I’m just wondering if anyone else has noticed their grocery bill going down. I’ve definitely noticed it. Long-time readers may recall well over a year ago I was freaking out about the cost of flour more than doubling. Well, in recent weeks, that flour has come back down in price, which is great since I’ve returned to baking our daily bread myself. It’s not back to where it was previously, but at $3.99 for ten pounds of quality flour, I am thrilled. That’s so much better than the $7.99 it topped out at. That’s the most noticeable change for me at my grocery store, but there are others as well. Like apples, last year at this time they were hovering between $1.29-$1.49 a pound for fresh apples. This year they’ve stayed consistent at 99 cents, which is fantastic, Abigail is an apple girl and will eat one a day when I have them around. Cereals have also come back down in price a bit, which is very good when some days Zander will eat almost an entire box over the course of a day. (Growth spurt.)
When I look back at my grocery spending over the past six months, last October, a regular weekly shopping trip was averaging around $150 for our family of four. Now part of that grocery shopping was also stocking up the freezer and pantry for Andy’s lay-off time, but for the most part, that was the low average. Now for the past several weeks, the shopping trips have definitely been below $100. Am I just shopping smarter? I know I’m still using up a lot of the stocked freezer goods, but I do think that overall the prices have crept back down with little fanfare. I, for one, am thrilled.
One thing that does help me a lot with keeping my grocery budget in check is menu planning. Oh, does it help big time! Just last night I sat down and figured the meal plan for the week, and taking into account on-hand ingredients, I don’t even need to hit a grocery store until Friday. Over the next few months, I really hope to step up my game and plan lunches as well. With school being over in just five weeks (but hey, who’s counting), I hope to make summertime lunches more than just sandwiches, especially since my kids aren’t particularly fans of sandwiches.
Anyway, I’m rambling now… so what do you think? Have you noticed a significant drop in your weekly grocery budget? I’d love to know!
I’ve noticed that ours has been a bit less. Not sure that it’s due to prices coming down, but rather trying to shop a bit better. I buy all my produce from a market that has quaility produce at amazing prices and that saves me a ton! Then, I only buy meats that are on sale and will buy a bit extra and freeze it to use later. Overall, I think we’ve been spending around $100 a week or less. Definitely a good thing!
Mine in total hasn’t been a lot less, but I have noticed that milk and flour are lower in price for sure!
I’ve noticed some things — like milk and cereal — have been on sale for really low prices (although the boxes seem smaller too). Other things seem to have gone up though — tea bags, and powdered buttermilk (up $2 since the last time I bought it)are two that come to mind. I think that the three major grocery stores in my area are having a bit of a war, so that has been helping me!
I certainly have! I have also been getting coupons from grocery stores saving 10 dollars off of 50 dollars worth of groceries. At least there is that in these tough times!
Kasha
http://www.grubandstuff.blogspot.com/
Patsy, that’s what I’m wondering- is it smarter shopping or is everything coming down a little bit?
Claire, milk and flour are definitely the two biggies. I’ve really been thrilled lately that at least one brand of organic milk is always on sale too.
Lucky, a price war certainly would be an asset!
Kasha, I’ve also been utilizing coupons from the grocery store. I’m not normally a coupon clipper, but when they are right there and they actually are good for stuff I use, it’s felt really great to put them to use.