Too Little For Too Much...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
March 3, 2009 8:10am CST
Yesterday I went shopping and boy, did the price impact hit home. I went to two stores…one is a local discount store. I bought about 10 bags and one big box of groceries…it came to just a hair over $70. Then I went to our local grocery store to pick up the things that the discount store didn’t have and got 5 bags (2 of them each had a big pack of meat in them) and it came to almost $90.
Hubby was upset b/c the some of the things (in fact most of them) that he really likes have skyrocketed in price. He likes these big sausage dogs and they went from $5.00 a pack to $9.00 a pack. Blocks of cheese, even the small ones, are anywhere from $4-6 where they used to be $2-3. It’s just depressing to go to the store and see how high everything is getting.
I try to get most of what we need from the discount store to save money and then only buy what I have to have at the grocery store…but still the prices are steadily climbing. I wonder how long it will be before everyone is on foodstamps just to survive.
Two good things is 1) they haven’t went to bread lines yet and 2) with the prices going so high I can’t afford all the “bad for you” food. Seriously, I hope things get better soon.
How are the high prices affecting you and your family? Have you had to change how you cook and what you fix? What steps are you taking to cut your costs on groceries?
[b]**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~[/b]
16 people like this
51 responses
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
3 Mar 09
have you seen the $14 chicken yet?
we have a discount place,i can get some foods there,but not meat except canned.
i just do the best i can,everything's gone up.
first the stores claimed prices were rising due to gas,now they're saying it's cause their property taxes went up.i suspect it's only gonna get worse.
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
3 Mar 09
$14 chicken???? Our discount place doesn't carry things like milk, eggs, meat, or produce. They did start carrying bread though and it's cheaper and still fresh. They also carry hygiene, meds, pet supplies and household stuff...though I usually get that stuff at Dollar General.
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
3 Mar 09
yup.that's a tiny package of chicken too.
the stores around here have a game where they notice what people's eating more of,and raise it.
like for awhile,a lot of people when broke would buy smack ramen,12 for a dollar.
now you get 3 for $1,because everybody was buying them.
by the same token,lamb went down because nobody bought it at $9 for a pack of 2 chops.
@fluffysue (1482)
• United States
5 Apr 09
It is really getting ridiculous, isn't it? I have switched to generic brands for a lot of things; however what I've noticed is that the generics now cost at least as much as the brand names USED to cost, and I don't mean "back in the day" but maybe 2 years ago.
What I find "funny" is that everyone used the excuse of high fuel prices last year to raise prices; however fuel prices have come down significantly, almost to where they were before....but the food prices are still going up! Also, I used to see signs in our supermarket explaining that milk was expensive because of the cost of the corn to feed the cows, yadda yadda yadda....but they didn't care to explain why soy milk and every possible milk substitute ALSO went up. (Do the words "price gouging" mean anything to them?)
It really is depressing. I try to save money but I inevitably end up splurging on something...however now just going grocery shopping feels like splurging!
@GardenGerty (169453)
• United States
5 Apr 09
I have always been very frugal. I still am. We have cut out a lot of eating out, though, cause we are seldom together to do it. One place frugality does not really help is toilet paper. It seems like it has just about doubled.
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
3 Mar 09
I agree, it seems every couple of days the things we usually buy go up at least a few cents and the pkg volume gets smaller. My grocery bill has doubled in the past year and I am not buying as much of the things we really like. Those are more of a treat than a staple now.
I am starting a vegetable garden this year so I can at least save on some produce. Also won't have to worry as much about diseases that are becoming so prolific lately.
And I go out of my way (a bit) to shop at WalMart in KY since they have no sales tax on food items. TN is outrageous at almost 10 % tax. @twoey68 (13627)
• United States
3 Mar 09
Yup, everything is getting like that. They are changing the packaging so they smaller packaging isn't as noticable and they are putting less in the package and charging even more for it.
I'd love to start a garden but since we live in an apartment we aren't allowed to.
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@walijo2008 (4644)
• United States
4 Mar 09
Well I know what you mean about grocery prices going up, I try to do my shopping at wal-mart, because believe it or not, some things are cheaper there than at the local grocery store. I've even noticed prices going down on some things at wal-mart, I'm almost paying what I used to pay for items a few years ago, that surprises me. I know cheese is going up tho, I remember paying 1.98 for a pack of cheese and now its 2.50 for the same thing. I'm sorry to say that you don't get very much in foodstamps anymore either, my cousin and her mother both live on soc.sec. and she said they only get 20.00 a piece in foodstamps because their income is to be considered in the higher bracket..yeah right, I don't think their soc. sec. check is that much either. I hope things get better soon too, or we won't be able to afford to eat. I haven't changed the way I cook, I'm cooking more at home, we used to eat out quite a bit. I'm starting to buy the cheaper brands of foods, at first my husband didn't like seeing the yellow labels in the pantry, but now I can't help it, they're just as good I think.
