Food prices are up

[TwoMisfits]

I haven't traded down at all, although I do believe food prices haven risen ridiculously. Yes I shop sales but I shop sales on the products I normally by, rib eye steak and roast were on sale in May for 4.99, I stocked up. Once again 100% beef burgers were on sale Every where last week because of the 4th of July. I've got enough ground beef and burgers to last through the summer. Took a ton of it and made pasta sauce, the rest is for meat loaf.

Poultry products like chicken and Turkey tend to go on sale big time around labor day. I stock up.

So no, I haven't traded down, as a general rule that doesn't work in my family tends to like for specific stuff (I refuse to drink any thing but coke, lol so you should see my trunk when I can get 5 12 packs for 10 bucks).

I have traded down to generic Listerine and paper products

So, personally you have been able to thwart most of the inflationary effect by stocking up on loss leaders and trading down (in non-food items). Many have no ability to stock up for months (apartment dwellers/small home dwellars wouldn't have the space, people on low incomes wouldn't have the seed money, etc) and many are brand sensitive, so they are likely getting the full effect now. Just b/c someone can thwart most of the current food inflation doesn't mean everyone can, nor does it mean the inflation does not exist on the whole for most.

 

[smcabee]

Even Sales prices seem high anymore. I was looking at sales flyers for several local markets here over the past few months and absolutely nothing jumped out as being a good deal. Time to go back to living like a poor college student.

 

[TwoMisfits]

And Eliza, I wanted to say - you are being a smart, savvy shopper who is doing her best to feed a family the most healthy way possible for the least amount of money - your skills will likely be more and more necessary over the next few years. We are unlikely to see an abrupt end to the food inflation, nor are we likely to see an abrupt increase in wages.

 

[MKMomma]

That is a very interesting experiment to do.

It is the CPI for food.

 

[eliza61]

And Eliza, I wanted to say - you are being a smart, savvy shopper who is doing her best to feed a family the most healthy way possible for the least amount of money - your skills will likely be more and more necessary over the next few years. We are unlikely to see an abrupt end to the food inflation, nor are we likely to see an abrupt increase in wages.

Hey, I totally agree with you, what's killing me is gas, as I drive 40 miles each way for work, oy vey!! Gas prices are insane.

I'm definitely honing my skills because I also want to retire in a few years so I'm trying to gauge how to keep down prices when I moved into a fixed budget

In Jersey, a new (or already at least new to me) trend has been "steer buying". Butcher's are selling whole cows, so they pair you up with 3-4 other families and you split the cost of one whole cow. Haven't tried it, but reading up on it.

 

[TwoMisfits]

It is the CPI for food.

No, the CPI for food does not account for item shrinkage or ingredient changes (like less beef in your hot dog) or consumer downgrades in the same "category" (like sirloin for ribeye or chicken legs for chicken breast) or the %/frequency consumers buy certain products (like milk vs mayo)...I'd suggest the experiment for you may also be eye-opening, so you could see the difference between the CPI of food and the true food inflation...

 

[nugov2]

I haven't noticed a difference in pricing at all in the last year. I do tend to buy the same items weekly, but will always grab some stuff that is on special.

Some price comparisons from this week:
butter 2.25 lb
organic eggs 2.66 a dozen
cereal 1.69-1.99 a box
milk 2.25-2.69 a gallon(price fluctuates, but I try to buy on sale)
almond milk(my kids drink it) 5.00 a gallon
ground beef 3.29 lb
bacon 3.12 lb
strawberries 1.50 lb
raspberries 2.50 pint
grapes .99 lb
plums/nectarines .99 lb
blueberries 1.45 pint


I buy organic when it isn't outrageous(I almost always get good prices somewhere for what I like to get), but I also am a SAHM so can hit Costco, trader joes, Aldi and a local chain. I do Costco/TJ once a month and stock up for the month. I do Aldi/local chain weekly. I buy all meats from costco which keeps prices low. Even their organic meat is reasonable and when I have a coupon I will stock up.

ETA we have an extra freezer and separate fridge/freezer. Having 3 in the house is a huge blessing. I will buy huge quantities when there are great sales. I calculate what we will need for the time frame until it would go bad and buy it up.

 

[Colleen27]

I saw the price of ground beef today an nearly fainted. 80/20% was going for over $4 i had to buy a bulk pack to get it for $3.99. All for burgers! I was going to buy Bubba burgers but those are now at $10 for 6 burgers. Used to be $6. Crazy. And i am watching carbs so fillers like pasta and potatoes are out.

My garden isnt really producing yet. The herb garden is. And i did pick my first jalepeno today but the tomatoes are not ready yet.

That's crazy! I just paid 2.49/lb for ground chuck (and stocked the freezer because I know that's a good price).

My garden isn't doing much this year either. The one really hot spell we had seems to have stunted my cauliflower and broccoli, the latter going to flower without ever forming real heads, but the consistently cool nights seem to be playing havoc with the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Only a couple of plants have even started flowering and the only thing I've picked so far is a half-dozen cherry tomatoes. I'm drowning in peas, though - normally they've died back from heat by now and I'm thinking about when to plant the fall crop but my spring plants are still producing like crazy. Too bad we can't live on peas and lettuce alone!

 

[OhMari]

Hey, I totally agree with you, what's killing me is gas, as I drive 40 miles each way for work, oy vey!! Gas prices are insane.

