# Bit of a sticker shock



## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

I'm used to getting store brand mac and cheese on sale 4 for $1. I get cases of it at that price. No, I don't eat it, but when I fix food boxes for the needy, I put several boxes of those in. Everyone likes it, and it's a cheap filler.

The last time I got it for that price was just a few weeks ago.

Sale price on it this week, and yes, I'm still talking _store_ brand- 2 boxes for $1! 

Dang, the way prices on the "cheap" foods are rising, I hope I'll be able to continue giving out full food boxes.

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about how food pantries are giving 1 sack of food per person instead of 2, and stuff like that.

And with demand UP, costs UP, and donations DOWN, I don't know how the organizations are going to be able to meet even part of the demand.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

There are alot of things we used to get several for $1. Not any more.
Won't be long you being paying $! each.
The $1 store pkgs are getting smaller. pretty soon they will have to be $2 stores.


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## Sam_Luna (Nov 16, 2008)

I also have noticed that food items that have been considered cheap in the past have risen in price considerably. I have been forgoing purchases of recreational items and instead buying more food and prep item purchases. 

Sam


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

I saw some big boxes of ramen noodles (box that contains multiple packages) at Walmart. I didn't look closely at them, but I think I'll go back and see how many packages those are for how much. It might be I could put fewer mac and cheese in the boxes and make it up by adding some ramen noodles.

I hate doing that. Most people don't actually LIKE ramen noodles; it's one of those things you eat because you don't have money for anything better.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I am one of those who use ramen noodles. I use them with left over for lunch all the time.


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

SquashNut said:


> I am one of those who use ramen noodles. I use them with left over for lunch all the time.


Let me put that another way.

If you've ever been desperately poor, and you've had to eat a LOT of ramen noodles (and often little or nothing else for days), to keep from going hungry, you can easily get to where you despise them. Or at the least they are on the bottom of the list of foods you prefer.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

ladycat- I know what you mean- at one stage in my life, I lived on boxed Mac and Cheese. I was sure that one day I would wake up and find I'd turned Kraft yellow.


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## wantabunch (Jan 7, 2008)

ladycat said:


> Let me put that another way.
> 
> If you've ever been desperately poor, and you've had to eat a LOT of ramen noodles (and often little or nothing else for days), to keep from going hungry, you can easily get to where you despise them. Or at the least they are on the bottom of the list of foods you prefer.


The exact same thing could be said about macaroni & cheese. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/08/28/food-insecurity-study.html


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## Cheryl in SD (Apr 22, 2005)

I got that shock today over canned vegetables. Last fall they were 4/$1 at the stock up sale. Today they were .69 on sale!


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## Wildwood (Jul 2, 2007)

When I stopped in Dollar General on my way home from work, I noticed they had hominy but it's $1.00 a can and that was not a name brand. It use to be one of the cheapest canned veggies and I never paid more 3/$1.00.


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

Non-food essentials are as bad - I almost fell over picking up a box of feminine products - $7.25 for 36.

Where's the deflation? Lower fuel costs = higher shelf costs? Hrrm.


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

Seems like the prices went up along with fuel over the few years, but now that fuel has gone back down nothing else has.


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

I scooted into the local grocery store a couple days ago to pick up a couple sale items. I noticed a lot of empty spaces on the shelves. It made me wonder if they are planning to close, or perhaps a shipment or 2 didn't get delivered because of the weather or maybe buyers are clearing off the shelves and stocking up.

Ramen noodles are usually a pretty good price at the warehouse stores like BJ's or Sam's Club. I have a niece in college that LIVES on ramen noodles because of the convenience. And price. Especially when her aunt buys them for her.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I've noticed too....I usually buy canned cream soups, chicken/beef broth and canned veggies when they're on sale 2/$1. But in the last few months the best price I've seen on SALE and store brand is 70 cents each. Mac and cheese, and those little rice side dishes have also gone up.


