Right? I remember being able to feed myself really well for $30-40 a week as a single person about 5 years ago, even buying convenience foods. Itās simply not sustainable now and Iām so worried about how much worse it could get before (if?) it gets better
I hate to say this, but it will never go back to the way it was. It takes about 3-5 years for a huge shift in pricing like this to become acceptable. Iāve lived through quite a few of these price shifts. Soon these prices will become what people consider normal, and we wonāt think twice about paying it. Itās how the system works.
> I hate to say this, but it will never go back to the way it was.
Inflation only hurts poor people while deflation hurts the rich. Those in power will do everything and anything possible to prevent a deflation scenario.
And at the same time they'll resist any increase in wages that might make inflation bearable for ordinary people. And push for as much freedom to manipulate and control consumers as they can get.
Yes, this was my mom too. For example, I legit didn't know how easy it was to make mashed potatoes from scratch until I had my own place as an adult. Growing up, most of our food came out of a box, can, or a TV dinner. I was malnourished and had vitamin deficiencies growing up because of this. My mom still eats like this and constantly struggles to stay within her food budget. She never learned how cook and really isn't interested in learning, so she has to buys mostly pre-prepared and prepackaged foods which are usually expensive. I'm really thankful for all the YouTube videos of people sharing recipes because I can cook my own meals now which saves money and is way more nutritious than how I was raised to eat. š
Produce is insane. I miss having a yard to grow some of my own veggies but that was only good for a few months out of the year anyways. My biggest expense is freakin bread products. I have to eat gluten and lactose free unfortunately so a lot of my stuff is more (and lots of options are off the table). I don't eat near as much bread as I used to. It's $8 a loaf (that is only 3/4 the size of a normal loaf) *ooof*
The other day I went to a grocery store to grab some snacks for a hike with my friends. I skipped the cucumbers because they were too expensive, in favor of much cheaper turnips, carrots, and parsnips...and then I grabbed 4 apples despite them not having any price listed. Apples are cheap, right??
When I got to checkout, the apples came to $12. For 4 apples!!!! Here I thought paying $1 per apple at the farmers market was steep...I really shouldn't buy produce from big grocery stores.
Some bread machines now have a gluten free option. Or are you comfortable with baking by hand? The xanthum gum might be slightly spendy but a bag of it will make many loaves. There are so many non-gluten flours out there nowadays it's incredible. If you have a coffee grinder or hand mill you can even make flour, to lower the price even further.
I bought store brand toilet paper compared to the usual Costco Kirkland stuff my mom always gives me and I was SHOCKED. Around an inch shorter in width and the inner tube much larger.
Iām in Canada and the inflation isnāt as bad as the US but I still lost around 30-35lbs last year just from not having enough to feed both my kid and me.
Itās crazy
Canadian here too, but I find the inflation crazy! Things that were $3.99 last year are now $5.99! Almost everything I buy is minimum 50 cents more than it was just 6 months ago and servings are getting smaller. But when it comes to paper products, I pay very close attention to the sheet count
The shrinkflation gets me. I couldnāt figure out how I was basically eating the same way I used to eat as a teenager/college student and still able to fit into my pants. And itās because all the packages are smaller. The serving sizes are finally smaller. Which granted, given that junk food is bad for you and given how Americans usually eat, is not terribleā¦except that weāre paying more for less.
I have chronic headaches from not eating enough and Iāve just kinda gotten used to it. I already have issues with some foods and this is making it worse. It *has* forced me to start cooking and to be creative, but sometimes I get really weird about what to eat or how much I can spend. I agonize over whether I can spring for the fancy artisan white bread. (I canāt.)
I do want to start baking again, I guess maybe some bread. Over the winter I made a lot of muffins instead of buying those stupid mini muffins that are like $5 for a handful. Not the healthiest thing, but Iād throw protein powder or raw nuts or flax seed in there sometimes.
Seriously though I hate this.
Cat food and cat litter have gotten more expensive too. And thereās just no way around that. No joke, I live near the beach and I was thinking well fuck, what if I just filled the litter boxes with sand. But I donāt want my cats to get sick or hurt just because their dad is a cheapskate weirdo who eats like shit. :-/
Itās so sad that when I got norovirus twice this winter, both times all I could think was āat least I didnāt have to buy groceries this weekā because I was terrified to eat anything after throwing up for 8 hours straight.
It's not quite so dire yet for us, but amazing that 10 lbs come off just by leaving all dessert/treat foods for the child. I miss ice cream even more when I have to see it in the freezer, but junior doesn't need to know that.
Youāre not wrong. I also shop at Costco and itās only my husband and I. I look at regular store brand toilet paper at stores like Walmart and Iām floored. Those prices are almost criminal. I avoid buying even the smallest restock when I know I can get something at Costco for less. An example, my husband needed floss picks and I couldnāt bring myself to pay $6 for a bag when I know I can get 4 bags for $9.
OP is correct in that everything is going up. That same $9 pack of floss picks had 6 bags in it last time I purchased it. But this is about food - food example, I can still get pork loins at Costco for $1.79/lb (OKC area) and cut them up myself at home vs spending $3.92/lb at Walmart. That $60/yr membership and buying in bulk is tough at first, but with the right strategy, shopping sales, and freezing/processing bulk meat and produce purchases youāll definitely come out ahead.
I paid $90 for ONE BAG (a reusable bag about the size of a paper bag) of groceries yesterday at Walmart. My āsplurgeā was buying a meal that we basically NEVER eat anymore due to cost but would have been a totally normal weeknight meal a few years ago- fresh green beans, 12oz of salmon (on managerās special), a loaf of french bread (also on managerās special), and a tub of garlic butter. I also bought a kielbasa but no other meat. A small bag of chips for my kid and a 20oz soda for us to split. Everything else was generic brand pantry staples or vegetables.
I know somebody will read that and think that I should just eat rice and beans for every meal forever and never buy a single snack. Whatever. About-to-expire fish shouldnāt be a luxury.
I saw this coming the moment the pandemic caused shortages. That was basically a golden ticket for all these corruptions to fill out a blank check. They can charge what they want and we're forced to pay it and they'll blame the pandemic up until the next one. Luckily I have no problem cutting out frivolous purchases, so they're not getting anything extra from me.
Just to make you feel sick. When I was growing up (around 1970 or so) my mom filled up 4 carts for $100. Now I can do it in 2 bags... or one slab of beef from costco.
I left Hawaii last fall, $100 was about the budget for single bag. Now I'm in the Midwest, and it goes 2-3x as far depending on the store. Still not a whole cart, but a lot closer.
Hopping on top comment to remind you that all food and commodity goods companies are still raking in record profits and everyone is suffering because they refuse to go back to pre COVID profits capitalism for ya
Do you cook them from dry and then can them? We've been cooking them dry and will put them in a tupperware in the fridge and finish them within the next week. If we could can/preserve them to give them a good shelf life, that would be game changing.
Just google an approved recipe. You partially cook lentils before pressure canning, but beans you soak and cook 30 min (so partially) before canning.
Edit to say you'll need a pressure canner, not just hot water bath for this. Or an autoclave, if you can find an aftermarket one, since it's basically the same thing.
Iām in Toronto but Iāve noticed a large jump in the price of lentils and other beans. Its still affordable but it isnāt dirt cheap like it used to be.
Yep. I'm in the southeast US, our bean prices are 2-3x what they were in 2020 (from around $1 lb for most dried beans to $2-3 lb for most dried beans). My area is pretty agricultural, but the price increases on what I consider some of the cheapest food still shocks me.
Yep. Pre-covid, a typical grocery trip for my partner and I would cost about $80. Then a year ago it was more like $110. Now a grocery trip costs about $160.
I understand inflation is inevitable, but this is truly out of control.
It was 40-50 for most of our meals for two for a week at ALDIs, buying plenty of snacks and ready made stuff. Now I buy more foods to cook and I donāt remember the last time I spent that little there now. Itās really fucking a big problem. I feel my grocery budget just swallows my money.
Yep!! I literally said to my partner the last time I went grocery shopping: āI feel like every week i buy a little less to try to save money yet the total stays exactly the sameā
My girlfriend bought stuff to make two different kinds of soup in the crockpot yesterday, just basic soups, as well as bananas and store brand bread. $100. That will last maybe a week.
