Wait until you go to the grocery store this week,. I thought I'd faint.

When things were so bad last year, they told us to be prepared for rising prices.

They've gone up some, but I didn't notice any large jumps. Maybe I don't buy the things that jumped the most.

My bread has gone from $2.89 a loaf a couple of years ago to about $3.11 last week. (low cal, 100% whole grain, double fiber...yum. I love the stuff.) Bulk bags of apples at Sam's - about the same. Chunk of cheese - very pricey, but I buy it occasionally to splurge; it was about the same as a few weeks ago. Organic fat-free milk was about $3.89 to $4.09 depending on brand, which was about 10 cents higher. Fresh fruits are pretty expensive and have gone up, but not a whole lot.

The junk food you're avoiding, though, is probably cheaper.

I am lucky right now in that I have expendable income. It won't last, of course. Nothing does. But when I was poor (and I was really very poor once), I bought bagged rice, pasta, dry beans and things like that. I could make a big pot of bean soup now for a few dollars and eat on it for days. It freezes well, too. Dry pasta and beans and grains are very inexpensive. A plus is that they are healthier than anything in a box or can or package you can buy.

Everything keeps going up, though. I heard on the news that gas will go up here to over $4.00 gallon this summer. That will make everything else go up.

I hope you can manage until things even out. I wish you luck, in the meantime. Hang in there.

Fruits and vegetables? Canned goods? Meats? Milk products? I did not notice anything in LA yet.

The best I can do is shop carefully. I also make a list of things I need that are available at Dollar Tree. I go there every month or so.
I do find their prices on things like rubbish and freezer bags to be much cheaper. Condiments, toothbrushes, some shampoo, household cleaners, Sun non-chlorine bleach(great stuff, BTW).

I don't shop every week, maybe that is why today's trip was such a shock.

I'll watch this week. I just bought a few fruits this morning at my local green grocers. The produce is mostly local and the prices good.

Sometimes they even have different versions of brand names. For instance, I bought a can of V-8 that looked slightly different in the design. I called the company and discovered that they make a version in Mexico and add stuff (and take away other stuff) and it wasn't as good.

What could you possibly even purchase there? If you are not buying "junk," then what is in a package that is so healthy?

Walmart is starting to carry fresh produce and it's a ripoff, also. Don't you have any ethnic produce markets in your area? Aldi's is a good one for fresh produce sometimes, too.

time for community gardens, coops, community support of local growers, potlucks, collective bulk buying, etc... and changes in what we eat and how we eat it

hang in there...

this is only going to get worse.

they DO start to fall.

The Quick and Dirty.
Winn-Dixie in coastal Alabama, which used to be a potato growing/exporting area just a few years ago.
Now farmers grow turf for lawns and golf courses.


The first 10 lb. bag of spuds I picked up came from Simi Valley California.
2000+ miles away.
I looked at another 'brand'.
From somewhere in Colorado.
About 1500 miles from here.
I picked the 'closest' ones.


My just in-my-head scenario:
The spuds were picked in the field, trucked to a sorting/grading shed.
Trucked from there to a central warehouse.
Trucked from there cross-country to a Winn-Dixie distribution warehouse in our area.
Trucked from there to the store.
Is that about right?
jeez

I forget who wrote that ( Michael Pollan, maybe) several years ago.

Oh, and spuds, after purchase,were "trucked" again from store to home. That actually is an "expense" of some % to add in.
Can you imagine how expense the spuds will be when gas hits 4.50?

Nationwide. I'm not arguing the unfortunate impact of rising food prices, but they went up when fuel prices went down.

That's not the cause.

http://www.dallasgasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx

Oh, so it's only nationwide prices that affect retail prices... I think I figured it out.

Anyway I also keep seeing reports of higher gas prices into the spring, so... I was thinking of that as well.

As of yesterday, I didn't check today.

The 2 weeks before it went from $3.63 to $3.79.

and I cook from scratch, very little prepared items, I even soak my own beans, buy local, can fruit when it's in season, and I worry about people on fixed incomes, unemployed, trying to feed families. I see no (good) end in sight, sorry to say.

anything made with grains are going to go up amazingly because of the floods last year through the breadbasket of the country.

anything having to do with beef is going to go up amazingly because of the droughts in the southwestern part of the country (which led to the wild fires in Texas too).

