How are you handling rising food and energy costs?

[mrodgers]

Oat milk is the easiest and cheapest plant milk to make at home if you have a blender.

How much $4/carton oats do you need to make a half gallon of oat milk (assuming that was $5.79 for half gallon)? Oats aren't cheap either.

 

[mrodgers]

I didn't mean to spur a huge conversation on Walmart vs. grocery store pricing. I just post my experiences like everyone else (and of course get attacked lightly over how I'm wrong as if someone in Utah or where ever knows what the prices are in my grocery store in non-Pittsburgh/Philly Pennsylvania area.

Grocery store meat goes on sale BOGO all the time. Typically $0.50 to $1 /lb. more than just every day prices at Walmart. Anything on the inside aisles of the store is astronomical store vs. Walmart. Folks who have to comment all the time and tell me I'm wrong and my experiences are wrong can think that, but I'm not.

 

[barkley]

yesterday's trip to a couple of grocery stores was pretty much my first in over a month with the exception of just a one store trip for a few odds and ends needed for christmas dinner. i DID experience sticker shock walking up and down the aisles and it really affirmed my belief that if someone has the means and the storage to stock up when something is on sale these days they will reap tremendous savings on future shopping's. a couple of months ago i caught an unadvertised sale on a variety of salad dressing that were selling for just about $1.49-i stocked up/glad i did b/c they are now over $3.75 each. the individual packets of different flavored instant mashed potatoes that i got for 80 cents each and stocked up on? now 'on sale' at 4/$5.

today my stock up items were-

(normally a vary rare treat b/c of the price differential to store or traditional old school brands)-13 oz jars of very nice fruit preserves selling for $3.48 vs. their normal $5.99. i grabbed a couple in several flavors.

9 oz startbucks bottled frappuchinos. normally run over $3 for an individual bottle-scord flats of 15 at costco for just under $20. grabbed 4 flats that will save me a minimum of $1.50 (plus any impulse purchases and a tip) each time i'm able to bypass the local starbuck.

probably me best deal was on ground beef. 93% was on sale for $3.99 a pound so a grabbed about 4 2 pound packets but then i glanced over and noticed the 85% was initially marked at the same price but several had $2 off stickers on them (i checked-same pack and use/freeze by dates). for some recipes i prefer the higher fat content so i scored those 2 pound packs at less than $3.00 per pound. i'm now stocked on ground beef. same meat department had petite sirloin tip steaks for $3.99 pound. lovely little steaks but in my experience too thin to grill well BUT perfect for making beef tips in gravy which can be served over one of my flavored instant potato. got the equivalent to 12 pounds which i will break down into 2 pound bags and put up in the freezer.


i just shuddered as i walked through other areas of the stores-costco's meats are no long a good value. produce anywhere is insane and being most of it is organic it's shortened shelf life drives up the cost per use greatly.

 

[barkley]

Grocery store meat goes on sale BOGO all the time. Typically $0.50 to $1 /lb. more than just every day prices at Walmart

i avoid those sales like the plague. our major chains do these with regularity but if you are a regular shopper you quickly note that the prices of every cut of meat has been increased in the hours before the sale so that a bogo purchase ends up not being a 50% percent savings but more closely to a 10 or 20% at best.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

no grocery tax here except on prepared foods, soft drinks and dietary supplements. we live near the idaho boarder so we get allot of people who grocery shop here b/c avoiding the 6% tax they would pay on groceries in idaho saves them quite a bit. on the flip side we have sin taxes so locals to us go across the boarder to idaho buy tobacco and alcohol (here it's $30.25 flat tax per carton/20.5% tax on alcohol). i hate the concept of groceries being taxed.

I want to say our alcohol tax is only 10% and from what I could find tobacco being $1.29 per carton. MO which I live next too has a ridiculously low amount for tobacco tax so I'm sure people go over there to buy it as we live right at the border too.

