Grocery Shopping in an Era of Insanity — How Are *Your* Grocery Prices?

by Katy on February 1, 2025 · 92 comments

Today was the last day to redeem a $10-off-$50 Winco Foods coupon and there was no way in hell I was going to let it go to waste. (This unicorn of a coupon came randomly in the mail — rare, special and unlikely to ever be seen again.) My day was busy with preparing for a houseguest and attending to various family member issues, but again . . . using this coupon stayed at the top of my to-do list!

For those not in the Pacific Northwest, Winco is an employee owned no-frills grocery store with an extensive bulk food section and except for loss leaders, knocks the socks off their corporate grocery rivals. Even Aldi, in my opinion.

I didn’t choose my groceries based on looming tariffs, instead I stuck to my list and added a few extra items based on sale prices and whimsy. Were the Andes mints a necessity? No, but my sister is flying into town tonight and I go over the top as a hostess, which includes a daily mint on the pillow.

Here’s everything laid out, minus a case of canned cat food which I bought to ensure that I’d be spending the requisite fifty bucks, but also because the Winco website had a $3-off ecoupon. (Turns out I didn’t need to buy the cat food to hit $50, but I’m still happy to have it on hand.) I bought an extra bag of tater tots, as they were on sale and I cook them in the waffle iron to add to burritos, which I highly recommend.

 

 

Hello, kitty!

 

 

My total was just (ha!) $73.83, which still feels expensive, although I did buy a few pricier items like the chicken thighs and two boxes of Tetley tea.

 

This blog post is far from a “Wow, look at the amazing deals I got at the grocery store!” and more of a “Hey, these are the food prices in Portland, Oregon.” I’m curious how food prices are in your region, especially if you live outside the United States.

Please share your thoughts on grocery prices in the comments section below.

P.S. Winco doesn’t accept credit cards and I couldn’t for the life of me remember my PIN, so I wrote an ye ole timey paper check to pay for my groceries!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 92 comments… read them below or add one }

Jackie February 1, 2025 at 5:12 am

These prices are similar to our large regional grocery store HEB in Texas. I live outside of Austin and looking over the receipt the prices are similar! Which makes me feel a little better since Winco is no frills and HEB can actually be over the top if you buy tons of prepared foods etc.

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Fru-gal Lisa February 1, 2025 at 9:12 am

HEB used to be my favorite store, but IMO their prices have gone up too much. I get most of my items from Aldi. I also buy loss leaders from the drug store where I work, since their Blue Bell Ice Cream is the lowest price in town; however, just yesterday, the price of a half-gallon went up by a dime and the price of a dozen Blue Bell “Dixie cups” went up by over a dollar. But a case of off-brand bottled water went down by 40 cents a couple of months ago, so it’s now $2.29 for 24 bottles. (I usually use tap water, but once a year the city pumps huge amounts of chlorine into the water so it reeks of bleach, and for that month I rely on sources other than my faucet. ) We’ve gotten in some cases (boxes) of 24 cans of Dr Pepper products for $9.97, so I got those. (Much cheaper than the teacher’s lounge vending machines, where it’s a dollar for one can!) I also bought a big 20 ounce (1 pound 4 ounces) box of “Mom’s Best Cereals” brand “Honey Nut Toasty O’s” cereal from the health food section for $5.55, less than I’d pay for Cheerios Honey Oats. Tastes the same. Yesterday, I went to a couple of outlet stores (Ollie’s, and Big Lots, which is closing) and got some food items there. Including $3.79 for a 16.7 oz. box of pumpkin spice flavored Kellogg’s Special K at Ollie’s. (I didn’t see any of Aldi’s pumpkin spice cereal this fall, and missed it!) One of my favorite Aldi buys lately is their calzones for $2 and change; I can heat these up in the microwave for 1 min. and have a very filling lunch. I also shop Walmart for groceries, and I think their “Sinfully Sweet” tomatoes are almost as delicious as homegrown ones. So that’s where I buy tomatoes when the growing season is over. But my money goes a lot farther at most other stores than HEB, so I find myself going to HEB less and less.

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Selena February 1, 2025 at 7:51 pm

@Fru-gal Lisa and most on this board similarly situated re: felon in the house, an article I think you’ll like.
If you are not similarly situated, I (and others I suspect), will scroll on by any replies.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/satire/why-do-some-british-people-not-like-donald-trump-135275/

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Autumn February 1, 2025 at 5:37 am

The prices you paid at Winco are comparable to the prices at my small-town Walmart, which is north of me. If I drive south to the college-town Walmart, prices are marked up 8%-10% higher than what you paid. I haven’t been shopping at Aldi in a hot minute- I often take advantage of shopping online with Walmart and picking up my groceries. I spend a lot less if I don’t have an opportunity to walk around the store and impulse buy. I make a meal plan and stick to it as close as I can. For two, we spend about $75 on groceries every week. When I lived alone, I spent about $40 on groceries every week.

