Groceries...GRRRRR!!!

[Marionnette]

Food prices really are getting crazy. Wish I could get milk for $2.99 a gallon. I'm in PA. Here, a gallon of milk, is $4.17, and that is just the store brand. To get a "name brand" like Valley Farms is $4.70. I drink a lot of milk and it kills me to spend over $4 a gallon. I switched to the 2% just to keep it under $4 a gallon.

I do the best I can trying to watch my spending, but it's still more than I would like it to be, and it's just me that I am buying for! I have been tracking my spending this year, but I fell behind. I need to record my receipts from June until now. I think I was running about a $4.50 a day average on groceries. That isn't just food though. That is basically everything I buy from the store. I am thinking the average total will come down when I catch up on my records, because I had veggies and herbs from the garden during the summer, which was great. Never mind that I ate squash everyday for 4.5 weeks straight. Helped out my food cost. lol.

I do use the store flyer and buy things on sale, shop seasonal produce, and I hardly eat any meat, chicken thighs, mostly. Try and get those when they are 99¢ a pound.

As for coupons, they don't really work for me, every time that I ask my parents if they want their coupons, and they never do, so I go through them, and 95% of what is in there, is prepackaged food, which I do not buy. The bulk of my food is produce and dairy, followed by grains like quinoa, rice, oats and pasta, a lot of beans and very little meat. If I could get coupons for fruit, veg and milk, now that would be a help. The only "prepared" item in my cart today, was a treat of Oreos for myself.

I shop at the closest stores super Walmart (17 miles) or at Weis (14 miles). There is a Giant about 22 miles away, and a Wegman's, which is expensive IMO, about 30 miles away. I find the better prices to be at the first two stores anyway.

Have you tried checking out a couponing website for tips on how to find coupons for organic foods, dairy and produce? Last week, I had a coupon for a free gallon of milk plus a 25¢ rebate (any brand, even organic), free eggs (Eggland's Best), a store coupon for $5 a grocery total of $25 or more (again, very few restrictions - just no gift cards, tobacco, alcohol or lottery tickets). Plus I got partial rebates on tomatoes, avocados, onions and bananas. Those rebates were good for organic produce as long as you made your purchases at the designated stores. I also have another store coupon for $3 off a $15 produce purchase and multiple coupons for fresh berries (Driscoll's). If you purchase Bob's Red Mill grains, they have a printable coupon on their website good for any of their products. Mambo sprouts .com has a newsletter and regularly sends out coupon links for organic products. Writing to manufacturers and "liking" their FB pages are also another way to get coupons for their products.

It's not easy shopping for healthy foods on a budget. Knowing where to look for the deals can take a lot of work and planning. I won't find coupons for free milk every week and the rebates on the fruits and vegetables vary from one week to another. But it's possible to make it work when you know where to look.

 

[sarasmom97]

My co-worker and I were recently complaining about the price of bacon, it's been around $7.00 lb.
But now, after reading all your posts here, I better stop complaining about prices. I was shocked when I saw some of the prices mentioned.

Here in the Greater Phoenix area, you can get a gallon of milk almost any week for $1.99 or less. Eggs are often .99 dz and chicken is often under 1.99 lb. Produce is always on sale, lettuce $1, cukes .50, tomatoes.99. One of the stores last week had raspberries for.87 and ears of corn 8 for $1!

It may have something to do with the competition in the area. We have 6 large chains that sell groceries:Fry's(Kroger), Safeway, Albertsons, Basha's ,WalMart and WinCo. All 4 of the grocery stores have weekly specials,and WalMart price matches all the other store's flyers. WinCo is different, it's a employee owned warehouse, only takes cash, but they do have some great specials. I'm assuming they all have to have loss-leader items to bring customers into the store each week, hence all the $1.99 milk!

Now I know why people in other areas have such high grocery bills. I'm fortunate that all of these 6 stores are within 3 miles of my house. With coupons and specials, I only spend about $40 a week for groceries, which includes stuff for lunches for me and my daughter to take to school/work.

I'll be thinking about all of you the next time I'm complaining about high prices

 

[Laketravis]

I live in Austin but a couple of weeks ago was in Ft. Lauderdale and decided to do a little price comparing since we've been talking about possibly moving to Florida.

It seems that Walmart is extremely consistent in pricing of dry and canned goods but dairy, produce, and meat were much higher. Forget places like Publix and Win Dixie, they were outrageous when compared to HEB in Austin.

I found this especially interesting as earned wages in Austin are most likely higher than wages in Ft. Lauderdale.

Some examples (the first price is Austin, second price Ft. Lauderdale):

Gas: 3.11 / 3.51 gallon
2% Milk: 2.99 / 4.35 gallon
DiGiorno Pizza: 4.99 / 7.67
Roma Tomatoes: .79 / 1.99 lb.
8 oz Kraft Shredded Cheese: 2.39 / 4.29
Boneless Chicken Breast @ Walmart: 1.99 / 1.99 lb.
Boneless Chicken Breast @ Publix (Fl): 4.39 lb.
Dozen eggs: 1.79 / 1.98
Head of Lettuce: 1.14 / 1.58
80/20 Chuck: 3.10 / 3.99
Kraft Thousand Island: 1.89 / 3.29
Miracle Whip: 3.29 / 5.18
Honey Wheat Bread: 1.88 / 3.15
Bananas: .47 / .69

And before you accuse me of making any of this up, I took pictures.

