Wow...the costs are climbing!

(Katie) #1

I have been noticing the costs going up rather quickly, but, yesterday I did a grocery run and the sticker shock nearly floored me.

I bought some cheese, uncured ham for breakfast, cream, eggs, and 2 steaks that I will cut up for stew. The entire purchase fit into the little basket on top (for seating your kids). Total bill? $85.67.

Ouch. Those steaks were $5.99 per pound. 1 1/2 pounds each.

I am reading that with crop failures the meat supply will take a big hit…already seeing that. Pork supply is mostly being exported because everywhere else has that pig disease. Driving the cost up for domestic consumers.

A while back I bought freeze dried ground beef and sausage. I thought it was sort of pricey…but, it looks more reasonable all the time. I ordered 2 more of each (12 lbs total). Fresh meat and animal products are the first causality of crop failures.

We keto folk are going to get the biggest hit to our budgets because we eat at the top of the food chain. How do we adapt our eating to keep the budget under control?

(Jack Bennett) #2

I use ground beef and eggs as staples. Costco and Aldi are my friends.

I like the premium stuff too (macadamia nuts, avocado oil, ribeye or NY strip, etc), but I use the cheap stuff as the day-to-day (weekday lunch, etc).

Costco is great for the premium stuff as well; Aldi not so much.

#3

yes grocery sticker shock is a real thing :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

I will not adapt my eating one bit. I am carnivore. I live and die by the meat counter and seafood counter LOL

So for me what I do is adapt elsewhere in my budget. I think I need new shoes now, no I don’t. Buy meat instead. Tell hubby I need new shoes for my birthday and get them later. Hey I can wait, I got enough :slight_smile:

Cut down on gas guzzling. Drive 2-3 places to shop. Nope. Clean up that type of time waste and gas waste.

Turn down the thermostat a few points. Save money there and buy crab legs HAHA

Buy way less junky crap for the family at the store. Cutting that back saves a ton and they don’t notice mostly I am not buying all that bad crap for them, which is a good thing!

I am one of those frugal people. I absolutely enjoy finding ways to save money. I don’t go too overboard as some frugal people might, but I can pinch a penny til it screams bloody murder.

So I will take this tactic. My food is of top importance to me. I am limited so I won’t be changing it up at all. But I will change up other things aroudn it to make it work for me.

(Windmill Tilter) #4

That would make sense, but the reality is that we have such a surplus at the moment that we’re actually running out of cold storage space nationally! The over-supply of bacon/pork belly is reaching crisis proportions. I’m waiting for prices to drop with a stack of cash and a great big freezer, but so far, no price drop… :unamused:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-22/u-s-bacon-pile-is-biggest-in-48-years-but-may-start-to-ebb

(Katie) #5

I have no access to any grocery warehouse… even in the Summer months the closest is a 100 mile round trip drive. (At 10 miles to the gallon…it wipes out any saving).

As I live off grid year round…my power supply is falling free out of the sky. Only budget items are…gas (I drive very little) and water (non-optional). I only buy clothing when I must…and lately I refuse to buy anything till my weight loss stops.

Living in a small motor home…it really is a very minimal lifestyle. One pair of sneakers, one pair of hiking boots, on pair of sandals. That’s it.

The rule is…for each thing I bring in, there must be something of equal size and weight that must go out. Really makes you think about what you really need.

(Katie) #6

I am seeing the prices really take off. Those steaks were under $4.00 per pound less than 2 months ago. That same grocery shopping run was less than $70 two months ago. I tend to buy the same things all the time…even same brands…so I can compare trip to trip.

If there is a glut…why are prices going up so fast?

(Windmill Tilter) #7

I dunno. My grocery bills have remained stable over the same time period. Maybe it’s a regional thing? Could be that your grocery store chain needs to improve profitability this month to meet Q4 earnings estimates prior to a merger or corporate bond issuance. Who knows!

It’s a real bummer that prices are going up for you though. It’s times like this that a great big chest freezer is worth it’s weight in gold. As far as steak goes, one strategy that saves quite a bit of money is buying the piece at the butcher counter in the grocery store. If ribeye is $14/lb pre-sliced, if you buy the whole rib-loin, you’ll be paying $11/lb.

(Katie) #8

Oh I agree.

