How can a family afford to shop at the grocery store anymore? (CostCo, prices)
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I live in a two-person household and generally spend $120-$130 a week on groceries and no I'm not buying steak and lobster I'm buying Eggs, hot dogs, frozen meals, soups, veggies etc.
It's ridiculous. rewind back to before the pandemic I was maybe spending $50 to $60 at the grocery store a week for basically the same stuff.
I have a friend who has three kids she would spend $500 a week at the grocery store just to feed herself and her kids. it got so bad she had to move back to Kentucky to a rural town where her family lives to afford to support herself and her kids well that and the cost of rent was killing her.
I try to buy things when they are on special or download digital coupons but even that doesn't seem to help anymore.
Granted I do shop at Safeway at times and their prices are high way robbery at times but even Walmart is getting expensive.
Believe it or not, I don't seem to feel the blow that much & I'm in a 2-person household too & we live in Southern California (always have). Actually, we don't grocery shop every week because we actually get quite a lot of fast food & takeout.
I'm a lot more peeved about the prices of paper towels & toilet paper nowadays. I can easily spend $75 on a few packs of each of those & yes, it's the better quality brands like Cottonelle & Bounty, but I never really had to get those brands before COVID. The quality of PT & TT has gone way downhill for the cheaper brands, so I have to get the better brands. I can't stand thin PT & TT that tear up fast!
If making ends meet is a real struggle for some, which it might since the inflation, try to contact the food pantry in your town or nearest town. It supplements a person buying groceries and you might be able to save a few bucks for rent and other utilities.
Last edited by temptation001; 02-20-2023 at 10:30 PM..
From my observation - stores are full of shoppers, their carts are full of food and other merchandise, the roads are as busy as ever.
Can't say that I see much of slowing down.
What's interesting - pandemic is over, but people still buy ready to eat food which is more expensive that stuff made from scratch. The demand is so big, that most stores in my area expanded the ready to eat sections: reheat & eat TV dinners, salad mix, deli trays, sandwiches, fruit salads etc.
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I don't know where you are shopping, but that is more than the two of us are spending. We go to Costco once a month, and spend $180-200 depending on whether we are getting any non-food items like toilet paper or laundry detergent. Then we fill in with a few things as needed from QFC (Kroger) or rarely, Safeway. All together about $350/month, or $87.50/week average. That's not much of an increase from 2-3 years, with only chicken being noticeably higher. We don't buy any "prepared" foods, and make everything for our meals from scratch.
I don't know where you are shopping, but that is more than the two of us are spending. We go to Costco once a month, and spend $180-200 depending on whether we are getting any non-food items like toilet paper or laundry detergent. Then we fill in with a few things as needed from QFC (Kroger) or rarely, Safeway. All together about $350/month, or $87.50/week average. That's not much of an increase from 2-3 years, with only chicken being noticeably higher. We don't buy any "prepared" foods, and make everything for our meals from scratch.
Yes, part of the cost is I do buy a lot of prepared meals frozen dinners, deli sandwiches stuff like that for something quick and easy.
I do cook but not nearly enough I am trying to cook more and spend less money it is a chore though.
Prepared meals are big money wasters. You paying for the convenience, and the factory preparation approach and packaging. The heavily-processed "food" is also less healthy and less nutritious.
Deli meats are particularly horrible as to added sodiums and nitrites. It finally sunk in for me when I developed kidney stones.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 02-21-2023 at 12:26 PM..
Prepared meals are big money wasters. You paying for the convenience, and the factory preparation approach and packaging.
Plus they are very unhealthy for you. Shop for ingredients, not meals, and you will save money and your health. Shop the outside depts. of the store. All the overpriced processed stuff is in the middle.
Prepared meals are big money wasters. You paying for the convenience, and the factory preparation approach and packaging. The heavily-processed "food" is also less healthy and less nutritious. Deli meats are particularly horrible as to added sodiums and nitrites. It finally sunk in for me when I developed kidney stones.
Very true. I look to prepared foods if I am in a truly serious bind time-wise or if I am not well enough to prepare a meal.
They can't, which is why consumer debt is as high as it is.
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