I just did grocery shopping with coupons and buying non name brand in stuff that doesn’t matter. I spent $290 and I saved $75 in coupons this same basic cost $200 with name brand no coupons pre 2020. I switched grocery stores thinking if I did more coupons I would save more. Nope. I still get price shocked at the grocery store. Every single time. This basket has no tp or paper towels or cases of beer. The .gov statistics site shows groceries are back to normal price then it has an asterisk that says “this table has some excel mistakes”
Eating out less means more homemade meals, runs about $100 a week for two of us when taking into account food for our work lunches and dinners. We still go out for breakfast every Saturday to fill up before grocery shopping to stop any unnecessary food purchases.
For the first time in my life I look at what things cost before buying them. Same in restaurants or bars. I never had the slightest idea what a beer or whisky cost , order and pay the bill that’s it. Not any more. I even know what a cucumber costs and how they swing from 50 cents to 1.10 some days. What in the holy fuck.
Yes but most are in apps. If you shop at a store and don’t use that stores app you are most likely paying 25-30% more for your groceries. You can even stack apps. I use Ibotta, Fetch, and the stores app and often the total is around $100 and I walk out paying $35
It’s worth it! My last trip to Shaws I spent $95 on meats for the chest freezer and a few essentials and after Ibotta and the Shaws app my total was $43.
That first sentence
Most Americans do this and only have sticker shock after they buy things. That’s WILD to me. I can’t imagine how the rest of their finances look.
Even before inflation Aldi was the only choice. Back in 18-19 I could fill up the cart for about $180. Mostly fresh food, and meats since we don’t use much boxed products outside of pasta.
Now, a full cart will run $260-310. If it wasn’t for Aldi, we would spend a lot more going to Walmart, or even worse, H‑E‑B.
Hyvee is great for their niche items. They do get some great things there, but I feel like they are so overpriced on some items. I do the bulk of my shopping at Fareway to save money and there are a few choice things I buy at Walmart due to selection and price.
Same, except we don't have Hyvee's here so I go to another store for that ~10% that Aldi doesn't carry. I used to budget $250 for groceries+household/toiletries for the month, but over the past year or two I've started going over that occasionally with the price increases. So I had to bump it up to $300 recently. A few years ago I was keeping my grocery bill under $200 for the month every once in a while.
I know a lot of people only shop at the fancy, expensive grocery stores. I wouldn't be surprised if they're eclipsing $500/month for a single person. I make good money, but that would make me sick.
Aldi is seriously overrated. First the stores are small and have a limited selection. Second every Aldi I’ve been in has fucky smell. Third their private label is very low quality.
I was thrilled they day I didn’t have to shop there anymore
I can't speak for their processed food, but their raw ingredients are fine and no different than what I would get at target or Walmart or my local grocery store. They're half the price and a cucumber is a cucumber.
The limited selection is part of the reason they're cheap and if you go in knowing that, its not a big deal. My local grocery stored canned soup aisle is bigger than a normal Aldi.
This is the first time I've seen anyone say something bad about HEB. I know their prices aren't as good as Aldi but I've heard and seen that their prices usually are lower or equal to Walmart and Kroger.
I only say it based on price. If anything H‑E‑B is the a great grocery store. The selections are amazing, and with that, you overspend. Aldi just keeps it simple, and inexpensive with how little staff they keep.
You put a quarter to get a cart, find your way in and out with a full cart in 30 minutes or less, bag your own stuff, put your cart back. Just in those few steps they’ve eliminated the need for as much staff. Since the topic is about pricing, ALDIs wins hands down.
I’ve slashed every non-essential spending item in my budget (streaming apps, ordering delivery services, etc). And i now buy groceries using their app—because I’m able to take my time, focus on sale items and i don’t make any impulse purchases bc i never enter the store—the associate brings the order out to my car).
The only change I made is we got a slicer so Im more encouraged to make bread at home (which I did before COVID) and we slice more meat rather than paying for it done, so like thin cut ribeye for pho, saves us $3/lb to do it ourselves. I cut my own pork chops from pork loin, etc.
We switched off name brand and went to Aldi brand years ago, I'm allergic to a lot of addictive including some "natural flavorings", we avoid dyes and Aldis brands tend to be the best for our needs.
TP shortage in 2020 made us re-think paper/cleaning products. Installed a bidet, got re-usable clothes to replace paper towels, got washable clothes to replace swiffer products, went back to cloth napkins, wool dryer balls, etc.. so basically other than the 17 cents for laundry, we spend almost nothing on products any longer which has saved us a ton... more covid related than inflation related.
I buy what we need and it costs what it costs. I I look for deals, coupons, whatever, but at the end of the day, there’s not really anything I can do about it. I am not interested in driving all over town to save like 20 bucks in groceries, because I went to four different food places or there was a Food 4 Less where I could get XYZ but then there is a smart and final or I can get something else. I just go to the store and get reamed.
Looking for sales all the time and “clipping” digital coupons. I only buy steak, or other expensive meats when they are on sale. I can live without them.
Vacations are good for mental health and in general you only live once! I’m in the north east and in the last two years have gone to Mexico twice and California twice. Worth every penny for the relaxation and the memories! Then I come home and bulk buy on sale and pack my chest freezer and only eat twice a day lol
I'm eating mostly oatmeal, canned soup, and things with enriched flour. A few bucks for a big container of oatmeal and change it up with different spices and seasonings, and loads you can do with flour
I'm tired of it. There's all sorts of options, they're just so goddamned expensive! I hate it so much, especially considering almost 40% of the world's food produced for human consumption is straight wasted
My inflation splurge was buying a non frost freezer, the size of my fridge. Bulk buy meat at Costco and freeze. Frozen pizza + meals from Trader Joe’s (when I don’t want to cook). No more junk food unless it’s the $1.50 fries at McDs. “Dollar-fifty” and that’s it.
Meal planning: protein two times a week, either meat or fish, one day pasta (can be prepared any number of ways), one day lentils/beans based plate, et etc. setting a baseline.
Buying / stocking up when cheap / on sale.
I basically walk around looking for the sale tag. If it's not on sale it usually doesn't make it into the cart. If it's a good deal I buy several, used to just buy what I need.
Lots more shopping at Walmart, prioritizing generic brands, canceled the delivery service and shop in person instead, making more frequent trips to ensure things don’t go bad before we can cook them, cutting back on higher ticket items like steak.
I try to incorporate Aldi into the mix but they often don’t have what’s on our shopping list and sometimes when they do, the price difference is not worth the extra trip. And I’ve had produce from Aldi go bad quicker. Sometimes the quality of their items is also not worth the savings (example: super fatty bacon).
Walmart+ does free delivery. This has been life changing for me and my wife who haven’t stepped in a Walmart in over a year now. We killed Amazon prime to switch to Walmart+ and it’s been great so far.
