I know this is something a lot of people have been talking about, but I still have to write about it!
Pampers just went up 10% this past week ($2/box). Half and half went up 10%. Those are the two I can think of right off the top of my head. When I get done writing the check at the store and look at what I get for my money I can hardly believe it any longer. I do shop the loss leaders, we don’t buy a lot of junk, etc.
On the other hand, we do eat well. Many of the things that are good for you cost money. That is one thing I am always suspicious of when I see people say they can feed a family of four for $50 a week or something. How much fresh produce are they eating? How much fish? How much organic? How many things like nuts and such that are really good for you but are definitely not cheap? I know we could eat a lot cheaper, but at the expense of good health? I would rather sacrifice elsewhere else in our budgeting than eat poorly just to save a few bucks at the store.
At the same time, everything I’m reading says that grocery prices are going to continue to go up, up, up this year. If you haven’t started keeping a pantry, now would be a really good time.
Think about it. If I had bought five boxes of diapers two weeks ago, I would have reaped a $10 return on my investment almost immediately. Where can you get a 10% return on any investment nowadays? If you factor that out over hundreds of items you will buy over the next ten months… The savings could be substantial.
Something to think about.
I paid $48 to put gas in my car this morning. Luckily I don’t have to commute a long distance. But I was horrified all the same.
Apparently wheat prices are skyrocketing because farmers are growing corn instead to make ethanol. And more wheat is being exported. Make biofuels seem counterproductive.
Tracy – We are fortunate that the gas prices have been mostly irrelevant for us. We use our cars very little since we both work at home, church is close, stores are close, and we’re just general homebodies anyway. But I know gas has become a huge issue for some families. But the groceries are starting to be something we’re noticing. I have read that about the wheat and ethanol. Seems we can’t win! 🙂
Ethanol is counterproductive. It actually requires a ton of fuel to produce ethanol in the first place…
But that wasn’t really why I was commenting. Sallie, I have noticed it also! We have high food bills already due to our children’s allergies. They are so sensitive…they cannot eat packaged food at all due to the additives, and they also cannot eat many of the canned foods for the same reasons. I joined a co-op so that we could buy our alternative grains and dried beans and such in bulk, but I am thinking that I need to develop my green thumb. What little we planted in our garden last year benefited us so much, and I’m thinking that it would be even more beneficial this year!
Yup. Looks like we’re in for that hideous inflation-plus-recession combo circa the 1970’s. I remember those days so well…. no new clothes for any of us, no milk in a bottle (only powdered dry), rationing the air conditioning, no trips to McDonald’s, no movies. I remember begging my mother to buy me a bottle of Coke. (No deal.) I remember wearing nothing but hand-me-downs from cousins, and the pure jealousy I felt when my brother was allowed to buy a pair of Levis jeans.
I don’t know how those people feed four people on 50 bucks a week either!
I spend 150 for four people (including baby stuff like diapers, any cleaning products I need, toilet paper, detergent, etc) and I cannot get it lower than that. We eat well enough I guess, organic dairy, fresh veg and fruit, but nothing extraordinary.
Everything is going up! I noticed yogurt is $.10 higher per single serving. It seems like everything is around $.10 to $.20 higher in the grocery store! Guess we’ll have to eat less. 😉
My parents own a commercial bakery. They supply product to places like Sysco, Meijer, etc. In the past year the cost of flour has gone up 150% . They use to pay $16 per unit of flour. They are now paying $40! In the last few weeks they’ve been forced to raise their prices. Another reason for the price increases at the grocery store.
Our grocery prices in OH have been higher for the last three months and I am trying to be more faithful with matching the coupons with the sale prices to make up some of the difference. Are you familiar with the Grocery Game . com? I learned a lot about matching sales and coupons from that, but I decided to discontinue the program for now since most of the products were prepared foods or cleaners that we don’t buy much of. It is discouraging to know that you can eat junk more economically than healthy whole unprocessed foods. We buy a lot in bulk to save – the difference is incredible. I buy large bags 25# of flour and freeze them. Everything is stored in glass jars to maintain freshness and we try very hard not to waste. Another help for families that are struggling with higher grocery prices is ‘Angel Food Ministries’ and it is more like a food co-op. You can feed a family of 4 for a week for $30 – they pick the menu and it looks fairly well rounded and plentiful. It isn’t dependent on income, so I think that’s a big help to those ‘on the edge’ families who are struggling even with a ‘decent’ income. They are not in every State yet, but they are widespread. I hope these ideas help!
