Grocery prices where you live

[mhfrau]

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I'm curious what grocery prices are throughout the country. Over the past year especially, I am finding that groceries and gas are skyrocketing in my area, and when I talk to family and friends in other states they tell me they don't see this kind of increase.

As a disclaimer, I do live in a very, very expensive part of South Florida, and our population ebbs and flows with the seasons with the snowbirds. Generally, I shop at the local Winn Dixie and Publix based on weekly sales, and I go to Whole Foods also because oddly, sometimes the prices on meat, dairy and veggies are even better than the mass market chains. I took this pic above when I bought bacon last week at Winn Dixie, and I wish I had taken a shot of the $6.24 gallon of store brand milk.

So what's it like in your neck of the woods?

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Wow, I thought bacon was expensive here ($5-6 a package, depending on the store and brand). A gallon of milk is around $3.69.

Do you have a Sams Club or Costco nearby? I've found buying in bulk cuts costs on many of our grocery items.

 

[tvguy]

Oscar Mayer bacon is on sale at Safeway this week for $3.99 for that package.

I don't think 7-11 charges that much for bacon here.

 

[hsmamato2]

in a regular store like Stop&Shop,or BigY it's like that around here...I don't shop there. I shop Aldis,or Price Rite,or occasionally super Walmart.
Even tho every store is going up and up, those are still the cheapest options.
last year I got away with 50-75.00 per week for groceries without breaking a sweat (4 people) now we're at 100-125.00 for the same stuff....and I cook mostly from scratch,etc etc. It's costly, no way around it,even for just ingredients to make stuff,it's expensive. I gave up regular grocery stores years ago.
FWIW, at Aldi, that pack of bacon,store brand is approx. 3.00-

 

[wiigirl]

I bought bacon last night actually for BLTs

I got lettuce, tomato, and bacon for around $7!

 

[SGMCO]

note to self: become vegetarian

 

[sksjasams]

Our prices vary greatly based on where you shop!

If I go to the Copps (Roundys) store close to my house, I can get a big box of Life cereal for $4.69. Instead if I go to the Woodmans store 10 min. away, I can get the same box of cereal for $2.99.

I do occasionally buy meat when its on sale at Copps, but other than that I stick to Woodmans. I stop at Costco usually once every two weeks and stock up on skim milk (with no bgh) for only $2.24 a gallon!

 

[powellrj]

I will usually pick up bacon when its under $4. A few weeks ago Kroger had oscar myer for $3.59 so I bought a couple. A gallon of mild runs $2.59. I do notice that prices have gone up in the past few weeks, but not that much!

 

[tvguy]

I walked down to Target on my lunch break. Oscar Meyer bacon is $5.69 there. THAT is above the price I would pay, I would run from over $9.

 

[tvguy]

Okay, your shot indicates this was taken in Winn Dixie, and you are in Florida.
Winn Dixie in Jacksonville has Gwaltney bacon on sale for $3.99
Buy that brand instead

http://winndixie.mywebgrocer.com/CircularItemList.aspx?catID=1379&pos=0&pcid=585&pcn=Meat & Seafood&s=291536909&g=dae4d91f-d5f9-4c2a-a640-7c6115a94421&uc=30D17119

 

[mrsabbott]

Lol! I am a vegetarian and I find fresh produce to be very expensive!

 

[mhfrau]

Okay, your shot indicates this was taken in Winn Dixie, and you are in Forida.
Winn Dixie in Jacksonville has Gwaltney bacon on sale for $3.99
Buy that brand instead

http://winndixie.mywebgrocer.com/CircularItemList.aspx?catID=1379&pos=0&pcid=585&pcn=Meat & Seafood&s=291536909&g=dae4d91f-d5f9-4c2a-a640-7c6115a94421&uc=30D17119

Don't get me wrong... I'm not an idiot, and would never pay 9 bucks for bacon I was just curious about how things range across the country. For example, the Winn Dixie prices in Jax are much lower than ours down in south Florida. Having lived in the NYC, Boston and Atlanta metro areas, I've just never seen such a wild swing in prices.

Since you are in California, do prices for goods vary from San Fran to LA? I mean does the same store in Beverly Hills carry the same exact product that one in Truckee does, but the price varies by 300% just based on the wealth base of the zip code?

In my 48 years, I've just never noticed how different it could be.

 

[tvguy]

Don't get me wrong... I'm not an idiot, and would never pay 9 bucks for bacon I was just curious about how things range across the country. For example, the Winn Dixie prices in Jax are much lower than ours down in south Florida. Having lived in the NYC, Boston and Atlanta metro areas, I've just never seen such a wild swing in prices.

Since you are in California, do prices for goods vary from San Fran to LA? I mean does the same store in Beverly Hills carry the same exact product that one in Truckee does, but the price varies by 300% just based on the wealth base of the zip code?

In my 48 years, I've just never noticed how different it could be.

Well, to be honest, I don't grocery shop in SF or LA, and I shop at chains where the price tends to be the same over the entire chain. But I am constantly amazed at how much cheaper Walmart is, the most shocking difference to me is things like milk . Walmart buys milk from a dairy and sells it for $2.25 a gallon......my favorite chain OWNS their own dairy, so no middleman, and they sell milk for $2.99 a gallon. And given the take backs the local chain gave in their last contract talks, their workers make about the same wage.

 

[pigletto]

Bacon is kind of ridiculous here too. But not that high.. maybe $6 when not on sale?
Peanut Butter was the one that most recently jumped out at me. I always by the great big jar and remember it being around $7. Now it's closer to $11

 

[kydisneyfans]

The big cost inflator here is that both Kroger and Meijer stopped double coupons. Both stores stated it was done to lower prices, I have not seen it at either. I would say prices are stable.

