I start receiving holiday party invitations at Halloween as my friends, family and coworkers begin gearing up for the season. I used to look forward to this time of year eagerly, prowling through my recipe stash for favored and cool special recipes. Then I started to notice that attending one party where I brought a platter of cookies could run me more than $40.00. I was shocked. When did ingredient prices get this high? Why does food get more expensive during the holidays?
Individually my food choices don’t seem too expensive until I reach the register. I’m lucky to fill one grocery bag for $100.00. Realizing my holiday food budget was in serious trouble, I began keeping track of prices, sales and coupons. This helped a bit, my Thanksgiving turkey dinner for six came in at $143.28. Still I’ve been struggling to comprehend what’s changed, so I looked up the USDA’s article on the Food Price Outlook for 2011-12 to discover that food prices have escalated from 4.5 to more than 9 percent.
My income has not gone up 9 percent, in fact I didn’t receive a cost-of-living raise this year, so I started off with less money in my purse to begin with. Since I prefer to shop at Whole Foods I decided to see how they compared with other stores. H.C. Steiman reported in August of 2011 that Whole Foods could range from 20-40% more than Trader Joes and a standard grocery store. The numbers were shocking. Was Steiman right?
I began to keep a list of my common grocery items and I forced myself to visit all three stores on a Saturday and compare prices before shopping at any of them. The most glaring item that jumped in price was a Tillamook brand big block of cheese. Whole Foods sold the item for $16.99, TJ didn’t offer it, Raleys sold it for $8.99. Whole Foods was 47% higher overall for the items on my list compared to Raleys and by 23% against Trader Joes.
With a new understanding of my reduced income and inflating prices, I had to create a survival strategy for my holiday shopping. I learned to avoid offering to bring costly pot-luck items like the meat dish. I found I can make pretty cookies in bulk and save up to 75%. I also volunteer for salad dishes or to stay after the party and help clean up instead of bringing a food item. I explain this by saying I don’t have the time or the item will be hard to transport. When I feel too uncomfortable about not being able to afford to give the food I enjoy making then I simply decline the invitations. I’ve learned to only buy the items at Whole Foods that I cannot locate in other stores.
I discovered that my Raleys will stock an item for me if I ask at the consumer desk. This means I can now purchase my gluten-free items for a price well below what I was paying before. I’ve also had to revise my recipes from those with expensive meat items, to recipes where the bulk is spread out more with vegetables or liquids. I buy a few items at the bulk store, but I really don’t have the room to store huge quantities of foods. I’ve concluded that food gets more expensive around the holidays because people, like me, are willing to spend more to be a good host. It is how I was raised. I am thankful that this year, I can still host my family for the big days. We have food on the table. I’m worried about next year.