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

Prices on ramen noodles have gone way up. They are 4/$1 now. I was cringing to pay 6/$1 a couple months ago. I remember when (not that long ago) they were 7Â¢ each.

I keep thinking that I'm going to get to a point where I won't eat ramen anymore because I've eaten so much of it. Hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will at some point. It has been the only thing I've eaten for very long stretches of time, but I keep coming back to it. I must be a glutton for punishment.

By the way....who really thinks you need milk and butter to make macaroni and cheese?! (from the article) I always make it with water.

Kayleigh


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

pickapeppa said:


> Non-food essentials are as bad - I almost fell over picking up a box of feminine products - $7.25 for 36.


Speaking of non-foods, have you seen the price of laundry detergent lately??? I'm so glad we make ours! How on earth do families with several children afford to buy detergent?


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

ladycat said:


> Speaking of non-foods, have you seen the price of laundry detergent lately??? I'm so glad we make ours! How on earth do families with several children afford to buy detergent?


It has gotten very expensive. I used to make our own, but think it clogged the pipes so stopped using it. We have extremely high mineral content in our water, along with lots of rust. No light colored clothes here. And due to the massage business, I do tons of laundry.

$14 per month just for detergent.

Then there is oxyclean $7, borax, which I can't find in the store anymore . . .


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I am almost at a total loss when I try to shop now. I can't even figure out what is a good buy or if it is really a sale. The prices change so quickly and often. This week, sugar is $3.86 for 5 lbs! Laundry soap is being advertized as on 'sale' for $17.00+, which is what I used to buy it for anyway. I guess when the 'sale' is over, it will return to its new-normal price? I hate this type of advertising...they think we aren't smart enough to notice that the price isn't lower though it is on sale!

I haven't seen a cream of soup for under $1.20 in a long time. Honey is way up. Peanutbutter is up. Margarine I used to get for 4/$100 are now $1 each! 

Wish our paycheck would increase as much as quickly.


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## horselover.com (Jul 3, 2006)

pickapeppa said:


> Non-food essentials are as bad - I almost fell over picking up a box of feminine products - $7.25 for 36.
> 
> Where's the deflation? Lower fuel costs = higher shelf costs? Hrrm.



pickapeppa, several months ago our local Big Lots had a whole aisle of name brand boxes of 10. The boxes were $0.70 each. I came home with $50 worth. The looks on the faces in the checkout line were lol'able
When I got home there were some very snide remarks for spending that much money on them, but on our next trip to wally world I pointed out THEIR price, and he very graciously apologized for having scolded me

you never know what Big Lots is going to have...and sometimes their prices aren't even a deal...but sometimes you can really luck out


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

pickapeppa said:


> It has gotten very expensive. I used to make our own, but think it clogged the pipes so stopped using it.


Consider making your own cloth pads. Many ladies on the HT forum do so, especially households iwth a few daughters. After an initial payment for fabric, they'll be useful for years. Or use some soft flannel clothing or sheets that you can cut up. Can do the same with cloth as toilet paper.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Well, at least I don't have to buy feminine products any more. I knew that hysterectomy would pay off somehow!


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## Watcher48 (Aug 30, 2007)

I've noticec that the giant economy size is getting more expensive than the smaller packages. Kraft mac is 57 cents for single pack here.

We have a generic store and I can buy canned veggie 2for1.00. Suprisingly they are pretty good. found out that they were canned by Allen under a different name. round here Allen is good stuff.


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

I am hoping that eventually all of the feminine products in our house will be put to use. Once every other month or so I will find a deal and pick up a few packages for free. But I have been pregnant or nursing for all but a few months in the last couple years. I give some away when I get the chance, but it still seems to pile up.

I think my husband rolled his eyes at me when I picked up four large packages of pads at CVS last week. I tried to tell him that they are great for the first aid kits, but we could stock an awful lot of first aid kits at this point. They were paying me to take them, and it isn't like they are going to spoil!

