Andy Tullis/ The BulletinShoppers shop for grogery items inside Newport Martket in Bend Tuesday afternoon 11-10-15.

Americans are spending approximately 10 percent of their income on food nowadays, down from 17.5 percent in 1960, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Compare U.S. spending to other less developed nations, where nearly 50 percent of income is still spent on food, roughly the same percentage as Americans spent a century ago.

One thing hasn’t changed, however. The promise of “quality and service” Erickson’s grocery store made when it opened in 1915 is still what people in Bend expect, from both the century-old store and all other grocers. And today more than ever, we demand an incredible selection as well.

With more than 20 grocery stores in Bend — not including corner stores and supercenters — for a population of around 80,000 people, there’s an abundance of quality, services and specialty products that rivals many larger metropolitan areas.

With Market of Choice scheduled to open in 2016 and available space for another grocer in the east side’s proposed Wildflower development slated to break ground in 2017, the options continue to grow.

The only dilemma? Deciding how best to spend time and money on groceries.

Whether single or part of a couple or family, convenience, cost and selection determine largely where to shop. Add in food quality, and weighing these options becomes even more difficult. Sometimes we have to sacrifice convenience for quality, quality for cost or cost for convenience. The art of stocking the fridge and pantry for less becomes a balancing act filled with room for improvement.

Convenience

“Two-earner households and busier lifestyles have led consumers to spend less time cooking and seek the convenience of food prepared away from home,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported. The busier people are, the more they are willing to pay for one-stop shopping or convenience items such as ready-made meals, prepared meats or side dishes from a deli case.

Proximity to home is another measure of convenience. It takes dramatically reduced prices or a substantially different selection to get us out of our convenience zone. For many of us, this means shopping at the closest Safeway or Hagen , even if prices are high or selection is poor.

If convenience is the top priority, Fred Meyer can be a smart “one-stop” store — from home and garden supplies and clothing, to a full array of groceries including a deli, bakery items, meat and even natural and organic food. However, under a cloak of convenience, the price tags are slightly higher.

Cherry-picking from the deli case or salad bar for small amounts of prepared foods is one way to work around the challenge of creating variety, especially when cooking for just one or two people. Often foods come in packages too big to use practically before the use-by date.

Sprucing up a dish with slivered carrots, pickled onions, cubed ham or tzatziki sauce is easier, not just for preparation but also on the checkbook, when it’s possible to buy the amount you need. Purchasing already-roasted butternut squash, for instance, means you don’t spend an hour cooking when all you need is half a cup for risotto.

Cost vs. selection

Premium grocers such as Whole Foods Market or Newport Avenue Market offer an array of specialty products that few can rival. Chef-driven delis, top-quality butcher departments and a wide assortment of produce offer shoppers a premium selection. But with this comes the premium price tags — hence nicknames like “Whole Paycheck” for Whole Foods.

Limit spending in premium stores by adhering strictly to a shopping list and avoiding items available for less at other stores.

Contrast these premium stores with lower-priced “limited-assortment” stores like Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet. Stock changes regularly, and you can’t always predict if specific items will be available.

At Trader Joe’s, for instance, while there are always a multitude of store-brand products, other packaged, frozen and fresh foods are offered for a limited time only, like the cilantro-lime basmati rice I loved.

However, when one shops first at a discount store such as Joe’s or Grocery Outlet, the savings outweigh the limited selection. At Grocery Outlet, for instance, canned goods, cheese, wine and personal products are sometimes half the price of the same brands elsewhere. Be sure to buy deeply discounted staple items in multiples.

Service

For efficiency’s sake, learn who to cozy up to at local grocery stores. Introduce yourself to a produce manager, butter up a baker or spark a conversation with a butcher. Learn their names and ask for them when inquiring about products or making special requests.

Phone ahead to find out prices and check what’s in stock. Ask when the rotisserie chickens or French bread will be put out, whether certain produce is ripe or which fish in the cold case is freshest.

For meat departments with complimentary spice rubs and marinades, call to request a specific cut and size; the butcher will season it and have it ready when you step up to the counter. The same goes for ordering sliced cheeses and deli meats.

But don’t forget, by phone or in person, respect their time by knowing what you want.

Money-saving ideas

The No. 1 way to save on grocery bills is to cut down on waste.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans waste nearly a quarter of the food they buy. Freeze leftovers, make stock from veggie or meat scraps and be realistic when deciding how much food you’ll consume at home each week.

Otherwise, larger households should take advantage of wholesalers — especially Cash & Carry, which is sometimes mistaken for being a restaurant-supplier only. For large quantities of meat, frozen foods, fruits, veggies and canned and baked goods, the prices are sometimes one-half to one-third less than other stores.

But beware of wholesalers in general — big packages sometimes offer little to no savings over the same products in smaller packages. Costco, which is not always the least-expensive option, caters more to households than restaurants, however.

Whole, unpackaged ingredients always cost less than their already-prepared, convenient counterparts, so consider cooking from scratch to save money.

And when it comes to stretching a budget and eating healthier, too, skip the aisles and work the perimeter of stores.

Produce, unprocessed meat and dry bulk goods are more likely to be found around the perimeters. A comparison between the cost of bulk dried beans, rice, dried fruit, nuts and cereals versus those items packaged and found in aisles can add up to real savings quickly.

One last small way to save big is to buy spices in bulk. Whole Foods and Fred Meyer are two stores where that’s available.

Whether buying staples such as garlic powder or peppercorns — or a few teaspoons of Chinese five-spice for a new recipe — it’s a good way to buy as much or as little as needed. Refilling jars rather than committing to a whole jar of something you might not like or use again saves money and reduces waste.