Vince and I were talking about a month ago about grocery prices because there’s been so much in the news, in other blogs and youtube videos I watch about how much more families are paying for groceries. Even Chad mentioned that it was getting harder and harder to buy the things they want. Vince said “Have we noticed that?” I had noticed things going up a few cents here and there. The biggest thing I noticed is that we used to pay .99 for a pound of small red beans, which are now $1.38. To me, that’s a big price increase over a two year period. I’m not one who can tell you the price of most things and I only remember the bean price because in Texas probably four years ago, they were .89 per pound so I thought .99 per pound was a big increase.
Also, we don’t buy a lot meat in the store unless it’s on sale. We buy beef and pork from a farmer and though I have no idea how the price compares to grocery store meat prices, we have a year’s worth at once and paying for the whole thing at once is a lot of money, it’s done and I’m not looking at meat prices weekly or monthly. We buy raw milk from the dairy farmer and yes, it was $7 per gallon from him (delivered) when a gallon of milk at Aldi or Walmart was $2.59, it was a price I chose to pay, not a price forced upon me.
There is a store here that isn’t my favorite but they do have good sales and my neighbor promises me their meat is great. In the past, they’ve had good sales on things like pork butts and bacon. We always need more of those than we get from buying a hog. So, when they’re on sale, we’ll buy enough to get us through six months or so and keep it in the freezer.
Vince is the shopper so I don’t even pay attention to what he’s buying or paying. We don’t eat storebought cereal or buy bread. We don’t buy ready to heat and eat foods for the most part. We don’t buy boxed mixes and I had thought those were the types of foods that had gone way up in price. We do buy fresh veggies but we eat a lot of canned veggies. In the summer I will buy produce from the Mennonite market and can that or grow some of our own and can that so we eat out of jars of home canned food. When Aldi has a sale on canned goods, we may buy three flats of green beans, 5 flats of canned tomatoes, etc. but I don’t go to the grocery store weekly for everything we need. I do spend $300 to $400 a month at Azure Standard so even though I’m not buying groceries weekly or monthly, I’m still buying groceries but I can’t tell you the price of a jar of salsa or a pound of butter or a pack of cheese.
Because (1) I was off the diet and wanted to make things I hadn’t been able to make, I needed whole milk, whipping cream, ultra-pasteurized milk and I needed a couple of different cheeses and I actually needed a lot of things and (2) We have horrible weather for the weekend and off and on for the next couple of weeks. There’s snow, there’s sleet, there are below zero lows so I tried to think ahead to anything we might need, but my grocery bill was more than I’ve ever spent on groceries at one time and the only meat I bought was one package of pork chops that were marked down because the use by date was near. We buy as much as we can in bulk, divide it up, vacuum seal it in jars or freeze it. For me, it’s better to buy in bulk and not have to shop so often and not run out of things but,it works differently for everyone.
Here’s the funny thing . . not funny but makes no sense to me. I saw this on several items but this one stood out.
Hiland Ultra-Pasteurized Whipping Cream:
- quart – $9.27
- pint – $3.78
Don’t two pints make one quart? Who would pay $9.27 for a quart when you can get two pints for $7.56? How many people aren’t even paying attention to that?
The Great Value quart that isn’t ultra-pasteurized was $4.98 for a quart and $2.78 for a pint. I expect the pints to be a little more than half the price of the quart simply because of packaging and the larger sizes of everything are usually less per unit than the smaller sizes.
I hope people are paying attention to what they’re buying but more so, I am so sorry for people who are struggling to feed their families these days.
Teri says
I stock up when the items I want are on sale. Also I only buy what’s on sale in the ad — otherwise the prices are out of sight!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I think that’s why I was so shocked at the prices. Usually I get things that are on sale and stock up so I hardly ever need much in the way of groceries but this week, I needed way more than I usually do.
