Have you noticed food prices lately?

[UncleHoney]

I've been watching food prices at Krogers and it looks like prices are on the way down.

Back in December I noticed Lipton tea bags (100) were on sale for $4.99, they had been $5.19 since last summer. Today they were $4.49 regular price. Milk has been $2.50 since at least the first of the year, down from $2.99 with a spike to $3.45 last summer.

Cheese, the mouse trap stuff, not the good stuff, had been eternally on sale at $6.99 marked down from $9.39 for 24 oz. Today the $9.39 sticker was still there but the new sale price was $4.99.

One type of bread we like was $3.19 and has been on sale since Christmas for $2.50.

Lots of stickers on the shelves indicating a discount card price but many have been there for weeks now so it's not like a weekly special. I guess the markup for $4 gas is getting a little hard to justify these days.

 

[Goonie]

Yeah, I've noticed a lot of prices are lower than they were, and also a lot more stuff on sale....and a lot of that at deep discounts! Our local IGA had Oscar Mayer 'Bun Length' hotdogs on sale for 99¢ a package....I stocked up (they freeze OK). A few of weeks ago I got a couple of packages of OM all beef hotdogs for 89¢ a package.....went back the next day and they were all gone....shoulda bought more to start with!

I got some really nice boneless pork chops yesterday for 88¢ a pound.

Both IGA and Krogers seem to be having a lot more "10 for 10" (a.k.a. a buck each) deals, 2-for-1 deals, and other such things lately. The shelves are loaded with sale tags on just about everything...canned goods, dry goods, juices, bread, cereal, etc. Plus, IGA has a lot of really good buys in their 'rotten meat' case...like pork tenderloin for a buck a pound! And fresh fruits and veggies have dropped in price as well.

We've stocked up on just about everything....cabinets are full, freezers are full, refrigerator is full, and we have boxes and bags of non-perishables stashed all over the house. Hoping they mark down the Northern TP pretty soon....we're down to 2 cases left!

 

[CuppaJoe]

No, I haven't noticed lower prices, but I'll look again.

Seems hard to find a loaf of bread here for less than $5.00. I've been buying small loaves (a new category) for about $3.99. That works out okay for us as I hate stale bread.

 

[harley]

I've been noticing lower prices, but often with smaller portions. They may still have 100 teabags, but I wouldn't be surprised if they put a quarter gram less tea in the bag, or maybe used cheaper paper or something. Our Edy's ice cream is slightly cheaper for 1.5 pints than it was for quart a few months ago. And the last jar of non-salmonella infested peanut butter we bought had an indentation in the bottom and 2 less ounces in the jar for the same price. I hope prices really are dropping, since fuel was a big reason for the increase. But I haven't noticed it to any significant level.

 

[OAG]

I have noticed lower prices and we shop both Kroger and Giant Eagle (also Big Lots and Dollar Stores (where Green Tea was $.99 for 100 bags)). Mostly, we shop Kroger as we still have over $825 left in Kroger Gift Cards from the May 2008 Stimulus package buy.

 

[brewer12345]

The rat of inflation spike is just starting to pass through the snake hereabouts. But it will pass shortly, I think.

 

[W2R]

grocery prices in New Orleans

Understandably, grocery store prices about doubled (or more) here after Katrina. Grocery stores were hit hard by that hurricane, and all of their food spoiled before anyone was allowed back, making them buildings full of rotting food and a huge mess to clean up. So of course, they had to charge more for that, and for the extra expenses of trucking more food down here at that time and paying very high wages to the few employees they could get after the storm.

Not so understandably, I am not so sure they ever got back down to anywhere near the prices in most other southern or midwestern locations.

We were happily amazed at the prices in grocery stores in our planned ER locaion of Springfield, Missouri during one of our trips up there, when evacuating for Hurricane Gustav last summer. (We ate at restaurants, but I wanted to check out grocery stores to see what kinds of food they carry.) Grocery stores carried all of the standard nationwide items, and many items were significantly lower than they are in New Orleans grocery stores.

As for local grocery prices in New Orleans lowering? NO... If they have, it has been almost imperceptable so far.

 

[ziggy29]

I haven't seen many prices coming down at all, other than gas prices over the last few months. To me this "deflation" talk seems like hooey, but maybe it hasn't really worked its way through the pipeline yet.

 

[shoe]

Here in the land of the Cavaliers, I have noticed the price of meat rising and the cost of milk lowering. Lipton Tea Bags are on sale for $2 for 100 this week. Like a previous poster, I too have noticed more "10 for $10" sales.

 

[Architect]

Sure, we 'enjoyed' speculative inflation last year which drove prices up, now we're enjoying deflation of deficient demand. I read a piece on how demand for milk products has declined. I don't eat the stuff, but I guess people cut back and make do in other ways during tough times.

