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food prices..no jobs..

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Dec 17, 2008
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27,198
I hear you Karl...I've started making a lot of meals that consist more of beans/rice/pasta where the meat goes a lot further.
We are having dirty rice for dinner tonight...yum! I mostly started cutting back on meat for health reasons. Luckily my husband
and I like all kinds of cooked beans and can make a meal out of those with just a small amount of meat in them.

Jobwise, I thought things might be picking up in this area (Florida) but havent noticed anything lately. Husband came home and
mentioned his company said any talk of layoffs were just rumors but the company has been tightening its belt all over the place
as far as insurance and bonuses. My husband is mid 50's and it would be hard to relocate at this point in our lives (thats if he could
find another job). I dont think about it too much. It would just cause me to be anxious and thats the last thing I need!

Good luck...I hope you find something soon.
 

starryeyed

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
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Karl_K|1405875258|3717105 said:
I am in IL also.
Because I am/was self employed cant get unemployment either.
Thankfully I had a bit of a reserve saved up and picked up some odd jobs here and there which helps stretch it.
Storm, you are a very bright man and deserve the best! :))

If I were you, I'd take a long-term approach and get the heck out of IL.
 

vintagelover229

Ideal_Rock
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Jan 23, 2008
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3,550
Dang had a reply but it got eaten. Find a local farm we get beef for 3.50 a lb and if we buy a cow it's 3.00 (including ribs/steaks) and we also get our fish there-honey-syrup-pork-etc. All great prices and quality.



Check out aquaponics

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/photo/view/aquaponic_garden/51718
http://www.123-greenhouse-gardening.com/home-aquaponics.html
http://www.greenfingardens.com/p/blog-page.html

Below is taken from the link above-and we plan on having our own system as soon as our indoor projects are complete.
Keep in mind this is pretty large scale-you can do indoor systems with just a fish tank on a much smaller scale.

Aquaponics is the symbiotic merging of fish farming and hydroponic plant growing, and incorporating a large aquaponics system into a high tunnel (a particularly well-suited type of greenhouse) allows for economical production of fresh organic fruits, vegetables, and fish year-round.

The high tunnel aquaponics system below has a 1,700 gallon fish tank and a 165 square foot grow bed. The entire floor area is one big 15' x 11' grow bed filled about 10" deep with river gravel. Water from the fish tank carries fish waste through a set of channels in the grow bed, where it is consumed by composting worms, broken down by bacteria, and absorbed by the plants. The resulting clean water is then pumped back into the fish tank in a constantly repeating cycle. The circulating water also creates a 'heated floor' effect, which is an important benefit in winter. The results have been incredible, and I never need to bother with watering, fertilizing, weeding, or spraying with pesticides.

I've had up to 800 fish (1,200 pounds) in the main fish tank for extended periods for overwintering, but that much ensuing fish waste can overwhelm and clog up the grow bed in a hurry, so it's important to pre-filter the poopy water between the fish tank and the grow bed if you're going to push it that hard.
 

Kaleigh

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Nov 18, 2004
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29,571
Hugs x 3. Yes prices are through the roof. Hoping you find something soon. You have a skill set that's amazing. Sorry things are so tough. I am pinching pennies too. Hard times. BUT know you will find something, so chin up and hang in there!!!! :wavey:
 

boerumbiddy

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Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
552
I really feel for those with no jobs facing rising food prices. I am retired now, with "safe" pensions (I think) and more time to cook things that are nourishing and economical, but I have spent periods of up to two years with no job and limited or no income. When I first started working and had to pay an employment agency for getting me a job, I could make a can of tuna last two days! I slept a lot because I was tired from being hungry. (Around Christmas, I had been on the job long enough for the fee to be refunded, and I bought a bed and a second-hand TV. It was a good Christmas!)
And I do think food cost is a conspiracy and a rip-off. Case in point: I didn't drink orange juice for a few years for dietary reasons, then went back to it for other dietary reasons and found that the cost hasn't gone up that much -- but that it is now being sold in a 50-ounce bottle instead of 64! Outrageous! Like the ever-shrinking five-cent Hershey bar I am old enough to remember.
 

