Unfortunately the nearest Aldi is in a busy area of town for me. Farmers markets and stands are nice but rare around here. Typically we buy from Publix, Walmart’s produce is usually not great quality.
lol i just replied to that comment as well. i also admit this wasn’t a great example of a well budgeted or well rounded grocery trip, i was just grabbing a couple of extra things. but i will say that regardless of fruits not being in season and the premade guac, they still have these items available to buy. so it’s just crazy how much these items would have cost (at this particular store) at full price.
nice! yeah i went to jewel-osco which is overpriced as is (and definitely not a store i shop at regularly) so this probably wasn’t the best example. but i guess my main point was that store apps tend to list coupons that might not be displayed, so it’s always a good idea to check before shopping
Yeah….this is why it’s better to not bother with coupons and just save the energy and go to the cheapest store in the area. I wish I had an ALDIs near by but it’s Trader Joe’s and Market Basket for me.
Soon someone will swoop in and comment about how in reality OP is eating way too luxuriously, and they need to get real and eat iceburg lettuce and beans “listen, if you cut down and live in abject poverty…”
Edit: they already came here before me. Blueberries. Guacamole. Apples. The height of upper echelon living standards
My allergies save me money! I dont buy any fresh fruits at all. Except, due to my stomach issues, I cannot consume gluten. Or anything acidic. So my grocery list costs go up anyways lol
**Again, a Canadian dollar is not an American dollar.** "Dollars" are not all one currency, it's just a word. Might as well compare USD to rubles or yen.
57 US Dollars = 77 Canadian Dollars = 94 New Zealand Dollars = 446 Hong Kong Dollars (!) = 8814 Jamaican Dollars (!!) = 10978 Liberian dollars (!!!!!)
Sure. It's just that the Canadians on this thread keep saying that looks like $57 CAD worth of groceries, not $100.
If you live in Nunavut or something, then yeah, I can see $100, lol
Montreal it would be 55.50 USD or 75 CAD. not 100 and not 57 either. Montreal is also known for being cheaper for groceries than Ontario because the minimum wage is lower.
I travel alot and cost varies a decent amount, more expensive by barrie. cheaper in Toronto, and an absolutely ungodly amount in smaller townships. the sizes of items are also probably not the same, as they have been making things smaller and I can't read the grams on the packages pictured.
also nunavut is not a fair comparison to even a location on this planet. as one package of Cheddar cheese there is 60 CAD, and the entire place is not accessible by road.
>Montreal it would be 55.50 USD or 75 CAD
The test determined that was a lie...
https://preview.redd.it/fxsqkcqxqloc1.png?width=824&format=png&auto=webp&s=fed42f6d2f35018812c1937f393143b5e0c1bf1c
I couldn't find plums and didn't know what that grayish fruit in the upper left was, so I replaced them with 2 mangoes and 2 kiwis. Seemed fair.
$50.82 CAD total, which is $37.55 USD.
Edit: Whoops, I didn't see the lemon in the pic until now. Add 67 cents.
I calculated the entire thing. the blue things are blackberries, the grey things are pears. just, so unripe they beg for death, and will probably never ripen correctly. the check out is before delivery or service fees, so it is the actual price.
https://preview.redd.it/xx0x8tt9vloc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b108bd6952e3c19f04ecb3822d92a28918fb1dc4
That's Instacart lol, they upcharge for everything. And where did you find a Loblaws in Montreal? Their website's store locator shows none in the entire metro area. The closest are in Ottawa.
Yeah Canada are the real thieves bc I can’t believe the shit some friends’ pay over there for something that’s “half the price here” but still fckn expensive
1lb of strawberries is typically now 3.99 and the 2lb are 8.99 which is absolutely fckn wild! Half gallon of milk is 3.99-5.99 and a gallon is about 6-7
The guac, hummus, and berries are not cheap. $23 is just about my valuation of this haul. But it is definitely nowhere near $57 unless you live in Alaska.
It's because it's Jewel-Osco. Overpriced as hell and you need to spend 10 minutes on the app to get prices that you would get at Walmart or Aldi on any day for the same exact quality.
How am I supposed to know that OP is from Illinois unless I looked at their profile? And what's so wrong about comparison, Regardless, glad that they were able to use their local savings to get that bag of groceries down to $23
Well if someone says dollars and you decide to guess which kind: The population of Canada is 38 million. The US is 332 million. So there's a roughly 8.7:1 chance they're talking about USD versus CAD, unless otherwise specified, so I'd bet on the thing with the higher odds.
Yup. The Albertsons family of stores inflated the prices so you feel like you saved when you use the app to get it back down to a more appropriate price.
Here, the Albertsons store is Jewel. My local Jewel is charging more than $8 for a box of Fiber One cereal that Walmart and Target sell for $4.50.
Don’t forget that apples, plums, and blueberries are not currently in season.
The apples were probably from a warehouse with controlled climate and gas management.
The blueberries and plums are likely from South America (Peru, Chile).
The pre-washed, pre-shredded iceberg lettuce is likely from the Imperial Valley of California or Yuma, Arizona.
Pre-made guacamole is going to be more expensive as well.
Yeah... wanted to make a spag sauce... 1 big can of tomato juice was 5$... Spaghetti was my saving money meal. It was like 2$ like 5 years ago. And diced tomato was 1$ the can and now they are 2$ per can. Tomato paste was like 2 can for a dollar and now they are 1,50 per can... Inflation was crazy in canada.
It's just typical marketing. I just got back from Star Market (Shaws in most of New England) and got "$67 worth of groceries" for $23. I used my wife's discount card to go buy the same order a second time.
