Anyone else notice the rapidly increasing prices? [Archive]

pcrowder

04-03-2009, 06:19 PM

It's the only grocery store in the neighboring town, and if you go 16 miles the opposite direction, the prices are a little lower, but the quality is BAD. Bought an uncut cantalope that looked really good one day, and believe it or not, by the next morning it literally had deflated into a nasty, moldy puddle! And, the bananas all have a strange grayish tint to them, and they also go bad really fast, as do the bell peppers. I'm just shocked at how high the prices have climbed - the closest walmart is a 2 hr round trip, and I don't like buying their produce anyway, because it is also very poor quality.

firegirl969

04-03-2009, 06:31 PM

THe walmart 30 miles from us has the highest grocery prices in town. It is a moderate sized town with 6 or 7 grocery stores, and they are cheaper than the wallyworld.

Anon001

04-03-2009, 06:44 PM

I don't usually buy groceries... ;D I am not a health food nut, but I just don't keep cokes, or snack foods of any type. The only time I eat fresh versus canned vegetables are in the summer.

So.. those prices seem really high to someone that doesn't spend more than about $20 per month in the grocery store.... Dang!

MIKENSUE

04-03-2009, 09:48 PM

We are REALLY lucky here in our area of SD, as there is a milk, and cheese war going on right now. Milk is down to 2.99 a gallong, and this week I was able to buy store brand shredded or chunk cheese for 87 cents for 8 ounces. Needless to say, Hubby and I put aside about 40 dollars to stock up the freezer with cheese.
Coke here is $4.89 a 12 pk plus tax, but overall, I think produce is cheaper. I work in a grocery store, so am more aware of prices than some. Meat here is crazy. $2,99 a lb for chuck roast, $3.19 alb for chuck steak, rib eye steak, 9.99 a lb. whole pork loins, 2.99 a lb you cut and package them. Ham is about 4.19 a lb and it is the week before easter!
I guess every region has it's ups and downs.

Sue

leera

04-04-2009, 05:43 AM

Same thing here,new store opened(Aldi),so price wars are going strong........

Got beef tenderloin for $2.99 a pound(we bought 2)....took home,sliced it up,now have filet minon(sp) for $2.99 a pound......local store often has deals on whole slabs of beef( NY strip $1.99 a pound a few weeks ago) or pork,take it home,slice it up,vac. seal and freeze.

Milk is down to $1.55 a gallon,eggs are $0.69 a dozen,shredded cheese is around $1.79 for 8 oz.....

I don't shop wallyworld,so I couldn't tell ya how their prices compare.

We have a monthly food budget of $150.00(including pet food),so I shop the deals and make the most of my money.......

harvester

04-04-2009, 07:16 AM

I went to the closest grocery store yesterday and this is just a SAMPLING of the newest prices:

cabbage - * * * * * * * * $0.62/POUND + tax

yellow squash - * * * * $2.65/POUND + tax

Cauliflower- * * * * * * * *$ 3.20/HEAD + tax

shrivley green grapes - * $ 2.20/POUND

5# bag of shredded generic mild cheddar cheese = $25.50! (+ tax!)

12 pack coke- * * * * * *$4.39 + tax

1 can store-brand corn: * $1.39 + tax

Cabbage here is roughly 1.50 a head
Yellow squash is about .65 a lb
Cauliflower is 1.29 a lb
shrively grapes are 4.50 a lb
shredded cheese is about 16.00 for a 5lb bag
coke etc is 3.50 a case
store brand corn is 1.12 a can. Generic is .85

Bell peppers is our first indication that food prices are going to go up. they went from .25c each to 1.25 each overnight.

Luckily I can go shopping in a variety of stores and drop most of thos prices by atleast 30%. Its worth it if the gas prices stay down. But when they go up again ill shop at only one store.

what can i say? the shhtf. Stock up now its only going to get worse.

pcrowder

04-04-2009, 08:56 AM

Yeah, we are in trouble here, because we have a relatively short growing season compared to alot of places (we're in Colo and having a serious blizzard as I type this!) *We are so rural that virtually all of the food has to be trucked in except for dry beans (we are in feed corn/wheat country, no vegetable farms). We plant a big garden every year, but the climate out here isn't great for some crops. I noticed the bell peppers went up overnight here too. I bought garden seed (hopefully enough for 5 years) at the Ace Hardware a couple of weeks ago when it was 10 cents and 25 cents a pack. I have a 41 qt All American canner + 4 other pressure canners, so I do can alot in the summer, but you can't "can" cauliflower or brocolli, and some veggies I do can but we prefer them fresh if at all possible, and, being so rural, used canning jars are getting extremely hard to find. The new ones are very overpriced even at Walmart out here. I don't know what to say. It's getting very "interesting", and I think it's only going to get more so throughout the summer and I think the real "reality" will hit in the fall/early winter, especially since Calif has a mandatory "zero irrigation water release" to large veggie farms this summer due to the drought (so they will have NO water other than rainfall), and the peach/pear crop here in CO got zapped by the last blizzard and they lost 30%.
Yes, Harvester, it's only gonna get worse. ALOT worse.

MotherCharlotte

04-04-2009, 10:27 AM

I am in Canada, where food prices are even higher. I have a family to feed and only a little bit of money to do it with. It's so frustrating, that every week when I go to the grocery store, I see something I usually buy that is either more expensive, or the same price but in a smaller package. So every week, the money I bring can buy less food either way.

I have learned so much about being frugal the past few years, but no matter how much I learn to make things stretch, it just gets worse. We are living in the city, so we can't grow our own food, and I keep thinking--how are we ever going to be able to save enough money to get land to grow our own food, when we can't even afford to eat right now?

pcrowder

04-04-2009, 11:44 AM

pcrowder

04-04-2009, 11:49 AM

Mother Charlotte:

I found these 3 sites - hope they are useful. One even has an article on how someone container gardens on a house boat!

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/container/container.html

http://www.containergardeningtips.com/

http://www.hgtv.com/topics/container-gardening/index.html

JBinKC

04-04-2009, 12:51 PM

I think the reason for high prices for produce and not following the effects of deflation in many parts of our economy is rooted to the current water costs and crisis in California and its effect on the costs of production.

Saoirse

04-04-2009, 04:34 PM

Just got back from the grocery store. The prices are pretty much in line with those listed above, down to the shrivelly grapes. The battered bananas were 69 cents a pound.
One thing that happens in my local store a lot is expired food. The record holder so far was a jar of salsa that expired in 2007. The runner up was the yogurt that was 28 days expired before it got pulled. The nasty award winner was the shredded cheese that was not expired, but was liquified inside the puffy bags. I quit complaining because the employees act like I am a total pain. The next grocery store is about 20 minutes away and not that great, either.
I try to buy as little as possible at any grocery store these days.
Gardening and buying meat from a local farmer is the only way to go. I try to stick to basics and make most of our food from scratch. The deep freezer really helps.

Buck

04-06-2009, 04:30 PM

I think the reason for high prices for produce *and not *following the effects of deflation in many parts of our economy is rooted to the *current water costs and crisis in California and its effect on the costs of production. *

Yep, the drought in the west and the food producing valleys of California
will make everything in food rise in price. Just wait until later in 2009 to
see the prices since these valleys recently lost a main source of water for
their fields.

The growers and manufactures don't think people are stupid but they
don't want to alarm them with to much of the reason why either.

Got a garden Yet?

MotherCharlotte

04-13-2009, 06:49 AM

Mother Charlotte - do you have an outside patio/balcony? Do you even have a sunny window? *You can grow some of your own food inside if you have to. I've taken a big discarded 20 gal fish tank, stuck it under a sunny window, filled it with potting soil, and have grown lettuce and spinach indoors in the winter. How about doing the same with carrots? or peas? or cylindra beets? or kale? You sure can't grow all of your food that way, but maybe what small amount you can grow will help offset the rising prices on the rest of the stuff.

I know what you mean - I used to live in the city for 30 years...I was lucky and we had a SMALL back yard, and I dug up the grass and planted a garden which helped get us through till we could move to the country. Also, how about container gardening? If you have a spot where you can plant stuff (and nobody will steal it off your porch or something), you can grow tomato plants in large pots/ wooden boxes/whiskey barrels/etc. *Search on the web for "container gardening" and it's amazing what you can plant in a VERY teeny space!

Good luck, and if you have any questions, please feel free to pm me!
Pat

Hi Pat,
Thanks for the advice, and for the links too!

A few years ago I tried growing tomatoes in a large pot on our small patio. The plant produced a TON of tomatoes--and then the bratty kids who lived across the way came into our little yard, stole all the tomatoes before they were ripe, and smashed them in the parking lot. Their mother insisted that it must have been MY kids who did it.
>:(

So I didn't grow any vegetables in our yard last year! But thankfully, that family moved away this past winter, so I am probably safe to try it again.

Last year, we "borrowed" a corner of my 91 year old grandmother's yard in order to grow tomatoes, carrots, zuchinnis, and beans. I hope she'll let us do that again this year, as we were amazed how many vegetables you can get from a tiny plot! :)

jonvee

04-13-2009, 07:26 PM

Our prices have gone up a little, but what I've really noticed is the decreasing size of food items. So, the 1/2 gallon of ice cream is now 1.25 to 1.75 qts depending on the brand. Veggies that were sold in bunches, like beets, carrots, green onions now have fewer in the bunch for the same or a little more in price. The 5 lb bag of potatoes is now 3. Guess the mfr thinks we wont notice.

CanNerd

04-14-2009, 07:56 AM

Oh, they know you are aware of the downsizing and they are aware of how much money you have and would not be able to afford the product if they kept the same size and just raised the prices on everything.

Contrary to belief by some, companies actually are in business to sell products and keep the prices within a range that people can afford. *Of course everyone can quit buying the products completely; allow the company to go out of business; putting employees and supplies out of work; putting their employees and suppliers out of work and so on. *And, of course, the product is no longer sold or available.

pcrowder

04-14-2009, 08:02 AM

jonvee - I've noticed that too - instead of "bags" of oranges, now they are sold by the piece. I can remember getting 20# bags of potatoes - now they're 5# of the same price I used to pay for the 20#. I'm concerned too, because the peach/pear crop in our state was hit by a freeze, and they say 80% of it is gone. That will make the price of peaches/pears skyrocket due to the shortage, plus I heard that FL got a freeze which damaged a large portion of the orange crop. Guess I'll just have to eat ALOT more tomatoes to make up for the Vitamin C that I won't be getting from the oranges, because I will NOT pay the inflated prices they'll be asking.

tufhelp

04-14-2009, 01:22 PM

Holy Moly!!! I just got back from Sam's, and I'm still dizzy from sticker shock... My 2 for $8.00 garlic pills are now $15.00! Our $20.00 44 lb Dry Dog Food is now $29.00! Watch, in a couple of weeks the sizes of the packages will get smaller once we're over the shock of the increases...

MotherCharlotte

04-14-2009, 03:52 PM

The past few weeks I have really noticed the phenomenon of shrinking sizes too. I know the manufacturers probably don't have a choice, but still, it really sucks!

Last week I went to buy a tub of yogurt, and saw that the size that used to be 750 mL is now 650 mL. Similarly, the Green Giant frozen veggies that have been 1 kg since the beginning of time are now only 750g. I noticed that a lot of frozen orange juice is now in rectangular containers rather than the round ones, so they can put less in.

Jezcruzen

04-20-2009, 08:40 AM

I mentioned this in another post, but its worth mentioning again here.

Don't be fooled by thinking you'll save a little money per ounce by buying the larger size container. All too often, you'll see by comparison that the price per ounce may actually be CHEAPER in the smaller size. I guess the retailer thinks we are too stupid to compare!

CanNerd

04-20-2009, 08:50 AM

Actually the price tends to go up on popular items that ends up in short supply, and goes down on less popular items. *Supply and demand tends to dictate the prices, not just the size of the can.

