Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

We always buy top quality produce and cheeses, and I am not willing to give that up. We are eating out less, but I have been splurging on food magazines and recipe books. Doing a little more cooking at home is probably good for most people anyway!

In keeping with eating out less, people are ordering fewer (or smaller) special occasion cakes. The bakery I work at has been down lately (since gas topped $4). We do have regular customers, but their orders are smaller than years past. The orders are also not as elaborate (sheet cakes instead of tier cakes). Personally, I choose to bake at home where I can control what goes into my food. I do not have that control at work (where mixes and HFCS are the order of the day).

I add more options to my meal planning to buy what's on sale when shopping. For example, instead of saying we'll have filet mignon Sunday, and Shrimp Pasta Tuesday, etc. etc. I'll see what's on special, and pick 4 or 5 different meal options so I know what else to buy to change course .

Also instead of filets I've been buying ribeyes, flat irons, sirloins, and a lot more pork chops and chicken breasts and getting more creative with what I make. I'll use sirloin to make stroganoff or stir-fry, instead of buying 4 steaks, I can use 2.

I shop at different stores now, our local chain is ridiculously expensive, so I've chosen to shop out of town at a place that has great gas rebates and better prices, as well as stocking up at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods every 2-3 months (3 hour drive for me). I know the price spent on gas driving to these places still comes in less than if I were to do all my shopping at one expensive store.

Lastly I've started using coupons, stocking up on sale items to keep in the pantry, and really depending on the farmer's market for all my weekly produce at great savings. This is the first year we've been freezing farmer's market goods so that we can enjoy them in the off season, and not spend extra money buying shipped in goods at the stores.

I have started packing lunches instead of picking up something for lunch. It actually saves a lot of money. I'm also thinking of buying a small chest freezer so I can stock up on stuff that can be frozen when it's on sale.

I've actually always preferred to shop at the farmer's market for produce (though the one I like is now 40 minutes away so I can't go every week), and I've been buying meat to freeze either from the farmer or when it's a good price. My mom and I were talking the other day about how many people don't really know how to prep their own food and instead spend a lot of extra money to buy easily prepped things- like baby carrots and pre-sliced cheese. Go ahead and buy them if you want to spend the money there, but you can get a lot more carrot for the same price if you cut it yourself, and you can get a lot better cheese if you slice it yourself rather than buying prepacked slices.

Being a recent retrenchee, I'm eating out a lot less at restaurants and buying less gourmet items like expensive cheese, wine, and good cuts of meat, ham, and sausages. It's probably better health-wise. I won't compromise on choosing brown rice and whole wheat which are always more expensive than the white varieties. And fruit — it's pretty pricey in Tokyo, but I still make an effort to have a fruit a day.

We have stopped buying gourmet coffee. We switched to Folgers a few weeks back.We have also stopped going out as much on the weekends. We try to limit ourselves to one night only.

Sorry. Meant to answer the question. No. The credit crunch has not affected what I eat.

You know, the crunch has probably affected what I eat only slightly, and in a subconscious manner. For me, it came along with some other major life changes, and that probably made some things (i.e., eating at home more) less noticeable. I'm still shopping at my favorite food coop instead of the cheaper supermarket - fresh, local, and trustworthy food is something that I'm not willing to give up. (Hmmmm, that could be an interesting future story - will rising costs force scary compromises in quality?)

I AM looking at the cheaper cuts of meat, and I'm less likely to experiment with something exotic that might not work out. I'm also shopping more often, buying only what I need. And I'm reusing leftover bits to create future meals - the meat and veggies that would once have been a snack, or more likely end up in the garbage, are now becoming fried rice, or stuffed peppers, or chili.