Grocery store sticker shock......

[marmar]

I'm a single guy and I hate to cook, so I don't venture into a supermarket that often and rarely notice fluctuations in prices. But today I went and did some fairly extensive (for me) shopping and I definitely noticed price hikes.
The pack of six English muffins I buy was about 65 cents more than when I purchased them last, which was just a few weeks ago. Grape juice, soy milk, orange juice - all noticeably higher.
Frequent shoppers, is this real or am I having infrequent shopper delusions?

[earth mom]

1. You aren't seeing things. I'm wondering how much worse it's going to get.

:yoiks:

[lonestarnot]

2. Nope it's amazing how quickly things are going south of nowhere.

[skids]

3. Don't worry, the shock wears off...

...then we can all go back to sleep like good sheep. Albeit a chilly slumber, for some reason.

(P.S. coincidentally I also bought english muffins today. On "sale" for what I used to pay for them. And there are plenty of "new low price" items on the shelves that have less product in the package than the used to.)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. You are correct. Smaller packages. Higher prices.

We have inflation in the supermarket running at greater than 25% this year.

[davekriss]

25. That's what it looks like here, too

20% to 25%. I just cringe at the coming heating oil prices. But, hey, Bush's minions tell me inflation is under control. And we have 584 billionaires in this country, ain't America great?! And the Dow is near record highs. And home ownership is near records highs. And Iran is getting nukes and our mission was accomplished in Iraq, we're going to get Osama bin Laden dead or alive, and the U.S. doesn't torture, we don't rendition and thereby break the Forth Geneva Protocol, and invading Iraq didn't violate Article 51 of the UN Charter, and the Medicare Pharma benefit will save seniors money, and Bush tells us he will fire anyone found responsible for outing Plame, and Brownie was doing a hecka of a job letting people die of thirst on their rooftops during Katrina, and, well, it's Halloween -- ghosts and goblins occupy the White House and body snatchers have invaded Congress. Nancy Pelosi will point at Dennis Kucininch at any moment, rear up her head and let loose a shrill scream, alerting other bodysnatched Congressmen to render Dennis to some black prison in East Germany where they of course don't torture.

I recently returned from a business trip in Belgium and Germany. When boarding for my return trip, I got the sinking feeling that I was leaving civilization only to return to the lawless, wild west run by an personality disordered lunatic with a sadistic underling who surely clings to life by lapping up the blood of the "accidently" shot hunting buddies.

We live in interesting times, so goes the old Chinese curse -- indeed we do, indeed we do.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

26. That's what I said isn't it?

:evilgrin:

Or meant to... :toast:

[bighart]

61. source for your 25%?

[physioex]

5. I hear ya....

Look at the newspaper specials so you can get the best prices.

[BadgerKid]

14. or check grocery ads online. (n/t)

[rwheeler31]

6. Oh it is real.

[zabet]

7. Here,

in Southeastern NC, a gallon of milk is $5.09.
That old summer cook-out necessity, Texas Pete
Hamburger & Hotdog Chili, was 3 cans for a $1,
now one can is 77 cents.

[Duer 157099]

8. Word n/t

[zabet]

9. sorry

PC spaz attack!

[NJCher]

10. I noticed it with half 'n half

Here's it's been $1.29 a pint but then I noticed it rise to $1.39 about three or four months ago.

Yesterday I was shocked to see it moved to $1.49 a pint.

I said no way and went to a little Hispanic grocery store I frequent and which is known for having good prices on milk. There I found it on sale--an entire quart was $1.99.

I'm wondering if these outrageous price hikes aren't a way of seeing how much the traffic will bear. I've seen other steep price hikes on items (such as pet food) and then I saw them back off the increase.

So what I'm saying is that while I've no doubt it is indeed inflation, it could also be out and out greed, too. Just trying to see how much they can get away with.



Cher

[Greyhound]

13. Trader Joe's is the answer. Low prices, high quality, and no "brand names".

Avoiding the so-called super markets can cut your food expenses in half.

