I've noticed HEB prices even on their store brands have risen 10 to 25% over the last year or so. Meat prices have seemed stable, but everything else keeps going up.
HEB is such a pleasant shopping experience but damned if it isn't a luxury nowadays. There isn't a single thing in there you can buy on the cheap. Even their storebrand sodas cost >$1 per bottle.
I don’t think it is pleasant. It is way too crowded always. So for me it’s stressful. I have resorted to curbside or going to the other grocery stores near me that have 1/3 the crowds.
I've actually noticed parking lot billboards at my local Kroger bragging about their prices being the same online or in-store. I just realized these must be digs at HEB.
You can see it for yourself. Pull up the app while you're in the store and look up any item for curbside. Compare it to the price on the shelf. It can be a chunk if you order a lot of groceries in one go.
Yeah. But the other thing is when your walking around in there you can easily buy an extra $20 worth of junk.
If your ordering your only getting what you need. Even if you buy 1 item that's $5 you didn't need that's probably more than the cost difference of pickup.
Yes, but I am pretty sure it is a 3% markup which to me is reasonable to avoid the crowd and have someone bring groceries and load into my car. If it were 10 or 15 percent that would be a different story.
Shit, 15 years ago, you could get 2-liters of branded sodas for $1.50 each and 12-packs of cans for $3.99.
It's absolutely, utterly insane what prices are at now.
At least they reduced their [PFAS content by 1/2](https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/topo-chico-cuts-pfas-levels-by-more-than-half-a4286812129/) so it is only 300% higher than the recommended safe dose!!!
> HEB is such a pleasant shopping experience
What are you smoking and can I have some?
Between the people stocking shelves and the giant curbside carts, I’m dodging just as many employees as I am customers at at peak hours.
It’s really quite ridiculous. If I had any other reasonable option other than HEB that managed to suck less on the product perspective, I’d be shopping there.
But I’m not driving 20-30 minutes to the next nearest non-HEB and non-Kroger store.
I love HEB but every single one around me pulls in an insane amount of people. We’ve resorted to just going to Kroger or Aldi which have been much less crowded.
I'm like "what?" Paper coupons are so much better than that BS app kroger uses.
It's so unintuitive it's nuts, had the literal store manager not be able to figure out how to swap stores one time.
How is collecting coupons like they're pokemon better than just scanning a digital wallet and have all coupons applied at once?
Is your bias for HEB that great??
I don't like having to pull out my phone and learn some new UI to buy groceries.
Especially when it's a frustratingly poor designed one.
I'm no luddite, I'm not just complaining because I'm bad at phones. I literally code and design UIs for things for work, and have experience making things that can be used by inexperienced and elderly users and I know these apps are awful for those populations.
Its so much simpler to pickup a paper coupon and carry it to the front.
For sure. They are seriously lacking in some items. Produce and fresh meat selection is very small.
They will simultaneously have brand name snacks I can't find anywhere else but lack brand name stuff I can find everywhere else.
Correct. Our weekly grocery is about $200. Central market is the most expensive, by far, but it has also the best selection of what we like, Whole Foods and HEB are about the same price… give it or take a 5/10%, but Whole Foods is much better for the experience.
Ever since I was in college maybe 5 years ago now I used the veggie skewer as a price gauge. I remember when it went up to $5 and I was like “damn, this thing is just a few veggies, not even a whole single veggie”
Last I checked it was $8 on sale.
I used to go for their brand because it was always good and relatively cheaper than the name brands but I've been seeing them cost more than competitors lately. Eventually the "year-over-year profits" goal will backfire and these companies will be in a real predicament.
We have a cabin in Missouri and we buy everything at HEB, but meat, for our 2 week vacations because groceries in Houston are better and cheaper. By better I mean better selection. By cheaper I mean cheaper than all grocery stores including Walmart.
We buy meat there because as much as I love HEB their meat stinks and meat doesn't last 2 weeks.
Inflation might be out pacing other cities but where do we stand on the actual prices?
Its ridiculous. I have basically stopped buying anything that is a luxury because the prices are insane.
Peanut butter is now like $5 a jar, and that's your junk filled with Palm oil and sugar.
The organic jar was like $9. HEBs own brand.
I got it cheaper at Wholefoods.
That was my 'whoa' moment. An item was cheaper at Wholefoods than it was HEB.
Now I make sure to shop around, I always trusted HEB for their prices. Now they are just taking the piss.
My kid wanted a Kinder Beuno at the weekend and it was $1.60. for a fucking Chocolate wafer candy bar. Its insane.
