Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, it is a pity. I have been trying to organise one here--no luck yet. However, as the weather is now just beginning to warm up a tad, I am pursuing some farmers to work with the community and they in turn will increase their own wallets.
I have a few interested beyond the traditional Farmer's Market.
It may save another farm from folding and decrease my food spending.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CMTAD
Too bad we're not all a little closer to each other. I could see the birth of the City-Data food co-op!
I have never been a big fan of chicken thighs legs attached but we have been getting them for 39 cents a pound lately. I have learned some great ways to cook them and for that price it tastes great! We have also learned about the dollar stores and Big Lots for some items. When we go to our local grocery store my hubbie always goes directly to the meat department, after the weekend to find the discounted meats. Have never once had a bad piece of meat when buying them discounted! One store here, Harris Teeter has some great buys on crab legs and shrimp every other week and we enjoy those as well. You just have to watch the sales. One bad thing here is there are very few if any coupons available except online. In CA I shopped with coupons all the time. I was never very good at really being careful to watch the prices but my hubbie has taught me a lot. Our last trip to Big Lots we got Delmonte canned veggies, experation date the same as in the other grocery store chains and no dents for 50 cents a can. Not bad!!
You can get good buys on toiletries as well. Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, they all have some surprises!
Sometimes those surprises are rather unpleasant.
FDA has found a poisonous chemical, diethylene glycol (DEG), in certain toothpastes imported from China. The agency increased its scrutiny and testing of imported toothpaste and dental products after receiving reports in late May 2007 of contaminated Chinese dental products found in several countries, including Panama. (http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/toothpaste.html - broken link)
For many years, no matter where I've been living, I tend to go to different sources for different needs, according to price.
Yesterday I was at the farmer's market, next week I will be at Publix.
Happily, those places are close by. But prices really have skyrocketed.
These days it is not easy to buy ethically and cost effectively, and please my palate all at the same time.
We've always eaten a lot of pasta, and we eat it more than ever these days, and seafood is not too expensive here.
However, the husband does love his meat--fortunately, the price of buffalo seems fairly stable at $6-7 a pound. We don't eat a lot of filet mignon.
I've always done a lot of homemade stuff, and I try to continue with that, though sometimes I feel like we're in a rut. I've found a lot of helpful ideas in this forum as well as the recipe one.
Now I make a conscious effort to take a stroll through whatever store I'm in and keep an eye out for the sales or buy one/get one free's on things that I use. The prices are really getting crazy (most up 15-25%), while wages are stagnant. Add to that the cost of gas, it's gotten to the point that I try to avoid the grocery stores until I'm desperate!
I look for sales at Shop Rite a lot on meats, paper towel etc...but I have always done that because it seems like there is always SOMETHING on sale with price plus card.
But I barely even have noticed prices changing, because I am one of those people who has been buying the over priced junk all along: Red Bull, Diet Snapple, Skinny Cow Products. They have always charged an arm and a leg for this stuff, so I am used to my bill being high I guess.
The one big change we've made is milk. We buy the non-fat powdered milk and use that for our 5 year old and for us. We don't seem to mine the difference and we can get a huge box at our local store three dollars cheaper than the Walmart brand. It kind of surprised me and its a huge savings instead of buying the gallon jugs. I also shop the meat sales. One week we'll stock up on meat (we have an extra freezer) and the next on vegetables (frozen). We try to switch it every week so we don't get caught having to buy both at the same time.
We just signed up for a garden plot with Denver Urban Gardens. It is HUGE and we are excited to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zuchinni, hot peppers, basil, cilantro, parsley, etc. this spring and summer.
Hopefully that will save some money. I am the worst grocery shopper ever....I walk in and my budget goes out the door. Doesn't help that I always shop hungry!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