[TomInTib]

16. Trader Joe's is amazing.

But the parking sucks at ours.

[marmar]

17. Yes, Trader Joes is a good alternative....but it gets so hectic in there!

:crazy:

[progressivebydesign]

19. Trader Joes imports much of its food.. it's not really quality anymore.

I miss the good old days of Trader Joes.. when they carried good stuff. Look very very closely at the good prices you're getting... much of the food is brought in from China, and other countries. When I asked them about this they said they do it to keep prices low. Wow.. like Walmart, perhaps? Check the labels when you shop at TJs, for sure. There's no reason for them to import vegetables to the US when they are readily grown and available to be frozen or canned (as much of the imported stuff is at TJs). Some of their frozen entrees are also made in China. As responsible citizens, I just can't see eating produce and other products that used tons of energy to ship to their stores so they can make a fatter profit.

Sad.. sad... I used to shop at the first 2 Trader Joes in Pasadena decades ago... when they were cool. :(

[Greyhound]

32. I've only shopped there since the early 90's, but none of the stuff I buy there is from China.

Going through the labels of the stuff I got today, everything except the bananas is from CA.:shrug:

[Stephanie]

53. Wow, thanks for the info.

And I used to shop at those Trader Joes too, when I was living in Highland Park. :hi:

[Atman]

64. TJ's announced last week that it would stop selling Chinese products

Due to unreliable quality. Works for me. 10x more than anyone else has done.

I am amazed at the quality of TJ's stuff. I like not having to buy name brands, and many/most of their products are actually much better than their brand counterparts. Some things I dont' like -- I think they make lousy tortilla chips. Big deal. The actual food items are excellent.

.

[NJCher]

33. agreed

And TJ's recently cut Chinese imports from their product lines!



Cher

[Greyhound]

11. Not an illusion, they just stop counting anything that begins to rise in price.

They removed the "fixed basket" of goods in arbusto's_® first term, thus guaranteeing that food inflation would never exceed 3% - 4%. I've got a http://www.weedenco.com/welling/Downloads/2006/0804welling022106.pdf">great paper from the now deceased economist Walter J. (John) Williams that shows how the various administrations have been manipulating the numbers since the 60's to make their stewardship look better than it is/was.

We are now at a point that virtually all government economic numbers are meaningless.

[marmar]

12. "virtually all government economic numbers are meaningless."

I definitely agree with that.

[Bozita]

15. If it ain't a loss leader, we don't eat it.

We have a strong preference for whatever's on sale.

This method requires a car, some gas, and some time.

I should note that current sale items seem less common and are discounted at a lower rate.

Buckle your chinstraps, folks. It's gonna get worse.

[nonconformist]

18. It's real, and to beat it all, my boys (9 and 12) recently started eating us out of house and home

Which makes it hurt even worse.

[w8liftinglady]

62. that's my problem.My kids are bottomless pits

Milk prices are killing me,as are meat prices.I wish I could get them to eat grilled cheese every night.

[nonconformist]

63. Yep... my 12 year old inhales food right now

I really hate having to limit things like milk and fresh fruit and veggies... especially since he's a RAIL and going through a huge growth spurt right now. Our grocery bill has easily doubled in the last few months.

[MiniMe]

20. They ship by truck. It will get worse as gas prices rise

[susanna]

21. You're imagining nothing.

And it's only going to get worse, IMHO. They'll tell you they are charging extra for the shipping, and then you're helpless.

Something I did a few years back to mitigate that helpless "at their mercy" feeling: one of the best things you might do is search the web for an English muffin recipe and play "Just Experimenting" with it (no harm, no foul if it's semi-inedible and you're experimenting). Over the years, when something has gotten totally out of whack pricewise in the supermarket, I decide to try to make it for myself (within reason, of course).

