Community Chat

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

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@doxie1 wrote:

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@roeroe1005 wrote:

@Kachina624 ,

haha - stay out of New York!  Rumor is that bridge will go up to approximately $12.50 in a year or 2.

I don't even know how much the toll on the George Washington bridge is; haven't been on it for years.

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@roeroe1005 

You have to pay to cross a bridge? A trip which includeds returning would cost 25$. That is cutting into my shopping money. I am glad we do not have toll roads.

doxie

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@doxie1   I'm pretty sure the bridge tolls are collected in one direcion only. 

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@ValuSkr @doxie1 Yes, the GW bridge collects a toll only one way. Toll is into NYC and free to get back into NJ. LOL

[NYC Susan]

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@doxie1 wrote:

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@roeroe1005 wrote:

@Kachina624 ,

haha - stay out of New York!  Rumor is that bridge will go up to approximately $12.50 in a year or 2.

I don't even know how much the toll on the George Washington bridge is; haven't been on it for years.

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@roeroe1005 

You have to pay to cross a bridge? A trip which includeds returning would cost 25$. That is cutting into my shopping money. I am glad we do not have toll roads.

doxie

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In the NYC area bridges and tunnels are expensive.  Especially coming into Manhattan.  A lot of people take buses or trains because one of the benefits is avoiding not only traffic but tolls too. And there's also E-Z Pass, etc.  But the NYC area is expensive in a lot of ways, and always will be.

[NYC Susan]

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@ValuSkr wrote:

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@doxie1 wrote:

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@roeroe1005 wrote:

@Kachina624 ,

haha - stay out of New York!  Rumor is that bridge will go up to approximately $12.50 in a year or 2.

I don't even know how much the toll on the George Washington bridge is; haven't been on it for years.

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@roeroe1005 

You have to pay to cross a bridge? A trip which includeds returning would cost 25$. That is cutting into my shopping money. I am glad we do not have toll roads.

doxie

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@doxie1   I'm pretty sure the bridge tolls are collected in one direcion only. 

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Some are, and some aren't.  And there are also bridges that are free.

[NYC Susan]

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@lovesrecess wrote:
Minimum wage isn’t up to $15 everywhere yet.

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My understanding is that increases will happen gradually, not all at once.

[Mominohio]

I think if you walk up and down the grocery aisles, and if you shop from a list created for meals to be made each week, prices do seem (and are) high. 

I have always stocked a very deep pantry and freezer. 90% of every shopping trip is on deep sale. I do spend full price on some fresh produce most times, but that is about it. Everything else has sale cycles, and I stock up till the next cycle, or for a year's worth of things that will keep, when those rock bottom sales occur. 

When things aren't on sale, they can be ridiculous and I never understand why people pay that full price. It will be on sale at least a few times per year, so take advantage of it, and fill your shelves, freezer etc. 

I think it helps that we live in an area where it seems groceries are cheaper than most of the rest of the nation. Eggs at Aldi's have been 49  cents for a couple of years, and milk around $1 per gallon for that long too, Butter goes on sale for 1.99 during baking season, as does all sugars, flours and other baking needs, and I stock those things for a year when they do. 

Meat sales cycle so I buy and freeze. Produce, even in the winter has had great sale cycles. I buy extra on the sale, like at Thanksgiving, sweet potatoes were 38 cents per pound. I baked up about 40 of them, wrapped and froze them, and we have been eating them all these months, instead of paying the usual 99 cents per pound. I even purchased 6 turkeys at Thanksgiving time, cooked them, took the meat off the bone, and froze in smaller portions for meals all winter. Still using those up too. 

So yep, if you just go up and down the aisles, you see some ridiculous prices at times. Just shop the sale, and stock up when prices are low, and you can save hundreds a year if feeding a family.

Edited to add

And I don't believe you can just shop one store and get lowest prices. In our area, you need to hit the sales in several stores to keep well stocked at the lowest price.

I know a lot of people simply aren't going to do the work, but it's a trade off. Pay the higher prices and just pick up weekly what you want and need, or plan ahead, shop sales at several stores, know the prices in your area, and what is rock bottom, and take advantage when it is to stock up so you never have to pay full price for most things you use. 

[CrazyDaisy]

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@Mominohio wrote:

I think if you walk up and down the grocery aisles, and if you shop from a list created for meals to be made each week, prices do seem (and are) high. 

I have always stocked a very deep pantry and freezer. 90% of every shopping trip is on deep sale. I do spend full price on some fresh produce most times, but that is about it. Everything else has sale cycles, and I stock up till the next cycle, or for a year's worth of things that will keep, when those rock bottom sales occur. 

When things aren't on sale, they can be ridiculous and I never understand why people pay that full price. It will be on sale at least a few times per year, so take advantage of it, and fill your shelves, freezer etc. 

I think it helps that we live in an area where it seems groceries are cheaper than most of the rest of the nation. Eggs at Aldi's have been 49  cents for a couple of years, and milk around $1 per gallon for that long too, Butter goes on sale for 1.99 during baking season, as does all sugars, flours and other baking needs, and I stock those things for a year when they do. 

Meat sales cycle so I buy and freeze. Produce, even in the winter has had great sale cycles. I buy extra on the sale, like at Thanksgiving, sweet potatoes were 38 cents per pound. I baked up about 40 of them, wrapped and froze them, and we have been eating them all these months, instead of paying the usual 99 cents per pound. I even purchased 6 turkeys at Thanksgiving time, cooked them, took the meat off the bone, and froze in smaller portions for meals all winter. Still using those up too. 