Inflation hasn't gone up enough to justify these prices. All these companies are making record profit all the time despite this inflation.
That's closer to why your food costs more.
I bought some stuff for fajitas for my family today. Wasn't super careful. Thought "I'll just save as compared to eating out."
The ingredients were 50 dollars. Fifty. Dollars.
I felt like a fool. I will just have to scrutinize every meal now.
My grandma always said you can afford to eat well if you cook yourself. Now Iām not so sure about that. Itās more like āyou can afford to eat well if youāre super organised and know whatās on special, plan, buy in bulk and freeze. You canāt just go and get the ingredients and expect it to be budget friendly anymore
Yes, this makes me apoplectic. I have worked hard to become a good home cook, I work my tail off doing everything right, and all I save is pennies.
Sure, I get the pleasure of doing it myself, and I enjoy cooking. But the savings is part of the motivation.
Yeah I shop at Aldi and I used to fill my cart with stuff for $100. Now that same haul costs me $150. Itās getting nuts! And like you, OP, I also cook from scratch and meal prep. Itās just getting out of control.
This is us. Used to be we could buy groceries at Aldi for $120 per week, maybe $150 on holiday weeks or special event weeks. Now itās $170 on a regular week. š±
I got a computer job because I liked using computers and I thought it would land me upper middle class, or maybe better.
I look at where I landed in life. It not only took me years to land here, I'm still not in a house, but I'm like dead, middle of the lane, middle class.
And I'm one of the fortunate ones. But I still graduated college, debt free, barely able to make rent, chicken thighs and rice, $12 an hour job a few years back.
This has been my biggest concern. My grocery costs first doubled and then almost tripled in the last year. Food costs are skyrocketing.
So weāre just buckling in and making most things from scratch. Iāve gotten rid of most of the extra snacks I like and concentrate on snacks for my kid.
Especially cereals. I know theyāre such an easy breakfast but parents should really try to move their kids away from the artificially colored sugar bombs that most manufacturers pass as cerealā¦ that stuff just isnāt good for anyone.
Probably? But I donāt want to overly police what my child likes to eat. She doesnāt eat a lot of junk and isnāt into sweets. The child can eat one piece of chocolate and be doneā¦ like I wonder how weāre related sometimes.. š¤£š¤£š¤£
This is the thing! If it were *just* groceries it would be manageable?? But when itās every damn thing, thereās no where to pull from and youāre in a deficit every month really. Somethings gotta give!
Same in SE CT $15.99 lb for Boar's Head turkey at supermarket delis. It's either that or the store brand. No more turkey sandwiches for us. when it's chicken for dinner, I cook extra chicken (Costco air chilled) and make a tasty curried chicken salad.
One day per week at my local store, whole bbq roasted chicken is 30% off. Maybe there is some option like that in your area to get yourself stocked back up.
Most places around me cut the price of whole rotisserie chickens down to $5 at the end of the day to clear it out. Can have wings and legs with supper the same day, some shredded meat to make sandwiches for lunch the next day, make stock out of the bones and freeze it for future use, and freeze the rest of the meat for soup, fried rice, casseroles, omelettes, etc.
By me I don't ever remember cold cuts being 3.99 per pound ever. Only been a grocery buying adult for 12 years. It was deff around 7.99-9.99 2-3 years ago by me. Cheese is super cheap as always though lol
Absolutely. My issue is like yours, we already make our own EVERYTHING: mayo, bread, lunch meat, pasta sauce, even snacks like cookies and potato chips. (Made our own ice cream for a while but turned out to be cheaper to buy it than the ingredients.) And I have four teenagers!! If prices go up any more we'll be screwed; we already do the cheapest possible version of everything.
I'll suggest people get out of their comfort zones and start shopping places that they normally don't. I've found that a lot of the "ethnic" markets are beyond competitive in pricing and often offer fresher foods than many of the big box retailers.
You also have the added benefit of being exposed to new ingredients (I tend to input ingredients into quick Google searches for new recipes, and I've found some wonderful recipes that have become household staples).
Yep. I only buy meat, lunchmeat and produce at the local Eastern European grocery store. From what I can tell its a small regional chain of only a handful of stores. The selection, quality, and prices (for those categories) have got everyone beat. Packaged/processed foods, on the other hand, they screw ya, so I get those at Aldi.
My bf and I ended up moving recently and unfortunately there are no ethnic markets in my small town. There's a butcher shop, Walmart, a local supermarket, Raleys, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree. I go to enthic stores only when we do a monthly trip to Costco out of state š been sticking to sales...
I spend like $250 a month on groceries but I eat a weird diet because Iām diabetic. I thought I was spending way more than the average person in a LCOL area but apparently $250 is the average for my state. I can barely afford it lol
I agree that inflation is out of control but I can get by on $50 a week or less if I really wanted to. As a single person with no kids, that is. I just buy a huge thing of raw chicken and potatoes and veggies. That usually comes out to about $15 which I can eat off of for like 4 days.
I was in a store recently and a customer and checker were having a heated discussion about a (small) $17 chicken breast.
I think those of us who are bargain shoppers are getting hit the hardest. When I'm in TJs or WFs the prices on most items don't seem that much higher than 18m ago. I shop at a discount grocery where chicken used to go on sale for 39 cents a lb (10lb bag) now it's never below 99 cents. Pasta that used to be 45 cents a box is now 89. It's just a huge increase on basic items.
Once the amount of discounted items decreases, it causes a rush to stock up by discount shoppers which further exacerbated the problem. My Aldi has chicken thighs regular price $1.89 but they sell out almost instantly because breast is now $3.89 regularly there. 5 years ago, unlimited chicken breast sat in krogers coolers at $1.99. People are snagging larger amounts of the cheaper priced items now, imo
Shoppers at my local Walmart have clued in if they don't buy the meat on the shelves, they can just wait til it goes on clearance and get it for normal prices
Covid scarred budget shoppers. I made a point of clearing out extra pantry space just to have some space for discount hauls-- I see a good price, I buy a lot of something. As long as I'm certain it'll be used before expiration, it's not like it's going to waste.
Just a bit ago at Walmart, I found some smoked sausage on sale for like $.86. It was very exciting. I grabbed 2 instead of the 1 I had planned on getting. Rang the first one up and it said $3.46. I told the self-checkout monitor, or whatever their title is, about it and she asked another guy to check it.
He just looked it up on his little thing and said this is what it's showing me, and showed me that it indeed was listed at 3.46. But I know what I saw, I even verified the product matched what was on the price tag. He could have walked over to look, but no. So I just got the one, since it would have been a whole thing.
Super annoying, all of this bs.
If I see something that is greatly reduced on the shelf and Iām planning on getting several, Iāve begun to take a quick photo of the displayed shelf price so I have solid proof at the checkout if needed
Oh man that kind of shit has been happening a LOT lately. Also stuff like bags of fruit labeled $/ea that then ring up as $/lb. Itās really distressing because my state just eliminated plastic bags, so Iām always so busy frantically trying not to get way behind bagging my own groceries that I can no longer catch things ringing up at drastically wrong prices. Instead I have to squint at the receipt later and try to figure out what the hell I bought that corresponds to the hieroglyphics in this receipt and came out to $9.97, and honestly, I can never know for sure that I havenāt just mixed things up myself since I canāt tell whatās what on the receipt, so theyāve probably ripped me off a lot since this policy started.
When I think there might be a "problem" at the checkout for something like this, I always snap a picture on my phone and show them the shelf tag/price. I haven't tried it at Walmart but it's worked for me at Kroger and CVS.
My local grocery store does this all the time. Iāve started taking pictures of the tags on the shelf that show the sale price, and doing self checkout.
It takes me over 20 minutes sometimes to ring up my items, and I ask for the difference for every item that I catch that rings up incorrectly, even if itās only a few cents.
Last week I caught almost $4 of over charged food. This morning it was just over $15.
The first few times I thought it was just the checkout system not updating, but now I think they do it on purpose to cheat the customer. $5 - $15 or more adds up when a few hundred people shop there every day.
I think what infuriates me the most about skyrocketing costs of food (and other essentials) is that there are people getting wealthier than ever, all on the backs of people *struggling to fucking eat.*
Then they have the gall to say āoh, well, we *had* to raise prices because wages rose marginallyā when in reality they only āhaveā to do it because their goal is infinite growth.