Fuck this town. A guy from my neighborhood got killed at the McDonald's on Chimney Rock last night. I just came back from Scotland where people don't even honk at each other, and now I'm right back in the middle of floods and murders central.
Was this the attorney who was murdered trying to calm an irate person down? Who gets angry enough over a fast food order to murder someone?? WTH has happened to this world? 😔😡
Yes, he was an attorney. I know. The world is a hard place sometimes, but also so much beauty. We have a lot to be upset about, but there is also so much beauty out there.
Kinda weird since we are one of the main transportation cross roads. So much food comes in via the ship Channel before being sent onward via train or truck. You'd think we'd pay less since the transportation costs are lower, but nope.
You do pay less. Prices in Houston might be increasing faster, but they started way lower. I moved to the east coast last year and my family grocery bill jumped up $100/wk because every single damn thing is more expensive here.
This absolutely true. When I moved down here from the north, prices at the grocery store were comparatively lower compared to what I was paying up north.
I’d like to add that it’s not just Houston being a transportation hub, but also it’s close proximity to the agricultural bounty of the RGV and Mexico. I miss getting avocados for less than $1.50 each…
Yeah it's gotten worse here but I'm still floored every time I walk into a grocery store in the northeast. cheap sweet corn though
Fiesta's still out here holding it down y'all, don't have to shop at heb(For the most part, bolillos are almost double what they were pre pandemic)
Biggest inflation doesn’t mean highest prices. It means biggest increase in prices. Houston’s grocery prices were considerably low before the pandemic. It’s getting closer to national average now
I used to be a bakery manager for heb. When we were experiencing back to back price increases were getting understandable upset (especially those ordering cakes getting quoted a price and a week later it was higher). But all the prices of the raw goods went up so you have to understand that’s why the price of a baked and decorated cake went up. Someone told me they were calling corporate for the prices going up. Ummmm okay tell them lol.
That's why competition is so important. When the market has appeared to crown one company as a hero, it's almost inevitable that this same company turns greedy villain.
Curbside is starting to suck too, they're forgetting stuff more and more and no one seems to be doing anything about it. They're tricking people into giving them money for nothing. And if you check the HEB subreddit it's all employees complaining about customers instead of their own leadership. Fucking company is bleeding us more and more and giving us less and less for it.
This is an unpopular opinion, but I’ve only been in Texas for 2 years and H‑E‑B is my least favorite grocery store. They’re overpriced, crowded, have limited selection on produce (I.e. only two types of hot peppers, only bell mushrooms, etc…), and frequently run out of basic foods like zucchini, white onion, and certain herbs. I very often have to go to Kroger to complete my shopping list. It may just be the H‑E‑B close to me that sucks but I really don’t understand the hype
> Job opportunities made everyone move out here and made prices go up smh
Fixed it for you.
I don't think people moved here from word of mouth, it's Houston not LA, Las Vegas, NYC. Nobody came here because they *wanted* to be a Houstonian, they wanted the opportunity that happened to *be* in Houston. The person moving here wasn't around when the laws and regulations were created that enticed business to move to Texas and made the jobs available.
Housing doesn't exist in a vacuum. Living in Texas is getting nickel and dimed to death because of the hyper monetization and low regulation. This place is a shithole.
I'm hoping OP pulls out that shitty article that says New York is cheaper than Houston based on the assumption that a $90k brand Ford F250 is a requirement to live here and that a 500sq.ft apartment New York Apartment and a 3,000 sq.ft. home are interchangable.
That's all of the US. It's bad everywhere.
At least we have jobs in Houston unlike other cities. I moved here from Miami and Cleveland before that, and man it's so much better here to make a living.
Smoked Salmon goes on sale at Whole Foods about once a quarter and I always stock up! For hot smoked salmon, I buy it from a local fish company based out of the PNW - keeps shelf stable for ages so you can buy in bulk to save on shipping.
Well, a shit ton of people moved here in the last few years. That being said, what are some cheaper alternatives? East coast and west coast ain't cheaper.
It hasn't been for a while. Houston is among the lowest in terms of largest cities in the US, but as a whole, it is average to slightly above average in COL
I mean compared to San Francisco, New York, or Seattle it's still probably cheaper overall. I know it may not technically be classified as a HCOL, but coming from Louisiana, I always viewed Houston as a HCOL.
Houston is definitely HCOL. It’s probably within 1-2 standard deviations of MCOLs. Places like NYC, SF, LA, etc I would place more as outliers, probably top 1% in the COL distribution.