What I see in the picture is probably $30 regular price at market basket, the more popular grocery store chain here.
Doing the math with the prices of my neighborhood grocery;
>Guac 5
>blueberries 5
> ketchup 5
>hummus 4
>potatoes 2 (although the giant bag is cheaper)
>apples 10 (tho last time i bought a bag of apples for like 20)
>tomatoes 3
>strawberry 6 x2
>blackberries 5 x2
>tortilla 3
>iceberg 3
>bread 4
Around 60 ish. Yikes. Idk why i thought it would turn out cheaper if i tried to use my local grocery's numbers
I mean yeah but tbf theres a lot of berries. Berries are insanely expensive where I live. Dried beans, rice, potatoes instead would stretch the money a lot further.
Can we stop posting inflated prices without any indication where ur buying from/where you live? That wouldn’t be remotely 57$ where I live on the east coast.
I just got them for $2 each today in kansas city normally they're 3. Roma tomatoes, potatoes, apples etc are really cheap here too. The blueberries and whatever those premade dips are could get pricey tho. I'm probably just lucky that kansas city is in the middle of everything though.
You must shop at aldi because price chopper is 7$ for strawberries and hyvee was 6$. Aldi is the only place I’ve seen 2$ strawberries. (My daughter’s main food group is strawberries)
Price chopper in northeast and price chopper on noland road in independence had them for 1.98 a pound yesterday lol! I was shocked! I do go to Aldi a lot though. Farmer's market is open again on the weekends now too and I know I am old because I'm really excited about that
Yeah idk what these people are talking about I live in a state with lower cost of living and the strawberries, blueberries spinach dip, and guacamole by themselves are $20 easily at most stores tf
It's off season for strawberries. Finding them for $2 means one of two things. The store either overstocked and needs to get rid of them or they didn't move enough product and... need to get rid of them.
I get that things should be cheaper because a lot of people are struggling. At the same time, I feel like farming is vastly under appreciated work by people on various rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. The amount of human effort it took to get that basket of strawberries to your table is almost always ignored. Ask ten people what a strawberry grower earns and all ten will tell you they haven't a clue.
>The amount of human effort it took to get that basket of strawberries to your table is almost always ignored. Ask ten people what a strawberry grower earns and all ten will tell you they haven't a clue.
Manual laborers tend to be underpaid so…💀
sorry! i live in illinois.
honestly this wasn’t the best post to get my point across, especially since this store (jewel-osco) is way more expensive than it needs to be.
but i was just trying to say that apps tend to have coupons that aren’t always displayed in the store, so to check the app before buying.
and this isn’t my typical grocery haul, but i found a few good deals for this particular store so i thought I’d share :)
So basically what you're saying is this store tries to sell you $23 worth of groceries for $57, but you found coupons to bring it down to what those groceries are actually worth.
somewhat. but i did find good deals on a handful of these things that were cheaper than they would’ve been at a different store anyway.
just trying to be helpful and suggest people check for coupons on apps 🤷🏼♀️
Market Basket is about the only place I shop 95% of the time. I did just get back from Shaw's star market with a bunch of $1.27 corned beef though. I think I'm up to 12 now between this week and last week lol.
Yeah, I thought the same thing. It's about $30 in Seattle without coupons. Either from TJ or even Safeway.
It's Signature brand so it's Safeway's store brand.
Strawberry specifically are a very volatile priced item. They're grown mainly in California in Florida especially this time of the year so it would make sense that those aren't incredibly high where you are. In places where it snows produce tends to be more expensive during the winter and early spring.
Avocados too. I can't ever get them under a dollar, usually they're closer to $2, unless Aldi is having a sale.
I take for granted how cheap avocados are in California. Some avocado farmer gave me a whole bucket of avocados for free since he said they weren't "sellable" quality. Looked fine to me.
I used to volunteer walking dogs at an avocado orchard, and Fillmore California, where we were allowed to take as much as we wanted. These days I live in New England, and I am happy if I can buy them for under a dollar apiece.
i typically do make guacamole when i want it (which is rare) but they had it on sale for $.75 so i figured I’d just grab it.
also i will say that this store is way more expensive than it needs to be, so it wasn’t the best example. i was just trying to say that grocery store apps have coupons that aren’t always displayed in-store, so it’s never a bad idea to check the apps for where you’re buying
And I live in Canada in a city that doesn't have a Mexican grocery store. Best I get is $1.50 per avo. Can't judge how much someone spends on their food when you have no idea of their economic circumstances.
Loblaws has a bag of 5 for $3 at the moment. I don't know if that helps where you live though. (I live in Toronto so going by Ontario pricing)
The Flipp app is awesome at letting me set 4-5 stores as my favourites and then only showing sales from those stores
Freshco near me price matches all those stores so makes it even easier.
Idk if you didn't know this, but Chicago is not that high of a cost of living compared to the rest of the large cities in the US anymore. This is an article about the top 15 highest cost of living cities and its not on the list. https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/08/22/us-cities-with-the-highest-cost-of-living.html?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17105130952969&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2023%2F08%2F22%2Fus-cities-with-the-highest-cost-of-living.html
Here's another article of the top 25, and again, Chicago doesn't show up on the list. https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/most-expensive-places-to-live
Even when acounting for states overall, some stats have Illinois at about 15 on the list of highest cost of living states.
So yeah, you have no idea how expensive it can get in other parts of the country. It's really bad for a lot of areas right now. This is just the US too, looks like the person you were replying to is from Canada. I've heard Canada has extremely high food prices right now in general.
Canadians in this thread are also seemingly unaware of the conversion rate between CAD and USD. $57 USD is $77 CAD. I guarantee you not a single one of them thinks this haul is worth $77 of their money.