This year, the grains will be lower due to lack of rain fall and drought in the same areas that suffered from too much the last year.

and of course we know, climate change is not happening.

BTW, I live and work on the west central coast of Floriduh, friends here fish for sharks for sport, this year they are already catching them in Tampa Bay as of this date, usually the sharks show up in march. the water temps are higher now than they have been for a long time at this date.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_Ranches




I don't eat meat, but if I did, I would make sure it didn't come from Fla.

on the west coast, like west of tampa and don't feel the need to go east to Orlando or the Cape. I've been to Mayport and St. Augustine though and don't really like the feel of the east coast.

Wow, looks like the Mormons have a big slice of the pie here. I would have never thought, I just presumed it was fundie central.

I used to have an office in Jensen Beach, 1 in Sebring, and 1 in St. Pete. I used to drive through the wilds of FL and there zillions of cows. I think McArthur dairy is one of the worlds largest.

FL ain't just for oranges!

cattle producing state in the United States, just after Texas. Has been for many years.

It's how they're trying to cover up the disaster that resulted from bubblenomics. They can't admit their error, especially Bernanke who is a flake. So they implement even worse policies to cover their tracks, which naturally are designed to cause inflation that benefits the "risk taking" rich but kills the poor.

it and working and they wish they wouldn't have to be on it. Many people who have never been on food stamps before like now realize what the working poor are going through. I have a large freezer. During the holidays when turkey or ham are on sale that is when I but them and have them throughout the year. We jut happen to hit a sale on spiral ham costing less then $10.00 ea. I bought 3 hams. I still have 2 turkeys. I always buy meats on sales. I also buy the store brand of foods. You know one of the main staples like peanut butter has gone outragously high. I give to food banks. They really need it to help the poor.

I noticed that one the last time I was at the store, the peanut butter jumped significantly in price from one visit to the next.

butter. You know the food banks depended on the peanut butter because of the protein.

Which is why peanut prices have soared.

I read about the failures and stocked up on peanut butter in the fall. I also stocked up on bread in my freezer last fall because of the wheat crop failures, not just in the US, but in breadbasket countries around the world.

Get used to it, folks. There is no global warming. Just massive flooding or droughts, take your pick.

I started growing a lot of my own veggies last summer, and got a lot of my mistakes and experiments out of the way. This summer it is for real. Soybeans are great both green and dried, so I hope to triple the amount I grow this year. I'll be checking out my experimental dried "vermont red" beans next week. Green beans....eh. Will shrink that crop to a much smaller size. Accidentally over-planted summer squash, so will replace much of that with other things as well. And so it goes.

The experiments this summer will be limited to seed saving.

They're are millions of jobs out there that go wanting only because of the laziness of the poor. That's the right wing line. These idiots can't do the basic math calculations that if there are a million jobs available but 20 million people looking for work, by simple math 19 million people will remain unemployed. There really is a stigma attached to people desperately looking for work who as a result of the math of it all simply don't stand a chance. And there are no politicians who will stand up for these unfortunate victims.

I happen to be at publix last week. I noticed the JIF was BOGO free. I knew we didn't need any, so I was about to pass it up, then I saw the price $6.99 (I am not sure of the ounces, but it was the biggest one Publix offers). I put 4 of them in my cart. I know the same size was about $4-$5 just a few weeks before. And publix is not one of those stores that jacks up the price for their BOGO, like Winn Dixie does.

a higher. My husband usually buys the peanut butter and he said the last time he brought the store brand it was $5.00 which is the Great Value. It isn't the usual brand we get. But I have to say I watch what is on sales and when things we use go on sales I usually buy 3 of them. My husband works at Super WalMart and when he gets off he usually goes over by the meat section or pasta section and if things are on sale then we buy 3 or 4 of the items. Majority of the time I buy Great Value because it is the cheapest.

the bogos on pasta/peanut butter/and other items are our stock ups. Man, I missed that last peanut butter one and am running low now.

edited to add the coffee bogos, we never drank the better brands until getting the twofers and they are a lot better than the elcheapo brands.

If it's not a loss leader AND a pantry or fridge staple, it's not in my budget at all.

