Crazy price increases

[Aloe Vera]

What products have seen crazy price increases in recent year?

I am going to paint my office during the TG break. This is the last room in my house that needs to be done. I always buy Benjamin Moore Regal paint. I was used to prices in the $40-50 range for 1 gallon. I paid $78 + tax yesterday. Insane.

Isopropyl alcohol. I use this everywhere around my house. Before Covid a bottle used to be $.99. Now it's $4.

[fernweh]

Dog Food

When we started buying our current dog food brand 3-ish years ago it was $45 for a 50 lb bag. The bag has shrunk to 35lbs and the price has gone up to $80.

It’s insane and I can’t find anything of decent quality for much cheaper. We are lucky that we can swing it but I totally see why some people have to surrender pets with those prices.

[Vespasia]

Nov 21, 2023 14:06:33 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Dog Food

When we started buying our current dog food brand 3-ish years ago it was $45 for a 50 lb bag. The bag has shrunk to 35lbs and the price has gone up to $80.

It’s insane and I can’t find anything of decent quality for much cheaper. We are lucky that we can swing it but I totally see why some people have to surrender pets with those prices.

I recently switched my dog back to a certain dry food after not being able to find it for a while. At the grocery store, a 22 pound bag is $40. On Chewy or Amazon the exact same bag is $65! That's so bizarre to me. I'd like to set up an auto-delivery but not with that price difference! 

[1confused1]

This is fresh in my mind, cheese at Trader Joe’s. I make a charcuterie board every Thanksgiving and this year’s was so much more expensive.

[mala]

Olive Oil. It's 50% of my formula. It went from $18 a gallon, to $27 in the past year. I had to raise my prices for the first time in three years.

[wildrice]

Nov 21, 2023 13:53:39 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

What products have seen crazy price increases in recent year?

I am going to paint my office during the TG break. This is the last room in my house that needs to be done. I always buy Benjamin Moore Regal paint. I was used to prices in the $40-50 range for 1 gallon. I paid $78 + tax yesterday. Insane.

Isopropyl alcohol. I use this everywhere around my house. Before Covid a bottle used to be $.99. Now it's $4.

FWIW, it's been like that for at least 3 years. I used BM for all of the rooms in our house when we moved in 2020 and was shocked at the price. It's good stuff though!

[VacayVaca]

When I was buying diaper cream for my daughter in 2020, a tube of Desitin diaper cream was around $4 at the grocery store. I went to buy it for my new baby, and the price was up to $9.

[circa1978]

So many things. I normally shop at Aldi but have had to run into our regular local grocery store and the average price of bread was $5/loaf with a lot of loaves $7. I was practically humming Do You Hear the People Sing as I shopped.

[noodleoo]

Can I say everything at the grocery store? I still get sticker shock every time.

The biggest one for me is a bag of snacks like Doritos or Cheetos. They used to come on sale for 2 for $5. Now they are like $5 each for a tiny bag. It feels wrong.

[W.T.Faulkner]

I paid $41 last year for 100 Staples Christmas cards (it was a Groupon). This year I paid $56. Tf!?!?

[meanie]

The 60 count eggs at Walmart used to be $6 - $7, they went up to $20 during COVID and settled at $12 currently
Berries not on sale go for around $6 for a tiny pint that is gone before I even put it away

I make an orzo salad during the summer for cookouts, one of our friends suggested it recently as a quick/easy thing for me to bring somewhere...he had no idea that it costs around $40 to make (olive oil, orzo, basil, feta, cherry tomatoes).

Sadly, deli roast beef. Not that it has ever been the cheapest option but it is my FAVORITE and a pound is $10.

I have been a room parent for a few years and really notice prices jumping since I usually get the same stuff each year for parties. I usually ask families to send in $5 a kid, this year I went over by $100 for the Halloween party out of my own pocket and I'm sure our Christmas party will be even more.

[UMaineTeach]

Nov 21, 2023 14:33:35 GMT -5 mala said:

Olive Oil. It's 50% of my formula. It went from $18 a gallon, to $27 in the past year. I had to raise my prices for the first time in three years.

I heard that on NPR! www.npr.org/2023/09/20/1200528565/a-drought-in-spain-has-cut-production-of-olive-oil-and-prices-are-rising



We walked out of the grocery store Sunday with two bags of groceries containing 2 incomplete meals and some fruit for the two days my kid is going to school this week for $85. $25 for a pot roast. It’s pot roast, you are supposed to be rewarded for choosing the tough cut.

[cmeon]

Well, I buy pottery clay in 50lb boxes. With two local providers, I don't have to pay $$$$ to ship it. 50lbs pre-covid ~$20. It's now pushing a dollar a lb. For mud. Clean mud.

There are larger issues with mineral and chemical availibility- some clays and glazes are gone for good.

That's just one hobby- everything is up. It's getting really expensive to have hobbies!

[VillainV]

Pizza from chains like Dominos. We used to be able to do two large pizzas, cheesy bread, and a dessert for like $35. Now it’s closer to $55-60. And the last few times it was horrible…:cold, undercooked, wrong/missing items. Which is why we just don’t do this anymore.

[noodleoo]

Nov 21, 2023 15:49:32 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Pizza from chains like Dominos. We used to be able to do two large pizzas, cheesy bread, and a dessert for like $35. Now it’s closer to $55-60. And the last few times it was horrible…:cold, undercooked, wrong/missing items. Which is why we just don’t do this anymore.

