19052008

Adapted from Reuters

Tips for taming rising grocery prices

Gasoline isn't the only necessity of life that has gotten painfully expensive. Prices are rising sharply
on eggs, rice, poultry, milk and bread - all of the dietary staples.

Families with stagnant salaries who have been barely affording the rising cost of health care, driving and
home heating and cooling now also have to figure out how to squeeze in eating. And it could get worse
before it gets better. Some say prices of meat, pork and poultry have been held artificially low in recent years.
The conversion of fields previously used for soy and feed grain into corn for ethanol will continue to have an
impact. Corn, which finds its way into many food items - as corn syrup for one - has more than doubled in price
the last two years.

But put that all in perspective: Food prices have actually been fairly stable for more than a decade. According to
the latest Department of Agriculture figures (from 2006), American households spend less than 6 percent of
their income on food - that's less than in any other country. Fortunately, there are almost as many ways to
save on food as there are to eat. Frugal eating often dovetails with nutritious eating - the most expensive
foods often are the least healthy. Here's how to eat well and still have some money left for dessert.

A few places to start are:

-Coupon carefully. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, you can buy a basket of groceries for pennies
on the dollar. It inv olves using coupons, shopping sales, finding stores that double coupons and putting it all
together carefully. You can find coupons to match items on sale at your local grocer. Beware, unless you're
using good coupons on products you would buy anyway, this can be a spending trap instead of a money-
saving deal.

-Buy some good containers. Roughly 13 cents of every food dollar goes to packaging and advertising, and you'll
spend a lot more than that if you are always buying 100-calorie snack packs and tiny bags of chips to send to
school with your kids. Buy some reusable containers, buy your favorite products in bulk and make your own
individual packages.

- Use meat for flavor, not bulk. A mixture of meat and beans over pasta or rice will satisfy those who love the
taste of meat and poultry, but cu t costs significantly than eating large cuts of meat.

- Make your dollar buy more nutrition. Instead of buying sugar-coated cereals, white bread and chips, buy
items like whole-grain bread and oatmeal. Instead of candy, buy fruit. Popcorn that you pop yourself has been
heralded for generations for being cheap, fun, nutritious and tasty.

- Buy frozen fish. Almost all of the "fresh" fish you buy has been frozen and thawed. Fish from the freezer
section has often been frozen on the boat, so it's equally fresh - and cheaper.

- Do your own work, as a family. You're spending more on labor than on food when you buy lots of presliced,
prewashed, preseasoned foods. Yet all the experts seem to agree that family mealtime is an important
ritual. Extend the ritual by getting the whole family in on the slicing, dicing, cutting and stirring that dinner
requires, even if it's just a once-a-week cooking session. You'll save money and maybe bond a little.

- Eat out judiciously. Last year restaurant prices actually rose less than grocery prices, but it still costs a lot
more to eat out than to cook at home. Americans typically spend about half of their food budget eating out,
according to the Agriculture Department. Cut the cost without cutting the fun by mixing it up: Have appetizers
and drinks at home before going to the restaurant, or have dessert at home. Or buy a precooked, carry-out
chicken, but fix your own side salad.

- Stock up on sales. You know you're always going to use pasta, lightbulbs and toothpaste, so buy a bunch on
sale. Sure, this is inflation mentality, but double-digit price increases on food means we're in an inflationary
environmen t, food wise. Furthermore, if you already have easy, good food in the pantry, you won't have to
run out at the last minute and buy over-priced convenience items just to throw together dinner.

- Grow your own. Oh sure, anyone who's gardened has thrown too much money at their tomato plants. But
some crops are more worth growing than others. Basil and other herbs, hot peppers, eggplant and lettuce are
some items that are very easy to grow and are never cheap at the grocer or farm stand, even when they are in
season.

-Make it fun. Save with a goal in mind so it becomes a game and not just drudgery. Shave $10 a week off of
your food bill (that's less than 10 percent for the typical household), and you can all do something special, like
go see a m ovie at the end of every month -- Of course you'll bring your own snacks.

GLOSSARY

Match the expressions with their definitions:

1. crop
2. dietary staples
3. dovetail
4. drudgery
5. figure out
6. Frugal
7. herald
8. in bulk
9. judiciously
10. spending trap
11. squeeze in
12. stagnant
13. pennies on the dollar

a) basic food
b) not growing or developing
c) to finally understand something or someone, or find the solution to a problem after a lot of thought
d) careful when using money or food, or (of a meal) cheap or small in amount
e) a situation in which you have got into when spending money and from which it is difficult or
impossible to escape
f) at a low relative cost
g) having or showing reason and good judgment in making decisions
h) hard boring work
i) to succeed in getting someone or something into a small space or object, often by pushing or
forcing
j) a plant such as a grain, fruit or vegetable grown in large amounts
k) in large quantity
l) to cause something to fit exactly together
m) a sign that something will happen, change, etc

FOOD FACTS

nutritious eating – food containing many of the substances needed for life and growth
reusable container – container that you can use again
preseasoned – food which has already been added salt, herbs or spices
thaw - to (cause to) change from a solid, frozen state to a liquid or soft one, because of an increase in
temperature
presliced –cut something into thin, flat pieces
stir - to mix a liquid or other substance by moving an object such as a spoon in a circular pattern
dice - to cut food into small squares
prewashed – washed before delivered to the shops
eating out - to eat in a restaurant
pantry - a small room or large cupboard in a house where food is kept
convenience food - food that is almost ready to eat when it is bought and can be prepared quickly and easily
Stock up - to buy a large quantity of something
sugar-coated - covered with a thin layer of sugar

Choose the right meaning of each sentence in context.

1. “Families with stagnant salaries who have been barely affording the rising cost of health care, driving
and home heating and cooling now also have to figure out how to squeeze in eating.”

a) families do not know how to spend money on food

b) families which have to economize on the costs of living find it difficult to pay for food.
 c) Families with fixed salaries can easily meet the expenses of maintenance.

2. “Frugal eating often dovetails with nutritious eating - the most expensive foods often are the least
healthy.”

a) cheap eating can be dangerous for health

b) healthy eating does not have to be expensive

c) the more you pay for food the more nutritious it is.

3. “If you're willing to put in the time and effort, you can buy a basket of groceries for pennies on the
dollar.”

a) if you have time you can buy really cheap

b) if you want you can you can buy foodstuff for one dollar

c) It will cost you time and effort to buy a basket for one dollar

4. “Make your dollar buy more nutrition”

a) pay more for valuable food

b) pay value for money

c) you can pay less than a dollar for your food.

5. “You're spending more on labor than on food when you buy lots of presliced, prewashed, preseasoned
foods.”

a) you will spend less if you buy ready-made food

b) costs of work are higher when you buy ready-made food

c) food is more expensive than its preparation

6. “Cut the cost without cutting the fun by mixing it up.”

a) eat cheap at home and have fun

b) you cannot have both fun and low costs

c) you can combine eating out and preparing your own food.

7. “…double-digit price increases on food…”

a) prices of food are twice as much higher

b) the price of food has two digits

c) the amount of food raise has two digits 1j 1b

2a 2b
8. “Save with a goal in mind so it becomes a game and not just drudgery” 3l 3a
4h 4b
a) remember why you are saving so that it was not a hard work 5c 5b
6d 6c
b) saving is not a game but a hard work 7m 7c
8k 8a
c) remember to save or it will be a hard work 9g
10e
11i
12b
13f