I just read this article in the NY Times today that just made me exclaim I won’t say exactly what I exclaimed I will leave that to your imagination. I knew grocery prices were climbing and I knew the prices were going up but I did not know how fast and how soon! Here is another article I found along the same lines stating that food costs are going to go up considerably and that this will be the fourth quarter in a row. Look at this jar of Miracle Whip I spotted at my grocery store this past week I could not believe the price!
Yes that Miracle Whip was listed for $5.29 your not just seeing things!
So here are some of my strategies for dealing with climbing food prices because folks in my opinion we are going to be seeing less and less coupons and good deals coming out. It was only a matter of time after Extreme Couponing became a fad because the stores and manufacturers cannot make the big fat profits they want and more and more people are couponing and before it was too inconvenient for the mainstream population to coupon at that rate but then with the economy many folks just said it is something they have to incorporate into their lives to save money. For example CVS is banning shelf clearing by extreme couponers and Target, Kroger, Rite Aid, and Giant Eagle are all adjusting or reviewing their couponing policies. It was only a matter of time.
So lets say like me you decide couponing is just too time consuming what might you do?
Here are some of the things I do here at our Lil’ Suburban Homestead to combat climbing prices some are obvious and some are labor intensive.
1. We make our own laundry soap.
2. We are now going to start making our own dish soap.
3. We raise bees for honey so soon we will not need an outside sugar source or at least not at the same level.
4. We raise chickens for eggs.
5. We grow a lot of our own food but not all – we will need to add more and more to our garden each year.
6. We will start making our own homemade corn and flour tortillas.
7. In the past I used to make homemade bread on the weekends this will have to be incorporated more often into my schedule.
8. Continue to can our own food.
9. We are going to start to make our own condiments.
10. Paper towels are a huge expense (blog topic coming up!) we will show you how to sew your cloth towels yes you have to launder them but if you are efficient with this it’s not all bad!
11. Ditch the bottled water…..okay okay my friends who are reading this are gonna’ say ” she’s such a hypocrite she has not ditched her bottled water yet we have seen her with it at work! They would be right but this is my next major change. This is going to be painful because I only drink bottled water at work I truly hate the way our water tastes there. I’m going to do it though!” and now that I have said this they are going to hold me to it I promise you! I know them 😉
12. Eat leftovers – we already do this but I know a lot of you out there don’t you need to start. There are so many creative uses for leftovers.
Well I have many ideas to come! So this will be a running blog topic along with my Emergency Preparedness tips!
Well I have to go, I have to clean out my fridge and prepare my menu for the week.
What about you? Are any of my ideas to extreme for you? Have you tried any of these? If you have were they able to help you?
Have a wonderful Sunday evening everyone and thanks for stopping by!
It tastes so bad because of the chlorine. If you get an inexpensive pitcher and fill it, let it sit, the chlorine will evaporate out and be more bearable. Or you can use a Brita filter pitcher, but that’s expensive.
I have a Brita filter pitcher maybe I should bring it to work 🙂 By the way everyone this is one of the folks that will keep me accountable!
I know, it is crazy! I’ve been watching milk go up almost weekly. Where I live, it was 1.99/gallon for quite awhile until recently. Then I watched it go to 2.19, 2.29, 2.49…this week it was at 2.99. I’ve got to get our goats milking! Good to find your blog!
April so glad you stopped in! I know milk has gotten so expensive and I would love to hear more about your goats!
I’m looking forward to the paper towel replacement blog!
Thanks Sharon the transition was hard for me to mentally hurdle at first but it gets easier and actually I have gone off and on with paper a couple of times mostly for convenience sake but this time I am going to have to make a permanent transition.
Sharon, surprisingly, replacing paper towels in our home was a lot easier than I thought. So many times I would reach for a kitchen wash cloth to clean up messes and I have a generous supply of drying cloths and rags (for messier jobs like washing down the grill). My husband demands a roll of paper towels on the dispenser but I don’t even use them anymore and he’s cut down his use considerably, too. I think having the roll there is a security thing for him. LOL!
I agree with Tammy my family stresses a little when we switch to cloth but I found if we have the same place where they go set up it goes a little smoother…….I will be sharing that when I cover this blog topic! I always enjoy seeing your smiling face Tammy please come back soon!
thank you for the tips!
Karen Lynn,
This is another awesome post! I feel like you are speaking directly to me this week. lol. Thank you so much for posting so many practical and important tips to help us all keep our heads above water in this economy.
I am so glad that my posts are resonating with you. I think we are all looking for ways to navigate through this new “tougher” economy and yet stay solution oriented! Hope to see you again soon!
Have you thought of taking bottles that use to contain bottled water and refilling them with the water you have at home? I like our water and I refill bottles and take them all over the place with us. We have bottled water in gallons and individually but those are for emergencies and such… I am thinking hard about chickens and will be calling a person who sells eggs at the farmers market and try to work and learn about raising chickens, before we get some ( hubby needs to make coop), we already make bread, cook from scratch, make laundry detergent and such, let me tell you it all helps….
I actually have quite a few refillable bottles my issue is just breaking some bad habits I have picked up. Also just an fyi…..I never read any books on raising chickens before I got them but I was reading Backwoods Home Magazine, Mother Earth and other resources and surfing the web.
Great post. Grocery prices certainly are creeping up, sometimes leaping! The Miracle Whip photo is a shocker! I’ve phased out paper towels, now have a basket with cloths by the kitchen sink, they get used for everything possible. I also use washable terry cloths on a very old very swiffer type mop to clean kitchen floors. Another thing on your list started recently is homemade tortillias. One day I really read the ingredients label and decided no more! All it takes is masa and water. Admittedly more labor and time involved but they are so good, my husband says they’re the best tortillas he’s ever had. Plan to start making my own laundry soap soon.
I have some friends that make homemade tortillas and I have realized some things are a little more time intensive it just means that you make more and freeze them! Plenty to have later 🙂 Great idea about your swiffer! I hope my husband by the way likes my tortillas as well as yours did!
Even over here in England the prices are going up and up. The shopping bill is higher every week – even with the “offers” that the supermarket have.
We don’t have a very big garden here but I aim to grow vegetables next year. I can’t believe that a cucumber or a red pepper costs £1 each now!
I agree Jenny grocery prices are skyrocketing! I try to save wherever I can. We forage for nuts when we are out on hikes….we are growing more and more specialty items we might have purchased in the store and we are using our greenhouse for lots of different purposes.
Karen, get a Berkey and take your water to work. It is an awesome water filter. I know they are expensive, but so worth it. 🙂 Love the tips. I do most, but will work on the others. I can not believe how much meat is. Everything really. I need to get on the gardening better. Thanks, great post.
Bobbi I know I need to do this my water at work just grosses me out completely. Maybe this is the next step I need to do to lead a more sustainable lifestyle…thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment! 🙂