Sunday, February 10, 2008

Interview with Chief Family Officer

This weekend I had a great talk with Cathy of Chief Family Officer. This lawyer mom makes her own baby food in the crockpot and abruptly ended an all-cash spending experiment.

I thought I'd ask her more about the cost of living in L.A., but we ended up chatting about the price of eggs and fair trade chocolate. (Guess what? She pays less for Trader Joe's natural eggs than I do for Kroger's conventional!)

Let's compare notes: what are you paying for a dozen eggs in your area?

78 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Missouri, I pay $1.25 for a dozen from the lady down the road. These are fresh from the chicken eggs.

Anonymous said...

In Pennsylvania, I pay $2.25 for free-range local eggs at the farmer's market. I actually don't know what eggs cost at the grocery store because I love shopping locally at my farmer's market down the street. I'm so curious to hear what everyone else pays!

Sarah said...

I'm in Washington state and I usually buy mine in an 18 pack. At Safeway they cost about $6.49! Eek!!! But if I'm able to go with a friend and split the cost of gas, we drive about 30 minutes to do a couple weeks worth of shopping at WinCo and pay $2.86 for an 18 pack.

Anonymous said...

Just north of NYC...local Shop Rite $2.29/Dz or local Walmart $2.20/Dz. Eggs for around a $1 would be amazing... there's a Trader Joe's about 20 minutes from here- I should check it out!

Meredith said...

I forgot to add:

Kroger conventional eggs here $1.95
Aldi eggs $1.89
Greenbrier all-natural eggs or Eggland's Best $2.49

The one good thing about the rise in eggs is that the free range/natural eggs have not yet risen in price, too.

Closing the gap between conventional and "natural" has made it easier for me to spend 50 cents more for natural feed.

Anonymous said...

Bay Area, California $1.19/dozen at Trader Joe's for basic, local eggs. More into the $3+ range per dozen for organic, free range, local.

Chief Family Officer said...

Thanks again, Meredith - it was so much fun!

I pay $1.19 for Trader Joe's "regular eggs," which are (I believe) cage free. So not organic, but not completely conventional either. I was really surprised when Meredith told me how much eggs cost in her part of the country!

I suspect the farm that the eggs come from is pretty close since the expiration dates are always so much farther out than the eggs I used to get at Ralphs (our version of Kroger). I think that might make some difference in the price.

A month or so ago I noticed that our local Costco sells organic eggs by the 18-pack and the price wasn't shocking. I'll check to see what it is the next time I'm there and report back!

Anonymous said...

Here, in East Central Iowa, store prices are approx $1.80, but I'm blessed to have a dozen delivered weekly, by a local farmer, for $1.25.

Lylah Ledner said...

i pay $2.79 (ish) a dozen for free range at trader joes here in scottsdale, az

Sweetpeas said...

I live in MD, I either get free range unsized brown eggs from a farm in PA for $2/dozen or when they're out I get Egglands best from Sam's, last time I checked the 18 pack worked out to be $1.91/dozen (I recalc to the dozen price so it's easier to compare to other places LOL). No idea what conventional are.

Layla said...

I pay $1.50/doz to my cousin, who raises 4H chickens (and has won numerous ribbons for them at the Wmson Co. fair the last couple of years) when I'm at home. Eggs at the Super Walmart here in Martin were $1.95 last time I bought them.

Meredith, I don't know how often you get down towards Franklin, but if you're interested in trying "Katy's Kluckers," I can try to put y'all in touch. Just drop me an email at laylarose08 AT gmail DOT com.

Jen said...

In Utah, Smith's (Kroger) 1.79 per doz.

Anonymous said...

HI Meredith-

Central Illinois....about $2.29/dozen for regular, run-of-the-mill eggs, and the natural, organic ones are about $1.00 more. Nashville apparently has cheap eggs and great Goodwill stores!
Sue

Tubo Family said...

Hi, here in Sacramento it's $1.99 for a dozen of Trader Joe's cage-free but NOT organic eggs. I think the conventional are about $1.25 a dozen at TJ's. At the Sacramento Natural Foods Coop they sell unsized free-range (not sure if organic) in bulk (either bring your own recycled egg carton or buy a flat of 30 and take them home on the open cardboard tray) for 18 cents each, which is $2.16 a dozen. Alison

Kelli said...

