Montana Grocery Staples May Be More Expensive This Fall

The other day I was at the grocery store and the checker told me, "You need to clip coupons."

She held my receipt like a scroll and scrutinized my purchases.

"Do you think I could have saved money based on what I bought?" I replayed my grocery list in my head--what did I buy? Was there fancy cheese? Wine? Avacado toast?

"Probably," she said.

I admitted that I never remember to clip coupons and then she gave me a cool life hack: add the word "coupons" to your grocery list. Then when you see it, you'll remember to add the coupons.

Grocery Prices Are Going Up

I've had my head in the sand a bit when it comes to grocery prices and inflation. I knew prices were going up, but I didn't think I could do much about it. I mostly buy produce and meat. But I tried the coupons, and I have started to save some money.

And it may be a good time to find ways to save money at the grocery store because Eat This, Not That! is saying that there will be five grocery items that will be pretty expensive this fall. Three of those items are especially common in Montana households.

Montana Staple Items

Beef, eggs, and coffee--to me, those are farm and ranch foods. If I tallied up the food eaten in the ranch house I grew up in with my grandparents, you'd bet that beef, eggs, and coffee were probably in the top 5 staples eaten or drank most often.

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I also grew up eating a lot of butter (and I still do) and that was another item on the list of most expensive groceries. The last one is an indulgence I started buying as an adult. Chocolate.

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So, I guess I'll have to keep clipping coupons because I regularly buy all five items on this list.