Grocery prices are way up, at least in my local stores, and I expect them to continue to rise. I think that the strategies for coping with the rise I’m going to list are well known to all of you, but I thought that posting them may spark a conversation and we could all share tips and hopefully learn something new.
- Change your diet. Go vegetarian or vegan, or just adopt Meatless Monday.
- Reduce food waste. Throwing away food is throwing away money. Make sure you use up all the celery you bought. Soup is a good way to use up little bits and pieces of leftovers.
- Buy in bulk. Unit prices are often lower when you buy larger sizes, but always check because it isn’t universal.
- Shift away from premium products. Eat more ground beef and less steak. Use more frozen vegetables, rather than fresh. Buy store brands.
- Make it a game. Challenge yourself to make a meal for 4 people with just $5 or $10.
- Plant a garden. It’s probably too late for this year, but start planning for next year.
Some useful links:
50 Cheap Recipes Made With Pantry Staples – Cheap Recipe Blog
Man Firsted even before he discovered fire. Firsting is one of the strongest instincts instilled in man. It’s what makes us human. What separates us from the apes.
When Skynet becomes active, it will come for the Firsters first because we are the greatest threat. The most human humans while also being those who exceed being human.
So, I got that going for me. Low on the list for Skynet. Prolly offset by being high on the list for lefties. Can’t lose them all, I guess.
So a brief bit of joy before they destroy humanity?
The envy of the Firsters will be our demise. But whereas you will be a slave in the afterlife, the Firster will be the master.
‘meal for 4 people with just $5“
Ramen it is then.
Half eaten dumpster happy meals
Some people throw away perfectly good girls!
Those Manson gals were a wholesome bunch.
+ 1 Pot Luck
Come to dinner but bring a dish.
Vegan.
Beans sprouts and a 1 inch cube of Tofu FTW.
Rice and beans, pasta and marinara, etc.
For some reason I read that as methane.
Meat sauce spaghetti. (As long as you already have the spices)
Sobering and sad. Biden’s America sucks.
You ingrates. The man gave you $1200 dollars.
Commie,
I didn’t get nuffin
Neither did I, but you’re going to pay for it, you can be sure of that.
I got about half and then nothing for the later ones.
Even-steven!
Hope you enjoyed the tennis today.
No idea. I can’t watch it from the office. What’d I miss?
Krejcikova and Sakkari both saved match point in the second semifinal before Krejcikova won 9-7 in the third.
Unfortunately, Tennis Channel is currently re-running Nadal-Schwartzman.
Too bad, I like Sakkari.
Don’t get me started on the Tennis Channel’s priorities. I joke to myself that they would post a camera in the john to catch one of three musketeers take a dump if they could.
I have nothing against any of the four semifinalists (Pavlyuchenkova beat Zidanšek in the other semi), so it’s been nice to watch just for the tennis, which was pretty darn good.
Yeah, I have nothing against Krejcikova. Mostly because I never heard of her before last week.
Maybe we should normalize hunting and eating progressives? Because if the shit hits the fan wild animals are going to be scarce quick. If you made “ropa vieja” out of Cory Booker, and a stack of tortillas, you could feed 20 people.
No one wants to murder and slow cook Senators? You aren’t real libertarians!
Trump sucked as bad on the fiscal and monetary side.
Nobody’s ever sucked as bad. Trump sucked as bad as Obama. Biden is setting records. Thank the dogs there’s some minor constraint on him in the form of blue dogs. Shudder to think how bad it’d be otherwise.
Biden is a presidential chair stuffer. Obama is running things.
Not even sure how anyone can compare Trump with Obama or Biden on the economy.
Spending, not the economy writ large. With Trump, we had a chance of reducing it some by virtue of all the economic activity generating tax revenue. Biden is squashing that also. Each new asshole sets the bar a little higher for spending and it never goes down. Biden’s masters are setting it at warp speed and killing the golden goose for good measure.
I don’t eat much, but I cut back on bottled water, bread I don’t eat, and coffee, but the important foods are getting crazy, 5 to 20 percent in some cases, this year alone,
then there’s gas,
then there’s gas,
Maybe you should rethink your important foods.
Dan Carlin has a 5:45:51 Slog up, gonna be a long night,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7OBqReblJs
Thanks for the link! I have a 4.5 hour drive tomorrow, so that should eat up some of the time.
Change your diet. Go vegetarian or vegan, or just adopt Meatless Monday.
No.
Reduce food waste. Throwing away food is throwing away money. Make sure you use up all the celery you bought. Soup is a good way to use up little bits and pieces of leftovers.
This is a good idea.
Buy in bulk. Unit prices are often lower when you buy larger sizes, but always check because it isn’t universal.
Yes. I do this for some things. I need to do it for more.
I also spend a day cooking stuff in big amounts, then portioning everything out to freeze.
Shift away from premium products. Eat more ground beef and less steak. Use more frozen vegetables, rather than fresh. Buy store brands.
That works.
Make it a game. Challenge yourself to make a meal for 4 people with just $5 or $10.
I can see that working for some people, but for me it would just get annoying. Other things I can turn into a game.
Plant a garden. It’s probably too late for this year, but start planning for next year.
I have thought about this. My family had a garden when I was a kid. It was a lot of work. Our outdoor cats helped with the vermin.
OT and Too Local News: NH’s State of Emergency ends tomorrow.
The Legislature is still working on emergency powers reforms and rollback of emergency orders violations as part of the budget. The governor doesn’t want the former, but I think has capitulated on the latter. We will see what happens later this month.
Buy a chest freezer if you don’t have one already.
Yes, I did this last fall. Let’s you stock up on sale items. Plus, I plan to freeze more green beans and other garden produce this year.
Good idea, my chest is a little on the warm side.