How about die?
I dont have a car or anything so I'm forced to go the the Safeway that's a 45 minute walk away. Because it's a city grocery store, it's like another 20% price increase ontop of inflation. I pay 50$ and walk out with the cheapest bread, some yogurt and the discounted protein that's about to expire. :(
The prices at Sprouts for packaged goods are fucking insane now. I usually only go there for produce, I have no idea how or why people pay those prices for snacks and dry goods.
This is true. Proctor and Gamble has reported lower volume but higher sales due to price increases. Same with all the major conglomerates, General Mills, J&J, CocaCola, PepsiCo, Nestle. Despite my love for Bounty, Charmin, and Dawn I'm boycotting P & G when my stash runs out. [Here's a list of their products](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Procter_%26_Gamble_brands) if anyone wants to join me. Goodbye Tide, Downy, Olay!
The main grocery chain CEO in Canada got himself a 1.2 million dollar raise last year while we all struggled to put food on our tables. Poor guy only made 11.7 million. I wonder how he gets by. *barf* These price hikes should be illegal, they aren't necessary at all!
Itās taken almost three yrs but we finally have a vegetable garden. Itās helping a lot. It took this long to have a garden because our house is built in an old rock quarry. So many rocks to dig up and move. We save seeds and grow our own plants.
Last year I grew brussels sprout plants. The sprouts themselves were late developing and underwhelming, but the plants grow big cabbagey leaves that are edible and cook up like collard or turnip greens. There were so many and they were so large that they ended up making the bulk of our dinnertime vegetable consumption from late summer to early winter. Fortunately the whole family liked 'em and didn't get sick of them...
I am in awe of you. My brussel sprouts are only leaves, no sprouts. I didnāt know how good the leaves were but I will try some. I have turnip greens, collards and cabbage.
I just hate that I can either eat like shit, but have comfy toilet paper, or I can eat well, but shred my ass up with the off-brand sand paper they put on TP rolls.
I wish people would stop assuming everybody has a Costco nearby. The closest one to me is 28 miles away. Iām not making a 56 mile round trip to save $5 on a chicken.
Insane! I would have said take it off. Iāve always stocked up on things when theyāre on sale but now Iām buying a bit more than i usually would (previously Iād buy2 of something on sale now i might buy 4) to keep my overall cost down in the long run.
Same! Ingles, a grocery store in the South, keeps putting Luck's beans on sale for 58c a can. It's 78cents at Walmart and 79 cents at Aldi for off brands. I keep stock-stock-stocking up on beans. If nothing else, we'll have beans in the pantry!
Itās like that here in Canada too. :( I was craving lasagna and buying the ingredients alone for homemade lasagna (using cheapest possible) for two people was almost 40$. I just opted for the frozen store brand which was 5$. I live in a HCOL area but I swear prices have tripled in the last year alone.
Do you make it with ricotta? If so, try doing it with homemade bechamel and using that instead. Ricotta here is ridiculous. I've gotten a lot of praise for the ones I've done with bechamel.
Or you can make your own ricotta with whole milk and lemon juice- very easy and only takes an hour ish. I stopped buying ricotta because of the high prices too.
At some point people will need to take action against those who are gouging. I just came from a detailed Reddit post regarding inflation and corporate profits.
These people are killing you so they can buy a third lake house. Do something.
Rally with your money.
Don't shop at corporations, instead shop at a local ethnic store, they usually have competitive prices.
Or shop at places that do not price gouge. Costco is the only one who comes to mind as they've pushed back against their parasitic shareholders when they wanted them to raise their prices.
These are the nonviolent answers.
Government has shown themselves to be toothless cowards in the laps of their corporate overlords. We have seen with our own eyes they are not going to help us.
General strike, organized both locally and nationally. Itās the fastest most effective tool.
Our labor and our dollars are all we can control.
It's out of control everywhere it seems. Govt is still blaming the war in Europe and prices are more than double for basic necessities here in Bangladesh.
Cost of living has just gone up close to 100% since COVID hit. It's insane.
Check out the price of ketchup now! Holy cow. The large bottle, grocery store large, not Costco large was $14.99! Smaller bottles were $8.99. I bought a medium bottle of store brand and even that was $5.49. I told my kids not to throw away ketchup packets any more.
Dude, what?! That's insane. I don't buy ketchup but I remember seeing sale ads for 99 cents a bottle not that long ago.
Ok I just looked at my grocery store online and a big 38oz bottle of store brand ketchup is $1.99 regular price. So I feel better now lol. Heinz is $5.79 for the same size. This is in Colorado.
And I constantly see rich fuckers giving advice like don't eat out, don't go to coffee shops, cut down on luxuries - but like you, I'm already doing that. I ate out once about a month ago, and before that I can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant. We're already down to the wire, there's no more frivolous expenses to cut.
I literally just got back from the grocery store and was thinking the same thing.
My husband and I (it's just us two) are spending $1000s on food every month. We need to seriously reevaluate the way we are meal planning and shopping.
We also need to lower our standards as the meals we are having for dinner each night are no longer sustainable.
We both finally started making decent money and paid off all our debt. During those struggle years I always envisioned going to the grocery store and getting whatever I desired.
Ha! I guess that's never going to happen.
I feel that to my coreā we're debt free now after years of hard work and it kind of feels like, "for what?" We're certainly not living in luxury now, and same as you, we've had to reevaluate our "fancy" meals at home to just be totally bare-bones. We're spending about $600 a month on food and that is with extreme planning and effort. If we just said, screw it and didn't plan or prep, we'd easily be $1k+ so I totally get it.
$600 is really commendable!
I guess the bright side is that inflation is easier to deal with when we don't have huge debt payments burning through our income each month. But, yeah, I thought life would feel more luxurious than it actually does.
During the pandemic one of my main comforts was splurging on groceries. I mean, if I was going to be home all the time, why not at least eat well? The spending got out of control and after a few months we had to reevaluate everything we were buying. We are vegan so we had to give up all the fake meat products and most of the fake cheese that I had increasingly added to the cart. It's just too expensive. We are back to living the curry and stir fry life now.
I feel this. Any novelty or "trendy" item at the store is something I zip right by with blinders on. I rarely even buy nuts anymore because it's just too much.
I love things like cheese, wine, olives, but now it's becoming a really rare treat.
Wth are you eating that you're spending *thousands* on food every month? Conservatively taking that to mean "two thousand," you're spending over $65/day on food for two people?!
Just an example but there was the Frito Lay strike that was a big story for a time (thought it was way earlier but it's from 2021). I've noticed chip prices have seemingly doubled since. I legit wonder if these kinds of actions is punishment against the consumer because I know damn well these workers didn't magically get double their pay, though the strike had more to do with the workers having more days off.
Costco for bulk meat/fruits/veggies and the Asian supermarkets for the one-offs have been good to me. Still not as cheap as before but at this point, thereās no turning back.
Today I went to a grocery store that I don't typically go to. I glanced at the Ore Ida fries. 8.54 a bag. You can buy 10lbs of potatoes for about 6!
Food prices have been out of control, and now the US is after snap benefits again. Food banks are struggling to keep up with demand.
Don't forget to make sure that their healthcare is tied to their employment so they always have to work to make sure they get some sort of healthcare and not go bankrupt. Although the health insurance will be draining their check and don't forget about those fun fun deductibles you have to max out first!
Totally obscene. I love cold cut sandwiches, so Iām also very aware of the pricing at the deli counter. At the grocery store with the lowest counter prices, I still canāt find turkey for less than 7.99/lb - and thatās a once in a while sale. So Iām stuck with Aldiās cold cuts and while they do the job, I certainly miss the days when the prices at regular grocery stores werenāt astronomical.
Yes they are. It's really scary. I stupidly keep telling myself things will go back down and we'll be able to afford things again but I know that's not true.
I was a cop in Katrina. Before Katrina, gas was 1-1.20 a gallon. After? 4 a gallon. It came down to three, and is now back up, and will never go down. Oil company profits? Through the roof. The supply chain issues are mostly done. The cost increases are NOT inflation, they're corporate profits. IT's bad.
I don't buy a lot of deli meat, but when I saw at $11/lb for something basic like turkey, I noped out out of there and bought a hunk at Costco for like 1/4 the cost.
