Food prices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just food, I just paid $9+ for a single tube of toothpaste at Giant.

Who forced you to?

Err, my dentist?

Was it some special brand exclusive to Giant?

[Anonymous]

Sensodyne. It’s one of the few brands that doesn’t contain SLS, and it usually only costs around $5 or $6 bucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cucumbers are .99 cents at Harris Teeter. You should start shopping somewhere else.

Yet everything else at HT is more expensive than Wegmans. It will not balance out. There’s no magical store where you’re not spending a ton on food right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not just food, I just paid $9+ for a single tube of toothpaste at Giant.

If you flash your extra care card at the red box at CVS before you shop, you might get a good coupon to save on your toothpaste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where are you shopping. I pay half that.

Wholefoods since I am used to going to that store so much. I am open to other options. Where do you grocery shop?

OMG literally anywhere else is cheaper.

+2
There's a reason they call that place "Whole PayCheck" even before food prices increased.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sensodyne. It’s one of the few brands that doesn’t contain SLS, and it usually only costs around $5 or $6 bucks.

Costco has coupons for sensodyne every other month, I always stock up then. also only buy stuff in sale and dont give in the urge to stock up- the same sales pop up every few weeks. So only buy what you need when it is on sale and we always have enough leftovers that one meal is just various leftovers. If you have too much socked way, you forget what you have, also "shopping" your pantry before going shopping and menu planning is also a good way to reduce both food waste and cost and you also see what you actually eat and what you bought just b/c it was on sale or the kids used to like it. we also have weeks where we focus on eating down the pantry and freezer until it is empty and only buy perishables like herbs and fruit. Its also ok to normalize not having stuff-- you dont always have to have 3 different kinds of coldcuts, breads, cheeses. Its ok to run out of mustard, use up a different spread, use things up and move onto the next jar of stuff until everything is empty is actually fine instead of having 3 different half eaten jars of jam and spread.

This is a very DCUM "tip" but I think enough of us travel often enough that it makes sense: I've also started grocery shopping when we travel- this is our big splurge, we like to travel internationally at least once a year and we stay at airbnbs b/c its easier as a family of 5 and I realized that a lot of stuff that is super expensive here is waaaay cheaper overseas now (it used to be that groceries were cheaper in the US) so instead of getting souvenirs, I buy good cheese, pesto, olive spread, toothpaste ( got the fancy stuff for like 1 euro!) and isdin sunblock and put it in ziplocks and it lasts us either until next time we go or for a few months. I've even bought brought the nice whole grain seeded bread (Northern Europe) and put it in the freezer as soon as we got back and used it over the course of a few weeks.Its more filling and delicious so one loaf would last us 2 weeks for breakfast as open faced sandwiches. That bread is like 2-3 euros there, and $8-11 here. I bought olive oil as well, its so much cheaper in Spain, Greece and Italy for the same quality as the California one I get here. I bought huge bags of Thai curry sauces, good spices like Kashmiri chilies, black pepper in Asia and they've lasted for a long time and better quality and quantity for pennies.

[Anonymous]

I provide myself a 25% discount at the self checkout. If anyone thinks I'm paying $5.79 for a loaf of standard grocery store wheat bread, they are insane.

[Anonymous]

I have no sympathy for you op, shopping at Whole Foods!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Who regulates the prices and how does this whole thing work?

In the US, food prices aren't regulated at all, as far as I know.

Maybe the last time there were federal regulations on the price of food was in WWI?

I take it back... this is interesting: The last attempt to fix food prices was in 1971 by President Nixon, but it was part of an overall 90 day freeze on prices of most things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_controls#:~:text=During%20World%20War%20I%2C%20the,Germany%20during%20World%20War%20II

United States
In the United States, price controls have been enacted several times. The first time price controls were enacted nationally was in 1906 as a part of the Hepburn Act.[13][page needed] In World War I the War Industries Board was established to set priorities, fix prices, and standardize products to support the war efforts of the United States. During the 1930s, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) created the National Recovery Administration, that set prices and created codes of "fair practices". In May 1935, the Supreme Court held that the mandatory codes section of NIRA were unconstitutional, in the court case of Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11615 (pursuant to the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970), imposing a 90-day freeze on wages and prices. The constitutionality of this action was challenged and upheld in the case of Amalgamated Meat Cutters v. Connally

Anyhow point is, no one "regulates" the price of food in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no sympathy for you op, shopping at Whole Foods!

Whole Foods 365 brand is actually very well priced compared with other area stores, except for occasional loss leader or couponing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sensodyne. It’s one of the few brands that doesn’t contain SLS, and it usually only costs around $5 or $6 bucks.

