Grocery Price Differences across the Country

[PollyPoPo]

Mehan suggested a new thread for this.  Here it is.

So that this makes sense:  Mehan posted under Money Saving Idea? regarding checking prices of food in different areas.

"I certainly am.  Do we want to start a new thread?   I am thinking, chicken whole, chicken breasts, ground beef,  lets pick one common lesser expensive beef (London broil?) and perhaps pork loin (not tenderloin).

"Then gal milk, doz large eggs, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes."

[PollyPoPo]

I would suggest any of the following as well as milk, eggs, veggies (though prices might vary widely due to season such as broccoli which is in a lot of home gardens now around me):

Chicken thighs
Chicken legs
Chicken thigh and leg quarters
Chicken breast boneless, skinless
Chicken breast with bone and skin
Whole chicken
Ground beef (cheapest version, not with added stretchers)
Beef roast (pot roast, 7 steak, sirloin) (identify)
Beef steak (sirloin, ribeye, etc.) (identify)
Pork chops (cheapest version)
Pork steak
Pork tenderloin or whole loin (identify)
Mac and Cheese in a box with powdered cheese (cheapest house brand)
Bread (cheapest loaf of sandwich type, 24 oz)
Onions white
Onions yellow
Potatoes (white, non-bakers)
Fresh mushrooms, 8 oz non-sliced
5# flour
5# sugar
1# pinto beans
1# salt pork
Bacon (1# or 12 oz)

Note that any beef or pork cuts would need to be identified so that we are comparing same items. Moving from Chicago to Texas, I found different cuts of beef and different names for same cuts (London broil, for example, might be a type of cut or a prepared spiral on skewer; never heard of 7 blade in Chicago, and nothing here is labeled pot roast; you cannot get skirt steak here – but you can get fajitas, etc.)

[mehan]

I am off to the market.  Just for fun yesterday I pulled up a texas and a michigan (Merlin - Kroger wouldn't pull up Oklahoma) and just looked at the ads.  Where my local store had either split breasts, leg quarters or thighs for .99/lb, michigan and tx had only the leg quarters or thighs for .99/lb.  (I am wondering if it is a typo in mine)

Tx assorted pork chops were 1.99/lb, but mich and home were 1.69. 

Hmmm.....

[mehan]

Chicken thighs - .99/lb sale (1.99)
Chicken legs .99/lb  sale (1.49)
Chicken thigh and leg quarters - none this week
Chicken breast boneless, skinless 1.99 sale (2.99)
Chicken breast with bone and skin  .99 sale (2.99)
Whole chicken - .69
Ground beef (cheapest version, not with added stretchers) 2.49
Beef roast (pot roast, 7 steak, sirloin) (identify) London broil (top sirlon) 3.49
Beef steak (sirloin, ribeye, etc.) (identify) Rib eye 8.99
Pork chops (cheapest version)  3.49
Pork steak  ?
Pork tenderloin or whole loin (identify)  loin 3.49 (on sale tomorrow for 2.49)
Mac and Cheese in a box with powdered cheese (cheapest house brand) .50
Bread (cheapest loaf of sandwich type, 24 oz) .88 (but 1.09 for house real whole wheat)
Onions white - 1.29
Onions yellow  .10 (major doorbuster sale - normally .49)
Potatoes (white, non-bakers) 4.99 10# bag, not available bulk
Fresh mushrooms, 8 oz non-sliced 1.69
5# flour 2.46
5# sugar  I couldn't find 5# all the bags were 4# - new marketing ploy?  2.46
1# pinto beans .99
1# salt pork - couldn't find any
Bacon (1# or 12 oz) 2.50/12 oz - no generic available

This was an eye-opening experience.  Since at my age I have to eat more carefully, a lot of the things I did to stretch my dollars before (lotsa pasta, ground beef, etc) I can't do anymore so I haven't paid any attention to the prices.  Mac and cheese was often .10 a box.  Chicken noodle soup .25 - now four times that. 

[PollyPoPo]

Mehan, what is your general location? 

(Of course, your street address would actually get us there for wine, coffee, and ribs someday .)

[Merlin the Elder]

Mehan, what is your general location? 

(Of course, your street address would actually get us there for wine, coffee, and ribs someday .)

Someday?.. Hell, if she posts her address, I'm heading there NOW! Alcohol, caffeine, and meat are three of the four major food groups. Add chocolate, and you'll have them all. Got any chocolate chip cookies, Mehan?

[Lady Neysa]

Mehan, I've noticed that a few times recently about the smaller sugar bags too.  Just another example of downsizing products without downsizing price, or in some cases, the prices increasing.  This has been going on for years with many different products.  Ticks me off! 

[The Rabbi]

Hey she has 3 of the 4 ive got home made fudge its all good.