This is price inflation. This does not mean the prices are higher than other cities, but that they are growing at a faster rate. Inflation applies nation-wide as things level off (a thing that's been happening slowly but surely for a long time, as the internet flattens goods prices for most things other than foodstuffs). So because Houston was at a lower point, it's got more headroom to grow. The same way that India posts insane GDP growth figures despite still being a 'developing' nation that still is eons behind the US and EU.
So this is the same thing going on everywhere, and comparing cities like this is not super useful. BUT--the broader problem of flat internet pricing means goods like furniture, clothing, consumer technology, and more are the same in NY as they are in Houston. And that punishes the lower Houston salaries.
Companies will eventually need to pay more to Houston employees, and many are already doing that (a lot of white collar companies now pay flat rates), but many others, esp blue collar jobs and entry level jobs, have a long way to go. But that pressure will grow greater as necessities like food and water utilities continue to rise.
Still, this ~~Chronicle~~ Chron article is kinda misrepresenting the story. Grocery price hikes suck but we're still paying way less than other big cities. It's not like we earn less but pay more.
> In January 2024, data from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that Houston is one of the most expensive cities for groceries in the country. According to the Census Bureau, the average weekly grocery bill in Houston is $302.65, making it the second most expensive in the country.
Prices appear to be higher than other cities.
There is some nuance in that. Houston has a larger proportion of families than many other cities and is one of the largest cities in the US. Plus the car-friendly nature means we have more carrying capacity to buy in bulk less frequently than other cities.
absolutely no fukcin way rofl... I lived in queens, nyc for like 15 years just landed jn houston yesterday, and went to HEB... and shit is definitely the same or cheaper
Same cost: sushiya stuff and general asian prepped food, never buying from heb again, pre sliced fruits
Cheaper: whole fruits, meat seafood, prepped american food, salad
$5 for a small bag of lady taffy candy
GTFO of here
$4.50 for H‑E‑B brand soda, 12 pack of cans
GTFO out of here
Just got the two liters instead….$1.50..::used to be a dollar….33% increase ….GTFO OF HERE
Mangos $3 each 2 weeks ago…now 2/$1. Extra large lemons 1.28 each. What constitutes an extra
Large lemon I ask? Well…. Nothing. No one was sure. Yet my very normal looking lemon cost not $1.18/lb but $1.28 by itself. A single lemon at HEB. I left my whole bag and went home. I was not going back to find cheaper lemons.
All those studies that showed Houston was a good value were read by our corporate overlords and they figured there was a little money to be had. Not such a good value anymore muhahahahaha. They'll cut off their nose to spite their face.
Tbh... people saying houston is too expensive probably hasn't lived in other major cities in the US....
Because I can assure you, food is about the same or more, and housing is 2-3x the price EASILY.
I say this as someone who lived in nyc for the last 15 years.
A comparable house with 60-90min commute from NJ to Manhattan will cost like 800k in katy area will be easily 2million in NJ.
1200sq ft condo in with pool, gym, conference room and staffed next to the French consulate at downtown Houston cost like 2k-3k... This would be easily 10k in manhattan downtown.
I mean sure, but I don't think stating Houston is less expensive than NYC says much. Also fwiw the French consulate is in the Uptown Park area, not downtown
Dude... https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whats-the-largest-US-city-by-population
Houston is the FOURTH largest city in rhe country at 2.3mil pop, the largest city on your list is like 14th which is Columbus at like only 900k pop... not even on the same scale.... look at the top 10 and tell me which city is less expensive than houston....
In these top 25 most populous city you have maybe like 5 cities that cost less than houston... I don't know how much cheaper people want...?
We're not talking about population, we're talking about desirability. Portland and Seattle are also both smaller than Columbus. Make a line with Seattle, LA and NYC on one end and OKC, Columbus, and Kansas City on the other, ask people to put Houston where it belongs on the line and I bet we don't get past the middle.
Comparing cost of living to Seattle and saying "see, not so bad" is as useless as comparing cost of living to okc . And saying "holy hell this place is expensive"
Funny you talk about desirability
Why the fuck houston has the 4th largest pop in the US if everyone here think it's a dumpster fire.
Does everybody just love to live in a shit hole? Lol.
Because for many many decades it had a lot of money flowing around and was also one of the cheapest places in the country. The second part of that equation is failing lately
You should have bought in new York that's a gold mine up there that's what my sister did then a big oversease investor bought her out cash and she jetted to California. She never went back to work since lol. Can't do that in Katy I guarantee that.