Deflation is a great thing. The electronics industry is in permanent deflation, it's nice to see it in commodities. Hope it continues

 

[TromboneAl]

The rat of inflation spike is just starting to pass through the snake hereabouts. But it will pass shortly, I think.

Good, watch for specials on partially digested rat at Kroger's.

 

[REWahoo]

Al, how do you rate rat? I don't think you use the same system as the USDA as I don't see "partially digested" listed as one of the classifications:

• Prime
• Choice
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter quality
• Canner quality

 

[brewer12345]

- Still moving
- Almost dead
- Dead
- Really dead
- Partially diested
- Ick

 

[Amethyst]

Reminds me of a guy I read about who stretches his groceries by eating roadkill

The only price "decreases" we have noticed so far, go along with hidden skimping, such as Harley mentioned. This is true in the regular grocery store and BJs; for example, BJs sliced almonds, which I buy maybe once every 2 years, have gone from a 2-pound package to 1.5 pounds for roughly the same price.

Sometimes the skimping is so subtle (e.g. reduce cookie package or tomato can size by 1.5 oz) we wouldn't notice, if we weren't such grocery hawks.

The local grocery store was renovated earlier this year, and the first thing I noticed on walking in was, "Wow, how did they achieve more space without increasing the size of the building?" Then my analytic eye went to work and the illusion became clear.

The shelf units are much lower, so you can see right over them, and the shelves themselves are narrower and closer together. What makes this possible? Right, smaller package sizes.

And to think, all the new homes are being built with 42-inch cabinets, to accommodate giant-sized packages that are now beginning to shrink

 

[TromboneAl]

Reminds me of a guy I read about who stretches his groceries by eating roadkill

I already told you, it was just that one time!

 

[ziggy29]

Deflation is a great thing.

If you have a steady and secure income stream without needing a job, yeah. For those of us still depending on the job market for a while, it's not such a good thing as prolonged deflation is the surest ticket to an economic depression with no jobs.

Normally people talk about "retirees on fixed incomes" as the financially unfortunate. In a deflationary spiral, assuming their "fixed income" is from a secure source, they are the big winners economically.

 

[OAG]

Hey, here in OHIO if you hit a deer and kill it you can keep it. Must be a lot of them along I70 every morning.

 

[cashflo2u2]

What about wine? Or is that not a food, I forget.

 

[Khan]

Hey, here in OHIO if you hit a deer and kill it you can keep it. Must be a lot of them along I70 every morning.

The deer hang out on I-675.

 

[Khan]

To tell the truth, I don't notice grocery prices much. I spend quite a bit on food I like at the grocery and the farmers' market. Last November I paid $44 for a custom cut, free range turkey from a local farm.

Others are right, they keep slowly reducing the size; but they've been doing that since at least the '60s.

 

[soupcxan]

12 oz of starbucks whole bean coffee at Wal-mart was $7.00 last year. Today it was $8.60. 22% increase! Forget buying oil futures, I'm shifting my funds into the arabica market.

 

[NW-Bound]

We've stocked up on just about everything....cabinets are full, freezers are full, refrigerator is full, and we have boxes and bags of non-perishables stashed all over the house. Hoping they mark down the Northern TP pretty soon....we're down to 2 cases left!

My daughter was ecstatic when she filled up at Costco with gas at less than $1.50/gal, still smarting from $4 gas. She asked if we could find a way to stock up. Maybe a few thousand gallons? I said "lemme think".

 

[Danny]

My daughter was ecstatic when she filled up at Costco with gas at less than $1.50/gal, still smarting from $4 gas. She asked if we could find a way to stock up. Maybe a few thousand gallons? I said "lemme think".

would be nice to get a huge storage tank buried in the sideyard next to the garage have a truck come to the house and fill it up at these prices.....

ER income idea - buy futures at the current price and take delivery on into future - put a pump in buy a Texaco hat sell to the neighbors at a discount after the price goes back up

 

[old woman]

I haven't seen many reduced prices but I don't shop often. The grocery ads this week were mostly saying what the everyday low price was with nearly nothing on sale. Costco chicken was 4.99 then 5.99 now 4.99 again. Corn muffin mix has been 3/$1 for years then went to 43 cents and now is 55 cents.

 

[OAG]

would be nice to get a huge storage tank buried in the sideyard next to the garage have a truck come to the house and fill it up at these prices.....

ER income idea - buy futures at the current price and take delivery on into future - put a pump in buy a Texaco hat sell to the neighbors at a discount after the price goes back up

Some General Officer did exactly that in Fairfax County VA back in the last shortage (72/73). They could not stop him and it was about a 4,000 gallon tank. Of course, zoning laws there (and I suspect many other places) were quickly amended to preclude that in the future.