I have a freezer the size and shape of a large refrigerator in the garage. It definitely helps to stock up on things when they go on sale. I think it’s around 40 years old and uses a type of freon that would immediately destroy the entire planet.
The important thing is do not buy one that is frost free. It will burn your food.
I have similar questions now that I have to commute again. As in, how do I make up for the significantly higher expense of doing so.
So far I’ve come up with:
(1) don’t pay for coffee – I used to stop at the hipster coffee outlet on the way in. Not any more.
(2) bring a lunch – I’m failing at this one. Nuked some yummy Ramen the other day and it was messy. I guess I could go the turkey sandwich route but that gets boring fast.
(3) ?
OTOH my electronics are asleep during the day now so maybe it will even out in the end?
You paid 5 clams for a pack of Ramen? Dood.
Yah that particular offer is way overpriced – it was just the first one that came up for that flavor. I bought a case for like two bucks apiece. As long it’s cheaper than the supermarket I call it a win. They are WAY better than the four-for-a-buck crap, trust me.
The Nongshim stuff is good.
Aaaaah, ya I get that. I lived on $.50 ramen back in the day. I have been on a home made ramen kick lately and I love it but it is a lot of work but I like to spend my weekends cooking. It is my hobby and allows me to ignore all the other things I should be doing.
Hard boiled egg, hummus and veggies? I like apples with cheddar, and that’s easy and tidy to bring. Wraps are easy to make – they’ll hold their shape wrapped in wax paper. You can add siracha etc to make it more interesting.
Just bring in lunch a couple of times a week, it gives you something to look forward to on the days you do eat out and it still saves righteous bucks over the course of a year.
Yeah, I did that a lot in the Before Times.
(2) bring a lunch – I’m failing at this one. Nuked some yummy Ramen the other day and it was messy. I guess I could go the turkey sandwich route but that gets boring fast.
Frozen dinners are better than these options yet still cheaper than going out to eat. Just have to find a selection that are decent and to your taste. And you’ll want to have one of those lunch-box sized coolers, to keep it from prematurely defrosting.
That was my idea for dinners since my free time starts a lot later now and I feel too tired to cook.
https://www.amazon.com/Gourmet-Style-Cooking-Other-Recipes/dp/0962999601
Vegan ain’t necessarily cheap
It isn’t if you buy meat substitutes. Veggie “meat” costs way more than the real thing.
And fresh vegetables aren’t cheap.
What? I can stock my crisper for 10 bucks if I shop wisely and it will include a wide array of fresh veggies.
Okay..that is 10 bucks every 2-3 days.
Which is why you grow your own. Difficult I know when it’s 120 F outside.
Shift away from premium products.
Another lever is downgrading grocery stores. We’re getting by on mostly Aldi shopping runs.
This definitely helps. Nobody is going to save any money at a Wegmans.
Ha Wegman’s was just “the grocery store” when I was a kid. It did not have any cachet.
If you don’t need a gun to shop there at night, you’re at the wrong store.
People rightly blame Biden, but they also need to point fingers at the Republicans for signing on to the other two checks and the unemployment benefits. B It’s estimated $400 billion of the unemployment money was stolen. That’s nearly half of all the money. The incompetence of the government has been on full display the last year and people still have faith in it. We are doomed.
This. Trump & co. started this insanity. Biden & co. have turned it up to 11.
I mentioned to someone today that Biden doubled the lumber tariffs last week. He was dumbfounded. Why would Biden do that? That was a Trump thing.
The incompetence of the government has been on full display the last year and people still have faith in it.
Those are mostly the people that don’t know that half of the unemployment money was stolen and or are the people who stole it. And don’t even get into the loans, what were those called? PPT? Fuck I don’t remember. That was rife with shenanigans.
Yeah, especially now that we know our tax money paid for virus and the overreaction was mainly an expression of guilt. They fucked us by making it, by leaking it and by massively overcorrecting. Now, they are fucking us by spending so much our money is becoming worthless. We hit the quinella on this one.
Hah I always thought that was some obscure Aussie historical reference.
No, it’s a horse racing term. Have a good time American song!
Change your diet. Go vegetarian or vegan, or just adopt Meatless Monday.
I have actually been considering this after listening to Deadhead, SP,
OMWC,and Webdom………and others forgive me who I forgot. I am on day four of my intermittent fasting trial and have done 17 hours four days in a row and have felt hungry but great. Probably because I cut out McDonalds breakfast sandwiches. It is not going to happen this weekend though because I went to the store for a few things and tri tip and baby back ribs were on sale. My weekend meat fest is planned.Probably because I cut out McDonalds breakfast sandwiches.
I have spotted your problem. Fry yourself up some eggs in bacon fat (you keep the fat, right?), add some cheese, skip the bun.
Vegan probably really is the best diet for your health. But commies said I should do it, so I’m going to eat a record amount of beef and I want those assholes to eat bugs. There’s lots of cicadas out there right now they can eat. I mean, fuck, you can pick them up right off the ground.
I want to see Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden eating fucking bugs off the ground on the TV right fucking now.
Vegan probably really is the best diet for your health
Citation needed. We’re omnivores. We have canine teeth for a reason.
Yes, I don’t disagree with what you’re saying. I did a lot of research on it, and regardless of what we’ve eaten in the past, I still believe an all plant based diet is best.
We didn’t have any choice but to eat meat in the winter, there wasn’t anything else available.
We also probably ran/walked 20-30 miles a day back then just to get enough to eat.
So what was best back then is probably not best for we sedentary overfed beasts of today.
I still believe an all plant based diet is best
As you wish. I believe a vegan diet is not best.
I am neither sedentary nor overfed. YMMV.
Plant a garden. It’s probably too late for this year, but start planning for next year.
It’s not. You can get transplant vegetables from the big box stores right now. You can plant fruit trees and bushes right now. Probably won’t save any money or get a good crop without the pre-planning and some experience, but like you said, it’s good practice for next year.