Kayleigh


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2009)

MOgal said:


> Well, at least I don't have to buy feminine products any more. I knew that hysterectomy would pay off somehow!


That's one advantage of a hysterectomy. :baby04:


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

Watcher48 said:


> We have a generic store and I can buy canned veggie 2for1.00. Suprisingly they are pretty good. found out that they were canned by Allen under a different name. round here Allen is good stuff.


There is an Allen Canning company nearby to us and they're a part of BirdsEye. Or maybe it's the other way around. I know that this canning company buys locally grown.


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

I keep fairly good price records of the items I routinely buy, but not other items. I think I'll start filing the weekly Kroger sale flyer for comparison down the road. Won't save me any money, but it might be interesting to compare this time next year on the items I'd otherwise have no clue about. Wish I'd thought of this last year!


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

Prices on groceries keep going up and my electric bill went up again. Gosh I can't hardly afford it anymore. My wife is gonna have to get use to hanging laundry out to dry or hanging inside to dry. I'm gonna throw away the dryer, along with a few extra t.v.'s and stereos that stay on all the time and no one is there to see or listen too.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Actually, Ladycat, the pathologists found 7 different kinds of precancer cells in my uterus and my doctor said of those, 4 spread aggressively once they did mutate. No full blown cancer, mind you, but 7 different kinds does give pause. Anyway, kept my remaining supply as part of first aid kits as Kayleigh mentioned.

What I'm finding frustrating is that package sizes of commonly bought products have been reduced while price has been slowly raised. Do the stores, managers and others think we won't notice?


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

They think that MOST of you won't notice and that when everyone finally does catch on they still won't have any alternative but to buy it anyway. 

My wife instructed me to point out that she uses cloth menstrual pads and diapers and doesn't find it a hassle at all. She recommends it to all self-reliant women or parents with young children. She also said she would be checking up on me to make sure I posted that or she'd log on and post a picture of me in 1986 at a ZZ Top concert. 

(I did it, honeycakes. So put away that album now.)


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

49 cent 6 oz can of tuna is now 88 cent 5 oz can, if you can even find tuna in oil. My local dollar store has raised most prices by 20%, rows of items that were "just a dollar" now shelf marked 1.20 ...I don't really "need" many food items so I just go looking for specials that are "special" enough to make it worth adding them to my preps. I spend a lot of time picking stuff up and shaking my head. I posted last week about the dollar priced 48 oz fresh squezzed canned tomato juice..well it is still on sale and the shelf is bare and my Mom and I ran into the manager and asked him if there would be more and he wanted to know what was so special about that type that we would not buy the same brand no salt right next to it? Picked up the can and showed him it was "from concentrate" and we wanted the fresh squeezed. He said he did not think it would sell so had only ordered in 2 cases....we did not tell him Mom and I got 20 cans on our first visit....hmmm 2 cases??? He promised more today(on the last day of the sale).


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

Ernie said:


> She also said she would be checking up on me to make sure I posted that or she'd log on and post a picture of me in 1986 at a ZZ Top concert.
> 
> (I did it, honeycakes. So put away that album now.)


Can't we see that pic anyway????:lookout:


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Van Camps Pork and Beans were 2/88 cents this week...got a case. Kraft Mac and Cheese on sale for 79 cents...have seen it up to $1.29 around here!!! Make my own mac&cheese from wonderful local organic cheese; super delicious and we have leftovers that way! When I go shopping it is very noticable that the other shoppers are only picking the specials,too....don't see many chips or bottles of soda in the carts these days. People at work are toting their lunches when they used to all go out for fast food every nite....and laugh at me when I never did! Ha! Aldi's is much much busier,too. DEE


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

ladycat said:


> Let me put that another way.
> 
> If you've ever been desperately poor, and you've had to eat a LOT of ramen noodles (and often little or nothing else for days), to keep from going hungry, you can easily get to where you despise them. Or at the least they are on the bottom of the list of foods you prefer.