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GK February 1, 2025 at 6:09 am

Prices in Ireland are also still high in comparison to pre-pandemic prices. It’s hard to compare as it’s not like for like but here are the items from my last receipt from Lidl:

Conference pears 1kg. 1.49 Euro (on special offer, normally 2.59 Euro)
Organic chickpeas tin 0.75 Euro
Black beans tin 0.85 Euro
Irish Vintage cheddar (250 g) 2.29 Euro
carved topside beef 2.69 Euro
mini chicken fillets 1.99 Euro
Gouda, 12 slices 2.85 Euro
Emmental, 12 slices 2.85 Euro
Roasted hazelnuts 3.49 Euro
Lidl own brand toothpaste 1.59 Euro
White bagels 5 pack 1.45 Euro
Bananas (6 pack) 1.79 Euro
Greek style yogurt 1.69 Euro
bag of organic spinach 1.59 Euro
bag of baby leaf salad 1.49 Euro
Mixed peppers (3) 1.89 Euro
Italian blend ground coffee 227g. 1.99 Euro
Whole milk (1 litre) 1.15 Euro
Basmati rice 1kg 1.49 Euro
strawberries 250g 2.69 Euro
6 free range eggs 1.95 Euro

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 7:34 am

Thanks. Given that Euros and dollars are almost even right now, it’s easy to see you’re doing pretty well with those prices.

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Liz B. February 1, 2025 at 10:52 am

Thanks, Rose. When I read GK’s list, I was unsure how the Euro compared to the US dollar, but was too lazy to look it up. heh.

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 6:56 am

Here are current prices at my local supermarket:

Eggs $11.39 doz
Gal milk $5.49
Chuck stew meat $6.99 lb
Rub eye roast $21.99 lb
Rotel $3.79 each
Progresso soups $4.79 each
Stouffer’s French bread pizza, frozen, usually $5.49, special $3.99

Groceries are cheaper if I drive about 40 minutes, but given gas is currently
$5.22 gallon here, I don’t know how much savings there is. I sometimes Instacart that store, but then prices are higher and you have to tip etc.

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Marybeth from NY February 1, 2025 at 8:51 am

That is insane for a dozen eggs. What state are you in? I keep hearing high prices but my family in CT, MD and MA have eggs about the same as me.

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 9:34 am

Marybeth, the Hamptons. Enough said. My son paid 17 and change for 1.5 dozen this week and they’re almost all gone. I really like and eat a lot of eggs.

Lis, we don’t really have branded milk here. Some kind of state law. Milk is milk, and I always buy whole milk.

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Marybeth from NY February 1, 2025 at 3:12 pm

Next time I come out that way I will bring you some eggs. Gas by me is $3.04. I’m by the Nasau/Suffolk border.

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 4:26 pm

I figured, because of your references to Shop Rite and Aldi. My sister is in Babylon Village and sometimes I get envious of how easy shopping is. On the other hand, we’re getting a Target out here!!!!!! woo!

Seriously, if you come out to the End, ask Katy for my email and we’ll hang.

Fru-gal Lisa February 1, 2025 at 9:24 am

OMG! I buy milk from Aldi or Walmart or get the Park Lane (lowest priced off brand) from HEB, so it’s always about $2 and change for a gallon jug. Our drug store sells organic milk for $6.61 a gallon and plain old ordinary milk for about what you pay, so I don’t buy it there; a lot of HEB milk brands are also in the neighborhood of 4 or 5 bucks. Always look at the price of each brand bc they vary a lot, even at Walmart. But I get the lowest-priced (non-artificial growth hormone) milk I can find — why pay more for a fancy name brand?

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Liz B. February 1, 2025 at 11:01 am

Holy cats, Rose! I don’t want to make you jealous, but my local Kroger has a sale price of $3.99/18-pack of eggs this week. Heck YEAH I got some. And gas is $2.17/gallon right now. Of course, Ohio doesn’t have gorgeous beaches right outside one’s doorstep, so there’s that. 🙂

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 12:21 pm

It stinks, buuuut I choose to live here so can’t complain too much. I think it’s like living in Alaska or Hawaii: a giant expensive pain but worth it in other ways. If I had more time/energy I could drive west and load up on groceries in the middle of Long Island, but I don’t, so shrug guy.

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Liz B. February 1, 2025 at 6:02 pm

Rose, lol, I used to live in Middle Island.

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Selena February 1, 2025 at 7:57 pm

Ah @Rose, you said aloud what so few would say. You choose to live where you live. You might not like the price of eggs but you accept it, not blame .

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Rose February 2, 2025 at 6:08 am

Being able to choose where I want to live is a luxury not many people have. They need to stay where they are because that’s what they can afford, because it’s close to relatives who help out with the children, or they need to live close to their work etc etc. I’m extremely lucky. That said, I wouldn’t mind downsizing, but the kind of house I want, all one level, not too much renovating needed (I’m picky about interiors), and a decent sized fenceable yard for my dogs is hard to find. And the cap gains tax is gonna be murder, too.

Selena February 2, 2025 at 7:55 pm

@Rose I agree with you to a certain extent re: luxury of where you live. Far, far, far too many relocate to high risk, high cost areas when they retire. When you no longer have a home (50% chance it was insured), does it really matter if no state income tax? Or climate change isn’t guaranteeing no “cold”/freezes or increased hurricanes or tropical storms?
You can probably mitigate your cap gains – you would need to fence in no more than 1/3, maybe 1/2 acre, the rest can be a wildlife haven.

olympia February 3, 2025 at 7:35 pm

Eggs at the local Hannaford (northeast chain) here were all between $7 and $8 a dozen, but at the Trader Joe’s across the street for them, you could get them for $3.50. There were a lot of eggs too, which surprises me.

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Cathy in CT February 1, 2025 at 5:06 pm

Rose, that is shocking to me! Reg. eggs here in CT are about 3.00/doz, organic, cage free 9.00/18. Gas is around $3.00/per gallon for reg. Unfortunately, we drink a lot of diet soda, diet coke/pepsi for him, diet ginger ale for me. Reg. price in our local grocery store is $9.50 12 pack of cans. I wait for a sale or go somewhere else. We’re both cutting way back, mostly because it’s so terrible for us and the crazy pricing is making it easier.