I have noticed the rising cost of groceries as well. It just keeps getting more and more expensive to bring home the same amount of groceries each week!
Goodness, our prices have jumped so much that I put off going to the grocery for days, I just can’t bear to think of spending $50.00 and walking out with 2 small bags of staples. We don’t use processed/frozen/prepared foods, but buy fresh fish, meat and lots of produce. However, we do have an advantage in the produce & fish area. Since we live in a large metropolitan area, there is a huge Asian community. They have GREAT (and yes, I’m shouting!) produce markets where things are so cheap you have to wonder why American grocery stores are charging (i.e. Avocado $ .99 at the Asian market vs. – $1.99 at Publix) so much more. Milk and eggs are sky high here – at least $2.50 for medium eggs and milk is at least $3.50 for low-fat/gallon. We also buy in bulk at Costco/Sam’s – especially cleaning products. We have a finished basement and have shelving where we store most of it – including the 50 lbs. of dog food which is about the same price as a 10lb. bag at Wal-Mart (go figure).
Here’s a thought for some of you, while we’re in our early 50’s, in some areas we are considered senior citizens! Although my pride (ok, I know this sounds silly!) is a little bruised over this, I started shopping on the days they offer Senior Discounts (10% in one store alone) at each of the grocery stores. I know most of the gals here aren’t of that age, but a few of you are.
I just heard that last year was the biggest increase in grocery prices in 16 or 17 years. Gulp!
I’m not huge into rebates, etc., like some frugal housewives (know coupons was a previous topic here!) but I do use coupons for products I normally buy anyway. If I see that something is on sale, I get out all my coupons for that product and gradually stock up over the course of a week. For instance, I like to eat shredded wheat for breakfast, which is usually $4.59 a box. At least every couple months it’s on sale, 2 for $5.00. With my Nabisco coupons doubled, I knock the price down further, to $1.50 per box. Usually by the time I run out of the 8 or so boxes I put in the cupboard, it’s on sale again and I restock. 🙂
(Our store here in So. CA will double one coupon for a particular product per visit. The store is close to my house and I’m often in that shopping center anyway to use the post office, so it takes just a minute to go in and grab a couple more boxes on a non-shopping day and use another doubled coupon. I look at it as getting a little more exercise going in the store again, rather than wasting time, LOL. I wouldn’t feel this way if I my children were still very young and I needed to shepherd them in and out along with me each trip, grin.)
Just a tip on one thing I do to try to deal with grocery prices. It takes me very little time but I see a big savings. (Yes, I wish the prices were normally low every day instead, but since our stores have been operating this way with double coupons as long as I’ve been married, I play along with the system when it’s convenient…) Even so, I’ve really been noticing how high the bills have been in recent weeks.
Best wishes,
Laura
Do you do couponing, Sallie? I have been saving a lot by clipping my huggies and pampers coupons and then buying them on days when the store also offers a store coupon. It really does help offset the high cost of diapers.
(Though I don’t think I’ll be continuing to buy Pampers any more since they are now a UNICEF partner! Ugg!! I hate to think my diaper money is going to that organization.)
ummm…. what’s the problem with UNICEF? BTW, Kimberly-Clark (Huggies producer) is also a UNICEF partner.
Honestly, I’ve kinda thrown my hands up at the grocery stores. We’ve been eating most of our meals out, mainly because I cannot stand spending $150 on four or five little plastic bags of groceries. Quite frankly, I’d rather pay someone to serve us! I keep the pantry and fridge stocked with the basics, but I haven’t cooked a full meal in months. (I’m not a good cook anyway, so it’s not like my family is missing out on anything spectacular.)
I’ve read blogs for a long time. These women who feed a family of 10 on $50 a week (slightly sarcastic, slightly honest) are feeding their family junk in a box.
