In 2013 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture reported that, the average family of 2.5, spend 10% of their household income on food. Today, it is tough to find an updated estimated on what the average family spends from their total income on food however, from what I can determine, it is currently between 15 to 20% or a 50 to 100% increase from 2013.
I suspect that by year end, we could see an increase to 30%-ish on what the average family spends on food as a percent of their household income. The biggest percent will be in the areas of where grain is involved. Protein, flour, cereals, corn, bread, etc. What are you planning on doing today to off-set those costs by year-end?
This is what MrsMac and several folks in our MAG (Mutual Assistance Group) are doing.
1) We currently have just short of two pigs in our freezer. My neighbor and I just bought another three cut piglets which
will be butchered in the late spring, 2022.
2) We along with one member of our MAG, have pre-ordered a whole steer for pick up late August/Early September. Price is
$5- a pound, for a 1,200-lb steer with a hanging weight of about 720-lbs, or $3,600- for the whole steer. So, our cost
will be ~$1,800- for half the steer.
Here is the formula. Hanging weight = ~60% of actual weight at slaughter. The other 40% is skin, head, innards, etc.
A 1,200-lb steer x 60% = 720-lb hanging weight x $5- = $3,600-. I am buying half the whole steer for ~$1,800-.
Expensive? Nope, when you compare the cost of beef in the supermarket today. The added benefit is, we tell the
rancher how we want the steer cut up and packaged using a "cut sheet".
3) We are watching fowl prices climb too. A roasting chicken on sale was around .99ยข a pound six-months ago. Now a
roaster in my neck of the woods on sale is $1.19 a pound. Similarly, chicken parts have seen a similar rise in prices on
sale. Whenever a store has chicken on sale, we stock up. We have reserved one of our three chest freezers to fowl. One
of the local stores typically has a chicken parts sale in August when you buy a case. We always do and it keeps us in
chicken thighs for a year. We do similar with turkeys too.
4) Of late, we buy multiple 5-lbs bags of flour whenever it is on sale. Sales use to be $1.99 a bag. Now it is $2.19 a bag.
To augment processed flour, we bought whole red wheat in 25-lb flags and have put that away in sealed Mylar
bags a while ago. We purchased the wheat at a LDS Bishop House. Of course, we bought a grain mill to process the
wheat. The mill we purchased was a Country Living Mill. Expensive? Yupper but quality generally is.
Add to this, we have purchased and have on the shelf, 5 jars of bread machine yeast. During the early months of the
Chinese Virus, you could not find any yeast for love or money.
5) Talking about yeast, we have a very good Hamilton Beach bread machine. During the early days of the pandemic, I
made bread or rolls several times a week. As a side note, we also have wheat and rye flour in our pantry to mix things
up.
6) Of course, we have our 2,000 sf garden. This year I spent the bucks and bought 5-year ground covering cloth to
hopefully increase our vegetable yield this and in future years.
What are you doing to prepare for the upcoming food costs for your family?
