How to save as food inflation jumps more than 11% in a year

[Hydrogen]

• Rising food costs helped push inflation higher again last month, according to the latest government data.
• Prices for staples like eggs, milk, cereal, bread and butter notched some of the largest increases, further straining household budgets.
• Savings experts share their top tips to cut costs at the grocery store.

Going to the grocery store isn’t getting any cheaper.

Rising food costs helped push inflation higher again last month, despite a drop in gas prices. The food index alone rose 11.4% over the past year, according to the latest consumer price index figures — marking the biggest 12-month jump since May 1979.

The food-at-home index, a measure of price changes at the grocery store, increased 13.5% — also a 43-year high.

In the face of higher prices, consumers have been cutting back, according to Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com. However, “food, at its basic level, is not discretionary,” he said. “That’s the challenging aspect of the circumstances we are in.”

Prices for staples like eggs, milk, cereal, bread and butter notched some of the largest increases, further straining household budgets.

Inflation has also led many food and beverage companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, to raise the prices on drinks and packaged goods. Some are also making their packages smaller — also known as “shrinkflation” — or swap in less expensive ingredients, a tactic now termed “skimpflation.”

“Grocery product manufacturers know that while most shoppers will immediately notice a price increase, they are less likely to catch a reduction in a product’s net weight or a switch to using cheaper ingredients,” said Edgar Dworsky, the founder of Consumer World, who has been tracking the downsizing of popular products, such as Charmin, Quaker Instant Oatmeal and Honey Bunches of Oats.

The Federal Reserve has already taken aggressive steps to fight surging inflation, and a survey released earlier this week by the New York Fed showed consumers are growing less fearful about rising prices — although they still expect the inflation rate to be 5.7% a year from now.

“Consumers are prepared for high prices to persist in the foreseeable future, but there’s also a tendency for people to think that things might return to normal,” Hamrick said.

In the meantime, “it’s prudent for individuals to continue to be cautious with their household budgets,” he added.

To that end, savings experts share their top tips to spend less on groceries as food inflation shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

“It’s belt-tightening time and has been for a while,” Hamrick said.

5 tips for saving on groceries

1. Scrutinize sales. Generic brands can be 10% to 30% cheaper than their “premium” counterparts and just as good, but that’s not always the case. Name brands may be offering bigger-than-usual discounts right now to maintain loyalty, so it pays to pay attention to price changes.

2. Plan your meals. When you plan your meals in advance, you’re more likely to just buy the things you need, said Lisa Thompson, a savings expert at Coupons.com. If planning’s not your thing, at least go shopping with a rough idea of what you’ll be cooking in the week ahead to help stay on track and avoid impulse purchases, she added.

3. Buy in bulk. When it comes to the rest of the items on your list, you can save more by buying in bulk. Joining a wholesale club such as Costco, Sam’s Club or BJ’s will often get you the best price per unit on condiments and nonperishable goods.

4. Use a cash-back app. Ibotta and Checkout 51 are two of the most popular apps for earning cash back at the store, according to Julie Ramhold, a consumer analyst at DealNews.com. The average Ibotta user earns between $10 and $20 a month, but more active users can make as much as $100 to $300 a month, a spokesperson told CNBC.

5. Pay with the right card. While a generic cash-back card such as the Citi Double Cash Card can earn you 2%, there are specific grocery rewards cards that can earn you up to 6% back at supermarkets nationwide, such as the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express. CNBC’s Select has a full roundup of the best cards for food shopping along with the APRs and annual fees.



https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/15/how-to-save-money-as-food-inflation-jumps.html

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Although I consider myself an optimist. I hope I can still identify as much in thinking this sounds serious:

The food-at-home index, a measure of price changes at the grocery store, increased 13.5% — also a 43-year high.

2022 - 43 = 1979. So it seems the previous record was made in the 1970s. We're breaking records. Although not the type of records we would like to be breaking.

How do we turn things around? Is there anything constructive we can do? How do people address these types of situations on a personal level?

While growing food may not be feasible for residents of cities. Is it possible to lease land in rural areas on city outskirts for purposes of food growing? Perhaps rural land near cities can be leased for city residents to house chickens, goats and livestock on a timeshare or communal basis?