Now if everyone would just quit buying all that SPAM, the price for it might come down to the point where I can afford it again. :o

tufhelp

04-20-2009, 09:32 AM

I agree that the old supply and demand model used to operate that way, it seems now that once up, the price rarely or never really goes down again, it just floats, possibly a slightly lower or slightly higher at times to give the illusion that the price is fluctuating market wise at its currently inflated price, but only until their next exorbitant increase or reduction in volume - or both...

If the supply and demand model really worked any more, then with this recession and everybody and his dog cutting back and buying less, and transportation should be lower with lower fuel costs, you'd think that prices should be coming down, not going up. (See my previous post above...)

CanNerd

04-20-2009, 10:28 AM

Aaah, if only Economics 101 were that simple. Having an Inflation on top of the Recession does not help matters either.

onelook

04-21-2009, 11:35 AM

Here's an example...
1 whole fresh pineapple ..........0.99 (Aldi's)
2.99 (Kroger)
3.50 (Wal Mart)
This was last night, in the same town in Illinois.

They were all 'Dole'.

(Shrug) Shop at Aldi's!

pcrowder

04-21-2009, 11:41 AM

OMG! :o :o I just got back from the Walmart an hour away (our closest "all purpose-type store"), and it was always kind of junky and cluttered before. Well, the fabric/crafts dept is now GONE, the aisles are much wider, the floors are actually CLEAN for a change, but the prices are THROUGH THE ROOF! :o The store is normally packed on a Tues. morning - it was like a ghost town! There were maybe 8 other people besides me in the entire store! And - on every single aisle, there were employees taking down the old price tags and putting up new and greatly inflated ones. The watery cheapie brand of laundry soap I usually buy just last week was $5.88/jug. Today, the EXACT SAME JUG was now $10.00 + tax!! :o The cheapie hot dogs that were normally normally 99 cents a package (with 10 hot dogs and weighed 16 oz.) were now 99 cents a package, but with 8 hot dogs and weighed only 12 oz.! :o The 5# block of cheese that I usually buy for $15 and something, was now $17.88! And these are the new prices in just the last WEEK! OMG! And the TV says that the inflation hasn't even hit yet! I thought the local teeny grocery store was bad, but even their prices went up! a 5# bag of russet potatoes (old and already had 2-3" sprounts from the eyes) were up to $8.39/bag! Sorry, but I just had to vent! I actually thought I was going to faint in the grocery store! The ONLY thing they had cheap was Walmart butter at $2.00/lb (instead of normally $3.98/lb), and I bought 5. I will can them up tomorrow, and will buy more when I have to go back to the city on Friday for an appt. The only size white flour they had were 5# and 25# - nothing in between, and the price of cheapie bleach went up $1.00 more per jug, too! I will have to order some more fels naptha and lay in the borax and Washing soda and go back to making my own soap, and will literally have to start cooking everything from scratch!
Good grief! This is INSANE! :o Everyone better stock up while you can, because I fear it will only get worse - ALOT WORSE! :o

Southerngirl

04-25-2009, 08:25 AM

I also have been shopping at Aldi's can save a lot of money that way on many items, especially the bags of fruit and potatoes.
A 10# bag of potatoes the other day was $1.89, went to Walmart the same day and the same amount was $4.99. Go figure!

Bought groceries yesterday at our local grocery store (only one in town) and noticed prices going up. A can of generic veggies was 14.5 oz .53 cents. Then I went the next isle over and they had a huge can 6 lbs 5 oz. for $4.79. I came home and figured it up, the smaller can was still the better deal by .09 cents.
There is an isle in our local store that had many items for $1. They are off brand, things I've never seen, but could make a dinner very cheaply if needed. Some imagination could make it tasty. Just look on the isles you usually don't shop, you might find a few deals. Also check out the "dollar stores", our store where everything is a dollar is a good idea as well, just compare so you aren't paying more than you would someone else.
I keep a notepad in my purse and jot things down real quick.
I've also slowed down while shopping and really look things over that I used to just jolt by and grab my stuff and go.
Southerngirl

mom2

04-25-2009, 08:36 AM

Wall mart has done a wonderful job with their advertising to convince everyone they are the cheapest. Study the grocery adds - you'll save a bundle over Wallyworld every time.

I thought there were regulations that said everything had to have price per oz on the pricing tab under an item at the grocery store. I have used them for years to see which is the cheapest per oz/lb, etc.

pcrowder

04-25-2009, 01:07 PM

I wish I could find someplace cheaper than Wallyworld. There is a SunMart in the same town, and it is TWICE as expensive as Walmart. We have a Supers in one town (32 mi round trip) and it is :o expensive, and the Marketplace store (32 miles round trip the other direction!) is even worse! I just cannot believe how much more things cost! And, I had to go to Walmart yesterday to get come cd-r's for our bookeeping records, and they had those, but NO labels for them! The store is shrinking and shrinking every day on inventory, yet the prices are truly going up by 30-40% every single week! :o :o

GoodDaughter

04-25-2009, 01:51 PM

For a few years now I have been using alternatives to the local grocery store chain and Wal Mart. There is a scratch and dent grocery warehouse place up the road. It's a pretty scary looking place--dark, poorly air conditioned in the summer and unheated in the winter, kept clean but shelving is very old etc. Some of what they sell I normally won't buy, but every now and then I come across what I think are really good deals. For example-- I buy the commercial sized rolls of Scott's t.p., the kind that come in 2000 ft. rolls of double ply, institutional size, for $1.99 each and I usually buy 12 rolls at a time. One roll lasts me about 5 weeks. 'Parade' brand is the store brand carried by the local grocery store chain, and its' generally pretty good. The scratch and dent place carries a lot of Parade brand stuff. The vacuum packed bricks of Parade coffee are $1 at the grocery warehouse. I like green sauce for enchiladas, and it's usually .35 cents for a small can, which is enough for one batch of enchiladas. Can may or may not be dented. The large package of Knorr bouillon cubes are .50 cents. Dry cat food is $5 for 20 lb., but it may be several kinds mixed together in the bag. They have big clear plastic bags and some kind of sewing machine thing in the back where they sew up the cat and dog food bags. You can hear it going sometimes, I'd love to see it in action. Anyway, the cats don't mind, and sometimes I even feed it to the hens.

There is a lot of weird (to me) canned items from Mexico; canned fruits and vegetables and meat stuffs that I can't even tell what it is, and I would have to be pretty darn hungry to buy them. They always have lots and lots of the weird stuff, so even the Mexicans don't buy it! :o

There are also some things I just don't think I'd trust from there--flour, baking soda/powder, etc.

I have also noticed that the the scratch and dent place is MUCH busier than it has been in the past, and when I go in now (usually twice a week) things are always picked over looking. More people looking to buy food cheaper.

BREEZEMOMMY

01-28-2010, 08:17 AM

we buy all of our fresh meat plus every day needs at the local store ( 15 miles away ) most of the time . yet we have to drive 100 miles to the hospital twice a year . while we are there we fill up our van with basics from aldi's to cover the gas we use . it is amazing what can be saved at a few cents an item . we buy a 6 month supply of several things . MAY JESUS CHRIST BLESS YOU ALL !! breezemommy

firegirl969

01-28-2010, 09:51 AM

Breezemommy,

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you join us. I do the same thing. I have to drive 38 miles each way to doctor's appointments. I visit the Wallyworld and Walgreens, and Save-A-Lot grocery stores and stock up when I do make that trip and when I have the funds. It makes the trip more worthwhile than just to see the doc.

Blessings, firegirl

leera

01-28-2010, 09:58 AM

I used to make a big once a month or every other month trip to Aldi,but now there is one right on my way to work,so no need for big trips anymore....

Sheila

01-29-2010, 06:05 AM

Sure have noticed the price spike in buying food. I keep a price book, which is recommended on many frugal cites. I've especially noticed flour, pastas, noodles are so much higher. Even if you wanted to keep prices down by making many things (bread, noodles) from scratch, the price of flour is inflated, too. Ouch! Making it impossible to get around the high price of the base product required to make the others.

Aldi's seems to give the best bang for the buck where I live. I go through all the weekend ads and highlight what I need. Look at my cost book and see if the ads are really a good "sale deal" or just the usual gimmick and then determine where I'll buy what.

Luckily, all our grocery stores are close together and I have to go in town five days out of the week to work anyways. So, I can easily shop at several and the only loss to me is time.

pcrowder

01-29-2010, 04:56 PM

Wish we had an Aldi's around here, but we are really really rural, and I haven't seen an Aldi's since I visited MIL in Missouri 2 yrs ago. For us, it's the local "supers" grocery store or an hour to and from Walmart

Anon001

01-29-2010, 05:33 PM

Even if you wanted to keep prices down by making many things (bread, noodles) from scratch, the price of flour is inflated, too. Ouch! Making it impossible to get around the high price of the base product required to make the others.
That's why, last year, I decided to start growing my own wheat and I sowed one acre in the fall.

Paul

cwatson

01-29-2010, 08:03 PM

Wish we had enough land to grow our own grains. I was actually thinking of using a couple of my DM's acres since she isn't doing anything with them. It might be worth the effort to go off site if the prices keep rising at this rate.

Wal-mart fruit is not too bad here but the veggies are. I don't usually have to buy veggies because I can my veggies from the summer and if I get a super deal on organic frozen from HEB then I will buy those. I don't like to grocery shop at wal-mart but we only have two stores in each town to either side and they are both the same Wal-mart and HEB. Wal-mart's prices went crazy last week. I am talking 1.00 increase on cheese from the week before. Almost 2.00 increase on the bag of almonds and the list just went on and on. I just did not buy some of the stuff I had on the list because it would have busted the grocery budget for the week. I usually have about 20.00 - 40.00 in coupons but that week I didn't even have a stack of really good coupons to make up for it. Good thing when they clearance the Tillimook cheese at HEB the week before I stock piled it because we would have been doing without. I froze some of the cheese and dehydrated some.

Laura

01-30-2010, 03:50 AM

I went to the closest grocery store yesterday and this is just a SAMPLING of the newest prices:

cabbage - * * * * * * * * $0.62/POUND + tax

yellow squash - * * * * $2.65/POUND + tax

Cauliflower- * * * * * * * *$ 3.20/HEAD + tax

shrivley green grapes - * $ 2.20/POUND

5# bag of shredded generic mild cheddar cheese = $25.50! (+ tax!)

12 pack coke- * * * * * *$4.39 + tax

1 can store-brand corn: $1.39 + tax

This is at our local Meijer:

Cabbage.....29 cents a lb
Yellow Squash......99 cents a lb
Cauliflower.....2.99 per head
Green Grapes......2.49 per lb
12 pack coke......4.29 a 12pack, 6.29 a case (pepsi is on sale this week. Four 12 packs for 12.00 or a case for 5.49)
Store brand corn.....69 cents

I am in Indiana.....so maybe it's just less expensive here?
To feed my family of 5 it's about 150.00-175.00 a week. About 30-40.00 a week a person.

MotherCharlotte

01-30-2010, 07:02 AM

Just yesterday I went to my nearby Zehrs (I'm in Southern Ontario). I normally shop around to get all the sales, but I was pressed for time yesterday so I just went to the one store. I was shocked to find that another price jump had occured on almost everything. The chocolate almond bars I buy one of each week for me and dh to have a treat, went up 50 cents. The store brand white vinegar I use for laundry went up 40 cents. The store brand canned broth went up 20 cents, the store brand kitty litter is over double what the price was two years ago. And I could go on, and on.

Where will all this end? I understand that prices always rise over time, but this is just too fast. I don't think I am alone in saying our income has not raised--and yet the price of food keeps getting raised. What are we to do?

