I Just Paid $1.30 for a Cucumber!

If you have a decent Aldi near you, I recommend going there. I just bought cucumbers there for $.49 a piece. A three pack of colored peppers is $2.99. The produce does need to be eaten quickly (I notice it doesn't last as long as produce from the traditional grocery store), but it is just as good! :)

I grow my own produce. I know it's not really the time for it right now, but soon you will be able to plant some seeds. Every year we have done zuchinni, cucumbers (this year!), carrots, peas, green beans, onions, tomatos, and strawberries...this year I am going to do some potatoes too!
For the time being, I just shop the ads in the paper and that are sent to my house. When things are on sale or special price I buy them, when they are not I don't.
L.

For fruits and vegetables we go to either Costco or a Farmers Market. It's also off season for cucumbers...off season veggies and fruits are a little higher then the peak of the season. I would definately look into farmers markets.

It's time that we as a nation pulled together like they did during WWII. Plant victory gardens and share the wealth. Learn how to can and freeze the bounty. With oil prices going up everything is gonna get more expensive. Learn how to sew and start making our clothes. Do we really need $50-$75 jeans etc? When I was in high school back in the '70's the cool girls made their own clothes.

Grow your own, the time is right.

I know!!!! It's crazy! I tried a garden one summer and it didn't go well. (In my defense, I left for a week, on a mission trip to Brazil and didn't tell my hubby to pay attention to the garden) I am going to try, again, this summer to plant some of our favorites. I think if you start smaller, you'll be more likely to manage. Plant cucumbers, along with a couple other favorites. Gardening isn't as easy as it seems-s especially when you live in an area where the soil isn't the best.

We, also, have a neighbor who does a produce co -op. We thought about investing in it, but at the time, had too many large expenses to warrant several hundred dollars to buy in to it. ALso, I wanted to try my hand at growing my own, just one more time!! LOL! They can be very money-saving and it's locally grown, organic produce (at least our's was)

About a month ago, my toddler was excitedly screaming for strawberries, so I went to check them out - $5 for a small container! No way, hon. I know they weren't in season, but yikes!

The increase in produce prices is being blamed on the deep freeze they had in Mexico a couple weeks ago, but I'm sure some of it is just price gouging. A year ago I could find Roma tomatoes for .79/lb. This year they've been around .99/lb, until the last couple of weeks--now they're about 2.00/lb.

For those of you thinking about trying gardening, look into square foot gardening. Also a couple of books I found recently are "Carrots Love Tomatoes" and "Roses Love Garlic," or any other books by Louise Riotte. If you're like me and live in the suburbs with a small lot, these ideas will help you get the most out of the space you have. Also Google "urban homesteading." There are a lot of blogs out there by people who garden in the city.

With everything that's going on in the Middle East and Africa right now, they are predicting skyrocketing gas prices, too. My husband and I filled our vehicles (a car, a truck and two scooters) and all our gas cans last night. Our plan is to keep the gas in the cans for as long as we can. Fill up the vehicles every day to insure we're getting as much gas as possible for the lowest price. Then when the price hits a plateau, we will use the gas in the gas cans to help ease the pain of the highest prices, and hopefully wait it out til they drop a little.

Not trying to be a doomsdayer, but I really would encourage everyone to stock up your pantries and other non-perishables, maybe even try to get about six month's or a year's worth of food on hand. All signs point to things getting worse (read: groceries getting VERY expensive) before they get better. And if I'm wrong, then you just have a well-stocked pantry :)

Wow, I haven't seen cucumbers for .60 for a looooong time.

Not sure about where you live but here, ALDI is hard to beat for FRESH and CHEAP produce.

We're getting hit pretty hard with the produce price increase here as well. It's only going to get worse with the horrible freeze causing massive crop loss. I do prefer fresh but until my local farm stands open up I've switched to frozen and just steam them. My store just had a huge sale on frozen for $2 per big bag which we get 3 meals out of each bag. Hubby and I loaded up the freezer with enough fruits and veggies to last us until summer. Of course we'll still need to purchase bananas, celery, lettuce, tomatoes and cukes...but I'll only be doing that when they are on sale.

A sleeve of 6 Thomas' bagels at my local store has gone up to $5.09. Unbelievable!