I think the quality has improved quite a bit in recent years, especially with produce. I've found if I wait until Tuesday, the last day of the sale, the produce on special gets marked down quite a bit. The other day I got strawberries for $1 a quart. I bought 6 and froze them. And last week, I got broccoli with two crowns to a package for 50 cents and I bought a bunch, made soup to freeze and blanched more for the freezer. This week, they have bags of apples for $2, and those store for a long time in the basement. Sure, I would like to eat more organic and farmer's markets will have to wait until summer. But, I'm just happy to have food.

I gave up meat long ago, so I don't even know what that costs. I don't buy what I want; I buy whatever is on special and extra if it's an excellent deal. I always scan the shelves and special areas for clearance items and buy mostly loss leaders.

WE have a PriceRite, Stop& Shop and WholeFoods and our local town market. When W F opened about 3 years ago, I went once. Bought nothing and will never go back. Mega high prices.

If you have not seen this site or do not get sales circulars, check this out. Posted by category are most of the national chain food stores plus places like CVS, Walgreens etc. by category.
If for some reason my circulars don't come,. I can go on line, enter zip code and there is the flyer.

http://www.sundaysaver.com/

I wait until one of my local stores has boneless chicken on sale for $1.99 a pound. Separate and freeze. I don't really eat any red meat. Too $$$$. I'm getting to be a master at stir-frying just about anything. I no longer have real incentive to cook anything fancy for myself so whatever I buy has to be quick and easy. I don't buy prepared food. For the price of one of those frozen dinners, I can get 3 meals of good food for the same $$$.

I think the thing than made me most angry today was the cost of coffee.
I drink decaf. The pound can, now 11 ounces, of Maxwell House Decaf $7.99. Give me a break.
Good luck to all of us.

They have specials on Starbucks coffee at Target frequently. The regular price is still about $9, I think. Walmart's regular price for Starbucks is, I think, $8, but they offer limited flavors. Starbucks pack is 12 oz. My favorites are Morning Joe, Pike's Peak, and Italian blend. But if I had to, I could drink just about any brand.

What you're doing for food sounds great, BTW. Very healthy and economical. I love stir-fry. It's fast and easy and healthy, and you can throw in a bit of whatever you have. As for red meat, I gave it up a looooong time ago. I've lost a taste for it, now, and wouldn't dream of eating it. You're better off, now that red meat has been linked to cancer.

I belong to Sam's, so I can buy bulk items that don't spoil. Since I'm single, I don't know if that saves me much money, but I think it saves me some. But I have to watch it. Sam's is geared to make people do a lot of impulse buying, and it is NOT geared for those interested in eating healthy or losing weight. My main savings at Sam's comes from fruit and veggies.

If you can use coupons, that's great. I should do that more, but I get discouraged because I use so few items that have coupons. I'll check out that link you gave, though.

and loss leaders, you often get a much better price per ounce at smaller retailers. If you have some time and stores close by, you may want to take a second look.

Walmart Foodstore, Target (has a food section), Alberton's (pricey but has sales), Kroger's, Dollar General. Then I have a couple of hispanic stores aimed at the illegals, I guess, since their ads are in spanish only. I've never gone, since I don't speak spanish, but they do have good prices in those ads. I don't know why I'm scared to go....I could pass as spanish (brown hair & eyes), and have....but I'm scared someone will speak to me, and I won't know what they're saying & be embarrassed. Why that scares me, I don't know. Feeling like I'm somewhere I don't belong, I guess.

But besides teh cost, the fruit and veggies that Sam's carries seems to be of better quality that the grocery stores have. Apples, one of my favorite fruits, will be large and abundant and sweet from Sam's, but the ones in the grocery stores (even Walmart) will be small and hard and not so sweet. Sam's also carries fruit, like apple pears, that I can't get anywhere else. And a big pack of dates...most grocery stores don't carry dates around here at all, and the one that does, you're lucky to find a tiny little pack of 'em.

I also got my new jammies from Sam's. One of those impulse buys I try not to make. But they are so cute and comfy, the price was great, and they're holding up well.

There's not a costco near me. I traveled to one once and checked it out. It seemed more expensive than Sam's, and it didn't carry some of the staples I buy.

That's a word you ought to remove from your vocabulary.