Back when I was starving, I don't recall despising anything... I hadn't got to the point of roadkill yet... but if the roadkill was 'fresh'... and still moving...

Last fall I was picking up the greens at the local grocer, and the manager had some buggies of mac and cheese in the waiting area... asked what's up with them... they'd just went out of date...(they were going to chunk em after the shift)... I ended up with about 30 cases... I had to stop by the tax assessor to look up some docs before I went home... there was a homeless person hanging out... she came over and wanted some money... said nope, but if you want some mac and cheese, you can have all you can hold... she got five boxes and left. We've went through maybe a case, have given cases away to friends and relatives. It IS out of date, but it is 'dried pasta', and if it were in my prep storage, odds are it'd get out of date anyway.

What ticks me off, is I'd bought 8 boxes, at 4/$1 just the week before... exact same boxes with same exp. dates.

I dislike sticker shock... I have to tell myself to be glad the items are still available... there's coming a day when there'll be a different kind of shock.... no nothing available shock!!!


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## lettermom (Apr 4, 2008)

I wanted to agree on the cloth pads! They aren't too hard to sew and they work and feel better than store bought if you ask me. We use cloth diapers as much as possible too and they are not anymore work than disposable especially if you use the little rice paper liners or some microfleece ones.

Our mac and cheese is on sale too, 40 cents a box but it also used to be 25 and I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

ETA: If you have a local food co-op you might check into it. we get our basics there like beans and grains and the prices are much better than the regular stores!


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

Well, it is one of the modern conveniences I do appreciate while we still can afford to buy them. We have enough laundry around this house. Besides, my husband might move out if I had a bucket of those things soaking in the laundry room.

I commend all of you ladies, and Ernie, your wife, lol, who do incorporate cloth pads into your self-sufficiency schemes.

Now, I want to see that picture of you at the ZZ Top concert anyway.

We're going to have to find something your wife wants you to post that you absolutely refuse to do.

:icecream:

As a side note, I have stocked all the supplies and patterns to make them, just in case I have to some day. But in the mean time . . . I'll either make due or go for an endometrial ablation procedure. I would have done it last year, but we were hit with that furlough and high gas prices, and having to hire an expensive advocate to battle for school services. Triple whammy that made the much desired procedure unaffordable.


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

i'd like to see that ernie/zz top pic too. hey, can't moderators go in and edit people's posts? Maybe accidently on purpose make it look like earnie didn't do as he promised? 

as for sticker shock...
haven't noticed it much, but mostly because I buy veggies and fruit at the grocery. farmers market veggies keep creeping up tho. my bulk grains and beans I have in 25 lb bags in buckets. I'll likely be very surprised when I go to replace them tho.

part of it might be grocers have to spread their overhead across all their products one way or another. Used to be the high margin salad bar would cover the low prices on staples. I'd guess as more people downgrade from the fancy brands, and from the high-margin chips, they have to raise the price on the staples somewhat to keep in business. 

--sgl


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

sgl42 said:


> as for sticker shock...
> haven't noticed it much, but mostly because I buy veggies and fruit at the grocery. farmers market veggies keep creeping up tho. my bulk grains and beans I have in 25 lb bags in buckets. I'll likely be very surprised when I go to replace them tho.
> 
> part of it might be grocers have to spread their overhead across all their products one way or another. Used to be the high margin salad bar would cover the low prices on staples. I'd guess as more people downgrade from the fancy brands, and from the high-margin chips, they have to raise the price on the staples somewhat to keep in business.
> ...


I hadn't thought of it that way. I've been surprised to see beans running at and above $1/lb. This is in the small bags. Bulk prices are just as high, and the shipping adds to the cost. Rice has gone up considerably too.