Eating out or even takeout has gotten incredibly expensive.  We just don't do it much anymore.  Which is sad, I never used to think of takeout as a "luxury". 

[HoneySpider]

Nov 21, 2023 15:19:00 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Can I say everything at the grocery store? I still get sticker shock every time.

The biggest one for me is a bag of snacks like Doritos or Cheetos. They used to come on sale for 2 for $5. Now they are like $5 each for a tiny bag. It feels wrong.

Yup, I was going to say everything too! Ugh.

[Saudade]

Ensure shakes. DS2 has to drink one daily due to his ADHD meds. A box at Costco used to be $35 and now it's $48

I took my kids to McDonald's the other day. 4 kids and the bill was $50. 🤯🤯

[stemmie]

Just now on the prepared snack foods.

DH asked for Doritos. I called to ask what flavor he wanted. He said Flaming Hot and Regular-- I said I wasn't spending $10 on chips no one else eats so he could compare and contrast. He never shops and thought they were $2.

[wildrice]

Snack foods for sure - a package of Oreos is over $6 now. Even the generic chips at a regular grocery store are several dollars. I mostly shop at Aldi so we can still get comparable items for cheaper, but I get sticker shock every time I am at a normal store to pick up a couple of things.

Two things for our upcoming vacation that seem much higher than I recall - cat sitting and parking at the airport. I am pretty sure we are paying $30 more for parking than we did for a similar length trip in May, at the same airport. Not sure if I found a discount code earlier this year and just forgot? And I think we are paying $290 for cat sitting, which involves coming over for 30 minutes 9 times. I like our sitter and obviously you can't put a price on making sure your pet is safe while you're away, but I guess she raised her price or Rover raised their fees (or both).

[onomatopoeia]

Butter
OJ
Goldfish crackers
Soda (this is my one vice, I'm not giving up my daily diet coke lol)

Basically everything. I used to get excited when I saw boneless chicken breasts on sale for $1.98 a pound. Now I can find it for $2.99 if I'm lucky.


meanie, omg roast beef! DH asked me to pick some up the other day and I was like uh, not for $12 a pound! Shaved ham for you, sir.

[VillainV]

Nov 21, 2023 15:58:04 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Ensure shakes. DS2 has to drink one daily due to his ADHD meds. A box at Costco used to be $35 and now it's $48

I took my kids to McDonald's the other day. 4 kids and the bill was $50. 🤯🤯

If you eat at McDonald’s semi-frequently, I highly recommend using their app. You can earn free items….but they also have a 20% discount on orders over $10 I think, that you can use once per day, and it never expires. This usually works out better than saving up points for a free item.

[Saudade]

Nov 21, 2023 16:25:31 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Nov 21, 2023 15:58:04 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Ensure shakes. DS2 has to drink one daily due to his ADHD meds. A box at Costco used to be $35 and now it's $48

I took my kids to McDonald's the other day. 4 kids and the bill was $50. 🤯🤯

If you eat at McDonald’s semi-frequently, I highly recommend using their app. You can earn free items….but they also have a 20% discount on orders over $10 I think, that you can use once per day, and it never expires. This usually works out better than saving up points for a free item.

Thanks for the reminder! I always forget to use it

[meanie]

Nov 21, 2023 16:24:32 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

meanie , omg roast beef! DH asked me to pick some up the other day and I was like uh, not for $12 a pound! Shaved ham for you, sir.

DH got it for me on my birthday this year, he spoils me lol

[circa1978]

www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/price-of-food

I didn't notice juice being crazy high (we've been buying a lot because of sickness) but this says it is up more than 20%. I guess I just don't buy it often enough to notice.

ETA: Roast beef has been high here for a long time. I'd be pretty excited to get it for $10 a pound. We don't eat a ton of red meat any more but it is DH's favorite.

[k3am]

A can of soda in my office vending machine used to be $0.65 and is now $1.50. They keep saying that our salaries are keeping up with inflation, but I know for a fact mine hasn't more than doubled.

[BlondeSpiders]

Soda. I remember when you could get 3 12-packs for $10, now a single case is $7. I guess the upside to that is I've drastically reduced my soda intake. I've actually started buying the 8oz cans, which is better for me.

[dcn]

Yeah groceries are bonkers. I stopped today to pick up some last minute things for thanksgiving and my total was $85. My kids were like woah that’s expensive!! The cashier and I agreed that it is crazy lately.

My turkey I got for 49 cents per pound last week though at Kroger. I probably should have bought a second to make in a few months just because it was so inexpensive.

[jobae1234]

I ordered my holiday cards already. I made cards at three different websites and couldn’t get the price lower than $74 for 50 cards. I swear last year they were like $45. They were on sale at all 3 sites, too.

[RoxMonster]

Food in general but eating out is on my mind because we just had this convo this weekend. We went to one of those make your own stir fry places. We do order the large bowl because we like bringing home leftovers, but we’ve always gotten the large bowl. It used to be about $40 total plus tip. It was over 70 freaking dollars this past weekend! Two bowls, two sodas, and an appetizer. And that before the tip.

[EvieEthelGarland]

Santa pics are $75 now. When I last took my DS in 2019 it was $35. I was thinking of being silly and taking the dog, but nope.

Pet sitting has gone crazy. My sister and I talking about swapping for each other and we'd have to fly to each other's homes, but it's cheaper than boarding.

In happy something costs less news, I had to pick up a vial of insulin on vacation a few weeks ago and it was only $22 instead of $275!