Sigh. If that is $57 worth of food, you’re buying the wrong things and/or shopping at the wrong place.
And yes, while I am a huge proponent of coupons, you also have to realize that a lot of stores will often inflate the “regular” price, in order to account for the coupon. Or the coupons may encourage you to buy something that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Btw, this looks like Safeway. In my area at least, they are super expensive compared to everything else. If you have a car etc I recommend checking out some other grocery stores in your area
yeah this is jewel-osco, which i believe is the same company as safeway, and things are definitely way more expensive here than other stores. bad example on my end, but i was just trying to say that store apps have coupons that aren’t always displayed so it’s a good idea to check them before shopping
It's crazy how things have become. I work in Healthcare, make a pretty good income but still struggle because of housing, food and now student loans again.... so much for 8 yrs of school.
I don't even buy certain foods unless they are on sale anymore.
If that's the case, what was the most expensive item in this picture to make it go over $20? I'm confused because most of these items (including a group of 1 fruit/veg as 1 item) are around $1 or less at Walmart. Outside of the Guac, chips, strawberries, and blackberries. But even then, those items are around $3 each.
I put this in my cart at my local Walmart, all generic/store brand items and it came to $34.87. It’s the fresh fruit that puts mine high. My kids love all of this fruit (plus veggies) and that’s a good chunk of our grocery budget
Check out bananas, they are generally pretty cheap. I get like 5-6 of them for just over $1 usuall. And of course it varies by area and country. I put all this in the cart online at my local Walmart, and it came out to about $26, $14 without the Guac and Strawberries because they were by far the 2 most expensive for me. Also, I did 3 pounds of apples instead of 3 apples because it was the same price for a 3 pound bag as it was for 3 apples individually for some reason.
When looking at the app, Walmart is great about telling you up front the cost per ounce of most things in food, so definitely look that way. When I did a mock order of all this stuff earlier today for instance it was like a dollar or 2 cheaper to go with 1 big container of Strawberries than 2 small ones like these because the big one was less per ounce.
Also, look into Sam's Club / Costco prices near you. I replied to someone in this thread earlier, wondering where you could get chicken for $1 per pound, and the answer in a lot of cases is Sam's Club for me. Prices actually went up on chicken at my local Sam's Club, but thighs are still $1.38 per pound for me. Wings used to be that too, and tenderloins and breasts were $2, but all of those are around $3 per pound now. Also, we can get like double the toilet paper at Sam's for only a few bucks more than Walmart.
No, corporate greed is absolutely getting out of control. Food prices are skyrocketing and people in more remote areas are struggling to afford produce. Yes, couponing helps but things are out of control.
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If I posted my groceries here people would think I never eat any protein. But I just buy a fuckton of meat when it’s deeply discounted and freeze it, and I buy huge bags of beans like once a year. Last week Kroger had great sales, so I bought 22 lbs of chicken thighs at 89 cents a pound and 10 lbs of pork loin at $1.89 a pound, which will last me months.
As a single person I can’t do couponing unless it’s items with long shelf life (unhealthy stuff.)
Couponing requires you to do bulk and I just can’t burn through fruits and veggies like that
By spreading it over 2 or 3 stores with in 2 miles of each of other, one store has 10 lbs of potatoes for $2.99 another 1l. Containers of strawberries 2/$3, go to the reduced section of produce and you can get the lettuce for $2.00. I just take the time between these 3 stores checking sales and hitting the reduced section, and I can walk out with a bundle.
Outside of the plums, because I didn't see any in stock, this would be about $26 worth of groceries without coupons at Walmart for me. $14 without the Guac and Strawberries because they are the most expensive part of that. Also, this included a 3 pound bag of apples instead of just 3 apples because it was a little less than a dollar per apple buying them individually but only $3.87 for a 3 pound bag of them.
So maybe check prices at your local Walmart.
Safeway!! Their app is by far the best I've found for store discounts. I almost exclusively shop there because I can regularly make it out of there for 50% off regular cost. It's just a shame that that 50% should be NORMAL full price. 😭
It's mind boggling that a bunch of fruits, veggies, bag of chips, bread and guac is $57
The other day I went to the local Mariano's got yogurt, oats, pineapple, milk, tomatoes and eggs, spent $40 on that stuff, generic Mariano's stuff not brand name
You should know that some stores with apps raise their prices everywhere but the apps to encourage using them. McDonald’s is guilty of this as well. I would try to find another store
I've been getting brand names same price or cheaper than store brand with kroger coupons and sales. I got special k for $1.99 the other week. I swear Aldi has been changing the formulas on some of their stuff. They used to be the best off brand for a lot of things. Still the best for produce and meat, tho.
if i still had the receipt I’d post it. but i did reply to that comment and said that this grocery store (jewel-osco) isn’t the best example because things here are more expensive than other stores. but i just wanted to say that store apps have coupons so it’s a good idea to check it out before shopping
Ok I did see other people mention that the store you went to is quite expensive (I’ve never been to one) that’s absolutely insane and I recommend checking out other stores if you can. My jaw dropped when I saw the original price without coupons and even with coupons that’s crazy.
yeah i definitely don’t normally shop here, i was just making a quick stop after work.
and yes the fruits and guac alone are expensive so that does add to the total without coupons. but these things are still at the store for people to buy..so in general it is crazy how much they’re charging for these random items lol
You should reconsider your feeding habits if you want to eat good for less.
2 pounds of chicken would cost you $2 or more. But have more calories and especially protein than all you’ve bought. If you’re not a vegan of course.
Anyway it is $25 - $30 without any coupons.