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## Sabre3of4 (May 13, 2008)

My kids are weird- they actualy _like_ ramen noodles:shrug:. Started out as a cheap get-to-the-end-of-the-month thing when hubby was unexpectededly laid off one time but like I said, they like them and asked for 'em.

They come 24 to a box when you get the bigger boxes and at our WW in Ozark,MO., they are .16 cents a pack. We get shrimp, beef, plain chicken(there's several different flavors of chicken), pork, oriental and something else I can't remember. I try to keep several boxes on the plastic shelves set up especially for the ramen....LOL, I can get at least 36 flats on those shelves and try to do that at all times. 

Sabrina





ladycat said:


> I saw some big boxes of ramen noodles (box that contains multiple packages) at Walmart. I didn't look closely at them, but I think I'll go back and see how many packages those are for how much. It might be I could put fewer mac and cheese in the boxes and make it up by adding some ramen noodles.
> 
> I hate doing that. Most people don't actually LIKE ramen noodles; it's one of those things you eat because you don't have money for anything better.


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

We like ramens, but haven't had to rely on them for survival. They make an excellent addition to stir fries.

Our son loves them.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

My kids love Ramen noodles too...and I cave in and let them eat them when their Dad is out of town. I can't stand even the smell of them after several years of eating them every day when I couldn't afford much else. I have fond memories of my lean years, but ramen noodles and mac and cheese aren't part of the fond part.

That said, I do have a bunch of them in my short-term food storage. If the power goes out, I could choke one down after boiling water on a camp stove.


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## Wildwood (Jul 2, 2007)

Ernie said:


> They think that MOST of you won't notice and that when everyone finally does catch on they still won't have any alternative but to buy it anyway.
> 
> My wife instructed me to point out that she uses cloth menstrual pads and diapers and doesn't find it a hassle at all. She recommends it to all self-reliant women or parents with young children. She also said she would be checking up on me to make sure I posted that or she'd log on and post a picture of me in 1986 at a ZZ Top concert.
> 
> (I did it, honeycakes. So put away that album now.)


I've been to a ZZ Top concert...I want to see that pic LOL.


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## Wildwood (Jul 2, 2007)

I've switched to Charlie's Soap and I'm thinking about buying the five gallon bucket of the powdered variety. It would last a long time at one tablespoon per load. You have to get it on line but they ship free if you buy two or more items. I like their cleaner too. It cuts right through greasy crud in your kitchen.

http://www.charliesoap.com/


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Grains are trading at 50% or less of year ago levels and fuel is down wonder what their excuse is now? Last year they were blaming high grain prices and ethanol subsidies and had the public believing them.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

sgl42 sgl42 is offline

Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: TX
Posts: 1,211
i'd like to see that ernie/zz top pic too. hey, can't moderators go in and edit people's posts? Maybe accidently on purpose make it look like earnie didn't do as he promised? 


You want me to get in trouble with Ernie? :nono:


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Heh. I'm not releasing that photo. It'll get picked up by the press and then I'll lose all my corporate endorsements like poor Phelps did.


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## Hike4beer (Aug 18, 2006)

Am I the only one that likes Ramen noodles straight out of the package, they really don't need cooking. When I was a starving college student, I couldn't count the potatoes I nuked and poured a little Italian salad dressing on. 
Recently we have been hitting the Albertsons 10# for $10 pork and chicken sales, and canning it. This is awesome and cheap when mixed with our bulk storage rice.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

Just came from town
I get my dog food from the tack shop, have to buy special food for 'free' dog who is allergic to wheat
I paid $20 bag last year and just paid $35.50 for the same size bag


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## D Lynn (May 26, 2008)

Hike4beer said:


> Am I the only one that likes Ramen noodles straight out of the package, they really don't need cooking..


Oh my Gosh, my kids used to do that. They would smash the package, open it, sprinkle the powered stuff on it and munch.


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

Ernie said:


> Heh. I'm not releasing that photo. It'll get picked up by the press and then I'll lose all my corporate endorsements like poor Phelps did.


