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http://tinyurl.com/5by3h3Consumers struggle with rising food costs
By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch
Last update: 5:25 p.m. EDT May 6, 2008
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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Pam Laatz's sticker shock at the grocery store has led her to trim costs on nearly every item in her family's budget.
She and her husband have turned off their home phone in favor of their cell phones. She's switched from a premium cable TV package to a basic one. She's lowered the thermometer in her home and burns logs in the fireplace for extra heat. And she's told her two children that there won't be any vacations like last summer.
Like many consumers, Laatz is reeling from soaring prices for milk, cheese, bread, cereal and other staples on her grocery list. As government officials debate whether ethanol production or global demand is the biggest culprit behind the rising costs of commodities, Laatz is just trying to make ends meet. "These prices are totally impacting everything we do," she said.
Indeed, the cost of groceries is weighing heavily on most people's minds. More than 47% of people surveyed by BIGResearch recently said that the price of groceries was influencing their budgets "very much." Another 36% said those costs "somewhat" affected their budgets.
Nicole Medina, a Chicago mother of one, is in the "very much" category. She's been bringing leftovers to work for lunch and severely limiting treats for her grade-school daughter, Alyssa. She also diligently shops at sales, picking up milk and cereal at one store and buying bread and eggs at another.
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