Sorta a funny thing is we just got legalized sports betting last year and MO just recently did legalizing recreational use of marijuana. They geo-blocked a ton of MO residents from trying to place bets. Now MO wants sports betting and I think there's at least some talks about marijuana here but we don't even have legal medical use so not too too sure on that. These days there's that line where you can get some revenue out of it ya know. I don't want our state to become too reliant on marijuana income if it ever passed for recreational usage because I've been reading CO is having issues with funding projects now because basically the well is starting to dry up on just how much income is coming in but it would help.

I think most of our issues in our state is just feeling overtaxed as more of a cumulative thing. I'll take some savings if I can on the grocery part. Groceries affect everyone.

 

[tzolkin]

How much $4/carton oats do you need to make a half gallon of oat milk (assuming that was $5.79 for half gallon)? Oats aren't cheap either.

There are 14 c in a large $4 canister of oats so that equals $0.29 per cup. You would need about 1.5 c to make the amount of milk that comes in a carton of oat milk (48-52oz) so the cost would be approximately $0.43. So, it is definitely cheaper.

Whether it's worth your time is totally subjective. It takes less than 2 minutes to make plus the time to wash the nut milk bag and the blender so maybe around 10 minutes total. For most people, it's probably not be worth the time. But some people who enjoy cooking will do lots of things that are not necessarily an efficient use of time (like baking bread, making broth, grinding spices/flour, etc.)

 

[lowlight]

I didn’t even know oat milk was a thing until I apparently had it in my coffee at Gideons. Is this a new type of drink or is it regional? Never seen it around here.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I didn’t even know oat milk was a thing until I apparently had it in my coffee at Gideons. Is this a new type of drink or is it regional? Never seen it around here.

For those allergic to dairy and tree nuts, it's one of the superior milk subs for coffee. Soy is always chalky, rice is too thin (although it's awesome for mashed potatoes and savory cooking), coconut has too much coconut flavor, and hemp tends not to be available. So, oat milk is just right - for coffee anyway.

If you can have tree nuts, cashew or almond milk tend to be the best subs for dairy milk...

 

[pineapplepalms]

I only buy the two-buck chuck, beer, and some of the seasonal holiday stuff. I don't find it works well for a family of four. I do better bulk shopping at Costco or Sams. I used to shop at Sprouts a lot, but it's gotten too expensive.

The Sam's in our area has really good produce from Mexico and so does Food city.

Housing here is super expensive so unfortunately we don’t have a ton of storage space, which makes it hard to stock up from Costco. We’re a family of five and with our limited space it’s just easier to stop by Trader Joe’s a couple times a week and get what we need. Costco is also further away, so there’s the convenience factor too.

 

[barkley]

Housing here is super expensive so unfortunately we don’t have a ton of storage space, which makes it hard to stock up from Costco. We’re a family of five and with our limited space it’s just easier to stop by Trader Joe’s a couple times a week and get what we need. Costco is also further away, so there’s the convenience factor too.

i love trader joes but the bulk of what i used to purchase they no longer carry. some has been due to supply chain issues but according to the managers at the 2 local to us-the greater issue is with the company's competitive pricing strategy. too many items have gone above what they are willing to carry in the store. i get that, i appreciate that BUT i know prices have gone up and i would be willing to pay more for some of the items i've only ever been able to get there.

 

[DCLMP]

Housing here is super expensive so unfortunately we don’t have a ton of storage space, which makes it hard to stock up from Costco. We’re a family of five and with our limited space it’s just easier to stop by Trader Joe’s a couple times a week and get what we need. Costco is also further away, so there’s the convenience factor too.

I guess I’m fortunate to have a walk in pantry. I keep it very well stocked on everything. If there’s ever an event in the world that causes panic buying again I don‘t want to be the one standing in line at 6am to buy toilet paper or anything else.I learned my lesson in 2020.

 

[DeeBee3]

I saw this meme about eggs and thought of this thread.

