FOOD Report food & grocery shortages / price increases here: 2023 Edition

[ainitfunny]

look on the internet for "BARGAIN BIN" STORES
THEY HAVE NACHO CHEESE SAUCE IN #10 CANS FOR UNDER $6 A CAN!

I would be out of eggs right now. Darn it.
I havent gone shopping in a month.

 

[phloydius]

Did you refrigerate them after you opened them?

They are NOT shelf stable after opening. After opening they must be refrigerated.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I also went to a regional chain store (Food Giant).

I was able to get a Family Sized package of assorted pork chops fpr $1.59 per pound (a little over 7 bucks in total for 8 very nice sized, good quality chops).

8 chops is 4 meals for me and my wife. So that was a good deal, IMHO.

They also had Kelly’s chili (with both beans and meat) for $1.25 a can 4 for $5). I bought a flat. I would have bought more, but they didn’t have a whole lot on the shelf, and I wanted to leave some for somebody else.

Kelly’s is, by far, my favorite brand of canned chili. It is manufactured in a plant in Jackson, TN, about an hour away from my home, so it is local food to me.

Barry, I'm going to switch from getting most of our groceries from Walmart to Food Giant. It seems our grocery bill is always cheaper at Food Giant. Also, they have a larger variety of items to choose from than Walmart. Ex. At Walmart, there may be only 3 kinds of cake mix to choose from. At Food Giant, they have every kind you can think of, and the canned frosting to go with them. I like Food Giant's meat better, too, except for the ground beef. I like the 1lb chubs, and they don't carry those here and beef roasts of any kind are practically non-existent. You can't beat their pork chops and chicken, though.

 

[packyderms_wife]

In order to cut cost, I've stopped shopping to add to our storage supply. Now, I'm only replacing what I use out of my pantry. It has helped, but not a lot, because prices still continue to rise.

This is where we are at, replacement shopping. I'm only buying new if it's something we don't have at all like a new spice or seasoning that'll make beans and rice more delightful.

 

[Digger]

I have now found Bulls Eye BBQ sauce in 3 weeks. I try to look each time we go in a store. Struck out at 3 different stores. I guess maybe there has been a run on BBQ sauce. They have other brands, but we don't like other brands as well.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I have now found Bulls Eye BBQ sauce in 3 weeks. I try to look each time we go in a store. Struck out at 3 different stores. I guess maybe there has been a run on BBQ sauce. They have other brands, but we don't like other brands as well.

It hasn't been available here locally in central Iowa for maybe ten years now, I order it by the case from Amazon.

 

[Keric4]

Eggs at my Aldi (S. Florida). $3.99 dz! Ouch!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Eggs, Thursday, at our local Walmart were $4.82/doz. Today, $4.86 for regular large. Someone needs to put on the brakes!!!! Prices are going up on everything by the day now instead of by the week/month.

 

[nomifyle]

My Hormel bacon bits in the 20 oz bag went bad even in the fridge, so I keep it in the freezer. I prefer the $1 a bottle barbq sauce, LOL. The last time I bought anything more than replacing was a couple of months ago I bought four different kinds of butter trying to find something that tastes better than the walmart brand, which is getting more expensive anyway. So I pretty much only replace. DH did buy a nice spiral cut ham last week, we got one for Christmas and it was delish and he wanted another one. I buy most of the groceries.

yesterday I placed a pick up order at walmart and didn't see where I could reject substitutions. I looked at my order this morning and each item said they could not guarantee it would be available and they would substitute something close to it. Since I'm very frugal and picky about what I buy I didn't want any substitutions or pay extra for them. Even at the same price I don't want something other than what I had in my order.

Unfortunately for us there is no other choice, price wise, to shop than walmart. Piggly Wiggly replaced savalot and I don't like it and I don't see any good prices there anyway.

 

[nomifyle]

Eggs, Thursday, at our local Walmart were $4.82/doz. Today, $4.86 for regular large. Someone needs to put on the brakes!!!! Prices are going up on everything by the day now instead of by the week/month.

