California? Over $3 would be expensive here on Long Island these days. I’m curious what foods are suddenly noticeably cheaper. I’ve rarely noticed any sharp general shifts over a period of days.

For us here (SoCal) best prices near us look like Sam’s ($3.61) and Costco ($3.64). I’ve not noticed food prices going down. Ground beef was $10/lb at our regular market and $7.50 at TJ’s. That was for 85/15.

Found the receipt. I can't quote the higher prices. (just trust me, I guess.) Most notable items were:

ribeye steak...9.98 lb

butter...2.98...lb

eggs...2.47..doz

milk...3.49... gal

7-up...1.28..2 lit

celery...98 cents.

I last paid $2.36 for gas a couple weeks ago. I only drive about 70 miles a week so it's about a month between fill-ups. The Murphy's USA next to Walmart is usually about 10 cents cheaper than the rest.

I stocked up on 16-20 count shrimp($6.50/lb),snow crab legs($9/lb), and stuffed scallops ($1/each) last week before the December seafood sale ended at a local grocery. I rarely buy beef since we get a side every 18 months or so and the next one is due in mid March. I still have about 15 lbs. left to get us by until then.

I do most of my shopping at ALDI and don't really pay much attention to price as they are pretty stable there as of late.

Gas was $2.85 at Wawa in the Philly area today.

I've been seeing a wide range at the majors, from around $4 to $4.75 lately. That's down a tad. I paid a bit over $5 just a few weeks ago. The Costco near where I am now (coastal SoCal) is $3.99.

The food prices you quoted were likely because of the holidays. Where I shop, ribeye is always cheaper at Christmas. I paid the same price as you did for steaks in the value pack but they were $20 a pound individually. Butter is priced low as a loss leader for holiday baking. Egg prices have come down because the avian flu has abated. They had to kill hundreds of thousands of chickens last winter and they said they couldn't replace them until spring, so prices stayed high. Those spring chicks are now laying eggs. Milk still looks high compared to a few years ago.

Are you attributing this to some kind of government policies? I hope not, because there haven't been any that I'm aware of. It's just regular market fluctuations.

No. Eileen. I'm not thinking any of that. Also, I do buy middle of the road stuff, often store brand, from a middle of the road store. There are plenty of other grocery stores nearby that are still quite high I'm sure.

Gas prices have been quite low. I’d gladly pay more for a different approach to how we value resources and neighbors.

Gasoline in many places is coming down because oil has fallen to <$60/bbl. There are regional factors, in Oregon I'm still paying $4.30/gal for regular, due to local taxes and refining capacity. California gas prices are up due to refinery closures, which may get worse.

At the grocery store, over the last couple months I've noticed occasional lowering of prices for pork and chicken, while beef remains very expensive (other than special occasions, I've largely stopped buying beef) and fresh produce keeps creeping up. I don't follow packaged foods prices that much, my buying habits are inconsistent, I bounce around among various brands and private label. In general the food manufacturers and retailers know that the consumer is resisting price so they are trying harder to give the appearance of value. Lately we have been doing more grocery shopping at US Foods and other restaurant-oriented retailers, I've been going to the Fred Meyer (an Albertsons' brand) and the Asian grocers more and the super-convenient Whole Foods less.

@John Liu ... Hello neighbor. I'm an Oregonian too. I thought though that Albertson's and Safeway are joined, and Fred Meyer is Kroger.

Believe it. It takes time to fix the mess of the previous demented régime but common sense will get us there.

Husband paid $2.79 at the brand new Sheetz. PA has high taxes on gas. Salmon went up, two dollars a pound at Trader Joe's this week. Eggs are only cheaper at $2.99 a dozen for jumbos because the Avian flu decimated flocks of chickens. Coffee prices are insane, and I paid $3 a pound more than I did months ago. You'd have to be not paying attention that the average person's weekly grocery bill is much higher than a year ago.

I'm in the Portland area. When you mentioned ribeye for $9.99 a pound, I wondered if you were shopping at WinCo. I thought you were in California and WinCo is there now. I am so familiar with their prices after twenty years of shopping there and I have noticed a jump in prices the past six months.

Arcy probably believes tariffs will get us to lower prices.

Rural Missouri gas prices today: $2.17 gallon at two different gas stations.

@Eileen...yep. Winco. I shop there for every day stuff, with trips to Costco and Trader Joes for other things. I like Winco. It's not a designer grocery store. (no soft lighting and music playing). It's pretty basic, but I'm OK with basic when it comes to saving $$. It's not a problem for me to bag my own groceries, and I also like that it is employee owned. I'm in Yamhill county.