I live in a city where 40% don't speak English at home and the majority population is Hispanic.

Frankly, I get nervous visiting places where everyone is white. I grew up in such a place and fled just as soon as I was able.

Large congregations of white people are sorta scary....

That term is not derogatory. Now, I have a problem with illegal "aliens."

I live in Dallas, which is a somewhat large city. I live within the loop, so I live in a mixed area, I guess it's called. A variety of races, ethnicities. I wouldn't want to live in an all-white city, either.

But mainly we have latinos as the minority (many of which are illegals, but not all). A healthy # of Af. Americans. A smattering of what look to be middle easterners (Pakistani, etc.). I think there are some Asians here, but not in my area. Large Jewish population. Lots and lots of evangelicals and Babtists and Methodists. A little bit of everything, except no Italian population that I know of, no French.

I mention the "illegal" part of the latino population because it is different from the others. It affects the community and the economy differently from a citizen of any race/ethnicity.

They are immigrants who work here. If they didn't have jobs in the USA they couldn't afford to live in the USA.

And maybe you'd be surprised, most of the people you see probably have their immigration documents in order, and many of them are citizens just like yourself.

and have their own grocery stores. That was the subject of my post. The grocery stores that have products with spanish labels, ads only in spanish, foods mainly from Mexico, and great prices. They don't cater to my American hispanic co-workers, who shop at the same places I do. They are specifically for the large illegal immigrant population here. That's the point. I'm not going to get into a flame war with someone who doesn't live in an illegal immigrant area and wants to make a political point, when we're talking about reality and grocery stores that exist to sell to the illegal population coming in from Mexico. That's reality. Get a life.

I live in a city with a very large resident population of undocumented workers. The biggest business in town is agriculture.

You'd be uncomfortable here. No place to shop where half the people aren't speaking Spanish. Weekends at the Wal-Mart most people are speaking Spanish.

... don't you think?

And what in bloody hell does this have to do with the price of eggs? I don't think the poster was being racist in using the term 'illegal' because...er...they ARE...but coupled with the remark about not feeling comfortable in their stores, it does seem to smack of a bit of Otherizing people. But your comment that all is kumbaya-esque because THEY have jobs so THEY are okay in your book...Not pertinent to the discussion and not realistic. What do you do to make your dough? People on here are screaming like stuck pigs when THEIR white-collar jobs are taken by Indians with visas. But that's different, right?

... what is the point of a "Free Market?"

We could solve this problem immediately by strictly enforcing labor laws, improving working conditions, and raising minimum wages for EVERYONE without regard of their immigration status. Strong unions would also help.

Employers hire undocumented workers because they can pay them less, abuse them, and get rid of them easily when they are no longer useful. If this wasn't so employers would not be hiring undocumented workers.

Or that you don't fit in? Who the hell cares--go in there and get the good deals. But you have to know what's a good deal. There are some suckie Hispanic groceries, too. I find that the city has the best and sometimes the 'burbs blow because they know people don't have as great a choice. It depends, though. I have some great produce markets in the general vicinity and both are in the 'burbs.

Walfart

Better than the "regular" stores when it comes to their house brand, as well as bulk items. Tell me that the grocery has a better deal on old-fashioned oats than $1.39 and they're organic to boot! You have to be a savvy shopper, however, and many people are not that good at looking for the deals.

I love these threads where someone decries something and yet cannot see any solution, as well. Games people play: "Why don't you, yet but" and "Ain't it awful?"

So between the two I'm okay.

Like you, I shop for what's on sale, not what I'd like to eat. I don't go into the store with a list of menu items that I'm going to prepare for the next couple of weeks (other than staples like rice, beans, pasta), what I find on sale is what's on the menu. Cans of pureed tomatoes are in the scratch and dent sale bins? Lots of spaghetti sauce that week for example. Woodman's has a dairy section of items that are about to go out of date: its typically about a quarter of the regular price in that clearance bin: cheese, 1/2 and 1/2, heavy cream, cottage cheese, yogurts etc. I stock up and freeze whatever I can - those items become cream sauces, quiche, mac and cheese, lasagna etc.