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Selena February 1, 2025 at 7:54 pm

Holy crap Batman, I mean Rose – the cost of eggs in your area is over double in my area. Though I expect my area to hit that price sooner than later.
Yeah, gas isn’t $2.00 per gallon and inflation exists. Gas has already shot up here – $3.29 a gallon. Summer blend is just around the corner.
Hang on fellow Commentariats, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

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Mary February 1, 2025 at 7:11 am

Here’s how you get around “no credit cards” at WinCo. Buy a gift card online using a credit card and keep reloading it. If you don’t want to wait for a gift card to arrive in the mail, purchase one for a small amount at the store and reload it online using your credit card. I’ve been using the same gift card for at least two years!

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A. Marie February 1, 2025 at 7:35 am

Across the board, Katy’s WinCo prices are somewhat lower than mine here in Central NY (considering only my usual grocery stores–Wegmans, Price Chopper, occasionally Tops when I take NDN shopping, and occasionally Aldi). But here are a few of my pro tips:

(1) Meat: I’m still getting a screaming deal on beef from my friends who raise the steers. And apart from the rare grocery store special (I’m thinking that the days of chicken drumsticks for 99 cents/lb. may be coming to an end, given bird flu), I buy meat Reduced for Quick Sale whenever I can find it. Thank goodness for an upright freezer.

(2) And I make full use of my discount stores: Ollie’s and the discount grocery outlet I shop at whenever I can get to that part of town. (As a single person, I’ve found that warehouse clubs no longer work for me. Our one and only Costco here, for example, is at the other end of the county, and I no longer need to buy most things in warehouse-club-size bundles anyway. On the rare occasions when I do need something from Costco, I put in a request with neighbors who do have a membership.)

(3) And as no one here needs to be told, I try not to buy anything I don’t really need. Since most of my grocery runs these days also involve shopping for NDN, this forces me to keep my own list to the essentials.

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Heidi Louise February 1, 2025 at 9:11 am

I wonder how much Ollies varies across the country. The one I visited had canned goods, candy, and shampoo prices comparable to generics or sales at my supermarket, 40 miles away. I had not been there before, so had no coupons or membership. The overflowing atmosphere did not entice me to stay, with most of it being “stuff” rather than food. It’s been a few years; if I am near, I may look again.

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Liz B. February 1, 2025 at 11:08 am

Heidi Louise, I can’t speak to how much the Ollies in various parts of the country differ or are the same, but I stopped in one last week. There aren’t any Ollie’s close to where I live, but I was in another part of town to meet up with some friends for dinner, and stopped in one….I can’t say I’m terribly impressed with the one I went into. Same, lots of candy, some snack foods, a few canned goods, but nothing I use on a regular basis and nothing that was an exceptional deal. I went into a different store in a different area a few months ago, and had basically the same impression. I’m glad other folks here find good things there!

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Heidi Louise February 1, 2025 at 12:34 pm

Yes to your last sentence– It is fun to hear about bargains others find!

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Courtney February 1, 2025 at 11:09 am

That is a steal for that cat food! Our cats eat the same kind and we regularly pay $42-$45 for 60 cans at Sam’s club in Iowa. Your prices are lower than what we are paying, even better than Aldi here! We shop loss leaders at Hy-Vee and kwik-star often. We also regularly stock up at Sam’s club for a lot of our more frequently used items.

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Ruby February 1, 2025 at 12:42 pm

We had a Costco membership for several years because DH got his hearing aids there and the discount on batteries paid for the membership. But we simply do not eat enough to shop for food that way.

Our Ollie’s is one of the good ones. The pet supplies alone make it worth the trip, and I buy a lot of deeply discounted canned goods, coffee, tea, and the occasional gluten-free item for DH there.

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Ellie in AR February 2, 2025 at 2:23 pm

Hi A. Marie
Check your email for a new Ollie’s coupon. I received a 15% off total purchase that is good thru Valentine’s Day.
My hubby uses Gatorade for workouts. We scored over sized cans of powder. Hubs says it equals 3 of the size available in Walmart. Walmart sells it for $12.99. Ollie’s $5.66 per gallon in Ollie’s. Woo Hoo!

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K D February 1, 2025 at 7:38 am

Our grocery prices are high. Even though it us usually just the two of us I do some shopping around. I use Aldi for a lot of our produce, I shop Giant for sale items/loss leaders (which there seem to be a lot less of these days). I buy some items at Costco, I go there about once a month. I occasionally go to Grocery Outlet and Sam’s Club. Other than Costco all those stores are within 1-1/2 miles of our home and I try to combine errands.

I don’t think prices are going to come down, there are too many factors that are adding to inflation.

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Jenny February 1, 2025 at 7:38 am

I went shopping at our WinCo yesterday (in Bellingham, WA). Interesting to see the price differences on some of the items shared on our list:
Milk: $3.19
Juanita’s chips: $2.98 (same)
WinCo diced tomatoes: $0.98
Avocado, medium: $0.78
Popeye’s spinach: $2.99
Cosmic crisp apples: $0.98 (same)

Apparently we pay more for milk and spinach, but save on avocados and canned tomatoes!

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Li February 1, 2025 at 7:48 am

I received one of those unicorn coupons in the mail a few years ago. There’s been no sighting since then. (I want one!!)

