So How Much Is Milk in Your City?

Updated on August 30, 2011
S.H. asks from Kailua, HI
22 answers

Just got back from the grocery store.

Milk here at my local grocery store, is $8.59 and over, for a Gallon of milk.
This is for hormone free milk.
Organic.
On sale it is about $4.99
We are milk drinkers, my son & I.

Not to mention the outrageous price for razor blades.
Even at Costco, its like buying Printer Ink.

Oh and cereal here, is about the same cost as milk.

Just curious what the costs are, on the Mainland, for these items.

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So What Happened?

... yes, the high cost of "paradise'.

Featured Answers

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B..

answers from Dallas on

Wow. Gallons of milk (not hormone free) are generally $1.99 here. Hormone free or Organic milk is usually between $3-$5 a gallon. Cereal is dirt cheap. Razor blades aren't that much. With a coupon we usually spend around $2.00 for a pack.

I just bought a 3 pound bag of clementines, tomatoes, a bag of frozen organic berries, and onions today...for what a gallon of milk costs you!!

4 moms found this helpful
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J.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Prices can be crazy in AZ but not nearly what you listed in HI! Milk is $2.79 (not organic though- can't comment on that). Sale price can be as low as $1.59. Cereal around $4.99 for name brand/no sale stuff. Totally agree on the razor blades- insane for how fast they go dull!

2 moms found this helpful

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M.E.

answers from Chicago on

You should try couponing sites. I haven't paid for razors in a year, and though I usually pay something for organic milk and cereal, coupons help put a dent in it. In fact, tonight I just picked up 5 boxes of cereal, used 5 coupons, and another coupon printed for $2 off and 1 gallon of free milk.
Also you could try buying whole milk and stretching it by adding water (if your son is over 2yo).

3 moms found this helpful

N.P.

answers from San Francisco on

We pay 5.99 for two gallons of 2% at Costco and we use our razor blades for months and months before replacing them. They pretty much have to wound me before I'll shell out for a new one.

I think you're suffering the cost of importing. Gas prices are stupid high.

3 moms found this helpful

M.P.

answers from Provo on

Note to self. Don't move to Hawaii, no matter how pretty it is.

Milk is about 2.50 a gallon here. I do believe that is also the hormone free too.
Not sure about organic. I think it's $4 or 5.

My dad and I have found that buying ink at staples is cheaper than at a bulk store. Random, but that's how it is here in UT. Random as our weather!
Luckily I have been getting free samples of razor blades. I haven't had to buy any for a year now :D LOVE IT! My school gets boxes of them a month so they get shoved towards me. . . I don't mind.

2 moms found this helpful
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P.F.

answers from Las Vegas on

I feel your pain...we were visiting there in December and I couldn't believe how much a gallon of milk was...I was shocked...it was $9.99 in downtown Honolulu! In Lake Havasu City, AZ we can get a gallon at Wal-Mart for $2.19. Lucky us:) I used to live in Kailua when I was a teenager and loved it!

2 moms found this helpful
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B.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

There are food monopolies in Hawaii. They artifically keep prices higher than what they should be.

I am a bargain hunter, especially for food. When I travel, I will stop at a grocery store and look at their ad just to see how food prices are in that part of the country.

My wife and I went to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary trip. I went to several grocery stores and looked at their ads because I loved Hawaii and thought I might want to live there. That's how I know about Hawaii food prices. I saw Dole pineapples on sale there and when we got back home I saw Dole pineapples on sale here. There they were $.99 lb in Hawaii. In Arkansas, Dole pineapples were 3 lbs for $.99. That was in 1988. This week a local store in California has Dole Pineapples for 3 lbs/$.99. They have to ship them from Hawaii, and they are cheaper here than there. How much are pineapples there? You raise cattle there in Hawaii. I don't remember which island. They raise cattle in Texas, 1000+ miles away. I bought 80/20 grind last week for $1.49 lb. How much is 80/20 grind there this week? (80/20 means 80% lean, 20% fat)

Its Hawaii's food monopoly that keeps food prices so high.

BTW, Sams has milk for $2.60 a gallon for 2%. In other non-membership stores its $3.10 for 2%. I don't buy hormone free milk, so I can't give you those prices. I usually buy cereal for less an $0.15 per ounce. Strawberry Honey bunches of Oats was $1.79 for a 14.5oz box when it was on sale. I just bought 12 packs of coke products for $2. Large eggs are $1.25 dozen on sale. I can buy bacon for $1.99 lb all the time. Chicken breasts are $.99 lb in three different chain stores. I have boneless/skinless chicken breasts in my freezer I paid $1.29 lb for about 2 months ago.

Good luck to you and yours.

2 moms found this helpful
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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

((I don't buy gallons... because I like cardboard to preserve the vitamins, and my son can pour his own milk from the half gallons... so I don't know exact pricing, but it's approximately double. If there was significant savings I'd suck it up and buy the clear plastic gallons))

Regular store (rbst-free) milk : 1/2 gallon 3.79 - 4.70
(gallon apx $6-$8)

Regular store Organic (rbst-free) milk : 1/2 gallon 4.29 - 5.19
(gal apx $8-$10)

TraderJoes (rbst-free) milk : 1/2 gallon 1.59
Whole Foods (rbst-free) milk : 1/2 gallon 1.69

((I buy all my butter, milk, eggs, and cheese at WholeFoods & TraderJoes because it's soooooo much less expensive!!! And laugh when people say the 'Whole Paycheck' joke about WholeFoods. Certainly not in the Dairy sections!!! Nor the veggie section -about 1/2 off regular stores as well in veggies, although double regular store in fruit. The milk is 1/2 off and sooooo much fresher. Regular store milk usually expires in a week. TJ's & WF's milk is always at least a month out, often 6weeks to 8weeks out. You KNOW regular store milk has just been sitting and sitting and sitting.))