I totally agree about flour. It's so frustrating that even making things from scratch is getting expensive. I go through an awful lot of flour too in feeding a family of 5. I wish we didn't live in the city and could maybe grow some of our own grain.

recoilless_57mm

02-01-2010, 11:19 AM

Welcome to Obama-nomics! It is worse than economics 101. This is not the end to all of our troubles folks! IMO if things continue as they are today we had better learn to live with less. Eat less store baught items. This means grow your own and learn how to preserve them over the non growing season. My wife and I buy only what we need. We buy items that can be stored for long periods if we don't use it all up. We buy only those things that are true lost leaders. I carry a calculator to make sure I am getting the best bang for my buck. I hunt for most of my meat with two other familys. We share the meat and the processing work ie, we cut up, grind up, make sausage, and package our own. I share anywhere I can if it is a benefit to me and the others involved. This country is getting back to the depression years faster than you think. I listened to my parents real close. They went through this when they were young. I never thought I would be doing it this late in life. I am glad that they taught me what they did and that I was smart enough to listen.

This will get us through for the next few years then the beast will catch up to all of us at some level or another. This spend and tax beauracracy we now have running this country is going to hurt! It will not begin right away but, it will happen.

I am not saying that inflation is avoidable, on the contrary it is inevitable. However, it must be controlled through fiscal responsibility at all levels. IMO it will not change until people take control of their own lives and tell big goverment to buzz off. Our beauracracy is out of control and living off the fat of our land, "US".

PS, My mother use to say buy toilet paper! She hated the pages of books in the out-house.

Thyme

02-01-2010, 03:56 PM

Went to our local Krogers this morning (40 min away)They were changing the prices on the shelves again. Another price increase.

Pokeberry Mary

02-01-2010, 04:42 PM

I went to Sam's today and spent about $200. I passed up the canned goods cuz I noticed they are up over 70c per can now too--just like at the regular grocery stores--only big difference is they are fancier brands.

Right now the best I can tell Aldi is the best deal in the biggest range--but they too have been raising prices--I'm thinking about 5% on canned goods.

I still buy cheese and a gray water friendly detergent at Sams. Sams still has lower prices by far on cheese. I pay between 9-10 for 5# blocks and it is very good cheese. I usually buy a couple blocks of cheddar and one of mozarella. I cut them up and freeze some of it.

I got some chickens on sale--i don't have my own yet--but that's in the works for this year.

Canned veggies are what I'm really seeing rise very fast. Dairy is up in some stores--but can still be bought fairly cheap this year.

Meat is 'so/so' I don't buy pre-ground meat anymore as I'm finding I get better meat if I grind my own--purchasing it on sale.

I am getting a bit upset every week when I look at the sale flyers-- it is VERY noticeable to anyone who has tracked prices long term that prices are rising quickly and as most of us know-- wages are definitely NOT keeping up.

Our household made much less last year than the year before.

Anyhow--I'm putting as much of my 'discretionary' $ as possible into the garden this year. Looking to start my own vineyard and orchard and berry patch--which is well begun. Now when I go to the store I just think more and more and more about how to buy only essentials and create my own value added food items in the kitchen. I'm doing less with coupons and more wit:)h scratch cooking.

OzarksJohn

02-02-2010, 11:11 AM

Howdy.

I have noticed that prices are creeping up at a rate that compares to the rapid rise during the fuel price spike. Wal-Mart has actually started to become the store to avoid if you want deals though. It seems that they now have less options and less inventory than ever before. We've returned to shopping ALDI's with a purpose over the last few months and have found some better deals there. It's been said that before 2010 is over, inflation may actually achieve 50%, but I'm not sure where they started counting. I don't know if any of us is prepared for groceries to go up 50% in price, but at current trends over the last several months it's very easy to envision such an increase to be a fact if you compared prices from a few years ago. The CPI formula (Consumer Price Index) has reportedly been revised in order to look better. So, if the gov't is blatantly cooking the books, you know something is afoot...OzarksJohn

blackpowderbill

02-03-2010, 06:19 PM

Oh yea, food prices up 3% since November and expected to hit 5% by March. California lost a big portion on the crop and this is being used as an excuse to pick our pockets.(WTH a large portion of our food comes from out of the country*)
Since the bail out , oil prices have risen as some experts are saying wall street started buying oil and comodies stocks again and this forces up the prices.
Once they achive a celing on stocks the market will crash again when wall street sells out.

Some are calling for upwards of 50% increase on everyday products by years end.

2 years ago the push was for corn to fuel or as I like to say "Food to Fuel", it is estimated this increase in corn from $3.00 to over $7.00/bu starved to death almost 10 million people world wide.

I think Brazil stopped selling their rice on the open market & is holding it for in country sales.

* Do a look see on the federal registry and you'll see all the new proposed regulations for importing food from China. The number ~ It's staggering !!!

Looks like its time to clean the junk out the chicken coop, buy some hog fencing and tear up a few hundred feet of the yard for a mega garden.

recoilless_57mm

02-04-2010, 11:54 AM

For chinese imported food look no futher than Dollar General, Save-a-lot and some of the other big box stores. If you are concerned about food quality from imports you MUST read all the labels. If there is no country of origine listed I would not purchase it. I would take any contact information off the product and email the firm importing it. Don't stop with just food items. Tooth paste, the only brand made in the USA from what I have seen is Aquafresh. It is also the most expensive. I have decided to pay the extra for pease of mind.

I know there are chemists and engineers out there that will swear that plastic does not leach some of the harmful substances into food that is being kept in them. I live near some dow complexes and their own people will grumble from time to time. I personally don't store food long term in plastic containers. I use stainless, glass or earthenware where applicable. A good storage container made of stainless steel is an old premix pop can. You can also presurize them.

It is not just the prices going up. The other thing we are seeing around here is the volumn or weight of the package is decreasing as the price either goes up or stays the same. We just purchased checks the other day and found the cheaper checks only give you 20 to a pad rather than 25.

We as consumers have to stay extremely vigilant of the marketers out there. The worst are big box stores.

patience

02-07-2010, 06:19 AM

Last year we stocked up on lids for canning jars, and glad we did! At the local Ruler discount grocery (owned by Kroger, I'm told), I was shocked at the prices for new jars and lids:
Wide Mouth lids and rings--$4.49/DZ
WM lids only--$2.29/DZ
Regular lids and rings--$3.19/DZ
Wide Mouth jars, qt.--$9.99/DZ
Wide mouth jars, pt.--$8.99/DZ
Regular jars,qt.--$8.99/DZ
Regular jars, pt.--$7.99/DZ

No regular size liids only in stock.

These prices are $1 higher /DZ than I saw last Summer. The wide mouth lids and rings are up from about $3.29 last year to $4.49 = 36%!! :eek: I'm thinking that demand has let them jack up the prices, since I read that gardening and canning have increased tremendously. Our "investment" in jars and lids is up by at least 10%/year. That beats the heck out of buying stocks or bonds! :D

And my friends and family thought I was nuts for buying all that stuff....

dksac2

02-07-2010, 06:15 PM

I was buying 45 pound hard red winter wheat in metalizied bags with O2 obsorbers in 6 gallon pails for $15.95 at the local grocery store. This week they jumped to $20.95. Still not a bad deal compared to many mail order places, but still one heck of a jump. 50 pound paper bags of wheat were $25.00. For a few $$ more, I'll take it already packaged for storage. Guess I'll just have to start buying wheat from the farmers and preparing it myself.

Best Regards, John K

iowasue

02-08-2010, 06:45 AM

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9DJ8MGG1.htm

Garden seed shortage? too - or at least a chance to increase prices there too. If you are not saving seeds, this may be the year to learn how.

patience

02-08-2010, 07:43 AM

Lots of demand for garden seeds, so, naturally, the prices go up. :( I REALLY like these people for seeds:
http://www.mvseeds.com/

Best deals I've found, especially on larger quantities. I guess it costs a certain amount to fill a package with seeds, whether you put in a little or a lot. MUCH better deal to buy, say, 4 ounces, than a small packet. This outfit packages in heat sealed, foil-lined, mylar bags, too. :D

All the other catalogs I've got are much higher this year.

bookwormom

02-08-2010, 08:42 AM

Lowes carries Burpee seeds. they used to be 40% off, not this time. and a packet is over 2 bucks. I picked some up and felt them, nothing in there. Pinetree sells 95 cent packets because they are not so big, but they are fuller than Burpees.

last year, a bag of onions was 89 cents at ALDI, I got some last week, 1.69. Was the onion crop so bad last year? I have to buy fresh onions if I want them in winter, because here they rot on a regular basis before I even get them braided up. Almost doubled in price. I notice that at the salvage store there are a lot more customers and the prices have gone up, too. from 1.50 per can of coffee to 2.00.

I don't see how people manage to feed their families if they have to get all their food out of a supermarket.
I have been buying pineapple for fresh fruit, it has been on sale for 2.49. I weigh them at those hanging scales and they are over five pounds. so they come to someplace between 50 and sixty cents a pound. that is cheaper than apples. Of course you have the waste.

skwentnaflyer

02-14-2010, 03:46 PM

We live in a area with a large hispanic population & I've noticed things imported from mexico are often cheaper than the "regular" brands. Vanilla for one, laundry soap....we got a huge bag of powdered for 3.73 the other day, not sure I could make my own that cheaply.

AlchemyAcres

02-20-2010, 06:41 AM

It is not just the prices going up. The other thing we are seeing around here is the volumn or weight of the package is decreasing as the price either goes up or stays the same.

The good news is, there's a definite limit to how small they can make stuff! LOL

~Martin

pcrowder

03-05-2010, 01:58 PM

I just cannot believe how much prices have risen in the last 3 months on everything! Potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, beets - everything that used to be considered eating "poor" is now increasingly more expensive with every passing day. We raise our own poultry and beef and pork, but the feed costs for them has skyrocketed too! Layer pellets and ground pig food is getting so expensive that we are actually considering eliminating the pigs, and cutting back on the chickens. The poultry will be able to free-range this summer to cut down on feed costs, but right now it's too cold/snowy/icy for them to find anything to eat.
I am definitely gonna increase the size of my "Russian peasant garden" this summer, and can up/dry everything possible. But, at the cost of new jars, that is becoming prohibitive too! Used jars where I live are extremely scarece, even at estate auctions and farm sales.

tomato204

03-06-2010, 02:15 AM

That's one good thing about dried food, it doesn't have to be in a canning jar. Any odd jar or even plastic bag will keep it for months. I use peanut butter jars with the seal. Pumpkins and winter squash make great stock feed but you have to store them where they won't freeze. You can eat the seeds and feed the pulp or even grind the seeds a little for the chickens.

NCLee

03-06-2010, 04:28 AM

Tomatoes are really going to be in short supply and probably sky high prices for a while. Due to the freeze in Florida. Already seeing in the news that some fast food places are omitting tomatoes from sandwiches, unless requested by customers.

Sad, as I remember not too long ago Florida farmers were plowing their tomato crop into the ground because the market was so poor. Couldn't make enough money to pay the harvest expense.

Lee

yotetrapper

03-06-2010, 06:41 AM

I work in fast food, Lee, and our sandwhiches normally get 2 tomatoes, well, now they get one, as we were told that the tomatoes WILL run out, and once they do, no one knows when we will get more.

Seems produce has risen in prices faster than everything else. Guess it's because of the new wave of healthy eaters.

If anyone has fareway stores around them, this week they have canned veggies for $0.40 a can, but I imagine that sale ends today or tomorrow. I bought 4 cases.

firegirl969

03-06-2010, 04:49 PM

Our Freds just put out their jars and lids. The pints are still $6.99 a case and the lids are still $1 a box of a dozen. I plan to go next week and put some pints and lids on layaway. I have a feeling that they might go up when they re-stock, so I am going to get mine early. I probably have 100 boxes of lids, but I plan on getting 50 more boxes this year to use. We don't have enough pint jars, so I will get several dozen of them also.

ohara1000

04-15-2010, 05:01 AM

Here in Ky. at Save-A-Lot tomatoes were 2 tomatoes for $5.29. We were having hamburgers but I passed on the tomato. 18 months ago I helped make food baskets for our Church. Iwas able to buy canned vegetables for .29 each. Now those same vegetables are .69 each. Even the"cheap" stores are now in the higher bracket. I too noticed the high price of seeds and starter plants. One tomato plant at Lowe's was priced $5.19. Of course it was in an 8 inch pot and had a few blooms on it but that is a rediculous price. I find I don't have the time to shop around with my job and the fact I live in a rural area. I am trading heirloom seeds with neighbors and many folks are growing beds of plants which they will sell by the bundle.

debbie-bountiful

04-15-2010, 06:13 AM

Cil

04-15-2010, 07:57 AM

I went grocery shopping yesterday and I REFUSE to pay about $20 for 3 chicken breasts. I'll do without chicken this month.

