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Shopping for meat? Poultry prices rose the least in 2011 compared with other meats.
Higher gas prices are a snap to spot. But how about grocery prices? Higher costs are harder to track because the checkout bill is different every time.
But some prices are jumping. Meat prices jumped more than 8 percent in 2011, the USDA estimated. Eggs were up about the same amount. Fats and oils? Up close to 9 percent.
The rising cost of some grocery items can make one see financial sense in becoming a vegan, even with fresh fruit and vegetables climbing about 4 to 4.5 percent.
Overall, the Consumer Price Index for all food went up last year between 3.25 and 3.75 percent, with the forecast for 2012 looking slightly less steep, between 2.5 and 3.5 percent.
Higher commodity and energy prices, along with greater global demand, mean more money out of pocket for food shoppers. And more people are eating at home because of unemployment, stagnant wages and uncertain times.
As Daily Finance noted:
As families have tried to economize by buying cheap ingredients, they have increased demand. Ironically, prices of luxury foods like steaks and fresh fish -- which consumers have been eschewing in favor of cheaper fare -- went up by less.
The silver lining in this cloud is that restaurant prices didn’t rise as quickly last year – about 2 to 2.5 percent – and are expected to increase slowly this year. (In 2010, Americans spent 47.9 percent of their food budget on chow away from home.)
There are ways to lessen grocery bills by choosing store brands, clipping coupons and sticking with less processed food. Cooking classes can be fun, offering tasty opportunities to become inventive in the kitchen. If you’ve got room, get a chicken coop. Start a garden, tiny or not-so tiny. Or go vegetarian, if not full-time, maybe a few days a week
And depending where you live, make friends with those who like to hunt and fish -- maybe you can barter those fresh eggs or garden-grown edibles.
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Okay, once again will someone please tell me why groceries and fuel are NOT considered in the inflation index? Is that like the MILLIONS who have dropped off the unemployment radar not included in the REAL data?
The government doesn't include food and fuel in SOME of the measurements for inflation because they're considered "too volatile" (don't we all know that!). It skews the data so much that they'd end up reporting an inflation rate one day of 2%, the next day at 6%, a third day at 3%, and so on. Can you imagine what Wall Street would be like with this "follow the bouncing inflation ball"? It would quickly become a meaningless number.
People have forgotten how to cook, how to shop, and most importantly how to PRESERVE food.
Forget meat. Go for cheap sources of protein, eggs, beans, lentils. Seasonal veggies and fruits and preserve food in a small freezer, get some cheap jars and learn how to pickle. It's not hard. And for goodness sakes, stop buying readymade things. Learn how to make it yourself. Grocery bag of staples (flour egg milk oil sugar salt basic spices) can give me enough pancakes biscuits cookies to feed a family for weeks. Add to that a lot of veggies and a little meat, and you have plenty of food for quite a while.
dman1115: There is a simple solution to that. Include food and energy, but use their average over a period of time. It's silly to completely exclude something when it has such a huge impact on the average person's budget.
Because beev the Government LIES to us on a daily basis. You know that.
Deliberate attempt by your government to lower the "official" inflation rate to keep down the increases in grandma's (and yours) social security payouts.
remember Congress has said there is no inflation, now repeat there is no inflation; see Congress is correct, there is no inflation.
The whole "get a chicken coop", "barter" with friends, etc. sounds like a giant step backwards for the "richest nation in the world". We are becoming a 3rd world country.
Nope we ARE NOW a third world nation.
The Beev - groceries and fuel ARE considered in the Consumer Price Index. According to http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_7 it covers:
Nope wrong, food and energy are NOT taken into consideration.
And the "Bureau of Labor Statistics" http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpiqa.htm website says:
Has the BLS removed food or energy prices in its official measure of inflation?
No. The BLS publishes thousands of CPI indexes each month, including the headline All Items CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the CPI-U for All Items Less Food and Energy. The latter series, widely referred to as the "core" CPI, is closely watched by many economic analysts and policymakers under the belief that food and energy prices are volatile and are subject to price shocks that cannot be damped through monetary policy. However, all consumer goods and services, including food and energy, are represented in the headline CPI.
Most importantly, none of the prominent legislated uses of the CPI excludes food and energy, Social security and federal retirement benefits are updated each year for inflation by the All Items CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Individual income tax parameters and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) returns are based on the All Items CPI-U.
So like anything if you cherry pick your data you can make true statements, not just totally true.