 

[pineapplepalms]

i love trader joes but the bulk of what i used to purchase they no longer carry. some has been due to supply chain issues but according to the managers at the 2 local to us-the greater issue is with the company's competitive pricing strategy. too many items have gone above what they are willing to carry in the store. i get that, i appreciate that BUT i know prices have gone up and i would be willing to pay more for some of the items i've only ever been able to get there.

I hear ya, some of my favorite stuff has gone away too or is seasonal and is only here for a short time. The good thing is they come out with new stuff often and I find a lot of new things I like instead.

 

[pineapplepalms]

I guess I’m fortunate to have a walk in pantry. I keep it very well stocked on everything. If there’s ever an event in the world that causes panic buying again I don‘t want to be the one standing in line at 6am to buy toilet paper or anything else.I learned my lesson in 2020.

I dream of having a walk in pantry someday! When we get around to renovating that is high on my list.

 

[DCLMP]

I dream of having a walk in pantry someday! When we get around to renovating that is high on my list.

Do you live in Hawaii?

 

[barkley]

I guess I’m fortunate to have a walk in pantry. I keep it very well stocked on everything. If there’s ever an event in the world that causes panic buying again I don‘t want to be the one standing in line at 6am to buy toilet paper or anything else.I learned my lesson in 2020.

i have a closet type pantry in my kitchen (not walk in-more like the size of traditional bedroom closet) but i'm lucky to have an insulated 3 car garage so i got several of the metal shelving racks restaurants use (inexpensive on amazon) to put against the walls.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Another thing we are doing that I forgot to add:

If we don’t need the name brand thing (obviously some things you get name brand totally understand that because yours truly will use Heinz ketchup forever), BUT THE STORE BEAND THING!

While we all know certain big name stores have amazing products that are theirs (like Kirkland for Costco), we have found we love ACMEs brand called Lucerne. While we still use Philadelphia cream cheese when making cheesecake, there is no need for to use it for every day things. Lucerne works perfectly.

 

[AndreaDM]

I honestly don't know how families with children or the elderly on a fixed income can afford food/heat costs now?
When my Mom worked, the average hourly pay for a secretary was 3.79 dollars. If you worked at what was the norm back then, your social security reflects that now. She is doing okay due to my Dad's pension, but without that she would be hurting financially. (we wouldn't let her of course).

I know our food bank is 40% more busy that last year. That's a significant increase post covid. A lot of stores and bakeries that I know donate to the food shelf and senior centers. It's a sad situation all around and I hope this inflation will recede this year.

I know of at least one family where the grandmother moved in with the parents/children recently. It was partly because it was harder for her to get around on her own, but I know it's benefitting everyone financially. Wouldn't be surprised to see more multi-generational families living together.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

While we still use Philadelphia cream cheese when making cheesecake, there is no need for to use it for every day things.

We buy Great Value brand, in fact Great Value's cream cheese soared in sales last year although we've been purchasing it for years. If we're at the store and they are out of stock we'll make the determination if Philadelphia is worth that high of a cost. Like right now a 2 pack of GV is $3.18 while Philadelphia's 2 pack is $5.24 or more than $2 more.

I pretty much learned to use generic brand and shopping at ALDI for their brands when in college. Some things yeah you'll buy name brand but that's only if there's a taste issue for us. Nutritionally people assume name brand is better but it's not that way just because it's name brand, need to actual look at the labels and compare.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

We buy Great Value brand, in fact Great Value's cream cheese soared in sales last year although we've been purchasing it for years.

I pretty much learned to use generic brand and shopping at ALDI for their brands when in college. Some things yeah you'll buy name brand but that's only if there's a taste issue for us. Nutritionally people assume name brand is better but it's not that way just because it's name brand, need to actual look at the labels and compare.

Exactly!

Same goes for ginger ale (it’s pretty much the only soda we drink). Seagrams or Canada Dry or generic: whichever is cheaper or has the deals we get