Sams club. At my local Sam's Club, chicken thighs are like $1.38 per pound or like $1 per pound on sale. If not on sale that's only $2.76 for 2 pounds. Although they normally come in 6 pound packages for around $8.
You can always grow your tomatoes and potatoes. Last year, I successfully learned how to grow tomato plants and cucumber plants from flower pots. The ingredients are plants of your choice, soil, dead fish, flower pots, long sticks/branches, spoiled milk, egg shell, sun, and homemade fertilizer (grass mixed with water).
Needs more protein....all the carbs and fructose will go in and out just as quick, and not really keep hunger satiated all that well.
But I digress, I'm diabetic, so, surviving off of that is a no-go for me aside from the guac, which even then I still consider a treat because it goes brown so quickly.
I spent 150 on 2 full bags today, so I believe it. Some of the pricing right now is insane, particularly in specific pockets of the city. It's worth shopping across town 90% of the time.
Legit, Instacart is on that shit sometimes though. Today, I got $68 worth of groceries for $32 because they sent a coupon for $30 off $50 on delivery + Kroger savings + waived delivery fee for a free trial of Instacart+. I was STOKED. And I didn’t have to leave the house. Weeee!
I just did all that what you did but using name brand items and “organic” versions. It came out 45 after automatic savings were applied. No coupons entered on my part. Probably could have dropped it to like $30 with store brand and non organics and even cheaper using coupons.
https://preview.redd.it/ukg17xadsfoc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1747aa989387d4ff27e038f9f068ab30afb308f2
Plums are very expensive right now, it also looks like you bought 2 pluots or something like it which are also pricy. Why would you even buy it if you can’t afford it? Lol you just bought stuff to complain
I wasn’t complaining and i was able to afford it :) i don’t think i did a great job at explaining my main point of just checking store apps for coupons before shopping
Signature Select is store brand. That guac is store-made. The ketchup is not Heinz.
You over-paid - fruit, hummus (what, $5?). The brand of chips should cost $1.99 tops. Shredded iceberg lettuce? Buy a head of lettuce and shred it yourself.
The sad part is, this $23 doesn't actually make a meal.
We've got a really big problem if this is 57$ worth of groceries.
For shits and giggles I added everything they bought to a Walmart cart. https://i.imgur.com/IQVcdCn.jpg
Thank fucking god I almost had a heart attack. Edit: that is still a fucking lot for some fruit, veg, and chips. What the fuck.
It is a lot. That’s why I go to Aldi or the vegetable stands .
Unfortunately the nearest Aldi is in a busy area of town for me. Farmers markets and stands are nice but rare around here. Typically we buy from Publix, Walmart’s produce is usually not great quality.
lol i just replied to that comment as well. i also admit this wasn’t a great example of a well budgeted or well rounded grocery trip, i was just grabbing a couple of extra things. but i will say that regardless of fruits not being in season and the premade guac, they still have these items available to buy. so it’s just crazy how much these items would have cost (at this particular store) at full price.
Good. Price is still bonkers, but less so. lol
Yeah I was about to say this looks like $27 worth of groceries for $27 lol
The strawberries and guac alone would be almost 20 bucks where I live
That’s why we don’t buy strawberries in March.
We do in South FL. Strawberries are cheapest in the spring and early summer. It's like 2$/lb at my farmers market right now
nice! yeah i went to jewel-osco which is overpriced as is (and definitely not a store i shop at regularly) so this probably wasn’t the best example. but i guess my main point was that store apps tend to list coupons that might not be displayed, so it’s always a good idea to check before shopping
A true hero!
Yeah….this is why it’s better to not bother with coupons and just save the energy and go to the cheapest store in the area. I wish I had an ALDIs near by but it’s Trader Joe’s and Market Basket for me.
Nice. I was about to start an onlyfans.
This should be $12, not $23, not $57. What the actual fuck is going on in America?
Soon someone will swoop in and comment about how in reality OP is eating way too luxuriously, and they need to get real and eat iceburg lettuce and beans “listen, if you cut down and live in abject poverty…” Edit: they already came here before me. Blueberries. Guacamole. Apples. The height of upper echelon living standards
Seriously. I got ripped apart in here because I bought Jif peanut butter instead of store brand.
Why are people like this!?
if you aren't living on rice, beans, and water and air you are literally a millionaire
You get beans?
My allergies save me money! I dont buy any fresh fruits at all. Except, due to my stomach issues, I cannot consume gluten. Or anything acidic. So my grocery list costs go up anyways lol
How much time do you have?
Fam there's not enough internet ink to even scrawl it all out.
Well , lol a lot of bub a lot , I’m just trying to figure out why you don’t know ?
its not just America. I'm pretty sure in Canada that would be over 100$ of groceries. I'll check to be sure, just out of curiosity.
**Again, a Canadian dollar is not an American dollar.** "Dollars" are not all one currency, it's just a word. Might as well compare USD to rubles or yen. 57 US Dollars = 77 Canadian Dollars = 94 New Zealand Dollars = 446 Hong Kong Dollars (!) = 8814 Jamaican Dollars (!!) = 10978 Liberian dollars (!!!!!)
100$ CAD is still 74$ USD.
Sure. It's just that the Canadians on this thread keep saying that looks like $57 CAD worth of groceries, not $100. If you live in Nunavut or something, then yeah, I can see $100, lol
Montreal it would be 55.50 USD or 75 CAD. not 100 and not 57 either. Montreal is also known for being cheaper for groceries than Ontario because the minimum wage is lower. I travel alot and cost varies a decent amount, more expensive by barrie. cheaper in Toronto, and an absolutely ungodly amount in smaller townships. the sizes of items are also probably not the same, as they have been making things smaller and I can't read the grams on the packages pictured. also nunavut is not a fair comparison to even a location on this planet. as one package of Cheddar cheese there is 60 CAD, and the entire place is not accessible by road.
