How do you stretch your food budget in these inflationary times?

Lara said:
I buy whatever I want but I'm eating less. I'm not a coupon person (just seems like more trouble than it's worth) but I do look for sales while inside the grocery store.

On the other hand, my mother, who was far from poor, would buy toothpicks at the dollar general and break them in half to use. She'd buy toilet paper there as well, that was so thin you had to use twice as much of it.
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My parents experienced the great depression and saved everything thinking it might come in handy sometime. That is probably why I am such a packrat. Habits are hard to break.
 

StarSong said:
I buy on sale, eat no meat and little dairy, buy in bulk, shop sales, cook mostly from scratch, bulk cook/bake and freeze serving portions. Little gets wasted.

As for protein for seniors, I stopped eating meat and dairy almost 10 years and am nowhere near protein deficient. Beans, nuts, oats, whole grains, tofu, potatoes, peanut butter, fruits and vegetables all contain protein.

Giant herbivores like giraffes, elephants, hippos, etc., all manage to build plenty of muscle without eating meat or dairy, despite the livestock industry's insistence that humans need to consume animal products at virtually every meal.
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Most people have a hard time getting enough protein unless they know how to get enough on a vegan diet. That's hard work until you figure it out and follow it faithfully. If you can do that, I applaud you.
 

If I didn't buy chips and some other crap except on rare occasions, I could save.

If I had to however, I could cut back on food buying. Today I'm making a potato corn chowder because I had everything and a carrot that was going limp. I had some Dave's Killer white bread left and I cubed it and drying it out in a low oven. I've never made stuffing from scratch but I'll give it a try.

If you google or YouTube depression era recipes you can find oat burgers and you can easily make cakes and pancakes without eggs.
 
hearlady said:
Most people have a hard time getting enough protein unless they know how to get enough on a vegan diet. That's hard work until you figure it out and follow it faithfully. If you can do that, I applaud you.
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I don't worry about it actually. I should cook more lentils etc but I don't. I do have 3 packs of tofu in the fridge.
 
I also remember on Clara's great depression cooking (I think the channel is called, she has passed away but her family keeps the channel up) she said they would turn off the gas when things were not quite cooked such as pasta, keep it covered and let it cook the rest of the way to save money. With gas and electric going up, not a bad idea.
 
Alizerine said:
I think shopping at Aldi is a privilege not an embarrassment. I bought my turkey there yesterday at 99 cents a pound. And if you're feeling flush it is a good place to pick up canned goods for the food bank.
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I love Aldi. It's not my main source for food items but a lot of their offerings is good. Last year, hubby and I decided to try their prime rib. We always had prime rib for Christmas and we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. It was so much cheaper than the grocery store. It's hard to mess up a prime rib, though. Won't be getting one this year :(
 
hearlady said:
Most people have a hard time getting enough protein unless they know how to get enough on a vegan diet. That's hard work until you figure it out and follow it faithfully. If you can do that, I applaud you.
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I'm not a vegan. With the exception of fish a couple of times a month and a relaxation on dairy from TG - the new year, I follow a whole food plant based diet pretty closely most of the year.

Absolutely no meat or poultry.
 
I think it was Dan Aykroyd in his Elwood Blues persona who spoke of eating a bread sandwich, two slices of bread with a third slice in the middle. Toast is also good. Of course, with food prices high, we may be eating crow instead of cow.., šŸ˜ø

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~I learned over time and by trial and error, that there are many store brand products that I really like, particularly Great Value (Walmart), and Shoprite brands which include Bowl & Basket, Wholesome Pantry and Price Rite.
~I also usually shop the sales, including at Costco. This means being aware of sale cycles and stocking up when items go on sale. Sometimes I come across unadvertised sale items too.
~This leads me to the next savings method...buying in bulk when it is reasonable to do so.
~I buy a couple of snack items from Dollar Tree.
~I don't eat pork, beef and not very much poultry either, so I'm not paying exorbitant prices for meals.
 

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