It really is sad,I mean our economy is spiraling ...
I started a "**Little Free Pantry**" like a little free library in our towns, town hall hallway. Seems to be working really well. It's for shelf stable foods and necessary toiletries. Please start one where you are!
Greedflation and our elected officials know it! Citizens got sold down the river long ago. We are now a nation of corporations. Our labor laws are literally allowing indentured servitude, why my employer controls my healthcare is unfathomable.
Indeed food costs are out of control!
I basically buy all plant based stuff because meat and dairy are just so expensive where I live.
Tofu, lentils, veg, and fruits are still reasonable price where I live.
Frankly the cost of everything in the United states is out of control, that's why im moving into my solar RV full time once my lease is up, 1500/month to **just exist is an abomination**, and if I stay it will only get worse. Also going to use it as an opportunity to move to a cheaper nicer state.
Iām wondering if itās just in the USā¦ I was in Europe for most of last year and the groceries were so cheap, relatively speaking. How much of it is price gouging.
The UK is ridiculous right now. And stores have stopped stocking a lot if their "own brand" stuff meaning it's branded items or nothing.
I get the impression prices have shot up across Europe as well, but it's hit us here particularly hard cos of stupid Brexit.
Oh yeah, the UK is a nightmare now. Iām so sorry.
I noticed prices in restaurants across the EU were a lot more expensive than pre-pandemic (2019), but kind of attributed it to everyone going gangbusters with traveling and eating out. But groceries seemed to be about the same, except for alcohol.
The prices of vegetables, bread, fruit and canned goods went down a lot the last weeks here in Germany. A cucumber was almost 3 ā¬ (which is basically the same as $) and itās down to 59 cents now.
But other things are still ridiculously high priced. Meat and fish is extremely expensive and we replaced a lot with vegetarian options at home.
It doesn't end. For costs to drop across the board for food would mean the Great Depression 2.0. It is hitting most people. There is a channel on YouTube that explains that entertainment and eating establishments are still so busy is that young adults these days often live with the parents so that cuts out other high cost expenses.
Hmm they might say that but as someone who works in food, it's all older people going out to eat. None of the young people have any money. Also, I live alone in my high 20s so I wouldn't even think about going out to eat.
The amount of people in here second guessing OP on sandwich meats and not blaming these mega corps is fucking insane.
Sandwich meats shouldnāt be a fucking luxury item.
Agreed, and sandwich meats were a frequent item growing up in a poor family BECAUSE they were cheap and were meant to be cheap. Nine dollars per pound where I live is outrageous (although it's some really tasty meat).
The thing that's just freaking me out is that 10 years ago there was a _significant_ price premium on beef, especially deli sliced beef, which makes sense because it's more expensive. I went to the store two days ago and roast beef was 49 cents more a pound than turkey. What? The prices of _everything_ have risen, but something tells me it isn't just because costs are going up.
NEVER be too proud, or reluctant to utilize food access services. Check out your local food bank. At the very least, you can get some staples and save a little bit more money to spend on the rest of your food.
There are non profits everywhere that help with this.
I live in a very HCOL area as well. Grocery bill was over 400 dollars for this months haulā¦for two peopleā¦in an āingredientā household. Only thing I could say I āsplurgedā on was some NY strip steak that was on clearance, maybe 8-9 bucks. Other than that I was careful. Canāt imagine what itās like to feed a family of four with high cost processed foods for school/work lunches, snack foods, etc.
Everything seems to be going up in dollars not cents anymore..whenever I see the prices of items I shop for theyāre all going up by $1-$4 sometimes even more..itās crazy and there isnāt a real reason for it..Covid has been over..everything is running normally nowā¦usually this would be illegal if this happened during a natural disaster but itās normal now and we just have to accept it. As long as their profits keep going up and people keep paying it..why stopā¦six months just add another dollar to it..cereal was āon saleā 2/$9..sale prices used to be 2/$5 before Covid..itās almost double..something I paid $2.99 for two weeks ago is now 2/$9 ..and no these are no produce or anything that would need this high of an increase same like macaroni and cheese used to be $2.49-$3.49 now $5.
I agree with you. My sister lives in southern Utah and sends pics of the food prices to me. 2 boneless chicken breasts were $20, not organic. I don't know how people feed families there.
250grams coffee went up to $21 here
Itās crazy thereās literally nothing tat hasn home up, gone are the days of buying things under 4-7,8 dollars each
Seriously! Its hard out here trying to be frugal. I saw a box of crackers was seven gorram dollars and Fritos were similar. WHATEVEN. Skipping junk keeps getting easier.
Check out other stores in your area. After spending the same amount for much less food at Kroger, turns out less food goes to waste. However, I did stumble upon a Grocery Outlet store last month that has pre-pandemic inflation pricing. It is a smaller store with less selection, but they have name brand and organic items and household items. There is no staffed deli or meat counter to request cuts but they do have a small selection of items on display to pick up. Totally meets 90% of grocery needs and the quality of produce is fresh and tasty. There are gems out there like Food4Less, Ranch99 and Vallarta and I hope y'all find something similar near you. TJ sometimes has good prices on specific things.
I do some shifts at the deli meat counter at work sometimes and it's like 9$ canadian for a lbs of simili chicken.
Even the cheapest and horrendous meat is expensive now.
I remember a couple years ago when you could fill up an entire cart for $100. Now getting to $100 is way too easy š®āšØ
Back in the day, $100 full cart Today you can fill up the front kiddy seat of the cart for $100
So true.
Right? I remember being able to feed myself really well for $30-40 a week as a single person about 5 years ago, even buying convenience foods. Itās simply not sustainable now and Iām so worried about how much worse it could get before (if?) it gets better
I hate to say this, but it will never go back to the way it was. It takes about 3-5 years for a huge shift in pricing like this to become acceptable. Iāve lived through quite a few of these price shifts. Soon these prices will become what people consider normal, and we wonāt think twice about paying it. Itās how the system works.
> I hate to say this, but it will never go back to the way it was. Inflation only hurts poor people while deflation hurts the rich. Those in power will do everything and anything possible to prevent a deflation scenario.
And at the same time they'll resist any increase in wages that might make inflation bearable for ordinary people. And push for as much freedom to manipulate and control consumers as they can get.
The deflation of the great depression was not too kind to poor people. Deflation tends to grind the economy to a halt.
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Yes, this was my mom too. For example, I legit didn't know how easy it was to make mashed potatoes from scratch until I had my own place as an adult. Growing up, most of our food came out of a box, can, or a TV dinner. I was malnourished and had vitamin deficiencies growing up because of this. My mom still eats like this and constantly struggles to stay within her food budget. She never learned how cook and really isn't interested in learning, so she has to buys mostly pre-prepared and prepackaged foods which are usually expensive. I'm really thankful for all the YouTube videos of people sharing recipes because I can cook my own meals now which saves money and is way more nutritious than how I was raised to eat. š
$100 got me 3 bags of groceries yesterday. *le barf*
$34 of my $121 was produce. It's becoming a financial commitment to eat fresh.
Produce is insane. I miss having a yard to grow some of my own veggies but that was only good for a few months out of the year anyways. My biggest expense is freakin bread products. I have to eat gluten and lactose free unfortunately so a lot of my stuff is more (and lots of options are off the table). I don't eat near as much bread as I used to. It's $8 a loaf (that is only 3/4 the size of a normal loaf) *ooof*
The other day I went to a grocery store to grab some snacks for a hike with my friends. I skipped the cucumbers because they were too expensive, in favor of much cheaper turnips, carrots, and parsnips...and then I grabbed 4 apples despite them not having any price listed. Apples are cheap, right?? When I got to checkout, the apples came to $12. For 4 apples!!!! Here I thought paying $1 per apple at the farmers market was steep...I really shouldn't buy produce from big grocery stores.
I wish community gardens were more common. It would be so helpful if people could plant their own veggies and such.
Some bread machines now have a gluten free option. Or are you comfortable with baking by hand? The xanthum gum might be slightly spendy but a bag of it will make many loaves. There are so many non-gluten flours out there nowadays it's incredible. If you have a coffee grinder or hand mill you can even make flour, to lower the price even further.
