Whats up with the price of Milk??

Marcie Mac

Just Plain Ole Tired
We go thru a LOT of milk. About a gallon a day, or more. I never paid much attention to the price when I am running thru Costco or Sams Club - just gets tossed in the cart.

I had to go to the local supermarket yesterday to pick up some little items that I find its a waste if I buy in bulk, and went to the milk section, and jeeze, it was almost 7.00 for two gallons (discounted cause one gallon was almost 4.00)

At this point I think it would be cheaper to just go buy a cow. I live right over the hill and down wind :slap: from Chino, a hugh dairy town, so its not like it has to be imported from another state

Food prices in general are just getting so ridiculous as well, especially meat.

Marcie
 

goldenguru

Active Member
We are really feeling the crunch too.

My daughter (who lives on a shoestring) complains about the cost of fresh fruit and veggies. They just can't afford them. It really is not wonder that our diets are deficient in the good old USA. It is also no wonder that we are obese. The bottom line is that it is expensive to eat healthy. Milk is no exception.

How about powdered milk? That's what we had growing up ... my folks just couldn't afford the real stuff.
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
Marcie,

I've been looking for more cost effective ways to feed this family. I can't believe the milk prices - though the Target here is carrying their skim milk for $3.35/gallon. That's a good price.

I'm always looking for ways to stretch meats & find other sources of protein. Frozen veggies, while not as tasty (in my humble opinion), are easier on the wallet. I hate going that route - I love fresh produce. Always looking for a sale.

Told husband next year we were planting our small veggie garden again. That's one way for us.

All I know is that no matter what we do here (husband with his job we thought we could maybe get ahead) we can't seem to find a way to save money. Energy prices scare me - not looking forward to the upcoming heatin season.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
How ......do you stretch meat? I pulled on both ends of a pork chop and.....oh I see...you pull it until it splits and becomes 2 pork chops.. cool! Good frugal tip.

As far as the price of milk. I believe the price increase has something to do with farmers NOT adding something called (can't remember - maybe RGMA) to the milk. Kroger here has put up notices that by the end of October all their milk will be (whatever it is) free.

Could that be it? We drink a gallon a day and there are 2 of us.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
GEt a copy of The Tightwas Gazette. It was a newsletter that became 3 books, now available for about $20 in one volume. It has recipes, ways to stretch all kinds of things, and so much valuable info I am constantly amazed by it. I have been using it for almost $15 years, and I still pick up used copies when I can find them (rare). I give the used ones as gifts or loans to friends.

There is also a book called Cheaper and Better, not sure the author, but it has ways to make your own things and stretch$$$.

You can mix up powdered milk and use it half and half with regular milk. This can save $$$. The powdered milk tastes best ifit sits overnight before you use it. I find it works best if I do this when no one is around and put it in the original milk container, often no one notices.


There is also a book called Frozen Assets. It is about making meals for the month in one day and keeping them inthe freezer. You just pull out what you want for dinner and thaw it, add bread or whatever, and dinner is served. It means one day of all day cooking, but it really shows how to do it effectively and without too much strain.

Hugs,

Susie
Susie
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
Food and grocery prices have increased amazingly over the past few years. Some of it has to do with the price of fuel. The tarrifs are very high in the trucking industry (husband works in that industry).

I always bought the grocery store brand toilet paper. Two years ago, it was 5.99 for 12 rolls. I bought it yesterday....$7.49!! $2.50 in two years!

We go through a lot of orange juice in my house. Thankfully the price has come down considerably this past month or two.

My grocery bill used to always be well under $200. and that was with buying diapers and formula. We don't buy that anymore, but our bill is over $300. a trip ( I go about every other week with little trips in between). easy child hardly eats much, so it's not him! Good grief!
 
K

Kjs

Guest
I can make a large meal with little meat.

Stir fry.. Or just cut it up stir fry and put with veggies and potatoes.

If you cut your meat in little thin stips, it always seems like more. husband would cut his peice up in big bites, have few bites..lol. If I cut in small thin slices we get so much more.

Seems easiest to cut the meat when partially frozen.
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
Someone mentioned to me the other day that part of the reason milk and other food products have gone up recently is because of the cost of feeding the livestock. The freaky summer we had affected crops and feed for livestock has gone up. As a result, dairy has gone up to help cover the cost of feeding the cows and so has other meat products. Not sure if that is all true but makes sense to me.
 
It is absolutely enough to make me weep in the grocery line.

I don't buy meat. Just can't afford it! We get our protein elsewhere. Tink won't eat meat anyways, so thank goodness for peanut butter. Me, I have tuna about once a week, eggs, beans, cheese. Milk is outrageous but we go through it very slowly. Produce is our killer. How are we supposed to eat healthy if we can't afford the food?

