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Food Fee Fussing

July 31st, 2011 at 08:04 pm

A week or so ago I posted about certain grocery prices on the rise and many responded you are seeing the same thing.

Last night as we watched Suze Orman, she predicted in 2012 that things might get worse. She said if gas prices continue to rise, groceries will as well, as much as 14-40%! She said that not only does the transporting of food go up, but petroleum products are used for make plastic containers for things that we buy. I never thought of that, but she is right.

As I'm fixing stuff, I'm thinking, am I going to be doing this because I want to save money or because I have to save money?

Suze Orman suggested that people stay conservative for 2012 because she thinks things could get tight. I read in the paper yesterday that the experts are now saying the recession was far worse than they originally thought. No kidding. One of our local food pantries is giving out 100-120 boxes of food each day.

So, do you think Suze is right on grocery prices going up as much as 40%? If she is, it is going to hurt the economy even more because housing and food are necessary items and people will be using their money to buy the necessities.

Posted in Food / Groceries, Personal Finance, Saving Money | 11 Comments »

11 Responses to “Food Fee Fussing”

  1. LuckyRobin Says:
    July 31st, 2011 at 08:33 pm 1312144419
    1312144419

    I do think it is going to continue to rise next year. However 40%? Probably not. 14%? I can see that. Even though grocery prices are going up on the whole I am still finding ways to keep within my grocery budget. I am still finding sales. For the past 4 months at least I have been able to find chicken legs, thighs, wings, and whole chickens on sale for less than a dollar a pound at at least one of our grocery stores here every week. I've found whole salmon on for $3.99 if you buy the whole thing (which they will fillet for you, plus let you take home the bones and waste for soup stock and there is a lot of meat on the part left behind after the fillet is done). I have been able to find beef of one sort or another for $2 to $2.50 a pound (usually ground, but sometimes potroasts, chuck steaks, and London broil) and pork chops for $1.47. Summer veggies are dirt cheap at the moment. Summer fruit less so, but still reasonable. Potato prices are still decent. Flour and sugar have risen (but not as much as bread prices), but go on sale often enough to still find good deals. I can still find sales on cheese. Milk has stayed relatively stable and often is marked down to .99 a gallon when the sell by date is close. Junk food and soda has gone up but I don't care much about that. I think careful shoppers will still find ways to save money in the grocery store without having to skimp too much.

  2. My English Castle Says:
    July 31st, 2011 at 09:15 pm 1312146919
    1312146919

    I noticed yesterday that many things had risen a lot. Time to be even more careful!

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    July 31st, 2011 at 09:49 pm 1312148982
    1312148982

    I am with LuckyRobin.

    Food prices have been going up for years, but our own budget has not gone up. There are several things we could do to lower our costs further (shop at even more discounted markets, use more coupons, eat less luxury items, etc.). I feel like I have plenty of room to cushion the blow.

    Food prices will continue to rise steadily, but I really don't expect then to rise 40%. Will see...

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    July 31st, 2011 at 11:22 pm 1312154543
    1312154543

    Whoa. Forty percent? That seems very extreme, but we would find ways to keep the food bill in check. I also could get to more discounted markets to stretch the dollar.

  5. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    August 1st, 2011 at 12:04 am 1312157075
    1312157075

    I think a 40% rise could happen. I noticed that the low-carb bread I buy went up 15.9% this past week. I could easily see increases like that happening across the board 2 or 3 times in a year.

    LuckyRobin, the prices you are finding sound remarkable to me. Didn't you find last winter's produce prices high? I did.

  6. ThriftoRama Says:
    August 1st, 2011 at 12:28 am 1312158482
    1312158482

    The rising middle class in China, Brazil and other developing countries is also pushing the prices of food up. More demand for the same supply. This is the new world we live in, and there is no end in sight.

  7. LuckyRobin Says:
    August 1st, 2011 at 12:28 am 1312158489
    1312158489

    Joan, yes, the winter produce prices were ridiculous. $2 for a head of lettuce, $4 a pound for broccoli, $3 a pound for cauliflower, even beets and greens were high. Yet, I could still find canned green beans 2/$1, canned tomatoes for $1, canned pumpkin for $1, and cheap cabbage, onions, carrots, decently priced oranges, winter squash, and potatoes. So we didn't have a lot of variety during the winter, but we did okay. I prefer to buy fresh, but sometimes I just can't stomach the prices. A lot of the prices I am finding now are loss leaders for the stores. We have seven different grocery chains plus a Costco here, so the competition might be keeping prices a bit lower. We also grow a lot of things in this county so shipping costs might be a bit lower because of all the local produce. Low carb bread is a specialty item, and most of the specialty items have gone through the roof. The all natural ice creams have gone up $1 a quart and have stayed there.

  8. M E 2 Says:
    August 1st, 2011 at 02:29 am 1312165779
    1312165779



    Small FYI, there already is a wheat shortage. So watch out for the cost of flour (and all goods derived of/from flour - - bread, cereal, pasta, etc.) to skyrocket.

  9. PNW Mom Says:
    August 1st, 2011 at 03:06 am 1312167961
    1312167961

    Not sure about 40% but food prices are definately higher.

    I noticed soon after the recession started manufactures were coming out with TONS of coupons and kept them coming for quite a while.

    The past 6 months (at leat in my area) I have noticed coupons for food are coming less and less. It seems there are plenty of coupons for health and beauty and cleaning items though but definately not much in the food way.

  10. rob62521 Says:
    August 1st, 2011 at 11:39 pm 1312241977
    1312241977

    I have noticed the same thing with coupons. We don't buy a lot of stuff with coupons, but there were a few things, but lately, our inserts seem to be beauty stuff and ads to send away for stuff.

    I've been stockpiling flour to an extent in my freezer thinking if the price skyrockets, I won't be badly hurt. I've been buying it on sale and have a few 5 pound bags there.

    I thought last winter's produce prices almost obscene at times too.

  11. baselle Says:
    August 2nd, 2011 at 06:40 pm 1312310421
    1312310421

    I feel like food prices have already risen 40% because I mostly buy produce. My price book is for historical purposes only; I find that the lowest price on produce is already pegged at .99/lb. Part of it is not strictly because of oil prices, but the general inflation rate and the increase in the money supply. We don't measure inflation in food and gas officially because its "volatile", inofficially because gov cost of living adjustments pegged to inflation would shoot through the roof. Suze - the horse has left the barn! Time to fall and winter garden.

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