Same. Most of it was toilet paper and paper towels. Store brand.
I bought store brand toilet paper compared to the usual Costco Kirkland stuff my mom always gives me and I was SHOCKED. Around an inch shorter in width and the inner tube much larger. Iām in Canada and the inflation isnāt as bad as the US but I still lost around 30-35lbs last year just from not having enough to feed both my kid and me. Itās crazy
Canadian here too, but I find the inflation crazy! Things that were $3.99 last year are now $5.99! Almost everything I buy is minimum 50 cents more than it was just 6 months ago and servings are getting smaller. But when it comes to paper products, I pay very close attention to the sheet count
Food bank, my dear! I know there are more and more people using them, but please take care of yourself and your little one!
The shrinkflation gets me. I couldnāt figure out how I was basically eating the same way I used to eat as a teenager/college student and still able to fit into my pants. And itās because all the packages are smaller. The serving sizes are finally smaller. Which granted, given that junk food is bad for you and given how Americans usually eat, is not terribleā¦except that weāre paying more for less. I have chronic headaches from not eating enough and Iāve just kinda gotten used to it. I already have issues with some foods and this is making it worse. It *has* forced me to start cooking and to be creative, but sometimes I get really weird about what to eat or how much I can spend. I agonize over whether I can spring for the fancy artisan white bread. (I canāt.) I do want to start baking again, I guess maybe some bread. Over the winter I made a lot of muffins instead of buying those stupid mini muffins that are like $5 for a handful. Not the healthiest thing, but Iād throw protein powder or raw nuts or flax seed in there sometimes. Seriously though I hate this. Cat food and cat litter have gotten more expensive too. And thereās just no way around that. No joke, I live near the beach and I was thinking well fuck, what if I just filled the litter boxes with sand. But I donāt want my cats to get sick or hurt just because their dad is a cheapskate weirdo who eats like shit. :-/
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a little dystopic that it's becoming financially necessary for folks to do this while surrounded by so much food
Itās so sad that when I got norovirus twice this winter, both times all I could think was āat least I didnāt have to buy groceries this weekā because I was terrified to eat anything after throwing up for 8 hours straight.
It's a good thing we had these energy reserves!
It's not quite so dire yet for us, but amazing that 10 lbs come off just by leaving all dessert/treat foods for the child. I miss ice cream even more when I have to see it in the freezer, but junior doesn't need to know that.
Youāre not wrong. I also shop at Costco and itās only my husband and I. I look at regular store brand toilet paper at stores like Walmart and Iām floored. Those prices are almost criminal. I avoid buying even the smallest restock when I know I can get something at Costco for less. An example, my husband needed floss picks and I couldnāt bring myself to pay $6 for a bag when I know I can get 4 bags for $9. OP is correct in that everything is going up. That same $9 pack of floss picks had 6 bags in it last time I purchased it. But this is about food - food example, I can still get pork loins at Costco for $1.79/lb (OKC area) and cut them up myself at home vs spending $3.92/lb at Walmart. That $60/yr membership and buying in bulk is tough at first, but with the right strategy, shopping sales, and freezing/processing bulk meat and produce purchases youāll definitely come out ahead.
I spend 100 just stopping at the light next to Costco.
I paid $90 for ONE BAG (a reusable bag about the size of a paper bag) of groceries yesterday at Walmart. My āsplurgeā was buying a meal that we basically NEVER eat anymore due to cost but would have been a totally normal weeknight meal a few years ago- fresh green beans, 12oz of salmon (on managerās special), a loaf of french bread (also on managerās special), and a tub of garlic butter. I also bought a kielbasa but no other meat. A small bag of chips for my kid and a 20oz soda for us to split. Everything else was generic brand pantry staples or vegetables. I know somebody will read that and think that I should just eat rice and beans for every meal forever and never buy a single snack. Whatever. About-to-expire fish shouldnāt be a luxury.
I saw this coming the moment the pandemic caused shortages. That was basically a golden ticket for all these corruptions to fill out a blank check. They can charge what they want and we're forced to pay it and they'll blame the pandemic up until the next one. Luckily I have no problem cutting out frivolous purchases, so they're not getting anything extra from me.
I 'member When everything is $5 *on average*, it adds up super quick.
I filled up a cart this morning and it was just over $350.00. And that was after all the coupons and discounts.
My last trip was about $110, and there were no meat items in the cart.
Just to make you feel sick. When I was growing up (around 1970 or so) my mom filled up 4 carts for $100. Now I can do it in 2 bags... or one slab of beef from costco.
I left Hawaii last fall, $100 was about the budget for single bag. Now I'm in the Midwest, and it goes 2-3x as far depending on the store. Still not a whole cart, but a lot closer.
Hopping on top comment to remind you that all food and commodity goods companies are still raking in record profits and everyone is suffering because they refuse to go back to pre COVID profits capitalism for ya
if they raise the cost of lentils imma die
Legumes, in general, are mainly what keeps my family and I alive. I don't even want to consider what would happen if there was a lurch in bean prices.
I started canning my own
Do you cook them from dry and then can them? We've been cooking them dry and will put them in a tupperware in the fridge and finish them within the next week. If we could can/preserve them to give them a good shelf life, that would be game changing.
Just google an approved recipe. You partially cook lentils before pressure canning, but beans you soak and cook 30 min (so partially) before canning. Edit to say you'll need a pressure canner, not just hot water bath for this. Or an autoclave, if you can find an aftermarket one, since it's basically the same thing.
"Learn to live on lentils and you will not be subservient to the king."
Iām in Toronto but Iāve noticed a large jump in the price of lentils and other beans. Its still affordable but it isnāt dirt cheap like it used to be.
Yep. I'm in the southeast US, our bean prices are 2-3x what they were in 2020 (from around $1 lb for most dried beans to $2-3 lb for most dried beans). My area is pretty agricultural, but the price increases on what I consider some of the cheapest food still shocks me.
Thatās when we truly revolt, targeted attack on us trying to be frugal in this warped system rn
We are all 7 missed meals away
be the change you want to see skip some meals/s
Donāt give them ideas
Yep. Pre-covid, a typical grocery trip for my partner and I would cost about $80. Then a year ago it was more like $110. Now a grocery trip costs about $160. I understand inflation is inevitable, but this is truly out of control.
It was 40-50 for most of our meals for two for a week at ALDIs, buying plenty of snacks and ready made stuff. Now I buy more foods to cook and I donāt remember the last time I spent that little there now. Itās really fucking a big problem. I feel my grocery budget just swallows my money.
Yep!! I literally said to my partner the last time I went grocery shopping: āI feel like every week i buy a little less to try to save money yet the total stays exactly the sameā
My girlfriend bought stuff to make two different kinds of soup in the crockpot yesterday, just basic soups, as well as bananas and store brand bread. $100. That will last maybe a week.
Inflation hasn't gone up enough to justify these prices. All these companies are making record profit all the time despite this inflation. That's closer to why your food costs more.
It has been proven and is shameful the government is doing jack about it as well. A windfall tax would put a stop to some of it.
I bought some stuff for fajitas for my family today. Wasn't super careful. Thought "I'll just save as compared to eating out." The ingredients were 50 dollars. Fifty. Dollars. I felt like a fool. I will just have to scrutinize every meal now.
My grandma always said you can afford to eat well if you cook yourself. Now Iām not so sure about that. Itās more like āyou can afford to eat well if youāre super organised and know whatās on special, plan, buy in bulk and freeze. You canāt just go and get the ingredients and expect it to be budget friendly anymore
Yes, this makes me apoplectic. I have worked hard to become a good home cook, I work my tail off doing everything right, and all I save is pennies. Sure, I get the pleasure of doing it myself, and I enjoy cooking. But the savings is part of the motivation.
I'll literally go to places that have a lunch menu/happy hour or whatnot because it's cheaper than if I made it at home myself. That's just not right.
Idk it is more economical and environmentally friendly for food to be mass produced at a restaurant. Added bonus for you, No dishes.
It's true and very sad. My wife had to close up her cafƩ last year because food supply costs got outrageous, literally almost doubled in a matter of a month. Those still open are either backed by large capital or barely getting by, or they're not getting by but their other business ventures allow them to eat the cost.