Seriously? The headline of this article is terribly misleading. Regardless of rising grocery bills, it doesn't even comes CLOSE to the cost of dine out.
In our family of 7, I typically make dinners that cost between $5-10 per meal TOTAL. Eating out? At LEAST twice that, and that's with everyone eating very little. If we were to eat the same amount, it would probably be 3-4 times as much to eat out.
And a suggested solution is to buy a chicken coup? Does this person realize that the price of the materials for such a coup, plus the chicken(s) and the feed will far outweigh any savings in eggs since eggs are actually quite cheap (less than $2/dozen). The writer of this article is out of touch, methinks.
I often wonder if the writers of online articles are the sons and daughters of multi-millionaires. The implication that eating in a restaurant is not much more costly than eating at home reminds me of the recent ABC article on "Copycat Fashions for Skinny Wallets" where there the average price of an outfit was $595!
I walk through my favorite supermarket's meat section whether or not I need meat - to see if there are sales I can buy in bulk and freeze. Yesterday I thawed 4 lbs of chicken thighs bought for $1.56, coated them with 1/2 of a $0.60 box of a store-brand version of shake-and-bake, and served it with a couple boxes of mac-and-cheese and ($0.49/box at Aldi and green beans ($0.59/can at Aldi). Throw in 4 cans of diet Pepsi ($0.21/can in bulk at Costco) and that cost $4.24 for 4 - say $5 including the milk/margarine for the mac & cheese, etc.).
Agreed, even with my husband being a body builder and us therefore buying a lot of meat, we still eat for about 8 bucks a day each. One dinner for each of us at a super cheap diner is going to cost that much and you'd still need to find something for breakfast/lunch.
Agreed. I don't get this article at all. With the exception of fast food, eating out has always been at least 3 times the cost of preparing something at home. Who cares if the cost of eating out is increasing slightly slower than the cost of groceries ? It's still way more expensive than cooking at home !
Ryan you are 100% correct.
"...Overall, the Consumer Price Index for all food went up last year between 3.25 and 3.75 percent..." This foolishness reminds me of 2008 when the CPI after the 3rd quarter claimed food prices had risen 5.7% over the past year. At about the same time, my county's school system announced it would cost 20% more to supply food to the schools' cafeterias in the new school year. Clearly, with eggs then going up from $1.22 to $2.12, corn from 5 ears/$1 to 2 ears/$1, etc. it was obvious which percentage made sense.
All I know is when I go to the grocery store (pulling teeth)...what ever is two-for-one...or 1/2 price...is what's for dinner tonight. Stuff like quality meats, deli cakes...forget it. Unlike the many with food stamps I see checking out with.
Morning beev.
But do not worry gang, the GOVT liars tell us there is no inflation. Remember the line in star wars?,' These are not the droids you're looking for".
I think that the more people you have to feed it is more expensive to dine out. With just two people to feed, myself and my husband, it IS cheaper to eat out. That of course depends on where you go and what you would have made had you stayed home but most of the time eating out is cheaper if you dont have to feed an entire family.
I disagree. You can cook for two people cheaper than eating out, unless you plan to always throw out any and all leftovers, or cook more than you need at each sitting. While the cost of preparing a meal might be more...the cost of eating that meal over the course of a couple days is still far less that eating out. The difference is that I have to cook every single day to keep up with our consumption rate. Back when it was just my wife and I, cooking at home was WAY cheaper than eating out...but we would have meals that we made that lasted us a few days.
MakesSense-3389651 - I suspect you were never very good at math.
Actually, if you're talking about fast food, then it is cheaper to eat out, but the reason is because you're not asking what's actually IN the food.
I'm in Iowa and in cool months, the lettuce is sold by the head. (I remember when ALL produce except avocados, was sold by weight). I weighed a $4 head of romaine. It came out to approx. $12.50/lb.
FOR LETTUCE???
Now that the 1% have discovered how fun it is to play with the commodoty markets, they've been going batsh*t and there's another reason why food prices are rising.
Don't think the drought here over the past 9 months is going to help either. Don't believe in Climate Change? Got Food?
My husband got laid off for a few weeks not that long ago. We managed to get by on one paycheck but not in a healthy way. They say to stay away from processed foods and make your own dinners but the processed foods are the cheapest. We could go to the store and buy a boxed meal that has a crazy amount of sodium/fat for $3, or we could get all the ingredients for me to make us a healthy meal for $5. My husband has since gotten his job back and we are able to afford the healthy meals again, but we can't eat out. We won't eat out. It was a bit of a wake up call to know how much money we were spending on food and luxuries when that money could be going towards so many other, more important things.
good morning mister Katz. You're mission, should you decide to accept it, is to debunk all the non-truths spouted on this silly vine.