I paid 2.11 in Baytown, Texas on Monday, for gas

Colorado Springs gas $1.77

Ribeye = $6.97lb for the holidays

Eggs = $2.59 doz or $11.60/60qty

Milk = $2.85 gal

Romaine lettuce = $2.47 a head

Roma tomatoes = 1.69lb

Avocados = .71ea med

Edited to add: Our gas prices are low because we have NO snow...no skiers. We have a glut. (According to the local news)

@hobbitmom...Great post...I love to compare.

“ribeye steak...9.98 lb”

Not bad…just got back from the market and they were $16/lb. However, chuck roasts were on sale for $6/lb. (down from $9).

It's happening alright! Things are kicking in now-will be great years ahead!

I'm in the midwest. Our gas prices fluctuate, but right now seem about what they have been the last year. Grocery prices are not down at all. The prices on your receipt are pretty good - and much lower than ours. I just bought a bunch of regular old pascal celery for almost $3.

Bluebell, that’s different from what Fox reported.

Our produce on the West Coast is always cheaper than the Midwest's. Much of it is grown in Mexico, especially this time of year.

Elmer, I don't watch Fox so don't know what they reported. I just know what I'm paying, and our grocery prices haven't gone down. Given the time of year, all of our produce comes from elsewhere. But even in the summer, prices were high, even at our farm markets, which have insanely high prices. We did have lower gas prices for about the last week, but they went back up again.

I'm in southeast Pa, and I guess it really depends on what store and what sales.

I have definitely been finding prices heading down. Salmon on sale $6,99, Eggs $2.19, etc. I know I can also pay $9.99 for salmon and over $5 for eggs. I do not typically buy organic.

Grocery prices here aren't down as a whole, altho some items may occasionally fluctuate.

Gasoline (as of yesterday) is $2.199, $2.219, and $2.259 at the sources I monitor.

Sorry bluebell, my comment wasn't clear. I very much agreed with what you were saying, including the mention about grocery prices (excepting a few individual ones that have spiked for specific reasons).

My mention of Fox was sarcastic for those who swallow its propaganda. I suspect it's falsely touting an economic miracle just as the commander has. I too don't watch it so longs as it acts as a shill for political extremists.

We had ribeyes for Christmas from Costco. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas the price doubled. I had to buy nine steaks and spent over $300.

I thought oil prices were down because there's an overall oil glut. ?

Grocery prices pretty consistent here, no noticeable difference between pre- and post-holiday season where I shop other than "holiday items" (turkey, prime rib, baking supplies, etc). Do agree with the comment above re: holiday pricing/loss leaders -- definitely the time to stock up on stuff that will keep a while.

Prices can, and do, vary by store. I find Kroger higher in price on the items I buy regularly compared to the other major (regional) retailer Meijer, but Kroger does run decent sales. Just gotta know your prices and who has what on sale. I do sometimes trade convenience for cost, for instance when I only need one or two items so I just go the market in town rather than drive 20 minutes one-way to save a buck or two -- which actually costs more because gas is money, and in my book so is time.

The point here being, if you have the time and choice of stores at which to shop, it can be worth it to shop different stores to save money.

I’m not a person who pays close attention to cost of individual grocery items but I do notice what our grocery bill total is. Across the board our total bill has gone up a lot month by month whether it’s a shop at Costco for shelf stable items or my nearby grocers for produce or faster used up items. We typically put mostly the same items in our cart so I’m not factoring in new items we might be trying out. So, IMO, my answer to the posted question is ”No, it’s not really happening”.

We never travel anymore, so not much gas is needed. The last time I bought rib eye steaks was 9 months ago. We used to eat once a week. I buy only hamburger and maybe a pot roast once in a while. The beef is going to die of old age before I pay these prices. If everyone is doing that, well you can keep feeding the cow or choke on it.

“I had to buy nine steaks and spent over $300.”

I can believe it. Our son paid $337 for a 5-bone rib roast….13 pounds, I think.

I agree that overall costs aren't going down. Tho individual items may, others are going up. The whole coffee beans I buy at Aldi have gone up by about 33% since last fall, for instance.

Carolb, what sort of beans? price?

Here, gasolene and eggs are cheaper than a year ago, but that's about it.

Organic whole beans from Honduras and Peru - used to be around $6.50, and now almost $9 for 12 ounces.

Our station has regular gas for $2.12.9/gallon

The only food item that I track is oranges. I press two or three, depending on size, for my morning drink. Here in Northern Virginia, the bulk of our navel oranges come from Mexico. Prior to the tariffs, oranges were 50 cents each at one market and 55 cents each at another. Currently, they are both at $1.50 per orange.