@fluffysue (1482)
• United States
5 Apr 09
I am also discovering the joys of shopping at Wal-Mart. I saw a half-gallon of milk for $1.62 so I jumped on it; of course I forgot to check my receipt and make sure that's what I paid and that it wasn't in the wrong place. Oops! Then I got it home and realized it expires in 4 days. But generally speaking they have some good deals, like the generic "Crystal Light" drink which is very good, and comes in flavors I like that the real brand doesn't.
Generics are usually just as good, it's just a matter of experimenting to see what is really equivalent. Like for example, generic plastic wrap doesn't always work as well, although I did once find a store brand that worked much too well (it was very "sticky"). Sometimes the generic can be better, like the "Crystal Light" I mentioned, I like the Wal-Mart brand because I can get grape. Store-brand boxes of flavored oatmeal packets I've found taste as good as Quaker at 3 different supermarket chains in 2 states. So yeah, if they taste the same, or as good, who cares what's on the label? 
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
3 Mar 09
My daughter used to buy a lot of prepared, just stick it in the oven, meals but with groceries getting so high she can't afford that now. She also used to run out of food before the end of the month. We do get food stamps but she was still having a hard time making it. I took over most of the grocery shopping after I moved up here and started stocking up on staples when they were on sale and now we are doing better.
We just got a notice yesterday though that our food stamps were being reduced by about 100.00. The only thing that has changed is my raise in my disability which was no where near 100.00. I have never figured out why the government gives with one hand and takes away with the other.
@pinklilly (3443)
• Australia
7 Mar 09
I know it's crazy how much things you need everyday to survive are just creeping up in price. Money just doesn't seem to go very far at all. I also shop at a dicount supermarket "aldi" which saves me allot of money but there are a few things that you still need to go into another supermarket for. I spend between $100 - $170 a week on groceries sometimes I can stretch out but yeah you have to rethink your meals and cook on a budget.. I try to bill buy and that helps..
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
21 Mar 09
I have noticed price hikes in lots of things that I use a lot of. I do not buy anything I do not need and I am not loyal to brands of things but I find that shopping becomes harder each week as I have to keep looking for alternatives when the prices fluctuate on my normal purchases. What annoys me with the place I shop at is they change their prices weekly, so one week I will buy a product at its normal price, the next week I see it has gone up in price and not by a little bit but by a lot and so I will not buy it then. It can be a major task in itself just doing a weeks shopping and trying to keep the price down.
@thebeaddoodler (4262)
• Lubbock, Texas
7 Mar 09
Yes, food is getting to be very expensive, but I don't think food stamps will be the answer for us old single people. After I had surgery and knew I couldn't work any more, I applied for food stamps. I was granted $50 a month. The following January my SS check went up by $25 and my food stamps went down to $30. Of course if you earn any money you have to report it and even if it's odd jobs and part time, if you earn one month, your food stamps get reduced, then if you don't earn anything the next month your just out of luck.
AARP had an article berating people for not taking advantage of "all the help" there is out there for the elderly. Believe me the "help" practically non existent, and I just don't know how people with families who've been laid off are going to make it.
Yes even being alone, I've changed the way I cook, to some extent. I never was one for the packaged dinners etc., but I've definitely had to change my eating habits.
@Lee_Rites (845)
• United States
5 Mar 09
I went shopping today and was noticing something strange.
We bought some tuna. The "cheap" offbrand tuna is up to 76 cents. A few months ago it was 50 cents. I have noticed this a lot lately. It is kind of hard not to when you get to the register.
The thing I found odd is that the name brand tuna had came down in price. It is almost the same price as the cheap stuff. I have seen this with some other items too. The cheap stuff ain't cheap anymore and the name brand stuff is almost the same price as the off brand.
One thing I have had to do is start buying a lot of those frozen meat things. You know, those salisbury steaks, sliced turkey, and stuff like that. Meat has just gotten so expensive. I can't buy real meat for the family without spending at least $10 a meal just on the meat. My mom would frown on it but I just can't afford to buy even chicken anymore.
Remember the days when chicken was the poor man's steak? I guess now it's frozen off brand salisbury steaks.
@PrarieStyle (2486)
• United States
7 Mar 09
I'm afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better. Especially the way our new administration likes to spend our money.
I can't even afford hamburger anymore and Wednesday President Obama threw a big dinner party with all kinds of expensive foods. I heard that the meat that was served was $100.00 a serving. I would feel so guilty. Sometimes I feel guilty eating at all, thinking of all the starving people in the world.
My groceries were 10.00 more for just about the same things as last week. I'm thinking about going to the food pantry soon.
