The rising cost of gasoline is impacting my grocery bill! I have been stunned by the increase in the cost of my groceries, particularly fresh produce, dairy and other perishables in recent months. The purpose of this thread is to discuss some of the strategy's we can use to make our food dollars go further.

When I was a kid we had a large garden on one side of the yard that produced a good part of the potatoes, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables that got us through the winter. Some were stored in sand filled bins, and some were canned. Bread was baked from scratch, and treats were rare. Both my parents had lived through the depression. I don't want to be the Parkie that cried "wolf", but I guess that's what I'm doing. Many of us live on disability incomes, and making every penny count is rapidly rising on my list of lifeskills.

Here are some of the things I am implementing to st-r-e-t-ch my resources:

1.Go to the grocery store with a list. If it's not on the list I don't get it.
2. Make a large pot of soup out of stuff I would have thrown out in the past.
3. Keeping a Plastic bucket in the freezer to hold things for soup or stew that
won't last until I'm up to making another pot of soup or stew.
4. Stripping all the meat off the bones off chicken /turkey etc so I can use
bones for soup stock.
5. Go grocery shopping with a friend so only one of us is paying gas.
6. Using a spatula to clean out that peanut butter jar or jam jar.
7. storing and returning all recycleable cont, to get my fee's back.
8. Staying out of stores when possible.
9. Taking good used clothes to a consignment store.
10. Borrowing books from the library, not buying them.
11. Buying computer paper etc now, because It's cheap for students.
12. Buying Bulk from Costco and splitting with a friend.

These are a few of the things my mother would have done and it's time to do them again.

By the way, Christmas is coming -start thinking about it now.

Please add your thoughts to this thread. Things are going to get worse before they get better, and I'm not being negative...I'm being real.