TEX

04-15-2010, 08:48 AM

I went grocery shopping yesterday and I REFUSE to pay about $20 for 3 chicken breasts. I'll do without chicken this month.

boneless, skinless are on sale here this week for $1.29/lb - buying a bunch

NCLee

04-15-2010, 12:48 PM

I do grow quite a bit of my food and freeze and can plus I rase Angus cattle so I have a freezer full of meat. I do worry about electric problems and have a generator ready to go next to the freezer.

Walmart is 30 minutes away and very pricy. No competition at all. This is basically cattle/rural area of eastern OK>

QUESTION - I have a room that was once a porch. I completely window the room in and it gets lots of sunlight but has a normal roof on it. I am wondering if I could grow in that room with maybe a back up growlights. I've never did any container gardening. Is it hard?
I just planted 3 pots with lettuce to see how that turns out. Where do people buy the supplies for this type of gardening. I was reading about that self watering pots and that seems expensive to me. Any one do any container gardening?

Debbie it depends on the direction your windows face. If the main window area is to the north, it will be hard to grow many food items there. Generally, in that type of environment, south facing windows work best, followed by east, then west, followed by north.

Often the west afternoon sun, coming through glass, is too harsh, except for the most sun/heat loving plants.

Oh, one more thing, are your windows shaded by trees?

As to containers, you can use anything that you can put a hole in (for drainage) for your plants. Just size the container for the plant. For example, if you want to grow tomatoes, you'll need something about the size of a 5 gallon bucket. Shallow trays, such as disposable roasting pans can work for lettuce and such.

Often, in a situation such as yours, you can use unusual containers, both to save money and to serve as a "decor" theme. How about cooking herbs in cooking pots. I'm hoping that you can grow herbs, such as parsley,chives, rosemary, and such.

Is the room heated during the winter? If not, you'll need to plan on using it like a cold frame. Get started earlier than you can outside and grow things later than the first frost date. If you can keep the low temp in the room to 50 or above during the winter, you can use the room year round. Grow light assistance may be needed during the winter because day length is so short.

These are some thoughts that come to mind without knowing more about your situation. Can you plant a garden outside? If so that'll help determine what you put into your sun room.

Hope this helps, a bit for now.
Lee

debbie-bountiful

04-15-2010, 12:52 PM

NCLee

04-15-2010, 01:01 PM

I went grocery shopping yesterday and I REFUSE to pay about $20 for 3 chicken breasts. I'll do without chicken this month.

Watch those loss leader sales. Periodically split breasts go on sale for about a buck a pound. When that happens, I try to stock up enough to last until the next sale.

Watch the sales for whole chickens, too. Then you can break down the chicken for use, as you wish. And, make stock from the parts that you don't normally use (such as the back.)

Lee

NCLee

04-15-2010, 01:09 PM

The room gets lots of sun and I can open it up to the house for heat so it could be converted to a greenhouse except having a regular room on. How 3 sides of this room is almost completely windowed in so I am thinking I can grow in there during the winter.

It an idea because I do grow a pretty big garden and can but I do love fresh salad all year round.

Since most salard greens are cool season crops, I suspect you can grow them during the winter without any supplemental light. For this summer, try some cherry tomatoes, a couple of bell pepper plants, try a cucumber vine on a trellis. Use this summer to experiment with growing a variety of things, including herbs for your salads.

BTW, be sure to see how each vegetable is pollinated before choosing it. Since you won't have any insects doing the fertilization, you may have to do it by hand. (A small artists type paint brush will work fine for this.)

Goggle "container gardening" for lots of sites with specifics on light requirements, pollination, potting soil mixes, and much more. Use the search feature, here, as there are probably articles and threads with will have tips and techniques.

Feel free to ask specific questions, as they arise. We'll be glad to help, as best we can.

Lee

Sheila

04-15-2010, 05:01 PM

Yes, I agree Cil prices are ridiculous nowadays. Just six-nine months ago I was paying 87 cents for a 5 pound bag of flour. Nowadays, $1.38. Everything seems to have gone up even at Aldi's which has always had the cheapest canned goods of anyone in our town.

All of these price increases has created a greater since of urgency for hunting turkey, squirrel, raising our own vegetables in our garden and canning them. Fishing is even done, with the idea of eating in mind.

But don't you worry on TV and from the government I keep hearing things are better so my area and yours must be isolated cases:sarcastic:. And these economic maladies must be figments of our imagination.......

My greatest concern is, if all these precautions don't help what is left to do?!? All of us in the US will be in serious trouble.

firegirl969

04-15-2010, 05:30 PM

I have grown cucumbers in the winter in my greenhouse in a hanging basket. I also grew tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets all winter pollinating in the same manner as discussed earlier. I found cucumber seed years ago that were specially for growing in a greenhouse and they tasted great in the winter when the grocery store had cruddy looking cukes for $1.29 each!

AlchemyAcres

04-15-2010, 05:47 PM

Tomatoes and Peppers are easily pollinated inside....often without any intervention if they're in a spot where you or your pets will be walking by often. The tiniest bit of air movement is usually enough to trigger pollination.

There are parthenocarpic varieties of hybrid seedless cucumbers and squash that will set fruit without pollination.

Cool Breeze Cucumber and Cavili Squash come to mind, but there are others.

~Martin

Pokeberry Mary

04-15-2010, 06:03 PM

At the Lowes near us, I saw tomato bedding plants for over $12 per plant. In a pot that maybe held 1/2 a gallon of soil.

I was so shocked.

Glad I have my own. I have several dozen heirloom seedlings, Somewhere in that batch HAS to be enough tomatoes for winter. :)

CapeCMom

04-16-2010, 09:46 AM

4.59 a gallon for milk-yesterday at the grocery store. Thank goodness another brand was on sale for 3.59.
Ritz crackers were on sale for 3.99 a box. Regular price is 4.59. My eyes almost bugged out. It wasn't even six months ago I paid 2.50 per box. Needless to say I didn't get them. Give me a break!
You couldn't get me out of there fast enough.

firegirl969

04-16-2010, 06:40 PM

Everything I buy has gone up at least 50 cents, more on most items. Even loss leaders have gone up since the last time they were on sale.

momma_to_seven_chi

04-17-2010, 04:58 AM

Strawberries are $1 a quart this week. I am putting up a couple dozen quarts in the freezer because my goats tore up my strawberry patch last year when they got into the garden area. I don't think I will get any strawberries this year. They also killed my plum tree by tearing off all the bark.

patience

04-17-2010, 05:19 AM

Quote:
"My greatest concern is, if all these precautions don't help what is left to do?!? All of us in the US will be in serious trouble. "

True, but there are more ways to help out.

We only shop the discount grocery's--Aldi's, Sav A Lot, Ruler, and occassionally Wal Mart. Prices are lower here in the Midwest than on either the East or West coasts, too. I buy milk now for $1.99 for 2%. Many things HAVE gone up. Sugar, 4 lb. bag, has gone from $1.69 to $1.99 in the past year. Bacon has gone from $1.99/lb. to $2.29/lb. for the store brand (decent quality, not the scrappy cheap stuff).

What else to do? Well, we almost never buy "name brands", but only the store brands. That is a 20% savings, or more, usually. We garden extensively, can prodigious amounts of fruits and vegetables, and are constantly expanding these efforts. We buy canning jars at auctions, flea markets, anywhere they are cheaper than new, and canning lids by the case--$1.74/dz for Ball lids.

We have 5 hens in a small coop in the back yard, and more eggs than us and daughter's family can use, at 52 cents/dz feed cost. When these hens get too old, they will get canned for chicken soup, and I plan to put in about 25 to raise some for meat, then cull them for keeping a few layers.

To keep the chicken feed cheap, we buy corn and wheat from local farmers straight out of the combine, get feed supplement at the farm supply, and grind it all in a burr mill, which also does our flour. Local wheat for the flour, too, at $6/bushel (60 lbs.) = 10 cents/lb. for whole wheat flour. Corn at $4/bushel (56 lbs.) makes cornmeal for 7 cents/lb.. The mill cost a lot, but that was 30+ years ago. I just bought replacement fine burrs for it at $51, that should last for our lifetime and our kids' lifetime!

We do everything we can think of to keep our gardening costs low. One of the big things there is proagating our own plants for many things. We presently have about 3 dozen grape cuttings in pots with rooting hormone to get a grape arbor started. Next week I hope to clean a fencerow for the neighbor and get a truckload of wild raspberry starts.

This Spring we used runner plants from our stawberries to set out a new patch of 64 plants, and still have the old 80 ft. row! This all started from a dozen plants we got years ago. The orchard provides apples, pears, and cherries.

I'm killing the sod on a new part of the back yard now with a brushpile that will get shredded up into mulch, then moved to reveal a new garden patch next year. I refuse to cultivate any more grass than neccessary! And I refuse to pay outrageous prices for food! :D

pcrowder

04-17-2010, 08:01 AM

The cheap generic soda crackers at the local grocery store were ON SALE yesterday for $2.12!!! Not 6 months ago their regular price was $0.99/box. I haven't made crackers in a long time, but think I'll dig out my old recipes again. Everything is up lately to eye-popping levels. Now they're talking about adding a VAT tax to everything, and congress is bringing up for discussion next week a $0.15/gal gas tax. Wonder how much food (and everything else) is going to skyrocket if those things go through?

I've hatched out a few chicks in the last couple of weeks (2 just this morning so far!) to add to my flock. I have tons of roosters that I really need to butcher and get into jars - maybe next week if the weather cooperates. I've got duck, goose, turkey, guinea, and chicken eggs in the incubators hoping to have enough to hatch out and sell. If I can sell 4 goslings, that should cover my bird food costs for a month or so.

by the way -- anybody ever eaten guinea? Was wondering just in case things get alot more desperate in the future.

iowasue

04-17-2010, 02:32 PM

This afternoon we decided to get a small ice cream cone at McDonald's - they were 50¢ more apiece than last summer! Probably the last ones this summer!

patience

04-17-2010, 04:54 PM

I've never eaten guinea, but friends tell me they are a bit wild tasting. Can be improved they say, if you can keep them up for a month or so and feed them grain and chicken mash, as opposed to free ranging.

pcrowder

04-19-2010, 10:12 AM

They're pets, but if TSHTF, I'm the top of the food chain, and they're not. How far down the food chain depends on how tasty they are!

TEX

04-19-2010, 11:05 AM

Got my $1.29/lb boneless skinless chicken breasts; also pork spare ribs for $1.29/lb and a 10 lb turkey for $5.00. You can't beat those prices.

TEX

04-19-2010, 11:07 AM

They're pets, but if TSHTF, I'm the top of the food chain, and they're not. How far down the food chain depends on how tasty they are!

Lets see - we have ducks for pets and do eat their eggs but they are a couple of years old by now and I think they would be like eating shoe leather - beans and rice are going to have to get real, real rare before I tried eating one of those old birds. Besides about every other day the dog manages to catch a squirrel and presents us with one - we don't eat them but I have eaten a many in my life and they would be better than a "shoeleather duck"

GoodDaughter

04-19-2010, 11:18 AM

Maybe if the duck were deboned and cooked in a pressure cooker?

DH and I went to the store yesterday, and I noticed in particular, prepared foods were noticably higher-- items that used to be .99 like store brand stuffing mix, au gratin potatoes, taco shells, cake mixes, were way up over $1.39. Canned kidney beans were .89 each for store brand. Campbells vegetarian vegetable soup was $1.49!!! That is just absolutely insane. Onions were $3.99 for I think 2 lbs.