This is the same slant of mind that taught me to grow a uber-small (but productive) backyard kitchen garden in an urban area. At this point, I pay such a minimal amount for veggies it's amazing. And I learned to bake the bread we like (sourdough). Sometimes, relying on yourself is worth it. Even if you waste a few productive hours learning the drill, you make up for it forever. And that's a lot of dough, so to speak. ;-)

[wildbilln864]

22. You ain't seen nothing yet. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. You arent't seeing things

[asjr]

24. The stores are going to have to

attach crying towels to the shopping carts.

[lpbk2713]

27. I was looking at the sale circular today from the local grocery store.

Bacon, two for six bucks. That's the SALE price. And it struck me it doesn't seem that long ago the regular price was less than two bucks each.

[Blackhatjack]

28. Next time you go grocery shopping look in your neighbor's cart....

You are likely to see people are buying more staples and fewer impulse items.

I've been watching the meat counter, and packages are getting smaller to hold down the total price. THere are more cheaper cuts of meat finding their way into the meat counter.

The produce section of our local supermarket is being supplied less often, as is the bread department. The price of bread and milk is going up even as we speak.

There is another factor at work here --people are maxed on credit cards, have rising gas prices and utility bills, and there is no longer an home equity to draw on to cover the tough times.

Plus -- just today, it was announced that we should expect home heating bills to go up 50% over last year, and the price of gas will soon breach $3/gallon as it reached $95/barrel today.

I do not think people in this area can afford to pay utility bills 50% higher than last year, and there are going to be lots of people trying to arrange payment plans to keep the gas/electricity on.

We are in for a rough row to hoe I am afraid....

[napi21]

29. Drought weather conditions & hugh fuel price increases are

impacting EVERYTHING! Everything gets to the supermarket via truck and the tax on diesel fuel is higher than it is on gasoline. The cost of moving product across the country keeps increasing, and with oil at $95+ a barrel isn't making it any better.

The droughts have had a big impact on flour, corn, soy, and many other crops we've always depended on.

The cost of raising livestock has gone way up because the cost of feed has increased because of the drought and fuel to deliver it.

I don't know anything about the grape crop, but if all the other crops have been affected, I suspect it was too.

The really sad thing is that I don't see any improvement in the near future!

[Sherman A1]

45. You hit the nail on the head

I've got 34 years in the retail grocery biz and currently one of my jobs is to take care of the prices "advances" tags on Sunday AM each week at the store where I work. Prices that in the past would go up just a nickel or dime are now in the 25 cent or more region. Many times I will see tags for $1.00 advances. This has been going on for really the last year or so. I find that one category or section will go up in unison and sometimes they apparently try to do the advances in the off season of that particular product, but be certain they are going up. It's about cost of doing businsess, energy (fuel & electric), producer prices naturally, healthcare costs (which we all know have been skyrocketing) , wages (although they don't go up near enough), along with all the other stuff.
Recently during a two week vacation and one stop at a Wal Mart Supercenter (because there was no where else to shop at that point) I noted prices to be pretty much in line with what I see at home.

It's a matter of planning ahead, shopping the ad for the week, using what coupons you can and being smart about what you buy. Food is an expense just like any other we have in life. We turn off lights in rooms we are not using to control that expense or plan our errands to control our gasoline costs. You can still go to the grocery store without breaking the bank, it's just a matter of being aware and doing some planning.

[Thothmes]

47. causes

Don't forget that a large amount of corn is diverted from food usage to fuel production. This drives up the cost of raising cattle for milk or slaughter.

[MissDeeds]

30. It's getting out of control

I used to shop and never even notice what prices were - just put what I wanted in the cart, but it is amazing what regular items cost now. Yesterday I bought 3 honey crisp apples for $1.47 - three freakin' apples! And they were just regular size, not jumbo or anything. Oranges have been going for anywhere from 99 cents to $1.29 each. A 24 ounce carton of cottage cheese is nearly $4.

I've started to clip coupons and pay attention to ads. How do people on fixed incomes manage?

