Sticker shock at the grocery store.
By writersedge
@writersedge (22563)
United States
March 30, 2012 11:18am CST
So many people say, meat is high, buy vegetarian. So I went to see the regular price of tofu was $2.99. Hamburger is $3.00. So normally no savings. Tofu used to be a dollar a pound and I bought it with tongs and they only weighed the tofu. Now it's in water and every package seems to have a different weight on it. 16 oz, 15 oz, 12 oz. Anyway, some packages of tofu were on sale. Most for $1.99. One was for $1.25. I had to see why. Only 15 oz, but some of the 12 oz were the other price. I checked the ingredients, only three and nothing added, but there were others at the other price. Experation date, that day. That was why it was so much cheaper. So I bought it.
I added lots of flavorings and crumbled it into a soup base plus added veggies. It wasn't bad. It won't replace meat for me and I would not have bought it if it was still only a penny away from the same price as hamburger. But at $1.25 for 15 oz, that wsn't bad.
So have you had your sticker shock at the grocery store lately? What was it?
2 people like this
5 responses
@GardenGerty (169561)
• United States
1 Apr 12
It seems to be everything. I only buy things pretty much on clearance or in bulk. When I heard Peanut butter was going up, I stocked up. I buy the really large cans at Sam's Club. I still have one unopened one and about one half of one. It has gone up two dollars a can. From $7.98 to $9.98. It is something like three pounds in a container. So that means it has gone up twenty five percent, I think.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169561)
• United States
1 Apr 12
Part of the problem was that last year peanuts had a really poor crop, so they knew that when the old stuff was gone the new would go up. I liked the fact that they did not actually start charging more until they were being charged more. Gas prices do not help any, that is true.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
1 Apr 12
It truly is amazing how fast things go up. Since most stuff in the big stores is trucked in, the price of gas makes things go up, but when gas goes down, priced don't seem to go back down.
1 person likes this
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
30 Mar 12
It's worth double checking everything. Our local supermarket sells large coffee for a higher per kilo price than small coffee. It's a good job I checked, as I'll normally go straight for the larger pack size assuming I'll make a bulk saving.
We used to see all those soon to be out of date items places on one shelf, but they're harder to find these days. It's where a freezer comes in very useful.
I can't be bothered with tofu and the other 'meat replacements'. I'd rather just eat the veggies! We occasionally get it at a very good price as the neighbour of one of my partner's workplaces is a commercial producer. I cook it in those circumstances, but find that I have to add so much salt to the marinade that it can't be good for me.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
30 Mar 12
Since I'm not raising any meat right now, and beef was $5 a pound for poor cuts, a third protein is not that easy. We're about fished out now. Since the umpteen pounds for $10 I had.
I don't normally do anything with tofu, but that price was really good.
We have some strong tasting stuff that only need a little and even tho salty, a little goes a long ways, so it's less salt in the end.
I find sweet marinades often work a little better. Many people use barbecue sauce. Thanks and take care.
1 person likes this
@SomeCowgirl (32189)
• United States
30 Mar 12
I am not well versed in the art of buying groceries though I do work for a grocery store. When it comes to meat I usually only buy it if I am going to fix something with it, and I have that thing I'm going to fix in mind. That being said, I buy hamburger, turkey and sausage usually only. I go for whatever is the cheapest, and usually only go for one or two lbs anyway. I buy it the day I am going to use it in most cases as I don't like to defrost meat (a paranoia).
I do know to look in the store for markdowns and where to look. Hotdogs and the such will be marked down when it gets close to it's expriation date, and I do like that as like I said I buy and fry same day.
No real sticker shock lately.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
30 Mar 12
I hope you learn how to cook more things. For a while, hamburger and most beef was not affordable. Like 5 bucks a pound here. I found some hamburger for 3 bucks a pound and I'm sticking with it.
Tofu used to be what a lot of people living on their own bought. Meat was $3 a pound and tofu a dollar. Now it's getting to be the same price as meat.
Do you know how to cook dried beans? That can really save you money. Learning how to cook beans and rice. You can cook a meal of beans and rice for hardly any money. During the budgeting discussion I had, more people wrote about beans and rice. Do you know if you look up bean recipes, you will get over one million on the internet? Because every culture has thousands of recipes using beans. Learning a different way to cook beans and rice each week for a year would be a really, really good learning experience for you. Plus help you get out of the house sooner and more likely to be successsful.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189957)
• Boise, Idaho
31 Mar 12
Sticker shock is on juices and such for me. I enjoy fruit and fruit juices. We like to chose different kinds and even mix them. I love grapefruit and pineapple mixed. I like the sweet and sour combination. Pineapple juice is hard to find and it is rather expensive. Walmart is really good about not having items.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
31 Mar 12
Our Price Chopper has juices on sale quite often. $3.00 for a half gallon is considered a sale now. Oh well.
I'll have to try grapefruit and pineapple. I like sweet and sour.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189957)
• Boise, Idaho
1 Apr 12
It is very good. You want to put alittle more pineapple than grapefruit or it tastes too sour. Finding just the right amount of each and it is delicious!
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
1 Apr 12
I don't get sticker shock since I don't do the marketing in the house
, oh tofu, yes if there is one thing good with it is that it is more readily and easily digested by our bodies as compared to meat. Tofu is much cheaper here, in fact at times it is peddled in the streets. There is a higher end product called TVP (textured vegetable protein), it has many forms that resembles meat that you would use for a particular dish, same thing they use in vegetarian restaurants.
Ordinary tofu we slice to bite size chunks, fry only for a short time or until crispy golden brown on the outside but white and soft on the inside, let it drip and wipe with paper towel, then we put soy sauce and vinegar ( mix according to your taste), a dash of salt and pepper and lots of minced fresh garlic and onions. Let stand for a while or until the tofu has absorbed your mixture
, oh tofu, yes if there is one thing good with it is that it is more readily and easily digested by our bodies as compared to meat. Tofu is much cheaper here, in fact at times it is peddled in the streets. There is a higher end product called TVP (textured vegetable protein), it has many forms that resembles meat that you would use for a particular dish, same thing they use in vegetarian restaurants.
Ordinary tofu we slice to bite size chunks, fry only for a short time or until crispy golden brown on the outside but white and soft on the inside, let it drip and wipe with paper towel, then we put soy sauce and vinegar ( mix according to your taste), a dash of salt and pepper and lots of minced fresh garlic and onions. Let stand for a while or until the tofu has absorbed your mixture@writersedge (22563)
• United States
2 Apr 12
Since it's from a bean and I tend to have lots of flatulance after eating it, I don't think my body processes it better than meat. Of course, I didn't eat any until I was in my 20s.
That sounds good the way you do it. I'll have to try it. Thanks.
