Eating Into The Budget

By LIZ BLEAU and LAURA FRAZIER The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2008

A woman reached to put a container of coffee into her shopping cart at a grocery store last week and said to whoever was within earshot: "I can't believe the price of this."

It's a conversation happening everywhere. As if the soaring price of gasoline isn't enough to put major dents in family budgets, food prices are climbing to new highs, and the grumbling about grocery prices is growing louder.

Brandon area residents are finding ways of coping.

Leslie Kinnard of Riverview is buying in bulk for her family of four at a local warehouse store and cutting back on dining out and serving prepared foods. During a trip to Costco off Causeway Boulevard in Brandon last week, she pointed to a package of plastic containers with lids and a large, restaurant-size can of peaches in her cart.

"Instead of buying those little snack sizes of fruit, I buy the big can for $3 and store it in the big container, filling smaller containers as my family needs them," she said.

Her family started eating healthier about the same time grocery prices started to shoot up, she said, so she's cooking more meals from scratch using basic ingredients instead of buying expensive heat-and-eat prepared foods.

Her husband, who works in Clearwater, used to go out for lunch. Now she packs a midday meal for him, often using leftovers from the previous night's dinner.

To save gas, she does her major grocery shopping once every two weeks and makes periodic junkets to the store for fresh salad greens, milk and other foods that don't last long in the fridge.

"Basically, I just try to shop smarter," she said.

Rising prices have prompted Gabriella Santo of Valrico to curtail her favorite pastime - baking cakes and pies.

"I noticed eggs and dairy have gone up a lot," Santo said at the Albertsons supermarket on Lithia-Pinecrest Road in Brandon. Her grandmother Trinidad Colome accompanied her to buy ingredients for a chocolate mint pie - an indulgence these days because she has cut back on baking sweet treats.

Colome typically cooks with small amounts of protein, vegetables and carbohydrates. She said using smaller amounts of meat and fat is healthier and saves money. She also "shops smart" for name-brand and gourmet products she prefers.

"I buy the good stuff, but only when it's on sale," Colome said.

Faith Lister of Valrico has reluctantly turned to store brands and generics.

"I buy the cheaper versions, especially with paper towels, napkins and toilet paper," Lister said, wincing a bit at the thought. "I miss my Charmin."

She picked up ground turkey at Albertsons to make an economical family favorite - turkey meatloaf.

"You can make a lot of it and use a filler, like rice," she said. "I used to buy meat whenever I needed it. Now I wait for it to go on sale."

Lister's pets are also feeling the pinch.

"I don't buy them as many treats," she said.

Erica Salvati of Riverview shops for groceries once every two weeks, usually at her local Winn Dixie at U.S. 301 and Boyette Road. Feeding a family of five is stretching their budget, she said.

"We can barely afford to pay for gas, let alone groceries," she said.

"We try to shop the sales and take advantage of the buy one, get one free," Salvati said. "Winn Dixie is our main place to shop, but we will go elsewhere if there's a good sale."

The family is getting by on less meat, she said, because it's too expensive.

"I buy big packages of bulk ground beef and try to do different things with it, putting it in with other things to make it go further instead of just eating it by itself," she said.

Eating out is no longer affordable for her family; they now forgo the once- or twice-monthly forays to restaurants they used to enjoy.

Salvati said she avoids trips to the store for small purchases because they waste gas, and she ends up buying more than she planned.

"I walk out with way more stuff than I went in for," she said.

She's also making only one meal for her children instead of giving in to their varying preferences, such as making a hot dog for her son, Gavin, 5, and chicken nuggets for her daughter, Samantha, 2.

"Now, I serve one thing, and they eat it or not," she said.

Dawn Brunt shops at the Publix near her home in FishHawk Ranch for her family, which will grow from three people to five in fall. Brunt and her husband, Sam, are expecting twins in September.

She worries she may not be able to use the timesaving, premade baby meals she fed her firstborn, Sarah, 18 months.

"Those little entrees are almost $2 now," she said. "I don't think [the twins] are going to be eating those. I think I'll make my own baby food."

Brunt said it's hard to focus on finding the best deals with a toddler in tow, but she can concentrate on spotting deals when her husband tags along.

"He usually jumps up and down at the register and announces out loud how much we saved," she said.

Gloria and Rolph Wetjen of Dade City drive to the Brandon Costco to shop. Even though the ride guzzles gas, they save money buying groceries in bulk.

Gloria Wetjen said she's pinching her grocery pennies by using kitchen staples to make more meals from scratch instead of relying on prepared foods.

There are a few things she won't skimp on, though.

"I don't care how much the prices go up on fresh fruits and vegetables; I am going to continue to buy them," she said.

Wanda Pullen of Valrico said food prices were a frequent topic of discussion recently when she visited her daughter in Northern California, who feeds a family of five. Twice a month, Pullen said, her daughter travels 45 miles across the state line to Oregon, where shoppers pay no grocery sales tax.

"They eat a lot of macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodles," Pullen said.

Pullen shops for herself and her husband the way she did in 1961, when she was a newlywed - frugally.

"I would spend $25 every two weeks, and that bought loads of food," she said.

Now she spends at least $100 a week.

"And that's not cooking fancy," she said.

Reporter Liz Bleau can be reached at (813) 865-1557 or lbleau@tampatrib.com. Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at lfrazier@tampatrib.com or (813) 657-4523.