Grocery prices have have continued to soar in the United States due to inflation. According to a new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report on food inflation prices, they continue to increase in January 2026.

Certain foods have been impacted more than others. Coffee prices increased 20% from December 2024 to December 2025, while beef prices increased 15.5% percent, per ABC News.

Current grocery prices have impacted how people shop. Frugal people on Reddit discussed how inflation has changed their grocery shopping habits to stick to a budget. Many shared the foods and ingredients they have stopped buying due to increasing costs. Plus, they explained how it has positively impacted them—from becoming better bakers to making swaps that they like even better.

From meat to desserts, these are how frugal people are dealing with food inflation costs.

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Protein

"Haven't bought any beef other than hamburger in over a year. The prices are laughable." - polishprince76

"Yeah, we switched from ground beef to ground turkey over a year ago bc it was cheaper. Steak was never in the budget and now neither is ground beef." - TraditionalChest7825

"Beef, of course, is ridiculous. We've learned to make a lot of our recipes with chicken these days. I make chicken meatballs, chicken burgers and chicken meatloaf. We found it is cheaper to make our own ground chicken when boneless, skinless chicken is on sale than to buy it already ground. I don't mind as chicken is healthier than beef, anyway." - aeraen

"I swapped a lot of meat for tofu/ beans. If I do have meat on sale or something, I always make it last longer by like mixing it with beans/ mushrooms to go the distance too." - rockdog85

"Not sure if this is what you are after, but I moved from a place where peanut butter was cheap and tahini was expensive to a place where tahini is cheap and peanut butter is expensive, so now I use tahini in all the recipes where I used to use peanut butter." - tlatlsaddlebattle

"We try to find rib roast sales as it brings the price down and then we cut them to our liking or sometimes we will have the butcher do it." - Florida1974

Carbs

"I’m eating more oatmeal. Cereals are so expensive and they require milk." - EmmelinePankhurst77

"Chips. Every so often if there's a really good sale (4 bags for $10 isn't too bad) but no way is a bag of Lay's worth $4.79 or more." - myystic78

"I've switched to buying popcorn kernels instead, but I'd probably make an exception for something like a party." - Signal_Error_8027

"$7 for a loaf of bread? No thanks, I’ll bake my own. Getting a bread machine makes it super easy, too!" vozzov, Pretend-Policy832

"I learned how to make bagels! Honestly, just google homemade bagel recipe and pick the one that works for you! I’ve only made them with Greek yogurt so far (and they came out great), but I’m going to try making some with yeast next." - Efficient_Swan_9182

"Frozen pizzas. We make fresher single serve pizzas using Greek pita breads, or flatbreads as the base, with olive oil, shredded mozzarella cheese and whatever leftover/stored garden vegetables we have." - SnooMarzipans6812

Drinks

"Any sort of beverage. I used to buy Diet Coke pretty regular as it’s one of my few vices, but I can’t justify the price anymore. Occasionally I’ll buy the Aldi brand flavored seltzers but beyond that, we just drink filtered water from the fridge." - Alpacalypsenoww

"I started making jugs of iced tea, using (relatively inexpensive) tea bags. Soda is, indeed, too expensive, but sometimes I like having something to drink that isn't water." - witty_grapefruit

"I’ve found the Walmart version of Sprite called 'Twist Up' I feel is almost identical to Sprite & only costs $1 for a 2-liter." - Jedi_Hog

"Coffee pods. I bought a canister of Illy ground coffee on sale and it’s lasting me a lot longer than buying those Starbucks Nespresso pods. I love the smell of the ground coffee too. And less Vital Farm’s eggs and more from Costco." - Easy_Growth_5533

"I don’t drink coffee, but I do need a little caffeine or gogo juice as I call it, to get me going. So I started buying the Mio drink mix that you put in water. Certain ones do have caffeine in them and it doesn’t take much, so it saves money." - Florida1974

Sweets

"Any kind of cake. I learned how to bake and glad for it. I didn't realize how easy it is to do most of the basics (muffins, banana bread, Madeira cake, blueberry loaf, shortbread, etc). Most of the cakes and treats I used to buy are better homemade." - Chancevexed

"I stopped buying candy bars also. Instead, I substitute a bag of dark chocolate baking chips/morsels. Lasts months longer than a candy bar and still get a small chocolate fix a couple of times per week." - Katesouthwest

"My jaw dropped when I saw a small bag of chocolate chips was 6 dollars a bag. Hard pass! Sometimes large bars of chocolate go on sale. We just chop it for baking. It is way better than chocolate chips." - HappyinBC, HappyinBC