Just another day at the supermarket.

[Stonepounder]

We did our weekly grocery shopping the other day. As it is the first of the month we picked up lots of staples and so on. Came home and put the groceries away. Just another normal day. This evening our son went to get a glass of milk and noticed something.

A half-gallon of milk no longer exists. The jug is the same size. The label is the same. The price is the same. Oh wait, the label isn't quite the same. The job is no longer 2 quarts. It is 3 pints. Just like ice cream is no longer a 1/2 gallon. A pound of sugar isn't a pound. And on and on. Funny thing is the packaging doesn't change nor does the price. Just the amount inside the package.

Ah well, good thing those on fixed incomes are getting a raise in our Social Security payments are going up next year, right? Oh wait, so is our contribution to Medicare. And the increase in the bump in SS exactly equals the increase in our Medicare contribution. Imagine that.

[Freddie]

1. Where are you?

I haven’t noticed that one yet. PA has pretty strict laws about milk sales.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Hasn't happened here yet, but I'm sure it will. nm

[Sailor65x1]

3. Not sure what store you're shopping in

But I buy half gallons all the time. The bottles you described are also available, but they are not the same size. You need a new store!

[Stonepounder]

7. We live in Northern KY, just across the river from Cincinnati.

The store is one we have been shopping at for almost 20 years and is one of the least expensive around. It was store brand milk. I actually don't know when the size change happened, we just noticed it this time around.

To give you an example, 1 Doz Extra Large eggs (and yes, they still actually have 12 eggs in the carton) have been hovering around $1.00/Doz for a while. At the local Kroger they were $2.39/Doz the last time we were there. (We go to Kroger for Boars Head cold cuts. Only store around that carries it.)

[Frustratedlady]

4. Yep. Cans are getting smaller, bags getting lighter and cartons shrinking.

I noticed yesterday that our store brand butter was $4.99/lb. They had it on sale for a draw at $1.88/lb. before Christmas. No one buys it at the high prices and they end up having to put it on sale again. We had two stores selling butter for $1.88 while having a butter war, so I took advantage of it and put 8 lbs. in the freezer.

It was like the old gas wars.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. Not sure what cans you are referring to as getting smaller.

Canned basics, like tomatoes in their many forms are some odd standard, and have been for centuries. 15 oz or 14 and a quarter oz or some rather strange amount. But even recipes from the 1950's that reference using a can of stewed tomatoes or a can of tomato sauce will usually give the size, and it's still the same as I find in the grocery stores.

Butter is another thing that can have wild price swings.

[Motley13]

5. coffee keeps shrinking from 16 oz to 12 oz to 11 oz

I probably should go ck, it's probably smaller

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Inflation is actually the value of the dollar decreasing.

Depending on what era you want to use for the value of the original dollar, you can say that by now, it is only worth about 25 cents....if that.
there comes a point where you can end up using wheelbarrows to buy a loaf of bread.
Venezuela is seeing that happen. Again.
There is no reason we are immune from such a scenario.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. I have not noticed those things where I am.

I don't buy milk, but I do buy half and half. It's still sold in the same pint, quart, and half gallon. I buy ten pounds of sugar at a time. Actually, I just checked and it's a bit more than 10 pounds. Flour in five pound bags.

Nope, no shrinkage in those things.

As for eggs, the price of them has always been very volatile.

Where do you do your shopping?

[Stonepounder]

10. We shop at a local sort of big-box chain called Meijer's. n/t

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I don't know it.

Do you have regular grocery stores? At least when you're calling Meijer's a big-box chain, I'm guessing it's like a Target or a Walmart with a grocery section. I never go to Walmart, but I do occasionally glance at the grocery section of Target, and it seems to be overall slightly more expensive than my grocery stores. And with considerably fewer items stocked. In any case, I can assure you that I'm not seeing the sort of downsizing of packaging you've mentioned.

[Stonepounder]

13. Actually it is a full grocery (with the best meat around).

As I have said it is local to the tri-state area (SE Indiana, Cincinnati metro, and Northern KY). Been around for a long time. It is a grocery store that has added on other departments rather than the other way around. Clothing, hardware, automotive, electronics, books, garden, etc. Usually we go just for the groceries.

And most of the products that are shrinking are name brand, not store brands (with the exception of the milk).

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. How strange.

Everywhere I shop the sizes of things have remained the same. You do need to double check other grocers in your area.

[Laffy Kat]

12. I've noticed it happening to cereal.

We go through A LOT of cereal. In some cases, the boxes are the same size but the net weight is less for the same price; in other cases, the boxes have gotten smaller and the price remains the same.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Packaged cereal is incredibly expensive.

And yes, that is one product, along with candy bars, that have gotten smaller or noticeably pricier.