[Blackhatjack]

31. Don't worry about 'fixed income folk' they stopped eating long ago ....

You have to choose whether to pay for prescription drugs or pay to keep the heat on or buy food.

Hmmmm... my guess is that food comes in 3rd in that competition.

[Marrah_G]

58. Yeah it does

In my house- gas, oil and electric come before food- drugs are mostly paid for through state subsidized insurance when needed (rarely)- household goods- school supplies- clothes- those are way way down on the list.

We've been learning to stretch our budget by adding ALOT of potatoes. I'm trying not to lean on pasta, but it's cheap and some weeks it's dinner for a few nights.

[Bitwit1234]

34. Go once a week and you'll see 10 to 15 cents from one week to the next.

[magellan]

38. This is true

I shop once a week and have noticed the bill going up for a few years now. I also compare it to a shopping trip my husband and two teenage stepsons made in the late 90s on vacation from the UK: at the time, we filled two shopping carts with goodies and paid just over $300. I don't fill my cart now, and it's just me and hubby (we live here now), and it usually costs about half that each time.

10 years, double the price for half the people...but the government says there's no inflation. I know who's crazy and it ain't us shoppers.

[struggle4progress]

35. Prices are up significantly in NC since my last grocery shopping trip a few weeks ago

We are about to get royally screwed by the Ownership Society

[Bozita]

36. *on sale* flour was $.99/5lb a year ago. It's $1.50 now, *on sale* ... Don't even ask about cheese.

Dairy stuff has gone out of sight.

Cheese?

Ha!

Velveeta was on sale at my local Krogers last week. Four bucks for the two pound loaf of the Pasteurized cheese food. Two bucks per pound.

In early summer, that same Krogers store had 8 oz. bricks of REAL cheese *on sale* for a buck. Two bucks per pound.

Last week, Krogers had a big cheese special. Those 8 oz. bricks were *on sale* for 3/$5.00.

That's a 67% increase, folks.

Wasn't it the Raven who said, "Nevermore"?

[KitchenWitch]

37. Oh, it is bad

I think our grocery bill has gone up by at least 35% in the past three months.

[JCMach1]

39. Commodities of all types are at record levels

this cycle will remain for at least one year.

[Raejeanowl]

40. Yogurt and Canned Cat Food! n/t

[LibDemAlways]

41. The local markets where I live are usually almost empty and

it's rare to see anyone with a full cart. Lots of people hit Costco and buy staples in bulk. The $1.50 hot dog/drink special they run is very popular, too. It's gotten to the point where for two people it costs about as much or less to go out for a light meal as it does to go to the market and buy food. Case in point - the $2.99 head of lettuce I passed on the other day. WTF?

[Lorien]

44. Hey, I passed on that head of lettuce too!

I'm also shopping more at Costco than I was before. I invested in a vacuum sealer and now I'm freezing a lot. It does save quite a bit over the long haul.

[Contrary1]

42. Unfortunately, no delusions...

I have always been very good at keeping the prices in my head for some dumb reason. Many years ago if I was in the neighborhood market, and there was a price check, the cashier would hold the item up in the air and page me for the current price. :)

Anyway, the hubby and I still drink milk. Talk about sticker shock. I am purchasing items only when on sale, and filling up the freezer. Milk, bread, butter, lunch meats...everything gets re-wrapped and frozen.

I figure it is costing the 2 of us $12-$15 more a week to eat these days. My friend in Australia is singing the same song. She blames Shrub.

So do I.

[Lorien]

43. It's really awful if you eat a lot of organic foods

I'm one of those people who can't eat packaged foods (additives and preservatives) or certain conventionally farmed produce, so I buy a lot of organics. Spent $3.68 today on a tiny bag of baby spinach, and $3.45 on a dozen eggs. I don't eat out and I cook everything from scratch, but it's still incredibly expensive.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

46. Couldn't be, Social Security recipients only got a 2.3% cola adjustment recently.

Maybe they are going to starve the old farts to death to cut SS costs.

