by Patrick Stewart

Created on: October 27, 2008   Last Updated: February 27, 2011

Even before the problems with the lenders and the infamous Government bailout the economy has been struggling to stabilize. With the Storms that hit the Gulf this summer which destroyed many Oil Rigs and hurt many different markets from Food to transportation, America is looking to times that have not been prevalent since after World War One.

As gasoline prices rose at the beginning of the year and nearly reached 5 dollars a gallon nationwide in the United States, Americans started to feel the pinch in the market place. Especially the Supermarket. Beef, Chicken, Eggs, Milk, Bread and many other of the main staples Americans purchase, began to make people rethink what's for dinner? With grocery bills for a family of 5 rising from 150 a week to a whopping 220 a week in just a few months from February to August, it became apparent that times were getting harder for the average family with an average income of 32,000 per year.

As America sees the prices of Gasoline plummet, OPEC works to try and get them to rise, yet groceries and household products may not be rising as quickly but the breaks that the sellers have incurred due to the over a dollar a gallon drop in fuel are not passed along to the consumer. The consumer is stranded because like gasoline no matter what the price is Americans still have to feed their families. The restaurant business although seeing a drop in sales, have probably been the lucky ones because they are now at a time where it is cheaper to eat out rather than cook at home. Americans feel the crunch and of all the industries hit hard during this time of economic instability, the only choice the people have is to try to find the best deals and shop around.

America will have to cope with this rise and have to find ways to beat the crunch. utilizing the web and go to such sites as www.Coupon.com, and www.Groceriesforless.com to get discounts and information on where to find the best deals. During research the best site for some outstanding deals were found on www.SmartBargains.com. More than Groceries but the right direction for coping with the pinch of rising food costs. Some of the other sites that were found also will map out local grocers and markets that have the deals to help the shopper to save the extra dollars to relieve the hit to the pocket book.

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