Down The Hatch

 Groceries are a huge budget item what with further global warming effects on agriculture. There is no denying that expenses continue to rise and other than housing, food is a biggie. Any time there is a problem it needs to be examined just as the doc does when you hurt somewhere. We are hurting a lot at the check out counter and part of the solution is scrutiny. When was the last time you sat down and seriously looked at what you spend on food? It's time for that exercise. If you can find a spot in your busy life filled with miscellanea, perhaps the whole family could gather to examine  home food costs and how to cut back. Families eat every day and generally don't pay much attention to the outgo. Grocery stores provide us with check-out lists. Save them and take a post-shop look. I buy almost entirely online and have my groceries, in paper bags, delivered to my door. It costs me less than taking my car out. Now, I peruse each item on my computer before pressing the button to buy a selection. I can view each and every item by picture and if desired, find details about the product. In the end I can go over the list and contemplate what to remove if necessary. Also, later on second thought, can change my order list. Okay, it takes time but when the average family is spending, or shall, one thousand food dollars a month, why not? Most people like to see and maybe feel each item they buy. Why? The truth, they admit, is that it's a social occasion. Not one I like, and my online shoppers are as good or better than me. I know what I want and it comes or a substitute, if I checked that box. I don't have to spend time marching up and down aisles I've been on  every week for years. I have better things to do. Okay, you have the last grocery checkout list in front of you. Go down it and see where you can reduce. While the food fadies who indulge in local markets, the expensive ones, you wise folks might want to consider the old boring and cheaper forms of what are the exactly the same kinds of foods, from an element POV.  What's wrong with ground beef over steak? Same thing, different format. Hot dogs once in awhile are okay even if they use "every" part of a creature. Not yuk, truly practical I call it. As to veggies, they are green or yellow or red. Pick by colour and try the ones on sale. Green is green, a carrot is a carrot. Buy bulk. Try baking your own bread. Way cheaper and get the kids involved. Use a mixer to do the hard work. The rest is simple. Buy a small freezer and save. Organic costs more, but who's to know?  I won't tell. Cut back on the fancies and settle for stews, soups, cheaper cuts in meat. Popcorn works. Chop the costly junk items off the list: those lunchy munchies that come in little plastic packages but offer nothing in the way of nutrition and add to our pile of waste. In fact, kids should pack their own lunches and stuff them with a range of good choices you set out. You can whack down that grocery bill if only you look at it wisely before tapping your card.