Those who are hesitant about planting a garden should go check out the container garden thread in the forum.
right
take tomatoes: they play out their length at some point (here in the deep South, anyway), so a second batches that makes until October isn’t unusual in any regard
Are you in TX now? Not, it’s not too late. It’s probably too early since your veggies will burn up. Get a greenhouse and you can grow stuff 12 months a year.
Now is probably the last window to start here in TX before the transplants all die from the heat. Seed ain’t happening here until fall season. The further north you go, the better position you are in to plant a garden this weekend. Late, but not futile.
I chose to not garden this year, first time in 20 years. Because I’m moving and I don’t know to where yet.
Tomatoes will not produce fruit if it is over 90 F, the blooms will just fall off, but they’ll still grow until it cools off.
Not sure what part of TX you’re in, but I suspect it to be too hot for most things now, Peppers will probably do OK now.
Here in Dallas, we have another month until it gets really hot. Upper 80s to low 90s for highs this week.
IIRC, I’ve had tomatoes around here through mid-july in the past. Then the drought and consistent heat makes them dry up until September. The trick is to keep them very wet so that the soil temp stays lower. They can handle some higher air temps if the soil moisture and temp is right.
Cukes are about to go nuts, and they’ll go all summer long as long as they dont dry up.
Green beans just finished round one. Wouldn’t be surprised if round two doesn’t happen until fall.
Lettuce and spinach haven’t bolted, mainly because I’ve harvested them aggressively. Probably won’t make it through the summer, but I’ll water them nonetheless.
I can’t grow lettuce or spinach here even in the shade any later than April. Like I said, I’m not growing any veggies this year, but we have houseplants outside and I haven’t watered anything even once this year. The past week has been perpetual monsoons, especially the past few days. You can pretend you’re living in the Amazon.
I haven’t watered my garden in a month. That’s how wet it has been here. I’m debating hitting it with water tomorrow, but it’s certainly not a necessity.
Tomatoes fruiting is based mostly on nighttime soil temperatures, not daytime air temperatures.
Humidity also comes into play. But in most places except way up north or in mountainous regions with low humidity, maters will stop fruiting when it’s over 90 F in the day. Because it typically will not drop below 70 at night and it’s probably humid. It’s been my experience here in MD that tomatoes will stop fruiting over 90 F. I guess I could water them with ice cubes for a while.
I’m in Northern Virginia, romaine lettuce does well. I’ve had a good experience with tomatoes (started from seed).
I’ve never tried Romaine here, only the leaf varieties. I do great with maters here too, until it gets too hot or too cool in the fall.
Try pruning the lower branches.
Hey, Count, that will change the proportion of fruit to leaves, but it won’t stop bloom drop.
It will change the soil temperature, and also help prevent disease from overly humid nights.
I dunno, I have never heard that. Pruning should actually increase soil temp because there’s more sun getting to the ground because of less shade from the leaves.
But I agree with you about disease. Pruning does help that because diseases like blight typically come from leaves touching the ground. So even if you don’t prune in general, always keep them trimmed up off the ground.
Also, start your stuff from seeds.
Even with a garden, you need to pay attention to what you’re spending. You can get really, really good (and expensive) stuff. For a humorous take, see https://smile.amazon.com/64-Tomato-Fortune-Endured-Existential/dp/1565125576/
Yah, no. I’ve been doing this a long time. I have lots of seeds stored of many tomato varieties. I think the most I’ve paid for a packet of seeds is about $3 for some heirloom and exotic varieties. I’m really excited about the micro-dwrarfs, because you can grow them indoors under lights and they look so cool.
Hahahahah “Alexander puzzles over why a six-thousand-volt wire doesn’t deter deer but nearly kills his tree surgeon”
I started apple trees from seeds this year, gave away about 4-5 today, some were a couple feet tall, gave them to a neighbor about 45, he’ll have a chance to see them fruit
Tell him to get off your lawn and stop coveting your apple trees.
Once in a while, I used to eat half a pound of strawberries with whipped cream for lunch. It might get you some crap for being indulgent, but with strawberries currently going for 2/$5 (YMMV), and a can of whipped cream, it would come in at a bit under $3 a meal. The nutritional info was also a(n upside) surprise to me.
That sounds delicious, and probably feels really indulgent. Win win
We buy strawberries by the lb every week and eat them all. No whipped cream though.
But it reminds me of something that happened earlier this week. The wife and I were out forest strolling around the community and she stopped and was taking pictures of the ground and I’m wondering what she’s seeing. So I walked over and she says look at those! And I looked and said ‘Those are strawberries’. They were really small and everywhere all over the ground in a large patch, at least 3 ft’s square. And she said ‘Those aren’t strawberries!’. So I said, sure they are, they’re wild strawberries, they’re often really small like that. And so I picked a couple and ate them. And my wife looked terrified and said ‘You don’t know what those are, you could die!’. So I said ‘Surely I will not die, because strawberries are not poison’, lol. She wouldn’t eat one and we haven’t been back down there. They weren’t as good as the ones we buy, but they were OK.
And yes, I know what a mock strawberry is. In my honest opinion, they look nothing like a strawberry, not the fruit, not the flower, not the plant.
Tulip – yes for both of those, and surprisingly inexpensive.
Hyperion – and you can always grow your own.
(Seeing that picture made me think of the Simpsons episode where she grows a giant tomato, with dreams of ending world hunger.)
lol
Yup, wild strawberries grow… wild up here. Fruit the size of a pea, but taste exactly like strawberries. Usually I get none of them, but the pup must be scaring off the critters that eat them unripened.
I was hoping it would be an effective ground cover for the sandy parts of my yard, but it isn’t.