I got bone-in chicken breasts at .97 cents/lb so I bought two packages at a little over $4 each. Those are run pretty regularly at the Gerlands Food Fair/Food Town stores in this area. They cater to primarily Hispanic customers, hence the lower prices on some things. It's a good place to shop if anyone has any nearby.

iowasue

04-20-2010, 05:25 AM

NCLee

04-20-2010, 06:35 AM

Ditto!!!

On another forum I saw a post about a years worth of food for 1 person in #10 cans on sale for $800 from one of the companies specializing in "survival" foods.

Printed out the list of contents & servings. Did a little checking on the items where I had easy access to info on alternatives (either in my own pantry or on line from Sam's & WalMart. Based on what that checking turned up, I suspect I can put the same amount of food in my pantry for half that $$ amount. That'll include more servings and a higher protein count, too.

For example, it had 8 #10 cans of instant rice (48 servings per can). That equalled 384 servings. A 50 lb bag of rice from Sams is $16.36 and contains 504 servings. If I want instant, that's easy to do in the dehydrator.

1 #10 can of black beans @ 49 servings. A 2 lb bag at $.89 from WalMart yields 36 servings. Since beans have a 30 year shelf life under good storage conditions, they'll last as long I need them without sealing in a #10 can.

Oh, one more.... it contained 2 cans of sugar at 48 servings per can. Sam's has a box of 2000 packets for $7.98 or 10 lb bags for $5.55

Yes, cooking from scratch does save money. And, I too, never refuse the excess from gardens that other folks offer. Still have a bunch of pints of applesauce in the pantry from a neighbor's tree.

Lee

pcrowder

04-20-2010, 08:11 AM

Ditto!!!

A 50 lb bag of rice from Sams is $16.36 and contains 504 servings. If I want instant, that's easy to do in the dehydrator.

Lee

Lee - how do I make the instant rice? do I cook it normally first and then put it in the dehydrator? How long? things get very hectic around here sometimes, between calving and kidding, and it would be nice to be able to have instant rice without having to resort to minute rice (sooo expensive!)

GoodDaughter

04-20-2010, 08:27 AM

I really push the virtues of fig trees. They grow and fruit very quickly, are adapted to many areas of the country, insects and disease seldom if ever bother them, and they are useful in as many ways as apples and peaches are. If you plant a fig tree, under even halfway decent growing conditions, you will have usable amounts of figs in 2 years, more as the tree continues to grow. They can be canned whole, made into jam or preserves, dried to be used like dates or snacks, eaten fresh, made into wine. They readily take on the flavor of other fruit like plums and berries and can be used to extend those in recipes. Best of all, you can easily propagate more of your own every year for zero expense and make an orchard of them. Some people don't like the taste of figs, but often because they have never had a fresh one, just a canned or dried one. They all taste like 'figs', but fresh ones are a little different than canned ones and dried ones, just like other fruits take on a different taste when prepared differently.

I can several dozen pints of whole figs in light syrup every summer, and make half pints of preserves for gifts and to share. Go price fig preserves or canned Kadota figs at the store. Talk about sticker shock.

Back to the topic-- folks who really depend on the prepared mix-type foods have to be hit harder economically. I mean, when we were kids we often ate Cambell's vegetarian vegetable soup for lunch--with the ABC's in it, KWIM? But at $1.49 a CAN?? That would be a tough way to feed your kids a can of soup these days. You could make a whole vat of soup for the cost of what, two cans at that price?

Gracie

04-20-2010, 08:40 AM

GoodDaughter, I would so love to have a fig tree, as DH and I so enjoy figs. The problem is, we live in zone 5, and seriously doubt that if we could get one to grow, it would not survive our cold windy winters. Just do us a favor, and eat one of your fresh figs, for us! Oohwee, bet they are scrumptious! G

TEX

04-20-2010, 09:21 AM

Gracie, there are figs that will grow in zone 5. I believe one is called Chicago Hardy. I also think Brown Turkey is supposed to be very cold hardy.

Gracie

04-20-2010, 09:26 AM

Tex, TY for your reply, last time I checked (and it has been a long time), couldn't find any that were hardy enough to tolerate the weather here. Gotta' go now and tell my hubby the Good News! TX.'s again! G

NCLee

04-20-2010, 02:47 PM

pcrowder, I haven't dehydrated rice, since I have an Aroma rice cooker that does it in about 25 minutes. However, since I won't have that option if TSHTF, I've checked into dehydrating rice. A solar dehydrator is on my to-do list. Anyway, in researching dehydrating rice, discovered that it is popular with hiker's and backbackers, since all it needs in re-hydrating.

Here's one of the links to instructions. You had the basics. This gives more detail. http://www.northernoutpost.com/news.php?id=13 Due to the relatively short shelf life, this is one of those projects that will be on the backburner for me, for a while. However, if things start looking a lot worse, I'll be firing up the dehydrator to lay by at least 6 months supply.

Re: Figs -- There's nothing better for lunch or a snack than to pick a couple of ripe figs off the bush and eat them on the spot. Warmed by the sun, there's no comparison to those in the stores, or anything that comes from a jar. Figs are one of those rare seasonal treats that are worth busting your belly when they are ripe. Right up there with scuppernong grapes and strawberries pulled from the vine and eaten right then and there!!!

I just ate supper. Now talking about ripe figs, grapes, and strawberries are making me hungry again. LOL

Lee

pcrowder

04-20-2010, 04:10 PM

Wow! Thanks NCL - I've got rice upstairs in lard cans in the attic - maybe I'll try doing some this weekend!

GoodDaughter

04-20-2010, 07:37 PM

RE Figs.... yes, Hardy Chicago is probably the most recommended fig for colder zones. There are some that have survived in the ground near Toronto, from what I understand. May have to coddle them for a few years. I'd suggest the Gardenweb site, because it has a fig forum and there are a lot of really knowlegable people there who live in colder climates and grow figs in the ground. A couple of them live in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, etc. Someone there might be able to suggest more cold tolerant varieties and ways to grow them.

I eat them till I could puke at the thought of them, then start canning, and after I've done all I can humanly do with them for the year, I gather up the ones that fall and give them to the chix. so they don't go completely to waste. I literally have more than I can use or anyone wants. They are very perishable, so you can't pick them and leave them in the refrigerator for two or three days because they start to spoil. You have to eat, give away or process them immediately.

It's no wonder that in the south you sometimes see these huge, gnarly ancient looking fig trees where old houses have fallen down and been abandoned. They really were a 'homestead' type fruit tree in the past.

Gracie

04-20-2010, 09:47 PM

Good Daughter,

Thanks for the info., I really would like to plant a fig tree close to where our other fruit trees are planted. You mentioned you get more than what you can use; please, how old is your tree, and also, how many years does it take before it bears fruit.

TY, G

GoodDaughter

04-21-2010, 09:24 AM

Gracie, I have three large, mature trees that measure about 15 ft. tall and wide. I also have quite a few that are much smaller, maybe 6 ft. tall and wide. I also have a bunch in 20" pots that bear fruit. So I have them all from little ones up to huge ones. The three large trees are about 20 years old; Celeste, Green Ischia, and Black Mission.

I don't know how long a fig tree in your climate would take to start bearing, but generally here, they grow so quickly that in about 2 years you'll get enough fruit to can several pints. I've planted little trees in 1 gal. pots that were about 2 ft. tall, and had them be 6 ft. tall by the end of summer. They like the heat. Of course different varieties grow differently, just like other fruit trees.

Like I mentioned, you might try the Gardenweb site, you'll get a lot of good information there, probably better than I could give because I'm not in your climate.

I just think they are a good tree to have because they grow and fruit so easily. You generally don't have to spray or tinker with them a lot, and unless you get some ungodly drought or strange freeze damage, they always fruit.

My grandmother told me that they were a surefire fruit and most old homeplaces she saw had at least one.

Gracie

04-22-2010, 06:13 AM

Good Daughter, I sure do appreciate the extra info. on fig trees. Think have convinced my DH that would be a good thing to have a fig tree!:) TY, G

momma_to_seven_chi

04-24-2010, 02:20 AM

We went to WM last night for more canning lids. I couldn't believe that canned veggies were a dollar a can! I haven't shopped for them in recent months. WOW.
I also stopped at aldis for baking soda and celery. It looks like prices are up there too, but not as bad as WM. I hope we have good garden output this year.

Bondo

04-27-2010, 10:24 AM

I saw a large jump last week that really caught my eye. Bags of Kroger Value sugar jumped, again, up $.23 in about two days.

pcrowder

04-29-2010, 08:09 AM

Ran to Walmart as we had to drive the hour to town for a mtg with the bank. Am SHOCKED at the higher prices. Even d/h was shocked --- $8.00+ (I kid you NOT) for a roll of aluminum foil at Walmart, $19.99 for a small jug of pet odor remover for the steam cleaner, laundry soap had jumped $1.12 in price since the LAST trip there (last month), and soup was now well over $1.79 a can! Peroxide was almost $1.00 a small bottle, and the clear plastic tubs (needed some to store baby things in for the soon to be born grandchild) were $11.00 EACH!!!!!!!) Needless to say, I didn't buy any.

The worst price increase I saw was that regular canning jar lids (not wide mouth, and no screw bands included - just the flat lids) were now up to $1.50/box of 12 plus tax.

Even our banker yesterday said that he believes that we will be hit with some very high inflation coming soon. Wow, on top of these already skyrocketing prices. Wonder how everyone's gonna make it?

TEX

04-29-2010, 12:26 PM

I am growing to love the Dolar stores more and more - there are several - Dollar General, General Dollar, Family Dollar - all just about the same and of course most things cost more than $1.00 but they sure are cheaper than wallyworld and here wallyworld put out such a big add push saying they were dropping all their grocery prices - yea right - they just made the cans smaller so they could sell for less. I loath wallyworld - Sam Walton is probably rolling in his grave now.

firegirl969

04-29-2010, 03:34 PM

The Glenn Beck show said today that meat prices will go up 23% this summer due to the corn being used to make ethenol instead of being available to feed the beef, pork, and poultry. Glad we are feeding out our own beef, pork, and poultry.

NCLee

04-30-2010, 04:44 AM

The worst price increase I saw was that regular canning jar lids (not wide mouth, and no screw bands included - just the flat lids) were now up to $1.50/box of 12 plus tax.

At least they didn't increase the prices on those. Bought some the other day for a buck fifty. Same price they were last year. Tractor Supply has the same lids for $1.79. Checked 2 of the dollar stores around here. One had re-stocked their canning supplies, but NO regular lids. Either they didn't get them in or have already sold out. Local WalMart is sold out. I bought the last 17 boxes they had. Even at Tractor Supply about 1/2 of the display of regular lids were gone.

As fast as the budget will permit, I'm trying to stock up on things from canning lids to rice and beans. Especially for those things I can't make or grow myself. There's no telling where the prices will go or even if some things are still available, if everything goes to heck in a handbasket.

How much longer can the dairy and cattle farmers stay in business with the economy in the tank? With the oil well problem in the Gulf, suspect that sea food prices are going to shoot up, with non affected marketers using it as an excuse to raise prices. And, so on.....................

I'm sorry, but my frustration, is showing this morning.
Lee

momma_to_seven_chi

04-30-2010, 04:54 AM

Peroxide was almost $1.00 a small bottle, and the clear plastic tubs (needed some to store baby things in for the soon to be born grandchild) were $11.00 EACH!!!!!!!)

