 'flu - but at those prices I’ll just have to make my current stash last longer.
I buy all snacks (chips, pretzels, cookies, candy), paper goods, and cleaning supplies at the local Dollar Store. They recently raised their prices to $1.25/item, but it’s still a good deal. I’ve learned which snacks taste like crap, and the ones I buy are tasty.
I stopped shopping at Publix, except for Pub Subs (best subs in town…no, in the world!) and bakery goods (those folks know how to bake). They hiked their prices too high for my liking. I now do virtually all my grocery shopping with Kroger Delivery (there are no Kroger stores in Florida, just warehouses). I pay the yearly fee, so delivery is free, and drivers aren’t allowed to accept tips (I’m told they pay them well).
Kroger’s prices are significantly lower than Publix, and other surrounding stores, especially if you stick to Kroger brand items.
I mostly purchase items that are BOGO, or on coupon sale. I create my weekly menu based on what I buy, and what I buy is on sale. Most items I like go on sale pretty regularly, so that’s good. Example: I wait and buy 2lb of bacon for under $10 (that lasts me until it goes on sale again); ½ gallon of Kroger ice cream for under $2 (their ice cream is da bomb!), and 32oz of breaded butterfly shrimp for under $10. They also often give away free promotional items…and they are often good.
I’ve pretty much given up on steak and snow crab clusters unless they are on deep discount (which they are every once in a while). I don’t buy chicken wings as much as I used to, but they do go on sale somewhat regularly.
After being a daily morning latte person for years I had to give it up when the average price is now around $6. Switched over to coffee with milk/creamer to save a ton.