Rising prices - Wow!

RandomName said:
Seen at a Wegmans store recently. A shallow plastic tray of pre- cooked mac and cheese. $19.00. Weighed 1.8 pounds. just over $10 per pound ! For mac and cheese. I suppose it's convenient. Just add water or milk to freshen it up, and heat ? But wow. o_O
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Convenience and laziness come at a high price. I will never get over people buying frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (roughly $1.00 per sandwich). 200 calories each for these measly 2 ounce sandwiches.

At most a tablespoon of peanut butter (95 calories per Tbsp), another of jelly (50 calories per Tbsp), plus the 65-ish calories for the total of two small slices of crappy white bread without crust.

A loaf of Walmart's white bread is $1.42 for 22 slices so 11 sandwiches, so 13¢ per sandwich.
A 40 oz jar of Jif PB, $5.48, contains 68 Tbsp, so 8¢ per sandwich.
A 30 oz jar of Welch's Concord Grape Jelly, $2.97, contains 42 Tbsp, so 7¢ per sandwich.

Total: 28¢ per sandwich rather than $1.00. Only thing that needs refrigeration is the jelly. And it takes literally under a minute to put together a PB & J sandwich.
 
I went to the store today and bought some Pepperidge Dark Chocolate Cookies and they were $5.85 a package for 8 cookies and some Kodiak blue berry frozen waffles for $6.98 for eight. It is a good thing I don't buy them very often. My husband likes them once in awhile.
 
I like condensed milk in my coffee. I normally buy a house brand 12 pack at Walmart. When it's on sale I get it for around a dollar a can. I ran out this week so I went to the closest small town IGA store where they only had a national brand for $6.46 a can. I decided black coffee would be a nice change until I could get to Walmart.
 
RandomName said:
Seen at a Wegmans store recently. A shallow plastic tray of pre- cooked mac and cheese. $19.00. Weighed 1.8 pounds. just over $10 per pound ! For mac and cheese. I suppose it's convenient. Just add water or milk to freshen it up, and heat ? But wow. o_O
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I enjoy visiting the Wegman’s grab ‘n’ go food case.

Recently they’ve had packages of three baked sweet potato halves for around $9.00 or a similar sized package of mashed potatoes for $8.00.

I think price/value is meaningless to many shoppers that use a credit card and only deal with a lump sum payment once a month.
 
RandomName said:
Seen at a Wegmans store recently. A shallow plastic tray of pre- cooked mac and cheese. $19.00. Weighed 1.8 pounds. just over $10 per pound ! For mac and cheese. I suppose it's convenient. Just add water or milk to freshen it up, and heat ? But wow. o_O
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This might be the world's best mac and cheese. They sell some w lobster meat in it which I could see being priced at $19.

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I just made a cheese sauce for broccoli and cauliflower casserole. If buying the components in small qty it adds up pretty fast, plus the work, plus the clean up. I'm not paying $19, but if I caught it on sale for $12 w an additional 10% off for senior discount I'd buy a couple. It's certainly cheaper than getting take-away, or similar and better.
 
StarSong said:
Convenience and laziness come at a high price. I will never get over people buying frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (roughly $1.00 per sandwich). 200 calories each for these measly 2 ounce sandwiches.

At most a tablespoon of peanut butter (95 calories per Tbsp), another of jelly (50 calories per Tbsp), plus the 65-ish calories for the total of two small slices of crappy white bread without crust.

A loaf of Walmart's white bread is $1.42 for 22 slices so 11 sandwiches, so 13¢ per sandwich.
A 40 oz jar of Jif PB, $5.48, contains 68 Tbsp, so 8¢ per sandwich.
A 30 oz jar of Welch's Concord Grape Jelly, $2.97, contains 42 Tbsp, so 7¢ per sandwich.

