Grocery Shopping – Cost of Living – Grocery Prices

The cost of living has become painful. One trip to the gas station and grocery store will clearly put you in touch with this pain. As painful as the $4.00 per gallon for gas is, it represents less than 3.5 percent of the family budget. Food purchases are almost 4 times as much in the family expenses, coming in just under 13%.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Consumer Price Index for the past year indicates the five grocery items that rank at the top of the inflated price list that you are now buying at your supermarkets.

Number One on the list is FLOUR, increased by 37%. Not only does this increase the affect of the purchase of a bag of flour, but every item that is made using flour….breads, bakery goods, etc.

Number Two on the list are EGGS, increased by 34.8%. Again, this price increase goes beyond just the dozen or two of eggs that you buy for your family. Bakery goods, pasta and breads are affected as well.

Number Three on the list are SWEET PEPPERS (green, red, yellow) at an increased rate of 29.2%. The good news here is that peppers are one of the easiest plants to grow with very little work. I will address home gardening in the next newsletter for all your summer salad needs with little expenses.

Number Four on the list is MILK, increased by 23.1%. This is one of the most essential purchases on the grocery list for a family of any size with growing children.

Number Five on the list are DRIED BEANS, increased by 21.6%. This may be the most insulting price increase of all because it represents the most basic and last resort for the poor to put something on the table for the family to eat.

One of the other world’s basic food staples RICE has gone up by 10% in the last month alone. Costco and Walmart have recently limited the quantity of RICE that can purchased.

It is possible to save to save 40% - 50% of your weekly grocery shopping trips, including meat and high priced items, like coffee and laundry detergent, using your store loyalty card, store and manufacturer coupons, and taking advantage of the BUY 1 GET 1 FREE OFFERS. We are very concerned about your bottom line savings on your groceries with these inflationary increases on some of the most basic food staples.Being a good “Scout” you need to “Be prepared”.

Study your local grocery circulars. Become price conscious as to what the marketplace is asking for these particular items as well as what your cupboard and refrigerator is lacking.

Read the ad paper thoroughly to OPTIMIZE YOUR SAVINGS. For example, shopping at a chain drug store, reading through their weekly circular….in smaller print than the rest…. I discovered that if I bought a brand name skin lotion at the regular price I would receive the same brand name liquid soap for FREE — $3.99 value.

Plan ahead your menu. I have advocated planning your menu around the SALE ITEMS in the grocery stores’ circulars. Make sure you mark out on what day of the week their shopping advertisement begins and ends. Some stores start on Wednesday and end on the following Tuesday. Others begin on Thursday and end on the following Wednesday. You could miss out on sale items of importance by not knowing this.

For example, in one sale circular a brand name roasting chicken was on sale for 69 cents/per lb. at the local grocery store. Unlike the major store chains, this local grocery store week begins on Wednesday, not Thursday. So if you didn’t pay attention to this fact, and wanted to purchase the roasting chicken on Wednesday before the sale ended, it would have been TOO LATE. The new week began, the sale was over, and the price increased by 80 cents to $1.49 per/lb. The same 5-lb. Roasting Chicken went from $3.45 to $7.45 — a lost savings of $4.00 per a 5lb. Chicken.

PAY ATTENTION and SAVE! Don’t let image fool you that you are going to get the BEST PRICE because a store is known for it’s LOW PRICES. A recent story of comparative shopping prices revealed the following prices for a gallon of Skim Milk

$2.69 at Aldi’s (discount store)

$2.99 at Costco (a saving club/membership needed)

$3.99 at a Local Supermarket

$4.49 at Walmart Who Who would have thought that?.That’s an image buster!

Don’t forget looking at your local drug stores, such as CVS or Walgreens, for some of these items. Recently I was able to purchase two- 64oz. Walgreens brand Orange Juice for $3.69 compared to other grocery store offers of 2/$5.00, and two dozen eggs for $3.00 compared to $2.89 per dozen elsewhere.

I believe in buying in BULK when often used family products are on sale. If you have the space, utilize your freezer. When shopping for Milk on Sale search the back of the shelf for the latest possible expiration date. If you choose to freeze milk, remove 8-to-12 ounces to allow for expansion during the freezing process. You can also freeze eggs in freezer bags by cracking them open into the bag for later use, baking or scrambled eggs. Rather than throw out eggs or milk that are about to expire make a cake or pudding.

For additional savings, investing in a bread machine ($40.00 and up) would help cut the cost of bread and provide you with Fresh Homemade Healthy Bread daily per your creative ingredients. Put the ingredients in the bread machine, and within three-to-three and a half hours, presto!.FRESH HOMEMADE BREAD for less than a $1.00 per loaf. The bread machine will pay for itself in a short time compared to store bought bread.

For purchasing a good bread maker which lasts a long time, I recommend

One U.S. Agricultural Department Study estimated that 25% of the food bought by consumers and restaurants is wasted or spoiled before it can be served. TV commercials advertise storage bags that will preserve the life of fruits and vegetables. If you are going to spend the high prices for fruits and vegetables, then you might choose to spend $10.00 for reusable bags. They will pay for themselves over a short period of time compared to price of lost/spoiled produce.

For your Meat purchases, avoid paying for the bones. At $10.00/lb, just one pound of bones will cost you ten dollars. Or you might choose to wait until its on sale. Many dollars are saved by using store loyalty cards when it comes to meat purchases. Buy Sale Price Meat in larger quantities, cut in portions, and FREEZE. Meat provides flexibilty in one’s menu planning. The first meal is hot, freshly cooked. Leftover portions can be served cold as sandwiches, or cubed and added to a fresh salad. Any other cubed leftover meat can be added to a soup. THAT’S FOUR MEALS from one piece of meat.

To eat healthier and save on your cooking time, I recommend purchasing Ronco’s “Showtime” Rotisserie. Put the meat on the spit, or in the basket, set the timer, and let it cook away, allowing the fat to drip away. Meatremains moist, juicy and healthy. Place vegetables in steamer tray on top of the unit. When the timer goes off, remove the meat and serve. Makes a very nice CHRISTMAS GIFT that keeps on giving. But remember: you’ll have to figure out what you want to do with your free time while everything is cooking.
The rotisserie can cook up to a 15 lb. turkey, two whole chicken, 8lbs prime rib or any roast. In the basket fish, hamburgers or roasted potatoes are some of the many options available for your meal plan. I have had my rotisserie for over six years.
I located the lowest priced RONCO Rotisserie at Walmart >>>Free Shipping with Site to Store at Walmart.com

Again, read your grocery ad circulars carefully. Try to take advantage of the first opening day “Sale Specials”. Some stores run specials within the store that will provide FREEBIES or MONEY BACK for your NEXT SHOPPING VISIT. Last month, Safeway and Dominicks offered a $10.00 kick back on a purchase of $30.00 or more of listed brand names for the next visit….this represents a 33% savings right there. This week, they offer two $5.00 kick backs ….one is redeemable instantly at the check out counter….the other is redeemable on the next visit.

Lastly, keep your eyes open for offers to add to your Government Stimulus Checks or Tax Refund Checks by Grocery Stores or Department Stores. Jewel (owned by Albertson) is offering a 10% Bonus if you use one of these CHECKS to purchase a Jewel-Osco Gift Card in increments of $300.00 up to $1200.00. Limit one offer per household. This represents $30.00 to $120.00, depending on the amount of your check. Details are available stores. Make Your Money Work For YOU!

So BeSmart…..ShopSmart…..Save Money…..Be Happy!

By Robert Walsh

This entry was posted on 4. May 2008 at 01:38 and is filed under Grocery Shopping Prices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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