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I know this is the frugal living forum, and you guys are probably talking about a few pennies here and a few pennies there, for the most part, but I look more at the big picture. I grocery shop just once a week, and tend to buy the same things month in and month out. I have not noticed any sort of spike recently. I'm spending about the same now for groceries as I was a year ago, and less than I was before that, because I stopped shopping at Albertson's about a year or so ago, and started shopping at Winco. Winco is about 20% cheaper for what I buy, overall.
So yes, individual food prices may have gone up, but others have gone down, and my average has remained about the same. There is a slight increase over time, but not significant.
I do understand the argument of "same price, but smaller package", too, but since I'm looking at a month by month average, that is already figured in. If the packages are smaller, that means I have to buy more of them, and so the price should go up overall, and it really hasn't.
So my answer is no, I haven't noticed any sort of overall drastic increase lately.
While one can knit pick over how one item or another has gone up, that's why the CPI is made of hundreds of items and weighted to account for how much of those items comprise a family budget. The overall CPI hasn't risen very much this year.
I know this is the frugal living forum, and you guys are probably talking about a few pennies here and a few pennies there, for the most part, but I look more at the big picture. I grocery shop just once a week, and tend to buy the same things month in and month out. I have not noticed any sort of spike recently. I'm spending about the same now for groceries as I was a year ago, and less than I was before that, because I stopped shopping at Albertson's about a year or so ago, and started shopping at Winco. Winco is about 20% cheaper for what I buy, overall.
So yes, individual food prices may have gone up, but others have gone down, and my average has remained about the same. There is a slight increase over time, but not significant.
I do understand the argument of "same price, but smaller package", too, but since I'm looking at a month by month average, that is already figured in. If the packages are smaller, that means I have to buy more of them, and so the price should go up overall, and it really hasn't.
So my answer is no, I haven't noticed any sort of overall drastic increase lately.
Good for you...
But your experience is not mine... and I am a miser by nature (love being called one, but that is how I accumulate money) and will likely nick pick to the "price per pound" comparison.
So per my shopping experience, shopping at the same brand store (my fav. store) & also comparing other stores... the grocery has gone up on average around 30% in my area.
Been shopping at the same brand store in the same area for over 7 years now... thus I do track the cost year by year.
Campbell soup was 2/$1 sale (Pre 2010 - Jan 2011), now it is 75 cents on sale... or other places 85 cents per can (ard $1.29 per can not on sale... while it used to be 99cents reg. p).
Bread & Bagels has gone up around 29 cents &++ average and even wholesale big bulk stores' bagels is $2.99 (that is the same "sale" price of the reg. grocer... but the plus... they are great for expiration dates), and the bulk stores I find have a sooner expiration date especially for their breads...
Sometimes I get better bagel deals for 2/$5 at my grocer...
And Target is even more in expensive of them all.
Cream cheese... don't they use to have them for 99cents as a reg.?
Now it is 2/$3 on sale.... not on sale $1.99
OJ has gone up since the crop from the drought & forest fires in CA... prices never did come down after that.
String cheese... another item that have increased in prices.
Used to be 2/$4... now it is $3.69 (2/$2.50 on sale if you are lucky to find).
Banana has gone up from 39 cents / lb at my local mexican market to about 59 cents / lb.... and that is also within the year.
Even toilet tissues... the rolls are narrower in width and I am OK by that because it is greener.
The prices are ridiculous these days... truly are... and I wonder many times how the middle of the mill restaurants do it when even their costs has gone up sooo much.
P.S. Whether if there is a food cost jump??? Easy... just ask your local middle of the mill restaurant.
I'm spending about the same now for groceries as I was a year ago, and less than I was before that, because I stopped shopping at Albertson's about a year or so ago, and started shopping at Winco. Winco is about 20% cheaper for what I buy, overall.
so you havent seen a price difference because you started shopping at a cheaper store. i think this is a wise decision but isnt really comparing apples to apples.
my spending has also been reduced, but its because i am a better shopper not because overall prices have gone down.
Just wondering if its my state (AZ) or happening everywhere. Could not believe how much groceries cost lately. How are retirees supposed to survive on a fixed income? I started looking for part time jobs cause I won't have enough $ if this keeps up. I may have to stock up on Ramen Noodles again.
For starters, blame ethanol. From the corn to the cow [count any beef or milk or cheese made using beef/cows], ethanol is raising prices. My husband's cousin is a dairy farmer and says she makes more money and it is cheaper for her to raise corn and sell it and graze the cows longer and add more hay and lower the corn for feed.... Then for other things, add the midwest floods and the Texas droughts and fall hurricane crop damage... anywhere you had rotten weather, you cause prices to rise.
For starters, if the govt. would forget the ethanol subsidies, our prices from anything corn or feed related and beef related and dairy related would fall.
Let's face it, part of the difficulty in discussing food prices is that certain foods are very volatile in price depending on weather (i.e., whether a certain grain or fruit or vegetable has yielded a good crop in a given year). Another factor is the price of diesel fuel, which is volatile, and which affects overall prices because it adds to the cost of getting stuff to the stores.
Another difficulty is the availability of specials, which tend to come and go, based on I don't know what factors!
Now, having said all that, it still surprises me the variability in people's experiences with food prices. My experience is on the side of those who haven't noticed anything except a slight general overall increase over the years - nothing dramatic. I wonder if some people are over-reacting to a particular product or two? Example: For years I was getting 12-packs of diet sodas at my local (large) market for $2.50 or $3.33 - it would fluctuate between those two prices. Then all of a sudden about a year ago, that price went up and has stayed up. I quit buying sodas altogether - I certainly don't need them. But that dramatic increase has been the exception in my experience.
Just today, Walmart had Banquet frozen dinners for 88 cents. We hadn't gotten them in years
so I thought I'd get a few. When I picked it up I noticed the package was smaller than it used to be.
Also got a filter for my small humidifier. It was $4.00 not too long ago, then jumped to $4.28.
Today it was $4.44. Quite an increase in a short amount of time.
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