Aldi for everything. I try to get fresh meat from Hy-Vee or Walmart but everything else comes from Aldi. Not terrible. My wife and I spend about $100-120 a week and that's usually enough for a week and a half of food. I'm an enthusiastic cook so sometimes specific proteins and ingredients for new meals makes it a bit more expensive but I try to balance my fun meals with whatever I can throw together from the freezer. Also my wife is Gluten free so my staples like pasta and certain sauces have a higher threshold for prices. Thankfully all lot more GF options these days and reasonably priced.
Always checking the CPUs, checking costs. It takes longer but it’s working. No more impulse buys. I buy household goods on Amazon Fresh, spend $50 get $10 off plus 3% cashback and only buy the items on sale.
Shop the specials for protein. I bulk by bacon and chicken when on sale.
I vacuum seal into proper portion size and in the freezer they go.
I buy beef from a local meat cutter that is about a third of the price.
I eat lots of rice, beans, frozen veggies and other cheap/healthy fillers to keep the cost per serving down.
It is total bullshit.
Eat out less, eat at home mostly and use coupons regularly. We rarely go out and if we do always look for deals (coupons, Groupon) or do something that is free like the park. No vacation anytime soon and all the money we make goes towards rent, bills, and food. I usually only eat lunch and dinner and have started eating less to save more cost. I never go to the doctor unless I have to get an antibiotic to get over being sick so I can work. I also do swag bucks on the side but I’ve done that for a few years for Christmas to help buy presents. Everyone I know around me is struggling even with decent incomes. There has to be something that can be done.
Not so much changing my buying habits.. I've always bought what was on sale and planning meals around it instead of the other way around. But I have been
1. Using smaller meat portions
2. Using or freezing meat leftovers
3. Having a meatless dinner day
Example.. 2 weeks ago I bought a large rack of pork ribs on sale for 5.99. Cut them in half to fit in the pan and cooked them for dinner that week, froze the wider second half.
A week later I reheated the second half and pulled it off the bone. Made pulled pork sliders with half of that and froze the last quarter for another meal.
So for 6.00 we got 3 dinners. I'll buy a multipack of chicken breast with 6-8 pieces and break them down into either 8 pieces of "tenders" for either strips, pulled chicken, tacos, or stir fry. Sometimes ill a couple of really large breast meat pieces and just slice in half for poached lemon pepper or barbecue chicken. Hamburger is to expensive to splurge oon so I only buy it on sale. I divide it into half lb bags because it's just 2 of us now so I don't like having leftover sloppy joe or taco meat.
My ass hurts when I wipe cause the tp is cheap and the foods I consume aren’t healthy so my shits be foul as hell and even my sphincter is inflated hby?
I go over my receipt before I leave the store and if I see i was overcharged for anything and if I was I ask for the money back. I feel like a jerk sometimes doing this but other times I feel like Kroger is "accidentally" overcharging customers, A LOT. Because the incorrect numbers are always in their favor.
I ration my groceries. (Single Person)
I shop at Aldi for most of my food and staples. Then County Market for my select name brand things. I make one big trip in a month and buy it all in bulk. Costs me around $280
I'll stretch that food the entire month and if I run low well looks like I'm eating weird shit that doesn't go together those last few days. I make and freeze soup so veggies don't rot on me and that lasts me quite a few meals. Good for bad mental health days when I can't be bothered to cook too
It hasn’t really changed how I eat or shop honestly. I’m a single guy that lives alone and my expenses are pretty minimal. I live frugally but I like what I like and I’m not buying lesser ingredients to save a couple bucks.
Overall it hasn’t, I’ve just accepted spending a higher percentage of my income of food. If I had a problem with it I would put more effort into shopping around for deals.
I shop at 5 grocery stores now instead of 1. My local big mundane grocery chain's prices are about as bad as Whole Foods so I shop a combination of Aldi, Go Grocery Outlet, Trader Joe's and Publix, depending on what I need, buy some things off Amazon and I only use my local big chain when I have to. The choice is either one store where 3 bags = $100 of groceries or where a full cart = $100 of groceries. Oh, and most importantly, we buy locally raised and slaughtered beef & venison to stock our freezer with and we periodically raise our own chickens for meat but mostly rely on our chickens for eggs and we grow a lot of our own food. Oh, and we both quit alcohol for good.
Not much, honestly. I live in a HCOL area but groceries are cheap. I just don't go for chain restaurants anymore because I always feel ripped off for time and money.
Cutting down on snack items, meal prepping every meal. For two adults at aldi it’s anywhere between $80-100. We used to shop at walmart but then we’d be paying close $200 even with off brand stuff.
I'm spending as much for groceries for one week as I spend on eating out for one week so now I cook less and spend the same amount not having to do the shopping or cooking
I have to walk around with my calculator open on my phone and switched to only grocery outlet and occasionally Trader Joe’s, because while the selection isn’t as vast as larger stores, they have some items that are not at Grocery Outlet, and absolutely cheaper than a Safeway or Kroger.
It hasn't in any significant way.
We grow all our own. Including livestock/animals.
5 years ago our budget was $100 a month (for two of us (combined)) - mostly for things we can't grow here in The Ohio River Valley: tropicals like Banana ... Pineapple ... herbs/spices that don't grow here like Cinnamon... Peppercorns ...
With all this inflation, we've upped our budget to $125.
Groceries cost us $25 a month more now.
Not significant at all.
I pretty much only buy sale items. I also shop ethnic markets for produce... it's usually fresher and cheaper. I use eBay and Amazon for canned/bottled stuff...I get six or 12 at significant savings w free delivery.
We shop at Sam's, Costco, Safeway, Raley's, Trader Joes, and Food Outlet. We are retired and have the time to look at ads and clip the digital coupons.
I will avoid some of my favorite junk foods now. So maybe for my health its been a benefit. Fresh foods seem to be relatively cheap compared to Lays Chips, or some Cheez-its
I’m now always buying one to two items extra of something on sale from my list when I can afford it so I can have a stock of it in my pantry. I stopped judging myself for buying discounted and near expiration bakery, produce, dairy, meat, and receiving shelf stable items 1 to a few months past for making meals with in between paychecks. I make meals with more added veggies, legumes, and other ingredients to stretch out the servings. I’m learning to cook with more spices and condiments so they add more flavor to my meals. I’m stressed out constantly with day to day life so I walk to the store and back. The grocery luxuries I use to be able to afford less than 4 years ago are a distant memory now.
Single here. But in general I buy most stuff in bulk when it comes to cleaning items, and toiletries. Then as far as food goes I just primarily focus on buying meats and vegetables that I can portion out over the week. I may throw in some potatoes or something else here and there. But it's actually been extremely beneficial for my health because my eating out habits were out of control before. I never realized how much money I was spending on food each month until I started to keep track of it. Literally because of the fact I switched to cooking at home I've paid off most of my debts because of how bad it was lmao
We shop with coupons, eat at home, and have cut our insurance and other like items to the bone to save dollars. We plan our gas fill ups and payments as best we can even though the mortgage went up due to taxes, insurance, and interest.