High food prices have to be a concern for many. Which one might think would cause people to seek alternatives or devise solutions.

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[Poker Player]

To me you pose the question incorrectly, misrepresented. In the current situation, to beat inflation can be done in two ways, saving, as you say, or increasing income above 11%, which is the preferable one in my opinion.

In other threads I have commented that a year ago, which is when inflation began to be noticed, before the war, my income increased, and this has meant that in spite of this inflationary period I have been able to spend more and save more.

It is not an easy thing and not everybody can do it. If you can't increase income, cut back on expenses, yes, but at least try, think about increasing income.

[dansus021]

well yes we can use some sort cashback app or good credit card but still inflation the inflation will still eat us if we don't have investment or extra income 

in fact the inflation rate is crazy since dollar has been de-pegged from gold standard in 1970

[Darker45]

Although it is indeed advisable to grow and raise your own food, many people in urban areas simply can't do that for lack of space. And although they could afford to rent or lease a piece of land on the outskirts for the said purpose, many probably don't have the time for it. After all, it requires commitment.

Raising crops and growing animals for food entail responsibilities which I'm afraid many of the working people in cities couldn't afford to take. As a matter of fact, majority of the working class in my country work 6 days a week. The only day which is supposed to be their rest day isn't even enough to take care of household chores which they couldn't attend to during weekdays.

[pooya87]

How do we turn things around? Is there anything constructive we can do? How do people address these types of situations on a personal level?

There is a global food war going on and the only way things would turn around is if that war ends.

While growing food may not be feasible for residents of cities. Is it possible to lease land in rural areas on city outskirts for purposes of food growing? Perhaps rural land near cities can be leased for city residents to house chickens, goats and livestock on a timeshare or communal basis?

Crops don't just grow on themselves, livestock don't just flourish and give you product automatically. You'll have to work on the land for all of it. A city resident has a job in the city and can't just go work in a field every day.
If you mean buying the land and hiring the farmers, they are already doing that and it is called capitalism which is one of the reasons why the food war is harming food security.

[$anounimus$]

As with most things in life, the solution does not lie in reckless haste or drastic action but must focus on long term for long-term solutions. This is not only the responsibility of the government, ourselves, and our families as well.

Overall, if we want to tackle inflation, we have two choices: work harder, or work smarter. It may sound trite or ungodly to say this - but if we are willing to put in the time and effort, we can do a lot for ourselves and our families. In the same way, by working smarter, you get what you need from the best of every world - people and facilities.

Only time will tell whether our predictions will come true, but there are things we can do now that might help.

[davis196]

How to beat food inflation:
1.Eat less. Fasting is good for our health(even though I hear that some experts say that fasting is bad for our health). I don't know anything about nutrition and endocrinology.
2.Raise your own fruits and vegetables in your own garden or piece of land. The costs of doing agriculture are raising as well. The fall/winter are coming and you can't raise vegetables right now.
3.Increase your income. Get a promotion and a higher salary. Grow your small business. I can't give any particular advise about how to do that.

[Lucius]

The problem with inflation and consequently the price of food is not something that affects all people in the world equally, so there is no universal solution. The most affected will be those who live in urban areas and belong to the lower middle or lower class, because their purchasing power is constantly weakening, and they are not among those who have the opportunity to cultivate the land/keep livestock, and they are not even in the category of those who have savings.

All the others will somehow adapt, and will that mean that we will eat less or use cheaper products? Probably the latter, but I also know that the majority will still decide that food (enough food) is a priority, and that we will have to give up some things - alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, going to the cinema, pointless car rides... Everything we save can be redirected to food, and I don't see any other way in terms of a short-term solution.

In the long term, the only solution would be for people to turn to self-sustainability as much as possible, but that would require radical changes in the way we live. When we look at the fact that the majority of young people run away to the cities and do not want to do hard work, then we cannot expect things to get better today.

People who wonder why a product has increased in price by 100% or why it is not on the shelf at all, should know that all these products are not created by magic but by hard work - less labor force, poisoned and barren land and supply chain interruptions are just the consequences of global orientation of the world in the wrong direction.