Our chickens have cut back on their laying, but we are still getting some we can share. DH picks out the largest and best looking for us to use though. The one fellow who was getting several dozen a week won't be getting so many anymore.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Unfortunately for us there is no other choice, price wise, to shop than walmart. Piggly Wiggly replaced savalot and I don't like it and I don't see any good prices there anyway.

We have a Piggly Wiggly in the small town where we shop. I won't go there, because it looks nasty and smells bad. The only other place to shop is Walmart and Food Giant. I have to go to big town (Tupelo) to shop at Aldi's and Sam's, and we don't go to big town (Tupelo) too often. I was very disappointed when our Save a Lot went out of business in small town.

 

[nomifyle]

We have a Piggly Wiggly in the small town where we shop. I won't go there, because it looks nasty and smells bad. The only other place to shop is Walmart and Food Giant. I have to go to big town (Tupelo) to shop at Aldi's and Sam's, and we don't go to big town (Tupelo) too often. I was very disappointed when our Save a Lot went out of business in small town.

I was disappointed when savalot closed too. I don't buy much in the way of meat, never beef, just pork products and I do buy them from walmart. I don't like walmarts beef at all, but Sams on the other hand has wonderful beef. DH was a truck driver and he says they are the same but I totally disagree.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Barry, I'm going to switch from getting most of our groceries from Walmart to Food Giant. It seems our grocery bill is always cheaper at Food Giant. Also, they have a larger variety of items to choose from than Walmart. Ex. At Walmart, there may be only 3 kinds of cake mix to choose from. At Food Giant, they have every kind you can think of, and the canned frosting to go with them. I like Food Giant's meat better, too, except for the ground beef. I like the 1lb chubs, and they don't carry those here and beef roasts of any kind are practically non-existent. You can't beat their pork chops and chicken, though.

In my neck of the woods, Food Giant is a mixed bag.

They are the best in lots of things, but far more expensive than WalMart on others.

I have learned to watch both places, know the prices on things we use alot in my household, and buy quantity when the opportunity is right.

As I am sure you do too.

 

[Redcat]

That is like our Tops. Walmart is cheapest, Wegmans the most expensive and in between you have Tops.

I can find the most interesting items in Tops. They also carry a huge amount of coffees. And they have better meats than Walmart. I cannot afford Wegmans meat.

But if you cherry pick the sales at Tops, you can do ok.

My last dozen eggs was the $5.39 dozen for Jumbo at Wegmans about 10 days ago. I don't know what they are now.

 

[moldy]

This time of year, I try to buy 6 items that are not on sale: 1 lb pinto beans, 1 lb rice, a 4 pak of toilet paper, 14oz coffee, a loaf of plain bread, and a gallon of milk to compare prices year to year.

Haven't managed to it yet this year due to feeling so rotten, but I'll let you know my results when they are in.

 

[bracketquant]

I've got a pretty good stock of Campbell's cheddar cheese soup. I bought all of mine at our local Walmart. Never had a hard time finding it. I use the canned cheddar in a lot of the one skillet meals I make from my pantry. It's good to have on hand if blocks of cheddar cheese become unavailable. I've also got a good stock of 1 lb boxes of Velveeta cheese on hand, too. It's shelf stable as well, but I store it in my freezer, so it will last even longer. I can't live without my CHEESE!

Velveeta?

You mean your PROCESSED CHEESE PRODUCT.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Velveeta?

You mean your PROCESSED CHEESE PRODUCT.

Velveeta is better than no cheese when you absolutely have to have cheese.

 

[briches]

Hubby and I went to Food Lion today to get some coffee creamer as well as a few things we had used up.
We ended up buying a spiral ham (.99 cents a pound) instead of the lunch meat they were selling for (cheapest price) 6.99 pound. We will use that ham for sandwiches, breakfast, and will freeze what we can’t eat this week. We even save the bone and hubby uses it for soup.
LOTS of price increases I noticed - I noticed distilled water was now 1.99 a gallon (they had none). Used to be .89. I keep up on this for my c pap machine, and have several put back.
Bananas .49 pound. Store brand hamburger buns 1.99 for 8. Eggs 4.99 dozen (large) store brand.