Total: 28¢ per sandwich rather than $1.00. Only thing that needs refrigeration is the jelly. And it takes literally under a minute to put together a PB & J sandwich.
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Although I keep large jars of PNB in the house, gotten at a great price when Costco has a sale, I sometimes buy Uncrustables, the frozen PBJ sandwiches of which you speak. They come in handy to just grab and go. I like them and my oldest grandson (soon to be 37) loves them. Can't believe he even eats them partially frozen. Our timeshare resort's mini mart also sells them. $1 for an Uncrustable beats $12 (or more) for a sandwich elsewhere.

While your math and rationale are on point (I calculate savings like that too Star), sometimes I splurge for the convenience, yes or because I have a taste for something. I usually only buy the Uncrustables to take on the bus when I'm going to the timeshare. Most times, however, I make my own sandwiches. If I get enough notice that grandson is coming, I buy them as a treat for him.
 
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I hadn't walked over to our local supermarket in almost two months, so this past Saturday I asked my son to take me because I knew I'd buy more than I could carry if i walked, especially since we still have snow on the ground in certain spots. I think I did pretty good. For $62.81 I got:

~Little more than a pound of red grapes
~2 (33.8 oz) flavored seltzer
~3 pounds of imitation crab meat
~Box of 8 Bubba turkey burgers
~2 (8 oz) containers of flavored cream cheese
~2 half gallons of almond milk
~2 half gallons grape juice
~Quart of heavy cream
~Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
~Can of chic peas
~3 pounds Birds Eye frozen broccoli florets
~Pack of 10 Gorton's crunchy fish filets (whole not minced)
~1 Friendly's mini fudge sundae

~
 
I don't eat out often anymore. Sometimes treat myself. Have been enjoying preparing food at home. More healthy, more economical. Been years really since I stopped fast-food. Was shocked recently to see chicken meals at Popeye's at $10+ for 2-piece and $12+ for 3-piece. I was confused by the brightly lit, rapidly scrolling menu. I kept looking for the meals for $4-$6. I thought the $10+ and $12+ meals where huge family ones. Then I realized they were the little ones for 1 person.

Recently, I bought a sausage/egg biscuit and a small vanilla/strawberry Frostie at Wendy's and it came to $7+. I exclaimed Goodness! and the cashier just looked at me. I was so used to the $1 menu at Wendy's and McDonald's. What happened to them? I think Wendy's disappeared some years ago though. Don't know if McDonald's still has one. Glad I'm not addicted to eating out.
 
It seems all the take-out food places have raised prices. I used to like Popeye's shrimp but now it is not on the menu, they say it is out of season. Their other chicken prices are too high for the two of us. Kentucky Fried Chicken is a better value.

The Pizza Hut near us has a good price for a pizza that we can share. It is $5.00 and you can select 3 toppings for that price.

We are cutting back on eating out, too.
 
Unless traveling, I dine out about once a month, mostly as a meet-up with family or friends. Virtually never due to exhaustion or laziness anymore. Being semi-retired and empty-nested, my life is far less harried than it once was.

Our pantry, fridges & freezers are stocked with food that can be prepared quickly and easily, including meals I'd put together and frozen. Even our vehicles are stocked with hard candy, granola bars and water (glass bottles), so there's no need to hit a drive through or mini mart when thirst or hunger strikes.

It's not just the cost. Fast food doesn't appeal the way it once did. Meat with a heavy side of salt, fat and cheese? Hard pass. I stopped eating that way a long time ago.
 
I don't see the problem here. First, if you don't like the high prices and the "rip-offs" then don't eat out. Restaurants are a luxury; not a necessity of life.

If you buy your own groceries and cook at home you will save a ton of money. Hey, you want to go and spend time with friends, why not go out for coffee only. There are McDonalds all over the world and lucky Canadians have "Tim Horton" coffee shops.

Actually, I don't like eating out because I am sick and tired of the tipping rip-offs.
 
Packerjohn said:
I don't see the problem here. First, if you don't like the high prices and the "rip-offs" then don't eat out. Restaurants are a luxury; not a necessity of life.

If you buy your own groceries and cook at home you will save a ton of money. Hey, you want to go and spend time with friends, why not go out for coffee only. There are McDonalds all over the world and lucky Canadians have "Tim Horton" coffee shops.

Actually, I don't like eating out because I am sick and tired of the
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