How to stop food costs from eating up your 予算
By Chris Taylor
NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters) - If you have a こそこそ動くing 疑惑 that your food 法案s have been going up and up, you are not crazy.
In fact you are probably 絶対 権利.
Just ask Hollie Pollard. The freelance 事実上の assistant from Toronto has been astonished every time she walks into the grocery 蓄える／店.
"I went to get a steak last week, because it´s 取調べ／厳しく尋問するing season and I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to do a nice BBQ," said the 57-year-old. "Then I realized it was almost 50% more than what I was 支払う／賃金ing last year."
Pollard bought chicken instead.
All told, Pollard 見積（る）s her grocery 法案s have gone up by around a ４半期/4分の1 since the start of the pandemic.
Indeed, food prices keep 辛勝する／優位ing higher. In the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs, for example, food costs (含むing both at home, and away from home) are up 2.4% in the last 12 months, によれば June numbers from the 消費者 Price 索引.
Break it 負かす／撃墜する into 部類s, and some of the year-over-year unadjusted numbers are pretty 注目する，もくろむ-popping. Bacon: up 8.4%. Milk: 5.6%. Fresh fruit: 7.3%. Lettuce: 5.1%. Fresh fish: 6.4%.
GOBBLING UP BUDGETS
Given our 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の more than 15 months of pandemic, it is not surprising that food prices have been 影響する／感情d. 供給（する） chains around the world are 混乱に陥れる／中断させるd, and 全労働人口s are in 騒動 because of the 現在進行中の 全世界の pandemic, which has 影響する／感情d prices on 蓄える／店 棚上げにするs and in restaurants.
That means people need to rework their 月毎の 予算s. When Personal 資本／首都, a popular 投資 website and app, 調査するd professionals on their 最高の，を越す spending 部類s, the 選び出す／独身 area that got the most について言及するs: groceries. That was true of every demographic, from millennials to Gen Xers to boomers.
An 分析 of 使用者 data by Personal 資本／首都 shows that groceries accounted for up to 15% of individuals´ 月毎の spend during the 高さ of the pandemic, compared with only 7% pre-pandemic, によれば Craig Birk, Per sonal 資本／首都's 長，指導者 投資 officer.
When Personal 資本／首都 asked people where they tend to overspend, the No. 1 部類 was dining out, at 39.1%. No. 2: Groceries, at 32.2%.
Of course, there are a few ways to 最小限に減らす the food-cost 損失, but you have to be thoughtful and 審議する／熟考する about it.
Here are some ideas:
PLAN AHEAD
The more times you visit the grocery 蓄える／店, the more chances for you to impulse buy and get whatever catches your 注目する，もくろむ. That is why Hollie Pollard does the work of planning her meals a couple of weeks in 前進する. She makes only a couple of major shopping trips per month - and 本体，大部分／ばら積みの buying helps 減ずる her 全体にわたる 法案s.
MAXIMIZE YOUR REWARDS
If you have to 支払う／賃金 more for food, at the very least you can 上げる the rewards you get for doing so. "You´re 行方不明の out on 貯金 if you´re not 支払う／賃金ing with the 権利 credit card," says Trae Bodge, a smart shopping 専門家 and 創立者 of the 場所／位置 TrueTrae.com.
Bodge recently used GigaPoints, a credit card 道具, to 分析する spending and learned she could have earned almost $2,000 more in 2020 with a different credit card.
"Since my family and I spend the 大多数 of our money on food, GigaPoints recommended American 表明する Gold," Bodge said. "Now we earn four times the points on food 購入（する）s."
FIND EVERY DISCOUNT
This might sound labor-集中的な, but it 現実に is not. "If you´re shopping in-蓄える／店, be sure to join the 忠義 program so you can receive 排除的 割引s and earn points toward 解放する／自由な food," says Bodge.
In 新規加入, she recommends a 貯金 app like Dosh: You pair it with your credit card, and when you check out with that card, you automatically earn cash 支援する if there are 利用できる 申し込む／申し出s on the items you have 購入（する）d.
Another tip: shop online without looking for 貯金. Bodge recommends using the browser 拡張 from Coupon Cabin.
"(It) 警報s me to 利用できる cashback 申し込む／申し出s and coupons as I browse," she says.
RETOOL YOUR BUDGET TO COMPENSATE
If the 厳しい reality is that your grocery 法案s have 発射 up, you may need to look どこかよそで in your 予算 for places to 削減する.
Since Pollard´s grocery costs have risen to around 15% of her 月毎の 予算, she decided to 削減（する） 支援する on eating out to just once or twice a month.
"If there´s anything I know, it´s how to grocery shop and save money," says Pollard. "And I have had to use every 選び出す／独身 one of those 技術s to keep my grocery 法案s from rising even more than they have." (Editing by Lauren Young and Dan Grebler Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/財政／金融/personal-財政／金融.)