That's too bad about peroxide. You can't store that for a long time either. I remember it being 34cents at WM just a couple of years ago. I need to buy three new bottles to replace my older ones.

firegirl969

04-30-2010, 06:23 AM

Lee,

I feel that frustration right along with you. DH and I have lists of things we want to add to the homestead, but I think we might need to add more beans, wheat, rice, etc. for LTS. The other things are wants not needs. I think the LTS foods are more needs. I plan to add about 20 lbs of coffee for DH this week. They are on sale for $2.50 a lb in a vacumn packed bag. They keep for several years. I consider this a need if I plan on getting DH off in the mornings with a smile on his face. (you know what I mean.) I do want DH and the boys to finish the root cellar and get the well house built though. Those two buildings will be essential to the success of the homestead if TSHTF, IMHO. DH is getting a couple of calves this weekend, a steer for feeding out and a couple of heifers for raising calves in the future. I see things going down the toilet real fast around here. I helped a non-profit in town start a food pantry after the large one in town was shut down for charging for the food. We planned on serving 250 families a month to begin with. We served 55+ families a day on Tuesday and Wednesday this week alone. Our county is over 50% poverty and over 12% unemployment. I've been in the bed with these nasty side effects from new meds for two days and I have been emailing groups in the area trying to secure funds to order more food. It is a sad state of affairs here. Blessings, firegirl

pcrowder

04-30-2010, 07:51 AM

How much longer can the dairy and cattle farmers stay in business with the economy in the tank?

I'm sorry, but my frustration, is showing this morning.
Lee

I agree with you about the cattle and dairy farmerse.

Don't apologize ---You're just verbalizing what alot of the rest of us are feeling.

TEX

05-01-2010, 05:59 AM

Kroger in our area has a 10 for $10.00 sale - lots of it is junk food BUT
18 ozz Kroger peanut butter - 10 for 10

Super One Foods
- chicken leg quarters .39/lb
country style spare ribs or boston butt roasts - $1.17 lb
8 lb bag russett potatoes - 2 for $4.00

HEB grocery

whole chickens - $.77/lb

Other things also but those jumped out at me first - WATCH THOSE SALES - IF IT ISN'T A LOSS LEADER WE RARELY BUY IT. It pays off in the long run.

I can live with those prices - it ain't prime rib but it ain't bad either with some fresh greens from the garden and some fried cornbread - those chicken legs or ribs would be mighty tasty.

Grizzy

05-01-2010, 11:46 AM

TEX, I have the same sale ads running here in East Texas. The other day I went grocery shopping in bigger town for the first time in a few months and was totally shocked by the prices on the shelves and in the produce department. Eggs, meat, milk, seemed to be the same... and the dog food I buy. I do like you said an cherry pick the sales.. I can get fresh produce and eggs in tinytown where I live very reasonable.. locally grown.

My freezer is nearly empty because I want to defrost it, and then I think I'm going to not pack it slam full with meat, but with some meat and work towards my canned meats full thrust. I'm going to freeze alot of butter and produce, too (seasonal).

I was thrilled to see that mayo and sugar are on sale for $1.98 this week (stocking up on those) but more and more I'm making my mayo from scratch...

~Grizzy~

TEX

05-01-2010, 12:14 PM

Grizzy, we must live close together - I work in Marshall and drive 30 miles one way to work - all through black top pig trail roads - the drive is soothing both ways.

Gracie

05-01-2010, 12:22 PM

Grizzy, have seen several recipes on various sites, but they tend to only keep for matter of days, please, would you share your mayo recipe, and how long it will keep in the fridge. Would really like to find a canned version that is tasty...maybe, someday.:)

TY,

Gracie

patience

05-02-2010, 03:56 AM

Our area has always been a fairly cheap place to live, but I got my reality check yesterday when I shopped at the farm store and at Wal Mart for groceries. Cheap grade $2 bacon is now $2.69/lb., sugar is up to $2.99/5 lbs., 2% milk has been $1.99/gallon in our town, but was $2.99 at WM.

The farm store was even worse. A splitting maul was $42.99. I didn't buy one--got mine at the junkyard, but just a replacement handle was $12.99, up from $9.99 last year. Splitting wedges were $19.99 each.

I'm beginning to feel really poor. Not a real problem, but it means I will have to really watch our spending now. And it means I will be making everything I can for our use, spending more time in the shop on our stuff, instead of stuff for making money.

If I work for money then go spend it on a maul handle for $12.99 + 7% sales tax/$.90 = $13.89, then I have to make about $20 in the shop to pay the income tax so I can get the handle, and another 5 bucks for gas to GO GET the handle, or $25 total. Since I charge $25/hour shop rate, and only get to keep about $15 of that, it means I have to work for about 1. 67 hours to pay for the handle. SO. If I can make a handle out of wood I have, and do it in an hour, I come out WAY better off.

I'll be doing a lot of that, especially since business is slow anyway. ;) We'll be eating out of the garden this year, making our own stuff, driving a lot less, and not buying much of anything.

momma_to_seven_chi

05-02-2010, 04:23 PM

sugar is up to $2.99/5 lbs., 2% milk has been $1.99/gallon in our town, but was $2.99 at WM.

I have seen whole milk as much as $4.39 a gallon here. And sugar was $2.89 for 4lbs at Aldi's this weekend.

We have a lot of jars, but I have been buying more and more for canning. I'm preserving everything I possibly can this year.

About gardens--
For some reason, my seed potatoes just didn't come up well. Is it too late to replant? I'm just going to throw them on top of the straw already there, and cover them with more straw. That way, if the old ones do start to grow, they will still have straw there. It's easier than plowing or digging.

AlchemyAcres

05-02-2010, 05:09 PM

......my seed potatoes just didn't come up well. Is it too late to replant?

I've planted them as late as June 21st here and got a bumper crop.
North central PA...Zone 5...average 120 frost free days...Last average frost date May 25...First average frost date September 25th.

~Martin

nhlivefreeordie

05-02-2010, 06:08 PM

patience

05-03-2010, 04:18 AM

The splitting maul thing might be explained by whether it is US made, or an import? I think the one I priced was True Temper, US made. I have a second one I got at a flea market that is Chinese, and the darn thing is cast iron. :( A few licks on top of it with a sledge, and I got dents on the flat face. If your price was for a US made one, then our store needs some competition! I have seen a Chinese axe for $24, and a US made one for $37.95, both at Tractor Supply last winter. I wouldn't have bought the Chinese one no matter what, because the handle was way too short, and made of monkey pod wood, or whatever. I gues they make 'em to fit short Chinese folks?

Milk price, I dunno. Dairy farmers here are getting about $16/100 lbs., which is roughly $2/gallon at the farm. Grocers must be doing the loss-leader thing. Our discount grocery has 2% at $1.99/gallon. Eggs are running about 88 cents/dz at Ruler, which is Kroger's discount store.

Sugar I can get for $1.95 or $1.99/4 lbs. at Ruler or Sav A Lot, but WM and Sam's Club are consistent at around 60 cents/lb., so I won't be getting it there....
'
I'm trying to get some sort of overall picture of prices, and it is somewhat confused by sales and loss leader stuff. Overall, though, my costs are up quite a bit. We cherry-pick sales like most folks here, and load the truck when we find a deal, but it is getting a lot harder to find good prices. Looks to me like our grocery prices are up something like 25% over last year.

NCLee

05-03-2010, 04:39 AM

About gardens--
For some reason, my seed potatoes just didn't come up well. Is it too late to replant? I'm just going to throw them on top of the straw already there, and cover them with more straw. That way, if the old ones do start to grow, they will still have straw there. It's easier than plowing or digging.

Before you do that, gently dig into the soil where you planted to check the conditon of the seed potatoes. Depending on your weather, they may be just biding their time in coming up. Knowing whether they're just slow or have rotted because xyz happened, will give you better insight on what to do next.

If they're showing signs of sprouting, then, just wait. You may have sprouts that'll break through the soil in a few days, thus the note to be gentle with your exploration. OTOH, if they've spoiled, then you'll probably want to use a larger quantity in re-planting.

My concern is that if your original seed potatoes are still viable, you may end up with too many vines in too small a space for them. If they are not viable, you may not overplant those with enough to get a good harvest.

Also, after you determine the status, and find that you need to replant, rake the straw back and put the next ones on the ground, slightly pushing them into the soil. No need to dig. Then, rake the straw back over them. Because they're in direct contact with the soil, they'll root faster. (Be sure to let your seed potatoes cure, after cutting, before you plant them. Mentioned just in case you're not aware of that tip.)

BTW, with any crop that can grow and produce during the summer, check your average first frost date. Substract 1-2 weeks from that, because it is an average. I use 2 weeks here because we're in a low lying area and are more subject to frost than our neighbors. Then for the plant of choice, get the days to maturity. Count backwards from the frost date you established. That'll give you the latest planting date, in your area, for a good chance of harvest.

Good luck with getting a crop of potatoes, either from your original planting or a re-planting, as the case may be.

Hope this helps, a bit.

Lee

momma_to_seven_chi

05-03-2010, 05:51 AM

Thanks, Lee. I didn't know about curing the potatoes after cutting. I just cut in half and toss into the straw. We even toss out old peelings to grow, but I didn't have any peels this spring because I canned all the potatoes in that handy-dandy pressure canner. My husband had just purchased seed potatoes for us, that we cut and planted.
Thanks.

debbie-bountiful

05-03-2010, 06:17 AM

I agree with you about the cattle and dairy farmerse.

Don't apologize ---You're just verbalizing what alot of the rest of us are feeling.

I took 4000 pound of beef to the stockyard last night. I hope I make a pretty penny on them but basically at the end of the year or at least on taxes it looked like a break even thing. You could not make a living on cattle (it is my job, husband has full time job) unless you possible were in a "open range" situation but if you are spending money on fertilizer, fencing and a ton of other things NO you cannot make money.

nhlivefreeordie

05-03-2010, 06:18 AM

The splitting maul thing might be explained by whether it is US made, or an import?

I will have to go check, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the maul I got was an import, BUT, it is every bit as good as any maul I have ever had in the last 30 years. The last one I had for about 20 years and left it with the people that bought my house in NH.

Milk price, I dunno. Dairy farmers here are getting about $16/100 lbs., which is roughly $2/gallon at the farm.

I don't doubt that a bit, that is why I go to the farm, I don't care for store bought milk, and I am sure this family has extra to sell to their neighbors, I try to support them where ever I can, I buy produce that I do not grow from them as well, they have the best sweet corn I have ever tasted, last year at $1.50/dz....they always throw a couple extra in.

I'm trying to get some sort of overall picture of prices, and it is somewhat confused by sales and loss leader stuff. Overall, though, my costs are up quite a bit. We cherry-pick sales like most folks here, and load the truck when we find a deal, but it is getting a lot harder to find good prices. Looks to me like our grocery prices are up something like 25% over last year.
It is tough, and I know our prices are up on some things, but we try to do like you, stock up when there is a sale, or find other places to buy what we need. Here they are having a sale on Delmonico steaks $5.99/lb, we loaded up a shopping cart, ( Delmonico and Porterhouse are all we really like in red meat besides burger ) I am trying to befriend a couple of the Amish farms that have cows to see if we might be able to buy half a cow and save money, but then we will have a LOT of burger to freeze as we wouldn't use a lot of the other steak cuts, ( fully realize that if SHTF we will be eating whatever meat we can find). I guess we really aren't big red meat eaters, we prefer pork, chicken and fish over red meat, and not because of any health concerns, it is just what we like. But a nice thick Delmonico sizzling on the grill is hard to beat when you are in the mood for a steak.

AlchemyAcres

05-03-2010, 04:12 PM

$16 per 100lbs. is roughly $1.36 per gallon.
I pay a friend $1.50 per gallon for raw Jersey milk.

~Martin

patience

05-03-2010, 06:01 PM

:o:o:o Yep. My math was out to lunch!

Sample of meat SALE prices here:

>boneless ribeye steak, $4.99/lb, "family package"
>whole beef loin (sliced free) = ribeye steaks, $3.99 lb
>pork sirloin chops, $1.19 lb
> Eckrich smoked sausage, $1.99 lb
>Jamestown spiral sliced ham, $1.19 lb. (butt cut = lots of bone)
>split chicken breast, $1.19 lb.

That was a one day sale. Regular prices are 10% to 30% more.

