High food prices? Here's how to save

Flour

You can count on it: Every year before the big baking holidays -- Thanksgiving and Christmas -- flour goes on sale, usually for about 99 cents for a 5-pound bag.

Except last year it didn't happen, Parrish said. And it didn't happen again before Easter either.

"Flour, sugar, butter -- those are the loss leaders that get people in the stores," Parrish said. "But we didn't see (sales on those items) at all. (It was) $3.49 for a 5-pound bag."

Whether you noticed depends on how much you bake. If the answer is "not much," then you probably see the rising cost of flour most clearly in the increased cost of bread.

Either way, here are some suggestions:

Treat it well. Store flour in airtight containers or in the freezer, Bergin recommended, to keep it usable as long as possible. (If you have problems with your flour getting infested with bugs, freeze it as soon as you get the bag home. Refrigerated flour picks up odors over time.)

Don't bulk up unless you'll use it. Yes, those huge sacks at the warehouse store will cost less per pound, but they're not a bargain if some of that flour goes to waste.

"I checked flour prices at Costco, and the smallest quantity was 25 pounds," Nelson said, "which is more than the typical family would want to buy."

Flour's shelf life is about six months if kept in airtight containers and somewhat longer if you freeze it. If you use only 10 pounds in a year, you'll wind up throwing away the bulk of your "savings."

Check your alternatives. You may be able to save with a smaller bulk purchase by checking health-food and discount stores that sell flour out of bins.

Buy the house brand. This works for flour as well as bread. The nutrition is the same as with name brands; save the premium stuff for special occasions.

Leverage your coupons. Coupons for flour aren't all that common, but coupons for name-brand breads are easy to find, and they may knock the price below that of the house brand.

Of course, several readers on the Your Money message board say they save money baking their own bread. Even with higher flour prices, they insist it's better and cheaper than what they find in a store.

A poster named "what to buy" follows the recipe on the back of the King Arthur flour label.

"It was super easy to make (and) barely required any prep time, only 'rise' time," the poster wrote, adding, "I figured it out to cost 59 cents a loaf vs. the normal $2.50 I was spending in the store, and it tastes much better!"

Other tips for saving on bread:

• Shop at discount bakeries that sell bread near its expiration date.

• Stock up and freeze the excess when you find a good sale (double-wrap with another bread wrapper to avoid freezer burn).

• Ask your grocery manager to start a discount rack for bread and bread products if one isn't already available.

Eggs

The good news: Many grocery stores are treating eggs -- and milk -- as loss leaders, hoping you'll come in for the deal and spend more on other items.

Parrish said she regularly sees stores across the country offering a dozen eggs for 99 cents. So check grocery store circulars for deals. Otherwise:

Buy bland. Buy the store brand instead of name brands, Nelson advised, and white eggs instead of brown. Though brown eggs have gained a mysterious cachet as being healthier, they simply come from different-colored chickens (brownish ones, like Rhode Island Reds) than those that lay white eggs (such as White Leghorns).

Get closer to the source. You may get a better deal at a farmers market, although that depends on your area. (Where I live in Los Angeles, farmers markets tend to feature brown eggs from organically fed free-range chickens that mate at the full moon after their yoga classes, so they tend to run more than the white eggs in the store.)

Bergin likes farmers markets in general as a source of food and a fun family outing: "Your kids can meet the farmers," she said. "Not only is it a great way to save money, but it's a lesson in the food chain."

Check out the warehouse deals. On her recent Costco run, Nelson checked egg prices and found that a box of 18 was $2, only slightly more than the $1.79 charged for 12 at her local store. "However, you have to buy two 18-count cartons of eggs at Costco for that price," she noted, "so you could split the purchase with a friend or eat a lot of eggs."

Stock up within limits. If you find a good deal, buy more than you typically would. Eggs have a pretty long shelf life for a fresh food. Though the American Egg Board recommends keeping eggs no longer than three weeks after purchase, Parrish said she's kept eggs six to eight weeks past their expiration date in a colder-than-average fridge she keeps in her garage. You also can freeze eggs by breaking them into freezer bags and thawing them later for baking or scrambling.

Or simply keep your eye on the expiration date and plan to have more egg dishes as the third week approaches.

Poster "go bucks 123223" is a big believer in use-it-up cooking. "If milk is about to go bad, we make pudding," go bucks 123223 wrote. "If eggs are just about up to their date, we have breakfast for dinner."

And remember, even when they're more expensive, eggs remain an inexpensive source of protein compared with meat, poultry or fish.

"Frittata is still a cheap dinner," Nelson said.

Continued: Sweet peppers, milk and beans

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