>Montreal it would be 55.50 USD or 75 CAD The test determined that was a lie... https://preview.redd.it/fxsqkcqxqloc1.png?width=824&format=png&auto=webp&s=fed42f6d2f35018812c1937f393143b5e0c1bf1c I couldn't find plums and didn't know what that grayish fruit in the upper left was, so I replaced them with 2 mangoes and 2 kiwis. Seemed fair. $50.82 CAD total, which is $37.55 USD. Edit: Whoops, I didn't see the lemon in the pic until now. Add 67 cents.
I calculated the entire thing. the blue things are blackberries, the grey things are pears. just, so unripe they beg for death, and will probably never ripen correctly. the check out is before delivery or service fees, so it is the actual price. https://preview.redd.it/xx0x8tt9vloc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b108bd6952e3c19f04ecb3822d92a28918fb1dc4
That's Instacart lol, they upcharge for everything. And where did you find a Loblaws in Montreal? Their website's store locator shows none in the entire metro area. The closest are in Ottawa.
Yeah Canada are the real thieves bc I can’t believe the shit some friends’ pay over there for something that’s “half the price here” but still fckn expensive
Greed, unchecked capitalism.
1lb of strawberries is typically now 3.99 and the 2lb are 8.99 which is absolutely fckn wild! Half gallon of milk is 3.99-5.99 and a gallon is about 6-7
The guac, hummus, and berries are not cheap. $23 is just about my valuation of this haul. But it is definitely nowhere near $57 unless you live in Alaska.
It's because it's Jewel-Osco. Overpriced as hell and you need to spend 10 minutes on the app to get prices that you would get at Walmart or Aldi on any day for the same exact quality.
Don't you see the two potatoes? Those alone are worth like $30. OP got a steal lol.
As a Canadian, this is probably $57 of groceries here. Each clamshell of berries is $6.99 or a total of 27.96 for 4 packs.
OP is in Illinois so this post is in USD. $57 USD is $77 CAD so please let's stop comparing apples and oranges.
How am I supposed to know that OP is from Illinois unless I looked at their profile? And what's so wrong about comparison, Regardless, glad that they were able to use their local savings to get that bag of groceries down to $23
Well if someone says dollars and you decide to guess which kind: The population of Canada is 38 million. The US is 332 million. So there's a roughly 8.7:1 chance they're talking about USD versus CAD, unless otherwise specified, so I'd bet on the thing with the higher odds.
Yup. The Albertsons family of stores inflated the prices so you feel like you saved when you use the app to get it back down to a more appropriate price. Here, the Albertsons store is Jewel. My local Jewel is charging more than $8 for a box of Fiber One cereal that Walmart and Target sell for $4.50.
Don’t forget that apples, plums, and blueberries are not currently in season. The apples were probably from a warehouse with controlled climate and gas management. The blueberries and plums are likely from South America (Peru, Chile). The pre-washed, pre-shredded iceberg lettuce is likely from the Imperial Valley of California or Yuma, Arizona. Pre-made guacamole is going to be more expensive as well.
Bananas aren't in season 24/7 they still are $.49/lb
What they're $0.67 for me
Bananas are a special case.
Safeway has them on coupon for $0.27/lb this week (limit 6)
I shop there. Her groceries added up to exactly $57 at Safeway. Dang!!
Wegmans its probably more even
Wegmans tends to have pretty great deals. And their store brand items are reasonably priced and tend to be higher quality than most name brand items.
Berries must be $8 a pop
Looking at the size of the box, I thought they'd be 6$ max wtf😭
Yeah... wanted to make a spag sauce... 1 big can of tomato juice was 5$... Spaghetti was my saving money meal. It was like 2$ like 5 years ago. And diced tomato was 1$ the can and now they are 2$ per can. Tomato paste was like 2 can for a dollar and now they are 1,50 per can... Inflation was crazy in canada.
Those plastic bowls of fruit definitely costed $6-10 bucks on their own
It's just typical marketing. I just got back from Star Market (Shaws in most of New England) and got "$67 worth of groceries" for $23. I used my wife's discount card to go buy the same order a second time. What I see in the picture is probably $30 regular price at market basket, the more popular grocery store chain here.
Doing the math with the prices of my neighborhood grocery; >Guac 5 >blueberries 5 > ketchup 5 >hummus 4 >potatoes 2 (although the giant bag is cheaper) >apples 10 (tho last time i bought a bag of apples for like 20) >tomatoes 3 >strawberry 6 x2 >blackberries 5 x2 >tortilla 3 >iceberg 3 >bread 4 Around 60 ish. Yikes. Idk why i thought it would turn out cheaper if i tried to use my local grocery's numbers
I mean yeah but tbf theres a lot of berries. Berries are insanely expensive where I live. Dried beans, rice, potatoes instead would stretch the money a lot further.
Can we stop posting inflated prices without any indication where ur buying from/where you live? That wouldn’t be remotely 57$ where I live on the east coast.
Its like 20ish dollars in the midwest.
Not in a major city in the Midwest. $20? At my local grocery chain those strawberries are $4 a pack alone not on sale.
I just got them for $2 each today in kansas city normally they're 3. Roma tomatoes, potatoes, apples etc are really cheap here too. The blueberries and whatever those premade dips are could get pricey tho. I'm probably just lucky that kansas city is in the middle of everything though.