AUGH! That's nuts! Cucumbers are WATER...delicious, delicious water! I won't pay that, so I rely on Costco for my cucumber fix. They sell them in 3 packs for a LOT less than you would pay for them at any grocery store. I also buy my peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, citrus, asparagus, tomatoes and lettuces at Costco. I save bundles doing this!

Good luck!

xoxo,
K. H.
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Produce prices have just increased due to a freeze that wiped out about 80% of Mexico's crops, from what I have read.
Look into farmer's markets and food co-ops. I use Bountiful Baskets www.bountifulbaskets.org. Now, I think they just have locations in the West, but you can train and open up a site (it is all volunteer run). A basket of produce costs $15.00 and you generally get 5-6 types of fruits and 5-6 types vegetables in your basket (about $40 worth of produce). Message me if you want more details.

I go to a local fruit market. There are not many around in my area, so I have to drive a ways to get to it, but the prices are way cheaper and the produce is fresh. Aldi and Save-A-Lot are also reasonable (if you have one in your area). I recently went to Kroger to buy a small jar of mayonnaise--$4.69! Unbelievable. The same jar the last time I bought it (probably October) was $2.62. I agree, prices are going up FAST! Too bad our paychecks aren't going up as fast:(

We use a lot of frozen fruits/veggies, particularly when things are out of season. Kroger has a good selection of organic frozen fruits. They are yummy in cooked recipes or thrown in the blender with yogurt or milk to make a smoothie.

We also visit GFS (Gordon Food Services), where you get bulk foods--they have really large bags of frozen veggies at good prices, and you don't have to pay a membership fee like you would at Sam's/Costco. They are also a good source for buying tomato sauce/pizza sauce, cottage cheese, pizza shells, and other items. I buy the big can of sauce and then break it down into serving-size portions and freeze. They also have good prices on sliced and shredded cheese. Not all their prices are better than the regular grocery--it helps to know what the prices are at the regular grocery.

We are also planning on trying (again) a container garden (our dogs have made gardening in the backyard a bad idea, LOL).... I've tried a couple times before, but only have so/so luck... but I think it's time to try again. In the past, I've bought my plants at Sutherlands; they usually have a $0.79-$1.99 plant sale in the spring for a variety of fruits/veggie starter plants. They also often have a large bag of good dirt for $0.99 (or they did in year's past; I suspect the prices might go up with the gas prices being what they are).

I was going to say they are on sale at 1.30 per. Here they ar 2 even each.

Usually the fruits and vegetables that are on sale are the ones that are in season so that's how I shop. Another thing I do to get a good deal is shop at this grocery store that's called Sunflower Market (I think they are only in NV, TX, AZ & CO). On Wednesday they have the sale items for the previous week and the sale items for the current week going on -- double the chance to save. But if you are more concerned about the cost of produce, I think shopping seasonally is probably the way to go.

$1.30 for a cucumber! It better be a damn big one for that price. where do you shop, different places have different prices, was it organic? I usually buy my groceries at Wallmart and I am sure cucumbers are WAY cheaper there :)

I just bought 1, yes one bell pepper for $2.49, time to get the seeds out and grow my own me thinks

Rasberries by me are $5.99 ! For one small container!!

Go to a local farmer's market or local produce shop if you have one (that's what I do), the produce is way cheaper and fresher, meaning you save money and the produce will last longer! I think the pricing depends on if the item is in season or not, I have seen price jumps too, what a rip off!

I don't know what it is like in Columbus, but here in Akron there are a TON of family owned farm stands. They have great, fresh produce and they are pretty cheap.
Or as others have said, Aldi, farmers markets. Or go drive around and see if you can find a lil farm store with better prices.

If you buy whats in season you'll save, basically you are paying for it to be shipped to your store. Ive noticed that if i go to the mexican-farmer-supplied produce stores in my area i can save ALOT. Of course i live in Texas. Just tap into your local suppliers. Personally though i will still buy some things once they are no longer in season and prices have skyrocketed. I must admit that without tomatos and avocados i feel lost in life....;)

I know exactly what you mean. My cart is usually mostly veggies and fruits. I try to scout out the sales as much as possible. The other day, a head of lettuce-a plain old head of iceberg lettuce-was $2.49. Afraid to see my grocery bills over the next few months.

Find a local Farmer's Market if you get that much produce. The prices rarely change, as they are usually supplied by local farmers.

The dollar is being de-valued; food prices are going to get much worse. JMO.

Scary . . .