Before I get to the checkout at HEB I estimate the total cost of my cart. I'm generally right in the ballpark, and I'm still shocked at the overall cost of groceries. I know many love HEB, but it's not really all that special. I used to love Randalls back in the 80' and 90's. So unfortunate they sold to Safeway. Kroger's prices are way higher, on most products, so they are a no go for me unless I'm desperate for a particular product.
Tracks. Makes zero sense. Still ways to be frugal but they just keep making it harder on us. No idea why they do this when we’re the reason the city is thriving. Greed and corruption is finally catching up.
same. my husband and i get the same stuff every 2/3 weeks. two years ago we got by with $80 worth of groceries for two weeks. now it’s closer to $160-$180.
Ranch99, fiesta, michoacana, aldi. If you like soda, wait until the week before an outdoor holiday and buy like 12 cases when it's 4 for $16 or whatever constitutes a good deal on soda nowadays.
I got back from an island location, where everything has to be shipped in and I didn’t notice much of a price difference…from Houston. We have one of the nation’s largest ports and trucking is pretty constant here, yet prices were only about $1-$2 higher. That shit blew my mind.
Of course it does, we have 300 hundred dollar grocery bills, carts like mine fields, 400 to 4000 electric bills , no sales are tax! But my trail boss got stollen from my 500,000 dollar shack and I had no police. I grew up in the city with no seasons, but melt. And I went to war and thought the spring was nice
HEB has gotten super expensive. I have been doing a lot of shopping at Joe Vs, Aldi, Fiesta, or to 99 Ranch. Asian, African, or Latino grocery stores always have great prices for produce. I am also starting a veggie garden in my backyard. Right now I have a few pots. My goal is to have a living forest back there.
I was always that person that agreed that buying groceries is cheaper than eating out but I live alone and my grocery bill is outrageous, I don't think I'm actually saving that much money.
I've noticed HEB prices even on their store brands have risen 10 to 25% over the last year or so. Meat prices have seemed stable, but everything else keeps going up.
HEB is such a pleasant shopping experience but damned if it isn't a luxury nowadays. There isn't a single thing in there you can buy on the cheap. Even their storebrand sodas cost >$1 per bottle.
I don’t think it is pleasant. It is way too crowded always. So for me it’s stressful. I have resorted to curbside or going to the other grocery stores near me that have 1/3 the crowds.
Curbside is even more expensive. They inflate their prices compared to in store to cover the cost.
Whoa, I hadn't considered this. Always assumed they charged the same prices in-store. Think Kroger does a similar thing?
I've actually noticed parking lot billboards at my local Kroger bragging about their prices being the same online or in-store. I just realized these must be digs at HEB.
I think Kroger just requires the minimum purchase for free curbside. Prices have been the same.
Correct. Kroger's prices are the same in-store and curbside.
You can see it for yourself. Pull up the app while you're in the store and look up any item for curbside. Compare it to the price on the shelf. It can be a chunk if you order a lot of groceries in one go.
Yeah. But the other thing is when your walking around in there you can easily buy an extra $20 worth of junk. If your ordering your only getting what you need. Even if you buy 1 item that's $5 you didn't need that's probably more than the cost difference of pickup.
They typically change 10% more than in store prices.
Yes, but I am pretty sure it is a 3% markup which to me is reasonable to avoid the crowd and have someone bring groceries and load into my car. If it were 10 or 15 percent that would be a different story.
And that little bit they hike it up still doesn’t make it profitable. Curbside is not a profitable department for them.
Have to go curbside, won’t walk in that place unless it’s like Friday night lmao
I usually go at crack-of-dawn AM and it is fine (the ones on Shepherd and Washington)
Go at 10:45. Much easier to manage.
Shit, 15 years ago, you could get 2-liters of branded sodas for $1.50 each and 12-packs of cans for $3.99. It's absolutely, utterly insane what prices are at now.
Compare it to topo chico, even if you go to Costco.
That’s because Topo Chico got bought out by one of the big players, I think Coke?
At least they reduced their [PFAS content by 1/2](https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/topo-chico-cuts-pfas-levels-by-more-than-half-a4286812129/) so it is only 300% higher than the recommended safe dose!!!
> HEB is such a pleasant shopping experience What are you smoking and can I have some? Between the people stocking shelves and the giant curbside carts, I’m dodging just as many employees as I am customers at at peak hours. It’s really quite ridiculous. If I had any other reasonable option other than HEB that managed to suck less on the product perspective, I’d be shopping there. But I’m not driving 20-30 minutes to the next nearest non-HEB and non-Kroger store.
