Before Tigger switched to Science Diet, I was paying $11.50 for an 8-lb bag of Purina at Safeway (about the same price for a 20-lb bag at Wally World, if I happened to be near there when the dog food ran out).  I now pay $21 for a 20-lb bag of the new stuff at the vet’s office.

Cereal can be up to $5/box; milk now runs $4.69/half-gallon.

I have long maintained that the CPI price basket doesn’t reflect real people’s purchases any more.

This goes to show that someone always has it worse. Our milk is going for around $3.19 per gallon, but it’s about 30 cents less expensive at the convenience store (go figure!).

When I buy Terry’s food at the supermarket, it’s the Purina One in 20 pound bags which sells for $16.99. If I go up to New Hampshire to the discount pet store, I can get it for $12 and no tax. Still that’s about a $2 increase over last year in either place.

It’s the rest of the stuff that kills me though. Just plain food. Not fancy stuff, just the basics. The increases in the past couple of years have really, really gotten crazy.

I live in Hawaii...it’s beautiful, but you guys don’t know what expensive is.  Gotta get back to work to pay for life.

I love your blog and check in often.  Thank you for sharing!

Hi Robin. Thank you!

Yes, that is the impression I’ve gotten. Lovely place to visit, but a terribly expensive place to live. But I suppose, in part, it’s relative to what you’re used to. This neck of the woods is way more expensive than where I lived in upstate New York. It was quite an adjustment. Still is, really.

Well, I certainly am not complaining! I am saving about a $100 or more a week in my food bill since I moved here. Prices here are waaaaaaaaay cheaper than in CA, let me tell you! Can you get the family discount at anyone of the stores, or just the specific one he works in? If you can, go to NH. Milk is only $2.75 a gallon. And Market Basket is even cheaper. A lot of things I found are cheaper in the NH stores. But even if I exclusively shopped in MA, I would still save a bundle compared to my food bill in CA LOL.

Yeah, but you see...I haven’t moved. And prices have continued to climb. Sharply. While others in the country would be happy to shop here, that doesn’t affect my weekly shopping experience. But I do think moving my shopping over the border is the way to go. Not sure if the employee discount is valid in other stores. If not, I still have the Rewards Card to use...which, incidentally, is probably part of the reason why prices have jumped so sharply.

Yes, I’ve been noticing this, too. For instance, when did chicken get so expensive?? I remember when chicken was an inexpensive meat, but now it’s $5.50 a pound for boneless, skinless breasts. (I’m lazy, I like it ready to cook.) I discovered, though, that shopping around makes a big difference. Those same boneless, skinless breasts are $3.99 a pound at a different grocery store. I hate that I have to be one of those people who goes to different stores for different things, but it makes a *huge* difference in how much we spend on groceries.

I buy my milk but the quart and pay about 70 cents for it.  (I live alone.)

Pet food seems to vary wildly from store to store.  The same dry cat food bag (5lb - I have only 1 cat) can go anywhere from $1.50 to $4.50 per bag - same brand.  Makes no sense.

As for Hawaii, I’ve always heard certain things are very expensive there, because a lot has to be “imported”, which I guess is expensive.

After shutting off the video of The Birds, I caught a snippet of Dr. Phil - and this couple was in debt because they took out a home equity loan - to get this - go on vacation to Hawaii!
The first thing I thought was… if you’re looking for a tropical vacation - there are MUCH less expensive vacations than to go to Hawaii.
I was in Hawaii once in my life (I was a kid - parents paid for it).  I will likely never go there again as long as I live.  It’s not that I wouldn’t want to.  But it’s just not enough bang for the buck!