My takeaway was that they both got caught being greedy under the guise of inflation. Even before the pandemic, since 2014, Mickey D’s raised their prices at triple the rate of inflation.
I don’t buy a lot of beef, but I was surprised at the price the other day when I purchased some. A smallish piece of top sirloin for $6.50. Fortunately there was a 2 for 1 deal on filet mignon, so I bought some that ended up being the same price as the top sirloin. It was incredible, so I think that was actually not a bad deal at all. Likely would have cost over $30/ person at a restaurant, and I couldn’t imagine it would be better. I do miss eating beef. But overall looking at the steak prices in the store, it seemed costly if you didn’t find a deal
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You know what’s expensive, cereal. Much of it is over $6 a box now. Yes, there are sales in some now and then but not always what I want, when I want. Cereal, $6 a box.
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That’s why when I go to the grocery store, I usually go by the cereal aisle and buy stuff that my husband likes when it’s on sale, whether we need it or not. I know eventually he’s going to eat it, and I’d rather pay $2.99 a box than $5.99. I’ve been doing that more often now that I’m retired, get stuff I don’t need right now when it’s on sale, because I know we’ll eventually eat it. Like coffee filters. Holy cow, they are asking $6.50 or so now, but sometimes they slash the price, so I buy hundreds of coffee filters, and I know we will always use those, and they never go bad.
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Grocery shopping has changed quite a bit for us since we started splitting our year between AZ and ME. Before closing down each place, we have to do the Swedish death cleaning of our fridge and pantry, so no stock-ups on anything, even staples. Right now, our fridge and pantry shelves look like this in advance of leaving this Thursday:
My mom will come by on Wednesday to take anything usable she might want. Anything perishable will be tossed. Year-round now, I shop for only and exactly what we need for the next few days, always with an eye to getting close to nothing before we leave.
This has caused me to be very mindful of what’s on hand so I don’t buy duplicates or “extras,” but it also means that I can’t always take advantage of sales, especially as we get close to shutting down either place. Because we shut off the electricity completely in ME (only one breaker active for WI-FI/surveillance cameras), the cabin freezes over the winter, and the AZ house is kept much too warm in the summer for most pantry goods to survive in their best state (we move what little’s left into the fridge).
So, due to this balancing act, at least at the grocery level, we are feeling the effects of inflation a bit more than we might otherwise have managed. We’ve offset a bit by almost eliminating restaurants where I feel more gouged than fed, but it’s definitely harder to keep our costs low.
It depends on many factors. It’s true that sticker price for some cereals are $6 a box. However, you can also pay a small fraction of that price. For example, the prices I typically pay for cereals are below. I live in VHCOL area of CA that tends to have especially high prices on food.
- Toasted O’s – $1.70 per box (non-sale sticker price at Walmart)
- Shredded Wheat – $2.40 per box (only buy when I get sales/deals to this price, then stock up)
- Bran Flakes – $2.60 per box (non-sale sticker price at Walmart)
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Yesterday I went to a backyard bbq in a neighborhood where I used to live. When I was on my way home, I stopped at a little fruit and veggie market part of a very small local chain. I purchased a box of Driscoll raspberries for $1.00. They were absolutely perfect, not the kind that’s ready for composting tomorrow. There’s a similar market in my neighborhood. Definitely not a farm stand, just a place to buy cheap produce. And of course there’s Chinatown–all of the many NYC Chinatowns.
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For me, my worry is less about price and more about food quality. That often gets sacrificed with inflation, but it’s not something we readily notice. I’m always suspicious of stores that advertise the lowest prices.
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We are not huge cereal eaters, but do like it on occasion. Many store brands are literally just as good as the name brands, and often cheaper than the sales. I’m old enough to remember when generic was black and white boxes, lol. I’d rather have cheaper black and white boxes in my pantry than attractive boxes, even if they are store brand.
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I bought another good sized watermelon over the weekend for $3.99.
We are accustomed these days to eating what is on sale.
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We bought some nice NY strip steaks at Safeway for $6.97/lb with the coupon. You had to buy 4 but that was OK because there are 4 of us at my BIL’s—BIL, us and nephew. H cut it up and we had that and some air fried broclini & asparagus. It was tasty!
Our mini-watermelon was $5.99 but very sweet. I convinced bil to buy a whole mini watermelon instead of cut pieces. I really dislike cut melon. it goes bad way too quickly.
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I believe Kroger has mini watermelons this week for $1.99. I’m sure I’ll be getting a few.
My Electric, Gas & Water are down 17.1% for the last 8 months year over year.
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The bills are down because of lower consumption or the rates for consumption are down?
I don’t have the detail bills in front of me. Just the amounts taken out monthly. We have lived in our place for 22 years so our consumption is relatively the same. Water consumption probably down some, but it doesn’t account for the entire drop.
Maybe warmer weather this year so less furnace usage? Or cooler weather so less air conditioning?
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This would be more meaningful with more detail, such as comparing differences in rates vs differences in usage, and separating the 3 services from one another. For example, a comparison of my utilities is below. None of my bills went up over last year, yet rates increased substantially for electric and water.
Gas: $13 → $4 – 40% drop in gas energy rate
May 2023 = 7 therms, $1.54/therm service, $0.40/therm gas
May 2024 = 2 therms, $1.56/therm service, $0.24/therm gas
Electric: $0 → $0 – 12% increase in service, ~20% increase in electric rate
May 2023 = Negative 197 kWh, UDC = $0.17/kWh, $0.12/$0.18/$0.25 per kWh rate
May 2024 = Negative 178 kWh, UDC = $0.19/kWh, $0.15/$0.22/$0.29 per kWh rate
Water: $137 → $92 – 9% increase in access charge, 8% increase in water rate
May 2023 = 18 units (434 gal/day), $46 access charge, $3.92/$5.69 per unit rate
May 2024 = 11 units (274 gal/day), $50 access charge, $4.24/$6.14 per unit rate
I am not interested in getting into that level of detail. I figure after a full 12 months it will smooth out the variable weather. I know my monthly bills are down $65 a month collectively on utilities. That along with my internet switch to Verizon which is saving $55 a month also. That $120 in savings is offsetting my increase in car insurance.
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Without prompting, my insurance agent found another company that will save us a considerable amount on auto and home insurance.
My gas and electric is down this year. It was a warm winter and warm spring. Not surprised. Will see if that will be offset by a warm summer and higher costs in air conditioning.
Changed from a cable box to streaming, saving money.
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