I’m in Portland, so you know how much my groceries cost. I’m having good luck with clearance items at Freddie’s. For example, yesterday I bought four cooked chicken leg quarters for $2.50, and this will be part of “soft taco night” and “burrito bar night” and the bones will become stock for soup. If I see marked down ground beef, I get it and put it in the freezer. I’m also having good luck with “scratch and dent” produce and almost never pay full price for mushrooms, peppers, or mandarin oranges. The peppers freeze well. I try to find clearance milk for my homemade yogurt. I went to a health food store and bought a good yogurt culture, so I use the previous batch to make a new batch, and this is saving me lots of money (and I’m not cluttering the landfill with little plastic containers).

I continue to get eggs at Trader Joe’s, but yesterday, my Trader Joe’s was completely wiped out of eggs. There was a sad, empty cooler.

I find that processed foods seem to have gone up in price the most, so I’m buying fewer of them, and this is probably a good thing for my health!

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Li February 1, 2025 at 8:01 am

Another observation about the cost of groceries in Portland:
I recently went to a Winco on the far east side of town and they had a big accordion gate pulled across the exit to the self check area. When you show your receipt, and employee will pull the gate aside so you can exit. I think people might be getting desperate enough to steal the groceries?

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Denise February 1, 2025 at 8:33 am

I’m in England – London. I’ve just done some online comparisons. We’re more expensive on some, cheaper on others. The biggest difference was cat food – way cheaper here. 40 tins for £12.50. Allowing for Katy’s box being 36 tins and the conversion of £:$, ours was $8.70 for 36. Wowser.

Li: I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. One of our national supermarket chains, Sainsbury’s, where I live doesn’t do any checking but I went to Birmingham (UK’s second city). They had closed gates and were checking receipts very carefully before releasing the gates. Desperately sad.

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 9:59 am

dunno if you saw this but interesting. The Guardian has covered it a lot.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/30/some-steal-to-order-on-the-frontline-of-uk-shoplifting-epidemic

I must say, though, there’s been a lot of boo hooing here in the US about baby formula being shoplifted, and when I explain that in certain segments of society, baby formula is a form of currency, people look at me like I’m Trump. (BTW Tide detergent is another kind of scrip often shoplifted.) I mean, I am sure there are some Jean Valjeans out there stealing bread for starving children, but stealing £77 of vapes is not exactly the same thing.

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Li February 1, 2025 at 1:57 pm

Yeah. It’s complicated. I have to think something’s wrong with the world if people are using laundry detergent as currency. I’m not feeling hopeful that there will be an improvement anytime soon.

Julia February 1, 2025 at 8:12 am

Eggs in the regular grocery store are $6.99, at the city drugstore they are $10.99. I got the max of 2 cartons at Aldis for $3.99 each. I keep giving my hens pep talks but still no winter eggs yet.

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Laurie February 3, 2025 at 7:01 am

I’m in Cincinnati. My strategy is to keep a list in my phone for Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Kroger, and a local grocery. When I am near a shop I already have my list, and I don’t feel like I’m using a lot of extra gas. I do buy extras when they are on sale, and am very disciplined about meal planning and not throwing out food. I am lucky to be able to do this, but it does take time. We do have a chest freezer and I use it as much as possible. I have also become quite adept at substituting items I don’t have for recipes. We don’t often eat out and our “splurge” is buying our coffee beans from a local roster. I love supporting them and enjoy my coffee!

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Marybeth from NY February 1, 2025 at 8:47 am

I stopped at Aldi on the way home from work yesterday. I only needed a few things. Overall, Aldi is the cheapest store near me. I shop at Stop & Shop and Shoprite too because loss leaders and coupons make some of their items cheaper. I don’t care about brand names. I always look for the discount stickers at Aldi. Yesterday there were $2 off stickers on Artisan flatbreads which made them less than $2 a pack. They are great for quick pizzas. I grabbed 3 packs, 1 for now, 1 for the freezer and 1 for my son. Large packs of chicken legs had 50% off stickers. I got 3. It came to 49¢ a pound. I threw 2 packs in the crockpot overnight.The other one went into the chest freezer. I am going to make Matzo ball soup with some. Some got put in the freezer for easy tacos, and some will be made into dog food.
Eggs were $3.99 a dozen at Aldi. I got 2 dozen last week when they were $3.29 so I am good. Bananas were 42¢a pound. OJ was $2.65. Mayo was $3.09. Vegan cheese was $2.99 for 12 oz.

I try to only buy groceries when they are on sale. I have a good size pantry and an extra chest freezer. It helps to keep our budget lower. I do buy for our kids when things are on sale.

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Ruby February 1, 2025 at 8:47 am

I also had a $3 store coupon for pet food today. Love those.

Your prices are very similar to mine in SE Tennessee. Your tea is a screaming deal: I have been buying it for more than that at the Ollie’s Outlet clearance store.

Today I managed to stack some coupons with sales and spent $86 on people food and $51 on pet food.

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t February 1, 2025 at 8:52 am

I shopped Aldi
Baby Carrots 1.29
3 pack Multi color peppers 2.39
Hummus mini cups 4.29 (the 10 oz tub is cheaper but I was being frivolous)
32 oz Greek plain yogurt 3.75( I’m trying this to compare to Fage and I like it as much)
I wanted an orange but at Aldi’s you have to buy a bag of oranges so I’ll get an orange another place another time. And I forgot to get bananas.

