How to Combat Rising Food Costs

Every trip to the grocery store seems to bring another shock. Bread. Butter. Eggs. Milk. Cheese. Even beer hasn't escaped the sudden resurgence of food inflation. As painful as rising gas prices have been, big jumps in food prices are worse because we spend so much more of our budgets feeding ourselves (12.8%, on average) than we do feeding our cars (3.4%).

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• A Shopping List
• An Eye for Bargains

1. Treat foodstuffs well.
   
   Store flour in airtight containers or in the freezer, to keep it usable as long as possible. (If you have problems with your flour getting infested with bugs, freeze it as soon as you get the bag home. Refrigerated flour picks up odors over time.)
2. Don't bulk up unless you'll use it. Yes, those huge sacks at the warehouse store will cost less per pound, but they're not a bargain if some of that flour goes to waste.
   
   Flour's shelf life is about six months if kept in airtight containers and somewhat longer if you freeze it. If you use only 10 pounds in a year, you'll wind up throwing away the bulk of your "savings."
3. Check your alternatives. You may be able to save with a smaller bulk purchase by checking health-food and discount stores that sell flour out of bins.
4. Buy the house brand. This works for flour as well as bread. The nutrition is the same as with name brands; save the premium stuff for special occasions.
5. Leverage your coupons. Coupons for flour aren't all that common, but coupons for name-brand breads are easy to find, and they may knock the price below that of the house brand.
6. Buy bland. Buy the store brand instead of name brands, Nelson advised, and white eggs instead of brown. Though brown eggs have gained a mysterious cachet as being healthier, they simply come from different-colored chickens (brownish ones, like Rhode Island Reds) than those that lay white eggs (such as White Leghorns).
7. Get closer to the source. You may get a better deal at a farmers market, although that depends on your area.
8. Check out the warehouse deals.
9. Stock up within limits. If you find a good deal, buy more than you typically would. Eggs have a pretty long shelf life for a fresh food. Though the American Egg Board recommends keeping eggs no longer than three weeks after purchase, some people keep eggs six to eight weeks past their expiration date in a colder-than-average fridge in the garage. You also can freeze eggs by breaking them into freezer bags and thawing them later for baking or scrambling.
   
   Or simply keep your eye on the expiration date and plan to have more egg dishes as the third week approaches.
10. Skip the name brand unless you have a coupon. The store brand is less expensive and may even come from the same dairy. Coupons may help knock down a premium price, though, and coupons for organic milk seem to be particularly plentiful right now.
11. Buy skim. Skim milk is usually 10% less expensive than 2% and better for you. Don't like the taste? Mix it with the milk you like, gradually increasing the proportion of skim.
12. Cut it with dry. Many frugal types insist you can't taste the difference if you mix reconstituted dry milk with an equal amount of fresh milk. Or try adding a little vanilla extract. If nothing else, consider using dry milk in baking and other cooking.
13. Go long. Grab gallons from the very back of the shelf with longer expiration dates. Also, milk in plastic containers can be frozen; just make sure to drink a glass first to allow for expansion.
14. Offer water. Many parents are delighted their kids drink milk rather than sugary sodas or juices -- that is, until their teenage son shotguns a gallon of it after basketball practice. Three servings a day of milk are usually sufficient (check with your pediatrician, of course). After that, serve water.
15. Figure out your own food-budget killers. The cost of eggs or milk may pinch, but the real dent in your wallet is made by more-expensive items. What you need to pay attention to are the items on which you spend the most and figure out ways to save on those.
    
    The easiest way to do that? Save your grocery store receipts for a month or so. Identify the five or six items that cost you the most -- meat? beer? diapers? -- and figure out ways to cut back, rethink or find bargains on those.
16. Consider substitutes. When prices get tough, the frugally tough eat something else.
17. Reduce waste. One U.S. Department of Agriculture study estimated that one-quarter of the food bought by consumers and restaurants is wasted, spoiled before it can be served or scraped uneaten off plates. Check your refrigerator daily, your freezer weekly and your pantry at least monthly for foods about to go bad so you can use them up. Eat leftovers for lunch the next day. Serve smaller portions and encourage big eaters to ask for seconds, rather than risking waste.