I’ve cut down a lot for budgetary reasons, but there’s little I avoid entirely. The exception would be these hot chicken patties I used to get. I now just cook my own chicken.
Coke has gotten ABSURDLY expensive for some reason, $8 a 12 pack when Pepsi is only $4-5 (still expensive but half the price usually) and if you check around you can find a retailer doing a “4 12 packs of Pepsi for $12” type deals.
Now when I think soda it’s always Pepsi and then mostly in 2 liters since a 2 liter is still only $1.50.
I’m not sure why soda prices have gone up so much. In Canada the prices for Coke and Pepsi are almost always the same. And vary wildly, enough to make it worthwhile to seek out the bargains.
Yeah, I can sometimes find good deals on sodas if I’m willing to buy four cases. Sometimes I am, but not often.
I get Pepsi 2-liters on sale for $1.50 regularly. Seems like they’re running a sale all summer around here. I prefer Pepsi, and it’s available with real sugar, so haven’t noticed Coke prices much but they don’t seem to be on sale as often. I love that real sugar Pepsi, but the local bottler only produces it in cans. It’s usually the same price as regular Pepsi, though that costs twice as much per ounce in cans as the 2 liter bottles.
All of those are solid bourbons. Try the Belle Meade Cask Strength.
For me, it’s delivery pizza. $30+ for a pizza means I’ll make my own, thank you very much!
We’re doing a little better than that, about $25 for a decent sized pizza with toppings, delivered. Something less from Pizza the Hut with a coupon, but not as good. The price of the traditional pizzeria sandwiches is staggering now also. In recent years I’ve seen them climb from a base of $6 or $7, up to $10 a couple of years ago, and now $12 or $13 for a submarine/hero/hoagie/wedge/po’boy/grinder that’s any good.
In most Canadian cities a four item large Domino goes for twelve bucks, add five for delivery. It’s not as good as a half-decent Italian restaurant. But it’s still pretty good, way better than it once was. I eat less than before, mainly since I eat healthier than I once did. The price hasn’t increased significantly since Covid.
You know frozen pizza is a food I’ve STARTED buying because of price increases. I’ve seen BOGO deals where they’re as little as $4 to $6 each. And I get the schadenfreude of using my shitty ex-roommates Star Trek pizza cutter. The only drawback is how bulky they can be in the freezer.
We’re keeping an old fridge running that has the freezer on top largely because frozen pizzas won’t fit in the side by side fridge in the kitchen.
I have a freezer in the garage that exists for frozen pizza, Jimmy Dean breakfast bowls, and bags of frozen vegetables.
As mentioned above, including by the OP, I’ve been shocked by the costs of potato chips, corn products like Cheetos or whatever.
Those aren’t a daily necessity, but five bucks for a thing of Ruffles or Cheetos? No.
OTOH, there are sales with rewards/loyalty cards, like for Kettle Chips &c. pretty often.
Same deal with crackers. All kinds. It puts the kibosh on my imported cheese fetish!
Not exactly staples of many kitchens, but those categories are flabbergasting to me.
But yay for frozen pizzas! Prices down! Even for the fancy stuff!
Around here, crackers are one of the items that have really been hit by shrinkflation. The brand I buy most often, the crackers themselves are a bit smaller than they used to be, and they’re putting fewer in the package. It’s not quite bad enough to cross off my usual shopping list, but it’s also pretty clear what’s happening.
not exacly “my” food, but dogfood has become extremely expensive …
by that I mean 2-3 times the pre-covid price !!!
sorry, but my dogs now live on discount-food … ;-/
Mine too. I would pay more if they like the more expensive stuff, but they don’t seem to care at all. I don’t know why, the pictures on the cans of the more expensive stuff look much more appetizing and the ads feature nicer looking and more well behaved dogs.
I remain loyal to the “expensive” brand dog food. Our dogs look good compared to other dogs being fed the cheap stuff. Also, our dogs are always at an ideal weight, as I cannot afford to overfeed them.
are you calling my dogs ugly?
/s
I feed our dogs nice food, but only three of them look good. Poor Jack is still hideous. 
Most of it. My stagnant income pretty much buys half what it did not that long ago. One thing that has come back is eggs - almost back down to pre-inflation levels. So I’m thankful for that. I pretty much buy whatever meat is on sale and eat what I think is the minimal effective dose to not waste away or pass out at work, then fill in around that. I never bought much processed food before. So in a way I’m not too bothered by the packaged food stuffs. But at the same time, I miss being able to pick up a bag of chips and a soda or whatever dumb stuff I felt like for less than the cost of a steak.