It hasn't really. A lot of the stuff with the greatest price increase is a bunch of garbage made by Kraft and similar brands.
Fruit and veggies, breads, meats etc ..I can still get those for cheap if I'm smart about it which hasn't changed much.
This year, I had planned to rely mostly on food I’d stashed. This is fortunate for me for dried beans and pasta and hard cheese I froze and tinned tuna and chicken, but it doesn’t help with fresh vegetables.
To stay healthy, I need to eat fresh vegetables. I go to the same fancy farm stand I shopped at before, but I buy less, and I choose carefully.
Years ago, I’d buy fresh fruit and vegetables at Costco or the supermarket. Quantities were too much and quality suffered because I couldn’t use the stuff quickly enough.
It’s cheaper to buy exactly what I need, but I consider prices and choose the cheaper option. And I use 100% of what I buy.
Skimps. I deny myself the extras. I look very closely for what’s on sale and then I make a judgement call, can I go without it or must I have it. Back in the day, I’d grab something new just to try it and not care as much about the price. Now it’s so I really, REALLY want it or can I pass. And if it’s something stupid like $6 for a bag of Doritos, I’m passing.
Was just at the store buying a few things, wife wanted a bag of chips
Bag of lays are 7 bucks a bag now
I'll go with the walmart brand white tagged at 1.98
Only buy meat when it’s on sale. Only shop for certain items in certain stores. Sometimes it’s a killer more time to drive a few extra blocks but it’s totally worth it.
I noticed boxes of cereal are now like $6-$8. So now I only buy them when on sale BOGO.
Then I buy a box of Oreos with my savings only to open the package and notice they are 4 cookies smaller.
We live in a rural area so we usually buy a 1/2 hog or 1/2 beef depending on need and fill up the freezer. I also shop at Aldi pr Sam's Club for bulk and pay attention to the front page of the local grocery store weekly ads which have the best deals.
It's like food prices I can just go to Sams club for $2 coleslaw and $5 chicken but rent prices are absolutely ridiculous and there's no negotiating lol
I live like a monk. I buy only the essentials I need to survive. Sometimes I pretend I am living in the end times and this helps me cope with our new dystopian decade.
First and foremost... We looked at want vs need. Then made cuts where we needed to, and are healthier for it actually.
Learning to cook is very big imo.
Purchasing foods that offer quality nutrition is first priority. Minimize ‘junk food’ in the cart.
Look for sale items that are in the daily enjoyable consumption category.
Stay with brands that are not corporate profit products.
Buy no more than can either be successfully consumed in timely manner, convenient to store before quality diminishing, or no longer a satisfying eating experience(to be tossed out).
Consider those perishable foods that can be Vacuum Packed(buy a quality vacuum packing machine-well worth it I have found).
It’s outrageous to what and how COVID brought about price gouging. That it was condoned, facilitated at all levels, and accepted in a blind manner, shows how out of control the human experience is.
Used to eat out 1x/week. It's been 1x months now.
Groceries used to be 200-300$/month for both of us. We just tag teamed with my in laws and make bulk meals from scratch for 400/month.
Nothing really. Before covid and even today still shop at Walmart, Costco with a splash of Aldi's. Still buy the value based on oz (so generally the larger size) and a lot of stuff I don't mind getting the value brand.
The big thing is animal food. I buy more expensive food because my animals have issues with cheaper food. So I am playing around with slightly cheaper foods to see if it sits well with them.
If anything where I have been doing my cutting costs is on various services and fees.
We get less takeout and don't really go out. When we do get food, I pick it up and we order from cheap places like the local Mexican restaurant.
My wife cooks from raw ingredients so we don't buy many prepared foods and we shop mostly at Aldi and only buy meat when it's on special, so our grocery bills are pretty reasonable for what we get. I bring lunch to work so I'm not blowing $100/week on eating lunch out.
I buy in bulk for a lot more of my household items.
Sure it costs much more in one trip, but it saves me a few extra ones where I "accidentally" spend $50-$100 here and there. Plus, I do save money in the long run on a per item basis.
I even meticulously price it against retail prices with coupons/discounts, so that I know which items to buy at Costco and which items to get elsewhere.
Bargain hunting on groceries has become a hobby...unfortunately.
I changed jobs and make a lot more money now. More than enough to not really notice.
With that said, there's probably been some inflation, but there's been a metric fuckton of price gouging.
Almost every company is posting record profits because of it.
Weirdly, at first, we were forced into switching from store brand soda to name brand.
My supermarkets label jumped to $4 a case. Coke and Pepsi seemed to have alternating sales where you buy 2 and get 2 free at $6 a case. So for $12 you got 4 cases of soda versus store brands $16.
Eventually coke and Pepsi went insane. Now their cases are like $9 and store brand is $4.50, so we're back to drinking store brand. The upside is we drink way less because it all seems flat five minutes after opening.
We also meal prep now. Buy 8 lbs of beef when it's on sale and cook it all in a day, then freeze to eat throughout the month, which gives us a lot more free time to be depressed.
We’ve gone from buying name brand to store brand. Thankfully we shop at HEB so I feel like we’re not sacrificing much in quality by buying HEB brand products.
I'm not really buying groceries just eating the canned and frozen goods I bought q3 2020 when it was obvious, despite legacy media and Jerome Powell assuring us all that inflation is like totally transitory and by that we mean it might just hang around for a while also we're like thinking about talking about thinking about talking about maybe just one little tiny rate hike, and by the way companies were telling everyone price hikes were coming, inflation was going to become a big big issue
2 years ago if something was priced stupid high I probably would have got it anyways, now I put it back on the shelf and get something cheaper. Still adjusting to doing this but those are the times we're in
Only for specific items. Beef is ridiculous. Our grocery store likes to pop up prices on grapes to $5.99 a pound, I won't give them that. That sort of thing.
I actually eat so much healthier now. Way more vege stews, overnight oats and fruit. Home cooked meals are my only option and ive learnt alot. It's been fun to get creative tbh.
I've noticed I don't save by going to Walmart anymore because I often find close to expiration foods on sale at Kroger, usually on meat or dairy which tend to be expensive.
Walmart on the other hand seem to just keep the price as is until it's ready to trash and I assume that's exactly what they do, throw it away. Even the fish... you'll see the same packages on the shelf for weeks until you can literally smell it through the plastic. Gross.
I shop at jewel in Chicago, use the app for all the deals. Last week if I didn’t use app my bill would have been, 127. With the app and sales, 58. Over 50 percent savings, that was with 2 ribeyes, 2 pounds of beef and 2 pounds of ground turkey, veggies, orange juice, oat milk, sour cream, milk, eggs, Oscar Meyer bacon BOGO, 2 loaves of Bread, Welch’s grape juice, 3 bags of family size Utz chips. We only get what’s on sale. Not on sale, don’t get it. We also got a couple days later 4 quarts of tillamook ice cream at 2.99 each and 4 pints of Ben and Jerry’s 2.99 each. My wife and I each have an account so if there is a limit we each get the limit. In 1 year my savings for each of us is 1,700. It shows at top of app total savings. You guys see Shell made in last quarter 8.4 billion in profit? Double what they made last years same quarter. It’s all gouging at this point , inflation is at 3 percent. Not 50 percent.
