Putting the freeze on food prices
Posted
Jun 25 2008, 01:09 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Feeling pain at the supermarket checkout? Don't expect relief anytime soon. According to an Associated Press article, the Midwestern floods that destroyed soybean and corn crops will send the price of beef, pork, poultry, eggs, cheese and milk higher this fall.
Anybody want to join me while I shop for flour and beans and a small freezer?
Some people are already comfortably situated. Due to religious beliefs or mistrust of the current economic situation, they've stockpiled months' or years' worth of food. Some may have taken a bit of ribbing from friends and family as they stashed away their canned goods, bulk grains and MREs.
Well, these survivalist ants will have the last laugh as they watch all us grasshoppers weep over rising grocery prices.
A price 'freeze'
I'm serious about the freezer. It's an idea I've been mulling over for several weeks -- checking prices, figuring out where I'd put it in my apartment, asking a friend who subscribes to Consumer Reports to look up articles on the best models. For a 7.2-cubic-foot freezer, it looks like I'd have to spend $199 plus tax.
It would help me take advantage of supermarket loss leaders, and on great finds in the meat markdown bin or at the "used bread" store. I could really stock up, instead of trying to shoehorn just one or two items into the small freezer atop my apartment-size fridge. I'd also love to buy 20 or 25 pounds of flour at current prices and put that on ice.
Oh, and free blackberries, too. Lots of them.
If food prices keep rising -- and that's pretty much a given -- then I think the cost of the additional electricity will be offset by the chance to stash reduced-price grub.
I'm lucky to have the option of shelling out a couple hundred dollars for a freezer. (Thanks, emergency fund!) But I'm fortunate for other reasons, too.
Positioned to be prepared
I don't have small children, so I can shop easily and whenever I feel like it. (Imagine hauling bags of groceries and a couple of tired kids on the bus on a rainy night.) I know how to cook and I'm not a picky eater, able to subsist quite happily on a small amount of meat combined with a large amount of beans, starches or vegetables. I don't have food allergies or other health conditions (celiac, diabetes) that require special and often expensive diets.
Within about a mile of my apartment are three supermarkets, a bakery outlet, a dollar store, and two chain drugstores with cheap specials on food items liked canned goods, spices and dried fruit. Because I have a car, I can buy a lot of on-sale items at once instead of having to make multiple trips on foot or by bus.
I'm an avid user of coupons and rebates. I'm not above retrieving discarded supermarket ads from the recycle bin in the building lobby, a tactic that recently helped me obtain 29 cans of tuna for $9.57, 20 cans of organic tomatoes for $5, and four loaves of bread and two packages of onion rolls absolutely free.
In other words, I'm well-positioned to be a savvy shopper and I'm also motivated (some would say "obsessed") to spend as little as possible to stock my pantry.
How to get ahead?
Not everyone is this fortunate. Those who aren't will be increasingly squeezed as food, housing and energy costs go up and salaries stay right where they are.
For some Americans, the increase in food prices is cause for grumbling but nothing more. They complain, but they keep eating what they normally eat. I'm a lot more concerned about people already living on the margin. As bread prices increase, their brown-bag lunches are going to get more expensive. As milk goes up, they will find themselves watering down the gallon so there's enough for the kids' oatmeal until payday.
To them, and to everyone else for that matter, I strongly suggest the stealth stock-up plan. Even small amounts of money can be "invested" in on-sale foodstuffs to create a pantry of staples to carry you through the lean times. Ever had weeks when just before payday you were down to the heels of the bread loaf and a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter? Stealth stock-up will keep that from happening, or at least provide a can of chicken soup to go with your sandwich.
You may protest that every penny of your pay is spoken for before it's received. That could be true. But it probably isn't. Take a very, very clear-eyed look at your budget. Then be ruthless about carving away 50 cents or a dollar at a time. It may mean giving up the one small treat you allow yourself each week: a candy bar, a pound of coffee, a movie ticket, a pack of smokes.
But it may also mean the difference between eating and not eating.