[kryptqnick]

I think the situation is different depending on a country. What may be shocking for developed countries can be something typical for people from developing countries. I'm no stranger to high inflation rate. In my experience, making lists of things to buy, paying attention to discounts and planning meals in advance are all good things. But it's also important to stay open-minded. Maybe the product you used to buy very often is now much more expensive. You should look around the shops and see if there's something cheap that you haven't tried before. Do your research on that, and which meals can be cooked with something you haven't tried before. Also, don't be afraid to look at what used to be those very expensive things you normally didn't buy: there's a good chance some of that out-of-reach stuff isn't that expensive anymore, considering how much the prices changed for other things.
And yes, you'll spend more money that you used to, so you should think about where you can earn more money or where you can reasonably cut down spending. But it won't be as devastating as you initially assumed. Especially with such a low increase as 13.5%.

[Maus0728]

I don't know if this applies to everyone especially in other countries but I normally prepare my meals over the course of the week in to reduce my food expenses.

I have an active fitness lifestyle so my diet consists of full, high-protein meals like eggs, chicken breast, and pork tenderloin. With a little creativity, you can bring good and healthy food to the table without spending a fortune. Probably, you would likely spend $6–10 on food preparation for the entire day.

Buying whole foods that are very filling, like sweet potatoes, is another pro tip. Not only is this a healthier choice, but it may also enable you to eat less throughout the day. Additionally, we have a wetmarket where food supplies are much less expensive than in a supermarket.

Again this is pretty much a workaround from a 3rd world country, the food prices and the availability of the products in other countries is highly likely different.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Unfortunately, saving becomes less effective. My plan is to save bitcoin, as I expect it to rise in the future, but I could never convince it's safe. I do think it's the safest option, though. 

Crops don't just grow on themselves, livestock don't just flourish and give you product automatically. You'll have to work on the land for all of it.

And therefore, you need energy. Without energy, you can't grow food, regardless of your land or workers. And what's rising in market value exponentially currently is energy. Everything in the end is energy. Food, technology, humanity. If energy gets more expensive, everything becomes harder to accumulate, humans included.

[Wapfika]

Government should help fund these initiatives to combat the inflation. Even if it's possible, growing food whether it's livestock or fruits & vegetables is not that easy as you think. You will still spend some money before you can harvest them for some consumable products. Local farmers should also be compensated well because they have the proper knowledge in doing those stuffs to raise it properly.

People should learn how to go back in the basic, like having their own little farm in their backyard or learn how to redo or reinvent leftover foods. It’s right that farmers should be paid right and be supported by the government to supply the need of their country and to not rely in the supply of other countries. If people can’t find way to increase their income flaw better they find ways or alternatives to the high cost ingredients. Learn to adjust or learn other skills that can help to find extra source of money.

[Solosanz]

I think if food price are soaring, it means it's better if you start to grow mini garden where you plant some veggies for personal consumption. At least you can survive during high inflation even though you're become a vegetarian lol.

11% inflation is really high, any banks can't even give you return for 11% per year, it mostly around less than 1%. This is why holding fiat currencies will make you become poor, while smart people will invest their money to other assets in order to hedging against inflation.

[el kaka22]

These are not solutions, solution is to have a pay-to-food ratio that is reasonable. If people have to follow these methods to not go bankrupt on food alone, then the economy is screwed, and we can't really survive for far too long with this method.

Just have a salary that would be good enough for you to pay for basic needs, like shelter and food and clothing, and then you should have a bit more leftover, if your money is not even enough for these three, then you are going to face the fact that no savings, no apps, no bulk, nothing will be good enough because people do deserve a life better than what is offered right now, a life where we need to do these when we work so hard, is not acceptable.

[Gyfts]

Discloser that this not meant to be a long term solution or solution for urban residents: Self sustenance through gardening is an idea that I ridiculed in the past because I believe it to be an unreliable source of food. As in, what people could be agriculturally inclined and start a garden that would be diverse enough to sustain a family?

Turns out it would it's a whole lot easier than people might think, the primary limiting factor is land availability. Once you've sourced the seeds, the land/soil conditions can be an obstacle.