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t February 1, 2025 at 10:09 am

The other day I shopped at a little store in Arkansas that always has good deals
2 lbs deli spicy pineapple ham 3.94
2 lb Granny Smith apples 1.47
Large bag tortilla chips 1.77
Southwest salad mix kit 1.57
10 oz grape tomatoes 99 cents

Last night at dinner with peeps I had a large plate of beans and rice, there were chips and salsa at the table. Looking at this I realize my preferred eating is pretty cheap. Im not trying to be frugal right now but I also can’t pass up a good deal (nature/nurture?)I love beans. Fish sticks and chicken nuggets are my fancy foods.

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Katy @Practical Walk February 1, 2025 at 9:03 am

We just moved back from West Africa. If I bought from the local market and boutiques, I could keep our food bills pretty low. If I shopped at the grocery stores with imported goods it was expensive.

Now back in the US, I’m spending about $700 on food groceries (not Tp or Toiletries) and $100 on eating out a month. We’re a family of 4, 2 of which are teens.
This seems high to me, but I’m not sure where to cut, especially because I want to eat healthy.
I shop at our local store, especially getting sale items, a bargain discount store with excellent prices and occasionally at Wal-Mart.
I do most of our food from scratch and am growing some herbs. Hoping to have more gardening in the future.

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Ecoteri February 2, 2025 at 4:12 pm

@Katy@Practical Walk – I suspect because you have recently moved back, you are in the pantry building stage – a hard time to be doing this, for sure. Many of us are the type to buy extra when on sale, and after a year of that we have a bit of pantry stock that leaves us sitting pretty when prices fluctuate. In other words, we have a backup jar of pasta sauce in the pantry, so we don’t have to buy unless we find more on sale.
Sticker shock is real, though.

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Ashley Bananas February 1, 2025 at 9:20 am

This post is timely for me. Yesterday, 1/31/25, on my day off I went to three different stores and observed butter and egg prices and shared them elsewhere online. I live in SWFL.

1lb Store Brand Butter and Land O Lakes
Aldi
Store Brand $3.79
Land O Lakes N/A
Target
Store Brand $3.99
Land O Lakes $5.79
Walmart
Store Brand $3.96
Land O Lakes $5.28

12 Count Eggs
Target 34.9 cents an egg
Walmart 37.3 cents an egg
Aldi 38.9 cents an egg

To offset the rising cost of groceries I try to buy things on clearance, sale, bogo, promotion, and with coupons. I also use Shopkick, ibotta, and Fetch to get some money back for my groceries. It’s a lot of work, and I still spend a lot of money. I have a hollow legged teen. He eats about three times what I eat. I also have a significant other who does not live with me, but is over a lot. I would describe him as a good eater…

Grocery shopping is challenging right now if you have any type of budget, but I persist.

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cathy February 1, 2025 at 12:14 pm

Ashley, I like your cost per egg breakdown. My BIL has always said that he thinks, no matter how expensive eggs are, the cost per egg relative to what you get nutritionwise can’t be beat. That’s probably true if you’re comparing to other non-plant protein sources, but less so with plant protein.

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Ashley Bananas February 1, 2025 at 12:58 pm

I eat a mostly protein diet, and the increase on basics like eggs, tuna, and chicken has really been hard on the wallet. I’m slower to buy things and try to find good deals. I live in a food….drought (opposite of dessert) and have lots of options, so I take advantage of price shopping.

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cathy February 1, 2025 at 9:23 am

I can’t really compare prices because we almost exclusively buy organic produce and hormone-free chicken/meat/eggs. We also have to work around severe food allergies and those products are much more expensive. I’m willing to spend more on groceries, though, because we spend so little in other areas. I also dropped some money on two large cases of rice pasta. In this case, it was pre-tariff stockpiling. The ONLY pasta one of my kids can safely eat is made in Canada. It’s definitely more expensive than being able to buy loss-leader wheat pasta, but that’s life with food allergies. I have almost enough for a year in the pantry now. I’m actually less concerned about a price hike on this product than I am that, after getting hit by the tariff, the company will decide it’s not worth it to export to the US. #fourlettercursesgrumblegrumble
If there are other folks here who buy organic, I’d be interested to see how much they’re spending.

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 11:13 am

I generally don’t buy organic produce because I do not think it is more healthful, but I do buy hormone free chicken and beef. (All eggs in New York State are hormone free.) I am very sensitive to textures in food (I’m autistic–I am very sensitive to all textures, food, clothes etc), so I can’t or won’t eat cheap chicken–it tastes chewy and gross to me. More expensive meats work for me, although yeah, it can get painfully pricey.

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cathy February 1, 2025 at 12:10 pm

Rose, thanks for replying. I’m not sure that organic is any more nutritious than “conventional” but, especially as a gardener, I don’t like the idea of my food being drowned in chemicals. I understand what you’re saying about textures in food. My daughter has the same sensitivities.
It seems people in other countries pay a lot more for groceries than we used to in the US. There are a lot of subsidies that have kept the price of food unnaturally low, so that’s what we’ve come to expect. I’m sure we’d all like to spend as little as possible, but for us, being frugal has allowed us to deal with higher food prices. It does help that we rarely eat out, so our overall food budget is different than a lot of folks’.

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Rose February 1, 2025 at 1:10 pm

Yes, I garden all summer and never put any pesticides or whatever on my plants. We tend to eat everything in the garden once it’s ready (heh), so outside of harvest season, I have to buy produce. I had a CSA, but the guy in charge stopped it and sells in the local farmers’ market instead and I generally go there once a week and load up on super fresh local produce. Mmmm! He’s branching into berries this year and I can’t wait.

