More than just 401(k)s are changing with the economy. Many shoppers are changing the way they purchase groceries, eating out less and coupon clipping.
According to the retail firm Precima, 48 percent of people who said they were saving money on gas are now spending that same money on groceries.

When times are tough, super-markets know vigilant shoppers notice even tiny changes in the price of foods like milk, cereal, bread and cheese. In fact, there are about 500 such products, and stores raise prices on these staples at their own peril.
So how do markets deal with rising food costs? They tinker with the price of the roughly 45,000 items people don’t buy regularly enough to have a fixed idea of their cost—tacking on 3 to 4 percent to specialty products like, say, gourmet pasta sauce or fresh-squeezed juices, without …

Corn prices have plummeted by more than 50 percent over the past six months, while food prices are up 6 percent for the year, according to data released recently by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At the same time, energy costs fell 17 percent and transportation expenses dropped 10 percent in November.
“The truth is corn prices have almost no effect on grocery store prices, and apparently even the impact of fuel costs is minimal,” said Randy Woodruff, president of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, in a press release.

Falling food costs and a prolonged recession may tempt restaurant chains into a wave of discounts next year, leaving potential profits on the table.
With prices for many food items and fuel hitting record highs this summer, restaurants were forced to raise the prices of their dishes beyond historical norms, producing a bitter proposition for customers watching the values of their homes and investment portfolios shrink.
Now, with food inflation expected to ease next year and the price of oil already in freefall, analysts will be watching whether restaurants can hold onto …

A Goldman Sachs analyst said Friday packaged-food companies boosted their revenues in November due to price increases.
Analyst Judy Hong said in a note to investors that according to data from research firm ACNielsen for the four weeks ended Nov. 29, dollar sales – or the dollars that came from sales – grew about 5 percent. In the previous four-week period, dollar sales rose 4 percent.
But volumes – the amount of the product sold – fell nearly 2 percent in November, indicating that the revenue growth came from higher prices.
As the …