Large eggs are running about 89 cent/dz here. We are still making money with our hens, at 54 cents/dz feed cost, but not much. Much better eggs, though! :D

CapeCMom

05-04-2010, 06:10 AM

I read all of your replies and I get so jealous that everything is cheap elsewhere! Meat of any kind including chicken NEVER is below 1.99 per pound. Occasionally you can pick up packages if they are close to their end sale date at a cheaper price. Cage free eggs from the grocery store at 3.99 per doz. I just can't buy standard eggs anymore-(unless I am desperate) because I don't like the taste of them compared to fresh.

My vacuum sealer broke so I have let my freezer go down to abismal levels. I have to get a new one before I can stock up-this has to be a priority right now

bookwormom

05-04-2010, 09:46 AM

I was at ALDI yesterday looking for onions. They are up to 2:69 a bag. last time I bought some they were 89 cents. A man told me they are over four dollars at Krogers. Onions are becoming a luxury item.
but eggs were 76 cents a dozen. I have to look immediately at the Amish store, hope they have rolls of lids left over from last year at last year's prices. We are on social Security and I just found out that illegal aliens get more than we do after working all those years. If we did not have our house paid for ( we built it ourselves) and heat with our own wood, we would look like butter in the sun.

did you all look at Pastor Lindsey Williams predictions about prices? looks like he has something going.

TEX

05-06-2010, 03:37 AM

I must say that the Grocery Ad game this week was a bomb. Only thing I saw of any value was fresh ears of corn, grown in Texas was 8 ears for $2.00. and greenhouse tomatoes for $.99/lb. Luckily all we need this week is coffee filters and canned milk for DH's coffee in the morning - he draws the line at that powdered stuff. So we are shopping in the freezer and pantry this week. Mother comes home from the hospital today and he has already announced that we are taking food to her tonight and it's going to be a pork roast with all the fixings. We stocked up on boneless pork tenderloins a while back when they were .99/lb. He keeps saying - don't worry - summer cookouts are coming soon which means briskets and chicken and such will be on the loss leader sales.

I did find green coffee beans on sale on line so ordered 10 more lbs of those.

Now that doesn't mean that we won't venture out into the world this weekend and do a little shopping. DH is home all day and we have chosen to be a one vehicle family so he does enjoy going shopping even if we only buy coffee filters - we consider it our "date" for the week. :)Even us old folks enjoy a date every once in a while.

momma_to_seven_chi

05-06-2010, 04:23 AM

Onions are becoming a luxury item.

did you all look at Pastor Lindsey Williams predictions about prices? looks like he has something going.

Do you have grn onion tops you can use yet? I have been using winter onions almost exclusively to avoid buying some. You can get onions cheap in the fall and either freeze or dry them to use until grn onions start to give you enough.

I haven't seen this particular Pastor's prophetic words about prices, but I know many, many ministries have been warning about hyperinflated food prices and shortages for the last 2-3 years. Andrew Strom even warned people to move out of certain areas of the nation into more rural areas if at all possible as well as some people he cites in his ministry doing the same. I'm going to look up this one too. I find it interesting to compare whose voice lines up with what God actually foretells His people that happens. I have heard very few WOF people warning on upcoming problems of poverty in this nation which is interesting to me because we have been so intertwined in the move since we were teens. And a lot of times the same people who preach "trouble's coming" are also in the business of selling items to avoid trouble, so you wonder about the motive. Jim Bakker of the old PTL club is selling "survival food" packages now (as an example).

NCLee

05-06-2010, 04:24 AM

Best price I've seen this week is split chicken breasts for $.96/lb at Food Lion. They are on "sale" at Lowes Foods for $1.39/lb.

Farmer's Foods (local chain) have green cabbage at $.39. Lowes @ $.59

Food Lion Green Giant Veggies - buy 1 get 1 Free. Lowes @ $.69/ea
Lowes brand canned veggies @ 2 for a $1 - limit 12 w/coupon

Lowes has Bounty 8 rolls of paper towels for $5.99 with coupon limit 4.
Lowes brand Mac & Cheese 3 for $.99 - limit 12 with coupon.

On another note Lowes has "Perdue boneless thigh fillets or breasts" for $1.99 per lb. As noted above, split breasts on sale for $.96 and I often see thighs on sale for around $.69 Why would anyone pay that kind of premium to have someone else remove the bone and skin? :confused: Especially since both the bone and skin add flavor and can be the basis for making stock, too.

Lee

momma_to_seven_chi

05-06-2010, 04:37 AM

I haven't seen this particular Pastor's prophetic words about prices,

I'm not sure about him. He sounds kind of angry which is not consistent with a true spiritual prophetic warning IMO. But I think raising prices are a pretty sure prediction for anyone to make.

Beef has been raising dramatically in price here. I haven't been canning any lately. Pork is a better value. Late last month DOTs had pork loins on sale half price, so I canned up a few of them for BBQ sandwiches and other things.

firegirl969

05-06-2010, 05:54 AM

TEX

05-06-2010, 06:15 AM

Tex,

How do you roast your coffee beans and where do you get them? How do you store them? What kind is good to order for taste IYHO? This is something I have considered stocking up on for DH as he can't go in the mornings without his joe. Thanks in advance, firegirl

Firegirl - there are a couple of older threads about roasting your own coffee. I broke down and bought a real roaster for about $100.00 but you can use an old fashioned air pop corn popper.

As to storing the green beans - anything to keep moisture and critters out works as the green beans can last for at least a year without going stale. From what I have read any bean that is roasted, no matter how it is stored, begins to go stale after about 10 days.

And there definately is a difference. As to which kind of bean - that depends on your personal choice and of course your pocket book. Some beans are quite pricy and I haven't let myself indulge in the more costly beans. BUT when we got the roaster I got to choose several free/almost free samples and we decided immediately that we liked Columbian beans - figures since most of the store bought coffee we used was columbian also. Again, personal choice.

I'm not saying that I saved any money considering that I have to pay for shipping but I didn't spend any more than I would have spent at the grocery store buying decent coffee (and decent coffee bought in the store is crap compared to the tast of fresh roasted).

As stated, I can find no place near me to buy beans so I have to order over the internet and pay shipping. You may be able to find a source locally - do a Google search for "unroasted coffee" or green coffee beans. I buy from Burma Coffee (that may not be spelled correctly) and I know that you can pick up directly from them.

I don't know what area of the country you live in or I could do a quick search for you myself.

Gracie

05-07-2010, 04:34 PM

TEX,

You mentioned y'all like the Columbian beans, for your coffee. I know nothing about coffee beans. Is there just one choice of Columbian bean, or a variety to choose from, i.e. Columbian blend, if there's more than one choice, please, what did you all use. And, once you've roasted and ground your beans, (was wondering about it's strength); approx. how much (we use 2 heaping 1 ounce scoops as DH likes his coffee a bit stronger) ground coffee you would put in to make a 12 cup coffee maker. If it actually takes less ground coffee, the beans might just well be the most economic way to go.

Thank You,

Gracie

patience

05-07-2010, 06:13 PM

Isn't Columbian coffee the high octane stuff? I think I had some once, and it was strong enough to grow hair on a cue ball. Whoa! ;)

Not2L8

05-08-2010, 06:22 AM

Speaking of coffee and increasing prices. Every morning for the last 2 yrs I've stopped at a local store to refill my coffee cup and always paid $0.52 yesterday the manager informed me (after my cup was filled) that coffee refills are now $1.06 :mad: I always bought my gas there too, but from now on I'll brew an extra to go cup at home and buy my gas elsewhere too. A price increase is one thing.. but more than double overnight is something else.

Seems to me that if you increase prices too much, you drive customers away from your product/brand, which would result in 0% net gain. So what is the point?

momma_to_seven_chi

05-08-2010, 07:40 AM

Last night at Aldis sugar was over $3 for four pounds. That went up since last weekend. Thank God I bought sugar last fall when they had all the holiday baking specials.

patience

05-17-2010, 07:22 PM

:eek: EEEK! Canning season approacheth, too. That is bad news. I better look into this, and FAST. Last week it was $1.99/4# here at Ruler and Sav A Lot. :mad:

NCLee

05-18-2010, 02:16 AM

Check your local Sam's Club if you need a lot of sugar, either for canning or for just-in-case.

Dixe Crystal 50 lbs for $24.39 (Also in 25 lb bags)
Domino 10 lbs for $5.43

BTW, added 25 lbs last November, to our stash, when holiday cooking supplies went on sale.

Lee

momma_to_seven_chi

05-18-2010, 06:10 AM

Just a sugar update.... At Aldi's last night it was $3.38 for four pounds of sugar. That's up ten percent in a week. If it isn't going up like that all over the nation, then it might just be a gouging thing around the western IL/MO border area where we are located.

artistmom40322

05-18-2010, 06:15 AM

I am amazed at what I call a bargain these days....prices of everything is rediculuous...! Hard times are everywhere!
Robin

iowasue

05-18-2010, 10:01 AM

Yesterday our favorite small-town family restaurant - a very busy place partly because of the reasonable prices - raised the prices on everything from coffee to meals and sandwiches to desserts. They couldn't keep up with rising food prices for them. Can't blame 'em - prices for us in the grocery store have been rising even faster - and I can't believe what I've had to pay to put in my garden. I will be looking at more open pollinated varieties to save seeds from next year.

CapeCMom

05-19-2010, 07:51 AM

When I went to Walmart yesterday I specifically looked at sugar prices because of this thread-their 25 lb bags are still 11.79-so I grabbed one-well I thought I grabbed one till I went to put it in my hatch and noticed I had bought 25 lbs. of flour instead-oh well. It ended up being only 7.88 for the flour. I thought that was pretty good-now to figure out how to get it all in my freezer to kill all of the buggies to dry pack it -back to Walmart tomorrow to get the sugar this time. I am glad my work is just down the street and I can go on my lunch or I would be really irritated. That's what I get for rushing.

NCLee

05-19-2010, 08:46 AM

Saw on Fox News this morning that coffee is going up another 4%. Mentioned Folgers and several other brands. Reason: Green coffee prices going up and increased transportation costs. Said some of the folks like Starbucks will try to hold off on price increases, but it's doubtful that they can.

Just a FWIW.
Lee

momma_to_seven_chi

05-19-2010, 09:53 AM

I found out today that Aldi's stores in different places can have different prices on staples such as milk, eggs, flour, sugar... They do something called competitive pricing. One Aldis has their sugar $1.89 while the one closer to us has theres at over $3. The reason.... competitive pricing. They beat any sale price of any competitor within their city. If you live in the country, and drive to a city to shop, you might check around to see which stores in which towns have the better prices. I had no idea they could vary by location. I know we are going to grocery shop at the 50mile away store rather than the 35mile away one. The prices are much better right now.

TEX

05-19-2010, 10:17 AM

Dagnabit - today is the grocery advertisement game and I haven't had a chance to look - looks like DH and I will play the game this evening

CapeCMom

05-19-2010, 11:51 AM

A lot of the grocery store chains up here have their weekly circulars online-just as a heads up-One is Shaw's Markets. You can even make a virtual grocery list by dragging the items you want into your "shopping Cart". Then you just print it out. I bet Aldi's and others have something similar since they are much bigger chains than Shaws. I have done that several times lately as the circulars have been missing from the papers when I get them.

patience

05-19-2010, 04:50 PM

momma said:
"If you live in the country, and drive to a city to shop, you might check around to see which stores in which towns have the better prices. I had no idea they could vary by location."

I know for certain that Auto Zone does that, too, and I think Tractor Supply does it. We are fortunate to live in one of the cheaper areas.

Tonight I went to buy 10 treated 8 ft. deck boards, lag screws and washers to finish our yard fence at Home Depot in the big city. The board quality (premium grade) wasn't so great, but I picked out the best I could find. No price tag on that bin, so I asked the price at the checkout---$5.99 each. The lesser grade was posted at $3.97 and were really knotty. I took them back to the bin. Their 1/4" x 2 1/2" lag bolts were $25.49/100, :eek: and flat washers were$3.79. I told them no thanks, I'm going to Lowe's. :mad:

Instead, I took a tip from another shopper and went to a locally owned Do-It-Best store a few blocks away. Bought premium boards for $5.79 (better stuff, too), lag bolts for $15.49, and washers for $3.19.