Prices continue to climb. I have not been stocking as much (like I have read with many of you, just replacing).

 

[hd5574]

Who the heck buys 5 dozen eggs? Why even put up a limit? Crazy!

My cousin in AZ had her kids and grandkids come for Christmas....for several days....a total of 12 people...2 eggs each for breakfast was 24 per plus others for cooking and baking..5 dozen was just a beginning of what she needed..she was running around like crazy to get enough...

 

[nomifyle]

to get some coffee creamer as well as a few things we had used up.

In my opinion, the way to keep a pantry is to not run out of something. Thus far I've been able to do that. If it was something I use regularly I'd at least have 6 on my shelf. You don't have to buy these all at once, but gradually get your stock up to that and when you get down to say three its time to get more.

Realistically for me anyway, I use two I replace with two. Use 4, replace with four and so on.

One thing I don't keep a lot of is yogurt, because its a treat. I buy one or two (large containers of whole milk with vanilla) and in a month when I have used it all up, I wait until the next month to buy some. When I'm out I do without.

 

[KMR58]

 

[Terrwyn]

My Hormel bacon bits in the 20 oz bag went bad even in the fridge, so I keep it in the freezer. I prefer the $1 a bottle barbq sauce, LOL. The last time I bought anything more than replacing was a couple of months ago I bought four different kinds of butter trying to find something that tastes better than the walmart brand, which is getting more expensive anyway. So I pretty much only replace. DH did buy a nice spiral cut ham last week, we got one for Christmas and it was delish and he wanted another one. I buy most of the groceries.

yesterday I placed a pick up order at walmart and didn't see where I could reject substitutions. I looked at my order this morning and each item said they could not guarantee it would be available and they would substitute something close to it. Since I'm very frugal and picky about what I buy I didn't want any substitutions or pay extra for them. Even at the same price I don't want something other than what I had in my order.

Unfortunately for us there is no other choice, price wise, to shop than walmart. Piggly Wiggly replaced savalot and I don't like it and I don't see any good prices there anyway.

Irish butter is one of the few things I splurge on for myself.

 

[nomifyle]

Irish butter is one of the few things I splurge on for myself.

I only put Kerry Gold in my coffee. There are some other brands that I use in cooking though.

 

[nehimama]

FWIW, Today I was snooping around at the Wally website at the grocery offerings. (SE MI). 16 oz egg noodles available for $1.46.

 

[psychgirl]

Guess what?! I just found out we’re getting a Dollar Tree and the grand opening is tomorrow!

I had no idea! I’m pretty excited but won’t be able to go there for awhile. It’ll be too packed in there anyway for a few days.

I saw the announcement on Facebook. People are very excited.

 

[bracketquant]

Eggs at my Aldi (S. Florida). $3.99 dz! Ouch!

Consider yourself lucky.

Most places I hear about are running about a dollar, or more, over that. The worst cases are $10 plus.

 

[nomifyle]

We are getting a Big Lots more locally, about 30 miles away, I've read that their prices are going way up though. That's how far we go to grocery shop.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

The only place in small town where we do most of our shopping only has Walmart and CATO's for women's clothing. A new store has just opened. Merle Norman. It's mostly cosmetics, but has a rather large line of women's clothing, too. I'm stopping in there next time I'm in town to see if they have petite sizes.

I haven't been to Big Lots or Dollar Tree in a long time. They are in big town, and we're usually not in that side of town while there.

 

[tiredude]

I also went to a regional chain store (Food Giant).

I was able to get a Family Sized package of assorted pork chops fpr $1.59 per pound (a little over 7 bucks in total for 8 very nice sized, good quality chops).

8 chops is 4 meals for me and my wife. So that was a good deal, IMHO.

They also had Kelly’s chili (with both beans and meat) for $1.25 a can 4 for $5). I bought a flat. I would have bought more, but they didn’t have a whole lot on the shelf, and I wanted to leave some for somebody else.