Yeah I shop at Aldi and I used to fill my cart with stuff for $100. Now that same haul costs me $150. Itās getting nuts! And like you, OP, I also cook from scratch and meal prep. Itās just getting out of control.
This is us. Used to be we could buy groceries at Aldi for $120 per week, maybe $150 on holiday weeks or special event weeks. Now itās $170 on a regular week. š±
I spent $200 at Aldi last week. Like how?! š
I spend $100 on two half filled bags of groceries. Fucking country is bankrupting the middle class and they couldnāt give a shit. Fed up with this.
No one can afford to be middle class any more.
I got a computer job because I liked using computers and I thought it would land me upper middle class, or maybe better. I look at where I landed in life. It not only took me years to land here, I'm still not in a house, but I'm like dead, middle of the lane, middle class. And I'm one of the fortunate ones. But I still graduated college, debt free, barely able to make rent, chicken thighs and rice, $12 an hour job a few years back.
This has been my biggest concern. My grocery costs first doubled and then almost tripled in the last year. Food costs are skyrocketing. So weāre just buckling in and making most things from scratch. Iāve gotten rid of most of the extra snacks I like and concentrate on snacks for my kid.
I just read a study that snacks and foods marketed at or for kids are lower in protein, vitamins, and minerals while being higher in added sugar.
I don't know why anyone needed a study to determine this lol the food they market to kids is entirely shit
Especially cereals. I know theyāre such an easy breakfast but parents should really try to move their kids away from the artificially colored sugar bombs that most manufacturers pass as cerealā¦ that stuff just isnāt good for anyone.
Gotta get them on the honey bunches of oats and or store brand cheerios stat.
Probably? But I donāt want to overly police what my child likes to eat. She doesnāt eat a lot of junk and isnāt into sweets. The child can eat one piece of chocolate and be doneā¦ like I wonder how weāre related sometimes.. š¤£š¤£š¤£
Unfortunately it's not just food. Rent and mortgages are getting insane. Not to mention the price of vehicles
This is the thing! If it were *just* groceries it would be manageable?? But when itās every damn thing, thereās no where to pull from and youāre in a deficit every month really. Somethings gotta give!
I guess Iāve always considered lunch meat to be pretty expensive. We buy it at Costco but itās definitely never been a cheap option!
Most definitely, which is why we've been making it at home until now! Was just shocked that the cost has literally tripled in the last 2-3 years
I thought it was pricey at $6-7 a lb. $12 is nauseating
I think Turkey at my store is about $15 a pound. Itās insane
15-16 near me for boars head
Same in SE CT $15.99 lb for Boar's Head turkey at supermarket delis. It's either that or the store brand. No more turkey sandwiches for us. when it's chicken for dinner, I cook extra chicken (Costco air chilled) and make a tasty curried chicken salad.
Boars Head was a price gouge the moment it arrived.
The thing that blew my mind recently was discovering that beef jerky where I live is going $60-$80 per pound.
One day per week at my local store, whole bbq roasted chicken is 30% off. Maybe there is some option like that in your area to get yourself stocked back up.
Most places around me cut the price of whole rotisserie chickens down to $5 at the end of the day to clear it out. Can have wings and legs with supper the same day, some shredded meat to make sandwiches for lunch the next day, make stock out of the bones and freeze it for future use, and freeze the rest of the meat for soup, fried rice, casseroles, omelettes, etc.
It hasn't tripled . Idk where you were getting cold cuts , but even non premium brands were 7-8$ a pound even 3 yrs ago.
By me I don't ever remember cold cuts being 3.99 per pound ever. Only been a grocery buying adult for 12 years. It was deff around 7.99-9.99 2-3 years ago by me. Cheese is super cheap as always though lol
Where do you live that cheese is super cheap??? I love cheese, but even the cheapest cheese is too expensive for me to have regularly.
It's cheaper than buying sandwiches from a cafe though!
Absolutely. My issue is like yours, we already make our own EVERYTHING: mayo, bread, lunch meat, pasta sauce, even snacks like cookies and potato chips. (Made our own ice cream for a while but turned out to be cheaper to buy it than the ingredients.) And I have four teenagers!! If prices go up any more we'll be screwed; we already do the cheapest possible version of everything.
> If prices go up any more we'll be screwed If? We all know it's not a question of if, but when and how much.
True, but for me it's a specific calculation of when prices go up vs. when my kids grow up and/or get jobs!
I'll suggest people get out of their comfort zones and start shopping places that they normally don't. I've found that a lot of the "ethnic" markets are beyond competitive in pricing and often offer fresher foods than many of the big box retailers. You also have the added benefit of being exposed to new ingredients (I tend to input ingredients into quick Google searches for new recipes, and I've found some wonderful recipes that have become household staples).
Yep. I only buy meat, lunchmeat and produce at the local Eastern European grocery store. From what I can tell its a small regional chain of only a handful of stores. The selection, quality, and prices (for those categories) have got everyone beat. Packaged/processed foods, on the other hand, they screw ya, so I get those at Aldi.
My bf and I ended up moving recently and unfortunately there are no ethnic markets in my small town. There's a butcher shop, Walmart, a local supermarket, Raleys, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree. I go to enthic stores only when we do a monthly trip to Costco out of state š been sticking to sales...
Bro many of us live in markets with one or two options. What are we supposed to do?
I spend like $250 a month on groceries but I eat a weird diet because Iām diabetic. I thought I was spending way more than the average person in a LCOL area but apparently $250 is the average for my state. I can barely afford it lol
I'd say you are doing really well. I can't imagine how anyone could spend less than that.
I agree that inflation is out of control but I can get by on $50 a week or less if I really wanted to. As a single person with no kids, that is. I just buy a huge thing of raw chicken and potatoes and veggies. That usually comes out to about $15 which I can eat off of for like 4 days.
I spend about the same! Though perhaps a bit more in the summer when I splurge at the farmer's market.
I was in a store recently and a customer and checker were having a heated discussion about a (small) $17 chicken breast. I think those of us who are bargain shoppers are getting hit the hardest. When I'm in TJs or WFs the prices on most items don't seem that much higher than 18m ago. I shop at a discount grocery where chicken used to go on sale for 39 cents a lb (10lb bag) now it's never below 99 cents. Pasta that used to be 45 cents a box is now 89. It's just a huge increase on basic items.
Once the amount of discounted items decreases, it causes a rush to stock up by discount shoppers which further exacerbated the problem. My Aldi has chicken thighs regular price $1.89 but they sell out almost instantly because breast is now $3.89 regularly there. 5 years ago, unlimited chicken breast sat in krogers coolers at $1.99. People are snagging larger amounts of the cheaper priced items now, imo
Shoppers at my local Walmart have clued in if they don't buy the meat on the shelves, they can just wait til it goes on clearance and get it for normal prices
I live in NYC, Iām lucky if I can get chicken thighs for $5 a pound in my neighborhood
Covid scarred budget shoppers. I made a point of clearing out extra pantry space just to have some space for discount hauls-- I see a good price, I buy a lot of something. As long as I'm certain it'll be used before expiration, it's not like it's going to waste.
And companies are making record profits hand over fist.
It is really important to remember inflation has not affected everything equally. So you have to watch prices ALL the time.
I paid almost $7 today for a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. I was checked out before I noticed. Everything else was equally insane.
Just a bit ago at Walmart, I found some smoked sausage on sale for like $.86. It was very exciting. I grabbed 2 instead of the 1 I had planned on getting. Rang the first one up and it said $3.46. I told the self-checkout monitor, or whatever their title is, about it and she asked another guy to check it. He just looked it up on his little thing and said this is what it's showing me, and showed me that it indeed was listed at 3.46. But I know what I saw, I even verified the product matched what was on the price tag. He could have walked over to look, but no. So I just got the one, since it would have been a whole thing. Super annoying, all of this bs.
If I see something that is greatly reduced on the shelf and Iām planning on getting several, Iāve begun to take a quick photo of the displayed shelf price so I have solid proof at the checkout if needed
That is a great idea and I'll be doing the same from now on. Thanks for the tip!