Northern AZ -

Safeway- $3.29
Smith's - 2.99
WalMart - 2.59

And that's only for a dozen. I buy the 5 dozen pack for $9.49, so it's come down to just under $2.00/dozen.

CarolinaDreamz said...

I'm in SC, and only buy cage free brown eggs, so my numbers may be non-norm.. I pay about $2.47/dozen. I also pay over $6/gal for organic milk. *sigh*

The Mom said...

Interesting about egg prices. Here I'd pay $7.70 (yes that is US dollars) for 12 organic eggs; or if I get the cheapest non-organic battery farmed ones they would be $2.80.

We don't often buy organic, esp when feeding all 14 of us at once.

Anonymous said...

Wandered across the street to the supermarket: White eggs:10 for about $2.50, Brown eggs - 10 for $2.50, white eggs - 6 for $1.50, Quail Eggs (!) 10 for $0.92.

Japan prices.

Anonymous said...

Eggs are above. I've been doing an "all-Cash" experiment for the last 2 years. I'm over in Japan, and everything here is cash-friendly. I pay my bills, make reservation, travel, mostly in cash. The only time I use a credit card is to confirm hotel reservations, and half the time, I can pay those in cash! Bought my ticket home last month over the internet, received an e-mail, printed out the bar-code, took it and cash to the local 7-11 (owned by a Japanese Co.) and paid it. By the time I walked home and checked my e-mail, my ticket confirmation and details had arrived. Different system, cash is encouraged and loved.

Anonymous said...

Over here in Norway I pay 60 kroner for a tray of 30 eggs, so that works out at approxiamately 40cents per egg. Thus 4.80 a dozen for the cheapest I can get. Organic would come in at 30 kr for 6 eggs, (approx a dollar each)! Guess who is getting rescued factory farm hens next week!! Once they settle into their new home I reckon to get my own organic eggs for the cost of the feed :)Gill.

Anonymous said...

I buy from local farmer (almost organic, as she calls them) and they are wonderful

$2/doz

don't even remember what grocery eggs cost, it's been so long.

we eat a lot of eggs!

d meyers

Anonymous said...

from New Hampshire

d meyers

Bonnie said...

Arounf $2.20 for regular white, $2.30 for regular brown (has anyone told the store that the insides of the eggs are EXACTLY the same, and brown doesn't equal better? I have 20+ years of 4-H to back me up on this!), almost $3 for 18 eggs. I think I'm going to try convincing DH we need to get chickens this spring.
Also, there are a number of local egg people, and the signs I've seen range between $1.75-$2 a dozen.

Jane said...

I pay about $1.50 or so for the cheapest eggs at Trader Joes in LA. They are not free range, but I think they are hormone free.

As for other prices in LA...I have shopped for weeks looking for sale meat around a $1 a pound as you suggested was a good sale deal and there is no such deal to be found here. I have let my Costco membership laps to save $50 last month. I am sure I could probably do better there than Ralphs sale price for ground beef which was $2.49/lb this weekend.

Gas here is $2.99 at the cheapest station I know of in the heart of the ghetto where I teach. (Also where I was at a shoot out four years ago! Yikes!)

On the flip side, there are TONS of goodwill and thrift stores. They tend to be pricier than the bargains I see on other blogs. I have never seen a fill the bag sale. Still the vast amount of stores means more options than say a small town where one might have to drive a long way to go to a thrift store.

Also, my friend's son just bought a two bedroom house in the ghetto where I teach. It is trashed inside, graffiti on all the walls, only a stove and a sink, no yard, gang area, infested with bugs and mice and was a foreclosure sale...$350,000. He got a steal! Two years ago that same house was owned by one of our colleague's grandmothers and she sold it after 59 years of living there for $550,000.

Leanne said...

1.19 at Aldi in Indiana

Anonymous said...

Here in the Minneapolis/St.Paul metro area I pay approx. $2.25 per dz. for hormone free eggs. For plain old white it is approx. $1.80or more. We have a local co-op store that sells farmers eggs but am not sure of the prices - might be something to look into seeing as they are probably healthier and close to the same price.

