Smart Shopping Tips

If you were stranded on a desert island for the past year or so and found yourself in a supermarket upon your return, you’d probably wonder what the heck happened to prices in the time you had been away.

My wife and I have noticed that the price of virtually everything, while increasing for awhile now, has reached the point where it’s affecting what we buy and how we eat.

We’ve never really splurged on frivolous items, but the grocery bill is still growing because staples like meat, milk, bread and produce all cost more.

The fact that some prices are increasing faster than others doesn’t really make us feel any better. It also doesn’t help that a six-0unce can of tuna has become a five-0unce can, for the same price.

 

It Affects How We are Eating

Not only are the meals we’re preparing simpler, we’re staying away from processed foods that seem to have been priced out of sight.

Brand names?

Forget it.

We almost always buy generic store brands because purchasing highly-advertised brands of canned goods or cereal can nearly double your bill.

We also don’t just grocery shop, we grocery-hop. Instead of staying loyal to one supermarket, we go to several to get the best deals.

For example, Trader Joe’s, a popular specialty market in southern California, has generic store brands that are of good quality, and decent produce prices.

But TJ’s doesn’t have the variety of Ralphs, a major supermarket chain where we live, so Ralphs gets a good share of our business.

I think others are in the same boat. I haven’t conducted any scientific surveys, but it seemed as if there were fewer goodies available during the holidays. Are people just falling out of the baking habit, or has it gotten too expensive to make two dozen cookies instead of a dozen?

Or anything at all?

So I’m curious. How have rising food prices changed your table? Do you find yourself making smaller meals, or changing the meal itself to something a little less adventurous, a little less pricey?

Or even doing the unthinkable and skipping a meal or scratching that dinner party you were planning on having?

Now that’s a point we haven’t reached yet, but it’s on the horizon.

 

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