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Reader Lisa February 1, 2025 at 2:07 pm

I buy organic produce but it’s a little difficult to price compare because most of it comes as part of a weekly farm box that costs $65/week so I’m not sure of cost per item. I do know it costs more than buying the same things individually at Sprouts because I did the math once but given the convenience of having it delivered and getting a greater variety of produce than I would pick out normally, I decided it’s worth the cost for now.

As an example though, this weeks box came with:

– 2 blood oranges
– 2 Cara Cara oranges
– 1.5 lb tango mandarins
– 2 Fuji apples
– 2 Granny Smith apples
– 2 pink lady apples
– 2 kiwis
– 1 bunch of carrots
– 1 bunch of broccoli
– 1 lb Japanese sweet potatoes
– 1 bunch rainbow chard
– 1 red onion
– 1 yellow onion
– 1 bunch radishes

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Reader Lisa February 1, 2025 at 2:10 pm

Oh and I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area in California so fairly high cost of living

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Rose February 2, 2025 at 3:02 pm

I would love to get that box for $65. It’s all things I like and can use, unlike my last CSA which was 6 butternut squash a week! I barely like squash. Almosr all of it went to the local food pantry.

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Selena February 2, 2025 at 7:57 pm

@Rose – thumbs up for passing along the squash. One butternut would have been enough for me also.

Cindy in the South February 1, 2025 at 10:07 am

I used a $5 off $25 Dollar General to buy 30
Lbs of Purina Dog food for $22.75 regular price and $11.75 for 9 lives cat food for 13 lbs. I live in a food desert again, so the nearest grocery store ( Walmart) is 20 miles away. DG comes in handy since up the street from my house. Their diced Del Monte tomatoes are $1 a can this week, looks like same size you have.

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Cindy in the South February 1, 2025 at 10:08 am

12 lbs cat food

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Cindy in the South February 1, 2025 at 10:13 am

Del Monte canned diced classic tomatoes were $1 a can for 14.5 ounces. Clover Valley, the in house DG brand the same size, were the same price also. I think the Del Monte were actually on a special.

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Cindy in the South February 1, 2025 at 10:15 am

You can also get canned polar tuna at DG at $1 a can for 5 oz. 16 oz Clover Valley pasta is $1 a box. I think both these prices are regular prices.

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Bettypants February 1, 2025 at 1:25 pm

I’m in Michigan and I just bought:
$8.02 – 18 large eggs
$2.22 – store brand graham crackers
$2.57 – gallon whole milk
$1.08 – store brand cool whip
$8.17 – 5 lb bag store brand sugar
$5.97 – 5 lb bag Jasmine rice
$4.12 – canola oil
$2.42 – lb dried red lentils
$4.57 – 5 lb bag store brand AP flour

I volunteer with some animal shelters, and I am worried how rising grocery prices will affect the pets. I’m sure the cost of pet food will increase, but also when people are struggling to feed themselves, the animals suffer.

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Marybeth from NY February 2, 2025 at 11:43 am

Wow your sugar is high. Aldi’s 4 pound bag of sugar is less then $3.

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Val Y February 1, 2025 at 2:28 pm

Here in the Upper Midwest where I live, the cheapest places for us food-wise are Aldi and Walmart. I tend to get overwhelmed by the largeness of WM, so we stick with Aldi. We don’t have Ollie’s or WinCo here. I shop Aldi about twice monthly for my main list items, which don’t vary much for me and hubby. Every once in a while I will stop at a traditional grocer and check their meat section for markdowns. Here are some prices we paid on some common items at Aldi this week.
Large eggs, 4.67
flat leaf spinach, cello pack 1.49
Frozen Orange Juice 2.69
Whole Milk Greek Yogurt, flavored 4 pack, 2.55
12 Grain Bread, 2.49
Cosmic Crisp Apples, 2#, 2.49
Pure Maple Syrup, 12.5 oz, 5.29
85% lean Organic Ground Beef, 5.29 (1#)
100% Lemon Juice, 32 oz, 1.80
Plain English Muffins, 6 pk, 1.45
36 ct Fair Trade Coffee, K-cups, 10.99 (saved money getting the large size because a 12 ct is 4.35)
2 frozen pie crusts, 2.49
3# yellow onions 2.59
Gallon 2% white milk, 2.69
2# bag carrots, 1.39
48 oz vegetable oil 3.75
Turkey Kielbasa 1 lb 2.75
75 oz Automatic dishwasher gel, 4.45

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cathy February 1, 2025 at 3:39 pm

We don’t have Aldi, but we do have Trader Joe’s (and both are owned by the same parent company). Unfortunately, the organic ground beef at TJ’s is $7.49/lb compared with your $5.29 at Aldi.

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Val Y February 1, 2025 at 4:59 pm

Cathy, We have Trader Joe’s here too. I have shopped there a few times but I find that Aldi has more of the items I need where I feel like TJ’s has items I want (but don’t NEED). TJ’s has items I think are cool and the packaging and signage draws me in, but I don’t find most of these things are necessities, more that I am tempted by the way they look. And also, TJ’s parking lot is scary. It’s weird and crowded and hard to get in and out of. Truth be told, even things like a bad parking lot layout can deter me from shopping at certain places. Aldi has good prices on the things I buy most regularly and so I’ll stick with them unless that changes.

