Just wondering, anyone else notice they are spending way more on household/food since Covid?

[RazzleCat]

Last edited Sat Jul 25, 2020, 04:16 PM - Edit history (1)

I use a budget app, just received a notice that I am now spending 10% on food. First thought, way too much, then I broke it down. First off, cooking eating way more at home, say like 99% (two times got takeout since this started in mid March). Second, I feel in my gut that this is not going anywhere, so I have been doing some "light" hoarding. When I see a good sale on pasta, I grab 10 of them. I know I will use it up before it goes off. I also have been loading up on meat and dropping in the deep freeze. Going back to this is not over, I have in my mind that the delivery system could break down quickly, and I will not be able to easily purchase these items, and or the cost will go up more that it already has. Add on, this light hoarding I shop CostCo, so when I a great price, I could end up with a 10 pound sack of rice, canned diced tomatoes (two 12 can cases).

So anyone else spending more on food, and possibly also doing "light" hoarding. fyi my definition of light hoarding is, purchasing about 6 months to one year's supply of shelf stable products that I do use on a regular basis.

I see a lot of replies on eating out less saving more. I keep eating out in the entertainment category, so I am only looking at what I have been spending on food purchased for cooking at home. So last years total food at home vs this years food at home.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. not here...less. hardly using take out, no eating out, garden coming in

so lots of home cooking. Food bill considerably less!

[Runningdawg]

10. Same

We spent about the same. Money that would have been used for outside dining and entertainment went into the garden and bumping the pantry stock.

[Blue_true]

21. I don't have a garden, but as a single person, basic items stretch pretty far for me.

For example, a four breast package chicken breasts last me for 8 meals, 8 heads of fresh corn last for 8 meals, a small box of pasta for 2-3 meals, a packet of 36 water bottles for a week, etc.

[onecaliberal]

2. I'm spending almost double on food than before covid.

Everything is more expensive.

[Zoonart]

3. I am "light hoarding also"

When I would normally have bought one of something, if the price is right I am buying three.

[Shermann]

4. Only at first to beef up the pantry supplies

After that was well-stocked after the first month, grocery spending went down quite a bit for me.

[Pantagruel]

5. A milder version

when I buy "on sale" items, I usually try for a 3 month supply. The supply chain usually adjusts for shortages in no more than 3 months although yeast remains scarce.

[milestogo]

6. Less, because I never eat out any more.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Much less.

It sounds like you're hoarding.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I haven't figured exact cost, but I'm sure I'm paying more.

I haven't shopped in person since March. It's all done on line and delivered to my door. Delivery fees and tips add up, but seem a good trade off to me so I can limit my contacts.

I've been doing a little light hoarding, but mostly on non-perisables and paper products. Like you, I expect some disruption of supply chains this fall/winter when the second wave hits.

[KentuckyWoman]

9. "Light" hoarding. is a good way to be.

I am a farm girl "light hoarding" is a way of life, and a good one. When the harvest comes in the canners and dehydrators fire up. Hoarding. When a large animal is killed, the freezers fill, the dehydrators get busy, the smoke house too. Hoarding.

People are getting a small taste of what it was like in the depression. If you didn't need it now you might, and getting it later may not be possible. Better find a place to save it... like the front porch or the back yard.

These days my hoarding hasn't changed much. It it's a good sale I'll stock all I can afford to buy and will use up before it goes bad. And in the case of fresh produce, we have a group of single old ladies who share.

It's a good way to be.

[Runningdawg]

14. THIS 100%

Do the squirrels "hoard" nuts for winter or do they store enough to make certain they can eat? Take your cue from nature.

[eilen]

11. We are spending more.

A lot more. First of all, the sales are not what they were and secondly, the prices have gone up. The stuff that ran out before is stocked but it is not inexpensive.

Our warehouse store (BJ's) has restocked the stuff that was bought out before. I am considering adding a little bit more each week to fill the freezer and prepare for the trifecta whammy of influenza + Covid + freezing temps keeping everyone inside. Additionally, my husband may be laid off at that point as he works in construction and at that point, there will be foreclosures, store closings- a lot of empty buildings and belt tightening. I don't call that hoarding. I call that hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.