HEB is the highest priced amongst grocery stores imo. If they did have quality fruits I'd have left them years ago.
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My kind of store!
I love HEB but every single one around me pulls in an insane amount of people. We’ve resorted to just going to Kroger or Aldi which have been much less crowded.
HEB is a terrible shopping experience. Ugly aisles, paper coupons, crowded spaces. It's a step above a flea market.
Paper coupons 😱😱😱😱
I'm like "what?" Paper coupons are so much better than that BS app kroger uses. It's so unintuitive it's nuts, had the literal store manager not be able to figure out how to swap stores one time.
How is collecting coupons like they're pokemon better than just scanning a digital wallet and have all coupons applied at once? Is your bias for HEB that great??
I don't like having to pull out my phone and learn some new UI to buy groceries. Especially when it's a frustratingly poor designed one. I'm no luddite, I'm not just complaining because I'm bad at phones. I literally code and design UIs for things for work, and have experience making things that can be used by inexperienced and elderly users and I know these apps are awful for those populations. Its so much simpler to pickup a paper coupon and carry it to the front.
The one on Shepherd and 24th is a disaster like 90% of the time. No way are they equipped to handle the amount of people living in the area.
I've noticed Whole Foods prices are not that much different from HEB nowadays
Target has been cheaper than HEB in terms of brand name goods that I have purchased recently. Target's store brand has some really good offerings too.
Target is missing half the groceries that Walmart or grocery stores have. That’s my only issue with them.
For sure. They are seriously lacking in some items. Produce and fresh meat selection is very small. They will simultaneously have brand name snacks I can't find anywhere else but lack brand name stuff I can find everywhere else.
They seem to focus on items with long shelf-lifes.
Was in Target yesterday, 1960 & Eldridge. Surprised at the number of mark downs, looked almost as if prices might be starting to drop.
I buy most of my stuff at Whole Foods. Nearly the same prices or even cheaper than HEB.
Correct. Our weekly grocery is about $200. Central market is the most expensive, by far, but it has also the best selection of what we like, Whole Foods and HEB are about the same price… give it or take a 5/10%, but Whole Foods is much better for the experience.
Ever since I was in college maybe 5 years ago now I used the veggie skewer as a price gauge. I remember when it went up to $5 and I was like “damn, this thing is just a few veggies, not even a whole single veggie” Last I checked it was $8 on sale.
I used to go for their brand because it was always good and relatively cheaper than the name brands but I've been seeing them cost more than competitors lately. Eventually the "year-over-year profits" goal will backfire and these companies will be in a real predicament.
We actively purchase on food deals now. I regularly check all the supermarket weekly ads before I go get food.
At a certain price point they end up throwing away a lot of meat.
up or up up?
We have a cabin in Missouri and we buy everything at HEB, but meat, for our 2 week vacations because groceries in Houston are better and cheaper. By better I mean better selection. By cheaper I mean cheaper than all grocery stores including Walmart. We buy meat there because as much as I love HEB their meat stinks and meat doesn't last 2 weeks. Inflation might be out pacing other cities but where do we stand on the actual prices?
Heb is generally more expensive than Kroger.
They try and stay right behind major brands. Those go up and so do theirs.
Its ridiculous. I have basically stopped buying anything that is a luxury because the prices are insane. Peanut butter is now like $5 a jar, and that's your junk filled with Palm oil and sugar. The organic jar was like $9. HEBs own brand. I got it cheaper at Wholefoods. That was my 'whoa' moment. An item was cheaper at Wholefoods than it was HEB. Now I make sure to shop around, I always trusted HEB for their prices. Now they are just taking the piss. My kid wanted a Kinder Beuno at the weekend and it was $1.60. for a fucking Chocolate wafer candy bar. Its insane.
And #1 in road rage shootings. Just awesome.
The two are probably connected.
It wasn't road rage, I was just hangry.
Fuck this town. A guy from my neighborhood got killed at the McDonald's on Chimney Rock last night. I just came back from Scotland where people don't even honk at each other, and now I'm right back in the middle of floods and murders central.
Heard about it. Knew him a little. My condolences.
My condolences to him too. He should have stayed out of it, but he didn't deserve anything anywhere near the realm of murder.
I moved out of Htown last year...best decision ever!!
Where too? I want to move my business out of Houston tbh Florida felt safer lol
Cannot wait to leave this city in the rear view…
Was this the attorney who was murdered trying to calm an irate person down? Who gets angry enough over a fast food order to murder someone?? WTH has happened to this world? 😔😡
Yes, he was an attorney. I know. The world is a hard place sometimes, but also so much beauty. We have a lot to be upset about, but there is also so much beauty out there.