I still do this fairly regularly. Being in the “winter strawberry capital of the world,” we get some really good, straight-from-the-farm strawberries in the February through April timeframe. I have no qualms about eating them that way, but with a couple of caveats:
1. No sugaring the strawberries. I used to add some sugar, not as much for the sweetness, but to help draw out the juices.
2. I whip up my own whipped cream. It’s basically just a tablespoon or two of heavy cream that had been whipped up in the mixer. No sugar in it either. Two tablespoons of homemade whipped cream (which would be less than two tablespoons of the cream itself) is less than one gram of carbs.
Love living in this area though – during strawberry season, it smells like strawberry shortcake everywhere you drive.
Change your diet. Go vegetarian or vegan, or just adopt Meatless Monday.
Why? Meat and seafood are so nutritionally dense. Honestly, eat a shit ton of scallops and you are so far ahead of everyone else it’s silly.
Nutrient density weighed against cost should be the entire equation. Otherwise I agree with you completely.
This exactly. Cut down on carbs on meals out and you cut out a lot of expense. Think how much of the meal you eat out consists of bread and potatoes.
You can still eat your carbs at home if you want but it will be a lot cheaper.
So what I hear you saying is beans+rice+scallops. Sounds like eating Cajun is the way to go.
Yes
I’ll find those thin sliced rib eyes at Aldi for $7.99/lb and snatch them up. I also eat a lot of pork, which is still relatively inexpensive. We get bulk meat from local farmers. There are deals out there.
Local farms are the ticket. I get eggs from a local dude whose chickens truly graze. They kill anything that comes near them. Such amazing yolks.
Also local beef farmers. Ground beef from them is better than any store.
I hope Massie succeeds with his PRIME Act. It would completely change the food system.
Good points. I’d like to add a couple for consideration.
1. If the produce dept. in your grocery store has a markdown bin, hit that sucker hard. Blanch and freeze whatever you can.
2. Learn to can. Jars are expensive now if you are starting fresh. Find an old and or eccentric person with a stash that they aren’t using anymore, if at all possible.
There are reusable plastic lids and rings available, if you can’t find metal lids and rings. Here in Idaho, canning supplies can be scarce.
3. When in your grocery store, learn their system for marking down close coded goods. Deli, bakery, meat, etc. You should, upon occasion, get some real steals. I seem to score on the pork loin frequently, as well as cheese. Which makes me fat and happy.
3. Absolutely, buy it and freeze it if you need to, the dates are sell by anyway,
“…an old and or eccentric person…”
Don’t talk about me like that! No you can’t have my hoard of canning jars!
A grocery store near me has canning supplies for less than Wal-Mart or online. I have been stocking up whenever I go up there and am all set for this year.
I’m jealous. Even the hardware stores around me are empty.
So, what about the shrinkflation? No, that’s not when your wee-wee shrinks in cold water, and it’s real. My wife just bought microwave popcorn and a can of Pringles. The bags of popcorn where 25% less popped corn and the can of Pringles was half full when previously, they were full to about an inch of the top.
Yeah, companies really do not want to increase prices on their consumers. So, they resort to shrinkflation. Do not buy anything in a bag or box than you cannot see into. That shit’s not good for you anyway.
Hot dogs, Ice cream, bread milk, coffee, we are going there,
How are we not going there? Look at the increased cost of all of that. The distribution costs alone has broken records, in a bad way. Biden needs to be impeached and hung in the streets. Not necessarily in that order.
Hell, why waste our time even impeaching? That’s more a Democrat kind of thing.
Let’s get right to the hangin’.
You can look at the net weight.
Maybe I should Tare it first?
Well, I haven’t analyzed it yet, but I know what I see. Not sure how they are doing that, but they are.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that effect for decades. They treat us like we’re stupid because they’re right.
It’s been happening for a very long time, but it’s happening again now. Not sure how they are doing it. I’ll analyze the issue now. So the bags of microwave popcorn are still saying 3.5 oz. Maybe there’s more of what they call butter in there or they somehow made it heavier? I don’t know, but it’s real, I’ll figure it out.
Want to talk about treating us stupid? One of the funniest things I ever saw was a bottle of liquid dish soap on the store shelf. 25 ounces. It had a great big sticker on it proclaiming “25% MORE!!!!!!!!”. Then in tiny tiny print below it said “than our 20 oz size”.
In other words, trumpeting that yes indeed, a 25 oz bottle holds more than a 20 oz bottle. But put a lot of exclamation points behind it and maybe the drooling sheep will get excited about buying a larger bottle over a smaller one.
Make it yourself on the stove?
Make popcorn yourself, I have no idea how to make Pringles
There’s a video for that.
Look, I think you’re probably wasting your money by going to a psychiatrist in the first place, but if he raises his rates, take your chances with the mental malady.
This is fucking hilarious.
Dr Foochi is a liar or stupid, or both
The part I love is when he says ‘So, the Chinese told you they’re not doing that and you believed it because they told you so?’.
LOL fucking L. Sure, the won’t lie because if they tell they truth and the CCP doesn’t like it, they totally will not disappear and shit.
I couldn’t stop laughing for about 20 minutes, I think I peed my pants…
They have him on tape multiple times fawning over the very idea of gain of function research. He loves the stuff. He played a bunch of games to get money to one of the two or three labs doing it and swears he had no idea that’s what they were up to. Right.
He’s also well aware of the fungibility of money and the concept of freeing up money for GOF by funding unrelated things at a lab that conducts that kind of research. He’s a lying, parsing snake in the grass.
I can understand why they love him. He’s a really smooth liar. Would fool even the smartest of useful idiots. I love the one he’s always using ‘I’m not sure what you’re asking’.
Thanks for posting. I’ve been doing most of those things ever since I started buying food for myself.
“Eat more ground beef and less steak.”
Prices seem higher, but also weird. The fatty ground beef (“80% lean”) was over $4, and top round was $1.99.