Oh. It's one of _those_ photos. 

:rotfl:


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

Kmac15 said:


> Just came from town
> I get my dog food from the tack shop, have to buy special food for 'free' dog who is allergic to wheat
> I paid $20 bag last year and just paid $35.50 for the same size bag


Oh yes. Pet food is another thing that's through the roof. And batteries.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Oldcountryboy said:


> Prices on groceries keep going up and my electric bill went up again. Gosh I can't hardly afford it anymore. My wife is gonna have to get use to hanging laundry out to dry or hanging inside to dry. I'm gonna throw away the dryer, along with a few extra t.v.'s and stereos that stay on all the time and no one is there to see or listen too.


Maybe you can offer to hang the clothes out for her? If she is like most mothers, she already has plenty of work and doesn't need any more.


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

Allen W said:


> Grains are trading at 50% or less of year ago levels and fuel is down wonder what their excuse is now? Last year they were blaming high grain prices and ethanol subsidies and had the public believing them.


I think that probably was the case. It seems they get a price hike, and it never comes back down, even if input costs do.


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## godsgapeach (Jan 1, 2009)

The thing that makes me mad is that if the prices do stay the same as they have been, the quantity is smaller. You've got to keep your eyes open! 

Generic brands that you might normally buy aren't always the least expensive. For example, I was buying a can of cashews and usually bought Great Value brand, but Planter's was cheaper for the same quantity for about 4 months. Pretty strange!

They bank on us just grabbing what we're used to, and that we won't notice the difference!

Another problem I have here is that we've only got 1 grocery store (Ingles) and a super Wally world. Everything else is at least 30 minutes away.


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## Guest (Mar 13, 2009)

I was at the Food Lion last night (chain grocery store here) and the Tombstone frozen Pizza's were on sale, it was a structured price, but you could buy 7 for 2 bucks apiece. 7 was 14 bucks, but 4 was 16 bucks. Anyway, a Tombstone Pizza is a treat around here, and we can stuff ourselves for a dollar a person. Or, eat normal, 2 meals for 50 cents per person, per meal. I loaded up. Tombstone is one of the better frozen pizzas. Normally about 5 dollars.


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## r93000 (Mar 9, 2009)

OK, I have noticed price increases, but what really gets me is that we have very SMALL limits imposed on our sales. Its not so bad if its a store that doesn't use a "frequent shopper" card- I just send each of the kids through with their own cart of bargains and cash  The stores with the cards won't let you do that since they are with you and it counts as 1 visit. I have to physically exit the store, put groceries in my car, and then re-enter to get another round of sale. Not too big a deal, but this last time they would'n't sell the sale to me because my card alerted them that I had just gotten it, but they weren't going to tell me (I feel bad for the checker cause she couldn't figure out what was going on either!) The register rang up my sale items regular price and the system refused to give me the sale price when they scanned my card, since it was too soon since my last purchase. I stop in to pick up only the loss leaders everytime I go by, but its still a pain that I can't just buy my case in one trip.

Examples- Van Camp's P&B .29 limit 4
KC Masterpiece BBQ .69 limit 3
Miracle Whip 1.69 limit 2
Dry pasta .67/# limit 2


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## cowboy joe (Sep 14, 2003)

Have to say while most prices are up, the bill from the refuse company was lower for the next six months than from the last. The company had raised the cost of pickup due to the price of gas. The note at the bottom of the last bill said they were reducing the cost because gas prices had come down. Give them a lot of credit because most businesses haven't done that. I'll remember that if another company comes knocking on my door for business.

Other than that, heading to Aldi's after work to see if there are any deals to be had on groceries. Still prepping regardless of what the stock market is doing...


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## junkertyge (Nov 1, 2004)

Just received this notice with my monthly retirement check. The annual cost of living adjustment, which is reflected in your march payment is .090%. In accordance with the retirement plan document, the cost of living increase is based on the change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers from december 2007 to december 2008. 72 cents before taxes!!!