Sibyl says
Judy you are so right–I also purchase mostly on sale. I remember years ago, one of the grocery stores had milk half gallons for like 50¢ and I was over there getting my limit because I didn’t want to pay the gallon price which was quite a bit more. There were people blindly picking up the gallon jugs and I showed them that it was cheaper to get the half gallons—they didn’t care they said oh this is what I always get. Yes that was some time ago–but I have always been a penny pincher on groceries, yes I get what I want, but I also will go from one store to another and cherry pick their specials only. That is the way I have always done, I tell people I have more time than money. I can get the bargains. So many have not been taught to do that. It is pretty sad. And yes 2 pints equal a quart, and I’d be getting those pints before getting one of those quarts. Have you checked Sams Club for whipping cream? I don’t know if it is the ultra pasteurized or not–but it is under $ 9.00 for a half gallon.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Thanks! I had not checked it because (1) Sam’s is south of Joplin and in a very high traffic area so I don’t go there often. I will order and get free shipping and if I need a lot, I’ll pay for delivery and (2) I don’t use a half gallon – I’m doing good to use a quart before it goes bad. I haven’t tried freezing it but I will do that with some of what I have here. The only thing I consistently use whipping cream for is to make sour cream and I use about a quart of that every two weeks. I did just check Sam’s online and it is ultra-pasteurized. Thanks . . I will report back after freezing whipping cream.
DebMac says
I have shopped primarily at military Commissaries over the last 30 plus years and while somewhat cheaper than local stores, the Commissaries offer no where near the savings they used to. I shop at one of the smallest stores in the system and while the meat is very good and lower than local stores, it is still high. I cook mostly from scratch but do use some convenience items and the prices have steadily went up from week to week. Milk runs what it does on the outside but I priced a package of frozen breakfast sandwiches at the local store earlier this week and they were as high for a 4 pack as the Commissary charges for an 8 pack. That is if you can get them at the Commissary, they still have supply issues that I don’t see as much of on the outside. And a few things are higher at the Commissary but I hate running from store to store. For just a few cents I do all my shopping at 1 store. Several miles of city driving makes up for the difference. I do find my self shopping more and more at the local Aldi over the other local grocery chains. I feel sorry for people having to feed families. What I really have noticed is the price of dining out. We used to eat out once a week (hubby’s version of taking his turn at cooking) now it’s every other week, sometimes even 3 weeks. That I really do miss.
Pat Anderson says
I’ve always credited my husband with cooking when we eat out or he picks up takeout, too. Like you, we spent 26 1/2 years in the Air Force so I used to shop at commissaries…depending on where you live, sometimes it is cheaper to get the deals at the grocery store. I swore off commissary meat years ago when I got steaks full of maggots…that was so gross!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Oh, gross. That is hard to get past!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
It sounds like it’s a lot like shopping at Sam’s or even Azure. Sometimes the price difference is surprisingly less than at the regular stores and sometimes I’m doing math and thinking . . I don’t see the savings.
We’ve never eaten out much but sometimes it’s just nice to not have to cook. I understand that the restaurants’ costs (food, employees, insurance, utilities, etc.) have all gone up but for us, even the few fast food places we used to eat (Chick-Fil-A and Cane’s), their prices have gone up to the point that it just isn’t worth it for us any more.
Pat Anderson says
We are fortunate to have a store (Publix) that has BOGOs every week…I even bought bacon as a BOGO last week and sometimes it is chicken. I, too, feel so sorry for anyone having to choose between food and heat or gas…I don’t take it for granted that I can buy what I want/need!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s one of the problems here. We don’t have a major chain type grocery store like Kroger, Publix, HEB, etc. We have Walmart and Aldi. Yes, there are a lot of people hurting to put food on the table AND heat their homes AND put gas in the car.
Elle says
When the gardens are done, I buy fresh veg monthly and usually at Costco which I did this afternoon.
Organic Brussel sprouts SAME cost as Oct 2021.
Broccoli Florets cost increase 21%.
I buy wild Sockeye Salmon from a local family that fishes 4m/year in Alaska. It’s been $17/pound for years. Since May it’s $19/pound Not bad.
I also buy organic grass fed ground beef. They’ve increased from $5/pound to $6.50/pound.
I bought 15 pounds of pork butt a few weeks ago for $1.99/pound. (smoked, shredded, delish and lots in the freezer).
So no, I haven’t incurred shocking increases in our usual items.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
We don’t have Costco. The Mennonite prices have gone up but I know from gardening myself that all the costs to produce fresh produce have gone up. In the end, we have to pay what we have to pay.