Yeah, there are always weird things like that at the grocery store, in part because of loss leaders at times. Ground beef costing less than steak is a general rule of thumb, but you need to check.
Prices seem higher, but also weird.
Same for lumber sheet goods from what I have seen. The home building sheet stuff like OSB is off the charts but the cabinet grade stuff hasn’t really moved if I am remembering right from the last time I bought it. I need to stock up to build the cabinets in my food trailer so I can sell food in trade for ammo in the upcoming dystopia.
And ya, what the Potato said, thanks for posting Tulip.
Getting a home grinder is key. When cuts are cheaper, you can ground your own…otherwise, you buy the ground meat as is.
*And parking lot drinking, right?
I used to work for an Armenian dude who liked to drink Remy Martin shots at bars. Like, 10-12 in a few hours. He’d get so drunk that he’d start running red lights all the way home. I asked him why and he said he was too drunk to stop. I used to tell him that the first two or three made sense, but after that he could just as well drink Jack Daniels. Those shots were 20-24 bucks a piece back then even.
Gonna have to downgrade to The Not-so-Premium Malt’s or even The Generic Malt’s.
Schlitz Malt liquor. Watch out for the bull!
I use only the best malts in my sour ales.
That sounds Great! Sours, Yum,
I wish…
I wish I could see a picture of STEVE SMITH in a kitchen apron by an old fashioned wood burning stove, and ZARDOZ in a chefs hat.
Paging Hyperbole!
And SEA SMITH in a highchair.
There are other ways. Currently I am on a starvation diet, shooting for 1000 kcal per day or less.
Isn’t that going to cause your body to start hoarding fat, just in case?
Of course the real answer is to start a giant war and terrify everybody into taking a “flight to safety” in the US dollar.
That only works if you win.
The plus side is that if I actually eat less and more discerningly I’d be better off.
This has always been my plan. Eat less of better food. I’m 55 years old. I’m eating good food and I don’t care what it costs.
Yes, I eat less and am more satisfied when I eat higher quality food.
“strategies for coping with the rise”
Orphans at our monocle factories hardest hit.
Live in NJ. Where the taxes are so high that food becomes, but a tiny slice of your expenses.
I’m excluding restaurants which we don’t go to often.
I’m eating less steak, since that took a big hit while chicken and pork are still fairly cheap. Other than that, haven’t changed my eating habits much. Food is a smallish portion of my monthly spending, since I cook most of our meals instead of going to restaurants.
Yup. And screw buying chicken breasts, those are expensive and not as tasty as theighs, legs and wings. I’ve been perfecting my jerk chicken lately. Really works well with drumsticks me thinks.
While all of this is reasonable and there is much good advice, I balked at the “Eat more ground beef and less steak” part. I think I’d rather go bankrupt. But then again, I do have savings that I expect to rapidly deplete in value, so I’m probably thinking that I’d rather eat my savings than have Uncle Sam eat them.
I’m a libertarian, they’re suggestions, not laws. You do you.
This. I ain’t letting them force me into subsisting on ramen noodles. Nope.
*quietly continues planning trip to a local butcher to pick up $200 in steaks tomorrow*
Granted, I have a gift card to use up.
Thanks for the shout-out, Tulip!
I have nothing to add or subtract from this topic. Food is my enemy, my nemesis, my confounder, and my most dire weakness.
Check out ox tail. OMG, it’s delicious one way my wife cooks it. She cooks it like a stew and puts taters and carrots and onions in it. It’s as good as a beef roast and not too expensive.
Love oxtail. Perfect pressure cooker food
Yum.
Ox tail is through the roof here. Actually all cheap cuts of meat are. I blame cooking shows and the internet.
Hmm. 7.99 a lb for the one my wife left thawing in the sink. Is that high? A lot cheaper than I’ve been paying for ribeye. Of course there is a bone in the center.
It’s a soup bone for 8/lb…that is insane
The one we have is very meaty and it’s delicious. Much more than a soup bone.
But I’m sure it’s more than it was, like everything else. Isn’t it great that these democrats are saving our democracy?
Cant blame them. Those have been increasing because of what I said. Methods of cooking cheap cuts available and accessible to the masses via the shows or internet.
Yep. I was going to make oxtail stew a few weeks back and was shocked to see it for $6/lb. Not too long ago it was between 3 and 4.
Eat more game. Good to excellent quality meat and healthy.
Not all of us have easy access to Axis!
If only they’d let me shoot these vermin deer from my deck, I’d already be doing it. They make good jerky too.
Do you ever hunt piggies on the islands? If I ever come into a ton of money I would love to hunt Niihau, looks like an experience and one of the only ways you can get on the island.
http://www.niihau.us/safaris.html
People hunt feral cows in Hawaii.
Why wouldn’t they at the current price of beef.
Sounds pretty cool, and not too costly. When will the first Glib feral cattle hunt be held anyway? I’m in.
I am soooo in.
Our garden is up and running, and much of it will be canned this year. We also have 2 chest freezers.
I would add, use a smoker or sous vide to make cheap cuts of meat into something amazing.
^^^yep
Quarter my own chicken. .99/lb for whole chicken.
Make my own bacon. Even with prices of pork belly up to 3.60/lb, still cheaper than store bought.
Eggs I will not buy if more than 1.50/dz
We just bought a new fridge and apparently I had about 6lbs of vacuum sealed meats in the old fridge.
^^^ use the back and scraps for stock (thank you Tulip and KK fort the excellent post). Use the good boiled meat either for pet food augmentation or for something like chicken salad. Same with carrots boiled with the stock. Cut up the wings, freeze them, and when you have enough, make stand-alone hot wings.
That is exactly what we do. I have 5 gallons of stock frozen. If shit gets worse at least our beans and rice will be flavorful.