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## ihedrick (May 15, 2005)

r93000, have your kids sign up for their own store card! If you have to give an address list your street address followed by Apt A, B, C, etc. for each of your kids.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

junkertyge said:


> Just received this notice with my monthly retirement check. The annual cost of living adjustment, which is reflected in your march payment is .090%. In accordance with the retirement plan document, the cost of living increase is based on the change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers from december 2007 to december 2008. 72 cents before taxes!!!


I sincerely hope that you have something besides the 'retirement check'... someone posted a link just a day or two ago, about a financial guy basically saying that pretty much all 401k's, pensions, and other investment vehicles were either broke now, or soon would be.

I got my annual SS statement... had to laugh... they say I should be paying more... I say for what? I'd just as soon flush it down the commode, or rather yet, buy some fenceposts and wire, or other farm needed consumables.


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## r93000 (Mar 9, 2009)

ihedrick said:


> r93000, have your kids sign up for their own store card! If you have to give an address list your street address followed by Apt A, B, C, etc. for each of your kids.


I'll have to check the form and see what the questions are, this sounds like it might be a good solution. Thanks!


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## jimarh (Feb 21, 2005)

pickapeppa said:


> Oh yes. Pet food is another thing that's through the roof. And batteries.



make your own pet food.............


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## awayfrmitall (Apr 7, 2008)

I went shopping last weekend to stock back up on a few items that we had gotten down to an uncomfortable level. 

I am now kicking myself that I didn't buy more tuna last year at .39 a can. The cheapest I could find now even at the "canned food outlet" dent/mislabeled store is .77

I went to WM ... EVERYTHING has gone up at least 15-25% (some much more - what the heck is up with canned veggies.. Use to be .50 cents almost all the time. Now they are 1.00 per can.) 

More motivation that as soon as the snow melts on the ground to get the garden in. I already started the seeds on south facing windows. Since I am renting I am going to do straw bale gardening. It's just going to be bigger now than I originally planned a month ago. 

Anyone know where to find "washing soda". I want to make my own laundry soap. I found the soap & borax to make it with but I can't find "washing soda" anywhere. Would baking soda work?


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2009)

awayfrmitall said:


> what the heck is up with canned veggies.. Use to be .50 cents almost all the time. Now they are 1.00 per can.)


Too many crop failures.

I've been grabbing the 75c Del Monte coupons as I can find them and using them to buy canned veggies for storage. 

The Dollar Tree has some unknown brand of veggies for 50c a can (up from 25c last year), but most of the Dollar Tree's foods come from China so I'm afraid to buy them.


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## pickapeppa (Jan 1, 2005)

jimarh said:


> make your own pet food.............


I do sometimes. It can be even more expensive than buying what's on the shelves.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

ladycat said:


> Too many crop failures.
> 
> I've been grabbing the 75c Del Monte coupons as I can find them and using them to buy canned veggies for storage.
> 
> The Dollar Tree has some unknown brand of veggies for 50c a can (up from 25c last year), but most of the Dollar Tree's foods come from China so I'm afraid to buy them.


I know what you mean. Dollar Tree has an online site now and sells by the case, but gosh, it's still expensive. They do offer free delivery to your nearest local store for pick-up, but still, it's expensive to pay even a $1 for some of that stuff.

http://www.dollartree.com

very limited selection of food items.


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

My store ran tuna last week 3/$1. They had only 20 cans left and I bought all of them. Probably won't ever see that price again. The seniors at the center have been talking about veggie prices also. Furthermore, we are not getting the bread or sweets donations that we were getting before. Yesterday, we did get 100 jugs of orange juice donated. At least we will have our vitamin C!

Side note to Ernie's wife: If Ernie gets in the doghouse, we would love to see the picture, and I will personally side with you no matter who's fault it really is!


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