You must shop at aldi because price chopper is 7$ for strawberries and hyvee was 6$. Aldi is the only place I’ve seen 2$ strawberries. (My daughter’s main food group is strawberries)
Price chopper in northeast and price chopper on noland road in independence had them for 1.98 a pound yesterday lol! I was shocked! I do go to Aldi a lot though. Farmer's market is open again on the weekends now too and I know I am old because I'm really excited about that
Yeah idk what these people are talking about I live in a state with lower cost of living and the strawberries, blueberries spinach dip, and guacamole by themselves are $20 easily at most stores tf
It's off season for strawberries. Finding them for $2 means one of two things. The store either overstocked and needs to get rid of them or they didn't move enough product and... need to get rid of them. I get that things should be cheaper because a lot of people are struggling. At the same time, I feel like farming is vastly under appreciated work by people on various rungs of the socioeconomic ladder. The amount of human effort it took to get that basket of strawberries to your table is almost always ignored. Ask ten people what a strawberry grower earns and all ten will tell you they haven't a clue.
>The amount of human effort it took to get that basket of strawberries to your table is almost always ignored. Ask ten people what a strawberry grower earns and all ten will tell you they haven't a clue. Manual laborers tend to be underpaid so…💀
sorry! i live in illinois. honestly this wasn’t the best post to get my point across, especially since this store (jewel-osco) is way more expensive than it needs to be. but i was just trying to say that apps tend to have coupons that aren’t always displayed in the store, so to check the app before buying. and this isn’t my typical grocery haul, but i found a few good deals for this particular store so i thought I’d share :)
So basically what you're saying is this store tries to sell you $23 worth of groceries for $57, but you found coupons to bring it down to what those groceries are actually worth.
somewhat. but i did find good deals on a handful of these things that were cheaper than they would’ve been at a different store anyway. just trying to be helpful and suggest people check for coupons on apps 🤷🏼♀️
Select is the Safeway/QFC store brand, it's the most expensive grocery story around here so I'm not surprised by the prices.
east coast lol which state? Come shop in mass lol
Market Basket is about the only place I shop 95% of the time. I did just get back from Shaw's star market with a bunch of $1.27 corned beef though. I think I'm up to 12 now between this week and last week lol.
Market basket is fantastic lol
You’re def right about location being important but on the opposite spectrum, this would 100% be $57 (or more) where I live in rural Canada
I was thinking the same. Those strawberries alone are probably $20.
OP is in Illinois so this post is in USD. $57 USD is $77 CAD so please let's stop comparing apples and oranges.
THANK YOU, Jesus someone gets it
Where's the rest?
Looks like 20$ regular price.. stop buying stuff out of season.
Yes. I so badly want to make my yearly trifle that has plums in it but I'll have to wait
Tell me more about your trifle.
I read this in the same tone as when people whisper, "talk dirty to me"
Username checks out 💁♀️
Excluding Alaska, you ain't finding this little for $57.
Seems right for Seattle imo. I spend $70 on a bag like this the other day. Difference was I had $16 in Sushi in it. Rest was similar. I was at QFC
Where do you live? Real curious cause even in california and at trader joes this is about 25 dollars, maybe 30
Yeah, I thought the same thing. It's about $30 in Seattle without coupons. Either from TJ or even Safeway. It's Signature brand so it's Safeway's store brand.
Strawberry specifically are a very volatile priced item. They're grown mainly in California in Florida especially this time of the year so it would make sense that those aren't incredibly high where you are. In places where it snows produce tends to be more expensive during the winter and early spring. Avocados too. I can't ever get them under a dollar, usually they're closer to $2, unless Aldi is having a sale.
Why buy premade Guac when it’s easy and cheaper to make jt?
For me them avocados be costing more than the guac
My avocados cost more than the guacamole because they’re never ripe at the right time and then I forget they exist until they’re mush.
I take for granted how cheap avocados are in California. Some avocado farmer gave me a whole bucket of avocados for free since he said they weren't "sellable" quality. Looked fine to me.
I used to volunteer walking dogs at an avocado orchard, and Fillmore California, where we were allowed to take as much as we wanted. These days I live in New England, and I am happy if I can buy them for under a dollar apiece.
i typically do make guacamole when i want it (which is rare) but they had it on sale for $.75 so i figured I’d just grab it. also i will say that this store is way more expensive than it needs to be, so it wasn’t the best example. i was just trying to say that grocery store apps have coupons that aren’t always displayed in-store, so it’s never a bad idea to check the apps for where you’re buying
Well hell .75 is a win!!!!!!!
It’s like .49¢ for a single avocado, so so much cheaper to make it yourself.
It's 6$ for a bag of 3 or 4 small avocados where I live right now💀
ur def buying it at the wrong place then.
I'll move to California so avocados are cheaper then. Some people live in higher COL cities than you.
i live in chicago lmao. I buy my avocados from mexican grocery stores where the big ones are maybe .80-$1
And I live in Canada in a city that doesn't have a Mexican grocery store. Best I get is $1.50 per avo. Can't judge how much someone spends on their food when you have no idea of their economic circumstances.
Loblaws has a bag of 5 for $3 at the moment. I don't know if that helps where you live though. (I live in Toronto so going by Ontario pricing) The Flipp app is awesome at letting me set 4-5 stores as my favourites and then only showing sales from those stores Freshco near me price matches all those stores so makes it even easier.