@messageme (2821)
• United States
7 Mar 09
I already had to get to the point of foodstamps. I hate it but it helps alot!! I only get so much a month so what I started doing to manage food costs better was to actually plan out a meal chart for two weeks and get only the things I needed to make those foods. I actually cut our costs by 100 or more a month! But now they cut our foodstamps down 250 less than what we were getting. I didn't have enough to begin with and now they cut it even more! I don't know what I am going to do this time. Look for what is the cheapest maybe and have to eat that everyday! Sad 
I will cut my food portions by a lot just to make sure the kids have enough to eat.
What drives me nuts is on top of having to buy your own household food. The school expects your child to bring snacks for the whole class once a month. Don't seem like much but when you have four kids having to do that thats four snacks a month I have to buy for the whole class and I can't even afford to put food on the table! I think the school should have to cover scacks if they want the kids to have them. Plus we have to pay for milk for their snacks and with all our kids that is well over a couple hundred a school year just on milk! That is stupid! Why should I have to pay that much so my child can have a pint a milk each day. I get state help for that at home and don't even have to buy my milk I shouldn't have to at the school!
I will cut my food portions by a lot just to make sure the kids have enough to eat.
What drives me nuts is on top of having to buy your own household food. The school expects your child to bring snacks for the whole class once a month. Don't seem like much but when you have four kids having to do that thats four snacks a month I have to buy for the whole class and I can't even afford to put food on the table! I think the school should have to cover scacks if they want the kids to have them. Plus we have to pay for milk for their snacks and with all our kids that is well over a couple hundred a school year just on milk! That is stupid! Why should I have to pay that much so my child can have a pint a milk each day. I get state help for that at home and don't even have to buy my milk I shouldn't have to at the school!
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
4 Mar 09
I know how you feel, but here it seems the bad for you junk food is what is the cheapest and good healthy food the costliest. We have had to change alot of things and the way we cooked and how much we cooked and how far we could spread the leftovers. You are right about people are going to need assistance if the prices go any higher or kids will be going hungry and get undernourished. I wish the prices would go down to back before they skyrocketed..or atleast get frozen so they can go up even higher.
@lingli_78 (12821)
• Australia
4 Mar 09
oh yes... it is impacting my family as well... i try to be very wise in spending my money nowadays when doing groceries... i had swap the meat to the reasonably cheap one and buy in bulks to save money... i hardly eat seafood nowadays because it is so expensive... just have to be smart in spending the money... take care and have a nice day...
@hotsummer (13919)
• Philippines
4 Mar 09
i think that this price increase has going for some time now in your country. i don't know if the price here has increased again. but i think that we had enough price increase that we will not any more price increase yet again , hopefully. food are expensive here too. i think that with the price increase in your increase our food product or groceries there are quite the same price now as ours or ours may still be a bit higher still.
@TheCatLady (4691)
• Israel
4 Mar 09
It's a huge difference depending on were you shop. When I lived in San Francisco, there was a store called Canned Foods. They sold all kinds of packaged things. Everything had a problem, but who cares. Some labels were upside down, some things had the wrong amount in them, so they corrected the amount on the label and sold it really cheep. Some of the stuff was because the company changed the packaging and wanted to get rid of all the old stock. For half price or sometimes much less I didn't care. My best find was frozen stuffed shells. They accidentally put in way to much chopped crab into the shells. Yummy. It was better than it was supposed to be, but because it wasn't within their normal parameters, it went to the cheep store.
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
4 Mar 09
I have never had much money so welcome to my world. I try to concentrate on watching the sale flyers and stocking up when prices are down. I use a lot of staples like rice, carrots, onions and potatoes. I am also learning how to use coupons. If I can use a coupon with a sale item it really brings down the price. For example today Fruit Sensations in a frozen can is reg 1.69 and was on sale for 1.00. I had some coupons for .50 off so I bought 6 because the price is now .50 each. So I bought 6 for the price I would normally pay for 2. I also bought some frozen orange juice for 1.00 which is normally more.
I do not eat out except the occasional hamburger once a month or so as a treat. I do not buy a lot of packaged food. I am in the process of cutting down my telephone bill. I am getting an answering machine instead of the call answer, using a prepaid phone card instead of a long distance plan. I cut down my cable bill, went to basic cable, and I might get rid of it all together, when I want to watch it at night they are all infomercials. A lot of the programs I want to watch are now on the internet. The one thing I am not prepared to give up so far is my high speed internet.
I am learning how to use my food dehydrator so when I run across some cheap vegetables I have an alternative to freezing them all.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
4 Mar 09
I have not felt the impact yet, but there is a rumour that the government will depreciate the currency to keep jobs. A lower currency means good news to the manufacturers, and that will means good news to the workers in the factory. But to us the consumers, all the imported goods will be expensive. Hopefully the depreciation is not too great, else 10% or 20% price increase is very hard to swallow.