Costco has coupons for sensodyne every other month, I always stock up then. also only buy stuff in sale and dont give in the urge to stock up- the same sales pop up every few weeks. So only buy what you need when it is on sale and we always have enough leftovers that one meal is just various leftovers. If you have too much socked way, you forget what you have, also "shopping" your pantry before going shopping and menu planning is also a good way to reduce both food waste and cost and you also see what you actually eat and what you bought just b/c it was on sale or the kids used to like it. we also have weeks where we focus on eating down the pantry and freezer until it is empty and only buy perishables like herbs and fruit. Its also ok to normalize not having stuff-- you dont always have to have 3 different kinds of coldcuts, breads, cheeses. Its ok to run out of mustard, use up a different spread, use things up and move onto the next jar of stuff until everything is empty is actually fine instead of having 3 different half eaten jars of jam and spread.

This is a very DCUM "tip" but I think enough of us travel often enough that it makes sense: I've also started grocery shopping when we travel- this is our big splurge, we like to travel internationally at least once a year and we stay at airbnbs b/c its easier as a family of 5 and I realized that a lot of stuff that is super expensive here is waaaay cheaper overseas now (it used to be that groceries were cheaper in the US) so instead of getting souvenirs, I buy good cheese, pesto, olive spread, toothpaste ( got the fancy stuff for like 1 euro!) and isdin sunblock and put it in ziplocks and it lasts us either until next time we go or for a few months. I've even bought brought the nice whole grain seeded bread (Northern Europe) and put it in the freezer as soon as we got back and used it over the course of a few weeks.Its more filling and delicious so one loaf would last us 2 weeks for breakfast as open faced sandwiches. That bread is like 2-3 euros there, and $8-11 here. I bought olive oil as well, its so much cheaper in Spain, Greece and Italy for the same quality as the California one I get here. I bought huge bags of Thai curry sauces, good spices like Kashmiri chilies, black pepper in Asia and they've lasted for a long time and better quality and quantity for pennies.

Dying at the advice to just grocery shop overseas! And bring it all back through customs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sensodyne. It’s one of the few brands that doesn’t contain SLS, and it usually only costs around $5 or $6 bucks.

Costco has coupons for sensodyne every other month, I always stock up then. also only buy stuff in sale and dont give in the urge to stock up- the same sales pop up every few weeks. So only buy what you need when it is on sale and we always have enough leftovers that one meal is just various leftovers. If you have too much socked way, you forget what you have, also "shopping" your pantry before going shopping and menu planning is also a good way to reduce both food waste and cost and you also see what you actually eat and what you bought just b/c it was on sale or the kids used to like it. we also have weeks where we focus on eating down the pantry and freezer until it is empty and only buy perishables like herbs and fruit. Its also ok to normalize not having stuff-- you dont always have to have 3 different kinds of coldcuts, breads, cheeses. Its ok to run out of mustard, use up a different spread, use things up and move onto the next jar of stuff until everything is empty is actually fine instead of having 3 different half eaten jars of jam and spread.

This is a very DCUM "tip" but I think enough of us travel often enough that it makes sense: I've also started grocery shopping when we travel- this is our big splurge, we like to travel internationally at least once a year and we stay at airbnbs b/c its easier as a family of 5 and I realized that a lot of stuff that is super expensive here is waaaay cheaper overseas now (it used to be that groceries were cheaper in the US) so instead of getting souvenirs, I buy good cheese, pesto, olive spread, toothpaste ( got the fancy stuff for like 1 euro!) and isdin sunblock and put it in ziplocks and it lasts us either until next time we go or for a few months. I've even bought brought the nice whole grain seeded bread (Northern Europe) and put it in the freezer as soon as we got back and used it over the course of a few weeks.Its more filling and delicious so one loaf would last us 2 weeks for breakfast as open faced sandwiches. That bread is like 2-3 euros there, and $8-11 here. I bought olive oil as well, its so much cheaper in Spain, Greece and Italy for the same quality as the California one I get here. I bought huge bags of Thai curry sauces, good spices like Kashmiri chilies, black pepper in Asia and they've lasted for a long time and better quality and quantity for pennies.

Dying at the advice to just grocery shop overseas! And bring it all back through customs!

I mean, she's not wrong, but relative to the salaries, food is increasingly expensive in europe. droughts mean olive oil prices have soared through the roof.

Love the bread idea, I do this with bags of bagels going in the other direction

[Anonymous]

If you buy food that are actually on sale, you can save some money. You have to cook them within a few days, which is ok by me. I don't buy food to put in the freezer for more than a week anyways. I don't need to fill the fridge as a mini Costco.
But, overall, it is more expensive. If the price doesn't change it is because the volume or size of the product has decreased. It is more expensive than before. Like frozen peas used to be 16 oz. They are now down to 8-12oz and it costs more than before. Crazy.

We also eliminate chips, sodas, cakes and cookies. And i cook with minimal oil but I do see the increase price in olive oil.