After Trump Said He Might Not Be Able To Lower Grocery Prices, These 19 People Got Real About How They're Managing The Rising Costs

We recently asked people in the BuzzFeed Community to tell us how they've had to adjust their lifestyle habits to afford groceries in this economy. The responses we received were sobering. Here are a few of them:

1."I stopped eating supper."

"My workplace feeds us lunch so I eat oatmeal for breakfast and try to eat a late lunch so I don't get hungry in the evening. On my days off, I eat things like fruit, cheese, and crackers, or a couple of slices of homemade bread with butter or jelly.

I have to not only cut my grocery spending, but my daughter has no money leftover after paying her rent so I have to buy her groceries as well. I try to make it look like I have extra groceries in my pantry so she doesn't feel bad about taking it."

—abourque

2."I've started stealing. There is no other way to make my money stretch. I'm not very good at it, but once I get caught and locked up they will probably have to feed me. Win-win."

—smileymagician65

3."I canceled both my health insurance and car insurance. I've paid thousands of dollars each year and rarely used them. Sorry, but my immediate need to pay for food has to come first."

4."I've cut down to one meal each day."

"I can't afford food, medicine, and electricity. I'll have to make more big changes with more medical things coming up. I'm just praying that Trump gets this mess turned around quickly. People like me can't hold on much longer."

—witchygem326

5."I grow and preserve garden veggies by canning, freezing, and dehydrating them."

—Anonymous

6."I canceled every subscription we had and only buy groceries from Target or Walmart instead of the supermarket."

7."I’m a parent to two active teenagers who eat the equivalent of about four large adults."

"We don’t have the ability to have a garden or poultry in our current living situation, but we could complete a hunters' safety course. Now we hunt, fish, process, and freeze meat products for consumption. This, along with a small indoor potting system (herbs and lettuce), feeds us for the most part.

I’ve accepted that it will never get better, and I no longer feel sad about that fact. After they move out, I plan on living in my car until I die. Life is so unsustainable now."

—Anonymous

8."I no longer throw any food away."

"Before I shop, I eat whatever I have in my fridge. Is the banana too ripe? I make banana pancakes. I also make larger batches of chili or soup and freeze them in individual serving containers. Beans are a staple as a protein source. We eat beef only once a week."

—Anonymous

9."I got a home-sized cheese press, and I started making paneer cheese as a protein source..."

10."I buy close-to-expired food from discount grocers when I can, and I've returned to making my own bread..."

"...because of how ridiculous the price of bread has gotten compared to flour. A bag of flour is like $10 to $12 and easily makes more than 10 loaves, while a loaf of bread is like $3. Make it make sense!

More than half of my 'snacks and treats' spending comes from gift cards I earn from online surveys instead of my regular food budget. And I buy off-brand Dollar Store chocolate instead of the name brand."

—Anonymous

11."First, I flip through flyers, plan a weeks’ worth of meals, and write up my grocery list."

"Then, I price-check every single item in each shopping app and load my carts accordingly. I like knowing the cost of my groceries to the penny so I get the most out of my budget. And shopping online and picking up groceries curbs any impulse buys. I’ll also look for deals on larger cuts of meats that I can break down myself, like a huge pork loin I got for $5, that I cut down to 12 pork chops.

Lastly, I use an app called Too Good to Go to find deals on groceries. Stores that have fresh stuff close to due dates will package it up and sell it for a deal. At one of the grocery stores here, I can choose between meat, bakery, freshly prepared (salads, cut fruit, and vegetables), or desserts. They're under $10 usually, and any time I’ve gotten them, there’s easily $20 to $30 worth of products. You have to be up for the gamble, though, because you can’t pick what you get. I like the bakery and the fresh stuff to get a bit of variety. For me, that’s my treat."

—grant101010

12."I concentrate on meals and only meats on sale."

13."1. I try to keep grocery purchases limited to a specific window of time when I know we'll use them."

"Since we shop weekly, I only buy what we need for the meals we’ll be eating that week. In the past, I’d make impulse purchases for items without knowing when or how I’d use them.

2. The most cost-effective grocery shopping won't be done all at one place. Compare prices, coupon deals, and check product availability at different stores. We go wholesale for meats and some dried goods and will go between two other places for the rest.

3. If your child is still in diapers, some of the generic store brands are just as good as the name brands. We started off in Pampers with our first baby, but now we are loyal to Walmart's Parent's Choice brand."

—mrtylor3

14."I have been buying caseloads of items that I use often..."

"...(cannellini beans come to mind), and have replaced meat that I would normally eat with beans so that I still get the protein, but it's less expensive. I tend to not buy anything anymore unless it’s on sale, and I make sure that I need what I’m buying.

I invested in pantry containers to which I can affix labels. It’s a large expense initially, but it saves me money in the long run because I can see exactly what I have, and how much of it I have, to prevent over-buying. I think it’s really all about organization."

—pattieredenbaught

15."We pretty much started cooking meatless when the pandemic began, because meat was both hard to find and SO expensive."

"For ingredients I use very often (such as canned beans, tomatoes, pasta, coconut milk, and other pantry-stable goods), if there is a really good sale, I'll buy about a dozen at a time. These small things really add up, and have the added bonus of allowing us to find new healthy recipes to make with the sale items. It costs me a little time each week, but I was already doing grocery pickups and ordering online anyway, so it's worth it for sure.

And we go out to eat far less since we have such wonderful food at home. The cost of fast food and restaurant food has made it to where we only go if we're desperate or having a real craving."

—Anonymous

16."I put MORE money and effort into grocery shopping and cooking, making sure to use good ingredients when it really matters."

17."My husband and I have five kids, and our grocery bill has skyrocketed with rising prices."

"To manage our budget, I've had to give up nail salon visits and coffee outings, and we've significantly reduced our subscriptions. I also stopped making social media-inspired dinners, which often require random ingredients we would only use once.

And instead of keeping a list of planned dinners on the fridge, I now have a list focused on what we have in the cupboard and fridge, along with the on-sale items I buy each week. I create meals based on that. We have saved nearly 50% of what we were spending."

—Anonymous

18."With two kids who have Celiac disease, we have a gluten-free household to keep them safe, so we pay much more than your average family of five for groceries."

"We traded butter for margarine, stopped drinking juice of any kind, we use half the amount of meat in soups and sauces, switched from avocado oil to canola oil, we make our own gluten free bread, and we don't even look at organic food anymore, unless it's the only gluten-free option.

We also use cloth napkins to save money on buying paper ones. Paper plates aren't even an option anymore. The biggest concession by far, though, has been getting cheap, normal bread and crackers for our only child who isn't gluten-free, to save money. It is a headache always trying to avoid cross-contamination, but we can't help it. Something had to give."

—Anonymous

19.And finally, "I use an app called Flashfood. There are others like it, but that is the one in my area."

If you have been making changes to your lifestyle habits to afford groceries, share it with us in the comments below, or via this anonymous Google form.

Responses have been edited for length/clarity.