That was the excuse for the high cost of groceries, now that gas is $1.52 (Here in Oklahoma anyways) why are prices STILL going higher at the store?? I am mad! Doesn't matter what excuse we're told, I feel like the consumer is being played.

So do I and its so evident in the these sad facts. Coupons in the inserts are pure yuck and so stinky .. Stores are not carrying enough of sale items. What does it matter if they advertise that they are having a great sale on cereal if you go to the store and its never in stock... Deteregent prices are crazy, cereal prices are crazy and then they give us 1/3 ong.mills cereals omg.... Truly hope that the new year will be better for all, truly these days you must stretch your dollar to the limit... Peace... Catherine

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in memory of my beloved beautiful brother Sonny who is now an angel in heaven

I agree. Went to dollar tree today to get zipper bags. The box in the front had 16 bags. I picked that up and noticed the one behind had 18 bags and I looked way in the back where there were 20 in a box,
I think greed has a lot to do with the price of everything still rising.

I think some of it, like meat, can be justified by the increased cost to feed the animals, etc. But I do think a lot of companies saw their chance to hike the prices and reduce the amount in the packages and they're running with it. I get sticker shock every time I go to the store these days.

Maureen

Well, I don't know if I can ever go back into my Aldi's again, I couldn't control myself whatsoever and broke down at the register. I had just been to WalMart and once again, EVERYTHING I went to get had gone up anywhere from .27 to .74 cents!!! Then, I went across the street to Aldi, and it was the same way there, although seems their increases aren't as bad, only like .19 to .29 a piece. Anyways, I am just so fed up with it. Fed up with now getting 10 ounce bags of this or that when it used to be 14 ounces. 8 burritoes to a package instead of 10, I mean for the love of all that is holy, PINTO beans??? POTATOES??? I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd pay 1.59 for a 2 lb bag of beans. I remember getting 5 lb bags on sale for .99 all the time just a few years ago!! 20 pounds of potatoes 1.99. And the list goes on. Sigh. I appreciate you letting me vent. Husband is sick of hearing me go on and on when I come back from the store. And it's not like we eat high on the hog by no means. Hamburger helper, Ramen noodles, beans and cornbread......I've got this living destitute down pat, girls. Oh, the days of buying pop and chips. How I miss the fun, frivilous snacks. (Good grief, you'd think I'm in prison the way I sound....OK, shutting up now.)

Thanks again for letting me gripe. I AM truly grateful that gas is cheaper, but I want groceries to get affordable again!!!! Wahhhhh!

Maybe (hopefully) we'll just have to wait a bit to see the prices go down (although I think the ship has sailed on package sizes). When gas prices went up, the groceries stayed the same at first...maybe it was a delayed reaction and the same thing'll happen on the way down.

Perdue boneless skinless for $5 a pound is insane...it's funny cuz I remember in the recession of the 70s all we ate was chicken because my mom said beef was too expensive. Now it's beef this and beef that cuz the chicken's crazy! I need to just buy the frozen stuff at BJ's....assuming that's still reasonable. Even the BOGO sales aren't all that good lately.

Vent away, though, I know just how you feel.

Maureen

Tune in tonight they said on the news to see why farm prices are going down and groceries are still going up.
My personal opinion is that greedy people take advantage of situations to create more profit for themselves. I may be wrong but from my life's experience that is what I see.
It would be a miracle or a hallucination to see prices go down for consumers especially on needed items like food.

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Faith + Love = Happy

Anyone here get the free marcal paper towels coupons in their inserts. Lately lucky we have gotten them like 5 times in the past 4 months or so. Naturally like the high prices of everything else, I thought this a great chance to stock up on paper towels, something I think all of us here go through like water. Well in the beginning I was getting alot only at 2 stores, they were the only ones to carried the smaller size. Needless to say the space on the shelves where these items were no longer are there. Each time I visit the stores I ask and get the same answer, we ordered them and have gotten them. Seems to me like they do in fact have them , but are ony perhaps putting a few out at a time, because so many people were using the coupon. THen I think and perhaps someone else can agree, is Marcal doing so bad that they have issued the same free item coupon over and over again.. Also this time of year our coupon inserts were backed with excellent food coupons to help with the cost of the holiday season cooking. Last week was the worst ever ever... sadly miss those nice fat inserts.. I am a couponoholic if there is one...lol.. Peace Catherine

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in memory of my beloved beautiful brother Sonny who is now an angel in heaven

I know some of it is trying to recover from when gas started going up. My dh runs a business and waited to add a gas surcharge because he was hoping it was a temporary thing. Well it wasn't now he has to keep it up to recover some of what he lost then. Some companies are leaving the prices up because they believe this fuel price is only going to be down for a short time. Also keep in mind that the merchandise is shipped by semi trucks.. they use diesel which is more expensive then reg gasoline.
I have decided to try to shop different because of the prices. I am a bargain hunter and coupon shopper and save ALOT. But I know we also throw away alot of food. So I am going to try to stop that and plan meals around leftovers.