Meat prices have definitely dropped here. I've seen regular ground beef, boneless chicken breast, and boneless pork loin for under $2/lb. I picked up 4 Lauras hamburger patties for .99 on markdown at Kroger a few days back. Bacon can be found on sale for $2.00-2.50 12 oz or around $3/lb.

Milk prices are stable-sale runs $2-2.50/gallon. Everyday runs $2.69 or so.

Produce seems rather cheap. Raspberries at Meijer have been $1 a pack for 5 weeks straight. We're sick of eating them. Apples are 3 lbs for $2. Grapes are running under $1/lb too.

Other items, dog food, paper, dry goods all seem stable or slightly higher.

Gas is dropping like a rock too, it was 3.54 10 days ago, it is 3.19 tonight.

The key for us is to continue to buy on the cycle, buy extra on sale that way we don't need it again until the next sale hits.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

There is a huge variance in prices in our area depending on the grocery store you shop at. Some of the higher end stores (such as Independent Grocer and Metro) have much higher every day prices over the discount grocery outlets like No Frills, Price Chopper and Food Basics. Our local Walmart also has a pretty extensive (and generally reasonably priced) grocery section. Most places are price matching these days which help a lot (as long as you are willing to do the legwork and bring along the competitor flyers).

On the whole, though, we find that our prices in Canada are a lot higher on many staple items over what our American friends pay. On our most recent trip to Orlando in August, we were shocked at some of the everyday low prices on things like shredded cheese, frozen meats (like chicken nuggets) and fruit (we always do a grocery run for our trips, and this one was at the Super Walmart on Turkey Lake Road). Those everyday prices were lower than our sales.

I pre-ordered some health and beauty aids from walmart.com before we left home to have shipped to our resort. John Frieda's Frizz Ease shampoo and conditioner were two of the items I purchased, and they were $5.37 each. The same stuff here in our Canadian Walmart is $9 a bottle .

No double couponing allowed here either. And no discount loyalty cards.

As for that $9 bacon??

Hell would freeze over before I paid that for bacon!!!!

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

I live in a very rural area, our choices for stores are Super Wal-Mart and Food Lion.

Milk at Wal-Mart is $3.09 a gallon

We don't buy cheap bread, and never buy white bread, but the good whole wheat.
We get if direct from the bread thrift store, which carries the over runs when they make too much for the stores.
$1.69 for the 24 ounce Nature's Own 12 grain whole wheat bread and $2.00 for the raisin cinnamon swirl bread.

As a comparison, the Sam's Club 40 minutes from home has the same bread 2 for $5 or $2.50 each loaf but we found it to be really, really DRY and will not buy from there again.

We eat a lot of fresh veggies, and I usually pay $3.89 for a 3 pack of large red, yellow and orange peppers and that lasts us a week for my lunches.
Broccoli- $1.59 a crown - one crown lasts me a week for my lunches.
In August the white peaches were really good at Food Lion (like sugar sweet, eat them like an apple GOOD) and ran from $1.49 to $1.69 a pound and well worth it. So good I ate one every day for dessert.

I can get a 3 pack of romaine for $2.99 and we find that is a lettuce that can keep for a month in the fridge if you only take out what you want and wash it just before using it.
If it gets limp, I cut off the bottom and set the top in a bowl of cool water and it perks right back up.

It's just the two of us now so we don't buy as many groceries as we used to so lettuce that keeps well is a must.

Bacon can run $5 a pound here too, but that is not a regular item for us.
I'd rather buy a rotisserie chicken as it's the same price and goes a lot further.

 

[Marie17]

Went grocery shopping yesterday - same brand of bacon as the original poster at Publix was $8.69.

Not on sale - definitely not bought by me!!

It is actually cheaper for me to shop at a Fresh Market store for more things than just 6 months ago. It is not my main store to shop at for all groceries but will put more items in my basket now then at the beginning of the year due to price being cheaper than the grocery. And you can usually get a $5.00 off coupon to Fresh Market from recycle bank.

Examples:

Milk - $3.79 at Fresh Market $3.99 Publix
Bacon - $5.99 llb Fresh Market $8.69 Publix

Those prices above at Fresh Market are when it is not on sale. Really get lucky when some months if they are included in the BOGO free Tuesday sale and then I get bacon for $3.00 lb and milk for $2.99.

But I do shop mainly at Publix since they double coupons and that brings prices down thankfully.

 

[MEM]

I live in one of Boston's suburbs and while Boston is a HCOLA, our grocery prices are much lower than what you are experiencing in Florida. We have so many different grocery store chains competing against each other that there always seems to be great deals each week at one or more of them. In my town alone we have 2 supermarkets and a Costco. Within a mile or two we have additional supermarkets and a Trader Joe's.

Conversely, my mother lived in a small town in Western Pennsylvania with only one grocery store and the prices were terrible. I can remember she paid 99cents for her Dannon yogurt and that was probably 10 years ago. No competition because the other grocery stores in the area were all owned by the same family and the prices were all the same.

 

[eliza61]

One thing that is great about living in a more urban area is that there are tons of supermarkets in direct competition so some one is always having a sale.

Last week, I got OM bacon, 2 packages for 7.00 bucks. You had to buy 2 though. I stocked up.

rarely do I buy it for 4 bucks. Milk hovers around $2.79 and butter once again is always on sale some where. generally I can get it for 2.50 a pound. I stock up when it's on sale for $1.99