Price of groceries

[JoAnn L.]

I went for groceries this morning and again noticed that the price of my basic item's have gone up in price again. My bread, eggs, onions and most of all the milk and meat.
We are going to have a "Sams" open up here next week, I was just wondering if our other grocery stores are trying to get every last penny out of us until then. I know they must be worried. Is it the same were you live?

 

[Yakuta]

I live in Illinois. If I shop at Jewel Osco or Dominicks (the two popular chains) I will get less than 10 items (basics - milk, bread, eggs, some fruit) and perhaps one or two more items and the bill will be easily over 50 dollars. Yes that's how expensive Jewel and Dominicks are.

I have stopped shopping there. I like SAMS but only for items such as eggs, milk, half and half, heavy cream, bread etc. It's very easy to overspend at SAMS. I notice that I buy stuff that I don't even need and uselessly hoard things to throw them away at a later point.

I only buy there if I have guests or a party. Else I prefer to go the third route.

Local Farmer Markets. I shop at a place called Valli Produce. They have fruits, veggies, canned sauces, cheese, bread, frozen foods, yogurt, breakfast stuff, milk etc. etc. at a much lower price than the popular chains. I am Indian and I like to buy veggies that are popular in our cuisine such as Okra, Cilantro, Green Squash and others even more exotic kinds which I can find there. I also can get rice, wheat flour at affordable prices.

Meat I always buy at a butcher shop in the city. I pay a higher price for it but I like to have control over the cuts I pick, the lean percentage of my ground beef etc.

 

[Katie H]

Hi, JoAnn. Our grocery prices had stabilized pretty much over the last several years. That is...until the price of gasoline went off the scale. That's when I first noticed a change in grocery prices. Not just basics. Pretty much everything.

As an example, at a box-it-yourself store here, a 20-oz. loaf of sliced bread was 25 cents. Next it went to 33 cents. Then 39, 43 and, now, 49 cents. As for eggs, they have fluctuated all over the place. Anywhere from 49 cents a dozen to $1.19 per dozen, with anything in between. I still haven't figured out what's with the price of eggs.

One item that really surprised me was bagged chicken leg quarters. For just about ever, I could get a 10-pound bag for $2.90. Not bad. Then they went to $3.90 per bag. Later, the best I could find "on sale" was $4.30 a bag. For a while last year, they went out of sight at $7.90 a bag. What was with that? Just bought a bag on Wednesday. They're back down to a more reasonable $4.90 a bag.

Today's grocery prices are high, yes, but we can eat well if we are smart shoppers. Although, I am still longing for the days when I could buy lamb ribs for 29 cents a pound.

Actually, we have to take into account where we live, too. Buck and I lived in Washington, DC for 30 years before we moved to this very rural part of western Kentucky. The difference in cost of living is astounding. What we paid for one bag of groceries in D.C. buys nearly three bags here. I miss the D.C. area, but not that much.

We have a huge Sam's Club here but I would caution you about warehouse stores in general. Just because they're a warehouse store, the prices won't necessarily be any less expensive than a standard grocery store.

One of the drawbacks of warehouse shopping is that, in most cases, you have to buy in quantity. Most of the time, I don't need 24 cans of green beans or 20 pounds of ground beef. Our Sam's sells fine meats and produce but, again, it's in quantities that are way more than Buck or I can use within a reasonable length of time. Even if some of the fresh goods are frozen. Actually, I have purchased ground beef and canned goods at my local Kroger and/or Wal-Mart at lower prices than Sam's. Plus I was able to buy only what we needed.

I'm a VERY frugal shopper and Buck says I can make a penny scream. I don't know about that, but I'm careful how and where I shop and try to make my dollars stretch as far as I possibly can.

I agree with Yakuta, too, about farmers markets and meat markets. Living where we do, fresh produce is always really, really fresh and readily available in season. I live for fresh fruit and veggie season and, luckily, we have a nice long season here.

A friend turned us on to a local meat market (in business over 50 years in the same place) and am pleased to discover that not only is their meat fresher it is also less expensive than any of the chains or Sam's. It's also trimmed beautifully so I'm really getting what I pay for. Hooray!

 

[Uncle Bob]

I think Katie hit the mark...With fuel prices (gasoline/diesel) up.....You can say if it is ever hauled by truck then the price is going up all along the way...from producer/packer to wholesaler/retailer and finally to consumer...It is a viscious cycle...As to eggs and chickens they are like many things market driven...supply/demand...And they are used as "lead" items at times to draw people into retail markets..With retailers selling them at "cost" to generate sales....When I worked for a large family owned business the owners would shout for joy if the bottom line Net was 2 or 3 percent. Thats 2 or 3 cents on the dollar...of course we are talking alot of dollars!! One thing that is really a rip off...In most places diesel fuel is higher than Reg. gasoline...With diesel being a by product of refining gasoline...Go figure!

 

[Shunka]

Meanwhile, the truck driver is not getting any more per mile; if he is a company driver like my hubby is. One thing that I still can't understand is that he hauls pet food to CA and then has to haul pet food from there back to AZ. Is there some sort of rule that it has to be made in a different state to be sold here? Those of you that can get 10 lbs. of chicken leg quarters for lower than $10 bucks are doing great!!!! It costs $6-8 for 4 lbs. here.

 

[shpj4]

I live in Southern California and my grocery bill just gets higher and higher.