CVS had extra care bucks on boxed mac n cheese so we loaded up! I had triple coupons for hamburger helper so we ended up getting 100 boxes for 2.50! How do I know this? I used to do it.
When people whine and carry on about how they can’t afford good food, I can tell they’ve never really (REALLY) tried. You can hit a farmers market and LOAD up on fresh produce for a song. You can do so many things to eat well. Most people are either too lazy or too into the “grocery game” of saving money to do so.
I’d rather spend more money on food and eat well. You can’t put a price on health. Sorry. 🙂
Just a thought:
Grocery prices vary with location. In the Midwest, I COULD load up with fresh produce for a song at the Farmers’ Market. In the Southwest, last time I went to the Farmers’ Mkt, spinach was $2 /quarter pound. Yes, $8/lb.
So, Farmers’ Markets can be ridiculous too.
Jora, 98% of the people in America can shop at a REASONABLE farmers market, CSA, farm stand, or buy directly from a farmer, if they only try and do it.
go to http://www.localharvest.org and you’ll find much and aplenty 🙂
Trust me, I’ve spent over 3 years doing hard research in food culture and eating lifestyles. Most people don’t eat better simply because they either dont want to, don’t know how to, or are too lazy to persue it.
period. 🙂
Then, there are the VERY RELATIVELY FEW people who are in the middle of the desert or country who have nobody around. But they are very, very rare.
And hey, one can always plant a garden and grow local produce. And it is still cheaper than hamburger helper on a bogo!
I just had to comment on the farmer’s market comments. I live in the desert of Las Vegas. Yes, we have farmer’s markets in different parks weekly. But the pickings are slim and the prices are much, much higher than the supermarket. I’ve found their produce to be more expensive than Whole Foods! I grew up and spent the majority of my life in the midwest where farmer’s markets are cheap and easy to find. But for the millions of us (yes, we are in the millions) who live in the desert, farmers markets are not cheaper at all. It is also very difficult to get things to grow when your water is rationed and your sun is so very intense for the majority of the year (for a garden). I’m not very good at gardening, but we’ve tried out here and it just hasn’t worked for us.
I understand you’ve done a lot of research, but Jora’s comments are very true about produce here in the southwest desert.
You’re right, I’m wrong. Most Americans can’t afford to eat fresh good food.
I never thought about the return on investment for stocking the pantry! I’ve stocked the pantry for several years, just to catch good deals. But your equating to investment terms really hit home!
Well, I don’t live in a desert but in the great Midwest, and where we live it is just about impossible to get our square foot gardens to work well because of our neighbor’s trees!!! I’m not joking. We’ve done the square foot gardening the past couple of years and everything starts off great and then as soon as the trees leaf out it stalls and then quits. Our only recourse is to hire professional tree people to come in and cut down everything that hangs over our yard. (We are within the law to do this.) We are hoping this spring to convince that neighbor and the other neighbor to go in with us and hire it all done on all our properties at once. We’ll see.
So why do I write this? Because let’s face it. We all face unique obstacles and have to decide which ones we want to overcome and which ones we don’t. Do we NEED to garden? No. Will it be worth dropping a bundle to get the trees trimmed? Probably not in terms of what we’ll save by growing our own garden. But there are other tradeoffs that might make it worth it if not looking at it from the purely financial standpoint.
Anyway, we all have our grocery issues. Some people won’t spend money on fresh produce but they have the money for DishNetwork. Some people don’t have the money to buy good fish, but they do have the money to go to the movies every weekend. Now granted some people just struggle and have to pinch every penny. I understand that and have lived that for a bit as well. But many of us don’t even have to watch every dollar let alone every penny.
It’s all about tradeoffs. For me the tradeoff between time and money is a huge one. I constantly battle between the two. I value my time A LOT and sometimes I am willing to spend money to have more of it. That’s just me. Someone else might feel differently. I was an avid coupon clipper and rebater for a while when I first stayed home. Went to multiple stores each week, the whole nine yards… I’ve decided it isn’t worth it at this point in my life. It is more financially advantageous for me to work during that amount of time than study sale fliers and coupon boxes. But that’s just me. Some one else might feel completely different and the amount she makes per hour doing couponing and rebating might be the best thing she could do for her family.
Just my two cents!