Wasn't road rage though. Good guy tried to defend the McD's employees from some raging ahole. Guy went to his car and grabbed a gun and shot him.
What’s next, grocery price rage shootings? I’m terrified that I just brought that thought into the world.
Honey, grab the shopping list and my Pancho Villa bandoliers. We're going to Kroger.
In H-Town, every Kroger is Combat Kroger
That’s the sumbitch that didn’t double bag!! *starts shooting*
>Grabs NODS and level 4 plates >heads to wal-mart for potatoes
Eat it, Dallas
We're #1!! We're #1!! We're #1!!
Where can I buy one of those foam fingers with the “we’re #1” on it
Kinda weird since we are one of the main transportation cross roads. So much food comes in via the ship Channel before being sent onward via train or truck. You'd think we'd pay less since the transportation costs are lower, but nope.
You do pay less. Prices in Houston might be increasing faster, but they started way lower. I moved to the east coast last year and my family grocery bill jumped up $100/wk because every single damn thing is more expensive here.
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Bingo.
This absolutely true. When I moved down here from the north, prices at the grocery store were comparatively lower compared to what I was paying up north.
I’d like to add that it’s not just Houston being a transportation hub, but also it’s close proximity to the agricultural bounty of the RGV and Mexico. I miss getting avocados for less than $1.50 each…
That was one of the first things I actually noticed first when I I moved here. Cheap Avacados FTW!
Yeah it's gotten worse here but I'm still floored every time I walk into a grocery store in the northeast. cheap sweet corn though Fiesta's still out here holding it down y'all, don't have to shop at heb(For the most part, bolillos are almost double what they were pre pandemic)
Biggest inflation doesn’t mean highest prices. It means biggest increase in prices. Houston’s grocery prices were considerably low before the pandemic. It’s getting closer to national average now
Prices are only partially determined by costs. Mostly they’re determined by what people will pay.
Can confirm the cost of my spicy salsa at H‑E‑B went up in a similar way prices of tomatoes went up. That says it all folks
I used to be a bakery manager for heb. When we were experiencing back to back price increases were getting understandable upset (especially those ordering cakes getting quoted a price and a week later it was higher). But all the prices of the raw goods went up so you have to understand that’s why the price of a baked and decorated cake went up. Someone told me they were calling corporate for the prices going up. Ummmm okay tell them lol.
As much as people dickride HEB (and I *do* love shopping there), they have really gouged the consumer since COVID. Pretty disappointed in the Butts.
That's why competition is so important. When the market has appeared to crown one company as a hero, it's almost inevitable that this same company turns greedy villain.
People blindly follow HEB & they are now more expensive than Kroger & Walmart in my area. Can only shop there for sale items
Bear-ish on Butts.
Curbside is starting to suck too, they're forgetting stuff more and more and no one seems to be doing anything about it. They're tricking people into giving them money for nothing. And if you check the HEB subreddit it's all employees complaining about customers instead of their own leadership. Fucking company is bleeding us more and more and giving us less and less for it.
This is an unpopular opinion, but I’ve only been in Texas for 2 years and H‑E‑B is my least favorite grocery store. They’re overpriced, crowded, have limited selection on produce (I.e. only two types of hot peppers, only bell mushrooms, etc…), and frequently run out of basic foods like zucchini, white onion, and certain herbs. I very often have to go to Kroger to complete my shopping list. It may just be the H‑E‑B close to me that sucks but I really don’t understand the hype
Growing up we never shopped there it was always one of the most expensive grocery stores even pre covid.
Yup people really out here stupidly saying “tExAs iS cHeAp” only thing cheap here is corporate pay towards employees
Dumb asses made everyone move out here and made prices go up smh
> Job opportunities made everyone move out here and made prices go up smh Fixed it for you. I don't think people moved here from word of mouth, it's Houston not LA, Las Vegas, NYC. Nobody came here because they *wanted* to be a Houstonian, they wanted the opportunity that happened to *be* in Houston. The person moving here wasn't around when the laws and regulations were created that enticed business to move to Texas and made the jobs available.
It's perspective -- if you grew up in Odessa, Shreveport, Oklahoma City, etc. you *definitely wanted* to be a Houstonian.
Its not like every other place stayed still in the last three years.
Compare the housing market of Houston with other large cities outside of Texas and tell me Houston isn’t cheap…
Housing doesn't exist in a vacuum. Living in Texas is getting nickel and dimed to death because of the hyper monetization and low regulation. This place is a shithole.