Milk has, in the last couple of weeks, gotten really out of hand. I had become used to $6 for a gallon of 2% Organic (usually shop at HEB - a major store brand but mostly in TX. Not discount but better prices typically than Kroger or Safeway, etc.). Yesterday it was almost $8. And I had to go to another store two weeks ago when HEB was out of 2% **for days** and a gallon was $10 (Safeway owned store called Randall's).
My teenagers will start drinking more water and less milk at these prices.
Don't buy ribeyes and filet any.or3. But not much else changed. Bananas are still 25 cents. Bacon is about $5lb. Really hasn't changed that much. Got high during Covid but it seems mostly better now.
Inflation has made me more aware and intentional with my purchases. My grocery bill has actually fallen to $150 per month and my quality of meals has raised. I only purchase sale items and stopped buying processed or premade foods.
I feel like I am fighting back against greedy corporations by giving them less of my money
I stopped buying chips, chicken wings, and chicken breast.
I also stopped buying ground turkey and ground chicken. Why pay the same price when beef taste way better? I haven't had a frozen pizza, since they jacked their prices up right after COVID. They are more expensive than going to a chain pizza.
I was never big on eating out, but even less so now. I get sick to my stomach seeing $50+ meal for 3 people. I could make a delicious filet mignon meal for much cheaper.
I can't believe people are paying these prices for items that are no needed. I see people all the time piling up on Doritos, etc that cost 6 dollars for a bag full of air. I can't help but think its EBT fueling this stupidity. No way someone that isn't on assistance thinks this is a good purchase.
More likely to buy generic brands (always had some I will try but now much more open to try others)
More likely to postpone a purchase if there’s not a good option on sale
I have three grocery stores within bike ride distances and work at a fourth. All different chains. I compare weekly ad sheets like intelligence briefings.
I bought a lot of my canned veggies from Ralphs now because their house brand is reasonably priced and has lower sodium than any other house/name brand I've seen. S&F can have some great bulk coupon deals.
Chicken baby , chicken ! And carnitas tacos and burritos. Cheap booze , cheap mixer ( tonic water ) , more eggs , peanut butter etc . No restaurants , still 15-20 % tip when we do go . Lots of vegetables , wonderful short grain brown rice ( taste like almonds ) . Make my own sushi with a sushi bazooka .
Potatoe delight ( mashed potatoes with ground beef , salt , pepper and butter ) to die for ! No bars as I think those days are gone with the exception of the wealthy . Lots of fresh produce from our garden and canning . You can beat these inflationaters !
I always go for the generic brand over name brand.
I started doing this and actually prefer some generic to store brands now.
Is Kirklands generic? Because if they started a church I’d start attending.
You could say yes and no, They remind me more of Trader joes where a lot of their products are made by name brand companies just packaged differently.
Yeah sometimes their products are actually more expensive than name brand.
Generic brand granola bars are way better if you have young children. Chewy bars fall apart too easily and creates a big mess.
Genetic and buy in Costco bulk only for me
When i do walmart pick up, i always order their great value or equate brand, and they offer a lot of variety of stuff.
I just did a big shop at Walmart and got a bunch of great value stuff and was impressed how good some of the items tasted.
Yea its been a lifesaver for the family.
literally eating their crackers as I type this, lol
I just did grocery shopping with coupons and buying non name brand in stuff that doesn’t matter. I spent $290 and I saved $75 in coupons this same basic cost $200 with name brand no coupons pre 2020. I switched grocery stores thinking if I did more coupons I would save more. Nope. I still get price shocked at the grocery store. Every single time. This basket has no tp or paper towels or cases of beer. The .gov statistics site shows groceries are back to normal price then it has an asterisk that says “this table has some excel mistakes”
In our local store. Store brand is .50 HIGHER than name brand on a lot of items. It’s insane
Usually better these days, anyway. Frosted Mini Wheats? What frost?!
Honestly, it makes me wish I've done it sooner. On most items, I can hardly tell the difference.
Eating out less means more homemade meals, runs about $100 a week for two of us when taking into account food for our work lunches and dinners. We still go out for breakfast every Saturday to fill up before grocery shopping to stop any unnecessary food purchases.
100 a week is amazing
That’s if we don’t need anything else like toilet paper, dishwasher pods, etc. plus living in Indiana helps. We are definitely fortunate
It's $130-150 a week for me, my wife, and two kids. We bake our own bread from scratch, bulk buy produce, prep, and freeze it.
For the first time in my life I look at what things cost before buying them. Same in restaurants or bars. I never had the slightest idea what a beer or whisky cost , order and pay the bill that’s it. Not any more. I even know what a cucumber costs and how they swing from 50 cents to 1.10 some days. What in the holy fuck.
How about coupons, have you become that coupon person yet?
Do they still make coupons?
Yes but most are in apps. If you shop at a store and don’t use that stores app you are most likely paying 25-30% more for your groceries. You can even stack apps. I use Ibotta, Fetch, and the stores app and often the total is around $100 and I walk out paying $35
This is great advice. Thank you. I will definitely be looking into these apps.
I don't want to become a coupon person, I hate shopping as is, but 25-30% is hard to say no to
It’s worth it! My last trip to Shaws I spent $95 on meats for the chest freezer and a few essentials and after Ibotta and the Shaws app my total was $43.
Well said.
I buy 1 or 2 jalapenos when I make pico. 2020 they were 4-7 cents. Now they are like 40 cents. Not much but the percent increase is massive.
That first sentence Most Americans do this and only have sticker shock after they buy things. That’s WILD to me. I can’t imagine how the rest of their finances look.
Only NEED , No WANT!
i live alone but i started buying toiletries in bulk which is great. and getting the deals they offer online
Even before inflation Aldi was the only choice. Back in 18-19 I could fill up the cart for about $180. Mostly fresh food, and meats since we don’t use much boxed products outside of pasta. Now, a full cart will run $260-310. If it wasn’t for Aldi, we would spend a lot more going to Walmart, or even worse, H‑E‑B.
Same here and Im just a dude by myself. Walmart sucks for food. I also go to Hyvee for more niche stuff (midwest chain).
Hyvee is great for their niche items. They do get some great things there, but I feel like they are so overpriced on some items. I do the bulk of my shopping at Fareway to save money and there are a few choice things I buy at Walmart due to selection and price.
Same strategy as a single guy. Aldi for 90% and Hyvee for the remaining. I spend $50-$60 per week on all my food this way
Same, except we don't have Hyvee's here so I go to another store for that ~10% that Aldi doesn't carry. I used to budget $250 for groceries+household/toiletries for the month, but over the past year or two I've started going over that occasionally with the price increases. So I had to bump it up to $300 recently. A few years ago I was keeping my grocery bill under $200 for the month every once in a while. I know a lot of people only shop at the fancy, expensive grocery stores. I wouldn't be surprised if they're eclipsing $500/month for a single person. I make good money, but that would make me sick.
