You probably remember how last summer's painful gas prices set off a ripple effect, jacking the cost of everything else, including your groceries. Now that gas prices have crashed back to a mere inflated-enough-to-fatten-Exxon-execs-and-their-political-friends level, you're probably still waiting for your grocery costs to follow suit--especially as every day brings another round of job cuts and falling profits.

South Carolina's The State reports this hasn't happened for a variety of factors, based in part on the long-term purchasing contracts signed by grocers and food vendors. Grocers may be stuck buying food at a cost that made more sense six months ago.

So what can the rest of us do in the mean time? According to this post by Maura Judkis at US News, many Americans are simplifying their diets and getting back to basics: more fresh veggies, less junk food and red meat. This means more reliance on perishable foods, a whole other risk for cost-conscious consumers to calculate. Just in time, iVillage comes through with some tips to stretch the life of near moldy foods.

For the more adventurous among us, you might try out that British expired foods Website we mentioned last week. Or there's always drunkorexia.

Now there's an idea.