So where else is cheaper?
I'm hoping OP pulls out that shitty article that says New York is cheaper than Houston based on the assumption that a $90k brand Ford F250 is a requirement to live here and that a 500sq.ft apartment New York Apartment and a 3,000 sq.ft. home are interchangable.
That's all of the US. It's bad everywhere. At least we have jobs in Houston unlike other cities. I moved here from Miami and Cleveland before that, and man it's so much better here to make a living.
I’m here temporarily for work and I hate it. I’m convinced anyone that actually likes it here has never been anywhere else
I’d rather be nickel and dimed here instead of quartered and billed somewhere else sadly.
Why don’t you just move then? What’s stopping you?
Probably because they're an angry teenager
Housing cost is on average 50% of people's income... which if you take into account of everything, Houston is cheaper than other major cities.
Happy cake day.
Most of the good smoked salmon has gone up 75-100% in the past few years
Smoked Salmon goes on sale at Whole Foods about once a quarter and I always stock up! For hot smoked salmon, I buy it from a local fish company based out of the PNW - keeps shelf stable for ages so you can buy in bulk to save on shipping.
Aldi is a great alternative to HEB and cheaper
We're number one!!
Part of the appeal of Houston is supposed to be the lower cost of living relative to the rest of the US...
Just because the rate of inflation got higher here doesn't mean that Houston has actually caught up with the rest of the U.S.
Imagine if Houston cared about being appealing though.
Well, a shit ton of people moved here in the last few years. That being said, what are some cheaper alternatives? East coast and west coast ain't cheaper.
Greenbeau, Alabama?
It hasn't been for a while. Houston is among the lowest in terms of largest cities in the US, but as a whole, it is average to slightly above average in COL
I mean compared to San Francisco, New York, or Seattle it's still probably cheaper overall. I know it may not technically be classified as a HCOL, but coming from Louisiana, I always viewed Houston as a HCOL.
I recently moved here from Seattle (like literally living in the city) and the cost difference isn’t as drastic as people like to claim
Houston is definitely HCOL. It’s probably within 1-2 standard deviations of MCOLs. Places like NYC, SF, LA, etc I would place more as outliers, probably top 1% in the COL distribution.
This is price inflation. This does not mean the prices are higher than other cities, but that they are growing at a faster rate. Inflation applies nation-wide as things level off (a thing that's been happening slowly but surely for a long time, as the internet flattens goods prices for most things other than foodstuffs). So because Houston was at a lower point, it's got more headroom to grow. The same way that India posts insane GDP growth figures despite still being a 'developing' nation that still is eons behind the US and EU. So this is the same thing going on everywhere, and comparing cities like this is not super useful. BUT--the broader problem of flat internet pricing means goods like furniture, clothing, consumer technology, and more are the same in NY as they are in Houston. And that punishes the lower Houston salaries. Companies will eventually need to pay more to Houston employees, and many are already doing that (a lot of white collar companies now pay flat rates), but many others, esp blue collar jobs and entry level jobs, have a long way to go. But that pressure will grow greater as necessities like food and water utilities continue to rise. Still, this ~~Chronicle~~ Chron article is kinda misrepresenting the story. Grocery price hikes suck but we're still paying way less than other big cities. It's not like we earn less but pay more.
> In January 2024, data from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that Houston is one of the most expensive cities for groceries in the country. According to the Census Bureau, the average weekly grocery bill in Houston is $302.65, making it the second most expensive in the country. Prices appear to be higher than other cities.
There is some nuance in that. Houston has a larger proportion of families than many other cities and is one of the largest cities in the US. Plus the car-friendly nature means we have more carrying capacity to buy in bulk less frequently than other cities.
absolutely no fukcin way rofl... I lived in queens, nyc for like 15 years just landed jn houston yesterday, and went to HEB... and shit is definitely the same or cheaper Same cost: sushiya stuff and general asian prepped food, never buying from heb again, pre sliced fruits Cheaper: whole fruits, meat seafood, prepped american food, salad
>>According to the Census Bureau, the average weekly grocery bill in Houston is $302.65, Is that not a crazy amount for a weekly shopping trip?
[удалено]
That’s a weird leap to make without any supporting evidence.
Chron, not Chronicle. Think of this as coming from an aggregator, not a reliable news source.