I'm definitely honing my skills because I also want to retire in a few years so I'm trying to gauge how to keep down prices when I moved into a fixed budget

In Jersey, a new (or already at least new to me) trend has been "steer buying". Butcher's are selling whole cows, so they pair you up with 3-4 other families and you split the cost of one whole cow. Haven't tried it, but reading up on it.

We have county fairs, and the kids try and sell their steers. The Grand Champion will go to the biggest grocery store in town. Then you have the chance to bid on the rest of the steers. We go in with 2 other families and we paid $.69 a lb. last year. We got 1/3 of the steer.

And the amazing shrinking food product? Graham Crackers. Everyone's marsh-mellow was flowing out of the cracker while we made s'mores. I just noticed the shrunk them.

 

[MKMomma]

No, the CPI for food does not account for item shrinkage or ingredient changes (like less beef in your hot dog) or consumer downgrades in the same "category" (like sirloin for ribeye or chicken legs for chicken breast) or the %/frequency consumers buy certain products (like milk vs mayo)...I'd suggest the experiment for you may also be eye-opening, so you could see the difference between the CPI of food and the true food inflation...

TBH, I don't really care. My grocery buying habits haven't changed.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I find myself wishing that we could have a few chickens in our backyard for eggs and I could kill them for eating too (I grew up on a farm and was the person who did that).

I also wish that I was able to do my veggie garden this summer but with my surgery, I was lucky to get the tomato plants in with my daughters help. At least we've been able to eat fresh tomatoes.

My daughter also planted peppers but those plants died. I hate paying 2.99 a pound for something I know I could grow easily.

 

[java]

In Jersey, a new (or already at least new to me) trend has been "steer buying". Butcher's are selling whole cows, so they pair you up with 3-4 other families and you split the cost of one whole cow. Haven't tried it, but reading up on it.

Ive heard more successes than misses on steer buying, but the 2 misses i heard of scare me away from it. Both just seemed to get bad meat. Very fatty. Not well cut. Thy used 2 differnt places. One used a butcher(which really i thought was user error mayb she stored it incorrectly) but the other bought direct fom a farmer. Just not good. Im thinking that if you get a bad piece thats not the end of the world, but a half cow being bad would be a disaster.

 

[Southernmiss]

Ive heard more successes than misses on steer buying, but the 2 misses i heard of scare me away from it. Both just seemed to get bad meat. Very fatty. Not well cut. Thy used 2 differnt places. One used a butcher(which really i thought was user error mayb she stored it incorrectly) but the other bought direct fom a farmer. Just not good. Im thinking that if you get a bad piece thats not the end of the world, but a half cow being bad would be a disaster.

This has been our experience as well. Bought from a local farmer and the meat tasted gamely. I believe it's because we were used to the grain fed processed meat of the grocery store.

Think I'll just substitute ground turkey for ground beef and catch other meat on sale.

 

[tvguy]

Are these sale prices? Everything but the meat seems expensive to me. I always shop sales too and these prices sound high. Where do you live?

Sacramento, California. Supposedly the drought is causing our prices to go up. I think everything is regular prices.

Once in a while the boneless skinless chicken breasts got on sale fro $1.99 a pound, so this may be a regular price too.
The produce prices are all at the regular grocery story, which is higher, but has higher quality. The soda, butter, juice were all at the Neighborhood Walmart. I think a 12 pack of Diet Coke is $5.99 at the regular store.

 

[kymom99]

We rarely buy steaks anymore, but we used to have them fairly frequently. We like ribeyes when we have steak. I bought 3 ribeyes today to have for my son's birthday dinner tomorrow. $33 for 3 steaks. My husband almost wet himself!

 

[EMode]

I have been doing alot of shopping at Aldi's and between that and stocking up during Shop Rite sales my grocery budget hasn't been effected much. We also have a local grocer who has fantastic prices on produce and regular prices on meat so if what I want/need isn't on sale I can get it there. You can't do any other grocery shopping there because their prices are so outrageous (probably to make up for their meat and produce prices).

 

[manning]

You have to be aware what the unit price is.

I.E.
The price of something is 9.00 yesterday and today.

Yesterday the quantity in the package was 48 oz

Today it's 40 oz.

Yes the price of the package is the same but what's in it is less.

And isn't it amazing the physical size of the package doesn't change and when it does it's hard to tell.

 

[superme80]

No matter how much we try and cut back our grocery budget makes me want to cry. Now that DS #3 is on solids it is only to get worse! We don't have a Wal-Mart or Trader Joe's near me, so I use Target, Safeway, and Grocery Outlet. Produce has gone up so much. I tried to plant a garden this year, but some curious 3 year old dug it up!

 

[DanInMN]

The Consumer Price Index for food went up 2.5% between May 2013 and May 2014. Prices in specific locales, or for specific products, may have increased 20% - but that figure does not appear to be true overall.

Stocking up loss-leaders is probably the best financial investment a family can make, if you have space to store it and it does not spoil.

 

[Colleen27]

This has been our experience as well. Bought from a local farmer and the meat tasted gamely. I believe it's because we were used to the grain fed processed meat of the grocery store.

That's it exactly. There is a noticeable difference between grain fed beef and pastured, even if the pastured beef is grain finished, and there's a bit of an adjustment in switching from one to the other.