how much do groceries cost in your area?

I spent $95 last night for groceries, and it is just the two of us! I buy my pet food at a separate store, so even that isn't included.

What really got me was a little 6 oz bag of mixed lettuce was $3.50! I buy the bags because to get the mixed stuff I like I'd have to buy 3 or 4 different types of leaf lettuce and most of it goes limp before I eat it all.

Organic eggs are like $2.99, but I got ground beef on sale.

Even the cat food I buy has gone up from $1.09/can to $1.15/can.

I live in PA. I'm very lucky in that DH does most of the food shopping (down, girls, down--he's mine! ). (I hate grocery shopping for some reason.) As DH does it, I have little conception of how much our weekly bill is. I am, however, good at pricing for some reason; that is, knowing what an item usually costs at the cheapest store in town vs. another store. Go figure...

Anyway, I usually only stop in grocery stores when I see a good sale in the ads--for example, Acme is the most pricey, but they have great 10/for 10 sales, which is about all I buy there. Giant usually is the cheapest store (our version of Bi-Lo and Martin's). I also buy food at WalMart sometimes.

I was in WalMart last week, and noticed that the prices for wheat-based products jumped as much as .47 cents from the week before, and that lots of stuff jumped in price as well--their cheap brand of spaghetti sauce, for example, went up .25 cents. All of this (apart from the sauce) may be attributed to the wheat price spike and the corn one, and the fuel costs. I read somewhere that we may see food prices go up as much as 80% soon. (I'm not saying they will, but I do think they will go up a LOT.)

I moved here to Virginia about 4 yrs ago from the Oregon. I thought food was crazy prized then, now it is out of control. I swear the cows and chickens over here are laced with gold. I just went to the grocery store to pick up a few things

4 lean cuisines - Lunch in exchange for eating out
1 little container of Coffee Mate
1 package String cheese for my kids
Muffins for the kids
salsa
Bag of Kitten food
Cookies for kids lunch

And a couple of non food items and it came to $43.00

Here pretty soon no one will have to worry about dieting food will be so expensive we won't be able to eat. I can't imagine what the food prices will be say in the next 10 yrs. Out of control

I found that shopping at Giant Tiger has really cut down on my food bill. I get all the cheap stuff there then go to a real grocery store for meats.
So we're spending about $150/month on food.

I haven't tracked what we spend on groceries for a long time. We buy as much bulk food, cleaners and toilet paper as we can from Costco, which leaves us to buy bread and other odds and ends from the grocery store. We grow a lot of produce in the summer and freeze the excess for the winter.

I do know that even with the odds and ends from the grocery store, we spend about $50 a week for 2 of us. We buy all pet products from other places and spend about $150 every 2 weeks on the critters. They do eat better than we do!

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

A gallon of milk here is $4.39 but it's pretty cheap because it is local from the island. Eggs are ~$5.00 a dozen (some are a little less, some a little more) for local eggs. We don't buy cereals.

Our grocery bill is $1500+ a month for two adults and a kid (doesn't include cat stuff). Crazy.

Gas here is $1.25 a litre which works out to about $4.73 a gallon.

I saw two elderly people the other day, shaking their heads and peering into their two bags of groceries saying, "What in the world did we buy that cost $79.00?" Must be tourists.

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OMG!!! That's what rather expensive rent costs a month in my area!

Originally Posted by abnihon

I live in Manhattan and just got back from the store where I paid $5.29 for a gallon of milk, $5.99 for a regular box of cereal, and $6.99 for a larger box.
Ridiculous!!!

I get so angry every time I go to the store. Makes me want to move to the country.....

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Let me explain something to you about New York City.

It is almost impossible for most trucking companies to get long-haul drivers to deliver to the warehouses in NYC. They have to pay them anywhere from $40 to $100 extra to go anywhere that they have to cross one of the toll bridges to get to. In addition, they have to pay the toll, which is now $40. It doesn't sound like much, but the total brings a truck load of freight up to about 5% to 10% more than just across the bridges in NJ.