Oh man that kind of shit has been happening a LOT lately. Also stuff like bags of fruit labeled $/ea that then ring up as $/lb. Itās really distressing because my state just eliminated plastic bags, so Iām always so busy frantically trying not to get way behind bagging my own groceries that I can no longer catch things ringing up at drastically wrong prices. Instead I have to squint at the receipt later and try to figure out what the hell I bought that corresponds to the hieroglyphics in this receipt and came out to $9.97, and honestly, I can never know for sure that I havenāt just mixed things up myself since I canāt tell whatās what on the receipt, so theyāve probably ripped me off a lot since this policy started.
When I think there might be a "problem" at the checkout for something like this, I always snap a picture on my phone and show them the shelf tag/price. I haven't tried it at Walmart but it's worked for me at Kroger and CVS.
My local grocery store does this all the time. Iāve started taking pictures of the tags on the shelf that show the sale price, and doing self checkout. It takes me over 20 minutes sometimes to ring up my items, and I ask for the difference for every item that I catch that rings up incorrectly, even if itās only a few cents. Last week I caught almost $4 of over charged food. This morning it was just over $15. The first few times I thought it was just the checkout system not updating, but now I think they do it on purpose to cheat the customer. $5 - $15 or more adds up when a few hundred people shop there every day.
I think what infuriates me the most about skyrocketing costs of food (and other essentials) is that there are people getting wealthier than ever, all on the backs of people *struggling to fucking eat.* Then they have the gall to say āoh, well, we *had* to raise prices because wages rose marginallyā when in reality they only āhaveā to do it because their goal is infinite growth. How about die?
I dont have a car or anything so I'm forced to go the the Safeway that's a 45 minute walk away. Because it's a city grocery store, it's like another 20% price increase ontop of inflation. I pay 50$ and walk out with the cheapest bread, some yogurt and the discounted protein that's about to expire. :(
and the shrinkflation is insane. Everything costs more for less product, I'm losing the battle.
A bag of pirates booty white cheese puffs were $9 at Sprouts. Not even a big family sized bag, just normal sizeā¦.
The prices at Sprouts for packaged goods are fucking insane now. I usually only go there for produce, I have no idea how or why people pay those prices for snacks and dry goods.
Record corporate profits!!!
This is true. Proctor and Gamble has reported lower volume but higher sales due to price increases. Same with all the major conglomerates, General Mills, J&J, CocaCola, PepsiCo, Nestle. Despite my love for Bounty, Charmin, and Dawn I'm boycotting P & G when my stash runs out. [Here's a list of their products](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Procter_%26_Gamble_brands) if anyone wants to join me. Goodbye Tide, Downy, Olay!
The main grocery chain CEO in Canada got himself a 1.2 million dollar raise last year while we all struggled to put food on our tables. Poor guy only made 11.7 million. I wonder how he gets by. *barf* These price hikes should be illegal, they aren't necessary at all!
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Itās taken almost three yrs but we finally have a vegetable garden. Itās helping a lot. It took this long to have a garden because our house is built in an old rock quarry. So many rocks to dig up and move. We save seeds and grow our own plants.
Last year I grew brussels sprout plants. The sprouts themselves were late developing and underwhelming, but the plants grow big cabbagey leaves that are edible and cook up like collard or turnip greens. There were so many and they were so large that they ended up making the bulk of our dinnertime vegetable consumption from late summer to early winter. Fortunately the whole family liked 'em and didn't get sick of them...
I am in awe of you. My brussel sprouts are only leaves, no sprouts. I didnāt know how good the leaves were but I will try some. I have turnip greens, collards and cabbage.
I just hate that I can either eat like shit, but have comfy toilet paper, or I can eat well, but shred my ass up with the off-brand sand paper they put on TP rolls.
get a bidet for under 30 dollars and you will cut down on toilet paper.
I wish people would stop assuming everybody has a Costco nearby. The closest one to me is 28 miles away. Iām not making a 56 mile round trip to save $5 on a chicken.
Insane! I would have said take it off. Iāve always stocked up on things when theyāre on sale but now Iām buying a bit more than i usually would (previously Iād buy2 of something on sale now i might buy 4) to keep my overall cost down in the long run.
Same! Ingles, a grocery store in the South, keeps putting Luck's beans on sale for 58c a can. It's 78cents at Walmart and 79 cents at Aldi for off brands. I keep stock-stock-stocking up on beans. If nothing else, we'll have beans in the pantry!
Itās like that here in Canada too. :( I was craving lasagna and buying the ingredients alone for homemade lasagna (using cheapest possible) for two people was almost 40$. I just opted for the frozen store brand which was 5$. I live in a HCOL area but I swear prices have tripled in the last year alone.
Do you make it with ricotta? If so, try doing it with homemade bechamel and using that instead. Ricotta here is ridiculous. I've gotten a lot of praise for the ones I've done with bechamel.
Or you can make your own ricotta with whole milk and lemon juice- very easy and only takes an hour ish. I stopped buying ricotta because of the high prices too.
At some point people will need to take action against those who are gouging. I just came from a detailed Reddit post regarding inflation and corporate profits. These people are killing you so they can buy a third lake house. Do something.
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Rally with your money. Don't shop at corporations, instead shop at a local ethnic store, they usually have competitive prices. Or shop at places that do not price gouge. Costco is the only one who comes to mind as they've pushed back against their parasitic shareholders when they wanted them to raise their prices. These are the nonviolent answers.
Government has shown themselves to be toothless cowards in the laps of their corporate overlords. We have seen with our own eyes they are not going to help us. General strike, organized both locally and nationally. Itās the fastest most effective tool. Our labor and our dollars are all we can control.
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It's out of control everywhere it seems. Govt is still blaming the war in Europe and prices are more than double for basic necessities here in Bangladesh. Cost of living has just gone up close to 100% since COVID hit. It's insane.
Check out the price of ketchup now! Holy cow. The large bottle, grocery store large, not Costco large was $14.99! Smaller bottles were $8.99. I bought a medium bottle of store brand and even that was $5.49. I told my kids not to throw away ketchup packets any more.
Dude, what?! That's insane. I don't buy ketchup but I remember seeing sale ads for 99 cents a bottle not that long ago. Ok I just looked at my grocery store online and a big 38oz bottle of store brand ketchup is $1.99 regular price. So I feel better now lol. Heinz is $5.79 for the same size. This is in Colorado.
And I constantly see rich fuckers giving advice like don't eat out, don't go to coffee shops, cut down on luxuries - but like you, I'm already doing that. I ate out once about a month ago, and before that I can't remember the last time I went to a restaurant. We're already down to the wire, there's no more frivolous expenses to cut.
I literally just got back from the grocery store and was thinking the same thing. My husband and I (it's just us two) are spending $1000s on food every month. We need to seriously reevaluate the way we are meal planning and shopping. We also need to lower our standards as the meals we are having for dinner each night are no longer sustainable. We both finally started making decent money and paid off all our debt. During those struggle years I always envisioned going to the grocery store and getting whatever I desired. Ha! I guess that's never going to happen.
I feel that to my coreā we're debt free now after years of hard work and it kind of feels like, "for what?" We're certainly not living in luxury now, and same as you, we've had to reevaluate our "fancy" meals at home to just be totally bare-bones. We're spending about $600 a month on food and that is with extreme planning and effort. If we just said, screw it and didn't plan or prep, we'd easily be $1k+ so I totally get it.
$600 is really commendable! I guess the bright side is that inflation is easier to deal with when we don't have huge debt payments burning through our income each month. But, yeah, I thought life would feel more luxurious than it actually does.
During the pandemic one of my main comforts was splurging on groceries. I mean, if I was going to be home all the time, why not at least eat well? The spending got out of control and after a few months we had to reevaluate everything we were buying. We are vegan so we had to give up all the fake meat products and most of the fake cheese that I had increasingly added to the cart. It's just too expensive. We are back to living the curry and stir fry life now.
I feel this. Any novelty or "trendy" item at the store is something I zip right by with blinders on. I rarely even buy nuts anymore because it's just too much. I love things like cheese, wine, olives, but now it's becoming a really rare treat.
Nice cheese has always been soooo expensive
Wth are you eating that you're spending *thousands* on food every month? Conservatively taking that to mean "two thousand," you're spending over $65/day on food for two people?!
Some of it is inflation. Most of it is greed using inflation as an excuse.
Just an example but there was the Frito Lay strike that was a big story for a time (thought it was way earlier but it's from 2021). I've noticed chip prices have seemingly doubled since. I legit wonder if these kinds of actions is punishment against the consumer because I know damn well these workers didn't magically get double their pay, though the strike had more to do with the workers having more days off.