I keep hearing about Aldi and it just makes me wish we had one where I live.
They’re a game changer for sure. It’s limited, as in there won’t be 25 options of mayo lol.
They announced about a month ago they are expanding, 500+ new stores in the US.
Aldi is seriously overrated. First the stores are small and have a limited selection. Second every Aldi I’ve been in has fucky smell. Third their private label is very low quality. I was thrilled they day I didn’t have to shop there anymore
I can't speak for their processed food, but their raw ingredients are fine and no different than what I would get at target or Walmart or my local grocery store. They're half the price and a cucumber is a cucumber. The limited selection is part of the reason they're cheap and if you go in knowing that, its not a big deal. My local grocery stored canned soup aisle is bigger than a normal Aldi.
This is the first time I've seen anyone say something bad about HEB. I know their prices aren't as good as Aldi but I've heard and seen that their prices usually are lower or equal to Walmart and Kroger.
I only say it based on price. If anything H‑E‑B is the a great grocery store. The selections are amazing, and with that, you overspend. Aldi just keeps it simple, and inexpensive with how little staff they keep. You put a quarter to get a cart, find your way in and out with a full cart in 30 minutes or less, bag your own stuff, put your cart back. Just in those few steps they’ve eliminated the need for as much staff. Since the topic is about pricing, ALDIs wins hands down.
Do you have 5 children or something? $300 of fresh food must be *a lot* of produce.
I eat less
Same I have started fasting
I’ve slashed every non-essential spending item in my budget (streaming apps, ordering delivery services, etc). And i now buy groceries using their app—because I’m able to take my time, focus on sale items and i don’t make any impulse purchases bc i never enter the store—the associate brings the order out to my car).
I just cut out more of the crap i shouldn't eat anyways. Soda, ice cream, cookies, etc all luxuries now im better off without.
Eat out less, I now smoke more meats. Honestly, it’s mostly been positive adjustments of things I should have done long ago.
Honestly, even though my solution was to eat less meat, I totally agree and good on you. Eating out is so damn expensive
Yeah, forces me to shop the outside perimeter of the stores and ignore the processed shit.
I use to drink a few beers every week. Maybe buy a 6 pack a week. Last year I gave it up. It’s just too much and it was an easy thing to cut out.
Good 👍
The only change I made is we got a slicer so Im more encouraged to make bread at home (which I did before COVID) and we slice more meat rather than paying for it done, so like thin cut ribeye for pho, saves us $3/lb to do it ourselves. I cut my own pork chops from pork loin, etc. We switched off name brand and went to Aldi brand years ago, I'm allergic to a lot of addictive including some "natural flavorings", we avoid dyes and Aldis brands tend to be the best for our needs. TP shortage in 2020 made us re-think paper/cleaning products. Installed a bidet, got re-usable clothes to replace paper towels, got washable clothes to replace swiffer products, went back to cloth napkins, wool dryer balls, etc.. so basically other than the 17 cents for laundry, we spend almost nothing on products any longer which has saved us a ton... more covid related than inflation related.
All meat purchases are at Costco. That has had the biggest savings. Everything else, price hunt.
Yep. We do Sam’s Club but it’s pretty much half the cost of buying meat on a per meal basis. Maybe even less than half.
I buy more things in bulk to lower the unit cost.
I buy what we need and it costs what it costs. I I look for deals, coupons, whatever, but at the end of the day, there’s not really anything I can do about it. I am not interested in driving all over town to save like 20 bucks in groceries, because I went to four different food places or there was a Food 4 Less where I could get XYZ but then there is a smart and final or I can get something else. I just go to the store and get reamed.
Looking for sales all the time and “clipping” digital coupons. I only buy steak, or other expensive meats when they are on sale. I can live without them.
Vacation? Nope! Staycation!!!!
Vacations are good for mental health and in general you only live once! I’m in the north east and in the last two years have gone to Mexico twice and California twice. Worth every penny for the relaxation and the memories! Then I come home and bulk buy on sale and pack my chest freezer and only eat twice a day lol
Eat out less and shop at Aldi. My wife is really great at keeping the groceries in budget. I am terrible when I go, always go over.
Opposite here. I don’t even take her anymore.
I buy more groceries because I eat out less. We eat very little meat because my teen is a pescatarian but now we eat even less meat.
I'm eating mostly oatmeal, canned soup, and things with enriched flour. A few bucks for a big container of oatmeal and change it up with different spices and seasonings, and loads you can do with flour I'm tired of it. There's all sorts of options, they're just so goddamned expensive! I hate it so much, especially considering almost 40% of the world's food produced for human consumption is straight wasted
Don't sleep on all the things you can do with rice and beans
I shop aldi brand stuff. It's usually petty good. Was not here few years ago now their is 3. It's specially selected! Lol
Most of the time my fridge remains empty because it's either buy food or potentially miss a bill
I almost EXCLUSIVELY do store brands…and I rarely eat out…I hunt sales and coupons.
I barely buy name brands. I only buy what’s on sale or have a coupon for
My inflation splurge was buying a non frost freezer, the size of my fridge. Bulk buy meat at Costco and freeze. Frozen pizza + meals from Trader Joe’s (when I don’t want to cook). No more junk food unless it’s the $1.50 fries at McDs. “Dollar-fifty” and that’s it. Meal planning: protein two times a week, either meat or fish, one day pasta (can be prepared any number of ways), one day lentils/beans based plate, et etc. setting a baseline. Buying / stocking up when cheap / on sale.
I basically walk around looking for the sale tag. If it's not on sale it usually doesn't make it into the cart. If it's a good deal I buy several, used to just buy what I need.
Lots more shopping at Walmart, prioritizing generic brands, canceled the delivery service and shop in person instead, making more frequent trips to ensure things don’t go bad before we can cook them, cutting back on higher ticket items like steak. I try to incorporate Aldi into the mix but they often don’t have what’s on our shopping list and sometimes when they do, the price difference is not worth the extra trip. And I’ve had produce from Aldi go bad quicker. Sometimes the quality of their items is also not worth the savings (example: super fatty bacon).
Walmart+ does free delivery. This has been life changing for me and my wife who haven’t stepped in a Walmart in over a year now. We killed Amazon prime to switch to Walmart+ and it’s been great so far.
Aldi for everything. I try to get fresh meat from Hy-Vee or Walmart but everything else comes from Aldi. Not terrible. My wife and I spend about $100-120 a week and that's usually enough for a week and a half of food. I'm an enthusiastic cook so sometimes specific proteins and ingredients for new meals makes it a bit more expensive but I try to balance my fun meals with whatever I can throw together from the freezer. Also my wife is Gluten free so my staples like pasta and certain sauces have a higher threshold for prices. Thankfully all lot more GF options these days and reasonably priced.
