Soaring prices at the supermarket are taking their toll on families as the rising cost of everything from milk to eggs is stretching already-thin finances to the limit.

The Melgar family in the Los Angeles suburban community of Winnetka used to load up the cart at Costco with jugs of nuts and big cheese wheels, but those days are over. Special cookies and treats for the three children are left on the shelves. And restaurant dining has become too much of a luxury.

"We are trying to economize at home," said Norma Melgar, who plans to shut off her cell phone to help offset the rising food costs. "Little by little, we are cutting back."

The Winnetka family is among thousands tightening their purse strings as an array of factors — including increased consumption in developing nations, rising energy prices, crop shortages and booming corn-based ethanol production — have combined for the latest pinch to consumers' pocketbooks.

The situation has become so serious internationally that Congress was considering $770 million to help alleviate food price hikes that are threatening to spark widespread hunger and social unrest in some nations.

Already, a global shortage of rice has reached U.S. shores, and some chains, including Costco Wholesale Corp. and Sam's Club, are limiting customer purchases in California to four 20-pound bags of jasmine, basmati, or long-grain white rice.

And a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the Consumer Price Index on food costs is likely to rise 4 percent to 5 percent this year — nearly twice the rate for 2005 — and it will come on the heels of a 4 percent increase last year that was the biggest in nearly two decades.

Nationally, a dozen large eggs cost an average $2.20 in March, up from $1.63 a year ago. For the year, a jump of almost 30 percent is expected from 2007 egg prices. White bread cost $1.35 a pound, up from $1.16 a year ago.

Major increases are likely for fats and oils, expected to rise 8 percent to 9 percent, and cereals and bakery products, projected to jump 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent.

The rising food prices are complicating an already-delicate balancing act as many families grapple with soaring gas prices, foreclosures and an unsteady job market, said Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization.

"We're seeing people have their economic walls close in on them," Gross said. "They are finding there's little to cut back on to enable them to economically survive."

And growing numbers of families are trying to cope by shopping more frequently for cheaper milk, cereal, bread and other staples at drugstores or Target and Wal-Mart stores.

"You'll find a lot of households who would never have thought of shopping at 99 Cent Only Stores in the past who now have to," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. "It's a necessity to get by."

Purchases at 99 Cent Only Stores rose 2 percent in the past quarter, with more than half of all transactions involving food items such as produce and milk, CEO Eric Schiffer said.

The No. 1 store location in sales? Beverly Hills.

"Over the years, we've added more food and beverages, to the point that it makes up more than 50 percent of our sales," Schiffer said. "That surprises people who thought of our store as just selling trinkets."

As $130 million arrives in federal economic-stimulus checks, analysts say many taxpayers will plunk down much of the money on food, gas and credit-card bills to help ease the economic pinch.

But enticing customers to spend more might be tough as families have started to forgo dining out to be able to afford the basic groceries. A recent survey by the National Restaurant Association found more than 60 percent of restaurant owners saw business drop in March.

"The soft economy continues to weigh on the minds of restaurant operators," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research and information for the association. "Twenty-five percent of restaurant operators said the economy is the No. 1 challenge facing their business, followed by food costs."