Trying.......
"Forget meat. Go for cheap sources of protein, eggs, beans, "
Yeah right... I made a big pot of beans last night. Two pounds of Pintos and two pounds of Black beans... With about 2lbs of ham for flavor...
The beans cost more than the ham~!@# Dried beans were $2.50 per pound. I only paid $1.98 / pound for the ham! But, I should have lunches for more than a week :)
Sounds good, as long as I am not sitting next to you at work... :-)
Easily one of the poorest articles I've seen on here in a long time.
It's at least 1/4 as expensive to eat at home - less if you eat 'right'.
I saw a woman on tv recently complaining about how she couldn't afford to feed her kids - a single mom.
What was she doing?
Shoving McDonalds down their crops.
FACEPALM!
You're doing it wrong.
I too think that if you plan and shop around the ads/sales, you can eat healthy and cheaper at home. I like to know what goes into my foods and cook from scratch. I do not buy processed/boxed foods. When I cook, we always have left overs for lunches/other meals. We buy in bulk and freeze properly so what we buy lasts/stays fresh. We share portions of meats and add extra fillers si it goes further. Menu planning for the week is very helpful for me to stay on track of using what we have and buying weekly sale items.
my mom and I usually sit down and go over the grocery store fliars before we go shopping to compare prices. . . we're by no means "extreme couponers" but b/t our store rewards cards, store sales and coupons, we can usually buy enough groceries for 3 people (my mom, my brother and I), for roughly $60-100 and we usually manage to make the food we bought last for 2 or more weeks. We buy stuff like frozen chicken breasts in bulk and we don't eat a whole lot of red meat so when we do buy it, it's usually for a specific recipe. . .
we buy only what we need so we don't throw out what doesn't get eaten and during the summer I grow a garden of fresh veggies and since we live in the country I can usually trade fresh tomatoes for some apples from my neighbor's orchard or a fresh pan of corn bread for venison w/one of the hunters around here come deer season. I make/grow what I can (fresh veggies, herbs, fresh bread. etc.) when I can and while it's a bit time consuming, I'd rather spend time than spend money lol
I have a teenager at home. Cheap doesn't figure in anywhere.
The problem I see is everything is sold in a way to get you to buy more. If you are single, busy... blah blah.... it is either buy a large amount of stuff at a lower unit price... and then with plan on eating the same thing for days... for every meal... or preserve it... (come on with some types of food it is never the same... and this can be a big process in other cases...) In the case where someone like me buys more in the face of eating the same thing all the time... or let it go to waste... grocery shopping as most people consider it changes. Sorry folks... we aren't all baby daddies/mamas trying to feed a whole bunch of people efficiently.
I could give some examples... all I know is... even if I wanted to make my own meals... when I look at some of the "raw materials" on the shelf... they are pretty expensive individually... and in most cases I can't imagine using them up.
It is very frustrating.
Pizza is a lifesaver.
I like the idea of eating out - not having to shop, cook or clean up, but more importantly I like to know what I am eating and how it was prepared. I guess I can blame this on television where you see all kinds of gross things in restaurant kitchens. We tend to eat most of our meals at home.
We're all fighting a losing battle until someone steps into the W.H. who 'gets it'. Those people 'up there' are making decisions that aren't helping us 'at all'. I just came back from Walmart, where I buy canned, frozen and prepackaged foods, and didn't buy any more than I usually do. My bill was $300+. Gas is up, health care costs are up...housing is down, morale is down. Please, please, please think before you press that all-important button in November, because this can't go on.
Granny...I feel your pain.
When you eat out, you are much more likely to get a huge load of salt, fat, and sugar. Plus, when you eat processed and fast food, you are going to get fewer nutrients. There is a long term cost for this in health and weight. We eat out about once every month or two, and it is a treat. Otherwise, we cook at home. We eat really well and I can't say it is cheap but it is very reasonable. We eat a lot of beans and brown rice, whole grain bread, tons of salad, vegetables and fruit and a little fish or meat. We would pay a lot more to eat out and not come close to the quality of our meals.
