Grocery Prices: Feeding Your Family in Today's Economy

Next to keeping a roof over your family's head, feeding them is of vital importance. The War in Iraq along with a host of other challenges the United States is facing has plummeted our economy. Prices in the grocery stores are on the rise as incomes dwindle or disappear altogether. For the average, middle income American who has not lost their job, chances are good that they did not see an increase in their pay in 2008. This leads to the question of how to continue to feed your family when the money is running low?

Here in the South, people are facing this predicament in a variety of ways. One drive down what is commonly referred to as "hamburger alley" provides a visual as to the first thing people are doing. They aren't eating out nearly as much. No longer is there disposable income to splurge on eating out. The upside to this is that more families are spending time together during dinner.

A stroll through the local supermarket will yield more clues as to how we are coping with food prices here in the South. More shoppers than ever are clipping coupons to save money on their grocery bills. Store brands have seen a significant increase in sales as consumers are more aware of the cost of name brands. Gone are the days of buzzing up and down the aisles tossing items in the cart with little regard to cost; now every item is scrutinized for cost and necessity.

Some shoppers will even do their grocery shopping at more than one supermarket, purchasing only the sale items at each one. If the stores are within a close proximity to each other this works out on the plus side; however, if there are many miles, your savings would be eat up in gas cost.

In my town, Charleston, South Carolina, the local DollarTree stores (every item is one dollar) carries a wide variety of staples - canned goods, some breads, sodas, and snacks. The downturn of the economy has been a blessing in disguise for them. You can get a lot of canned goods in the DollarTree at a 2 or 3 for $1 whereas in the grocery store they are $.89 or $.99 cents each. That alone adds up to a lot of money saved on groceries.

Many Southerners were raised in eating wild game, like duck, venison, and quail. Recently there has been an increase in the number of young people taking to the woods, some for sport and some for the meats and some for both. Hunting, along with fishing and shrimping yields a bountiful supply of food that is not only free, it is better for you because it is preservative and hormone free as well. A good day hunting can fill a freezer for a long time.

The household cooks are being more creative in their meal planning, making sure to get the most out of every meal they plan. Leftovers are showing up in the office lunch room more often than ever before. What would once have been considered scraps from peeling veggies is now being tossed in the soup pot for stock.

Like any other part of the country, we here in the South are coping. We are surviving, it's in our blood, and just something we do. We may not be eating filet mignon for dinner but we are still putting hot, nutritious meals together using our ingenuity and some bargain shopping.