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Thread: What are you doing to deal with the rising cost of groceries?

  1. #76
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    I picked up some store-brand canned pumpkin for 79c US for a 15 oz can when I was down in the US recently. Have purchased it before and it is as good as the biggest name brand. Another store had their brand for 1.79 for the same size. And it was 2.99 at a discount store up here. I picked up 6 cans - I guess you can say I've been on a pumpkin kick! lol In the last month I made pumpkin cookies, pumpkin energy squares, curried pumpkin soup, and pumpkin bars so needed to replenish my stock

    Silk
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  2. #77
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    Tonight I plan to clean my cupboards. Expired stuff is in garbage. Stuff we won't use and not expired is going to food bank. Other stuff organized and plan to use up before I buy more. Will clean out the fridge as well and plan to use up the veggies etc before I shop again. Freezers are packed so planning meals with food on hand. Do not plan on buying much the next while so I can get organized!
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  3. #78
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    Being a student on a budget (I try for $50/month), I've been using every tool out there that I can find...

    Student Discount Days:
    RCSS -> 10% on almost everything on Tuesday
    Zehrs -> 10% on almost everything on Tuesday
    Sobeys -> 10% on almost everything Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
    SDM (My closest one only) -> 15% on regular price items everyday
    Bulk Barn -> 10% on almost everything on Wednesday

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    Coupon Sites:
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    Price Matching of course!

    I try everything that I can to help keep myself to my budget, its really gonna suck once I finish school and lose all the Student Discounts
    And it all really does help in the end, as my post from the Brag section for today shows, getting $124 and change down to $7.00 isn't too shabby at all!! (Even though its for the food bank)
    Last edited by johnb56789; Tue, Nov 29th, 2016 at 04:53 PM.
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  4. #79
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    Cleaned out one cupboard last night and tossed crap that has been hanging around.

    Dinner- I had no clue but decided since both kids were home and love tacos and I had everything for it (including the cooked beef in the freezer) Was happy to use up the last of the romaine and red pepper.
    Tonight- I will pull chops or chicken from freezer at lunch. Will defrost and plan to bbq it and serve with veggies, salad and either rice or potato of some sort. (Using up what we have for dinner tonight)
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  5. #80
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    Quote Originally Posted by johnb56789 View Post
    Being a student on a budget (I try for $50/month), I've been using every tool out there that I can find...

    Student Discount Days:
    RCSS -> 10% on almost everything on Tuesday
    Zehrs -> 10% on almost everything on Tuesday
    Sobeys -> 10% on almost everything Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
    SDM (My closest one only) -> 15% on regular price items everyday
    Bulk Barn -> 10% on almost everything on Wednesday

    Rewards Programs:
    Drop -> Attached to my credit/debit cards and earn point at certain stores for rewards (GC mainly)
    PC Plus
    SDM Optimum
    Air Miles

    Cash Back:

    Checkout 51
    Zweet (not as much anymore though)
    Caddle

    Coupon Sites:
    Smart Source
    Smart Saver
    WebSaver
    Walmart Coupons online
    Smart Canucks Coupon board for other sites
    Coupgon

    Price Matching of course!

    I try everything that I can to help keep myself to my budget, its really gonna suck once I finish school and lose all the Student Discounts
    And it all really does help in the end, as my post from the Brag section for today shows, getting $124 and change down to $7.00 isn't too shabby at all!! (Even though its for the food bank)
    Good job!
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  6. #81
    tightwad and proud of it! brunt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frugalbigmama View Post
    Tonight I plan to clean my cupboards. Expired stuff is in garbage. Stuff we won't use and not expired is going to food bank. Other stuff organized and plan to use up before I buy more. Will clean out the fridge as well and plan to use up the veggies etc before I shop again. Freezers are packed so planning meals with food on hand. Do not plan on buying much the next while so I can get organized!
    "Expired" is too strong a word. The date that is put on the can is not:
    • unsafe to eat after
    • gross or tasteless to eat after
    • not legal for sale after


    The laws are pretty lax on this, and typically, it is a recommended consumption date based on the palatability of the food. It is safe to eat food well after this date as long as the seal is good, there is no rust on the can, and it is not bulging. After careful inspection of the tin, I have regularly eaten tins that are "expired" by literally years.

    I make reference to the dates in order to rotate our canned stocks. We keep the tins in a basement room that tends to be cool. Stored food is always best kept cool.

    I am a bit of a squirrel with food - not one of those wild eyed survivalist types that you see on those programs on TV, but I have a good amount of food stockpiled. This way we take advantage of sales as they come up. I am not one of those "the world is in imminent danger of falling into anarchy" types, but rather a realist who remembers not so very long ago when people in my area were without power for 10 days.

    I don't stress about it, but there are historically times when food was difficult to come by for some periods of time. Given that food is, from a historical standpoint, rather cheap right now, it makes sense to stock up.

    Worst case, we sometimes don't bother going to the store and take tasty food out of our stores and have our meal. Any time the power goes out here, which is a few times per year out here in the boonies, we light up the Sterno stove, and have a romantic candlelight, or more accurately, Sterno light and LED light dinner.
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  7. #82
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    After having zero success upgrading my PC Financial Mastercard to World Elite in order to get more points at Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart for faster redemption - I applied for a Tangerine Mastercard and will get 4% back each month for 3 months on groceries, drugstore and gasoline purchases. That will definitely help as I spend a small fortune at these stores. It pays to shop around especially with credit cards.