I'd love to actually go shopping with a list that's built around a weekly menu (Monday - boca burgers, baked potatos, green beans!, Tuesday - stir fry, egg rolls and fresh fruit salad! etc. etc.) But that's a dream I gave up on LONG ago. I only cook from scratch. We never go out. And what's on the menu depends on what I find on deep discounted sales that week....

yes woodman`s is a good store to shop and they are employee owned.

We've been buying the markdown produce, like you. I have so many vegetables in the house right now I'm a little panicky about how to eat it all - I just bought bags that were maybe 3 pounds each (?) of green beans, eggplants, broccoli, and yellow squash each marked for 99 cents. I'm gorging myself on vegetables at every meal. What's working for me is that the vegetables are so cheap I overbuy, then because I hate to waste food I'm determined to eat it all, and the result is I'm sticking to my diet and feeling stuffed all the time.

I'm still eating meat, it was a loss leader locally at 25 cents/lb for chicken leg quarters a week or two ago so I have about 60 lbs wrapped and stacked in the freezer for a grand total of $15.00. With just two of us in the house, that's a lot of entrees for the cost of what a lot of people spend on one lunch out.

I also stock up on things like eggs. They're 99 cents at walgreens this week, I have no problem buying enough to get me through to the next time I think they'll drop to that price. They're a supper cheap protein source. Sometimes I'll eat 6 a day (3 for breakfast, 3 for lunch along with my veggies). Those meals each cost about 40 cents.

(I wish everyone had access to the same kind of markets I have around the detroit area.)

or can veggies if you are always doing things like that. I do the same thing, and I hate that I get carried away.

except for frozen spinach, I can cook that into omelets. But I do have a dehydrator, and I could turn the squash into chips. I like those if they're seasoned a bit. Mostly I need to just not get tempted in that section of the store. Once the weather warms up, I'll be better because then I'll only buy what fits into my bike bag. Having a car makes me more of a glutton when I'm at the store.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn403.pdf

If you have room, a small freezer chest will pay for itself.

But we were talking about saving money on groceries. One strategy is to buy a lot when you find a good deal and if you can't eat it before it spoils, you can freeze it.

and next week, we have no idea how much they will cost. Some weeks, there is a lot of bargains of fresh produce, then the next week, you pay out the ass. I have yet to find a rhyme or reason to it.

I checked it out about a year ago. Ended up having to throw away items because, upon opening, they were moldy.

and when I go shopping, I usually just buy sale items or store brands. Fortunately, I am a vegetarian and do not have to spend money on meat.

I'm on Soc. Sec. too.

What good does it do to go through life looking at what's wrong! The Secret asks us to have an attitude of gratitude! And so it is!

only sale items, generic store brands, scratch and dent canned items from the bargain bin, no meat, and I was still 2x what I had planned to spend.... I too only cook from scratch and we never go out to eat. I can completely relate. K&R!

It tends to be a bit of an upscale market, which scares the thrifty away. But I did notice a few weeks ago, the scratch and dent bin went from 33% off to 50% off. I hunt for the low-salt tomato products, several cans of them, and I've got the basis of some great pasta sauce, or even chili. I make a whole big fat pot, have leftovers for lunch and future dinners for pretty darned cheap.

A friend also sent me a sourdough starter, it's like a miracle grow food!

that's what people used to call grocery outlet up here in nor cal. it's more than that now. i shop there a LOT and can usually stay within my budget. you do have to read labels though, as i've noticed expired or almost expired items several times. a couple of items that i have also noticed rising are frozen shrimp and shredded cheddar cheese.

i like to get chicken/salmon/pork at costco. i divide up the big packs into serving sizes, or cook more and eat it over several days. pretty much all meat has gone up. sometimes i'll just walk right past, it's so high.

I know our General Dollar store does, by policy. Talked with the manager, who explained they do it because
"if we put the dented cans on sale, no one would buy the good cans, everyone would wait until they went on sale".

Same thing with "old" stock that did not sell, like clothes, all items, they throw it away rather than put it on sale.
The manager was moaning about some Alabama football t-shirts she was ordered to throw in the garbage, they had not ALL sold by a certain post game date, policy is to toss them.

Shameful, to me.

I couldn't believe how much milk was the other day, jeez, milk for gods sake is now getting expensive! WTF?

Food prices are way up and I think its just going to keep getting worse.

