I have noticed that they have gone up as well,..and I am having a rough time getting by,.I suppose I am fortunate in that I still have a job,..but I am single and live alone in an apartment,..the only problem is that everything is going up,.not just groceries,..my health insurance that I get through work has gone up,.again,,..a significant amount,..the only thing that has not gone up is my paycheck,...
You are not alone,...I wish you luck,..

You are not alone here. I just can't keep up with the prices. It is very hard. We just keep dropping things off the list to make it.

We are trying to feed four and stay under 150- its insane how things like a jug of milk are $5, a bag of dog food $15- living off the dollar menu at the fast food joing might be cheaper!

I don't get it. The grocery prices went up when gas did. O.K. I can understand that one. Cost more money to get it there etc... Now that gas prices have gone down why are grocery prices still high and going up?

Maybe because they can? People gotta eat. Wish we could boycott the grocery stores and not buy from them but like I said we gotta eat.

We have applied at our local food bank and got it, somehow...We have a family of five and my hubby has been off from work the past two months only living on sick pay, so maybe that's how. But the local emergency assistance in your area might help, that's what we had to do. They also give you stuff like toilet paper, diapers, etc. Everything helps. I tried to get assistance with the rent but they said it was the end of the year and they had run out of funds for that., too bad. Good luck and hope the prices go down for everyone, its bad in Virginia too. Gas is only like $1.35 a gal here and groceries are obscene. I can't get out of the grocery store without spending over $40 and that is thrifty store brand shopping and getting meat on sale. Oh well....

around here we have aldi's. its discount grocery. I dunno where else has them. My boyfriend teases me Ill always have gas cus everything from aldi gives you gas. LOL. but I can get off brands that are darn close to normal for less than half the price. living alone helps in a way... but in a way it doesnt cus it's hard to cook for one without waste. I kinda just get used to eating the same three things all week long. I typically fill two big bags of groceries for about $35.

And dont forget there was that thread susie started about stretching your dollars. Watering whole milk down to get 2% isnt a bad idea at all!

I try to shop at the local fruit market if I can because it is so much cheaper than the grocery store!! I can tons of fresh fruits and veggies for $20 or less. At the grocery store it would be at least twice as much if not more.

The food prices will remain high because of the cost of "transportation" from the farms to the store shelves. It cost the farmers and mass food producers a lot more during their growing seasons to manage the farms asn so on and that has affected the cost to us from then to now. Also, just try to stock up when things go on sale and don't purchase unless the items you need are on sale. Here is another cance to mention Angelfoodministries.com. Look for angelfood in your town. It's a good bargain and helps the food budget.

Yes, isn't it funny how they put the price of things up when the cost of gas goes up; then when the gas goes down, the prices stay up! I live in a town accessible only by air or ferry. They kept cranking the ferry fares up, calling it "fuel surcharges", but I bet the fares won't come back down now. I didn't bother picking mushrooms this fall for extra cash because the price they were paying for them wasn't worth it. I can't imagine that people are paying any less for the mushrooms in the store, though. Oh well, at least we can enjoy Christmas dinner with the free-range organic chicken that a farmer friend gave us, and pies made from a pumpkin I grew myself. Have a good holiday, everybody.

here in California they have solved that problem, the price is the same, but the containers are smaller. So unless you're checking the weight/amount, you don't realize it until you try to feed your family. It's a rip! We are getting to the point where we can't pinch our pennies too much more.

If you all haven't read SusieJD's thread about Ressesion/Depression tips. YOu should it is just full of very good ideas. I really believe we are all going to need to help each other. I truely believe this is going to get much worse before it gets better.

Good luck to all and let's stick together and help each other with ideas on how to survive this.

Kim, you certainly hit the nail on the head about downsizing!! I think that is happening everywhere. We are paying more and more for less product and I think it's downright criminal. Even a can of tuna will barely make 2 sandwiches. I might point out that Walgreens and similar drug stores are a good source for groceries that most wouldn't think of. When you hit there sales you can really save on many items. Between there sale and my dollar off coupon, I was able to get my Taster's Choice for $5.37 and it is nearly $8 at Walmart! Even without the coupon it was still more than $2 cheaper. I check the sale paper on line every week and always find 6 to 10 grocery items cheaper than anywhere else. This goes for toiletries as well.
Have to agree whole heartedly with Brent about SusieJD's thread. I check it everyday and have gotten so many great ideas on ways to save. Someone said she should start her own member group with it and I agree!We are all struggling right now and I am so grateful for any advice or solutions on how to stretch a dollar. We need to pool our resources to get thru these bad times.

around here they call it the 5 and 10 -- everything in the grocery store is either $5 or $10 == insane!!!!!!!!

I'm like bbbb -- I just keep dropping stuff off my list. like I try to have blueberries every couple of weeks b/c they seem to help my lupus. now I buy the frozen ones. frozen has come a long way in the past couple of years! they taste very good.

we eat a lot of kale. it's very cheap, a bundle lasts a long time. I like to steam it and then put salad dressing on it. if you buy it, just don't buy it wilted or with any yellow. yellow = bitter.

we're eating a lot of beans, rice, corn meal (mush), pasta, stuff like that. no more mushroom and artichoke beef stew for right now for us.

I just switched my cat from the expensive stuff the last owner has her on to something nearer the bottom of the price run and I looked at purina and a small bag was $10 or $12. what the heck is going on here? why would cat food be $12 - $24 (old stuff) a bag!!!!

Just a quick suggestion to any of you who might be interested - try growing your own fruits/veggies/herbs. I'm not saying you have to plant a whole farm, but even one tomato plant or strawberry bush can help!

we did our own veggie and herb garden last year. We'll definitely do it again. I canned preserves and it will get us through the year. It's not always economical to can but if you can get your fruit cheap or even free, it's a no brainer. Also, I finally gave in and started diluting whole milk. Everything I read was right. It does taste like 2% milk and it takes a gallon of milk down to less than 2.00 a gallon. And I think the best purchase we made in 2008 was a chest freezer. It's not a huge one and it fits in our laundry room. I can now stock up on sales. I ran into a sale on boneless/skinless chicken breasts the other day for 1.39 a pound. I got several packages.