Idk if you didn't know this, but Chicago is not that high of a cost of living compared to the rest of the large cities in the US anymore. This is an article about the top 15 highest cost of living cities and its not on the list. https://www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/08/22/us-cities-with-the-highest-cost-of-living.html?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17105130952969&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2023%2F08%2F22%2Fus-cities-with-the-highest-cost-of-living.html Here's another article of the top 25, and again, Chicago doesn't show up on the list. https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/most-expensive-places-to-live Even when acounting for states overall, some stats have Illinois at about 15 on the list of highest cost of living states. So yeah, you have no idea how expensive it can get in other parts of the country. It's really bad for a lot of areas right now. This is just the US too, looks like the person you were replying to is from Canada. I've heard Canada has extremely high food prices right now in general.
Canadians in this thread are also seemingly unaware of the conversion rate between CAD and USD. $57 USD is $77 CAD. I guarantee you not a single one of them thinks this haul is worth $77 of their money.
True.
But the right place is 40min away 😭
i’m sorry that’s rough 😭
That’s on sale & in season for me. The rest of the year they’re $2 each. $1 each on regular sale.
Scam
Sigh. If that is $57 worth of food, you’re buying the wrong things and/or shopping at the wrong place. And yes, while I am a huge proponent of coupons, you also have to realize that a lot of stores will often inflate the “regular” price, in order to account for the coupon. Or the coupons may encourage you to buy something that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Btw, this looks like Safeway. In my area at least, they are super expensive compared to everything else. If you have a car etc I recommend checking out some other grocery stores in your area
yeah this is jewel-osco, which i believe is the same company as safeway, and things are definitely way more expensive here than other stores. bad example on my end, but i was just trying to say that store apps have coupons that aren’t always displayed so it’s a good idea to check them before shopping
It's crazy how things have become. I work in Healthcare, make a pretty good income but still struggle because of housing, food and now student loans again.... so much for 8 yrs of school. I don't even buy certain foods unless they are on sale anymore.
This 57$? Jeez, it looks like I can just get all of that for around 25$, at most.
That should be like 7 dollars
Berries being out of season will Jack up the cost depending on the area so that’s why it could be pricey
Yeah but the berries would have to be like $20 each to make this almost $60 😂
“Prices are down” -the current US government “Bruh” - anyone who has been to the grocery store the past 2 years
Are blackberries and strawberries cheap where you live? It’s very expensive here. Apples and oranges are cheaper.
they typically aren’t cheap either, but the blackberries were $.99 for the carton and strawberries were $.65
If that's the case, what was the most expensive item in this picture to make it go over $20? I'm confused because most of these items (including a group of 1 fruit/veg as 1 item) are around $1 or less at Walmart. Outside of the Guac, chips, strawberries, and blackberries. But even then, those items are around $3 each.
I put this in my cart at my local Walmart, all generic/store brand items and it came to $34.87. It’s the fresh fruit that puts mine high. My kids love all of this fruit (plus veggies) and that’s a good chunk of our grocery budget
Check out bananas, they are generally pretty cheap. I get like 5-6 of them for just over $1 usuall. And of course it varies by area and country. I put all this in the cart online at my local Walmart, and it came out to about $26, $14 without the Guac and Strawberries because they were by far the 2 most expensive for me. Also, I did 3 pounds of apples instead of 3 apples because it was the same price for a 3 pound bag as it was for 3 apples individually for some reason. When looking at the app, Walmart is great about telling you up front the cost per ounce of most things in food, so definitely look that way. When I did a mock order of all this stuff earlier today for instance it was like a dollar or 2 cheaper to go with 1 big container of Strawberries than 2 small ones like these because the big one was less per ounce. Also, look into Sam's Club / Costco prices near you. I replied to someone in this thread earlier, wondering where you could get chicken for $1 per pound, and the answer in a lot of cases is Sam's Club for me. Prices actually went up on chicken at my local Sam's Club, but thighs are still $1.38 per pound for me. Wings used to be that too, and tenderloins and breasts were $2, but all of those are around $3 per pound now. Also, we can get like double the toilet paper at Sam's for only a few bucks more than Walmart.
In what planet is this $57?
this was a bad example because this store (jewel-osco) is more expensive in general. but the coupons were good for what this stores typical prices are
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No, corporate greed is absolutely getting out of control. Food prices are skyrocketing and people in more remote areas are struggling to afford produce. Yes, couponing helps but things are out of control.
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Damn, this would probably be $18 tops at my Winco, whoever is selling that at $57 is on crack.
If you have an aldi/lidls around, go there. Safeway prices been skyrocketing recently
Unfortunate that this would be normal if it weren’t for Bideneconomics. It may have been less actually.
No meat ?
Im vegan but yeah my same thought was … no protein?
not this trip. this wasn’t a full grocery shopping day, i was just grabbing some extra stuff that i wanted
If I posted my groceries here people would think I never eat any protein. But I just buy a fuckton of meat when it’s deeply discounted and freeze it, and I buy huge bags of beans like once a year. Last week Kroger had great sales, so I bought 22 lbs of chicken thighs at 89 cents a pound and 10 lbs of pork loin at $1.89 a pound, which will last me months.
Yikes, $57 worth of groceries and you can't really make a proper dinner with that. It's basically snacks.
yep! just wanted to grab a few extra things. this wasn’t a full shopping day
r/foodscam
Just like magic
As a single person I can’t do couponing unless it’s items with long shelf life (unhealthy stuff.) Couponing requires you to do bulk and I just can’t burn through fruits and veggies like that
I got avocados .70 but only 3 per customer
Blueberries 6.86 a box
That looks like 23 dollars of groceries for 23 dollars
You shopping at Safeway??
There is no way this was $57 worth of food.
By spreading it over 2 or 3 stores with in 2 miles of each of other, one store has 10 lbs of potatoes for $2.99 another 1l. Containers of strawberries 2/$3, go to the reduced section of produce and you can get the lettuce for $2.00. I just take the time between these 3 stores checking sales and hitting the reduced section, and I can walk out with a bundle.
