Costco, Trader Joes, commissary (we are military). But, yes, prices have gone up.

We only eat out maybe once a month, and often not even that often. Have a dinner plan before you shop. Make more frequent trips to cut down on food waste - buy only what you actually need for a day or two.

Have the whole family share a grocery app so that if you have multiple shoppers, things aren't bought twice.

We're vegetarian at home and buy mostly at Trader Joe's and sometimes Whole Foods. But we also hardly ever eat out and don't drink (alcohol ever or coffee out, no sodas...) so that helps as well. We don't buy packaged snacks like granola bars, chips...

We always shop frugally and haven’t really changed our habits: Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Lotte, Chinese market and Indian store. To compensate for the higher grocery prices we have almost completely cut out on dining outside, including fast casual. Brown bag lunch everyday.

Anonymous wrote:For those who aren't just trying to use grocery prices to score political points and truly are just managing your household budget, what have you been doing to make it work? What have you changed?

Cutting out/reducing the "extras" that aren't particularly good for you anyway such as chips, soda, brownie mixes. Essentially, cut way back on "snacks" aside from a few spouse seems to "need." For dietary reasons, I unfortunately can't do a lot of pasta. Aldi for the items we like/tolerate from there (certain fruits, lettuce, potatoes, nuts, ground beef/chicken, cereal, tortilla chips, etc. I've been buying eggs there for a long time but have determined they just aren't as good. So now that egg prices have come down, I sometimes "splurge" on better eggs at the other stores.
More generic v. preferred brands of items. (many of Aldi line foods are actually quite good)
In all honesty, it's been easier and more manageable since the kids are away at school and it's just the two of us.
We also do not eat out/just pick something up nearly as often. And we do not host friends much anymore.

Anonymous wrote:I've shifted completely away from Safeway or Giant, who seem to be straightforwardly price gauging. For things like milk, eggs, sourdough bread, and cheese, I'm honestly paying less than I had in years by shopping at Aldi. But I don't like their produce.

Agreed. Whole Foods is actually cheaper than those 2.

We don’t eat red meat other than ground beef anymore. Lots of chicken and pork. Frozen veggies at wegmans are still $2 a bag. Lots of rice.

I use the sales circulars to plan my meals. I build them around whatever proteins and produce are discounted that week. Honestly, I've always done this more as a way to narrow down the endless possibilities available in supermarkets than to save money. I stick to Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, and Costco for my purchases, since those are the closest to where I live. I have visited Aldi and Lidl and while their prices do seem fairly low across the board, their produce is ABYSMAL (at least at the stores I visited), and not worth the time/gas expense to go out of my way for.

Ordering online for pickup has helped me quite a bit. I do a much better job of comparing prices when looking online, and I make zero impulse buys. When I go online, the first thing I do is shop the specials and coupons. I also plan my meals/etc a lot more because I don't go to the store to "see what to make for dinner." I decide what to get in advance and that requires planning things more.

I no longer buy any soda or potato chips, or pretty much any snack / junk food. They were special treats before, but now we don't buy any. Too expensive.

Have one meatless dinner per week.

Only buy what is discounted that week and make dinners based on what is on sale, rather than the other way around.

Avoid items that are going way up in price; when eggs were high, I just stopped buying and eating eggs. Now that beef is high, I'm minimizing beef.

Anonymous wrote:My husband grocery-hops across multiple stores to find the best prices. The issue is that he buys more processed foods than I'd like, so I'm not sure the savings are maximized. Many years ago, I'd studied food prices and realized that if I shopped for unprocessed stuff at Whole Foods (guaranteed free of artificial ingredients), it was cheaper than if I bought elsewhere. That's only in a cook from scratch sort of plan. I think WF has abandoned their bulk grain offerings, though, so maybe now my price comparison doesn't hold anymore.

My friends shop at Costco, because they have large homes and can store a lot, but we live in a tiny house with a small fridge and I'd rather not do that. But they tell me they can save quite a bit buying in bulk.

Costco is not as helpful as it once was for our staples. I still like it for detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, etc though.

My husband grocery-hops across multiple stores to find the best prices. The issue is that he buys more processed foods than I'd like, so I'm not sure the savings are maximized. Many years ago, I'd studied food prices and realized that if I shopped for unprocessed stuff at Whole Foods (guaranteed free of artificial ingredients), it was cheaper than if I bought elsewhere. That's only in a cook from scratch sort of plan. I think WF has abandoned their bulk grain offerings, though, so maybe now my price comparison doesn't hold anymore.

My friends shop at Costco, because they have large homes and can store a lot, but we live in a tiny house with a small fridge and I'd rather not do that. But they tell me they can save quite a bit buying in bulk.

Grow 10% of our food - eggs, fruit, vegetables
Make 25% of our food - bread, yogurt, crackers, chips, applesauce, fruit leather
Cook 85% of our meals

Shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Costco and part of a CSA

I've shifted completely away from Safeway or Giant, who seem to be straightforwardly price gauging. For things like milk, eggs, sourdough bread, and cheese, I'm honestly paying less than I had in years by shopping at Aldi. But I don't like their produce.

Where do you shop now? What do you buy? How many people are you feeding? I have noticed prices going up, but for our small family and our income level, it's an annoyance, not a problem. I have seen nice deals at stores like Lidl and Amazon Fresh. Amazon Fresh has a lot of overlap with Whole Foods (like produce) and it costs less for the same thing. If you're feeding a large family on low income, you still need to look at the big box discount stores.

I know this is off-brand for DCUM, but the regular item I have found hardest to manage is Diet Coke. Prices got stupid at "normal" grocery stores but also went up insanely at Costco. I started actually googling who is selling it as a loss leader (Target, Giant, and Safeway on my rotation of places to check) and stocking up.

For those who aren't just trying to use grocery prices to score political points and truly are just managing your household budget, what have you been doing to make it work? What have you changed?