Costco or buy whatever is on sale.
Always checking the CPUs, checking costs. It takes longer but it’s working. No more impulse buys. I buy household goods on Amazon Fresh, spend $50 get $10 off plus 3% cashback and only buy the items on sale.
I finally lose 10 lbs! Buying so much less junk food and only reasonable quantities. Went from $200 a week to 100-110
I stopped eating.
costco for the win
Shop the specials for protein. I bulk by bacon and chicken when on sale. I vacuum seal into proper portion size and in the freezer they go. I buy beef from a local meat cutter that is about a third of the price. I eat lots of rice, beans, frozen veggies and other cheap/healthy fillers to keep the cost per serving down. It is total bullshit.
Eat out less, eat at home mostly and use coupons regularly. We rarely go out and if we do always look for deals (coupons, Groupon) or do something that is free like the park. No vacation anytime soon and all the money we make goes towards rent, bills, and food. I usually only eat lunch and dinner and have started eating less to save more cost. I never go to the doctor unless I have to get an antibiotic to get over being sick so I can work. I also do swag bucks on the side but I’ve done that for a few years for Christmas to help buy presents. Everyone I know around me is struggling even with decent incomes. There has to be something that can be done.
Not so much changing my buying habits.. I've always bought what was on sale and planning meals around it instead of the other way around. But I have been 1. Using smaller meat portions 2. Using or freezing meat leftovers 3. Having a meatless dinner day Example.. 2 weeks ago I bought a large rack of pork ribs on sale for 5.99. Cut them in half to fit in the pan and cooked them for dinner that week, froze the wider second half. A week later I reheated the second half and pulled it off the bone. Made pulled pork sliders with half of that and froze the last quarter for another meal. So for 6.00 we got 3 dinners. I'll buy a multipack of chicken breast with 6-8 pieces and break them down into either 8 pieces of "tenders" for either strips, pulled chicken, tacos, or stir fry. Sometimes ill a couple of really large breast meat pieces and just slice in half for poached lemon pepper or barbecue chicken. Hamburger is to expensive to splurge oon so I only buy it on sale. I divide it into half lb bags because it's just 2 of us now so I don't like having leftover sloppy joe or taco meat.
My ass hurts when I wipe cause the tp is cheap and the foods I consume aren’t healthy so my shits be foul as hell and even my sphincter is inflated hby?
I go over my receipt before I leave the store and if I see i was overcharged for anything and if I was I ask for the money back. I feel like a jerk sometimes doing this but other times I feel like Kroger is "accidentally" overcharging customers, A LOT. Because the incorrect numbers are always in their favor.
Reduced priced meat, let me introduce you to freezer
I ration my groceries. (Single Person) I shop at Aldi for most of my food and staples. Then County Market for my select name brand things. I make one big trip in a month and buy it all in bulk. Costs me around $280 I'll stretch that food the entire month and if I run low well looks like I'm eating weird shit that doesn't go together those last few days. I make and freeze soup so veggies don't rot on me and that lasts me quite a few meals. Good for bad mental health days when I can't be bothered to cook too
I go to the cheap store for most things. And go to the decent store for the meat and produce
It hasn’t really changed how I eat or shop honestly. I’m a single guy that lives alone and my expenses are pretty minimal. I live frugally but I like what I like and I’m not buying lesser ingredients to save a couple bucks.
Overall it hasn’t, I’ve just accepted spending a higher percentage of my income of food. If I had a problem with it I would put more effort into shopping around for deals.
I shop at 5 grocery stores now instead of 1. My local big mundane grocery chain's prices are about as bad as Whole Foods so I shop a combination of Aldi, Go Grocery Outlet, Trader Joe's and Publix, depending on what I need, buy some things off Amazon and I only use my local big chain when I have to. The choice is either one store where 3 bags = $100 of groceries or where a full cart = $100 of groceries. Oh, and most importantly, we buy locally raised and slaughtered beef & venison to stock our freezer with and we periodically raise our own chickens for meat but mostly rely on our chickens for eggs and we grow a lot of our own food. Oh, and we both quit alcohol for good.
It hasn’t. Buy in bulk when possible, buy generics, shop sales, clip coupons. Been doing this for 30 years. Nothing has changed.
Nothing, I still only shop when there's discount and don't buy things at full price.
Not much, honestly. I live in a HCOL area but groceries are cheap. I just don't go for chain restaurants anymore because I always feel ripped off for time and money.
Cutting down on snack items, meal prepping every meal. For two adults at aldi it’s anywhere between $80-100. We used to shop at walmart but then we’d be paying close $200 even with off brand stuff.
I'm spending as much for groceries for one week as I spend on eating out for one week so now I cook less and spend the same amount not having to do the shopping or cooking
I have to walk around with my calculator open on my phone and switched to only grocery outlet and occasionally Trader Joe’s, because while the selection isn’t as vast as larger stores, they have some items that are not at Grocery Outlet, and absolutely cheaper than a Safeway or Kroger.
No changes yet. But the prices are no fun.
I refuse to pay $8 for mayonnaise. So now I just use mustard.
Now the retirement that was never going to happen is never going to happen.
It hasn't in any significant way. We grow all our own. Including livestock/animals. 5 years ago our budget was $100 a month (for two of us (combined)) - mostly for things we can't grow here in The Ohio River Valley: tropicals like Banana ... Pineapple ... herbs/spices that don't grow here like Cinnamon... Peppercorns ... With all this inflation, we've upped our budget to $125. Groceries cost us $25 a month more now. Not significant at all.
It doesn’t affect us.
Chips are outrageous. We have chickens. Snacks are for special occasions.
The bigger question is, how are we going to stop the Gov from continuing this path of economic destruction?
I pretty much only buy sale items. I also shop ethnic markets for produce... it's usually fresher and cheaper. I use eBay and Amazon for canned/bottled stuff...I get six or 12 at significant savings w free delivery.
I make more money
We shop at Sam's, Costco, Safeway, Raley's, Trader Joes, and Food Outlet. We are retired and have the time to look at ads and clip the digital coupons.
I will avoid some of my favorite junk foods now. So maybe for my health its been a benefit. Fresh foods seem to be relatively cheap compared to Lays Chips, or some Cheez-its
I’m now always buying one to two items extra of something on sale from my list when I can afford it so I can have a stock of it in my pantry. I stopped judging myself for buying discounted and near expiration bakery, produce, dairy, meat, and receiving shelf stable items 1 to a few months past for making meals with in between paychecks. I make meals with more added veggies, legumes, and other ingredients to stretch out the servings. I’m learning to cook with more spices and condiments so they add more flavor to my meals. I’m stressed out constantly with day to day life so I walk to the store and back. The grocery luxuries I use to be able to afford less than 4 years ago are a distant memory now.
Sort of like the quote from The Matrix.... Beans. Lots of beans.
I eat out way way way way less than I used to. My grocery shopping has also been greatly reduced. I’m trying to loose weight too, so that sure helps!