Pasta 3 times a week, minimum. All the goodness of a tomato and some durham what.
 

Abbey

Spork Queen
My bones should be 100X thicker than the average woman. I drink SOOOO much milk.

I can tell you from experience...farm fresh milk really doesn't taste that good. It's very thick, and for us growing up, usually warm. (Whoever had the chore to milk the cow for dinner rarely met the task.) :faint:

My problem is juice cost. I don't drink it, but easy child son can go through a carton a day. We grew up very frugal. You got one SMALL glass on Sunday morning before church. Wrath would happen to anyone who sneaked more during the week.

Tried soy 'milk'...ewwww...too sweet and expensive.

I only buy meat when I see it severely on sale. I could live without it, but I live with two men who are serious carnivores. :nonono: I came across some really nice T-bones last week that are normally 9.99/lb, but were on sale for 3.99/lb. I picked up two HUGE ones. I didn't eat any of it, but the boys were in heaven.

Abbey
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I think the drought is what has affected the prices of both dairy products and meat. Pastures dried up because of the heat and lack of rain so there wasn't much to graze on. And around here, most people who raise cattle also raise their own hay to feed them over the winter. This summer was so hot and so dry for so long that their hay fields just dried up and died! This is a HUGE financial blow to a farmer. Many of them are having to buy hay instead of raising their own, and some even had to go out of state to buy it!

Then we see the end result in the grocery store!
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
We have a Safeway and a Rite Aid right down the block. For some reason, Safeway carries two brands of gallong milk. One is $3.89 and one is $2.99. But you have to look hard for it. Rite Aid's milk is always $2.99. But milk isn't what you normally go to Rite Aid for, so it's usually a special trip.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Witz, I've noticed this too. Even the local Dollar General stores have a dairy case now where you can buy milk and eggs. I never buy the big gallon jugs of milk now but their prices seem to be quite a bit lower than what they are in the grocery store.

I have to remind myself to look though because who really thinks about buying milk and eggs when they're in the Dollar Store!
 
Just a reminder to check to expiration dates!

I've grabbed a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs when there has been an unadvertized sale, only to realize later that I have about 1 day to consume it.
 

AllStressedOut

New Member
We go through a gallon of milk a day. The cheapest I can find whole milk for is $3.49 a gallon. We met a nutritionist who said whole milk is actually better for you, it has less added sugar.

She also said frozen vegetables without preservatives are actually more nutritious than fresh. This is because they are picked at their best and frozen immediately. Fresh vegetables actually lose nutrients sitting on the shelf according to her.

I've also heard that tomato paste and/or sauce in a can is actually more healthy than fresh tomatoes. Something to do with it being a more high concentration of lycopenes.

We eat a bunch of pasta to keep our grocery bill down. Groceries run us about $300 every two weeks for 9 people. When we aren't so broke, we splurge and buy chicken and pork and it runs us another $100 in meat. We have tuna once a week, but it's canned, not fresh. We eat a lot of ground beef too. Ground turkey is actually WAY cheaper than ground beef at the local Walmart. I've debated on doing 1/2 and 1/2 for tacos and burgers.
 
When cooking it 1/2 and 1/2, as long as there is either seasonings (taco seasoning) or condiments (lettuce & cheese, or in the case of burgers, ketchup, mustard, onions, etc.), you really can't tell there is turkey in it. It does stretch the ground beef.

I use it in meatballs (when I make them) all the times. By the time I season them, and they simmer in the gravy, you cannot tell whatsoever. I've done it in chili too.

I heard the same about frozen veggies and canned tomatoes. The tomatoes are a staple in my house.
 

tawnya

New Member
I'm an older member, from about 5 or 6 years ago that just started lurking again. :smile:

But I had to chime in here. We are farmers in the Midwest, and Mother Nature did not shine on us this summer. We do mostly produce, pumpkins, sweet corn, etc., as well as some feed corn crops. Our crops were almost non-existent this year. It does really stink that the costs go up, but that is what happens when there is a shortage of crops. The costs have to be passed on to the consumer, or the farmers lose their houses.

It has been a hard, long year, and the winter will be harder. This in one of the risks that you face when you depend on the weather, just like carpenters, lawn mowers, etc.

Just trying to shed a little light from the other side. We are buying food at the higher costs, too. Now if someone could just figure something out to do with weeds, we'd all be better off!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
If the exp date has passed, often the product is still good. Smell or taste the milk. If it has soured, then their are all kinds of baked goods that use sour milk.

you can also freeze milk. Shake or stir thouroughly after thawing. It may take a day or 2 in the fridge tothaw. DON'T thaw on hte counter.

Cottage cheese and sour cream are often fine a long time after the exp date.

Susie
 
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