My Declining Standard of Living

[Numo]

So I go to Costco today to pick up some essentials: coffee, dishwasher detergent, some batteries, fish oil pills (OK, not so essential), breakfast cereal and a couple of other smaller items. I walked out of the store nearly $75 lighter, a pretty good chunk of what I make in a day. This is getting depressing: regular stuff like this has gotten more and more expensive while my wages have remained the same.

I know I shouldn't complain because my wife and I have jobs, but it seems like it won't be too long before we will be living from paycheck to paycheck. I have always been a saver, so this is upsetting to me.

[Doc]

That's cheap for Costco and you undoubtedly got club-sizes.

I just spent $130 on 4 small bags of groceries. Admittedly, a lot of it was extraordinary and the selection was coincidentally stacked towards expensive items -- for example, a $14 jug of maple syrup and a $9 bottle of honey, each of which is at most an infrequent purchase -- but it's a bit depressing to be able to carry $130 of groceries in bags dangling from one fist without exerting myself.

I remember when my mom would bring home more than a dozen paper bags stuffed to the top from the supermarket -- food for 5 for two weeks -- for half that money.

[Black Landlord]

I shop at the cheap cheap ghetto supermarket; "as much as I can carry on my handlebars" has increased from about $30 to almost $60 in the past year. Fortunately I'm doing fine job and income-wise, if I don't think about the 100+k in equity I've lost over the past year and a half.
If I had the expense of a car I'd barely be breaking even each month, and definitely wouldn't be able to save anything.

[vision63]

You gotta shop. Produce at the Berkeley Bowl, cheapest around, The Grocery Outlet, Big Lots. We have a fantastic Chinatown with really cheap produce and seafood and great Mexican markets with great prices.

[AlphaDog]

But, on the bright side, when I bought gas today (first time since Oct 16 when it was $2.959), the price was down to $1.619, and then I get 3% cash back. I might be able to afford to buy groceries this month! At least something is going down besides my buying power. My standard of living has declined so much in the last year that the county I live in now considers me low income. That's not exactly something I spent my life working toward.

[JoeH]

vision63 wrote:
You gotta shop. Produce at the Berkeley Bowl, cheapest around, The Grocery Outlet, Big Lots. We have a fantastic Chinatown with really cheap produce and seafood and great Mexican markets with great prices.

Nice, if you have the option. I live in a town of about 17,000. There are two chain supermarkets, and a local market. Also a BJ's. Only that much choice because they also draw from the smaller towns around here as well. Closest large city is an hour plus drive each way, nearest Chinatown is in Boston, about 100 miles away. So, so produce and not so good choice of other fresh groceries among the available items in store. Two paper bags of fill-in items like bread and sandwich makings this evening was almost $40, and the bags were not full. Used to get at least four full bags for that.

[freeradical]

JoeH wrote:
[quote=vision63]
You gotta shop. Produce at the Berkeley Bowl, cheapest around, The Grocery Outlet, Big Lots. We have a fantastic Chinatown with really cheap produce and seafood and great Mexican markets with great prices.

Nice, if you have the option. I live in a town of about 17,000. There are two chain supermarkets, and a local market. Also a BJ's. Only that much choice because they also draw from the smaller towns around here as well. Closest large city is an hour plus drive each way, nearest Chinatown is in Boston, about 100 miles away. So, so produce and not so good choice of other fresh groceries among the available items in store. Two paper bags of fill-in items like bread and sandwich makings this evening was almost $40, and the bags were not full. Used to get at least four full bags for that.
You can always choose the store brand instead of the name brands. Why are Americans so adamant about buying name brand products?

Oh - I can remember when postage stamps cost 5 cents...

[Mac1337]

Here is one way to save on groceries. Stay home! I can't remember how many times we couldn't name one thing we needed but walked out of grocery stores $50 lighter. Costco is another story. Once day I skipped buying coffee at the grocery store so I could save $3 at Costco. Walked out of Costco with $130 in the cart.

ps

I have been buying 2 liter soda for $1 for 25 years, mostly at ACME.

[Black Landlord]

Dakota wrote:
Here is one way to save on groceries. Stay home! I can't remember how many times we couldn't name one thing we needed but walked out of grocery stores $50 lighter. Costco is another story. Once day I skipped buying coffee at the grocery store so I could save $3 at Costco. Walked out of Costco with $130 in the cart.

ps

I have been buying 2 liter soda for $1 for 25 years, mostly at ACME.

I have few people in my circle of friends who keep pop in the house any more. Do you consider it a necessity?

[Black Landlord]

JoeH wrote:
Also a BJ's.

I think I know where all your money is going.