Or is that one of those things, like fuel, that they call "too volatile"? . . .

Suposedly the thinking is that todays hamburger is yesterday steak. For many its todays dogfood is yesterdays hamburger. For energy you just carpool or put on a jacket. For housing its sell if you own or move into a cheaper place if you rent. You can go from a house to a shed to a freeway bridge. See there is always a choice. If the choice is food or you medicine then pick one - again you had a choice. I find the thinking heartless and not realistic. Recently on CNN they had a suposed "expert" gal saying the same thing. You know like stop eating out and having your nails done and no more movies and splurging on luxuries. And then there is the republican candidate who said just stop spending so much of your money on cell phones right? NO advice for anyone who has already stopped all of those things and is continuing to sink.
-Airplane

in that the CPI STILL went up last quarter, qualifying Soc. Sec. beneficiaries for a COLA.
Imagine if they had counted the items that are skyrocketing.

of the price of the cost of living over time.. If they switch the items out the number loses it's usefulness as a gauge... Or am I completely off base?

I shop deals and don't eat a lot of meat, but I am still struggling. And don't look to Wally World. I went in there yesterday as it was the only place near where I work that has organic milk and organic spring greens (I buy a 284g tub for $5 and it lasts at least a week and a half.) I was pretty outraged at the prices of everything. WalMart is NOT cheap anymore, except on highly processed food which I cannot eat more than a bit of.

I try to shop at United Grocery Outlet where all brands of bread are no more than $1.50. A month ago i bought a five pound bag of Italian-made Nonna Mima Rigatoni at UGO for $3 and that has made a lot of meals. Sav-A-Lot has good prices but they don't have any organics. Last week I hit up Kroger as it was near the area where I was working that day. They had some pretty good markdowns in the deli section and it was Senior Day. If I were a few years older, that's 10% off all groceries on Wednesday.

I am buying fruits and veggies and sunflower seeds and skipping almost everything else. Can't wait to get the garden up and running.....I feel really bad for those with kids at home.

So yeah, thanks for this thread. It's getting scary....

I suppose forewarned is forearmed, so I will not croak when I hear the total....but still.

I also am alone, and I really worry about families with kids to feed. I have enough problems with just me.

....I'm on SS and I also do my main shopping once a month....prices are up across the board....

....if they're not jacking up prices, they're shrinking the amount in the package...it's just me and my wife and I prepare all my own meals (heart-healthy)....and we barely make ends meet....

"Who the heck in Washington is watching out for the 99%ers like me..."

....sadly, nobody.

if I have the time, I can usually plan, but even then, best case for us is $125/week. That does include things like paper products, cleaning crap etc. Luckily I have been using the local produce gal, and her stuff is really great and really cheap, so we have been eating a lot more vegetarian meals. Also, after years of living here, finally went to the small butcher shop. I had always assumed it would be expensive (he has a great reputation and the only people I know who go there have money), and it is if you want your meat seasoned, but they are actually the same, if not cheaper (and better quality) than the 3 big chains (Publix, Winn Dixie, and Sweetbay) around me.

We are fortunate. We have many things we can cut back on, but it still hurts to see such a large total every time.

I live mostly off of dried beans, frozen veggies (many at Wegman's are just $1 a bag) and I cook just about everything from scratch.

Of the food and supplies I bought, some will last the two weeks until the next paycheck; some will last a week, and some will not last even a week.

Sigh. I remember when I got my first apartment in 1975. My roommate and I loaded our shopping cart to overflowing and paid twenty-nine dollars and a few cents. And that lasted us most of the summer...

only last a few days. It's not like I bought (or ever buy) a standing rib roast, scallops, lamb chops--a couple packages of chicken drumsticks, ravioli, potatoes, broccoli, green beans, juice, cereal, tortilla chips/salsa, etc. Gotta feed teenage boys, after all. Damn.

Last year I read that food and gas prices had gone up around the world. I was just talking to my neighbor this week and we were commenting how little you get for the same amount of money you used to spend not that long ago. I live in a very exensive town, so I check the sales papers from our two supermarkets (A&P and ShopRite) and go to both to get their sale items. Then I go to a neighboring town that's mainly Hispanic and has cheaper produce. I specifically love to shop in a supermarket in that town that sells international foods from Latin America and Spain. It's called "Mi Bandera" (my flag). They have an aisle per country and you can tell which aisle is which by the flag of each nation placed at the end of each row. It's a fun place, not expensive and I get to try different foods.

