Comments on: Cost-Cutting Consumers Trade Down from Steak to Chicken

By: John Hunter

John Hunter — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:30:13 +0000

No changes. Unless your personal situation changes you shouldn’t need to change. If you do, almost all the time you should have changed when the economy was good.

Do people have too much personal debt? Yes. Does a bad economy call for action on this where a good economy did not? No. Do people save too little for retirement? Yes. Does a bad economy call for action on this where a good economy did not? No.

I was doing what I thought was right 10 years ago, last year and this year. I have never seen any reason to change my personal financial decisions based upon the economy.

By: Adfecto

Adfecto — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:14:12 +0000

I definately see these trends in my own life. Last week we went to Walmart for our grocery shopping instead of Target and found it was about 10-15% less expensive for the total bill. However the store was dirty, lines were long, and employees were much less friendly. It is a trade off we will have to make if food costs keep growing faster than my income.

I already bought the store brand for many products, sadly I found this week that the Walmart reduced cal yogurt is not nearly as good as the Archer Farms (Target brand) yogurt. However, it is a difference of $0.50 per at Target vs. $0.33 at Walmart.

As for eating out… I still spend too much, but lately I’ve moved away from “sit down” full service restaurants and more toward quick casual. New favorites are Moe’s, Mama Fu’s, and Jason’s Deli. All very tasty, fast, and about $15 for two people at dinner.

By: Danny Tsang

Danny Tsang — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:51:23 +0000

I try to just spend less in general. I usually buy private label anyway so that remains the same. I’m still eating out a bit but I try to order lower cost food and try cheaper restaurants.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:32:18 +0000

I haven’t changed my habits at all but then again, I was pretty frugal to begin with. I drive a tiny Corolla and live within a few miles of work, so I don’t worry about gas prices and since I don’t eat out much anyway, that’s not a concern. One thing that would get to me is a sudden rise in beer prices but so far so good.

By: KC

KC — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:00:20 +0000

My shopping habits really haven’t changed much – then again I’m not a big consumer. But I pay attention to gas and this upcoming baseball season (I’m a b-ball junkie) I’ll be traveling less to see games in other cities. I’m also more conscious about combining trips to run errands – looking at what parts of town I’ll be in and combining trips. But I should be doing this anyway.

As for food – we eat a lot of chicken anyway. We eat quality food at home, but its inexpensive – just suits our tastes more. I am looking at prices more in the stores and trying to cut back. But the rising prices in restaurants is certainly scaring me away.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:11:06 +0000

With the recent inflation in gas prices and food costs, I travel less and cook more during weekends for my office lunches. Good news I just bought a home within 30 minute drive to my office, so that cuts down my commute significantly. Bad news is that I have to stay in it for a long2 time.

By: Frugal pursuit

Frugal pursuit — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:41:07 +0000

How has my shopping changed under higher prices for food items? I use less meat in recipes and debate with myself over how much meat to buy during my once monthly grocery shopping. I switched from grated cheese to chunk cheese that I grate myself. Really only minor changes as I can still shop within my budget. I usually make my own meals even before prices rose but have been buying fewer convenience items.