    I make a list and stick to it when I go shopping and put everything on credit to get points. Each week I make an online payment so that my statement isn't a shock. By recording my purchases each day I have cut back on spending considerably. I still will splurge for food as I do not smoke or drink. Chocolate is my vice
    Last edited by barbis9; Mon, Dec 5th, 2016 at 06:06 PM.
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  8. #83
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    I have been eating more canned tuna and salmon. I put it in everything from pasta, salad, sandwiches or even on the side of a plate. Usually I will pick it up on sale and I find that really helps to stretch my budget.
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  9. #84
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    Besides Barbis, I think chocolate is its own food group isn't it?? Lol.
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  10. #85
    Bean bun going offline Ciel's Avatar
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    I believe I will have to find a way to like sardines (for the nutrition) but I do not like the product at all. Tuna (flavoured) is great though since it can get high in mercury, I should pace my intake of the fish.

    2016 is year of pulses-lentils have been a staple for several years for me. Beyond the main curried lentil stew (I skip the onions, garlic, oil and diced tomatoes usually), I like adding cooked lentils to salads or side dishes. It's protein--good to know which herbs or flavours work with it to change the taste of them. Herbes de Provence go very well with lentils! One day I'll have to budget for lentils du Puy, which grow on former volcanic soil and do not go mushy just to see the difference. Still getting over the cost of wild rice-the pilaf tasted like cooked twigs or grape stems and was chewy-was grateful for the raisins saving the taste of the pilaf. I have about 1/3 of the 250g rice pkg left over and likely will cook it to mix with other rice or put into a vegetable dish.

    Guess what-we can expect food costs to go up next year.
    However, Charlebois doesn't anticipate a recurrence of the so-called cauliflower crisis from earlier this year, when the cost of the vegetable soared to around $10 per head. He says retailers have learned from that and may temporarily halt the import of food with rapidly rising prices."They will just move on and import something else."
    Depending on where they live, Canadians will experience different levels of sticker shock at the grocery store and in restaurants, the report says.
    Those living in Ontario and B.C. should prepare for above-average food inflation — around four to five per cent, says Charlebois.
    The study says residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta should enjoy below-average price increases, while the remaining provinces and the Northwest Territories should expect average rises in food costs.
    http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-sto...on-food-study/
    Vary your vegetable and produce preferences so when one or more go up in price, there is still something else to choose.
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    2021-Bring on the sunshine, sweets & online shopping.

  11. #86
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    I know other people have been doing it for a while, but I've been making a point of freezing leftovers that might go bad before we get around to eating it. I use a yogourt container and label it with a permanent marker. I don't reheat the food in these containers and I recycle them often and use a new yogourt container next time.
    Last edited by Angela273; Tue, Dec 6th, 2016 at 03:21 PM.
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  12. #87
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    Those 500g containers from sour cream or cottage cheese are usu ally perfect for just enough leftover whatever (food). I like the permanent marker mention-it is easy to read on the lid. I use the black Sharpie on the Ziploc storage square plastic container lids-usually warm water and dish soap and hard scrubbing will take off the marker if it was only for less than 3 days.

    Yes, the recycling of the containers is cool too. I love the small Nordica smooth cottage cheese 100g tubs-need to find a silicone lid solution so leftover sauce or salsa will have a perfect container for the fridge.
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    2021-Bring on the sunshine, sweets & online shopping.

  13. #88
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    I'm hoping this may help someone: yesterday we had our DD, SIL and GS for dinner and I asked my DH to haul up our bread maker so that I could get dough made up for the Parmesan, butter, garlic "monkey bread" and he asked if he could just buy dough to save me the trouble since I still can't stand for very long. I said yes, there's bread dough near the cakes at RCSS in an upright freezer. Turns out it's not there anymore, so he asked at the bakery and the gals told him they have frozen loaves of Italian and French bread ( same dough, incidentally, just different shapes) for $1 each! He called me to ask if they were okay and yes, absolutely! For $1 each?! The dough baked up beautifully, and would make large loaves of fresh-baked bread!

    So...RCSS, cake/ bread dept, frozen loaves of bread dough, $1 per loaf!!
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  14. #89
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    I dehydrated about 7 huge cabbages that I got from a local farm down the street. I picked them so only cost $1 each. Portioned them out and used food saver to help keep them. Great in borscht and for soups and cabbage roll casserole. Also dehydrated a lot of cauliflower rice to use when cauliflower gets stupid expensive...remember the $8 cauliflower last winter? So far I have been able to buy it reasonably so haven't used it yet. Also when over in the states a couple of times this fall, I went to aldi and stocked up on organic beans, quinoa, tomatoes, broths, cheeses, crackers, sugar, spices, soups etc. pantry is full now. Even with exchange I saved quite a bit and great prices for organic and gluten free products. Highly recommend this stores products so if you have one close by it is worth it to stop in.
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  15. #90
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    I am a fan of Aldi as well. We are about 60 minutes to the boarder but always make an Aldi stop when returning home.
    I have really tried to maximize my points programs for groceries this year. I always try to save unused produce offers on our PC plus cards. I used a lot of Optimum points in the last redemption. Not all food is more there so I made a point to stock up on the sales. My 13 yr old just hit a growth spurt so feeding two teen boys is just ouch.
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