Oh forgot to mention that I do still indulge in my chocolate. I love high quality dark chocolate. It is one of my few indulgences. I get 1 bar every week or other week. I do not spend much on clothing and I don't wear makeup and I don't drink, so I feel I deserve a little piece of chocolate each day.

I guess when I think luxury items I think of that $6 cheese not pop. although we have cut down on pop and snacks. I have been giving more cereal as snacks instead of other snacks. As far a "luxury" items I still buy them I jsut buy them less often.

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

We haven't yet, but I have become more careful about shopping for lowest prices on the things we use. If it isn't as cheap as possible, we don't get it until it is.

I guess the 'luxury' grocery items that my family would complain about are the finer cuts of meat. I find that if I don't serve up a rib eye, roast, grilled salmon or shrimp every now and then they would complain. So I am especially mindful of when I see any of these at great prices. I just bought 20 pounds of salmon filets when they were $3 per pound and I can still get large shrimp already peeled at $4.99 per pound every now and then. Ribeyes through the angel food ministries packets and roast are on sale pretty routinely. I am at $340 per month on groceries and am targeting to get it to $200, so it is requiring more work than ever to adjust recipes, shop for sales, coupons, etc.

My family is a little bit more guarded about too much ground turkey, but they don't complain if I do half ground turkey, half ground beef.

It's hard now adays when cheese products are going to have to be added to my 'luxury' grocery items. I can't keep up with the terrible price increases on cheddar/mozzarela cheese and I can rarely find it on sale around here.

I make so many things from scratch now such as all meals, all baked goods, yogurt, soap, olive butter, cleaning products, icecream sandwiches, salad dressings etc. I mill my own flour and I also use coupons, buy in bulk and shop wisely. I am also container gardening with an Earthbox. My grocery bill now leaves room for me to splurge more on things such as Gevalia coffee, Omaha Steaks, Kansas City Steaks, and Chesapeake Seafood deliveries. Ironically I find we're eating better than ever, as I'm culinary school trained and making things from scratch, lowering the grocery bill while improving the taste and quality of the food.

The above poster mentioned the high cost of cheese. I noticed this also and plan on learning to make cheese next.

I did think of one "luxury" food item that I had to give up- Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, it's over $10 for a block of it now. So I just have to use a cheaper cheese in pasta now!

Like some of the other posters, I've been a frugal shopper for most of my life. We participate in Angel Food Ministries's food co-op program and that provides a variety of things I might not normally buy. I know how to feed my family easily on $3 per dinner (the whole family) and often less. The only way I buy luxury items is when they are on sale after a holiday or an overstock sale, etc. I refuse to pay full-price for luxury items!

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Katie--mom to ds--22, dd--18, ds--16, dd + dd--6, dd--4

I don't buy many of the pre packaged snacks anymore. I am now and I am really enjoying it cooking from scratch. I am watching my dollars at the store more now and really trying to follow the loss leaders in order to get my money's worth.

Since meat is very expensive I am trying to use more veggies.

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Well, I haven't given up chocolate, but I did switch to two buck chuck for wine.

Has everyone been feeling the bite? I found this to be of tremendous help in cutting my cost of grocery shopping.

Biblical Womanhood