I think ronnang is probably on the money - no pun intended! For awhile there on the front end of the gas price run-up, stores and food producers were behind as they kept prices level even as their costs - and gas costs - went up. They finally had to raise their prices but probably never really got caught up from the front end months when they lost money. It's entirely possible that they locked in some commodity purchases at prices that are now considered high, but they have to pay those costs for a set period of time and would take a loss if they reduced their prices.

Ironically, Southwest Airlines had locked in a fuel price when oil was at $70 barrel, and that meant that when it was going for $140 for everyone else, they were getting a sweet deal on their fuel. Now, however, oil has dipped as low as the upper $40's and that $70 isn't such a hot price... but they are probably locked into buying a certain volume at that amount for a contracted period of time and will have to bite the bullet and pay it or pay a settlement and re-work their contracts.

In other words...it takes awhile for the end-user to see a price change.

Gas in Independence, MO, was $1.35/gallon this week!

Boy, I was excited to have gas at $1.72 for regular until I saw the post for $1.52!

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"Well-Behaved Women SELDOM make history."Laurel Thatcher Ulrich


"Yesterday is but a vision, and tomorrow is only a dream. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a dream of hope." Anonymous

"Your candle does not lose it's light by lighting another candle" Generosity

Have the courage to be yourself.

Well here on Long Island we hit a all time low at the gas station with 2.13 I know its still a little high, but considering at the peak in mid July we were at 4.79 a gallon omg, its way better. However I would like to see it come down a wee bit more... Peace.. Catherine

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in memory of my beloved beautiful brother Sonny who is now an angel in heaven

I paid $1.44 at Sam's yesterday for gas. I filled up my van for $27. I about passed out. Sure beats $70 plus. Groceries are killing our family of 6 too. But here, beef is so high I can't buy it. Last time we got hamburger meat (it was 80/20 even), a 6 pound package was $18 at Sams. I had sent my DH to get it while I was checking out or we wouldn't have gotten that. I didn't realize it until we got home. Ugg. Couldn't believe it. Chicken is way cheaper here, I'm in Arkansas. I love all the talk on t.v. about people saving for the future. Funny when it's taking most everyone everything they have just to survive and pay bills.

I agree with ronnang and wowitsdark, it will take a little time to recover and the reduced cost of product shipping to be reflected back to the consumer. Fingers crossed that we see a reduction in grocery prices within a month or so. Stinks that in addition to the higher prices, manufacturers also shrunk the package sizes...that just messes with my recipes, etc.

cj

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I went shopping today and the prices were outrageous! In just one week prices have went up by leaps and bounds! Talk about a heart stopping experience.

I saw a thing on the news the other night and it said the grocery prices aren't coming down yet because companies are still using up the gas they purchasesd at a high price. Which makes sense, but it sure didn't keep them from raising the prices really fast when gas was on the rise. They didn't first wait to use up the gas that they bought cheaper. Typical.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything they have."

Let's see....with a glass half full view of the situation, maybe America will eat less and lose some of her excess weight! Most of us weigh too much - me included!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

When I read your post I just had a though hmmm if they upped the prices in places like Mc Donalds and fast food restaurants and lowered the prices of fruits and vegetables, milk and eggs etc would we ( America ) then choose to eat healthier ??

I know I would head for the grocery store if a lets say Big Mac meal cost me 15.95

its just food for thought

Along those same lines how in the heck did it become cheaper to eat out than to buy raw ingredients and cook from scratch? What's up with that? That is just bassackwards.

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Faith + Love = Happy

I told a lady the other day that I was on "the recession diet"

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Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

I think it would be a great idea if the government subsidized fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats....but doubt that's gonna happen....

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

That's a great idea! Plus made coupons available for fresh vegetables, fruits & meat instead of cookies and processed food.

Man, I think we could be onto something!

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything they have."

It is bassackwards! I tell the cashiers this all the times as I purchase fresh and healthy foods. They probably roll their eyes after I turn my back and walk away. LOL. I guess I see it as a trade-off with lower medical bills later in life.

My son's school had a non-perishable food drive this past week. I mentioned to a mom that I was sending in healthy foods like tuna, canned beans, etc. and she said she was going to send in a bunch of packages of Ramen, etc.. Okay, so they get a lot of *food* (more bang for the buck) but... Too bad they don't keep track of how much 'healthy' food comes in! It would probably be shocking.

You got me started now!