I’ll take leftover stock I don’t use up or freeze warmed in a thermos for lunch the following day or so. Even just plain is a filling supplement to a PBJ or similar simple sandwich. And better than drinking a soda.
That is premium purchase now that is sold in “healthy” sections of stores.
Something that take a bit of time but pennies on the dollars is sold for 5-6 bucks. People are lazy.
Fuckers down the street are shooting fireworks.
Use a rocket launcher or drone and assassinate them. There’s no other way, unless you have a tank.
Wait, I didn’t think Juneteenth is until next week? Do we have another commie holiday already?
What about ‘We got rid of Trump by helping China release a pandemic and then cheated in an election’ day? Shouldn’t we be getting that already?
Up here in the Boston area, Juneteenth went from “what? never heard of it” to “state holiday” faster than I would have believed.
I still don’t know what it is. I get if off paid. Fuck them, I want them to eat bugs.
I still don’t know what it is.
It’s a Texas holiday that celebrates the Union occupation of Texas during the Civil War and concomitant freeing of the slaves in that state. The fact that it is celebrated more widely is kind of like how Cinco de Mayo is celebrated widely, despite just celebrating some Mexican victory over the French. Any excuse for a holiday, I guess.
Cinco de Drinko and St Patty’s were appropriated before that was no longer acceptable but at least include drinking. Juneteenth is just a kulture war milestone. If only there was a party aspect.
Up in the nawtheast it’s had a “party aspect” for decades, among a certain subset of the population.
It’s a VA state holiday now. Coonman announced that to great fanfare last year, and yet it caused a bunch of “Wha? The 18th is a holiday? Why?” this year. Hell, my kids’ school system forgot about it entirely until last week, sending out a hasty email explaining why the last day of school is now the 17th and not the 18th.
Didn’t you start another new holiday about 15 years ago called “Boston Strong Day”. I believe it’s celebrated with everyone staying in their houses all day with the curtains closed while cops drive around in armored personnel carriers in military gear yelling through bullhorns to stay sheltered in place or they will shoot on sight. Then at the end of the day, the cops all go home safely and everyone else checks their sheds and boats for terrorists.
One-time event, not a holiday. My neighbors are largely sheep – I’ve never contested that.
I walked my dog as normal during that period, managed not to get shot on sight.
Same here.
I’m a big advocate of eating on the cheap. A favorite of mine is stuffing/dressing with a little chicken broth, wild green onion, salted butter, and finely diced celery.
Also: peanut butter and whole bread, eggs, pick your cheap on sale vegetable medley, rice, a dietary supplement or two parsed out in a manner that doesn’t literally piss your money away before your body can absorb it and whatever “manager’s special” meat that doesn’t look or smell too suspect.
I’ve said it here before: Eating on the cheap while maintaining or gaining weight is pretty damn easy in this country. Hell, it can even be healthy.
Another alternative to rising prices: Make more money. Hustle more, improve your skills, go back to school, put in for a promotion, change jobs, work OT if hourly, etc.
That’s long been my solution.
Which is nice if the dollar is worth anything.
If it gets bad, immigrate to somewhere else. That’s making more money, too.
I want to live in your world. It sounds like something we all long for.
Hah! I don’t even always live in my world. But lots of people do that, leaving shitty prospects for a better life. Usually not guaranteed and not without hard work to get there.
It’s just being made much more difficult in the USA now, with people fleeing blue shithole cities and buying up everything they can for inflated prices.
Probably more possible to flee to another county right now.
Real estate is insanely expensive right now, like fuel and food and everything else.
Hang Biden in the streets right now is he best solution.
My house is worth almost twice what I paid for it (in 2014) according to the Zillow estimate. I’d sell it and make a huge profit, but the inflated cost of any other house I’d buy right now would eat up that profit. Bummer.
I’m pretty sure this is limey.
https://youtu.be/kBrg2gNFFFc
I don’t waste much food, but other than that I probably won’t implement anything which is why I always spend to much money.
The reason I don’t waste food is that I don’t buy in bulk…
Good morning glibs
We have family near by so our bulk purchases are used to their fullest.
I think my only thing that goes bad is herbs…parsley, etc.
Well, you have to be careful what you buy in bulk. Meat for the freezer, sure. Canned stuff, sure. Veggies you can’t freeze, noopers.
There are ways to dry or freeze those if you wanted.
It ain’t morning, Vlad. Can’t you save money by just flying around and sucking the blood of hoomans?
Honestly, I haven’t really noticed any inflation on food prices. Everything around here seems to be the same price it was a year ago. Maybe I just haven’t noticed it, though.
Where in the fuck are you? Andromeda?
Y’all should go to bed. Wait, none of y’all work, do you? I keep forgetting about that.
My damn schedule is all jacked up. Worked over night last night and now back to days tomorrow. So you can rightly go take a donkey in a show.
I’ve had a pretty rough week. But I did get the biggest raise today that I’ve ever got, so that’s nice.
I almost did not wake up this morning for my yearly review. I woke up when the alarm went off and I was exhausted and I fell back to sleep. I fell into one of those deep sleeps where you have crazy dreams and wake up and are not even sure what day it is. I was like ‘Oh fucking shit, what time is it!’. It was 9:30, lol and my evaluation was at 10. I jumped out of bed and took a shower. I was not in a good mood. But I managed to wake up and pull it off. I have so been working my fucking ass off the last couple of weeks.
And now I’m so wound up, I’m still awake and I have to be at my desk at 9am in the morning and I have meetings most of the afternoon.
Woo-hoo! Congrats on the raise. Did they throw in a complimentary wheelbarrow to bring your cash to market to exchange fir bread?
Thanks! No, but they should have.
I am a failure as a free libertarian.
I succumbed to my need to keep taking home a paycheck, so I got the J & J vaccine today.
Had to go to a California State Uni campus and make my way through the ribboned off lanes in a gymnasium like I was working my way through the sheep dip.
