What did your parents do for Budget Friendly Meals?

[Linda0818]

The current inflation rate is 2.2%, which is a pretty close to the normal rate of 2.0%. That's why the FED lowered interest rates.

The problem now is that once stores raise prices, they are reluctant to lower them. They want to get those extra profits for as long as they can. But, I am seeing a lot of grocery items on sale, because stores can lower prices without making a long-term commitment to lower prices.

All it would take is for one huge grocery chain (Walmart?) to lower prices on thousands of items, and every grocery chain will have to do it.

CD

I just recently came across an article saying Giant Eagle is lowering prices on over 200 items. I honestly can't afford to shop Giant Eagle because they're so expensive.

Now, I don't know if GE lowering prices will cause a domino effect with other stores, but your reasoning is spot on that if one major chain does it, everyone else will feel the need to follow suit. However, I don't know how much of an influence Giant Eagle will have on other establishments.

 

[caseydog]

I just recently came across an article saying Giant Eagle is lowering prices on over 200 items. I honestly can't afford to shop Giant Eagle because they're so expensive.

Now, I don't know if GE lowering prices will cause a domino effect with other stores, but your reasoning is spot on that if one major chain does it, everyone else will feel the need to follow suit. However, I don't know how much of an influence Giant Eagle will have on other establishments.

I have Kroger, HEB, Tom Thumb (Albertsons) and most importantly, Walmart stores all within five miles of my house, so competition is pretty strong for my money. If you don't have that level of competition, it may take longer for prices to come down.

CD

 

[Linda0818]

I have Kroger, HEB, Tom Thumb (Albertsons) and most importantly, Walmart stores all within five miles of my house, so competition is pretty strong for my money. If you don't have that level of competition, it may take longer for prices to come down.

CD

I think we have some decent competition. We have Kroger, Giant Eagle, Aldi, Costco, Walmart, Marc's... and maybe a couple of others that aren't as popular. But they're still around. So I'd say there's enough competition to where if one store lowers prices, we have several options of where we can go for the lower costs.

 

[caseydog]

I think we have some decent competition. We have Kroger, Giant Eagle, Aldi, Costco, Walmart, Marc's... and maybe a couple of others that aren't as popular. But they're still around. So I'd say there's enough competition to where if one store lowers prices, we have several options of where we can go for the lower costs.

I don't know about your Walmart, but the one here in Frisco is very nice. The meat department has really good beef, including a small selection of USDA Prime. But the best part is that things like canned goods are really priced well, especially if you buy their Great Value store brand. Now, some GV products are not too good, but a lot are comparable to name brands.

Kroger store branded items are also usually good. Their Simple Choice Organics brand has a lot of good products for reasonable prices.

I have two ALDI stores within 2 miles of me, but I seldom go there. I know I won't be able to get everything I need there, and will have to go to a second store. the fun thing I like about ALDI is looking for a kid in the parking lot after I load my stuff in my car. I like to let them return my cart and keep the quarter.

CD

 

[Linda0818]

I don't know about your Walmart, but the one here in Frisco is very nice. The meat department has really good beef, including a small selection of USDA Prime. But the best part is that things like canned goods are really priced well, especially if you buy their Great Value store brand. Now, some GV products are not too good, but a lot are comparable to name brands.

Kroger store branded items are also usually good. Their Simple Choice Organics brand has a lot of good products for reasonable prices.

I have two ALDI stores within 2 miles of me, but I seldom go there. I know I won't be able to get everything I need there, and will have to go to a second store.

CD

We have so-so Walmart stores and a couple of really nice ones. The one closest to me closed down a few months ago. Not missing anything there. That place was a piece of poo poo. Not kept up well and a lot of theft. But the one in Grove City and the one in Canal Winchester are both really nice. The Grove City location is my favorite.

As for Aldi, I'll go there for cheap items, like canned goods, boxed items (like rice, mac & cheese, etc), bread and bagged snacks and I enjoy checking out their frozen foods section. Oh, and I get my Easter ham from Aldi every year because I can get a nice sized bone-in ham for around $11 or $12. The same ham at Kroger is around $34. So major difference there.

But you're right, I go to Aldi only for some items, but have to hit a major grocery store for the rest. My cousin does the same thing. She goes to Aldi first to get what she can, but then hits up Kroger or Meijer (another major chain I forgot to mention in my previous post) for everything else.

So yeah, add Meijer to my list of major chains above. I'm hoping that the reduction in prices at Giant Eagle causes the rest of the stores to do the same thing.

Can I just say that I love Walmart's bakery? Check out this beautiful box of donuts I grabbed from there one day. And yeah, okay, so one is missing

 

[caseydog]

We have so-so Walmart stores and a couple of really nice ones. The one closest to me closed down a few months ago. Not missing anything there. That place was a piece of poo poo. Not kept up well and a lot of theft. But the one in Grove City and the one in Canal Winchester are both really nice. The Grove City location is my favorite.

As for Aldi, I'll go there for cheap items, like canned goods, boxed items (like rice, mac & cheese, etc), bread and bagged snacks and I enjoy checking out their frozen foods section. Oh, and I get my Easter ham from Aldi every year because I can get a nice sized bone-in ham for around $11 or $12. The same ham at Kroger is around $34. So major difference there.

But you're right, I go to Aldi only for some items, but have to hit a major grocery store for the rest. My cousin does the same thing. She goes to Aldi first to get what she can, but then hits up Kroger or Meijer (another major chain I forgot to mention in my previous post) for everything else.

So yeah, add Meijer to my list of major chains above. I'm hoping that the reduction in prices at Giant Eagle causes the rest of the stores to do the same thing.

Can I just say that I love Walmart's bakery? Check out this beautiful box of donuts I grabbed from there one day. And yeah, okay, so one is missing

My Walmart is in an affluent city (median home price is $597K) so that Walmart is a lot nicer than some I have been to in other places. I went to one in Houston that felt like a jail, with the amount of security built in.

CD

 

[Linda0818]

My Walmart is in an affluent city (median home price is $597K) so that Walmart is a lot nicer than some I have been to in other places. I went to one in Houston that felt like a jail, with the amount of security built in.

CD

Yep, that's how the Kroger is on our end of town. We're on the south side of Columbus. There are panhandlers on just about every corner and our Kroger (which I haven't actually shopped at for a few years now) is full of security that asks everyone to show receipts at the door on their way out. And you can only go in and out of one door. They shut the other entrance down. Not too awful long ago, a man was beaten to death there. Literally to death. It was very sad.

I make the trek to other Kroger stores. I won't shop the one on our end of town anymore.