New Battle: The food price bulge

Wow, we already discussed this here.. but saw this in news today!!

Grocery Bill going UP!!
Beyond clipping coupons, families are embracing generic grocery brands, and making their own baby food and detergent.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As American families face the double whammy of higher gas and food prices, moms nationwide are resorting to considerable ingenuity to stretch their monthly grocery budget.
For instance, Christina Pond of Arlington, Texas, makes her own detergent.
Pond, 26, a stay-at-home mom with an almost 8-month old daughter, does four loads of laundry every other day.
"Detergent is very expensive, so I make my own," she said.
She grates natural soap, boils it, adds Borax, baking soda and essential oils, and lets it cool overnight.
"I make five gallons at a time," she said.
Her husband is a bartender, and the rising cost of living is making it difficult to make ends meet.
"I am constantly trying to find ways to cut corners," she said.
To that end, Pond has planted her own herb garden. She buys eggs at the local feed store and pays $4.50 for 20 eggs. She purees vegetables and fruits into home-made baby food.
As a result, she's been able to bring down her monthly grocery bill to under $200.
Shaving money off the grocery bill
Linda Murray, editor-in-chief of BabyCenter.com, an online community for moms with more than 4 million subscribers, said thousands of mothers - including those mentioned in this story - have expressed their concerns about gas and food prices through the Web site's message board.
While there's been an "uptick" in those discussions, Murray said she's come across plenty of resourceful ideas from moms as well.
Many more moms are cooking at home, growing their own vegetables, breastfeeding instead of buying expensive formula, using leftovers to stretch the week's meals, and even hoarding discounted products.
"Most families are spending $500 a month on groceries," Murray said. "That's a mortgage payment for many of them."
Moms who aren't as inclined to tap their inner Martha Stewart are cutting costs by trading down to generic products from pricier name brand and organic foods and beverages.
While supermarkets are rushing to introduce more organic products, some moms are forgoing those "green" purchases because they typically also cost more.
Amanda Richardson of Richmond, Va., is doing just that.
Organic milk, which tends to be pricier, has given way to "just plain old store milk," she said.
Still, store milk prices are up more than 13% over the past year amid the worst food price inflation in 17 years.
Richardson said she's using coupons more frequently, and shopping for cheaper generic store brands for coffee and other items.
Richardson, who's in her late 30s, works in cancer research. Her husband is a self-employed carpenter who's struggling to find new business.
"We're a typical middle-income family," she said. "If we did not carry foolish debt, we would be OK. But with our debt burden, combined with paying for two children in day care, there is nothing left over at the end of the month."
For cost-saving reasons, Richardson has added less-expensive rice-and-beans to the family's weekly menu, and has all but eliminated red meat.
Beyond these cutbacks, if money still is especially tight, Richardson skips on purchases for herself such as skim milk and her favorite cereal.
"Being a mother, you want to cut back on things for yourself first before you cut back for the family," said Richardson.
After these adjustments, Richardson has brought down her grocery expenses to about $200 every two weeks.
Generic brands vs. name brands?
Like Richardson, Hannah Christopher has also traded down to store brands, albeit with some initial uneasiness.
Christopher, 33, is a third-grade teacher who lives in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., with her three children and her husband, who's also a teacher.
Last October, she started shopping at the discount food store Aldi.
"We were nervous at first because everything was really cheap," Christopher said. "We thought how can anything here be good?"
She took a chance and "the food is fine." Christopher is now buying staples such as milk, bread, cereal and juice at Aldi.
"Sometimes it's a hit or miss because you may not find the same product the next time you go, but it's worth the trip," she said.
There are things Christopher won't skimp on, such as bottled water and baby formula.
Still, switching to a discount food store has helped her shave between $200 to $300 from her monthly $500 grocery bill.
Chicago resident Jean Heis, 35, a married working mom of two small kids, has switched to discounter Food 4 Less to bring down her food expenses.
"Six months ago, I was shopping for my groceries online," said Heis, who works for a non-profit while her husband is in law enforcement. "Now I am at the end of a conveyor belt bagging my own food."
"In February, we were spending about $280 for groceries." Heis said "Now it's less than $200 a month."
What's more, the family has significantly cut down on eating out to once every two weeks from three nights a week.
"Why pay $22 for pizza when you can make it at home for under $10," Heis said.
For Amanda Richardson, the food price squeeze has taught her one more important lesson.
"Before we were incredibly wasteful. We'd let food go bad. I am more conscientious now," she said. "If prices go back down, I won't return to my wasteful ways."

Thanks Nandu!

That was a great read and an eye-opener!
I too buy a lot of my groceries from Aldi, and it indeed is so cheap compared to Walmart.

Hi Nandu,

So very true.

US has been badly hit...India too as we hve more lower income people here and i always wonder how people whos family income is below 5000/- surviving.

Still i see so many parties and functions happening, where there might be lot of wastage of food. I wish the elite class think before throwing such parties at the drop of the hat.

These days the middle class families are the worst hit...any extra expense is burning a hole in their pockets.

Roopa.

Hi nandhu,
Even i read in a website that ppl who never used to shop at walmart have started to shop there..So we can spot more BMWs and benz and lexus outside walmart hereafter....
Ive never heard of Aldi b4..Does aldi have store locations in CA??

Hi,

That is true the food prices have gone up, I always shop in Indian stores and my grocery bill has tripled. Is there a Aldi in Bay area?
I have never heard of such a store.

-Vidya

Ramya & Vidhya,

Aldi is a departmental store where u get almost all the brand products for a cheaper price even than Walmart.Now I sometimes shop in Aldi which is far away from my place.But when there was one closeby i almost shopped every week there.With all the purchases including veggies the bill will come ard.$20-$25 or even less.I miss shopping there especially now when the grocery bills r going high. U can click on the following link and type in your zipcode in the store loctaor tab to find a Aldi store near u.Hope u will find one near u.
ALDI - Home page

Happy Shopping.

hey
i havent heard about Aldi before ..thanks for sharing
i tried to find store at my end but ... i couldnt open website of Aldi.

Originally Posted by prr

hey
i havent heard about Aldi before ..thanks for sharing
i tried to find store at my end but ... i couldnt open website of Aldi.

Hi prr,

Try this link Welcome to ALDI and choose your country .

Let me know if this is working.

hi selviik
yeah ur link is workin. Thanks!
i was tryin yday ALDI - Home page this link. had some tech problem i think. bcoz today its working.
article is really very nice. i thought only indian food items prices are increasing.

Hi,

Yes, I read this too. Looks like this is affecting everybody. Last week I got a taste of it when a 10lb bag of rice at the local store was $9.99 - used to be half that previously. With fuel prices going up, we better get used to high grocery prices - I heard some where that 40% of produce cost is the transportation cost.