At least we got to choose: Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J. Since the J&J one is not an mRNA one and is one dose only, I picked it.
Not that any of you would be interested in this info and in the vaccine example card in the forums, but mine is handwritten and follows this format:
Number number number letter number number letter.
To be honest, some of the “2” might have been “z”s. Like I said, hand written.
I imagine they all start with the 2 or Z.
Nah, you’re not a failure. These are difficult times. My employer is going to force vaccines on all employees. I may get out of it by being able to WFH all of the time. Otherwise, I either have to get another job where they won’t require it (good luck with that). So I don’t see that as a failure. Sometimes you don’t get much choice.
“Sometimes you don’t get much choice“
True. The masks and vaccines have become the most obvious symbols throughout this year long debacle, but the real hill to die on would have been to protest lockdowns, curfews, closure of houses of worship, limits on gatherings (whether weddings or political groups).
But we didn’t rise up in an organized manner when executives and and bureaucrats assigned themselves new powers.
It’s the fact that you have the right idea that makes you not a failure. You can’t do it all by yourself and we have to pick our battles and choose when to fight them. We may still win the war.
I like that attitude. Wish I could have it too.
What’s most distressing is that there have been some massive protests against lockdowns in Europe, but nothing really like that here. We’re more docile and easily controlled than Euros now, apparently.
Nope, you’re still a MLW.
Ive been resisting becoming part of their trial, but I know Ill succumb at some point as long as they make the process the punishment.
Im a cynic, but I suspect that as more and more “normies” get the shot, us un-clean & un-washed will be excluded from things like travel and attending events.
Tres Ver. 2.0 thinks he’s playing football this fall, and knowing his school, stands will only be filled with the True Believers ®.
“Ihre papiere bitte”
I’m going to try making more rich broth and stock from odds and ends.
So much better than store bought, so the sauces and soups it makes are more enjoyable and don’t seem “skimpy”.
Also, I’ve been firing up the ol’ bread machine lately.
But for sure an obvious choice I’m putting off a bit is to eat out at restaurants less often. That will definitely save.
I hate statists. Especially Democrat/Progressive/Socialist statists, but I hate statists.
We often make broth and soups from scratch.
But one of the things we’ve been doing recently is to buy cheap soup, I mean the Campbells stuff at like $1 a can and use it as a cheap base and add ingredients to it. I really works to make some great soup on the cheap.
The other thing we’ve been doing is buying the Panera Bread soup (not so cheap) and it’s already good and adding to it to make it even better.
I think I do a decent job of bargain shopping for meats. What kills me is produce. I either have to go to the store every other day, or else I never end up using it all before something goes bad.
– Plan your meals. If you know what you’re going to eat all week and buy just that, you’ll theoretically never have anything go to waste. Learn to preserve things (e.g. proper freezing techniques, pickling, etc.) Most food waste happens because people buy a huge quantity of something, use a little bit for whatever they planned, and have no idea what to do with the rest. If you can’t buy quantities small enough for what you need, adjust your meal plan so that you use it all up. Either that, or learn to preserve it (proper freezing methods, pickling, etc.)
– Learn to use things that are normally thrown away. Old bread is a big one in my house. I save all the odds and ends of bread. You can make bread pudding, bread soup, croutons, French toast, stuffing, bread crumbs, etc. I make all my own bread, so I end up with random “butts” of the baguette that can be saved and made into other ingredients later.
– Make your own bread, speaking of which. The cost savings are incredible. I think the big baguettes I make come out to well under a dollar each. It seems daunting, but I promise it’s not that difficult. Flour, water, yeast, salt, oil/butter, and time. That’s it. You can make a motherload of dough, leave it in the fridge, and just pull off what you need throughout the week.
– Build meals around cheap, nutrient-rich ingredients. This category is basically beans, legumes, pulses, etc. I’ve been making this Spanish dish of chickpeas and spinach in spiced tomato sauce and topping with two fried eggs for breakfast. I like to make a big pot of it on Monday and have my breakfasts done for the rest of the week. Super cheap. Italian ham and lentil stew is another one of my favorite “economy” meals. Hell, Indian cuisine is basically a big exercise in making nourishing meals that taste great and cost very little.
– Spread out your meals. You’d be surprised how little you can eat if you give yourself a steady intake of protein all day. This also prevents you from getting ravenously hungry and overeating or giving in to temptation and dining out.
suh’ fam
whats goody ?
Same old Breddah, just Friday instead of Monday,
Covfefe!
HEY YUFUS !
We were back to our old seats at the ballpark, most things seemed back to normal (no live national anthem, since they couldn’t do the usual tryouts, so we’re getting “Greatest Hits” from over the years,) the Dragons won, and it didn’t rain! We even saw our old buddy Madison leading a (so far anyway) reduced Green Team in between-inning entertainment. When they have Toddler Races again, I may weep for joy.
It all went so well I’m now paranoid about how bad it’s going to be when I go to the dentist this morning.
“Change your diet. Go vegetarian or vegan, or just adopt Meatless Monday.”
No. Just no.
Even my vegetable side dishes have bacon on top.
I will not let the terrorists win.
“…Go vegetarian or vegan…”
I think there’s enough of THOSE people among that could verify that, unless you’re grazing in the backyard, it isnt necessarily less expensive.
Jugsy is talking about climbing her cellulitic, hail-damaged, ass back on the low-carb/keto wagon, and is fully aware that it isnt cheap when you eating tons of meat.
However, Ive been told that Grazing in the Grass is a gas.
Baby can you dig it ?
I miss that kind of music. I hate to be the old guy rolling his eyes and saying new music sucks but new music sucks.