[superkia]

48. Everything will continue to rise until we only have the wealthy...

and powerful and the rest of us living at the poverty line and in a second class world as servants to the wealthy. I wouldnt expect the costs of anything to ever come down, they will continue the fast pace up.

[catmandu57]

49. Today and Saturday is our shopping day

I've already gone back and crossed several things off our list the we "really don't need", I'm rethinking the wheat flour though, making our bread may be cheaper and better for us in the long run.

[Javaman]

50. My advice. Learn to love cooking from scratch. LOL nt

[malaise]

51. You aint see 'nuthin' yet

Every price rises as gas prices increase.

[Atman]

52. I do the shopping...you should have seen my wife's face on our last trip to the store

We usually try to hit Trader Joes. Excellent prices and very good quality, but sometimes we have to go to a more convenient market. She wanted to make some fancy meal so decided to come along and do the shopping trip with me. She nearly blew a gasket. A dollar for one green pepper or cuke. $5 milk. It's freakin' nutty. But at least it helped explain to her why I'm buying more and more generic stuff. It's not that we can't afford it, it's the whole notion of paying such ridiculous prices when you know what stuff SHOULD cost. I don't buy anything that isn't on special. I don't see how large families survive without a very hefty income (or a farm).

.

[Le Taz Hot]

54. Something similar was posted on DU

a couple of months ago and I chimed in that I hadn't seen much of a price hike in food because I live where most of the food is grown. I spoke WAAAAYYY too soon. I saw a "sale" on eggs at Von's -- buy one, get one free. I thought, "Great!" Then I read the fine print. The first dozen was over $5.00.

[marmar]

65. I guess that will prevent you from putting all your eggs in one basket.....

:silly: Thanks folks, I'll be here all week, unfortunately.

[Atman]

55. self delete

wrong thread!

.

[Marrah_G]

56. Welcome to my nightmare

In recent years gas has doubled, heating oil has doubled, food for my 3 teens has doubled. My single mom paycheck has not.

It's not pretty in the working class world right now.

Every time I see another jerk cheering for 10.00 per gallon gas I want to hurl.

[MadHound]

57. Two interrelated factors are effecting prices

First, the price of fuel. We ship the food in grocery stores thousands of miles to bring it to your grocer's shelf. With the rising price of fuel, that cost is passed along to you the consumer.

Second, with the price of fuel going up, there's been a huge press to grow corn for ethanol production. This is not only driving the price of corn, a staple crop, up, but it is also taking land away from food crops and devoting it to ethanol production. Thus, higher corn prices means higher prices for livestock feed, high fructose corn syrup, etc. etc., all the products that are directly or indirectly using corn. With the loss of land devoted to other food crops, the prices for those crops go up. Thus we see wheat, barley, soybeans etc. all going up due to scarcity.

My suggestion is that you might start finding that prices at your local farmer's market are actually cheaper than the grocery store. The food isn't transported so far and the land hasn't been switched over from food crops to fuel crops.

[marmar]

59. I have started going to the farmer's market....

And you know what, I enjoy shopping at the markets a lot more anyway.

[bpeale]

60. i shop at the same bulk store that supplies most of the businesses in our area

the prices there are even lower than Sam's Club. I buy bulk staples there. I also invested in a freezer & keep it stocked with sale items from the local grocery store. i check the local grocery's cutout bin for meats they can no longer sell as "fresh" but are not bad either. i often buy whole chickens, roasts, chops, etc. from the cutout bins & usually take all they have there.

here in the desert southwest, heating costs have skyrocketed & with that in mind, we will probably not turn on the heat this winter. luckily it doesn't get THAT cold here that you can't stand it. if you wear sweats in the house it's usually comfortable. there are down blankets on the back of every chair & sofa in the house if you are cold, and electric blankets on every bed in the house.