In addition, fuel prices have doubled in a year. The result is that shippers are having to pay a fuel surcharge of about 50 cents per mile now. That's up from about 20 cents per mile a year ago. And every consumer product has traveled by truck on average 5 times.

Also, wheat and corn this year have finally gone higher than they were the last time I worked on a ranch...and that was 40 years ago. Imagine if you tried to run a business and haven't been able to charge any more for your product than it was 40 years ago!

Well I usually buy cheese at a cheese shop associated with a cheese factory.
What I bought yesterday: Mozzarella Smoked Syring Cheese @5.79/lb: Extra Fresh [email protected]/ob: American Cheese @4.29/lb & Cheese Curds @$4.39/lb. Granted this isn't the cheap stuff and will last 2-3 weeks for the two of us!!

Sample from tonites paper -this weeks sale prices (this is the "expensive store")
Yoplait youghurt 65 cebts: Roundys Fresh boneless sklinless chicken breast $1.97/lb (I better buy some!!): Ground Chuck $2.49 (my local butcher will sell for $1.79/lb though)
Red pr Green Leaf lettuce 99 Cents/lb: 5# bag yukon Gold potatoes 2/$5.50. The 10 for $10 is mainly convience/junk food!! Wild Boneless Skin on Haddock Fillets $4.99/lb: 2 5 qt pails Roundys brand Ice cream 2/$10!! Kraft Shredded or Chunk cheese (8 oz) 4/$9:

The store I shop at 16 oz half -n-half for coffee 79 cents. Bulk coffee roasted in Wisconsin up to $6.59/lb. Pineapple $2.99. Butter $1.79 to 1.99/lb

Prices aren't too bad (yet!!) I have my own veg garden so I save a bit there and a chest freezer so when meat/ cheese on sale I stock up!!

We're going on Friday so I'll check how much things cost. I do buy a majority of our food items and cat litter at the "cheap" store (Save-A-Lot) and hit up the sales when I can. We buy a good portion of our pet food, sadly, from Walmart. I do know our weekly bill went from $120 to $150 or more depending on what we need that week. More times then not, we spend close to $200 every week.

Along with rising transportation costs, the dollar is at it's weakest in recent history which has raised the costs of imports. Ethanol production has increased the cost of grain and we are getting nothing for it because it takes more energy to grow, harvest the grain and transport it then we are getting back. Because of the increase in corn prices many farmers switched from corn to wheat so now the price of wheat is up. Increased grain prices means increased feed prices which has contributed to the rising costs of dairy and meat. Ethanol production is just a way for politicians to look like they are doing something about the energy crisis.

Unfortuantly food here has gone up too... enough for me to swollow my pride and have to apply for food stamps. The most embarresing thing ever. The lady looked at me and said you know you're having a rough time when you look worse than you drivers license. It was miserable and I hope everything goes back down!! I was certain I wouldn't qualify, turns out I more than qualify, and got medicaid on the kids too, because we pay over 500$ a month in insurance! Of course we're keeping the insurance, but we wont have to pay as much for Dr. visits and that'll help. Its over 4 bucks for a single loaf of bread! $5 for a gallon of milk, $18 for a can of forumula that lasts one week! My 20 month old has to have formula because he's lactose intolerant, the dr thinks he'll grow out of it though because Jacob did the same thing, but his went away sooner than this! I guess times are tough for everyone...

Originally Posted by glitch

Unfortuantly food here has gone up too... enough for me to swollow my pride and have to apply for food stamps. The most embarresing thing ever. The lady looked at me and said you know you're having a rough time when you look worse than you drivers license. It was miserable and I hope everything goes back down!! I was certain I wouldn't qualify, turns out I more than qualify, and got medicaid on the kids too, because we pay over 500$ a month in insurance! Of course we're keeping the insurance, but we wont have to pay as much for Dr. visits and that'll help. Its over 4 bucks for a single loaf of bread! $5 for a gallon of milk, $18 for a can of forumula that lasts one week! My 20 month old has to have formula because he's lactose intolerant, the dr thinks he'll grow out of it though because Jacob did the same thing, but his went away sooner than this! I guess times are tough for everyone...