But, I do not have a freezer (cannot afford the power drain). The energy cost and weight, and the space make a freezer too expensive to have. Off grid in a small motor home. I would have to remove my desk or galley to make room. This lifestyle requires me to make choices… what I must have vs what I would like.

So… in the case of meat, I cook it all up and eat it within a couple days.

(Marianne) #9

We use the same strategy. Luckily, we like pork and hamburger, and they are pretty inexpensive when purchased in bulk. I supplement the meat we eat with a steamed veggie, cole slaw or heavy salad with home made oil & vinegar, eggs, some cheese, etc. I still find eating this way is much less expensive than the SAD we used to follow. Cereal, chips, sweets and junk food are expensive, especially considering the shear quantity I was eating. I’d eat my fill of something and then two hours later when I had some room in my stomach, I’d go back for more. I just really enjoyed eating large quantities of food. Combine that with take-out several times a week and eating out, and our food budget was one of biggest expenses.

(Jack Bennett) #10

Yeah, it’s important to consider cost per “unit of satiety”. Ground beef at $3/lb gives you a lot of satiety per dollar.

Whereas something like Snackwells or low-fat granola bars probably offer negative satiety per dollar - you eat a couple of them and they stimulate your appetite.

(Windmill Tilter) #11

Meet your new best friend. This is a pressure canner. I use mine all the time. It barely takes up any room at all and it costs $60. It allows you to can low-acid foods like meat in regular glass mason jars the old fashioned way. All you need is a stove burner. This allows you to store food at room temperature in any climate for years. It’s really easy to do!

Instead of buying 1lb of hamburger for $4.00/lb, buy 10lbs when it goes on sale for $2.00/lb and can whatever you won’t eat immediately. Here is 14lbs of 100% ground beef “chili” cooling off before heading to my cupboard. They haven’t cooled yet, so you can just barely see the glorious 1" fat cap at the top (aka keto frosting :grinning:)

It takes up about 1 cubic foot of space, and allows you to safely preserve basically any keto food you can imagine (beef,pork,chicken,fish,vegetables,etc…), at room temperature, even in the desert…

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(Edith) #12

Just remember: even slightly more expensive groceries are cheaper than medication in the long run.

(Katie) #13

First…the place to store it. My home on wheels moves every couple weeks…so everything must have a secure place to store…nothing can be left on counters. Second is the energy cost. Since it runs on 110v…even 5amps of power drains my system by 50 amps per hour. My total daily use is capped at 300 amps (at 12 volts) for everything…heat, cooking, refrigeration, etc. …less if I don’t have full sun

Then…were could I Store glass jars secure enough to drive down rough roads…or often, no road at all.

It is a great idea for sticks and bricks living…little mobile home? Not so much.

(Katie) #14

Yes indeed. I think keto is the only way to live this mobile lifestyle with confidence. I would be really worried about getting older on the SAD lifestyle. I spend weeks out in the desert…cannot imagine having medical emergencies out here. I need a strong healthy body to pull this off.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #15

A pork picnic (shoulder joint) is usually very cheap, often around a dollar a pound. Even with the bone in, the yield in terms of servings is enough to bring the cost per meal to around a dollar or two. Roast it with the fat layer on top, and it’s self-basting.

#16

Do you have to do anything special to make it stay at room temp? The couple things I’ve canned seem to go bad even in the fridge. Definitely like the idea of a chili stockpile.

(Edith) #17

Did you sterile everything: jars and lids, and then process in a boiling water bath or pressure canner?

(Windmill Tilter) #18

There are two types of canning: “water bath” canning for high acid things like tomatoes and “pressure canning” for low acid things like meat. For low acid things like meat, you need to raise the steam pressure to 15psi, at which point the steam temperature is 250F. Keep it there for as long as the recipe requires. In short, you need to pressure can it. Google-fu will show you the way… :+1:

(charlie3) #19

I buy 90% of my calories in one semi fancy produce store. I haven’t noticed much of any price changes except avecados have some price action in a range. What amps up my grocery bill is how much I eat when 40% of calories are burned by activity.

#20

Foraging, fishing, hens, roadkill, bartering, growing, sharing, KYO. Don’t allow money to creep into food sourcing. It will try to control the supply and you.

Where can I watch that film? The biggest little farm