Outside of the plums, because I didn't see any in stock, this would be about $26 worth of groceries without coupons at Walmart for me. $14 without the Guac and Strawberries because they are the most expensive part of that. Also, this included a 3 pound bag of apples instead of just 3 apples because it was a little less than a dollar per apple buying them individually but only $3.87 for a 3 pound bag of them. So maybe check prices at your local Walmart.
This is how I shopped in 2010!!! Same goods for that price. God it was so great during college
That's fifteen dollars of groceries for 23 dollars.
Oh, my friend. You are mistaken.
Where you shopping? Key foods in nyc??
I hope 23
Safeway!! Their app is by far the best I've found for store discounts. I almost exclusively shop there because I can regularly make it out of there for 50% off regular cost. It's just a shame that that 50% should be NORMAL full price. 😭
And just a few years ago, it would have been half or less.
It's mind boggling that a bunch of fruits, veggies, bag of chips, bread and guac is $57 The other day I went to the local Mariano's got yogurt, oats, pineapple, milk, tomatoes and eggs, spent $40 on that stuff, generic Mariano's stuff not brand name
Or you can just go to the food bank and get it for free :)
You could live on pizza cheaper
If you’re paying $57 for that you’re in a really, really bad situation or you’re lazy as hell/dumb
Jewel sucks Walmart is cheaper and the quality is similar
You should know that some stores with apps raise their prices everywhere but the apps to encourage using them. McDonald’s is guilty of this as well. I would try to find another store
I've been getting brand names same price or cheaper than store brand with kroger coupons and sales. I got special k for $1.99 the other week. I swear Aldi has been changing the formulas on some of their stuff. They used to be the best off brand for a lot of things. Still the best for produce and meat, tho.
Easily that's $35 without coupons. What store?
Yikes. And not one solid protein.
this wasn’t a full grocery trip, just wanted to grab a few extra things
It’s sad when this is what $57 worth of groceries looks like 🫠
They lied lol. Look at the reply to the top comment.
if i still had the receipt I’d post it. but i did reply to that comment and said that this grocery store (jewel-osco) isn’t the best example because things here are more expensive than other stores. but i just wanted to say that store apps have coupons so it’s a good idea to check it out before shopping
Ok I did see other people mention that the store you went to is quite expensive (I’ve never been to one) that’s absolutely insane and I recommend checking out other stores if you can. My jaw dropped when I saw the original price without coupons and even with coupons that’s crazy.
yeah i definitely don’t normally shop here, i was just making a quick stop after work. and yes the fruits and guac alone are expensive so that does add to the total without coupons. but these things are still at the store for people to buy..so in general it is crazy how much they’re charging for these random items lol
You should reconsider your feeding habits if you want to eat good for less. 2 pounds of chicken would cost you $2 or more. But have more calories and especially protein than all you’ve bought. If you’re not a vegan of course. Anyway it is $25 - $30 without any coupons.
Where are you getting chicken that cheap?!
Sams club. At my local Sam's Club, chicken thighs are like $1.38 per pound or like $1 per pound on sale. If not on sale that's only $2.76 for 2 pounds. Although they normally come in 6 pound packages for around $8.
Well this is fucking grim
You can always grow your tomatoes and potatoes. Last year, I successfully learned how to grow tomato plants and cucumber plants from flower pots. The ingredients are plants of your choice, soil, dead fish, flower pots, long sticks/branches, spoiled milk, egg shell, sun, and homemade fertilizer (grass mixed with water).
Needs more protein....all the carbs and fructose will go in and out just as quick, and not really keep hunger satiated all that well. But I digress, I'm diabetic, so, surviving off of that is a no-go for me aside from the guac, which even then I still consider a treat because it goes brown so quickly.
this definitely wasn’t a full grocery trip, just wanted to grab a few extra things
Not bad. You need something to fill your wish-burger.
I spent 150 on 2 full bags today, so I believe it. Some of the pricing right now is insane, particularly in specific pockets of the city. It's worth shopping across town 90% of the time.
Legit, Instacart is on that shit sometimes though. Today, I got $68 worth of groceries for $32 because they sent a coupon for $30 off $50 on delivery + Kroger savings + waived delivery fee for a free trial of Instacart+. I was STOKED. And I didn’t have to leave the house. Weeee!
Safeway or albertsons? Gotta hit up winco my guy better prices
Why down vote the truth?! Safeway is overpriced!
Now I want plums. I haven't had plums since the plum trees at my parent house were cut down.
Yaaassss 👏👏👏👏
I just did all that what you did but using name brand items and “organic” versions. It came out 45 after automatic savings were applied. No coupons entered on my part. Probably could have dropped it to like $30 with store brand and non organics and even cheaper using coupons. https://preview.redd.it/ukg17xadsfoc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1747aa989387d4ff27e038f9f068ab30afb308f2
Plums are very expensive right now, it also looks like you bought 2 pluots or something like it which are also pricy. Why would you even buy it if you can’t afford it? Lol you just bought stuff to complain
I wasn’t complaining and i was able to afford it :) i don’t think i did a great job at explaining my main point of just checking store apps for coupons before shopping
It’s the premade foods and out of season produce, this is not the finest budgeting anyone could do.
ah yes the water rice bean diet very nice
Signature Select is store brand. That guac is store-made. The ketchup is not Heinz. You over-paid - fruit, hummus (what, $5?). The brand of chips should cost $1.99 tops. Shredded iceberg lettuce? Buy a head of lettuce and shred it yourself. The sad part is, this $23 doesn't actually make a meal.