Jokes on them, Iāve stopped buying chips and Iām healthier for it
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Same, no more chips. We must change for them to change
Costco for bulk meat/fruits/veggies and the Asian supermarkets for the one-offs have been good to me. Still not as cheap as before but at this point, thereās no turning back.
Yeah but how else are companies going to post record profits quarter after quarter? Wonāt someone please think of the shareholders?! /s
Today I went to a grocery store that I don't typically go to. I glanced at the Ore Ida fries. 8.54 a bag. You can buy 10lbs of potatoes for about 6! Food prices have been out of control, and now the US is after snap benefits again. Food banks are struggling to keep up with demand.
I got a substantial raise this past year and with all the inflation it feels like I just stood still. My fiancĆ© and I just bought a house and we are making it work by cooking at home and eating cheaper food but our lifestyle has definitely had to take deep cuts just to not dig into savings. Iāve always had to live lean just to survive and I was hoping that I would finally be able to breathe a little bit but now Iām having to watch money harder than ever because a lot more is on the line.
Keep them poor, then starve them..... Interest rates up..... Property taxes up...... Health insurance up......
Don't forget to make sure that their healthcare is tied to their employment so they always have to work to make sure they get some sort of healthcare and not go bankrupt. Although the health insurance will be draining their check and don't forget about those fun fun deductibles you have to max out first!
Totally obscene. I love cold cut sandwiches, so Iām also very aware of the pricing at the deli counter. At the grocery store with the lowest counter prices, I still canāt find turkey for less than 7.99/lb - and thatās a once in a while sale. So Iām stuck with Aldiās cold cuts and while they do the job, I certainly miss the days when the prices at regular grocery stores werenāt astronomical.
Yes they are. It's really scary. I stupidly keep telling myself things will go back down and we'll be able to afford things again but I know that's not true.
It ends when we have nothing and they have it all.
I was a cop in Katrina. Before Katrina, gas was 1-1.20 a gallon. After? 4 a gallon. It came down to three, and is now back up, and will never go down. Oil company profits? Through the roof. The supply chain issues are mostly done. The cost increases are NOT inflation, they're corporate profits. IT's bad.
And it will never go back down - the bleak reality.
I don't buy a lot of deli meat, but when I saw at $11/lb for something basic like turkey, I noped out out of there and bought a hunk at Costco for like 1/4 the cost.
It really is sad,I mean our economy is spiraling ... I started a "**Little Free Pantry**" like a little free library in our towns, town hall hallway. Seems to be working really well. It's for shelf stable foods and necessary toiletries. Please start one where you are!
Greedflation and our elected officials know it! Citizens got sold down the river long ago. We are now a nation of corporations. Our labor laws are literally allowing indentured servitude, why my employer controls my healthcare is unfathomable.
Indeed food costs are out of control! I basically buy all plant based stuff because meat and dairy are just so expensive where I live. Tofu, lentils, veg, and fruits are still reasonable price where I live.
Frankly the cost of everything in the United states is out of control, that's why im moving into my solar RV full time once my lease is up, 1500/month to **just exist is an abomination**, and if I stay it will only get worse. Also going to use it as an opportunity to move to a cheaper nicer state.
Iām wondering if itās just in the USā¦ I was in Europe for most of last year and the groceries were so cheap, relatively speaking. How much of it is price gouging.
The UK is ridiculous right now. And stores have stopped stocking a lot if their "own brand" stuff meaning it's branded items or nothing. I get the impression prices have shot up across Europe as well, but it's hit us here particularly hard cos of stupid Brexit.
Oh yeah, the UK is a nightmare now. Iām so sorry. I noticed prices in restaurants across the EU were a lot more expensive than pre-pandemic (2019), but kind of attributed it to everyone going gangbusters with traveling and eating out. But groceries seemed to be about the same, except for alcohol.
The prices of vegetables, bread, fruit and canned goods went down a lot the last weeks here in Germany. A cucumber was almost 3 ā¬ (which is basically the same as $) and itās down to 59 cents now. But other things are still ridiculously high priced. Meat and fish is extremely expensive and we replaced a lot with vegetarian options at home.
Canada is also expensive as fuck rn.
When I was in Mexico I could buy groceries literally with whatever change was in my pocket.
It doesn't end. For costs to drop across the board for food would mean the Great Depression 2.0. It is hitting most people. There is a channel on YouTube that explains that entertainment and eating establishments are still so busy is that young adults these days often live with the parents so that cuts out other high cost expenses.
Hmm they might say that but as someone who works in food, it's all older people going out to eat. None of the young people have any money. Also, I live alone in my high 20s so I wouldn't even think about going out to eat.
The amount of people in here second guessing OP on sandwich meats and not blaming these mega corps is fucking insane. Sandwich meats shouldnāt be a fucking luxury item.
Agreed, and sandwich meats were a frequent item growing up in a poor family BECAUSE they were cheap and were meant to be cheap. Nine dollars per pound where I live is outrageous (although it's some really tasty meat).
I unknowingly bought an $11 bacon, egg, and cheese today in the suburbs. *Eleven dollars*
Yeah unfortunately that sounds about right for my area too :/. Even the cheap ham is $10/lb and full of fat.
The thing that's just freaking me out is that 10 years ago there was a _significant_ price premium on beef, especially deli sliced beef, which makes sense because it's more expensive. I went to the store two days ago and roast beef was 49 cents more a pound than turkey. What? The prices of _everything_ have risen, but something tells me it isn't just because costs are going up.
NEVER be too proud, or reluctant to utilize food access services. Check out your local food bank. At the very least, you can get some staples and save a little bit more money to spend on the rest of your food. There are non profits everywhere that help with this.
I buy Hormel ham which is usually less than $6 a lb. Never thought I would see that as the less expensive option.
I live in a very HCOL area as well. Grocery bill was over 400 dollars for this months haulā¦for two peopleā¦in an āingredientā household. Only thing I could say I āsplurgedā on was some NY strip steak that was on clearance, maybe 8-9 bucks. Other than that I was careful. Canāt imagine what itās like to feed a family of four with high cost processed foods for school/work lunches, snack foods, etc.
I have 2 jobs these days. One for rent and the other for food.
agree with you but it's not just the US. it's worldwide.
Everything seems to be going up in dollars not cents anymore..whenever I see the prices of items I shop for theyāre all going up by $1-$4 sometimes even more..itās crazy and there isnāt a real reason for it..Covid has been over..everything is running normally nowā¦usually this would be illegal if this happened during a natural disaster but itās normal now and we just have to accept it. As long as their profits keep going up and people keep paying it..why stopā¦six months just add another dollar to it..cereal was āon saleā 2/$9..sale prices used to be 2/$5 before Covid..itās almost double..something I paid $2.99 for two weeks ago is now 2/$9 ..and no these are no produce or anything that would need this high of an increase same like macaroni and cheese used to be $2.49-$3.49 now $5.
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I started intermittent fasting for my health and now I do it for my budget
I agree with you. My sister lives in southern Utah and sends pics of the food prices to me. 2 boneless chicken breasts were $20, not organic. I don't know how people feed families there.
The dollar will continue to decline
250grams coffee went up to $21 here Itās crazy thereās literally nothing tat hasn home up, gone are the days of buying things under 4-7,8 dollars each
Seriously! Its hard out here trying to be frugal. I saw a box of crackers was seven gorram dollars and Fritos were similar. WHATEVEN. Skipping junk keeps getting easier. Check out other stores in your area. After spending the same amount for much less food at Kroger, turns out less food goes to waste. However, I did stumble upon a Grocery Outlet store last month that has pre-pandemic inflation pricing. It is a smaller store with less selection, but they have name brand and organic items and household items. There is no staffed deli or meat counter to request cuts but they do have a small selection of items on display to pick up. Totally meets 90% of grocery needs and the quality of produce is fresh and tasty. There are gems out there like Food4Less, Ranch99 and Vallarta and I hope y'all find something similar near you. TJ sometimes has good prices on specific things.
I do some shifts at the deli meat counter at work sometimes and it's like 9$ canadian for a lbs of simili chicken. Even the cheapest and horrendous meat is expensive now.