Gas will continue to go down. We just drove 1 95 from miami to Upper state NY. Huge grocery and gas price difference all across. Most expensive south Florida area. Groceries, meat Ykes!

“Currently, they are both at $1.50 per orange.”

YIKES!😳 I might go hug our orange tree!🍊🧡

^^^ Yeah, feel the same here, will hug my asst fruit trees today. Going out now to pick some collards for dinner to go with the carrots as side dishes. Growing our own has not only saved us mucho bucks plus vine ripened homegrown sure beats the wax covered & pesticide drenched produce at the stores. I wish we could grow oranges here too.

vgkg, we’re blessed with citrus trees here. You can’t even give it all away, yet prices here never go down much. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen lemons here less than 50 cents each. That is, decent lemons. The other day they were 80 cents each at the market, yet our lemon tree is loaded. You might find them cheaper, but those can be pretty small.

I was at Costco today in northern CA. Rib eye steaks were 17.99/pound; last year, they were $12.99. Every item I bought was at least $1 more. Coffee prices are way up.

I buy green coffee beans and roast them myself and those have gone up about $3 a pound in the last year or so. Here the groceries are cheaper than many other places, but they haven't gone down at all, other than eggs. Gas bounces like a tennis ball, it was $2.99 yesterday, but $2.42 on Wednesday. Today it's $2.87.

Because I garden and can, raise beef and have chickens, I don't buy many of items others do. However, items like laundry soap and toilet paper just keep going up, as does lettuce. Today it was $2.49 a head for something that cost me 99 cents about a year ago. I quit buying soft drinks because at $8.49 a 12 pack I'd have to like it far more than I do. Snack foods took a big jump especially. Elery has a weakness for Lay's potato chips and they have gone from $3.29 to $4.99. I bought Oreos for a Christmas dessert I was making and found that they had gone up to $5.89, I had been buying them for $3.99. Chex for party mix was on sale, good thing, because the box that used to cost me about $4 has gone up to above $6. I also noticed that pet food and supplies have gone up. Amanda bought a special food for her Golden Retriever who had skin problems. That bag went from $45 to over $90 in less than 6 months. Now she makes dog food and the dog is doing much better eating that anyway. Cat litter is also crazy expensive for what it is.

So, do I notice prices going down? Not even a little. I know that beef prices are up at the store because they are up at the stock sale. A feeder calf that used to cost $400 will now cost a farmer over $1,000. I really don't know how someone could buy that calf, feed him for 18 months then butcher for beef and even break even, it's crazy. I did read a newsletter from our local Department of Natural Resources that said the United States has approximately 38 million deer and only 28 million beef cattle, the US cattle herd is smaller than it's been in the last 50 years or so, due to drought that affected hay crops and without hay farmers can't feed the cattle.

Annie

Annie, I really appreciate your view on these current affairs. Obviously you are closer to the source and lucky you can control at least some of the ridiculous prices we are now paying. Thanks.

Produce and meat will fluctuate due to weather, disease and other factors that government can't control. I think you should track non-perishable items to determine price changes.

I know one thing that keeps rising and that's CEO salaries.

Factors influencing price movements of non-perishables are mostly different from those affecting food items. Though there are some that affect both, like petroleum prices and the trickle-down that influences costs of derivative products that all product producers use. CEO salaries don't have a major influence.

Market supply and demand, influenced by the economy overall, may have the greatest impact. Look at American durable goods manufactures in various sectors for examples.

I notice the price increases in non-food items mostly, especially the things that rarely go on sale. Someone mentioned lettuce, but I can find iceberg lettuce for anywhere between $1.99 to $4 a head in different stores, unless there is some mass weather problem that destroys crops and temporarily raises prices. But cleaning supplies, OTOH, everything went up 20% or more, and I am sure the price won't go down.

I shop sales, even tho I able thankfully able to afford to pay full price. Jim likes the mini diet cokes for his lunch (I rarely drink anything carbonated unless it's mixed with gin and lime on a hot day), and the 10 packs are like $8.50+ regularly. If I come across a sale at about $6.50 or so, I buy 3 or 4 packs. The huge differences in prices just store to store, not even counting sales, just astounds me.

🦞 Lobster Index — 1-10-26. $10/ Lb. Soft shelled, but filled out. Not very flavorful. Maybe someone has figured out a method for extracting the essence without altering the appearance of the lobster.

(a week ago, same store, they were $13/ Lb)