[mehan]

Yeah, gotta love my garage - but the chocolate stockpile is in my closet - gotta keep that close at hand...

I am  South, mid sized town (200K?) - I "krogerd" some of the south's larger towns and still saw a difference in prices.  Where I thought they would be lower (more competition, more demand), we were actually lower.   Now I am intrigued as to why that would be.  The meat manager at our local store is  kinda a friend.   I am gonna buy him a beer and pick his brains.

[Adriana Rose]

Dont forget to factor in sales tax. That is a kicker, where I am the sales tax is the biggest expense on a grocery run.

[The Rabbi]

Even here location plays a big role in price. Reasors our closest store had a 20lb brisket for $75.00 Another 30 miles to Vinita and a 25 lb brisket was $43.00 difference Reasors is located close to the lake and shopped at by weekenders and summer people. Vinita is a good sized town but not a tourist mecca so to say. Sadly enough the local economy is over 55% SSI, SSI disability, VA benefits, and Welfare.

[PollyPoPo]

Dont forget to factor in sales tax. That is a kicker, where I am the sales tax is the biggest expense on a grocery run.

Another reason I'm in Texas - no sales tax on food at groceries.  No state income tax, either, but there are various "fees" on items like sewer/water/electric bills, car registration, etc.  On the whole, though, the state takes less out of my pocket than did Illinois, Indiana, or other places.

[raevyncait]

I'm in TX, west of Fort Worth. No sales tax on *most* grocery food/beverage items.  There IS sales tax on things like soda, and I think on the cakes and prepared foods in the deli/bakery. 

Chicken thighs $1.47/lb
Chicken legs $1.22/lb
Chicken thigh and leg quarters $.88/lb
Chicken breast boneless, skinless $1.97/lb
Chicken breast with bone and skin $1.78/lb
Whole chicken $1.24/lb
Ground beef (cheapest version, not with added stretchers) $2.40/lb
Beef roast (pot roast, 7 steak, sirloin) (identify) chuck roast $3.98/lb
Beef steak (sirloin, ribeye, etc.) (identify) sirloin $4.98/lb
Pork chops (cheapest version) $3.28/lb
Pork steak $2.78/lb
Pork tenderloin or whole loin (identify) boneless loin roast $3.68
Mac and Cheese in a box with powdered cheese (cheapest house brand) $.46
Bread (cheapest loaf of sandwich type, 24 oz) $1.25
Onions white $1.38/lb
Onions yellow $.98/lb
Potatoes (white, non-bakers) $1.69/lb
Fresh mushrooms, 8 oz non-sliced $1.08
5# flour $1.82
4# sugar $2.16
1# pinto beans $1.32
1# salt pork $2.32
Bacon (1#) $3.78
Head lettuce $1.18
gallon milk $2.38
eggs large $1.58
tomatoes $1.68/lb

I shopped Walmart last night on my way home. The sugar being in 4# instead of 5# bags is probably the biggest thing that manufacturer's are doing to "avoid raising prices". Cereals, lunch meats, lots of things that we used to buy prepackaged by the pound are now sold in smaller packages, but at the same price, thinking that consumers will be so impressed that prices haven't risen, that they will never notice that the package size has shrunk (and therefore the cost HAS risen). Also, I've been buying generic milk for so long that I don't even look at the brand name pricing anymore, but the fact that Borden is SOOOO proud of their name that a gallon of their milk is more than TWICE the price of the store brand, and still almost $2 more than the 'mid-range' brand just astounds me!  
I admit that I never buy the cheapest ground meat, if I'm cooking just for me, I go with the leanest cut of the store brand, and I tend to buy the frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts, instead of the fresh ones.

[Merlin the Elder]

Dont forget to factor in sales tax. That is a kicker, where I am the sales tax is the biggest expense on a grocery run.

They've been working on reducing and/or removing the sales tax on groceries. Anymore, there is sales tax from the state, county, and city. Here in Arkansas, depending on where you are, sales tax varies from 6% (state only) to 9%. State food tax is down to 1.5%, then you add 1% for my county sales tax, and 1% for my city. Still, tax is less than half for groceries.

Polly, as I recall, sales tax in Texas on other things was pretty high. I've not paid attention to it in recent years, but I do recall in the 80s buying something in Houston, and the tax (if memory serves) was like 9%, while here in Arkansas, sales tax was around 3%.

All-in-all, if you leave groceries and medicines out of it, sales tax is the most fair tax of all.

[PollyPoPo]

Coupons - I seldom bother with manufacturer coupons for food items unless they are more than $1 and usually then there is often a store coupon that is more than the one I have to cut out.

Figure in gas prices and I usually go to nearest store or stop while I'm on my way someplace else.