[luvs2sing]

12. We spend much less on eating out.

We get takeout every couple weeks, nowhere near how much we ate out before, so we’re saving a ton of money there. Groceries, however, without hoarding (we really have no room to hoard), are costing more than at the beginning of March. Part of that is because hubster is working from home, and we’re buying things for his lunches and breakfasts that he used to get at work, but a lot of it is just because food is a lot more expensive here in central Ohio. We have $400 a month budgeted for groceries and are spending $500-$550 since March.

Examples: a can of hominy is 66% more expensive now and a pound of ground beef is 70% more. Meat is the biggest price increase, and we’re eating a lot more meatless meals these days.

The only real hoarding I have been doing is picking up a package of TP and a package of paper towels every week. I usually have one package in use and one in reserve, but I’ve changed that to three in reserve just in case.

[spooky3]

13. Agree. Also, grocery prices are up, and there are fewer "specials."

[jimfields33]

15. I'm not sure if I'm saving but I know the grocery stores are getting

More money from me. Eating out has been very rare in comparison to normal times..

[fierywoman]

16. I haven't eaten out since mid March (all food at home) and used to treat myself to

lunch out on a regular basis. Now I can't see spending all that money on food in restaurants. So my food spending has gone way down and my digestive system has vastly improved!

[Blue_true]

17. I seem to spend less on basics. I have added premium items like cashews and macadamia nuts that are

I am also buying seasonal things like sweet corn, organic grapes and organic sweet cherries that are pricey. But the basics like meat, veggies, carbohydrates, purified water make up a fairly small proportion of my expenditures, likely because they stretch well for a single person ( several portions per unit). For basics, I can typically eat for 2-3 weeks off of a $40-$50 expenditure.

[procon]

18. Guilty on all counts.

Prices are definitely higher which also increases my grocery bill. Yes, in the beginning I stocked up on basic staple items, buying larger packages or doubling up. I don't see it as hoarding, just being well prepared, if I have at least 2 of everything in my pantry.

Now I'm cooking all kinds of new (and sometimes expensive) foods and preparing more elaborate, but costlier, meals because I've got all this spare time to indulge by hobby. Breakfasts have gone from tea and toast to loaded frittatas and French press coffee made with fresh ground beans. Lunch is no longer warmed up leftovers or a sandwich, but a gourmet burger and homemade fries, or an elaborate potato bar. Our dinner menus include a salad course, an entree and one or two sides, plus a decadent dessert.

We've gone food crazy as cooking has become a big source of entertainment for us shut ins.

[dustyscamp]

19. Yeah, I've been spending more and also doing a lot more stress eating

[dalton99a]

20. Food prices rose in June for sixth-straight month

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/food-prices-rose-june-sixth-straight-month-n1233747

Food prices rose in June for sixth-straight month

Supermarket bills have risen as quarantined consumers began to eat all of their meals at home, increasing demand and tightening supply. Some consumers, not used to seeing bare shelves and wanting to limit the number of supermarket trips to avoid coronavirus contamination, stockpiled their pantries.

June’s increases were driven in part by surges in meat prices, with beef rising 4.8 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation. Overall, meat, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 2 percent, but have increased 12.8 percent over the past year.

Beef prices have soared recently, shooting up 20.4 percent in just the past three months. Coronavirus infections and deaths among workers in tightly packed meat processing plants have led to closures and slowdowns among the large meat packers, a critical bottleneck in the national meat supply.

Soft drinks and other nonalcoholic beverages rose by 0.7 percent last month, with cereal and bakery products and fruits and vegetables both up by 0.4 percent. The only major category to decline was dairy and related products, falling 0.4 percent, the first decrease in a year.

[2naSalit]

22. Yup...

About $30 -$50/month. But I finally put gas in my car fro the first time since early May. And I do have a vegetable garden so I buy less veggies, would be probably another $20+/month otherwise.

[malaise]

23. Spending more on fruit and snacks

spending a lot less on gas