First and foremost, this post is not political! We can all speculate as to why things are happening as they are; we can all point fingers – it isn’t going to change anything except to further divide us. You can email me if you wish but comments are off.
This is not meant to be a “warning” per se, but more of a heads up.
When grocery prices first started increasing and people were talking about it, I didn’t pay much attention. I get what I want or need, and for the most, I don’t even pay attention to prices. If I need a bag of sugar, I’ll usually pick it up at Aldi, where I’m pretty sure it’s less than Walmart. If I need something Aldi doesn’t have, and it’s something I buy more than one or two bags/cans, I’ll look at Walmart, check Sam’s Club prices online and go from there.
I keep home canned chicken in my pantry. Sometimes if I want to make a small chicken salad, I’ll use a storebought can of chicken. The quarts of home canned chicken are more for meals where a storebought can works great for a bit of chicken salad.
I checked my stock of canned chicken and I have enough that I’m not going to order it and have it shipped while it’s so hot. I usually stock up on those things in the Fall and Winter. But, just for the heck of it, I checked Sam’s prices.
When I bought this not even six months ago – exact same package – I paid $9.98 for this package. Look at it now – $18.98.
Then I checked roast beef. Same thing – I keep home canned roast beef but I also keep storebought canned.
Today it’s $17.12. When I bought it in February, it was $12.78 – exact same size. Also, if you notice, it’s totally out of stock.
Tuna today is $10.48. The exact same size package, I paid $8.28 for it in April.
There were some things that were the exact same price they were 4 – 6 months ago (Dawn, boxed Mac & Cheese).
Shortages concern me more than the price increases. We can cut back on the types of foods we eat – less steak, more beans/lentils. We don’t eat out much but restaurant prices have to be going up just to cover the increase in their food costs.
I used 6 packages of small red dry beans yesterday and added six packages to my grocery order for next week. The six I pick up will replace the six I used. I paid 89 cents per bag for the red beans I used; am paying $1.18 for the beans I’m buying. That’s about a 30% increase in maybe 8 months. Where does it stop?
Please stop on top of this and buy extras if you don’t already have them so if the shortages get worse, you’ll be able to have something nutritious to eat.