Name Brand Cereal is $5-$8 per box

We go through about 1/2 gallon a day, sometimes more. Our budget for milk is $60 a month.

At least Hawaii has an EXCUSE for milk being so expensive. We're only a dollar less!!! I shop 5 different stores for the lowest prices and I see Dairygold & Carnation 1/2 gallons for 4 bucks and change at 'regular stores' and just grimace at the gouging. Both are less than 1 hour away. There is NO excuse for milk being as expensive as it is at QFC(Kroger), Safeway, etc. Dairy pricing has come down a lot over the past 6 months. Last year half gallons of organic milk were running $6.

____________________________________
Midline prices for other common staples :

Tomatoes : $2 -$4 per lb
Lettuce : $1 - $3
Lunch Meat : $9-$11 per lb
Bread : $4 a loaf for "real" bread -or $1 for storebrand wonderbread
Buns: $4
Dark Chicken : $5 per lb
Breasts : $11 per lb
Hamburger : $5 per lb
Roasts : $12 per lb
Steak : $18 per lb
Kosher Meats: x2 - x3
Fish : $10 - $25 per lb
Pork : $3 per lb
Bacon : $5-$8 per lb
Eggs : $2 - $8 per dozen
Peanut Butter : $6 per medium tub
Hotdogs : $6
Chicken or Turkey hotdogs: $2
Frozen Meals (single serving) : $4 each
Juice Boxes : $6 (for pack of 6-8)
Juice : $6 - $8

((My family back east and midwest are *horrified* at my $600 per month food-only budget for 3 people. $600 is TIGHT!!! $1000 is comfortable. But $200 easily feeds the 3 of us for a month with the SAME SHOPPING LIST when we're midwest or east that my $1000 list has. I only buy the above 'staples' if they're on sale for 1/3 off or more. Which happens every few months. LOL... we don't eat seasonly, we eat 'sale-ishly'!! ;))

2 moms found this helpful
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A.G.

answers from Provo on

As soon as I read the beginning of your question...I figured you lived in Hawaii. I was born and raised there (lived there for 25+ years)...it is expensive...especially if you live in a little town out in the boonies.......then you're lucky if you can get regular milk for under 7 bucks at the store. Here milk is a couple bucks. As much as I loved growing up in Hawaii...and it will always be 'Home'...it is really nice to have your buck go a bit farther. Now we just hope to be rich enough someday to go back and visit more often :p.

2 moms found this helpful
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C.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

I buy a gallon of organic milk from Trader Joe's for 6 bucks. and that is the cheapest place.

1 mom found this helpful
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B.P.

answers from New York on

A gallon of the organic milk is much more expensive than the store brand. Here in NJ it's between 5 and 6 dollars. Cereal is between 2-4 dollars a box depending what brand. Razor blades, we buy Gillete Sensor, are about 13-16 dollars for a pack of 4. Ladies blades are cheaper though, esp the disposable ones. There is a lot of variablity in price depending on where you buy something and there are so many stores that there is usually a sale going on somewhere. Do you only have a limited number of brands to choose from (for example, there are 3-4 brands of organic milk here)? I heard prices were high in Hawaii.

1 mom found this helpful

T.L.

answers from St. Louis on

It is $3.49 a gallon here!

1 mom found this helpful

L.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

$5/gallon for Organic in Southern California. We buy Stremick's Hertigage Foods Milk; it's the best darned tasting milk I've ever had in my life.

1 mom found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

I don't know about the hormone free brand, but the Walmart brand of whole milk is $2.49. Razor blades are ridiculous. Cereal is cheap.
Oh and beer ......$10.49 for a 12 pack of Bud Light :)

1 mom found this helpful

B.C.

answers from Dallas on

Well we just buy regular milk and it's about 2.30 a gallon right now.

1 mom found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Hartford on

I buy lactose-free milk at about $5-6 per gallon and it's organic and hormone-free. Sometimes it's on sale and I can buy two of them for the same price.

I buy soymilk at half a gallon, also organic, at about $4.

I also buy regular cow's milk, but I also live in a huge dairy state so the dairy farms here supply most of the stores. The milk is organic and hormone free, even the name brands we grew up with, so we pay anywhere from $4-5 on average and sometimes sales.

I try to go with coupons.

1 mom found this helpful
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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

In Oklahoma Walmart has their brand of 2% milk at anywhere from $3.75 up to $3.98. About the same as a gallon of gasoline...lol. Everything in our life seems to be compared to it.

At Walmart recently, K wanted a "Tangled" toy and it was $16.98. She understood what it meant when I told her "No, that toy costs the same as 4 gallons of milk".

1 mom found this helpful
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S.!.

answers from Los Angeles on

geez!!!! $2.59 here and I thought that was bad

1 mom found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

yikes! I pay I think $3 or $4 for a gallon. I don't really pay attention that much. I need to buy it no matter what.

1 mom found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Kansas City on

here near KC, MO it is around $3.98 before tax for regular milk. i get the lactose free for my twins, and it is the same price but it is a half gallon.

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D.W.

answers from Los Angeles on

We buy Full Circle organic milk at Stater Bros. for about 3.69 for a half gallon.

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

I don't pay that much attention to it. I believe it is less than $4 though. We don't do the organic and only my daughter drinks it.

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