isaku5

Ideal_Rock
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Aug 15, 2005
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Kaleigh|1405965815|3717696 said:
Hugs x 3. Yes prices are through the roof. Hoping you find something soon. You have a skill set that's amazing. Sorry things are so tough. I am pinching pennies too. Hard times. BUT know you will find something, so chin up and hang in there!!!! :wavey:

I couldn't agree more! :wavey:
 

FrekeChild

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
19,456
You can expect produce prices to keep climbing. The drought here in CA is affecting farms in a big way....
 

AGBF

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Jan 26, 2003
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22,143
I thought I'd throw a little of my own outrage into this thread. ;)) I buy my daughter individual cups of Chobani yogurt, which is not a cheap brand and not a cheap way to buy yogurt. (When I buy myself yogurt it is usually plain, non-fat and I get a large container and just spoon out the amount that I want at one time, then put the rest back in the refrigerator.)

My daughter is a picky eater with an eating disorder who I am glad to get to eat, however. In my area, the cheapest price for Chobani yogurt-unless I can get a 6-pack-is $1.00. So, although the usual price at my local Stop and Shop is $1.49 I never-unless I have none at all in the house-buy one for $1.49. I wait for the price to be $1.00 and I stock up.

Recently I drove across town and found the price in another Stop and Shop was $1.59. I was outraged. After all, this wasn't some small delicatessen!

Well today I went into a store that within the past year or so was sold by a family to another company and has gone downhill ever since then. The service and amenities have gone down and the prices have gone up. I am amazed that they can have kept their doors open. I have no idea who can afford to-who would want to-shop there! I bought some laundry detergent that I couldn't find in other stores and avoided other products, all of which were priced higher than in Stop and Shop and Shoprite (and A&P and everywhere else). This is not even a gourmet store. I go to those and know what I am in for when I do. This is a grocery store.

At any rate, Chobani yogurt was priced at $1.99. I was just sickened. The greed of the store owners just astonished me. Even the expensive granola that Stop and Shop sold for $5.99 was over $6.00 a bag for the same brand at this store!

Deb/AGBF :angryfire:
 

Asscherhalo_lover

Ideal_Rock
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Aug 16, 2007
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5,703
I am thankful that my DH and I have both been employed for over 5 years each in our respective companies. I am a union teacher so as long as I do my job I'm pretty much stable and DH runs an accounting department. He did start at entry level though right at the beginning of the downturn and it has taken him a very long time to actually make a decent salary. It has not been easy at all.

We do our best to buy in bulk and portion things out accordingly. We also buy cheaper cuts, chicken thighs and drumsticks have became my best friends! We still try to buy quality products, organic where it matters most, but we have balance when needed.

The best thing I can say is don't buy boxed when you can make it yourself, it's almost always a lot less expensive and much better for you. Rice is really cheap in bulk, learn to use it, lol.
 

AGBF

Super_Ideal_Rock
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AGBF|1405998364|3718039 said:
Even the expensive granola that Stop and Shop sold for $5.99 was over $6.00 a bag for the same brand at this store!

A reward! The granola (Oats and Honey Clusters with Coconut by Kind) was reduced to $2.98 per bag if you bought two bags at Stop and Shop today. I realize that this is not a food for the poor, but I was delighted since I was about to spend over $5.00 for a bag of it otherwise!

Deb
 

TooPatient

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Sep 1, 2009
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10,295
Yummy dinner!

I made schwarma with homemade hummus and homemade pita :lickout:

The pita only took about 2 hours from start to finish (including rise time) and is super yummy! I did the first batch in our food processor with a dough blade and it was very simple to just dump everything together and let the machine knead. The trick is to not make them too thin or cook them too long -- either will give you crispy pita instead of soft and fillable.

Did enough of all so that we can take it along and have a picnic lunch when we go pick apricots tomorrow.
 
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