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cathy February 1, 2025 at 10:28 pm

Val Y, oh the packaging. I know exactly what you mean. Generally I do well buying what we need. If it weren’t for the fact that our household has multiple food allergies to consider, I’d be easily drawn in to purchase (more) items that look/sound cool because of the packaging. There’s a new TJ’s in my city that’s actually closer to my house, but it’s busier and the parking lot is always packed and scary. I’m continuing to go to the original location and appreciate that it’s a better parking situation.

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Bettypants February 1, 2025 at 5:47 pm

Trader Joe’s and Aldi are not owned by the same parent company. The two are completely separate companies, that split off from each other in the 1960’s, when the founding brothers couldn’t agree on whether or not to sell cigarettes. They are now owned by completely separate family foundations.

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cathy February 1, 2025 at 10:24 pm

Bettypants, you are right. I thought I read that in the US the part of the Albrecht family that owns Aldi also owns TJ’s, but I got it wrong. There’s Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud and, in the US, one owns Aldi and the other owns Trader Joe’s. (I’d insert the head-smacking emoji here if I could.)

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Val Y February 2, 2025 at 1:13 pm

Cathy
No head smacking allowed!
I was glad to read I’m not the only one who is tempted (although I generally am able to resist) the super cool hippie boho vibe that is TJ’s.

Auntiali February 1, 2025 at 3:35 pm

Grocery prices continue to astound me and I don’t do the grocery shopping. Hubby does it but I go over the receipt with a fine tooth comb and freak out sometimes. I feel bad for my daughter who eats eggs for breakfast every day and the money she must spend.

I have my groceries that I only buy at Aldi and an occasional Costco trip. Mostly use the Costco membership for gas and car rentals.

Aldi’s list is:
bread
cheese
eggs – if we need them
milk
protein waffles
if I’m tempted, which I usually am not, something from the aisle of shame

Costco:
milk
gas
paper towels – I know but I do love their brand paper towels and they last a long time
vitamins
anything else that may be on sale the particular month we go

Walgreens:
toilet paper – always a good deal there with sales

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Val Y February 1, 2025 at 5:04 pm

Auntiali, Do the Aldi protein waffles taste good? I have tried the Kodiak kind and didn’t like the taste, but I would pick up protein waffles if I could find a kind that is tasty. I’ve passed the Aldi ones and wondered about them.
We stopped at Walgreens today and I agree about the TP sales there. I always get my TP there too! The Scott Comfort Plus when it is B1, get 1 half off. $7.50 for 2 12 packs. I also usually get my laundry soap there when the Arm and Hammer goes down to $1.99. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to so I really stock up when it does.

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bellneice February 1, 2025 at 4:49 pm

I am only buying for one person, which I almost never see discussed anywhere. It has its own problems.
I go to the two nearest grocery stores (Acme and Giant on the east coast) most of the time – the money and gas to go to other markets, regardless of price, doesn’t add up for me. I strategically buy store brands, or what is on sale or marked down- I don’t have to deal with anyone else’s food preferences, and I don’t mind cooking with unusual ingredients or eating the same thing for lunch for a week.
However a lot of sale items are for larger quantities (like 12 rolls of toilet paper) than I can justify or use. Here are a few store brand prices, that as I recall were not on sale.
– Store brand old fashioned oats 18 OZ $2.49 ea.
– Store brand toilet paper 1000CT $1.09 ea.
– Store brand rice cakes 5.46OZ $3.19 ea.

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Selena February 1, 2025 at 7:45 pm

First and foremost, many kudos for Winco accepting checks and to *not* accept credit cards. Keeps the cost of their products down.
Second – you bought a multi-pack of the most aromatic cat food lol.. And with my experience with cats over the last 50+ years, the stinkier the food, the better.

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Rose February 2, 2025 at 6:30 am

Our Gus kitty likes Fancy Feast cheesy delights or whatever it is. It also gets the Beagle Seal of Approval®, whenever they manage to get to the cat food.

Then again, I took a raw onion out of the beagle puppy’s mouth this morning. Sigh. Just don’t tell anyone else in the house because, washed, that onion is going into today’s onion soup dinner, with french bread and tons of gruyere. No meat needed.

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Selena February 2, 2025 at 7:48 pm

Far be it for me to violate the 3 second rule (also applies to beagle puppy’s mouth). And I applaud the choice of gruyere – tis a quite yummy cheese. Cheese shops in tourist land (WI) charge an arm and a leg. Hit a dairy cheese store for gruyere (and other cheeses) at sometimes close to less than half.

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Selena February 1, 2025 at 8:17 pm

There is no one store that has the *best* price on everything. And we’re all smart enough to know we need to factor in the price of gas AND our time (time is our most precious and expensive resource) to determine if something is truly a good buy.
Besides less coupons (good coupons are rare these days truth be told), I think we’ll see far, far less loss leaders as well as sales (especially advertised sales). My prediction is we’ll see grocery stores making their footprint smaller.
Milk and avocado are are about the same in my area. Bulk oats were higher for you. How many pounds of chicken thighs?

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Johanna February 2, 2025 at 4:55 am

I don’t buy a whole lot at the grocery. I live in a 5 acre lot and grow an acre garden, which we eat from in the warm months and can, freeze, and store for the winter months. That being said, I am particular about what I do buy, and they are usually costly. I cannot live without Dawn dish soap, specialty cheeses, premium walnuts, cashews, or good coffee. I am not doing a good job of explaining this, I think I sound snobby, and I am not. I garden and skimp where I can so I can afford the things that I love and enjoy

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Jean C February 2, 2025 at 8:51 am

Makes total sense to me and not at all snobby. I do the same – scrimp on some items, pay more for others because of quality. Gardening and processing the output is hard work – but rewarding.