 

[superme80]

Made it to the Farmer's Market. My favorite farm had the last of the strawberries. I paid $10 for a 3 pack of organic strawberries. Peaches and nectarines were $2.35 a lb. I got a little over a pound of the 2. The farm with the peaches picks everything the day before the market. I live in the foothills of California so we have tons of awesome local farms.
I went to Grocery Outlet and got milk for $3.39 a gallon and that is a bargain. I have been craving everything pumpkin so go to Safeway yesterday. Libby Pumpkin was $1.99 a can! I hate Libby so I got an organic brand for $2.59 at the overpriced local health store. Yes it was $.60 more a can, but I am happier with it. I think this is another year I am going to have to buy pumpkins and freeze my own for baking.

 

[mrodgers]

Exactly. I've lived all over the continental US, as well as Alaska and Hawaii. Higher grocery prices usually mean higher wages as well.

Oh how I wish this were true. I'd love to have decent wages around me. It would certainly help not spending 1 paycheck a month on groceries.

 

[Robs627]

We eat mostly unprocessed foods and the prices are crazy! I don't know what happened to meat prices but it's unbelievable. A local BBQ joint has not had brisket due to prices and availability.

 

[disney212]

Got a great price on bacon. Store had Hormel black label (a full pound) for $3.99 if you purchased 5. I had a manufacturer coupon for $2 off and a store coupon for $3 off a meat purchase of $10. We don't use much bacon but I got 5 packs to put in the freezer for our huge Christmas morning brunch. Since I saw it was on sale in the ad we took 5 coupons (found one in a magazine, had 2 for a while and got 1 Saturday in the home ads and another in Sunday's paper). Grand total $6.95 for 5 pounds. I am not even a huge coupon person, I spend less than 5 minutes per week. Love when things align like that.

 

[Jedana]

I live in Austin but a couple of weeks ago was in Ft. Lauderdale and decided to do a little price comparing since we've been talking about possibly moving to Florida.

It seems that Walmart is extremely consistent in pricing of dry and canned goods but dairy, produce, and meat were much higher. Forget places like Publix and Win Dixie, they were outrageous when compared to HEB in Austin.

I found this especially interesting as earned wages in Austin are most likely higher than wages in Ft. Lauderdale.

Some examples (the first price is Austin, second price Ft. Lauderdale):

Gas: 3.11 / 3.51 gallon
2% Milk: 2.99 / 4.35 gallon
DiGiorno Pizza: 4.99 / 7.67
Roma Tomatoes: .79 / 1.99 lb.
8 oz Kraft Shredded Cheese: 2.39 / 4.29
Boneless Chicken Breast @ Walmart: 1.99 / 1.99 lb.
Boneless Chicken Breast @ Publix (Fl): 4.39 lb.
Dozen eggs: 1.79 / 1.98
Head of Lettuce: 1.14 / 1.58
80/20 Chuck: 3.10 / 3.99
Kraft Thousand Island: 1.89 / 3.29
Miracle Whip: 3.29 / 5.18
Honey Wheat Bread: 1.88 / 3.15
Bananas: .47 / .69

And before you accuse me of making any of this up, I took pictures.

On sale at Publix this week (FL)
T-gone or porterhouse 8.99/lb
Chicken cutlets or tenderloins 4.49/lb
coho salmon fillets 10.99/lb
publix mild or hot Italian sausage 5.79/package (1 lb)
Ground Chuck 5.99/lb
Angus chuck roast 5.99/lb
ground sirloin 4.99/lb
Publix bacon 10.00/2 package
Corn 2.00/5 ears
Red seedless grapes 2.49/lb
peaches/nectarines 1.99/lb
green beans/eggplant/okra/yellow or zucchini squash 1.69/lb
publix Shredded or chunk cheese 4.99/16oz package


Winn Dixie:
whole beef tenderloin 10.99/lb
fresh kabobs (chicken/beef/pork) 4.99/lb
oranges .99/lb
boneless New York strip 7.99/lb
thighs/drumsticks (bone in) 1.25/lb (1/2 off)
gala apples/bartlett pears .99/lb
Smithfield bacon 4.00/package (1/2 off)
Pork chops, center cut 2.75/lb (1/2 off)
whole chicken 1.49/lb

W/D is usually cheaper here, plus you get $ off of Shell gas, but Publix has better produce and meats (quality). I like it when Publix has the spend $50, get $10 off a $50 gas card---I get the gas cards for Shell (usually 2 of them), and do the rest of my shopping at W/D, to get the $ off the gas--$10 in free gas, plus I usually save .60-1.00 per gallon with the savings.