So, I shopped for food for our 4th of July cookout yesterday

[Ohiogal]

I normally am a very frugal person, but we do splurge a little bit on holiday dinners.

We don't eat red meat except on special occasions, and when we do, I buy grass fed beef. 2 lbs. grass fed ground beef for burgers. $8.99/lb. (I know it's cheaper at Aldi's, but my husband wasn't willing to go out of our way to get there).

He and I like salmon burgers. Store made salmon burgers $4 each. I looked at the frozen salmon, thinking that I could maybe make them myself for less, but the frozen salmon was $14/lb. No way. That's for wild-caught Alaskan. I won't eat farm raised.

I haven't made ice cream in my machine since last summer, and thought it might be nice to have some for dessert tomorrow. I needed 3 cups of heavy cream to make a batch. 1 qt. of heavy cream .... $8. wow.

Even the all-beef hot dogs (without nitrites) were $8 a package.

Anyone else getting grocery store sticker shock buying cookout food for tomorrow?

[madaboutharry]

1. Food prices are definitely going up.

One thing that I really noticed was the price of eggs. Fresh fruits and vegetables too.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

2. Don't worry..

dt will get the wages for working people raised....he said during the election they were "already too high' though. Don't hold your breathe. Store prices are ridiculous, plus...swipe your own groceries bc they can't afford a check out person....yeah, NO!

[JayhawkSD]

3. Inflation is US policy

The Fed is charged by the US government with creating inflation in our economy and with keeping it "stable" at a 2% rate. It has been unable to do that for several years, so your sense, and mine, that food prices are rising is an illusion, or is mere imagination. Inflation is only now reaching the desired rate of 2% so food prices are not doing even close to what you think they are doing.

Oh wait. Food prices are not included in inflation. Neither are housing or energy. So all of the things that people actually need to buy and are buying, food housing and energy, are not part of the inflation picture. Things that people don't need to buy, like boats, booze and vacation trips, are included.

That way the government can tell us that the things we can't afford to buy are only getting more expensive at the rate of 2% per year. Is this a great country or what?

[Phentex]

4. I bought 4 bratwurst and 2 beef hot dogs from the deli...

5.39 for the brats and 2.76 for the dogs. We only do this once or twice a year.

Bought mushrooms to grill for the vegan and using up other veggies to round out the meal. I splurged on a tiny pit of potato salad because I'm the only one who eats it. I could have made it for much less but it was an impulse purchase. I was hungry.

[virgogal]

5. Hmmmm! What time shall I be there?---I'll bring a bottle of red. :-)

[NJCher]

6. nope

I don't buy a thing because the RG is such a grocery store maven that there is always tons of good food around here. He never looks at price tags; I always do.

I like to go to Aldi, though, because they have a few things he won't shop for, like antioxidant fruit juice. Another item is their no-nitrate ham.

So even while he's visiting his children in another state for the fourth and I'm home minding the kitties, there's still enough food to feed an army here.

But if I saw those price tags you saw, ohiogal, I'd be flinching, too.