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

$1.50 for one dozen large white eggs in the deep south.

Mary Ann said...

Aldi-$1.89 dozen
Bi-Lo-about $2.29 dozen for regular eggs; Eggland's Best are about $2.59 or so so I tried those last week.

Then we went to a local dairy this weekend and paid $1.50 for free-range eggs. While sizes are not uniform, they are fresh and so much lower in price if we are going to get milk anyways.:-)

Jenn @ Frugal Upstate said...

We buy local farm fresh from the town bar my hubby stops by after work (yes-we buy our eggs at a bar. They also sell them at a few of the bulk food stores around here too though) for $1.35. And the eggs are HUGE.

There is another local farm that sells free range for about $2.

Benefits to living in the boonies you know :)

Andrea said...

I get eggs from my daughter's dance teacher who has free-range, organic chickens. I pay 2.00 a dozen for those.

when I can't get those i get some from an AMish farmer who sells them for 3.50 dozen

At my health food store, the free range ones go for almost 4.00 dozen.

This is all in suburban NYC

V. said...

Up here, north of the border, in Canada, I can usually get them on a weekly special for 1.85 a dozen for large....not on special they run 2.25.

I've never really considered the move to organic / free range...they seem to be around the 3.50 mark usually....which for my budget-loving mind, I find hard to justify...

V.
http://www.repurposed.wordpress.com

Eleanor Joyce said...

Pittsburgh PA area
$2.59 for Land O Lakes "all natural eggs" - seriously considering rocking my neighbors' world by keeping a small flock of laying hens in the back yard. Really.
Organic milk (even though you didn't ask) $6.00/gal. I've heard that if there's only 2 items a family can afford to buy organic it should be milk and eggs.

Me said...

We are really blessed in this department. Our chickens started laying last fall and we haven't bought eggs since. I think its about $3.00 for a dozen of free range organic.
Milk is $8 a gallon for organic in the stores but we buy direct from a farm for $2.50 a gallon... Since the farm is a ways away, we buy 10-15 gallons at a time and freeze it. Milk freezes great.

Kerry said...

I pay $2.49 at Harris Teeter for "All Natural" eggs - no anitbiotics, no hormones, but not free range.

The Frugal Countess said...

$2.19 dozen for the brown, cage free kind with "extra" Omega 3's. (This is at Publix in South Florida)

Tracy said...

$1.98 for regular eggs at Walmart. We're in Kentucky.

n. said...

In FL at a military commissary they are $1.70 a dozen. We have a very small natural market and their eggs are substantially more expensive, the last time I checked they were $2.70.

Darcy said...

Up here in the middle of Minnesota I pay $3.89 for an 18 count carton of regular storebrand eggs. A few months ago I was only paying $2.59!

Day by Day said...

In Idaho - last night, we purchased large egg's at Fred Meyer's for $1.79 /doz, labeled "Vegetable Fed". What's that considered? We also have our organic milk delivered to our home for $4.46 a gallon. Cheaper than any grocery store right now.

Anonymous said...

Hi
Here in Sacramento CA
1.19 Trader Joes
1.49 Longs
1.98 Target

So I go to Trader Joes and stock up. Also I buy the generic egg beaters. They average out to about 2.50-3.00 for an equivelent dozen.

Anonymous said...

Here in Mexico, I pay about $2.50 for 18 brown eggs. In the states, just across the border at WalMart, they are $3.29 for 18 brown eggs. Since the rise in prices, I have just started buying them here in MX.

Anonymous said...

For 1.5 dz eggs, I'm paying about $2.50; $2.83 for grain fed.

April said...

At our groceries in small-town northwestern Illinois, regular large eggs are $1.20 on average. The cage-free organic are $3.50.

We get cage-free organic egss from my husband's aunt and uncle for $1/ dozen. And they absolutely REFUSE to take more. We consider ourselves very blessed.

Thus we eat a lot of eggs!

Anonymous said...

My goodness, this is a lot of talk about eggs! I buy organic because I think they are better for our health, so I pay whatever they cost. I figure it will be cheaper than health care down the road.

Hope your fridge is fixed, Meredith, so YOUR eggs stay fresh!