I have a job that I allows me to afford to buy more or less any food I want, but I often wonder how people are coping who may have a limited income and families to feed. Most food pantries are having troule keeping up with demand in these tough times.

I fear that many people are going hungry, or in bureaucratic terms, have "food insufficiency".

and I was shocked. Came back to Wisconsin and it went back down. Must depend a lot on where you live.

We opened a can of tube crescent rolls and they were two short of normal size. Corporations are also shrinking the ounces and charging the same price. I couldn't imagine buying groceries for a family of four.

box looks same but it really isn't when you compare the oz.

make an issue of this. No such think as half gallon of ice cream or juice drinks anymore although they are put in look-alike containers to make you think they are the same. Most are 1/2 pint to 1 full pint less than the original package. This has been going on for over 20 years. The oil crisis was the first thing the food industry used to raise prices then when oil went down the food prices continued to go up. You pay more for less, the food conglomerates continue to make record profits every year and the poor and low middle class really suffer. I was hoping that the new consumer agency would at least look into this and at least force the food companies to boldly advertise a change in packaging amounts up front. How much profit do corporations and shareholders have to make be fore they are satisfied and create revolution? "Back in the day" there was investment and risk. Businesses were happy to make a reasonable return on investment...10%-30% was very good year. Now no one is happy unless they get a 500% return. Stock holders are also to blame for much of this, never caring about who sits on corporate boards or what they are doing. No one has a social conscience anymore. It would seem to me that a cycle of fairness needs to start somewhere from owners, down to employers, to managers, to workers, creating and maintaing a top standard of living for all. I guess that's whacky?
Maybe not. http://www.care2.com/care2blog/new-york-rolls-out-new-kind-of-corporation.html

I have started shopping at Costco and freezing meats and meals I prepare after splitting up the portions. Costco is great for chicken because they pack it in small portions for freezing. It helps to buy in bulk and then separate and either freeze as is or prepare meals you can freeze so it stays good for longer.

I also watch grocery deals on Amazon because sometimes you can get in on the Manager's Specials for things like soup, pasta or sauce for really cheap.

With free shipping. It saves me 9.5% sales tax they charge here.
Most grocery items where I live are 20% higher than in the big cities 90 miles away.
The grocers know it would cost a minimum of $20.00 to drive 180 miles round trip to cheaper stores,
and we would still be paying high food taxes.
So I figure that in when I shop online.

Sometimes I can save a considerable sum.
Just bought 6 bags( the "new" 12 0z pound) of whole bean coffee online, for 33.00, free shipping.
Here, the bags are 8.75. plus 9.5% tax.

3 boxes milk duds
1 pepperidge farm chessman cookies
2 8 packs pepsi
2 4 packs coffee drinks
5 bags frozen veggies
1 boxed margherita pizza
2 4 packs chocolate pudding
1 head fresh kale

$55

I went to Whole Paycheck (Foods) last weekend and spent about the same for even less "food" items.

except I paid too much for mushrooms because I didn't feel like making an extra trip to the asian grocer, where they're cheaper.



Upthread people were talking about $8 jars of peanutbutter. I have no idea where they shop, but I bought a big jar for $4 and change, and it's organic.

Food is generally pretty cheap here because we grow so much of it.

and I didn't spend any more money that normal. In fact, I was surprised to see many fruits and veggies were a decent price. I wonder if this is regional.

Every week we recoil at the new prices, and we adjust our menus, and we go without, and we don't speak our minds in any way that will make us heard.

It's almost as if we give our tacit permission for this thievery.

While we pay up at the checkout, either cheerfully or grimly or quietly, entities like Kroger report earnings up 20 or 30 or 40 percent for the quarter. (And we know they aren't passing any profits on to their employees!)

I suppose we could each make a point of speaking to our local store manager and asking about the rise in prices. What is the reason? What does the store intend to do about it? What is the store's profit margin?

And we could encourage our local media to report on the cost of food.

Any other ideas?

