I’m in the middle of doing digital coupons for my grocery, and I notice more coupons for absolutely absurd prices. I just saw one for ice cream for $7.49 for 1 1/2 quarts. What a deal!
It really helps to know what a good price is. I don’t remember them doing this kind of stuff in the old days.
A lot of price increases are also hidden by shrinkflation, and that’s much more difficult to keep track of without making an explicit effort.
I can’t say I’ve noticed any price drops, but Kroger in Ohio is almost a monopoly in the mid-tier supermarket category. Cereal is the one that makes my eyes water. Family size Crispix or a regular size Quaker granola cereal are $6.50. Pre-pandemic they were $3.50 or at most $4.00. Regular size cereals that were $2.50 or $3.00 are now $4.50 or $5.00. Ice cream is similar for what used to be a pint but now is 14oz, and some of the fancier brands like Jeni’s are pushing $8.00. Pepperidge Farm cookies are $4.50 and goldfish crackers are $3.00. They used to be $3.50 and $2.00. Gatorade used to be $1.00 for the 32oz bottle, but during Covid they shrunk them to 28oz and shortly thereafter increased the price to $2.00.
We don’t buy breakfast cereal very often anymore, but I have noticed that it’s in the class of foodstuffs that, locally, have shot WAY up during the pandemic and don’t usually have all that great of sale prices. Others include butter, sausage, and beef.
Ice cream has not only gone up, but is beginning to go through yet another round of shrinkflation. When we buy ice cream, it’s always in “half gallons”, not “pints”. The change from true half gallons (64 oz) to 56 oz to 48 oz has taken place with many brands over the last 20 years or so, with premium brands typically leading the way. This past week, for the first time, I saw a mid-label ice cream brand slip by with 46 (forty-six) oz “half gallon” cartons. Sneaky bastages.
I don’t really look at prices that closely at the supermarket. Not that I’m rich or anything, but I need what I need and it costs what it costs.
Now, if two brands of the same thing are wildly different prices, I’ll almost certainly buy the cheaper one, but if two brands of the same thing are within 10-15% of each other, it’s not going to break me to buy the more expensive one if I like that brand better for whatever reason.
There are crazy deals with the electronic coupons - which are a pain, but worth the effort so long as you do not succumb to buy things you ordinarily wouldn’t. Today, my wife bought grapes for $2.something a pound, as opposed to the $8.something marked. And my sister told me of buying Cheerios - 4 boxes for $10, as opposed to 1 for $7.
Except… a lot of those coupons hide hidden price hikes and shrinkflation.
Those 4 for $10 boxes of Cheerios? They’re like 4-5 bowls, not the “family size” that used to be the more or less “normal size”. So they are a deal compared to the new “norm” prices, but they’re part and parcel of shrinkflation.
Using my local Kroger, the 20oz “family” box is 6.99, (what I used to buy), but the “big” sales are on the 8.92 oz box (not the same sale as you have obviously) which normally retails for 4.29. So, yeah, there’s savings, but assuming your sale is similar to mine, you should be comparing something like $0.35 per oz vs $0.28. So, roughly a 20% savings per oz. Still better than poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but a whole lot less dramatic sounding than 4 for $10.
Again much like the BOGO offers I’m constantly complaining about, where sure, it’s buy one get one free, but somehow the prices are higher than they were the week before for the same product. To the point that the net sale amount runs to about 20-25% discount of the normalized price. Lots of hinky crap going on. I’ll take the sale, but better make sure I bought a big block of salt to go with it. 
Right. When I see a great coupon price, twofer sale pricing, or a slightly different version of product on sale, it very often is hiding a bad deal. The price of a twofer looks great, but next time you buy just one, or two when not on sale, it will cost more than it used to. The coupon price may be fantastic, but next time you’ll find out what the new price is. And that New or Deluxe version will cost more or provide less. Worst is the New Family Size package which actually is less product and higher price combined.
but I’m seeing size dropping like bread
Vitamin Water is the same way. Used to be $1 for a 20oz bottle. Now it’s closer to $2 for a 16oz bottle. Luckily, the Kirkland/Costco stuff is still 20oz and cheaper all-around.
Another way of cutting back. Jimmy Dean Sausage muffins have gotten smaller over the past few years, but now they have changed them to add chicken, which is no doubt cheaper.
Yeah, some big sales. Ralphs (Kroger) soda prices are really high, but they just had a buy two get three free sale.
For the past several years I have been buying a box of 32- 1/4 lb hamburger patties for $29, so a little less than $1 a burger (no tax on unprepared food). Today I was at the store and since I was just about out of burgers I decided to grab a new box. Today, the same box of 32 patties was on sale for $25. The receipt says it’s a savings of $2.84 over the regular price of $27.84, which is already less than what I have been paying over the last few years. Who knew frozen ground beef patties were inflation proof and actually deflationary?