Anonymous said...

Well, we use a lot of eggs in this house. I feed the children eggs about twice a week for breakfast and of coarse there is the baking I do...I also like to make egg salad to eat on crackers for lunch. (this is my favorite snack) I buy eggs 3 dozen at a time at HEB. Last time I paid $4.89 for 3 dozen...these are large eggs. Roxie

Nancy W said...

In central MS
1.92 doz Kroger eggs
3.00 doz organic eggs @ Farmer's market

My parents sell free range organic in NB Canada for 2.50 andthey aren't that much above supermarket prices.

Kacie said...

They're $1.89 at my Aldi in Pittsburgh, and over $2 at other grocery stores.

I'm LOLing right now though, because a few months ago when Walgreens had eggs for $1/dozen, I got a raincheck.

Woo hoo! That covers me for three dozen eggs.

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

I paid $1.98 last week for a dozen eggs at Braum's, which is a dairy store here in TX and OK. Their milk is hormone and antibiotic-free, but I don't know about their eggs.

Anonymous said...

Here in my corner of WA they are 2.39 a dozen..

Anonymous said...

Here in PA I pay a little over $2 at Aldi or $2 for the homegrown eggs a guy at my husband's work brings in sporadically. I much prefer the latter!

TJ said...

At Fiesta Foods a dozen brown Omega3, cage-free, no hormone eggs costs $1.98. A dozen of their regular eggs is $1.94.

Anywhere else in town a dozen regular eggs is between $2.19 and $2.79.

I can buy from a farmer for $1 a dozen, but he doesn't always have eggs, and the fuel to get them makes the Fiesta Foods a better deal, since I'm there once a week. I can't believe how little some of you pay for eggs!

Janet said...

Here in SE Mass I pay about $2.25 for a dozen regular eggs. Cage free/organic/Omega 3 varieties are about $3.50.

Interesting discussion.

Janet

Lei said...

In Hawai`i, we pay about $3.00 for local eggs. Organic, free range mainland eggs can go for $4-$6/dozen, depending on store and/or sales/promotions, etc. We actually prefer island eggs to mainland eggs.

Anonymous said...

In SE KS it is $1.70 on sale for Large Eggs, during the holidays they were $1.10. I just "love" those new year price increases.

Anonymous said...

Dozen eggs here runs about $1.20 - I get 18 eggs for $1.60, I think. But those are conventional eggs. Free-range organic, etc, are much more expensive.

But we eat a lot of eggs, so I buy the cheap ones.

Ames said...

Aldi has them for $1.87 as of Friday here in Iowa...

Anonymous said...

I pay $3.99 for a dozen free range eggs in Australia - and that's cheap for free range, even Aldi is more expensive than that

jules said...

Here in Mobile Alabama, I think store bought eggs just went up to $2.29/doz for large eggs. I buy from The Egg Lady down the street and get her home grown eggs for $2.00/doz for large.

Anonymous said...

gee, cheap eggs! I have chickens so I don't buy eggs but we sell our organic free range eggs for $3.50 doz. Yesterday I had to buy 16 dozen eggs for the Centre I work at. The prices quoted were $3 doz for caged eggs and $4 a dozen for free range eggs.

Sarah said...

We live in Nebraska. I sell our eggs for $2.00 per dozen. They're laid by free-range chickens but we do supplement with non-organic feed in the winter.

I feel bad about the $2.00 price; I just raised the price in January from $1.00 (I set that price almost 4 years ago) because of the tremendous cost increase of grain at the co-ops.

H said...

I SO wish we had a Trader Joe's in Nashville.

We would love to get locally raised eggs but haven't yet found a supplier. Although our CSA people have bought some chickens and are testing the waters for such a production...I hope it works out for them!

We buy Davidson's pasteurized eggs (http://www.safeeggs.com/) because my husband likes to eat raw cookie dough and brownie batter. :-) I think they run $2.49/dozen at Publix?

Martha A. said...

.99 -$1.49 a dozen for regular eggs We have a local egg farm though!

Sharon said...

I live in Michigan and picked my eggs up on sale for $1.33 are Meijer. Regular price I believe is right around $1.50 for a dozen. I don't know what the price for the organic ones are in my area though.