Kelly’s is, by far, my favorite brand of canned chili. It is manufactured in a plant in Jackson, TN, about an hour away from my home, so it is local food to me.

mmmmm....mmmmmm ........ soaked and washed with all that delicious water in jackson! ( just a joke barry.....a sick joke)

 

[CapeCMom]

When I did the shopping for my mother a few days ago I looked at flour. I bought bread flour and AP but left the whole wheat. 7.99 for a five pound bag. I still have some that I am using up. I will wait for a sale.

 

[PalmettoGirl]

Where did you get yours?

I bought mine from a local herbalist. Maybe you have one nearby?

 

[psychgirl]

I bought mine from a local herbalist. Maybe you have one nearby?

I’ll look, thank you!

 

[briches]

In my opinion, the way to keep a pantry is to not run out of something. Thus far I've been able to do that. If it was something I use regularly I'd at least have 6 on my shelf. You don't have to buy these all at once, but gradually get your stock up to that and when you get down to say three its time to get more.

Realistically for me anyway, I use two I replace with two. Use 4, replace with four and so on.

One thing I don't keep a lot of is yogurt, because its a treat. I buy one or two (large containers of whole milk with vanilla) and in a month when I have used it all up, I wait until the next month to buy some. When I'm out I do without.

I do this as well. We use creamer and buy 4-6 at a time when we go. While there I was also replacing other items we had used up. I keep a stocked pantry.

 

[tnphil]

Kroger (middle TN) store brand jumbo eggs now up to $5.39/dozen, up from $4.79 last week. 12.5% increase. Up from $1.99 at the beginning of the year, up 170%. Tennessee Pride sausage $6.49, $5.49 with Kroger card. I was just getting a couple of things, so I didn't check prices on much else, but everything seems to be increasing quickly.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Kroger (middle TN) store brand jumbo eggs now up to $5.39/dozen, up from $4.79 last week. 12.5% increase. Up from $1.99 at the beginning of the year, up 170%. Tennessee Pride sausage $6.49, $5.49 with Kroger card. I was just getting a couple of things, so I didn't check prices on much else, but everything seems to be increasing quickly.

By the time I get back to my grocery store, I expect to see a dozen large eggs to be $5.00. They are already $4.86/doz. Yes, everything is rising in price quickly.

I remember when those same eggs were $.88/dozen around the holidays and at Easter only a couple of years or so ago.

 

[bracketquant]

When I did the shopping for my mother a few days ago I looked at flour. I bought bread flour and AP but left the whole wheat. 7.99 for a five pound bag. I still have some that I am using up. I will wait for a sale.

A sale on flour may be a long wait. But, really who knows?

I'll be going to WalMart today, and will check the prices, and availability, of all flours. They were nearly depleted of all white flours for the month of December, but that is serious cookie baking time.

Over the past year, I've bought many items on sale for prices that I haven't seen in more than a decade. Stores simply over-ordering, and then are shocked when the full order arrives?

 

[Dennis Olson]

Went to the store yesterday. 90% of the eggs had been pulled from the shelves. Not sold, pulled. I know this because I was there 2 days prior and the egg section was at 100%

 

[SouthernBreeze]

The egg supply at our grocery store has been low the past couple of times I've been. It's even worse when they have to pull most of the eggs, because they are all broken from shipping.

 

[rafter]

Went to Aldi's this morning. Last Thursday eggs were $3.59 because I bought a dozen. Today I noticed they are now $4.79.

I paid $65 for mostly produce. Also some cottage cheese, a carton of Greek Yogurt, a bag of shredded cheese and a box of instant brown rice. All the rest was just produce. This is insane.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Went to Aldi's this morning. Last Thursday eggs were $3.59 because I bought a dozen. Today I noticed they are now $4.79.

I paid $65 for mostly produce. Also some cottage cheese, a carton of Greek Yogurt, a bag of shredded cheese and a box of instant brown rice. All the rest was just produce. This is insane.

A large part of my grocery bill is on fresh produce, and I buy enough for 2 weeks at a time. It's crazy. I can hardly wait for gardening season to arrive.