For many Americans dealing with credit card debt, it's a back-to-basics approach

08.23.09
By Nicholas Storie

With so many people trying to make ends meet between credit cards and home loan payments, it appears that some Americans are turning to the more basic necessities when they go grocery shopping.

According to the latest U.S. Retailing & Consumer Trends report from Nielsen, American consumers are cutting discretionary items out of their diet and instead turning to old staples like fresh meat, pasta and frozen items to help reduce costs.

For the 52-week period ending July 11, Nielsen reports that the canning and freezing supplies category saw the biggest increase at 18.1 percent while fresh meat rose 6.2 percent and dry mix prepared foods went up 5.2 percent.

Todd Hale, senior vice president of consumer shopper insight at Nielsen, said the sales increase in some areas also indicates consumers are doing more than just eating at home.

"By and large the categories that are growing the fastest are those related primarily to meal consumption - a notion of back-to-basics," he said. "It's also interesting that the number one item on the list is canning supplies. There's been resurgence in consumers growing their own fruit and vegetables and canning them."

But consumers aren't just growing tomatoes and herbs in their home gardens to cut costs, they're also growing tobacco. The Associated Press reported this week that an increasing number of people are not only rolling their own cigarettes to reduce the costs of a pack of smokes, but they are planting and harvesting the tobacco to go into those cigarettes as well.

According to the AP, an average pack of cigarettes costs $4.35 in the U.S., but these do-it-yourselfers are able to reduce that cost to about 30 cents per pack.

More Credit & Debt Articles | More Personal Finance Articles | News Home | Discuss in our Forum

Consumers are buying more basic necessities at the grocery store these days