Jenni said...

$3.50 a dozen for organic cage-free eggs.

3boysmama said...

Here in Washington State: 2 dozen at Costco for 3.00

Quite frequently you can get them a dozen for $1 on sale at the grocery store. Or BOGO on the 18 count. Trader Joes is about 1.50 here.

Anonymous said...

Here, just outside of Birmingham, our Wal-Mart price for a dozen "regular" white eggs is $1.98 and $2.84 for for the 18-pack.

Carrien Blue said...

I love me my california Trader Joe's prices, for eggs and chocolate, and milk that's RBST free. ANd sprouted grain bread. $2.29 a loaf

allybea said...

I know food is more expensive here in the UK. I pay £4.10 for a dozen large free range organic eggs! That's over $8. Keeping chickens is VERY high on my list of things to do this summer.

PS I love reading your blog :)

Anonymous said...

We live in southeastern British Columbia. Regular eggs are anywhere from $2.29 to $3 a dozen. Vegetarian diet, no antibiotics run from $3.10 to $4 a dozen. Organic anywhere from $4.80to $6 a dozen. Occasionally I can get farm eggs from a friend for $2.50, she is just covering her costs at that price. Feed here is expensive. Most of the people that sell their own eggs charge at least $3.50 to $4 per dozen.
Ann

Brenda said...

In Northern AZ we're paying $2.69 range fed and around $3.00 organic.
Brenda

Anonymous said...

As a Canadian, I pay about $3.25 minimum for Omega 3 or Free Range eggs, but organic are closer to $4.50. Conventional run between $2-3, sometimes slightly under $2, but that's really cheap.

But even though we get soaked on the price of eggs (especially compared to Americans!), I still think it's worth it to go Free Range at the very least. Good quality eggs have such valuable nutritional benefits.

Kate said...

I pay $2.89 a dozen for Eggland's Best or $2.79 a dozen for Land O Lakes Natural eggs or around $1.69 for cheapy eggs from Aldi's.

The local farmer who sometimes sells eggs sells them to my hubby for $2.00 a dozen.

Angela Yuriko Smith said...

I raise my own chickens in the city and it is so much easier then people think, and rewarding (and the eggs beat ANY egg from the store, organic or otherwise;) I just did a post on it last night and put up a series of photos -

http://pennypinscher.blogspot.com/2008/02/urban-farming-investing-in-backyard.html

Anonymous said...

Update on egg price increase:

We buy eggs from a small (100 head) family-owned dairy farm. They sell their milk to a high-end dairy production company.

My friend apologized profusely for today's increase in fresh almost- organic egg prices. At $2/doz, she had been losing money!

Chicken feed prices, in fact ALL grain prices, are rising dramatically because a huge # of farms are converting from wheat or other grain crops to corn. Corn is used to produce Ethanol, now in our gasoline.

Small dairy farms in New England have been in trouble for a while now; many farmers contracting land the remaining farmers could use for their herds to the Ethanol companies.

As all economic issues show this is a fascinating, heart-wrenching story of supply/demand/politics...

I just ache for my friends whose cattle feed alone rose over $2000 in one month; raw milk now selling for $9 a gallon around here.

And that's what's behind egg prices.

deb meyers

Amanda on Maui said...

Well, I paid about 5 dollars for antibiotic free hormone free pasteurized eggs. The Organic Valley Eggs range from 6-7 dollars per dozen. The cheapest of the cheap eggs are 2-3 dollars.

That's living in Hawaii for you.

Crystal DuBois said...

here in Southern CA eggs are about 2.59 a dzn for conventional.

Anonymous said...

I'm in Canada and free range eggs are about $5.50-6 a dozen (although they may have gone up again; everything else did this week :( ). Regular eggs are nearly $3 a dozen, but there is a pharmacy where they go on sale every once in a while for $1.69 and I load up since we eat a lot of eggs! If we didn't live in an apartment, I would definitely get some laying hens.

walkmom said...

I buy eggs 3 dozen at a time. About $1.99 a dozen at Sams. But I get them from an individual for $1.50. We don't use 3 doz every week, but they keep! San Antonio TX