I'm going to start speaking to the store manager when I see that something has jumped dramatically and unprecedentedly. Walnuts, for example. Went from $5.99/pound to $7.99. 100 tablets of store brand ibuprofen went from $2.98 to $4.19.

We may not be able to affect policy, but we can at least let them know at the local level that we are not happy.

produce is like 20% up.

I shop at Aldi - parking lot is always bustling, people filling up their carts like half. Parking lot of Carrefour / Lion etc is 1/4 tops and people are carrying a couple items in a handbasket (mrs makes me go buy Coke light :-/).

As far as inflation goes: typical monthly bill for a family of 4
- heating: 250 euro (using heating oil in a modest freestanding house)
- transport: 140 km total commute -> 300 euro (gasoline at 1,56 euro per liter...)
- electricity: 125 euro
- internet + cable + phone (without mobile!): 75 euro
- groceries (weekly): 70 euro Aldi (little meat & produce tbh, we eat at work/school) and 35 Carrefour - some 400 euro total
- water: 30 euro
- if applicable: 1 child in daycare 350 euro
Thats 1530 euro in fixed costs if you will.

Everything that you can't afford to miss is going up like 10% yearly, food and energy we are totally being ripped on (+15-20% last couple years).

Count in a 1200 euro downpayment and a 3200 total net income (which is perfectly average), you see the picture.

We are not eating out, or paying for much other entertainment, our going on out-of-country holidays.

Of course, our health care and education are very cheap, how long that lasts is something else.

If not for the savings of our parents (who did that with usually 1 person working...), we wouldn't quite make it. But, I know we have much to learn in terms of frugality; so many people are worse off.

Luckily, our inflation is low *sarcasm* and the economic fundamentals are strong (austerity inc, Greekstyle: lower social security - tax working people - kill subsidies - lower pensions)

All because we have to save banks - the US had the "throw money to the banks" in 2008, we only limited but in the EU we're at it full throttle now (500 billion QE-style for banks in december alone, 1,5 T expected in february again).

Here in Belgium, our media keep us so dumb that 95% of the people don't even know it's happening. TPTB don't want us to know - we have (had) some of the worlds largest banks you see...Occupy was initmidated off the streets in a flash. But we izz coming back methinks, this time with alternatives - barter networks, consumption stops, community banks, vote with our wallets.

sorry for the rant

10 pounds of potatoes normally $3.99 on sale for $1.99
Milk: 2 gallons for $5
Slicing tomatoes 59 cents per pound
Cucumbers 3 for $1
Skinless chicken breasts $1.59 per pound
Sugar: $1.05 (after in store coupon)
etc.

Maybe it all depends on where you live and what you buy.

Our small ranch is really out in the boonies.

So we buy in large quantity and store the food in a large freezer and pantries (two).

Since we are subject to being snowed in for a couple weeks at a time we must be self-sufficient. Also, when we go shopping, we try to not forget anything.

Our main complaint is that the vegetables we get in northern Arizona are old by the time they get to the supermarket. Usually the iceberg lettuce is starting to turn brown while still at the Great-Wall-of-China-Mart. Our problems are lessened because of just two words.

1. Freezer

2. Garden

One more thing. We live in an area of open range, where cattle roam freely and eat the switch-grass that grows here. It has been a couple years of really bad drought and the cattle ranchers have thinned the herd drastically. I would expect to see a greatly increased price of beef in the coming year.

edited to add the word years

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/10/14/corn-sale-to-china-confirmed/

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday confirmed the sale of 35 million bushes of corn to China, somewhat less than the 60 million bushels rumored early in the week but enough to send corn up 10 cents per bushel to $6.48 at the open on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Soybeans were up 16 cents per bushel to $12.73. Hog and cattle prices also were up, maintaining record levels due to strong demand, particularly for exports.

Chinese purchases have been rumored all spring and summer but have been hard to track since the USDA often puts them in the “unknown destination” category. China is known to prefer to buy when corn prices reach the low $6 per bushel level.


this is Capitalism at its finest

US citizens pay more and China gets the corn
what is wrong with this picture

It happened to the Irish when their crops were sold to the British and the people of Ireland starved
think about it

Yikes. Did I mention I have a 13 yo son in the midst of his growth spirt?

Maybe I should take out a loan...