If you're willing to put in the work, the idea isn't so outlandish. Would save on your grocery bills, and probably taste better than the processed junk they have in stores anyways.

[livingfree]

Buying in bulk is what we've been doing for years but it's really hitting us and the budget that I've got for food is no longer that satisfying anymore. If I want to buy more, I'll add more to my budget but things are different today and inflation really sucks.

That's why instead of buying bulk, I only buy those necessary groceries that we need. And with cooked food, we've got some stores in here that sells cooked food, not restaurant and fast food. But smaller ones and they're cheaper than the typical.

I'll be testing this strategy if we'll be able to save since we're tight on budget. Hopefully, this is going to work for my family.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

2022 - 43 = 1979. So it seems the previous record was made in the 1970s. We're breaking records. Although not the type of records we would like to be breaking.

Yep, that was before my time and before the times of many members here, I'm sure--but I know about that period and what happened with the stock market once the inflationary crisis was over. 

This time around, however, we're having a spike in inflation along with a stock market that's been on a bull run for well over a decade.  That hadn't been the case in the 70s.  The massive bull market that followed the inflation started somewhere around 1982 and continued up until 2000, when the NASDAQ (and subsequently the other indexes) crashed.  If and when inflation decreases to acceptable levels, I'm not sure what's going to happen to the markets, including crypto.  It's kind of scary.

Another thing is that in the 70s, interest rates were much higher than they are now, IIRC, so people could actually hedge against inflation somewhat simply by opening up a savings account at their local bank.  That hasn't been possible (at least in the US) for a long, long time.  I'm not sure how people have been trying to hedge, if they've been doing so at all.  Precious metals?  Maybe, but that market has been relatively stagnant since 2011 when it peaked.  Stocks?  Probably, which is why the bull market has lasted this long.  But man....the result is that most stocks right now are overpriced, and I've been predicting a massive crash for a few years now.  I still think it's coming, and it's going to be brutal.

The best way to fight food inflation IMO would be to stock up on as much food right now as possible (nonperishable foods, obviously).  Everything else is a crapshoot.

[Lanatsa]

Buying in bulk is what we've been doing for years but it's really hitting us and the budget that I've got for food is no longer that satisfying anymore. If I want to buy more, I'll add more to my budget but things are different today and inflation really sucks.

That's why instead of buying bulk, I only buy those necessary groceries that we need. And with cooked food, we've got some stores in here that sells cooked food, not restaurant and fast food. But smaller ones and they're cheaper than the typical.

I'll be testing this strategy if we'll be able to save since we're tight on budget. Hopefully, this is going to work for my family.

If you are talking about those cooked food and trying to sustain or make use of that method then i would tell you this that it is more expensive not only on the sense that stores will definitely be making those prices

higher considering the ingredients are becoming more expensive.We know that inflation affects everything so there's no way that you could avoid that.It is really much better to cook your own food rather

than on keep buying because it would really be resulting into more expense rather than on saving up.In overall if you do find yourself having problems then it would be wise on having consideration
on trying your best on finding other source of income aside from your current job atm.

[bittraffic]

Supply of the products I think is still flowing there is just inflation where we find the price too much. To save I guess you can just take 2 meals a day like a Brunch at 10:00 AM, that is like fasting. Or just do some diet at least this is good for your health. But still, stock up on some food before the price goes way higher than the last time you check.

[Mauser]

I have been looking into ways to save money when buying groceries since February. The best option for me so far is looking cheap promotions and then buy in bulk. Fresh products are the most healthy, but also the most expensive. Switching for dried and canned goods helped me to save some money, but this I only do for some meals per week and rest of the week I try to eat fresh vegetables. Cash back apps looked promising at first, even though I was using many coupons my total cash back in more than 6 months is only 6.50 USD. The problem is that not all supermarkets are taking part in the same cash back systems. In my city there are 4 different big supermarket chains. Each one offers different promotions each week. The most money I can save now by checking Mondays morning where which products are on discount and then I buy accordingly. And whenever products have an expiration date of more than 6 months I buy the largest package possible as they are usually the cheapest per weight. Budgeting for food and being more aware of prices helped me a lot to try and keep my grocery bills more constant during the rising food prices.