Yesterday I was gobsmacked to see cauliflower for $9. (Canadian. That’s about $7 USD.) They were nice looking cauliflowers, but NINE DOLLARS?
At the same store the chicken breasts were essentially unaffordable. Every trip to a regular store now has at least four or five YGBFSM moments. That’s the moment when I look at a price and say out loud “You Gotta Be Fucking Shitting Me.”
I’ve been lucky enough to be continuously employed in well paying jobs for a long time now, and I’ve never really had to worry about what groceries cost, I just bought what I wanted. For the first time I’m substantially altering my shopping approach. I got a Costco membership again basically just to buy meat, I’m not buying some things I used to buy, I’m downgrading in a variety of ways. The grocery bills are just soul-crushing.
Is it like this where you are, Dopers? Have you had YGBFSM moments with $9 cauliflowers or something like that?
Cauliflower is coming back down. This week’s problem is eggs. Where we used to pay $20 for a case of eggs, it’s $70+, if we can even find a vendor with them.
I’m more or less in your area, just a different part of the GTA, so this isn’t adding much to your survey. But I will say that although I don’t pay close attention to the prices of individual items, without a doubt my grocery bills have been noticeably much higher. They’re probably around 50% higher now than they were a few years before the start of the pandemic.
I’ve seen sad heads of standard iceberg lettuce for $4.99 and a three-pack of romaine hearts for $7.99. Eggs are, of course, sky high right now. Red and orange bell peppers were as high as $3.49/lb as recently as a few weeks ago though I did spot (& buy) some for a buck a pound last night.
There have been some sales, though. I got some decent shrimp, 26-30 count, for $6.99/lb this weekend.
Fruit seems to be higher than usual, even given the season. I’ve noticed the price of apples and grapes has been high. Banana prices seem to have remained low.
Prices seem to be roughly ~50% higher than they were before the pandemic across the board. There is some variance, but generally thats about what I’m seeing regarding how much I spend and how much I get for it. Deals aren’t nearly as good as they used to be.
One thing that sucks is a loaf of walmart brand french bread went from $1.00 to $1.80 last time I checked (not sure if its higher now). I’m not sure if the extra cost is from shipping or what exactly.
Before the pandemic, milk was down to $0.89 or less a gallon sometimes around me. Now its up to $3.
They don’t even sell the bread I like anymore. I used to buy this double flax bread from Dempster’s and they no longer offer it. That stuff was delicious and healthy, I’m very bummed out.
Even if they’re up it’s hard to notice, to be honest. I still see them for 69 cents a pound or whatever. Maybe they used to be less but they’re essentially the cheapest fresh food money can buy. Fortunately, I love bananas.
We could probably do a whole thread “why are bananas so cheap”? They’re not growing them here in Canada, and yet they’re ludicrously inexpensive.
Northern VA here. I just bought a dozen extra large eggs. $5.69.I have been cutting back and I don’t drink milk so thinks like spaghetti aren’t as bad I believe I pay $3.29 for 1lb of spaghetti and around $6.49 for 1lb or so of meat and maybe $3.29 for regular size spaghetti sauce.
My issue is my car is dying slowly and each time I have had it fixed the shops all now charge $150 for the initial inspection but do not put that toward the actual repair like they used to.
I am also in Ontario. By taking advantage of specials the prices are mostly manageable. Sometimes you need to buy alternative forms: whole chickens may be a better deal than wings, etc. I am unwilling to pay forty dollars for a roast or ten dollars for a loaf of bread (the worst thing I saw, though this was at a convenience store). I have the cooking knowhow to use less desirable forms of meat, etc. But the rise in price in some things is surprising, and I time my purchases accordingly.
I would say that the average increase for groceries here (Colorado, USA) is up at least 50% from pre-pandemic prices, and closer to 100% on items that would previously go on regular sale (once a month or more). Combine that 50% with the most recent wave of ‘new improved packaging’ that holds 25% less but otherwise looks the same, and it’s even worse.
And probably due to similar cost issues, I’ve also noticed a lot fewer store brands being available on some products. Thankfully, I buy very few packaged foods, so I’ve been at least slightly insulated from the costs / quantity reduction, but yeah, eggs and fresh veggies are still quite high. Battery-raised pork is the closest I’ve seen to stable prices in meat, being up only 10-20%, so I’ve been using it more than I would like ideally.
Rice and beans (which I bought this week) are both at least double what they were pre-pandemic. They are the staple of cheap eating, and in comparison to other higher priced proteins still cheap. But a one pound bag of dried pinto beans used to be like .79 cents - it’s now almost $2!
If you want cheap chicken, buy whole legs. Even the non-budget grocery stores will sell four big whole legs for like eight bucks at regular price. If you need breasts or thighs, though, Costco is the only affordable option.
Prices are going up in the UK and complaints are rife of course but generally they still are quite competitive when compared to other places in the world. This is good site to compare typical UK supermarket prices.
e.g. for some of the items listed in the thread already
15 eggs for £1.59/$1.91
cauliflower £0.95/$1.14
Peppers from £2.00 per kilo or appx $1.08 per lb
Milk £0.70 per litre or appx £3.82 per gallon
Pasta (spaghetti) 60p per kilo or appx $0.33 per lb
bananas 90p per kilo or appx $0.49 per lb
So I don’t think we do too badly, one item that has always struck me as great value for money is the pineapple. In the UK we can regularly get them for 70-90p each and a few minutes work to peel and cube always seems to get you a hell of a lot of bang for your buck.
I just bought a dozen Jumbo eggs for $5.80. They were the “cheap” brand. When I got home I transferred the eggs from the carton they came in to an empty carton of the brand my gf buys (an expensive brand where the hens are free range, get massages, etc).
Thing is, they are “dog eggs”. Every morning I cook two jumbo eggs that get divided among our dogs and birds. My gf gives the dogs their egg as treats during her morning training session.
It does here, too! At least, relative to everything else, it remains a bargain. I live near a place that offers organic raised pork, they do their own pig raising. Prices are good for this pork, and the meat is tasty. But even the grocery store pork costs less than the other meats.
There’s a lot to be said for learning a little bit of butchery as well.
With only little effort a whole extra large chicken can be reduced to two fat breasts, two big legs and a couple of wings. The carcass is left for stock. That’s a lot of meals from one bird that can be had for less that £5.
I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe’s where I just bought a dozen jumbo eggs for $3.99 and lettuce is $1.99 per head. I think they have the same prices nationwide so if you have one nearby they are a good place to shop.