Have you guys been taken a back by the recent price increases at you grocery store?

Question

A buck fifty for Campbells cream of Tomato soup? (small can) Almost 3 bucks for a loaf of off brand bread? 5 bucks for a 12 pk of soda? Almost 5 bucks for a quart of juice mix? Things don't jump a few cents anymore....what is left? Heck 49 cent off brand vegies are at a buck fifty now!

Wow Diane....that's a shocker. Took my breath away here. I live near a major big city and we are really overcharged...mix that with taxes and it's crazy...

I remember jokes saying old people lived on pet food....at the rate we're going....pet food will be treat.

Answer 1

I was not taken by surprised by these price increases. My wife was, even though I explained in detail why they were coming, she was caught off guard. People, please tighten your belts. Eliminate using any lights around the house that you don't really need. Start walking as often as you can. If you have friends that you meet on a regular basis start planning grocery trips together. Alternate vehicles. Its going to get worse before it gets pretty. The dollar is falling. Those that lived through the late 50's economic crunch and remember are better suited, providing you haven't forgotten how bad it was.
Lastly, remember who you vote for in 2008. Someone is going to ask you to sacrifice more than you already have. They will go after your purse or wallet. Think about it.

Answer 2

I have given up many things, mostly that were unhealthy anyway. I don't eat much bread but when I do I get hamburg rolls, 8 for a buck or so and that's all i need. I've talked to a lot of fellow shoppers and everyone is in the same boat. Maybe, I hope this will help me stick to my diet and possibly lose a little blubber.

I just buy sale stuff all the time and only what I need. It's making me a better shopper. Maybe healthier too. This is lemons folks try to make lemonade. Safeway and Bashas are the worse, Walmart is holding pretty good.

I think gas prices, health insurance, rent increases make it all the worse. My rent went up 25, health insurance about 65, car insurance 10. That's another 100 a month right there.

I think we should legalize the illegals and get them paying into social security. They should be good for 100 a month and there are supposedly 20,000,000 of them. Isn't that 2 billion a month and divided by 40,000,000 ssi recipients is a 100 bucks a month they could increase ssi checks. Don't know about you but that would be a windfall to me.

Answer 3

We are a family of 5 (plus i'm stocking up for our new baby to arrive in several weeks) and our grocery bill averages between $70-150 a week and i haven't noticed any change whatsoever in prices. In actual fact i've seen prices come down and alot of sales going on for diapers and pull-ups. We have a 3y/o, 2y/o and 1y/o so, that nice to see and we shop and both Target and Wal-Mart. Our town is small though of about 1500 people so maybe that's why prices have stayed the same and/or dropping i don't know, i don't go to the city or big town. I have noticed though that fast food deliveries have increased their delivery charge.

Answer 4

I'll probably get flack from this, but I don't use milk in my tomato soup, only water.
Next, skip lots of meat that you buy and exchange it for some good ol' beans that has protein and no cholesterol! Fish, not beef. Check out some vegetarian websites to help keep some of those $$ in your wallets/purses.
Check on those brand names...some are more expensive of course. If you are friendly w/your neighbors or have relatives close by, go to the stores together and buy your foods.

Personally, I can only see things getting much worse and not too much better for a long time. My hubby wasn't amused with my vegetarian diet until he saw the prices of simple, every day foods at the grocers! Now he understands and will eat much less meat. Best wishes to all.

Answer 5

Whenever the government approves a pay increase for the monthly social security & disability checks, the stores make sure to raise their prices on the items that are the most popular! I noticed this a few years ago, so I try to buy extra when the items I use the most are on sale. Prices start to go up in Oct, Nov, Dec because it's the last quarter of the season. Businesses look at life in 4 quarterly months, rather than the 12 that the general public uses! They lump 3 into a one quarter time frame & at the beginning of the next quarter month, they have sales to get money to pay their last quarter taxes! So, January will be a good time to look for bargains on food. Most grocery stores also have deals every 2 weeks when they mark down items that are about the hit their expiration dates! It pays to shop on Mondays & buy the overstock items that were not sold on the weekends, especially in the meat department counters!

Answer 6

We've tightened our belts to the max. So much so, that our
bottom floating ribs are rubbing against our pelvic bones LOL.
Well what we are forced to do, is we go to the food banks.
They give out so little in their boxes, but it all helps. Mainly
it's just canned goods, and free bread. You can only go once
a month to each place. But if you find a few to go to, that
can really help you out. My husband is so tired of the Bosnians and Ukranians that hoard the bread that you can
help yourself to at the Salvation Army outlet store. They fill
up their back seats with free bread. And we take about two
or three loaves we can freeze. He wonders what they do with
all that bread. Maybe they resell it or send it back to their
homelands. Besides the Salvation Army, the St Vincent de
Paul has a food program and some churches also have
programs. We used to go to a particular church, and we got
meat and specialty things that were donated to the church
food bank.
There are also bakery outlet stores for a few brands. We've got one nearby if we want some good bread that has the San Francisco brand. It runs us about $1.89 for a loaf
of sliced bread with poppy seeds on the top. My favorite for
a sandwich. There are several places that have giveaways,
but you have to ask around. Call some local churches in
your area and see if they can recommend a church with a
food program you can utilize. We all need help from time to
time, and things are getting tougher out there. I'd rather see
my benefitting from it, instead of the foreignors who have
taken since they arrived, and aren't giving anything back. It
galls me that they can bring their families here and get on
the government dole as soon as they arrive. Some legal,
and some illegal.
If you are low income and need help, you only have to go
and ask for it. There's no need to go hungry. And it's not a
shameful thing to ask for help with a food box. And at Xmas
you often get the food for a holiday meal. Even a turkey
breast or chicken. So forget the cat and dog food. There is
help available. And there's food stamps for those living well
under the poverty level as well. All you have to do is apply
and prove you are unable to work or are retired.

Answer 7

I had to laugh when I saw your question. I am an American currently risiding in Australia and our prices are much higher. With the devaluation of the American currency over the past few months, that means we are even paying more here. Bread $2.79 up; soup can be as high as $2.50 a can and a 12 pack of coke or pepsi can run as high as $15. Our fresh veggies are out of sight and one small plastic container of strawberries can run $5. America still has it the best of any nation in the world for food prices. Be grateful -- no wonder people are starving all over the world. Heck we even pay over $1.25 a can for dog and cat food here. And if we want American food we must shop at a special market where one box of cereal can run $18. Now that is expensive

Answer 8

I shop on senior day and get an extra 5% off of my bill, I buy the meat in the sale spot, I use coupons from the paper, if it is not on sale I don't buy it. Burger here is almost 4 dollars a pound---chuck is cheaper, I buy that. I buy canned tomatoes and make my own soup. Make my own chicken soup. Cook a bunch of beans, love 'em. Eat potatoes in all ways, good food and full of potasium. Smile it probably ain't gonna get better! ;0)

Answer 9

I thought Florida was an expensive state to live in because of retirees and tourists. But our prices are not as high as yours.
Campbells Tomato on soup was recently 2/$1.00 so I bought a case. Same for chicken noodle. Milk is $3.49. Thank goodness! I'm currently feeding 7.

Answer 10

During the first half of the year wages grew only a third as fast as food prices – 1.9 percent. Kroger said on Tuesday that inflation in its core grocery business is running "at a level not seen in years," underlining concerns over the broader economic impact of higher food prices.
Milk prices increased from 2.79 to 3.59 this year in West Tennessee. Eggs increased about .30 cens per dozen.
Scarey! Juju