Adventures in grocery shopping

[happystuff]

If you haven't figured it out, I shop once a week. I make a list. I check it twice...

Today's grocery bill was still $73.00. Only stock up items were 4 cans of tuna at .88 each and a jar of relish at .99.

I don't know about anyone else, but groceries seem to be the only area where I feel I have "control" over the $$$, and lately, it just hasn't been happening. Definitely need to revisit, but it's very depressing.

Edited to add: this is NOT meant to sound like "whining"... just an admission of not much success at the moment.

[JaneV2.0]

This was a Whole Foods week. I agree that sales are a thing of the past--my food purveyor of choice was Grocery Outlet, which was much cheaper, but I figure I'm saving money in other areas.

[Teacher Terry]

Grocery prices have skyrocketed here.

[pinkytoe]

Things have gone up here quite a bit too. Probably an average of 15% overall. I don't know if it is just stores taking advantage of so many people buying groceries or if the supply chains can't keep up. We bought our annual allotment of two rolls of paper towels (I use mostly rags except for gross cat stuff) and it was $4.99 for two rolls. Whole Foods is just a shadow of itself since Amazon took over.

[Tradd]

Grocery prices have skyrocketed here.

Yes, grocery prices have really increased here, too. I’ve been shopping for a senior friend since mid-April. Other people had been doing her shopping for her for a while before that. I don’t think she’s been in a grocery store since late February. She has been astonished at the cost of groceries. I’ve been switching her over to some store brands where possible to save her a little. Meat is what’s really gone up.

[Yppej]

Still no multipacks of paper towels this week, a limit of two for individual rolls. The third week in a row without my favorite guacamole, and no tomato or squash soup, amongst other shortages. The shelves are looking more picked over. And of course no disinfecting or antibacterial products yet, which were supposed to be available by summer. It feels like Communist Russia - let's see what overpriced items we can find today and adapt.

[pinkytoe]

I don't know what has come over me but I have given in to wild abandon when it comes to grocery shopping lately. Instead of looking for the .99 cent bag of dried beans like I normally do, I have been grabbing steaks and whole salmon. Yesterday at Costco, I bought a huge container of pretzels and a bag of organic figs. I hope it is just frustration over the continuing weird situation we find ourselves in. Food seems to be the one of the diminishing joys right now so I no longer feel the need to be so frugal. Especially since we don't eat out anymore...

[happystuff]

Just got back from shopping with a friend who knows where some inexpensive ethnic and produce stores are. It's about a 30-40 minute drive and three different stops, but I feel like I hit the jackpot! The produce store had $1 bags, so you know the stuff has to be "dealt with" ASAP, but that's fine with me. I have a dehydrator full of apples, two ziplock bags of multi-color peppers diced and in the freezer, and a bag of about 15 Italian squash that needs to be diced and frozen - with some going to be sliced and dehydrated (an experiment in making some chips). All for $3!! So, at the Asian store, I splurged and we split a gallon of kimchi!! Picked up a few other little things to restock the pantry, so I count the whole trip as quite successful.

[early morning]

Shopped yesterday. We do almost all of our brick and mortar food shopping at Aldi, with a few fill-ins from Dollar General these days. I hadn't been since August 12, and did notice an uptick in many prices. There was plenty of sanitizer, tp, facial tissue, and paper towels, and I didn't see any limit signs. The limit of 4 has returned to most tinned goods, though, after being gone last month. They had lovely pots of garden mums for $1.99 though, so I got two of those! I've honestly had just as good luck with plants we've bought from Aldi and TJs as the more expensive ones from the nursery. So while I dislike grocery shopping, and dislike it even more now that we have to wear masks and many do not, it wasn't a bad shop overall. Putting away, now - that's TRULY awful.

[Teacher Terry]

Just spent 550 for 3 of us at Winco which is the cheapest locally. We will still need to pick up produce, milk , etc during the month.