Inflation has been slowing down a teeny bit, but you wouldn't know it from looking at grocery prices, which are still pretty ridiculous. CNN reports that food prices are up 11.4% over this time last year, and some items have gone up in price even more. Like, a lot more. And a lot of people are changing up their shopping habits accordingly.
Recently, u/dudreddit asked people on r/Frugal to share which foods they've stopped buying at the grocery store because of inflation, and I found myself nodding right along with a lot of them. Here's some of what people had to say:
1. "For me, the two that come to mind are watermelon (my local store has them for $11 — no thank you) and hummus. I love both, but I refuse to pay these inflated prices, even though I can. I vote with my wallet."
2. "Avocados. They went from $4.99 to $9.99 at Costco for a bag of six."
3. "Frozen pizzas have gotten out of hand. It's cheaper to just get Domino's or Little Caesars."
4. "Cherries. I will eat an entire bag in one sitting, but not at $25 per bag. I miss the old $8.99."
"We grabbed a bag of cherries a few weeks ago not realizing that one bag was $11.50!! The kids enjoyed them. But we won’t be buying them again anytime soon."
5. "Wings! They used be $8–$9 for a family pack, and now they are more than $16."
6. "My Chobani yogurts. I love them, but they cut the size in half and made it over 150% the original price. So it’s more like two or three times as expensive for the amount. I hate it."
7. "Carbonated beverages. I used to always have Fresca in the house. Now, rarely."
8. "I stopped buying chicken for a few months. The price is coming down, but not by much. I’ve cut back on eggs, too, which sucks because we use a lot of them!!!"
9. "Potato chips. I buy the higher-priced chips because they don't upset my stomach (the joys of getting older), and a bag used to cost around $3.50. Now it's gone up to $5.95."
10. "Irish butter. Man, that stuff is so good. But $7 for two sticks of butter is steep. Yesterday it was on sale for $3.99, which was cheaper than other butter that size. We have a tiny fridge (talking camper size), so we don’t buy bulk of much cold stuff because we can’t hold it."
11. "Bacon! It’s gotten super expensive here."
12. "Breakfast burritos. I used to get a pack of 12 for about $8; they’re now right around $15 for the same pack, and the flavor changed too. Now I make a batch of egg muffins on Sundays and have breakfast all week for maybe $2."
13. "The price has gone up a little, but the quality has gone WAY down on a lot of produce around me. Even simple stuff like lettuce looks and tastes terrible now, so I won't waste my money. I definitely think it's a supply chain issue. I miss having a salad every day for lunch."
14. "Beef jerky. I am pretty obsessed with teriyaki jerky, but I will be damned if I'm buying it anymore because of the prices here."
15. "Gluten-free food was expensive before inflation, and now it’s ridiculous. Examples: Pot stickers are $9.50 for a pack of nine, and bagels are $8 for a pack of four. I’m mostly going without or stocking up when things are on sale."
16. "I'm buying less nice, local craft beer. It sucks because I'd rather support them than large brewers, but damn if it ain't super expensive."
17. "Frosted Flakes. It costs $6 for a family-size box. Knowing I'll go through it in a week by myself, I'll just buy the $2 generic stuff, even though it's not as good."
18. "Natural peanut butter. I like the kind that's just ground-up peanuts, no other ingredients. The store brand that used to be under $3 a jar is now $4.49. It's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I just can't bring myself to buy it anymore."
19. "Last grocery trip, I refused to buy potatoes. They were $7 for a 10-pound bag. It’s still a pretty cheap food, but only a few months ago, that same bag was $4. And this was at Aldi."
20. "Sweet corn. The cheapest I saw it all summer was $8 for a dozen, even at farmers markets and roadside stands."
"I'm in the Midwest. I'm used to paying 10 cents an ear when it is in season, but it seems as if there was no corn season this year. Ears are like $1 each — more if we get the precut option."
21. "I always insisted on Thomas’ English muffins. I started buying the Kroger brand this year."
22. "My household's diet is mostly plant-based, and I used to keep veggie burgers/sausage, etc. in the freezer for quick meals. Now it's peanut butter sandwiches."
23. "Unfortunately, chocolate bars. They went from $2.50 to $3.98 overnight a few months ago."
24. "I scanned a bag of grapes the other day and it came out to $11, so I guess I’m never buying grapes again."
25. "All meat. I’ve always had the desire to be a vegetarian but never got started because I have a husband who eats meat. Then he got deployed and prices became high. I just can’t justify meat anymore in my grocery budget."
26. And finally, "Oat milk. I used to love putting it in my coffee but just can't justify the price. Back to black coffee it is!"
Is there anything you've taken off your grocery list because of the price? Let's talk about it in the comments.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.