So yep, if you just go up and down the aisles, you see some ridiculous prices at times. Just shop the sale, and stock up when prices are low, and you can save hundreds a year if feeding a family.

Edited to add

And I don't believe you can just shop one store and get lowest prices. In our area, you need to hit the sales in several stores to keep well stocked at the lowest price.

I know a lot of people simply aren't going to do the work, but it's a trade off. Pay the higher prices and just pick up weekly what you want and need, or plan ahead, shop sales at several stores, know the prices in your area, and what is rock bottom, and take advantage when it is to stock up so you never have to pay full price for most things you use. 

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Great strategy if: you have the time to run around from store to store for the best price, place to store large volumes of staples, extra freezers to store meats and other precooked items etc.  It is not always about doing the work, be gratful you have the time and space to make it work for you.

[NYC Susan]

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@CrazyDaisy wrote:

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@Mominohio wrote:

I think if you walk up and down the grocery aisles, and if you shop from a list created for meals to be made each week, prices do seem (and are) high. 

I have always stocked a very deep pantry and freezer. 90% of every shopping trip is on deep sale. I do spend full price on some fresh produce most times, but that is about it. Everything else has sale cycles, and I stock up till the next cycle, or for a year's worth of things that will keep, when those rock bottom sales occur. 

When things aren't on sale, they can be ridiculous and I never understand why people pay that full price. It will be on sale at least a few times per year, so take advantage of it, and fill your shelves, freezer etc. 

I think it helps that we live in an area where it seems groceries are cheaper than most of the rest of the nation. Eggs at Aldi's have been 49  cents for a couple of years, and milk around $1 per gallon for that long too, Butter goes on sale for 1.99 during baking season, as does all sugars, flours and other baking needs, and I stock those things for a year when they do. 

Meat sales cycle so I buy and freeze. Produce, even in the winter has had great sale cycles. I buy extra on the sale, like at Thanksgiving, sweet potatoes were 38 cents per pound. I baked up about 40 of them, wrapped and froze them, and we have been eating them all these months, instead of paying the usual 99 cents per pound. I even purchased 6 turkeys at Thanksgiving time, cooked them, took the meat off the bone, and froze in smaller portions for meals all winter. Still using those up too. 

So yep, if you just go up and down the aisles, you see some ridiculous prices at times. Just shop the sale, and stock up when prices are low, and you can save hundreds a year if feeding a family.

Edited to add

And I don't believe you can just shop one store and get lowest prices. In our area, you need to hit the sales in several stores to keep well stocked at the lowest price.

I know a lot of people simply aren't going to do the work, but it's a trade off. Pay the higher prices and just pick up weekly what you want and need, or plan ahead, shop sales at several stores, know the prices in your area, and what is rock bottom, and take advantage when it is to stock up so you never have to pay full price for most things you use. 

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Great strategy if: you have the time to run around from store to store for the best price, place to store large volumes of staples, extra freezers to store meats and other precooked items etc.  It is not always about doing the work, be gratful you have the time and space to make it work for you.

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That was my thought too, particularly re having the room to store food.  Not everyone has large freezers or extra freezers or even much pantry space.  I'm much more limited when I'm shopping for my NYC apartment than when I shop for my house.  And some areas don't have a lot of choice re places to shop.  So yes, for sure, it's not about people being unwilling to do the work.  Circumstances vary, and not everyone lives the same way.  I think it's safe to assume that most of us do the best we can when it comes to saving money.

[shoekitty]

They are going up because of import taxes.  I think many countries and companies agreed to eat the costs for a while.  They no longer can...or want to.  Yes they have gone up.  Also farmers have lost crops to several reasons, they were struggling and now the floods  in midwest just annihilated some.  Sad for them. Sad for us.  . Farmers are such a tough and heroic breed in my book

[threecees]

I definitely agree with those who posted that it truly pays to be a smart shopper.

I do know stores prices and I would never pay 4.29 for an item that I know is

on sale at another local store for 2.69. I would do without it if I couldn't get to

that store that week.

I absolutely buy great deals in bulk. I get fantastic deals on detergent, tissues,

toothpaste, shampoo, cereals, soups, etc. I have enough stocked so over the

winter I don't have to worry about certain necessity items. I do apply coupons

on top of digital coupons and get many items at a very low cost.

People just have to learn how to shop. It takes time but it is worth it!!! 

[gidgetgh]

I guess I’ll continue to be one of those “make a weekly list and shop the aisles” shopper and pay whatever the going rate is. 

There are only two of us.  When I buy Cracker Barrel or Sargento cheese for example,  I just need one of each, maybe two, very rarely. We don’t go through them fast enough (and we are big cheese eaters) to wait and search for the sale of the century and then buy 20 of each. 

We have one refrigerator. It’s in our kitchen. We don’t need additional cold or pantry storage. 

So, while I freely acknowledge that grocery prices are certainly rising, I’m not going to complain and change my shopping habits. I just don’t have an interest in shopping in cycles and going to five or six different stores and doing that much work. Call me lazy but I don’t want grocery shopping to be a job with a lot of advance prep work. But before anyone thinks I’m criticizing anyone who does, I’m not at all.  Great jobs on your part and I mean that sincerely but it’s not for me.