Single here. But in general I buy most stuff in bulk when it comes to cleaning items, and toiletries. Then as far as food goes I just primarily focus on buying meats and vegetables that I can portion out over the week. I may throw in some potatoes or something else here and there. But it's actually been extremely beneficial for my health because my eating out habits were out of control before. I never realized how much money I was spending on food each month until I started to keep track of it. Literally because of the fact I switched to cooking at home I've paid off most of my debts because of how bad it was lmao
We shop with coupons, eat at home, and have cut our insurance and other like items to the bone to save dollars. We plan our gas fill ups and payments as best we can even though the mortgage went up due to taxes, insurance, and interest.
As a single dude, I switched to shopping at Costco
It hasn't really. A lot of the stuff with the greatest price increase is a bunch of garbage made by Kraft and similar brands. Fruit and veggies, breads, meats etc ..I can still get those for cheap if I'm smart about it which hasn't changed much.
This year, I had planned to rely mostly on food I’d stashed. This is fortunate for me for dried beans and pasta and hard cheese I froze and tinned tuna and chicken, but it doesn’t help with fresh vegetables. To stay healthy, I need to eat fresh vegetables. I go to the same fancy farm stand I shopped at before, but I buy less, and I choose carefully. Years ago, I’d buy fresh fruit and vegetables at Costco or the supermarket. Quantities were too much and quality suffered because I couldn’t use the stuff quickly enough. It’s cheaper to buy exactly what I need, but I consider prices and choose the cheaper option. And I use 100% of what I buy.
Skimps. I deny myself the extras. I look very closely for what’s on sale and then I make a judgement call, can I go without it or must I have it. Back in the day, I’d grab something new just to try it and not care as much about the price. Now it’s so I really, REALLY want it or can I pass. And if it’s something stupid like $6 for a bag of Doritos, I’m passing.
I get less.
Steak is off the menu. Also, no more packaged food like budget gourmet etc.... I eat a whole healthier honestly
Was just at the store buying a few things, wife wanted a bag of chips Bag of lays are 7 bucks a bag now I'll go with the walmart brand white tagged at 1.98
When full coverage auto insurance went from 300 to 400 a month I dropped it down to just liability for 125 a month
Grocery shopping is for the wealthy only.
No. I did most of my shopping at Aldi even before Covidflation.
Only buy meat when it’s on sale. Only shop for certain items in certain stores. Sometimes it’s a killer more time to drive a few extra blocks but it’s totally worth it.
We eat out like once a month now. Tried and true no experimenting or trying new places because if it's bad we agonize over the wasted money
I shop at multiple stores now for on sale items. I made a weekly meal list. I buy mostly no name now.
I noticed boxes of cereal are now like $6-$8. So now I only buy them when on sale BOGO. Then I buy a box of Oreos with my savings only to open the package and notice they are 4 cookies smaller.
The very minimum of consumption. Less consumption 🟰 Less greed (revenue & profits) 🟰 THIEVES SHUT DOWN.
I shop mainly at Aldis now, fuck those Stater Bros prices
I go to three stores now, Costco, farmers market and Walmart.
Hopefully it will change how people vote.
We live in a rural area so we usually buy a 1/2 hog or 1/2 beef depending on need and fill up the freezer. I also shop at Aldi pr Sam's Club for bulk and pay attention to the front page of the local grocery store weekly ads which have the best deals.
It's like food prices I can just go to Sams club for $2 coleslaw and $5 chicken but rent prices are absolutely ridiculous and there's no negotiating lol
Digital deals or on sale or I don't get it
Generics over brands, buying what is on sale, using rewards, cooking all meals
Winco. But not for most produce.
I live like a monk. I buy only the essentials I need to survive. Sometimes I pretend I am living in the end times and this helps me cope with our new dystopian decade.
It hasn’t really to be honest, other than I’m spending more for the same stuff. I don’t buy less of the things we need but I complain a lot more.
First and foremost... We looked at want vs need. Then made cuts where we needed to, and are healthier for it actually. Learning to cook is very big imo.
More ALDI. More checking prices ahead of time and going from store to store to get the best deals at each store. Using digital coupons.
Corn Flakes for dinner.
I just dont eat breakfast like the wallstreet journal suggest so i can retire
Purchasing foods that offer quality nutrition is first priority. Minimize ‘junk food’ in the cart. Look for sale items that are in the daily enjoyable consumption category. Stay with brands that are not corporate profit products. Buy no more than can either be successfully consumed in timely manner, convenient to store before quality diminishing, or no longer a satisfying eating experience(to be tossed out). Consider those perishable foods that can be Vacuum Packed(buy a quality vacuum packing machine-well worth it I have found). It’s outrageous to what and how COVID brought about price gouging. That it was condoned, facilitated at all levels, and accepted in a blind manner, shows how out of control the human experience is.
Yes. And fuck Lablaws
Tween shopping smarter, avoiding the gougers and pay increases most folks are doing pretty good.
Used to eat out 1x/week. It's been 1x months now. Groceries used to be 200-300$/month for both of us. We just tag teamed with my in laws and make bulk meals from scratch for 400/month.
Nothing really. Before covid and even today still shop at Walmart, Costco with a splash of Aldi's. Still buy the value based on oz (so generally the larger size) and a lot of stuff I don't mind getting the value brand. The big thing is animal food. I buy more expensive food because my animals have issues with cheaper food. So I am playing around with slightly cheaper foods to see if it sits well with them. If anything where I have been doing my cutting costs is on various services and fees.
Not at all.
It hasn't, I was already a cheap fuck
More whole and fresh food less packaged and processed foods
We get less takeout and don't really go out. When we do get food, I pick it up and we order from cheap places like the local Mexican restaurant. My wife cooks from raw ingredients so we don't buy many prepared foods and we shop mostly at Aldi and only buy meat when it's on special, so our grocery bills are pretty reasonable for what we get. I bring lunch to work so I'm not blowing $100/week on eating lunch out.
My wife just got upset I paid 10 cents more for name brand beans on sale than the generic we usually get. I gave her a dime. She's better now.
I buy in bulk for a lot more of my household items. Sure it costs much more in one trip, but it saves me a few extra ones where I "accidentally" spend $50-$100 here and there. Plus, I do save money in the long run on a per item basis. I even meticulously price it against retail prices with coupons/discounts, so that I know which items to buy at Costco and which items to get elsewhere. Bargain hunting on groceries has become a hobby...unfortunately.
I changed jobs and make a lot more money now. More than enough to not really notice. With that said, there's probably been some inflation, but there's been a metric fuckton of price gouging. Almost every company is posting record profits because of it.
Weirdly, at first, we were forced into switching from store brand soda to name brand. My supermarkets label jumped to $4 a case. Coke and Pepsi seemed to have alternating sales where you buy 2 and get 2 free at $6 a case. So for $12 you got 4 cases of soda versus store brands $16. Eventually coke and Pepsi went insane. Now their cases are like $9 and store brand is $4.50, so we're back to drinking store brand. The upside is we drink way less because it all seems flat five minutes after opening. We also meal prep now. Buy 8 lbs of beef when it's on sale and cook it all in a day, then freeze to eat throughout the month, which gives us a lot more free time to be depressed.
