Shell Shocked at the Grocery Store
@Kouponkaren (5487)
United States
June 30, 2022 2:31pm CST
I know people here in the US have been talking about the prices going up on everything, especially gas and groceries. But I went grocery shopping on Tuesday and really noticed the increase in prices for the first time. This has prompted me, even more, to teach classes about how to save money at the grocery store.
I was trying to match some coupons to items at Walmart. Walmart is the cheapest grocery store in our area. I was shocked to see most deodorants were approximately $5.97!!! Who pays that much for deodorant?
I guess because I was raised by a very frugal mom, I am used to shopping around for the best prices. And going to discount stores. I shop at places like Dollar General with coupons (household items, snacks, etc), Dollar Tree (almond milk, coconut oil, tuna, canned soup, spices, etc.), and Cherokee Closeouts ($2.00 deodorant, snacks, beauty items, herbal tea, etc)
I do need to get fresh produce and Walmart typically has the best prices for that, and I buy my meat at Kroger, along with some sale items, and always gift cards because Kroger gives me gas points.
If it sounds as though I do a lot of running around, I have a system that saves me money on gas. All of those stores I mentioned are in a 5 mile loop in the nearest town to us. Granted that town is 25 minutes away. But once every 7 - 10 days, I go into that town and do all of my errands at once. I also have doctor's appts in that town, so those are also the days I do my grocery shopping so I can combine all of my trips into one.
My dentist and another doctor are in a different town, which also has all of the above stores except Kroger, so I do my grocery shopping on the day of an appt. and hit all of the other stores in that area on the same day so I am not making an extra trip just to the doctor or dentist. And that week, I don't shop at Kroger, just Walmart and if we have meat dishes that week, I just use meat from the freezer.
Where do you do most of your grocery shopping, and have you noticed the prices going up?
11 people like this
12 responses
@wolfgirl569 (95190)
• Marion, Ohio
1 Jul 22
I checked out our Aldis again today. Even tho it isnt out of my way to get there the prices were only about 10 cents cheaper on the things I did buy. Which only added up to a couple of dollars. So I will just stick with Walmart and of course Rural King for my feed.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (95190)
• Marion, Ohio
1 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren Years back it was always my first stop for groceries and then Walmart for what I still needed. But 10 cents on a handful of items isnt worth the extra time to me. And then some things were higher than at Walmart 
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@wolfgirl569
I have only shopped at Aldis twice, once when we lived in CT and I wasn't impressed, and then once here in GA, but that time I just went in to look around. I am going to need to pay another visit there so I can be better informed about the store for my classes.
2 people like this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@wolfgirl569
Really" I have heard such great things about Aldo that I thought their prices were NEVER higher than Walmart!
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (94552)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
30 Jun 22
Prices have gone up in my neighborhood Wal Mart. My relatives and myself like to shop at Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree to buy generic products.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (94552)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
1 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren We work on saving money since it is not fun having asking to live in debt.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@Deepizzaguy
So true. I have been reading a lot of articles about people who saved a lot of money and now have retired early in life. I find it fascinating how they were able to save so much money.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@Seepozzaguy
Sounds like you and your relatives know how to save money! Good for you. I like the coupon at Dollar General that says Save $5.00 off any order of $5 or more when you spend $25. I can always find $25.00 worth of stuff there.
1 person likes this
@much2say (53959)
• Los Angeles, California
30 Jun 22
My "system" is a lot like yours . . . I group the shopping according to where I will be - and I dig for the deals. Each store has their own pros and cons that I keep in mind when I shop.
Prices are up on everything, no doubt. But I try to keep flexible on what I buy and be extra picky about what I throw in the cart. I try to focus on ingredients rather than "products" so I can cook anything, but admittedly not always.
1 person likes this
@much2say (53959)
• Los Angeles, California
2 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren I admit I like some brands more than others, but like I said, I try to stay flexible. I can live with substitutes if it works the way I need it to. I like variety, so I don't mind changing things up a bit sometimes . . . and sometimes we have to out of necessity. It only makes sense to do what we can to save money these days . . . but better if we can make it a lifestyle 
.
.@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@much2say
Yes, we do sound like we have similar shopping habits. How about being brand choosy? I always bought whatever I could get on sale that I could also use a coupon for in terms of a lot of household/beauty items. I taught my kids not to be fussy about brands of soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc and I saved a lot of money that way.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
4 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren You can save in a great many ways if you just put your mind to it.
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@JudyEv
Well, when my 3 children were little I was determined to be able to stay home with them and not go back to work. Saving money at the grocery store was one of the ways I was able to do that.
1 person likes this
@paigea (35693)
• Canada
5 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren It's a super grocery store. You can buy clothes and household goods as well as groceries. Has a pharmacy. Part of Loblaws chain, they have several different grocery stores.
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
5 Jul 22
@paigea
I have never heard of Real Canadian Superstore. Is it like Walmart or more of a super grocery store?
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43077)
• Staten Island, New York
30 Jun 22
Prices are definitely going up. Hellmann's mayo used to be like $3.99 or somewhere around that but now it is being sold close to $6 or higher. I saw it at CVS pharmacy for over $10. Granted you shouldn't be buying mayo at the pharmacy and expect a low price but I'd never expect it to be that high.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43077)
• Staten Island, New York
1 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren my local Russian store had Hellman’s on sale. The sale price was $6.99 instead of $7.99. That is not a sale to me lol.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@lovebuglena
That's funny you should mention that. Hellman's is one of my husband's favorite products and it was on my grocery list yesterday. I saw it at Dollar General for $4.25, but they only had the regular and he likes the light. At Walmart, it was $4.75, and they had the light, so I ended up buying 2 of them because I had 2 coupons, each for $1.00 off. So that was $3.75 each. Prices are cheaper here in the south. $6.00 for mayo is a LOT of money...and you are right...unless there's a really GOOD sale, CVS is not the place to buy Mayo!
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (57687)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
30 Jun 22
We shop at Aldi, Winn-Dizxie, and Save-a-lot. All of the above are moderately priced, but my husband has told me about the price hikes sprouting up. Aldi and Save-a-lot are well-known for being cheep, but even inflation has hit them hard. I still cringe when he tells me a price, even if we can afford it.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@kaylachan
I know what you mean. Just because we have the money, doesn't mean we want to be forced to give it to the grocery store owner instead of putting it in our own bank accounts.
@xstitcher (30302)
• Petaluma, California
5 Jul 22
Wow. I'm afraid that my brain doesn't work well enough to think of all those things.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@marlina
Oh yes, I forgot about the sizes shrinking.
1 person likes this
@marlina (154166)
• Canada
1 Jul 22
@Kouponkaren The shrunking started years ago but now it is ridiculous.
@xFiacre (12597)
• Ireland
30 Jun 22
@kouponkaren I’ve just noticed that the price of heating oil has dropped, but that might be just because there’s a drop in demand due to warmer weather. Many restaurants have removed the more expensive steaks from their menus because no-one is prepared to pay such high prices. Salmon too is disappearing.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@xFiacre
Things may be different in Ireland but the US is a mess right now due to inflation.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5487)
• United States
1 Jul 22
@CarolDM
Yes, and I feel very badly for people who don't know how to shop smart. My brother says people are just using their credit cards and charging everything because they don't have the money fr food, gas, etc. but they need gas to get to work, food to eat, etc.
1 person likes this
