Grocery store prices

When I buy milk, I buy 2% milk and it costs $4.19 [Canadian currency] and organic milk is about 2 dollars more depending on the brand. I am not sure how much is the equivalent of a gallon, but the milk I buy is in 4 Litre bags...
I drink 4 Litres a week... :yum

I guess the cows are demanding there own overheads... LOL

I can understand your frustration.... Price of groceries keep going up :mad

Shelagh...

 

Yeah its got really bad over here too the price of loads of things have shot up.

Asda where I shop "owned by Walmart" is being really sneaky about their pricing too especially with the '3 for £££' and 'buy 1 get 1 free' . It seems you can only buy things at the regular price if you do buy 3 of something and take advantage of the offer because the price of buying just 1 is super inflated to make the deal seem worth it.

Saying that I just bought a brand new electric kettle for £5:-D Its also guaranteed that only two Chinese workers died in its production.rolleyes

 

I take the whole "organic" thing with a grain of salt. Since I didn't see the chemical analysis on what the cows were fed or how the milk was processed, I can't see any proof the overpriced organic milk is any better or safer than the regular store brand.

In Houston, I'm paying $3.59 for a gallon of store brand milk.

PS: @Shelagh: A litre equals 33.8 ounces. In a 4 litre package, you're basically getting one additional small glass of milk versus a gallon jug.

 

Thanks for the heads up on this.

Although I try to avoid Wally World (American slang for a Walmart Supercenter) as much as possible, up until now they've been honest about "two for" pricing - if something was marked "2 for $4.00", buying one was $2.00.

If they're starting to force people to buy a multiple quantity to get the discount (like Safeway does here in The States), it's one more reason not to shop there.

 

They are almost making it difficult to even have a good dinner.
What we used to get as ground beef for $.79 a lb. is now almost $3. a lb because they say Black Angus on the label.
Hell, soon the Black Angus will be an endangered species at that rate.

 

Are we looking for Organic choice, or price only?

200-300% increase in many items.

It used to be the highest sales iitems in a store included the following-

Campbells Tomato Soup Was $.50 now $1.22 (specials during holiday of $.68)

Nabisco Oreos Was $1.50 now $2.99

 

That's interesting because in the UK its the opposite you 'have' to buy multiple items to get the bulk buy price. Maybe its a slightly different offer?:confused
The ones I'm talking about say '3 chocolate bars for £1.00 or 50p each.' They never give you the discount price over here of say 33p if you bought just one chocolate bar.

I find also you get stung the most when you buy lots of different small items it doesn't seem to matter how small or cheap they are,even a small hand basket half filled with things like gum can burn you:-D

I think that's down to the way they price thing's,they move the savings around the store constantly to trick you into thinking there's a permanent sale in the whole store and vary the prices wildly so if your not buying the reduced products from one area your buying lots of smaller things that have been artificially inflated to pay for the savings on certain products.

Its really is silly,in times gone past there was a sale to sell off surplus stock but now there's an apparent constant sale on hundreds of different products simultaneously.

There's only two ways they can pay for them either.

A: Its a false sale and your really paying more than usual
B: Massively over inflate other products to pay for the products on sale

Hmmm

 

On anything that isn't perishable I know I'll use (paper products, detergent, TV dinners, etc.), I stock up like crazy when I see a great sale price.

As an example, I bought 5 bottles of Tide (about a year's supply) a few weeks ago. Between coupons and a $10 supermarket gift card for buying $30 worth of P&G products, I ended up paying about $3.25 per bottle - less than half the shelf price of $7.49 per bottle.

 

Pot noodles were half price the other day so I bought 30 of them:-D

 

That is a ripoff. As mentioned before, there are a few stores here in the States (Safeway, Walgreen's) that price gouge like this if you only buy one. I think it is a scam and refuse to shop anywhere that tries to pull this.

Both "A" and "B" are correct.

In The States, Walmart does not run weekly sales. Instead, they heavily promote "Rollbacks" (price reductions), giving an illusion they've cut prices.

It's gotten to the point where anyone with an IQ over 70 has figured out Rollbacks are a scam. As an example, I recently saw a sign in the Walmart bakery touting a "Rollback" (no pun intended) on fresh dinner rolls - "were 49 cents, now 4/$1".

Interestingly, the two largest supermarket chains in Houston (Kroger and H-E-B) sell their fresh baked dinner rolls at 4/$1 everyday; sometimes on sale at 5/$1! Other than certain drugstore items, Walmart is not the lowest priced place to shop in this area.