I cook dinner all the time and have left overs. I go out to eat maybe 3 times a year. I trust my own cooking and have done quite well. When I was younger, my mom would cook mac and cheese and add a can of tune. This may not sound good, but it is. Another favorite, cheap item is ground beef and potatoes. Boil the potatoes, drain, and add the beef. Throw in your fav spices. And then, if you have it, top it off with ranch dressing and cheddar cheese. Not totally healthy but boy is it good!
This should make you mad as hell.......
The rising cost of fuel has a part in the rising cost of food, because fuel helps produce the produce, fuel moves it to the retailer so the cost of shipping is inserted in the retail price. But that has always been the case.
There is widespread manipulation of consumer food commodities and it is artificially inflating the prices on a lot of product. For example BEEF, should be at the lowest prices in years. Thanks to the fires and drought in the west this last year many ranchers sold off their entire herds because there is no feed for them. Many coninue to cull and sell more beef into the system than usual. There is a glut of beef on the market and others like me will not even send cattle to market this year because the price is so low.
Yet on the other end where you go buy it, the prices are outragous. Somebody in the middle is making a huge sum. I am all for making profit, thats what business is about.....but if consumers understood the food process they might balk at buying at the higher prices and force a reduction by reducing the overall demand.....
After watching a show called the Big Waste, you could cook at home much cheaper if you ask the grocer to show you where the food that they are throwing away is and if you can look through it.
On this show that is exactly what they did and they were able to make a fine dining several course meal for 100 people with zero cost for the major food, only costing for a few spices and oils. It is sad how much good food gets thrown away in this country for minor appearances that have nothing to do with the quality of the food. All that food could go to fill everyone that is hungry for free. It should be a crime to throw away good food at the agricultural, wholesale or retail area of the market. Feed the hungry.
Our local grocery stores won't give away anything. I have tried to get the produce they are tossing out (to feed my livestock) and they refuse -- they don't want to be "liable". Seriously?
Well... my wife and I eat out almost every night. I'm 66 and she is 65... you just have to play your coupons. I give blood platelets 24 times per year. They give me a coupon at our local "deli sandwich soup and sandwich shop"... buy one, get one free... so we get soup and sandwich for $10 instead of $20.... we eat at Ruby Tuesdays three or four times per month (get an entree up to $15 free if you buy one for $15)... local Pizza Hut every Saturday night before we go to the movies ($10 Pizza any size and any way you like it)... we get a large with 8 slices, eat 5 and I take the other 3 to work for lunches... Wednesday nights are "local mission" meal at a church in our area. "pay what you will"... we always put in $10 for two good meals..... so we eat well and relatively cheaply..... we could not do it was our family of 2 boys (32 and 37) but with my wife and I now... works quite well....
This only works if you are not a party of one.
Many of us would, perhaps, be a little healthier if we took some cues from the third world. Most of the world lives on beans and rice. You can't beat Goya canned beans for eating pleasure and economy and versatility.
I agree with those who advocate just buying real food in the store--shop only the outer edge of the store because that is where the produce, dairy and meat is displayed. You may have to take a few diversions for baking ingredients and those canned beans, but stay away from the junk.
On the other hand--there are certain things that it may make sense to opt for. My daughter goes out to a salad bar to make her lunch. If she went into the grocery store and bought what she wants for her salad, she would be buying way more than she needed just to produce lunch. Plus, she would have to tote the food with her on her long commute to work. So, for some things, and in some instances, it may be worth it.
Generally speaking, it is almost always cheaper to eat at home. We do. We can have a fine and wholesome meal for the two of us for a couple of bucks.
And, there are too few people who have the skill or knowledge or time to cook anymore. My daughter has a long commute and a new baby and a career. She is an excellent cook and she eats well. There is just so dammed little free time for her.
This morning I am enjoying my home made waffle with honey. I make them up with whole wheat and other grains and freeze them. Then, I heat them in a iron skillet. I am sure that I am getting more pleasure, nutrition and value from the ones I made than I could ever get from frozen ones. I'll bet that waffle did not cost me ten cents to make, including the electricity. And, it's all good stuff in there--whole wheat, toasted seeds, wheat germ, honey, peanut oil and eggs. Compare that to the ingredients on a package of frozen waffles!
Botton line is that resources are going to get scarce and prices for commodities are going to rise. We waste so much food and energy . We take perfectly good corn and turn it into cheesy doodles and gas for our cars. Every evening, tons of food are thrown out from stores, restaurants,caterers, and delis all around the country. When we have this level of throw away waste, we have a very big problem. Waste and consume mass quantities---that is America.