Recently in Food prices Category

Ever walk into a chain restaurant on the weekend and become suddenly surprised when you're not force to wait a half hour for a table? No? Me either. That's because it doesn't happen. Well, at least it hadn't happened to me until last weekend. And all I can say is that, sometimes, a poor economy can be helpful. Last weekend, my wife and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. We took a drive to Baltimore to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Based on past experiences, I had expected to wait at least an hour walking through the nearby stores while gripping a pager the looks like something out of Star Trek. Sometimes, my wife grabs the pager from my hand when I get so bored that I start beg Scotty to beam me up. At any rate, on this particular day, we did get a pager from the Cheesecake Factory but we only had to wait a total of 10 minutes for a table. Yes, 10 minutes. Sometimes, when the economy is poor and people shun restaurants, its makes it easier for us who are willing to pay $10.95 for bowl of pasta to get a table.

Has anyone else been paying close attention to the price of milk lately?

I'm not sure why, but it's the one price I always notice changes in when I go grocery shopping.

I buy the same quart of milk every week and over the past few weeks I've noticed prices have been steadily declining.

During the summer months I was easily paying between 97 and 99 cents for it. But about two or three weeks ago it was selling for 95 cents and this past week it was selling for 90 cents.

Just thought it was an interesting thing to point out when it seems like everything else is increasing in price.

Has anyone else noticed this trend with milk or other grocery items?

If you want a change from a traditional grocery store, you might want to check out the new SaveSmart coming to Weigelstown soon. It'll replace the old Nell's Shurfine that closed earlier this month.

Here is what we have so far on it.

Discount is how they are marketing it, and it won't look like a traditional grocery store to keep costs low. So what do you think? Will that make you come check it out?

Wednesday afternoon I experienced the York Fair for the first time, and I had the challenging task of trying to "do the Fair" on $20.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had gotten a bunch of suggestions from people abut what I had to try.

Our short week is about to come to a close, so here's your headlines before you head out.

Obama pays a visit

No, it's not your eyes, those packages are shrinking.

Coupons can save you big bucks.

And make sure you catch this week's podcast, where the biz staff talks about thrifty entertainment options.

This story about Utz Quality Foods on "Mad Men" reminded me of a movie I watched Saturday night with my family, "Alvin and Chipmunks." If you have kids and have checked it out, there are tons of Utz products in the movie. Let us know if you see any local product placements. My personal Utz favorite: The sour cream and onion chips.

After I read Brent Burkey's local story on how York's smaller coffee shops were still buzzing in this economy, I remembered my trips to the local java places in downtown York.
Whether it was a caffeine fix or an excuse to get out the office and take a walk on George Street in York, there's something about local shops -- and not only coffee shops -- that make you feel more connected to the community.