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Selena February 2, 2025 at 8:00 pm

@Johanna, not snobby at all. I am particular about certain foods/household goods also. My garden is not an acre by any means but we eat in-season and do freeze/store for winter. Denial is not part of being frugal.

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Suellen Roley February 2, 2025 at 5:55 am

I particularly like shopping at Winco because they are open 24/7, I work nights and usually get off work before any of the other grocery stores in town (Bend, Oregon for those who are curious) are open–except of course for 7-11 which I try to avoid because they are so expensive.

Also, most of what I regularly buy is less expensive at Winco, although I do trade off between Safeway (closer to home/work), Winco, and Walmart (with the occasional stop at Grocery Outlet)

Now if I could just find a way to save on my spoiled cat’s expensive dry and wet food (Mud Bay, as far as I can tell no other pet store sells his wet food, and I get his dry food from Chewy since Mud Bay stopped selling it). Not only is he very picky about his food, he is 18 years old with some allergies to most mainstream cat food.

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Jill A February 2, 2025 at 6:18 am

I shop at Aldi, Meijer, Costco and Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s has had the least expensive eggs and Aldi’s were the highest. That was a surprise. I prefer Meijer and Trader Joe’s for produce. I buy loss leaders when I can. Overall it’s gotten ridiculously expensive. I have been buying less meat. A pound of ground beef at Meijer yesterday was $7. Ouch.

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Selena February 2, 2025 at 8:07 pm

@Jill A – ouch is right. The cost of food is definitely dependent on where you live. The butcher shop we patronize has 100% lean ground beef is regular price $5.98 per pound, $19.90 per 5 lbs bag on sale ($3.98 on sale). There is a plus to living in the hub area of the midwest.

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Hawaii Planner February 2, 2025 at 7:38 am

Waving to the Bend & Bellingham readers (two of my NW favorite places!)

We buy basically everything at Costco. It is *not* the cheapest, but on average, it’s cheaper than taking our same list to the store each week. If we were willing to look for the specials & go to a few different stores, we could definitely save.

A sampling of prices:
-Pears — $9.99
-4 lbs organic Fuji – $7.49
-Bananas – $2.99
-2 lbs organic broccoli – $5.99
-Honeydew melon – $4.99

We are very close to the “salad bowl” of the US (Salinas area), so we don’t expect a huge surge in produce prices for things grown locally, but are of course expecting a large surge in anything grown in Canada or Mexico. There are definitely product we buy that fit that bill. We will likely stop purchasing or look for alternatives, depending on cost.

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TS February 2, 2025 at 11:46 am

Eggs at Walmart here in Central Florida are currently $4.17/12 large.

Aldi’s price is $5.15, and Publix price is the same as Aldi.

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Nancy H February 2, 2025 at 5:11 pm

I live across the river in Vancouver. I bought regular size winco diced tomatoes yesterday for $.85 a can. Your petites were $1.48 a can. Wow! My avocados were $.79 yours were $.98. Those are the only matching items. I would say the craziest priced items I saw yesterday were the eggs. Mostly around $8.00 a dozen. I like free range which is always higher in price. I bought cage free to save a little money. I can hardly wait for spring to get here and my girls start laying again. Those are really expensive eggs but nothing like eggs from free range chickens from your own backyard.

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Selena February 2, 2025 at 8:14 pm

I too like free range eggs and am willing to pay someone else to do it. Remember chickens from my grandparents farm – not the cleanest of farm animals I have to say. But far, far better than geese which were typically of a nasty temperament. Only the bulls on their farm/local farms were worst. But these days, few keep bulls and opt for insemination.

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Nancy H February 3, 2025 at 6:15 pm

My father raised and showed chickens when I was a kid. At one time we also had geese. this was after a neighbors dog had run our sheep to death, the geese are great for farm yard protection. I was scared to delth of them as they would chance me when I was doing my chores. But that gander took on that neighbors dog and won the next time he came to chase the animals. Chicken are not as bad as the geese or ducks for the mess. At different time see had all kinds of animals , including pigs. Now they are super stinky.

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Selena February 3, 2025 at 8:04 pm

I may have posted this before – of all the livestock/poultry on my grandparents farm, the geese were the worst (and not just the gander). Dating myself but I’d have rather dealt with the bull (or the neighbor’s farm bull who was quite the bad arse) than those geese.
Some farms in my area have mules or donkeys to protect cattle – mostly from coyotes.

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Gina February 3, 2025 at 6:04 am

ShopRite (southern NJ) had chicken legs listed for .97 a pound in the circular this week, so I bought some. I feel like that’s the lowest per pound price for meat I’ve ever seen (granted, until lately I just bought the same things over and over for chicken and beef and didn’t look too much at the prices). I think eggs were around $8/dozen. I’m trying to bake my own bread and otherwise make things that normally I would buy, to save on groceries. It’s hard with a husband, three teens and two pets.

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isa February 3, 2025 at 9:02 am

I live in quebec, Canada. Your groceries are cheap compared to us, even with the money exchange rate.

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isa February 3, 2025 at 9:10 am

And with Trump Tarriff Bullcrap it will get worse……

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olympia February 3, 2025 at 7:38 pm

I spent $250 today on a big grocery shop (should last me a month or more), which is similar to what I usually spend. I also got a lot of frivilous stuff I absolutely don’t need. But! I also work as a cook, and get free meals all day at work, along with occasional food to take home. That definitely helps with the grocery bills.

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