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Don't feel bad about doing this. You're a mom who does what is needed for her kids My mom raised us on them. We wouldn't have eaten otherwise. We turned out good

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

You pay tax on actual food products?

The only thing we pay tax on here are fast food items from the deli, and non grocery items such as cleaning supplies, pet supplies, toiletries etc. And if you buy less than 6 dinner rolls or pastries, you are taxed.

Our tax is 7% PST and 6% GST, so 13%.

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Yup, even food and it's still 9.25%. They tax everything here It totally stinks!

Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

Don't feel bad about doing this. You're a mom who does what is needed for her kids

My mom raised us on them. We wouldn't have eaten otherwise. We turned out good

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Yeah, I was raised on them too, I just figured I wouldn't have to use them, and now I do! Its better to swollow my pride and make sure the kids are fed!!

I hate taxes, we have them here too! pain in the butt!

Originally Posted by abnihon

I live in Manhattan and just got back from the store where I paid $5.29 for a gallon of milk, $5.99 for a regular box of cereal, and $6.99 for a larger box.
Ridiculous!!!

I get so angry every time I go to the store. Makes me want to move to the country.....

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Those prices are consistent with what we pay in my area.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

You pay tax on actual food products?

The only thing we pay tax on here are fast food items from the deli, and non grocery items such as cleaning supplies, pet supplies, toiletries etc. And if you buy less than 6 dinner rolls or pastries, you are taxed.

Our tax is 7% PST and 6% GST, so 13%.

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In Ontario the GST was lowered to 5% on January 1st, 2008 - not much but better than nothing.

I used to live in a lower quality area while my first husband was going to university and I worked to support us both. I saved money by buying lower priced cuts of meat and cooking at home rather than eating out. We didn't buy junk food or chips or salsa or that sort of thing because we couldn't afford it. I would see some folks in the grocery store where I shopped who I knew were on welfare and their shopping carts were filled with potato chips, soda pop, popcorn, store-bought cookies, etc. I would bet their basket of "groceries" would be gone within 2 days and they would be forced to go to a food bank.

It's easy to save money by cooking at home and cutting back on snack foods. Buying pre-packaged and frozen foods is really expensive as well and instead of buying processed cheese sticks why not buy real cheese and making cheese fingers for kiddies' lunches. Those are the types of things that will save money.

My grocery is dirt-cheap... my last grocery bill was 37$ for 5 boxes of morningstar farms stuff, a package of provolone, a package of string cheese, english muffins, french onion dip, goldfish crackers, a bag of chips, and a 12-pack of beer.

Don't be too worried by that shopping list. I have to walk to and from and I do shifts of "types" so like my next trip I did produce and milk and such...

I really haven't noticed a rise in prices. Maybe it's because I only feed myself, but I think my grocery prices haven't gone up much. I think it's because I live in a very urban-poor neighborhood, I'd say half the customers are paying for their groceries with public assistance. Everyone living in the suburbs seems to be complaining the worst (although manhattan would be the opposite of that...) but then again, that's the least cost-effective place to live, so.

Manhattan grocery prices are insane. I moved from Manhattan to North Jersey 15 years ago. The first I went grocery shopping in Jersey I thought the cashier made a mistake on the prices.

I have a friend that gets help from the state for food, she has 5 kids, her DH doesn't work and she works at a fast food resteraunt, they get over 1200 dollars every month for food, and she puts chocolate syrup into formula for the baby!! Yeah, thats healthy!!! I just got a little help, but nothing like she gets!! I try not to do convienence foods except for in the morning! Cereal is costly, but morning time is hard when you have 6 people to get organized!! That old friend I have, when her son was 2, he weighed 40lbs!! He's still a big boy too, probably all the potato chips and chocolate flavored formula!!

they cost too much.

Originally Posted by glitch

they get over 1200 dollars every month for food, and she puts chocolate syrup into formula for the baby!

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Why would she do this?