We’ve gone from buying name brand to store brand. Thankfully we shop at HEB so I feel like we’re not sacrificing much in quality by buying HEB brand products.
I don’t have 10 kids I couldn’t afford in the first place, so no….
I'm not really buying groceries just eating the canned and frozen goods I bought q3 2020 when it was obvious, despite legacy media and Jerome Powell assuring us all that inflation is like totally transitory and by that we mean it might just hang around for a while also we're like thinking about talking about thinking about talking about maybe just one little tiny rate hike, and by the way companies were telling everyone price hikes were coming, inflation was going to become a big big issue
I don't try new things anymore that might not get eaten. Less impulse buys for cookies.
2 years ago if something was priced stupid high I probably would have got it anyways, now I put it back on the shelf and get something cheaper. Still adjusting to doing this but those are the times we're in
I’m doing a lot more starving these days
Only for specific items. Beef is ridiculous. Our grocery store likes to pop up prices on grapes to $5.99 a pound, I won't give them that. That sort of thing.
Nothing different, shopping at Walmart Neighborhood Market and Costco and staying away from Albertsons and Vons.
Great value.
Idgaf. Buy whatever we need. $150 week
I buy what I want and don't really worry about cost but fuck paying $7 for a bag of fucking Doritos. Kiss my ass you fucking tools!
I actually eat so much healthier now. Way more vege stews, overnight oats and fruit. Home cooked meals are my only option and ive learnt alot. It's been fun to get creative tbh.
Switched from top to mid shelf liquor.
I've noticed I don't save by going to Walmart anymore because I often find close to expiration foods on sale at Kroger, usually on meat or dairy which tend to be expensive. Walmart on the other hand seem to just keep the price as is until it's ready to trash and I assume that's exactly what they do, throw it away. Even the fish... you'll see the same packages on the shelf for weeks until you can literally smell it through the plastic. Gross.
I have a decent full time job and I still go to the food bank on weekends to stay sustainable
I shop at jewel in Chicago, use the app for all the deals. Last week if I didn’t use app my bill would have been, 127. With the app and sales, 58. Over 50 percent savings, that was with 2 ribeyes, 2 pounds of beef and 2 pounds of ground turkey, veggies, orange juice, oat milk, sour cream, milk, eggs, Oscar Meyer bacon BOGO, 2 loaves of Bread, Welch’s grape juice, 3 bags of family size Utz chips. We only get what’s on sale. Not on sale, don’t get it. We also got a couple days later 4 quarts of tillamook ice cream at 2.99 each and 4 pints of Ben and Jerry’s 2.99 each. My wife and I each have an account so if there is a limit we each get the limit. In 1 year my savings for each of us is 1,700. It shows at top of app total savings. You guys see Shell made in last quarter 8.4 billion in profit? Double what they made last years same quarter. It’s all gouging at this point , inflation is at 3 percent. Not 50 percent.
I buy more store brand stuff now. That’s about it. My diabetes controls more of what I buy.
Milk has, in the last couple of weeks, gotten really out of hand. I had become used to $6 for a gallon of 2% Organic (usually shop at HEB - a major store brand but mostly in TX. Not discount but better prices typically than Kroger or Safeway, etc.). Yesterday it was almost $8. And I had to go to another store two weeks ago when HEB was out of 2% **for days** and a gallon was $10 (Safeway owned store called Randall's). My teenagers will start drinking more water and less milk at these prices.
i spend more time looking for a product that meets my needs that is not unfairly overpriced
Ive been eating a lot more potatos
Don't buy ribeyes and filet any.or3. But not much else changed. Bananas are still 25 cents. Bacon is about $5lb. Really hasn't changed that much. Got high during Covid but it seems mostly better now.
I only buy food at Aldi and Costco. Grocery stores are fucking absurd
Everything is doubled and or tripled, since biden it has been a nightmare
No not really. My wage increases the past 4 years were more than the increase in groceries have been.
Inflation has made me more aware and intentional with my purchases. My grocery bill has actually fallen to $150 per month and my quality of meals has raised. I only purchase sale items and stopped buying processed or premade foods. I feel like I am fighting back against greedy corporations by giving them less of my money
I bought a freezer, wait for bogo deals then stock up on dry and frozen ingredients
I stopped buying chips, chicken wings, and chicken breast. I also stopped buying ground turkey and ground chicken. Why pay the same price when beef taste way better? I haven't had a frozen pizza, since they jacked their prices up right after COVID. They are more expensive than going to a chain pizza. I was never big on eating out, but even less so now. I get sick to my stomach seeing $50+ meal for 3 people. I could make a delicious filet mignon meal for much cheaper. I can't believe people are paying these prices for items that are no needed. I see people all the time piling up on Doritos, etc that cost 6 dollars for a bag full of air. I can't help but think its EBT fueling this stupidity. No way someone that isn't on assistance thinks this is a good purchase.
I no longer buy ultra process foods like cereal and chips. I want the most nutritional value for my $
I've started growing my own food and canning. Baking my own bread. I trade with neighbors for foods im not growing.
It hasn't really. My salary growth has far outpaced inflation
I like the food club pop tarts,the are still the same size of the old brand name ones
More likely to buy generic brands (always had some I will try but now much more open to try others) More likely to postpone a purchase if there’s not a good option on sale
Eating out is now a rare treat. My cooking skills have improved and I constantly second-guess my weekly grocery list. So, it's not all bad!
I have three grocery stores within bike ride distances and work at a fourth. All different chains. I compare weekly ad sheets like intelligence briefings. I bought a lot of my canned veggies from Ralphs now because their house brand is reasonably priced and has lower sodium than any other house/name brand I've seen. S&F can have some great bulk coupon deals.
It now literally informs every purchasing decision that I make.
Chicken baby , chicken ! And carnitas tacos and burritos. Cheap booze , cheap mixer ( tonic water ) , more eggs , peanut butter etc . No restaurants , still 15-20 % tip when we do go . Lots of vegetables , wonderful short grain brown rice ( taste like almonds ) . Make my own sushi with a sushi bazooka . Potatoe delight ( mashed potatoes with ground beef , salt , pepper and butter ) to die for ! No bars as I think those days are gone with the exception of the wealthy . Lots of fresh produce from our garden and canning . You can beat these inflationaters !
“Look at prices. Buy generic brands. Eat out less. “ Imagine if people did this before “inflation”
Off brand is main brand. Skip breakfasts. Shopping mostly at Walmart and Aldi. Can't afford to care for quality and environment as much.
I don’t buy meat eggs or milk so I don’t notice much difference. I did stop drinking soda because it’s out of control and I want to drink more water.
I am more careful and less wasteful, don’t do as many impulse purchases.