 

Organic raw milk is illegal for sale in CA.
They had an idea in Northern California to sell "cowshares" and you would get 2 gals per week and it averaged I think to about $4 per gal. It did not take off and there is much information on Google on the theory both pro and con.

I found Cheerios that I bought for $.50 cents a box with a coupon now are "special Walmart priced" $2.88. (I get in and out of the local WM asap and was there checking on Peanut Butter prices)

Even worse a cheap quart of 5W-30 was $5. I can pass on Cheerios, but oil is NEEDED to prevent motor damage.....

 

Another rant that deserves it's own thread.

Mr. Sam would fire them all if he were alive still.

 

Some high dollar grocery bills there... I spend between $45 and $60 per week for my food. I love when the local grocery has Porterhouse steaks around $5 a pound... They do that with the short dated stuff, and I slept in Sunday, so no steak for me this week...:cry

$8 for a gallon of milk?!! Ouch.

I will shop at wallmart for ammo if it is really cheap. Academy seems to have them beat. WalMart is the evil of retail. (in my personal opinion, of course.) :cool

 

At least Academy always has someone at the guns & ammo counter. There are times I've been tempted to set off a marine emergency flare gun trying to get the attention of a Walmart employee somewhere in the store to come help me. :-D

 

My wife does most of the shopping.. I do hardware and repairs. She likes it and is good at it. I just get in her way.
She shops around and does coupons, I can't tell you what's expensive for milk or beef or cereal, but I know if it's in my house it was bought at the cheapest possible price.

I'm with you on that Fred. They get none of my money.

 

WTF? You mean you can, at least in theory, get help at WalMart? I did not know that!

Evil place, I don't plan on ever going back.

 

Well, don't come to Western Australia if you want cheap prices. Some of the prices are truly unreal. Black Angus steak was mentioned previously. The going price for Black Angus steak is about $33-$37 per kilo, and it's not even as good as something like rump steak, which still retails for $13 per kilo, if you're lucky - usually more like $21/kg.
And if you think you'll save money by going vegetarian over here - think again...

Blueberries are a joke at about $27/kg. You get a pissy little tray with a thin layer about 2 berries thick to make it look like you've bought something.rolleyes The fruit and veg are mainly just the green, over-ripe or damaged goods that they can't flog off at the markets or export, because the are basically crap. Unless there's a glut of a particular produce at the time and you might actually get something edible for a short time.

Many stores, especially the big, eastern-states controlled ones like Coles and Woolworths have most items with the "buy 2 or 3 or 4 @ so-and-so price" B.S., too. If you buy one, it's a lot more expensive, like Rikky said.
I've stated a few times before in other threads that we produce everything here, locally. But that is not reflected in either value or quality, unfortunately.
That's what happens when approx. $0.85c in every retail dollar is controlled by big Corps., either 3,500 miles away in the east or overseas, in this part of the globe.
I only shop for two people. I only eat one or two small meals per day. Yet I still can't buy my week's groceries for under a hundred+ bucks, either. Something sure aint right, i.m.o.

 

MMM, Blueberries, right at $8 per half gallon... Love the local Farmer's Market. :drool

Blueberry season should be soon...

 

I agree, the price of groceries is becoming exorbitant but what I find more shocking is the price difference between locations. For example: A frozen pizza at the local supermarket - $9.49, the same exact pizza at Wal-mart -$5.48, that's a whole $4.00 difference for the same exact thing!! Really? how can they get away with this?? I've noticed that with A LOT of items and now I tend now to do most of my food shopping at Wal-mart, mind you they don't have everything I am look for, because of that difference surely adds up.

Also, to save money, I've started couponing. Now I'm not one of those show up with a billion coupons, clearing all the shelves kind of couponer (LOL) but it has saved me a good deal of money. Once, for example, my total before coupons was $15.00 and after coupons, total was my was $3.99 :-D

I almost dread food shopping anymore, $3.69 for a small loaf of bread? sheesh.

edit - @ Fred I love my local Wal-Mart. I've never ever had a problem finding someone to help me, they've always been kind and helpful and they have a great selection at good prices. The only thing I hate is the layout, I'd like to smack whoever designed the store.

 

Very simple. Volume. Walmart can buy wine for hundreds of stores, where we negotiate prices for one Mom and Pop store. We need 50 cases for the year, they can order 10,000 cases or more. Who gets the better case price?

WalMart = the evil.

Just my opinion. And I do shop online, cause I am a greedy capitalist myself... :-D

But, good customer service is something I will pay for.