Total savings was $13.48. I won't be going back to Home Depot. The savings was enough to fill my gas tank. (Did a mileage check that came out 27.2 MPG---S-10 Chevy pickup, 4 cyl. with power everything.) :D

patience

05-19-2010, 06:05 PM

Just checked one of my favorite business suppliers, and I can buy the 1/4" x 2 1/2" lag screws for $10.17/100 there, plus freight. If I ordered several things, that's a deal!
http://www.mcmaster.com/#wood-screws-carriage-screws-and-lag-screws/=75x45r

Beats the socks off of Home Depot's price, even WITH 6 bucks freight!

jonvee

05-20-2010, 07:43 AM

momma_to_seven_chi

05-29-2010, 03:23 AM

Walmart has had Miracle Whip for $1.78 for the last week or so. It's the quart size.

blackpowderbill

06-04-2010, 10:07 AM

My local store finally had a sale on mayo. It's been almost $5 a jar for the longest time and my stash was getting low. But then last week it was on sale 2 for $5, plus I had coupons I was hanging onto for a $1 off each jar. After they double the coupon it's a steal. Now I'm stocked for a while. Can't make tune, egg or chicken salad without mayo.

Sis alterted me to a sale on pork shoulder a few weeks ago .99/lb. But most of the sales are on junk I don't buy.

Seems like $5 is getting to be the stores favorite price.

Ingredients
1 egg yolk*
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 pinches sugar
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 cup oil, safflower or corn
Directions
In a glass bowl, whisk together egg yolk and dry ingredients. Combine lemon juice and vinegar in a separate bowl then thoroughly whisk half into the yolk mixture. Start whisking briskly, then start adding the oil a few drops at a time until the liquid seems to thicken and lighten a bit, (which means you've got an emulsion on your hands). Once you reach that point you can relax your arm a little (but just a little) and increase the oil flow to a constant (albeit thin) stream. Once half of the oil is in add the rest of the lemon juice mixture.

Continue whisking until all of the oil is incorporated. Leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours then refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Raw Eggs
*RAW EGG WARNING
Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

Next Recipe

BREEZEMOMMY

08-03-2010, 10:08 PM

i was at wal-marts in flippen , ar . today . a 1/2 wilted , medium , green pepper was $ 0. 98. a nice looking pepper was $ 1.68 . the banana bin was empty . i was happy when i got home to my garden . i picked $ 100.00 worth of tomatoes and peppers according to wal-mart prices . my veggies were good ; not half rotten . I THANK GOD FOR A GARDEN THAT WILL HELP FEED SEVERAL FAMILIES THIS YEAR . MAY JESUS BLESS YOU ONE AND ALL !!! breezemommy

rodamala

08-04-2010, 07:34 AM

If I work for money then go spend it on a maul handle for $12.99 + 7% sales tax/$.90 = $13.89, then I have to make about $20 in the shop to pay the income tax so I can get the handle, and another 5 bucks for gas to GO GET the handle, or $25 total. Since I charge $25/hour shop rate, and only get to keep about $15 of that, it means I have to work for about 1. 67 hours to pay for the handle. SO. If I can make a handle out of wood I have, and do it in an hour, I come out WAY better off.

I came across this thread again today... the above paragraph is what has drawn me towards the self-sufficient/homestead lifestyle.

One mistake you make is assuming the price of your labor, though I understand your logic... I would not pay someone $25/hour to make maul handles, just the same as nobody would pay $50 for a jar of mustard that my father and I have made (labor costs for a licensed professional engineer and a designer are tremendous).

Lastly, consider, if you will, that the cost of the maul handle includes a markup for taxes the maul handle company has to pay.

Just how much of our lives are consumed by paying taxes? Is that Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? No. That's SLAVERY.

Repeal the 16th amendment, ASAP.

patience

08-04-2010, 01:25 PM

rodamala,

My thinking exactly. I don't enjoy playing the tax game, so I will just sit quietly on the sidelines, thank you. Other places I have heard this called "starving the monkeys", or "going Galt". The latter refers to Ayn Rand's book about the failure of socialism run amok.

AAh, but you DO pay someone $25 an hour to make maul handles! The one I am familiar with is Link Handle Company, a former resident of our little town. Actually, the workers made far less than that, but the company charged about that much for their worktime. They could make several handles per hour, but the rest of the money they charged went for taxes (!), overhead, interest and dividends for the stockholders, ad nauseum. That is what we ultimately save by making our own. I don't have any friends among their bankers, or stockholders, nor their tax men, so I don't mind denying them my trade. Usurers are not my favorite people. :mad:

Your point about taxes is a great one. It is hard to imagine how much of what we buy ultimately goes for taxes. Every step in manufacture and commerce is taxed, repeatedly. I read somewhere that the result is that over half of the price of retail goods is TAXES.

Whatever the numbers are, I come out better when I work for myself. Always have. And what I make is almost always far more durable than what I could buy. That longevity translates into a greater benefit to doing it yourself. Today that means that I drink better water, eat cleaner, more nutritious food, and have better health. My furniture is mostly over 40 years old, some over 60 years old--all of it built by me or my grandfather--and still looks and functions like new.

I once spent over a week making a pair of wild cherry bookcases. That was about 1978. I have since bought and trashed any number of cheap bookcases that fell apart, but the cherry ones are still solid as a rock. :wink:

Proud_Poppa

08-04-2010, 01:54 PM

Boy have I noticed!! Especially in fast food! My wife and son spent a good share of last week visiting her family in Iowa....so I was "batching" it. One evening I stopped at the Arby's drive-up and ordered a large roast beef sandwich and a large jamocho shake.....it came to nearly $9.00!! $9 for fast food!!

patience

08-04-2010, 03:01 PM

The duct tape I used to buy for $1.19 at Harbor Freight is now $2.29. The small plastic boxes of hardware (cotter pins, grease fittings, nuts 'n bolts) were $4.99 last year, now $9.99 to $12.99. Generally, their prices have almost doubled on the smaller items in the past 2 years.

Since I am shutting down the shop, that means I won't buy much of it, just enough for my own use. But it means I would do well to buy ahead now for what I will use. And it means that I will scrounge old hardware any place I can find it cheap, or free.

Aluminum rods and flat bars I use in the shop has more than doubled in price over the past 3 or 4 years. 3" diameter round weighs 8.6 lbs. per foot, and now costs $40 per foot in a 6 ft. length. A one foot piece is $61.95. That is $7.20 per pound! It's time to fire up my old homemade furnace and cast some scrap aluminum into some of these larger size chunks for shop use. I can tear down an old lawn mower engine and get 5 bucks worth of bolts, a few springs, some scrap sheet metal and odd steel parts to sell, and about 8 to 10 pounds of aluminum to melt.

If I stockpile several of these along with a collection of pop cans and some copper wire to add to the mix for strength, I can melt up about 60 pounds in a day and cast it into large flat bars that would cost me over $500 to buy. This is the only way I can afford to continue making our own equipment.

If you think groceries have gone up, have a look at some of the larger homestead equipment. A chicken waterer, 5 gallon size, is now about $25. A hanging 5 gallon chicken feeder is almost that much. Grain mills, wood stoves, you name it, are all getting really expensive in terms of most peoples' wages. (Dollars are worth less, prices went up, but wages did not.)

Like many folks here, I scrounge whatever I can get cheap, make a lot of our own things, and try to find ways to turn other people's junk into our assets. :D

SKB

08-05-2010, 04:02 AM

The company I work for provides hardware for us so that we can install fixtures in various stores. I have a BIG bag of toggle bolts and those flat washers. My boss says using cable ties is easier, so forget about the hardware.

If they didn't weigh so much, I'd mail them to one of you. At one time I wondered if I could use them to make a wind chime or something.

Guess I'll just hang onto them.

More corporate waste....

SKB

08-05-2010, 04:13 AM

A suggestion:

Craig's list has a "Free" category (look under "Sales") and you will find many, many things you can use, all you have to do is go get it. I have seen gorgeous stuff and absolute trash, it's always changing. I like to look at the listings in other cities as well, very interesting.

Give it a try, you'll be amazed.

SKB

08-05-2010, 04:28 AM

Indianapolis: http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/zip/

New Jersey: http://cnj.craigslist.org/zip/

Los Angeles: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/zip/

There are listings for every state and every city, even other countries.

Now go forth and rescue good stuff!

rodamala

08-05-2010, 05:04 AM

Try Freecycle too... on yahoo.

Mom5farmboys

08-05-2010, 05:38 AM

Something else you may want to look under on Craigs List is FreeSales I have noticed a trend that once a garage sale is over they turn it into a free sale, which is basically you can go and take whatever is left over from the garage sale for free. The person holdling the sale doesnt have to bring it back into the house or haul it to goodwill.

MissouriFree

08-05-2010, 09:18 AM

I apoligize if it was already noted but also in craigs list you can find " Curb Alert" ---
lots of people post this when they are putting something the curb for free.

example:

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/zip/1877454046.html

SKB

08-05-2010, 04:25 PM

Try Freecycle too... on yahoo.

I don't know if all the freecycle groups left yahoo, but the one in my area is now on freecycle.org and I don't like it as much. I like CL for it's ease of use and the pics. We don't all agree on what "good condition" is or what "a little TLC" means. That's the fun of it for me.

iowasue

08-06-2010, 01:01 PM

If you use much flour, you may want to stock up today. Wheat commodity prices are soaring due to the Russian ban on exports. Remember 60 cent a pound prices 2 years ago?

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Wheat-Prices-Soar-After-Russia-Bans-Exports-100142179.html

randallhilton

08-06-2010, 05:14 PM

The planners in the capitol say it's nothing to worry about. They're the ones who say we need to pour more corn into our gas tanks. I doubt they're thinking much about $3 bread as they chow down on their $50 lobster bisque.

indyguy

08-06-2010, 05:36 PM

No shortage of wheat. 2010 world wheat harvest is third largest on record.

http://www.flex-news-food.com/console/PageViewer.aspx?page=28066

momma_to_seven_chi

08-06-2010, 09:41 PM

The 25lb bags of flour at WM are up to $8 here. I bought a couple more tonight. I'm going to the Amish grocery tomorrow to get another bag or two of wheat berries.

MotherCharlotte

08-07-2010, 04:31 AM

Flour is a real stickler for me. I used to buy 10 kg bags (that's 22 lbs) for $10, it was the store brand of a nearby grocery store and the best price I could get anywhere, by far.

Now they only have the big bags in bleached, and I refuse to buy bleached flour, so I have to buy a 5 kg bag at a different store, I think it was $8, I was so angry.

They don't even have 5 kg bags at my regular store, they only have smaller ones that are even a worse deal.

For some reason the flour section in the grocery stores in my area seems to be shrinking. It seems that with the ridiculous prices of bread, people would be making more of their own, but maybe not?

I wish I could find a place where I could buy large quantities of flour in bulk, but so far no luck.

patience

08-07-2010, 06:15 AM

http://tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=144371

Quote:
"I just attempted to purchase a couple of rail cars of fertilizer. My rep told me that he was able to get my nitrogen purchase in "just under the wire - but, they almost didn't honor it") "On Monday, all contracts are null and void" This statement encompasses N, P and K uniformly.

In short, with the Russian wheat situation, the fertilizer companies are getting ready for another run at MUCH higher prices - and it starts on Monday.

What will the price be? Any guess is as good as mine. Right now, FOB in Northern Iowa is:

$534/ton Nitrogen
$522/ton 11-52-0
$464/ton Potash

(at least this is the price at which I purchased these today. (BTW, today was the first day that I could buy for Fall delivery.)"

That discussion goes on for a while (this is an investors forum), and indicates that this is a very volatile, and much manipulated market. Still, it might be worth buying some ahead for the garden, hm?