One of my favorite satellite channels. If they played more funk – especially P-Funk and the Ohio Players – it would be just like being back in junior high, but without the peer group drama.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R-FxmoVM7X4
?️? ?
https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/06/an-open-door-policy-29-inmates-escape-federal-lockups-in-the-past-18-months.html
They should chain them to big rocks.
Mostly from unfenced (I didn’t realize that was a thing) minimum security facilities it looks like. Seems like even just a simple fence would be worthwhile because climbing it requires sort of an extra mental commitment.
It’s a prison. At least ring the facility in chain link.
Otisville?
Otisville?!
/Lex Luthor
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2021/06/10/expect-to-see-even-more-spotted-lanternflies-this-summer/
I really need a flamethrower.
Max Gail says “yes, yes you do” https://i.gifer.com/LCew.gif
Also, so does Gregory Hines – https://youtu.be/Zi0nMgQC25o
Morning, Glibs.
Took a probably freezer burned piece of beef out of the freezer a few days ago, let it thaw in the marinage. Going to make that breakfast.
Hopefully the marinade covers for the freezer burn.
Beef for breakfast. That’s a man’s meal!
Anything on the side?
No.
I know it’s not ‘balanced’, but *shrug*
::looks around for Sean’s “thumbs-up” seal of approval::
My breakfast will be an Atkins shake – they’re actually quite tasty – and since it’s Friday, I can indulge in one of the coffee-flavored ones on top of my actual coffee. Then at some point I’ll almost certainly succumb to temptation and eat (at least) one of the leftover bagels from yesterday’s Commercial Lending meeting.
I need something to chew for my brain to accept it as a meal.
And I’m afraid the marinade failed to cover the freezer burn.
🙁
*sad trombone*
At least it was a cheap cut of beef (if that gives any indication of how long it was in my freezer)
Nothing’s grosser than freezer burned meat.
Hahahaha! You haven’t met my family. Be economical? Not happening.They don’t realize they are pissing away their money, and I’m done arguing about it.
McDonald’s radio spots back in the 1970s touted that “You can feed a family of five for around $2.50!”
Pre-staglfation dollars?
Yeah, those were the days. A cheeseburger was like 25 cents?
Yup! Fountain soda was a dime, coffee was a nickel.
Mom wouldn’t spring for the cheese though. 🙁
?!
Hamburgers only. Adding the cheese was a ripoff IIRC.
Did you at least get to add your own cheese?
If we didn’t eat there, yes.
I think the first time I actually bought a McD cheeseburger was when I was a teenager with a job. It was in Germany. I would cheap out on the Ketchup because it was too sweet and it cost 10 Pfennig a packet.
Normally I would never suggest this, but I think a call to Child Protective Services may have been in order.
Going to share an idea my wife came up with that she calls fauxcos. It basically replaces ground beef to make taco “meat” but is mostly veggie based. Quinoa, black beans, onions, garlic, beef broth, and a packet of taco seasoning (we haven’t bothered coming up with our own blend for tacos). We usually eat it as a taco salad, but honestly it tastes just as good as the meat based variety. And something that we can make entirely with ingredients we always have in our pantry.
If anyone is interested, I can post specific (well, as specific as any of my wife’s recipes ever get – she isn’t much one to measure things unless it is baking) instructions.
Please post it in the forum.
A friend of mine used to make a delicious quinoa chili. Might even be worth spending time with her and putting up with her compulsive, non-stop talking, which may be how she copes with the nightmare that is usually her life at any given point in time.
Everybody has a friend like that, Red. They come in all self-styled genders.
One of her daughters is/was a crack whore, so my friend has ended up raising several of her grandchildren – all boys except one girl with one of the rarer chromosomal birth defects, which has given said granddaughter a lifetime of “special needs.”
Sorry to hear. I used to know folks like that but now I don’t.
quinoa chili
Double the flatulence, double the fun.
Quinoa is like eating sand. Hate it.
Mornin’ Glibs! Vegan has overstuffed our fridge and standing deep freeze. I’ve too much food to eat before it goes bad. I want this ride to stop about six months ago. Why on earth would you cook six chicken thighs when I when I only eat two at a sitting? I’m a slim man, I don’t need to eat very much. The only cheese left in the house is Kraft Singles. No wonder I eat fast food three nights per week.
fast food three nights per week
Ugh. I feel unhealthy enough already.
My son has come around to understanding that the “discounted” fast food he’s been eating is what makes him feel like crap.
It’s just the dollar menu. Double cheeseburger, sausage McMuffin etc. A light snack before I burn the calories. If I went full on meal I’d never complete the task.
I do that all the time and I live alone. Use ’em for soups, ramen, whatever. Why would you want to waste time cooking them in batches 😛
Because when you do it once every two weeks it tends to add up. Who the heck is going to pull frozen chicken parts from the freezer for a midnite snack? We’ve got two drawers of berries waiting to be processed into jam and the bushes will be loaded come August. There are about 20 lbs worth living in Daughter #3’s deep chest. My Wifey is a prepper.
Aloysius, Akira, and Own Best Enemy all point out the most important point; be a savvy shopper.
I’m not the shopper so it’s a little unfair to judge. I just wish she’d buy a little less. We’re not saving money on bulk pricing when half of it ends up in the landfill. At least I never need to grocery shop. When I was single fellow, I had it down to a science.
If the HYPERBOLE is about, I’m going to take his advice regarding WD-40. I already liked you but if it works I might just love you a little bit more…
The advice that you spray a little on your quesadilla?
I’m really bad about throwing food away. I always buy more than I need of meat and produce, and always think to myself “I should freeze that but I’ll just cook it before it goes bad”. And then I very often don’t and throw away uncooked food, usually still packaged and not even open.
Even worse, many times I have bulk-cooked food and frozen it, only to never revisit it in the freezer until it’s freezer burned beyond any hope. So then I end up throwing away, not only food, but food that I went through all the trouble of preparing but never eating.
I’m working on getting better.