 

Re:Fred:- Yeah, I've taken to growing my own Blueberries, now - along with Boysenberries, Raspberries, Black-currents, Red-currents, Lime trees, various herbs, Bay Leaf trees, vegetables, Tomatoes, Chillies, Peppers, etc. Now all I need to do is cure my 'brown thumb' syndrome :-o. Not any easy task when it's 30-40 deg C every day lately.
If I could get away with the local by-laws, I'd probably have a cow as well LOL. I'm no health nut, but I'm so fed up with having to eat crud.

 

That sounds like one heck of a garden! Got pictures? I have been threatening starting me a Garlic patch in my yard...

 

I'm not that rich, so the difference between getting groceries for 2 weeks at Wal-Mart for the price of groceries for 1 week at the local supermarket, I guess I'll have to keep giving into the evil :-D

I don't know if you saw my edit but I've had nothing but great service at my Wal-Mart and enjoy going there.

 

I understand. I have to chase someone down to get help at my wallyworld. And most of the time, I know more than they do.

Glad you get good help at your wallyworld. I don't. I shop local when I can. Just me.

Capitalism at it's best. One will win.

OH, and a big company scam. The propane tank swap centers. You know, where you just swap out your empty tank for a 'full' one? The cost is about the same, but the exchange place gives you 15 pounds of gas. For a couple of dollars less, my local shop fills said tank to 20 pounds of gas.

Shop local. Sometimes you just can't, because of price and budget. But sometimes the local guy is your best price.

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/48209307.html

For the record, I got my tank as a gift. Says 15 pounds net. Local guy filled it to 20 pounds... The gas place opened in the 1950's or so.

 

Me too, the prices are competitive but the quality is way higher when going direct to the farmer. Nothing better than that when one has the opportunity.

 

A lot of this has to do with the competition (or lack of it) in a given area.

When I lived in Alabama, Walmart came in and clobbered the three antiquated and mismanaged chains in the area. One (Delchamps) folded, the other two (Bruno's and Winn-Dixie) both declared chapter 11, cut their number of stores and stopped trying to compete with Walmart on prices. In essence, they've become large quickie marts, trying to make profit on margin versus volume. (Yes, I confess that - when I lived in Mobile - Walmart got about 80% of my grocery bucks. :-o).

For years, the thought was that Walmart was the retail version of an EF5 tornado, destroying any competitor in its path. This is no longer the case. Grocery chains that offer better quality than Walmart at competitive prices are putting the hurt on Wally World in several areas of the country: Northeast (Wegmans), Southeast (Publix) and Texas (H-E-B), to name a few.

 

okay, but remember, you asked for it LOL. Most of my plants are babies, because I only started growing most of them this year, (i.e. a few weeks ago).

This is some weird plant that grows crazy everywhere called a Moon Flower. It only flowers once a year for three days, with large, glorious white flowers. Then they're gone for another year. I'll have to post a pic. when they flower again.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0138.jpg

On the left, in the background, partly obscured are Pineapples, of all things.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0137.jpg

Passion-fruit vine, (Nelly Kelly) and Bay Leaf tree, surrounded by various herbs.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0136.jpg

Miniature Tomatoes.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0135.jpg

An interesting one, called Pineapple Sage. (Smells like Pineapple).

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0134.jpg

Haberino Chillies, (Ouch!..Hot!) Thyme and stuff in the foregroud.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0133.jpg

Rock melons, Tomatoes and peppers growing by them selves, it seems.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0132.jpg

Guess!...:-D

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0131.jpg

The red berries on the black leaves are Black Pearl Chilies, (VERY hot!)

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0130-1.jpg

Blueberries, surrounded by other stuff.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/Zobor/2011_New/SAM_0129-1.jpg

West Indian Lime tree.

Sorry about all the pics. folks - blame Fred! LOL

...You can now have your thread back.

 

Awesome pictures! TY! Now, how do I grow garlic... :-D

 

You should of planted it last fall.

 

Dang it, next year maybe.

 

At least that's the way it works up here, come spring it's one of the first plants to break ground. There's different varieties, do some homework and you'll be satisfied. It just won't be as strong.

 

To Fred. Not too late.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/allium/msg0702154430129.html

 

Plant an Italian Farmer foetus and in 18 years he'll grow you some garlic:-D

 

No that would just be silly:-D

 

To LauraR

 

You always get help at Wal-Mart, the guy that pushes a cart in front of you when you enter whether you want one or not, he's trying to help :-D

 

This is the first time I have used good, and Chianti in the same sentence. Just don't like 'em. :-D