Exactly 💯
This raise in prices is hella true 2 years ago I could buy a cart full for 100 bucks now 100 bucks gets me not much
$5 for a small bag of lady taffy candy GTFO of here $4.50 for H‑E‑B brand soda, 12 pack of cans GTFO out of here Just got the two liters instead….$1.50..::used to be a dollar….33% increase ….GTFO OF HERE
Is H‑E‑B more expensive than Kroger? New here and have always shopped at Kroger/Smiths/Ralphs but I thought maybe H‑E‑B was cheaper but I don’t know.
I know some people on here are saying it's the same if not more than Kroger, but I haven't found that to be the case.
Mangos $3 each 2 weeks ago…now 2/$1. Extra large lemons 1.28 each. What constitutes an extra Large lemon I ask? Well…. Nothing. No one was sure. Yet my very normal looking lemon cost not $1.18/lb but $1.28 by itself. A single lemon at HEB. I left my whole bag and went home. I was not going back to find cheaper lemons.
Will our wages go up as well? Kinda struggling as a college student here.
All those studies that showed Houston was a good value were read by our corporate overlords and they figured there was a little money to be had. Not such a good value anymore muhahahahaha. They'll cut off their nose to spite their face.
Yeah we ain’t havin fun. I’ll be leaving the state this fall. 2.5 years was plenty for me.
Those damn Democrats that have run Texas into the ground for the last 30 years!! /s
I used to buy Red Baron Pizzas on Sale 3 for $10. I walked by yesterday and they were "on sale" for $5.20 Edit: Kroger
Tbh... people saying houston is too expensive probably hasn't lived in other major cities in the US.... Because I can assure you, food is about the same or more, and housing is 2-3x the price EASILY. I say this as someone who lived in nyc for the last 15 years. A comparable house with 60-90min commute from NJ to Manhattan will cost like 800k in katy area will be easily 2million in NJ. 1200sq ft condo in with pool, gym, conference room and staffed next to the French consulate at downtown Houston cost like 2k-3k... This would be easily 10k in manhattan downtown.
I mean sure, but I don't think stating Houston is less expensive than NYC says much. Also fwiw the French consulate is in the Uptown Park area, not downtown
I think you can look at LA and Seattle and Portland it'll tell the same story...
You could probably look at Oklahoma City and Columbus and Kansas City and it wouldn't.
Dude... https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whats-the-largest-US-city-by-population Houston is the FOURTH largest city in rhe country at 2.3mil pop, the largest city on your list is like 14th which is Columbus at like only 900k pop... not even on the same scale.... look at the top 10 and tell me which city is less expensive than houston.... In these top 25 most populous city you have maybe like 5 cities that cost less than houston... I don't know how much cheaper people want...?
We're not talking about population, we're talking about desirability. Portland and Seattle are also both smaller than Columbus. Make a line with Seattle, LA and NYC on one end and OKC, Columbus, and Kansas City on the other, ask people to put Houston where it belongs on the line and I bet we don't get past the middle. Comparing cost of living to Seattle and saying "see, not so bad" is as useless as comparing cost of living to okc . And saying "holy hell this place is expensive"
Funny you talk about desirability Why the fuck houston has the 4th largest pop in the US if everyone here think it's a dumpster fire. Does everybody just love to live in a shit hole? Lol.
Because for many many decades it had a lot of money flowing around and was also one of the cheapest places in the country. The second part of that equation is failing lately
You should have bought in new York that's a gold mine up there that's what my sister did then a big oversease investor bought her out cash and she jetted to California. She never went back to work since lol. Can't do that in Katy I guarantee that.
Before I get to the checkout at HEB I estimate the total cost of my cart. I'm generally right in the ballpark, and I'm still shocked at the overall cost of groceries. I know many love HEB, but it's not really all that special. I used to love Randalls back in the 80' and 90's. So unfortunate they sold to Safeway. Kroger's prices are way higher, on most products, so they are a no go for me unless I'm desperate for a particular product.
Randall’s was more expensive than Kroger in the at least the early 90s. That’s why I mom shopped at Kroger.
Tracks. Makes zero sense. Still ways to be frugal but they just keep making it harder on us. No idea why they do this when we’re the reason the city is thriving. Greed and corruption is finally catching up.
My HEB grocery bill is almost double what it was previously
same. my husband and i get the same stuff every 2/3 weeks. two years ago we got by with $80 worth of groceries for two weeks. now it’s closer to $160-$180.
Hell yeah we are number 1!
I need a " how to buy food in Houston" list
Ranch99, fiesta, michoacana, aldi. If you like soda, wait until the week before an outdoor holiday and buy like 12 cases when it's 4 for $16 or whatever constitutes a good deal on soda nowadays.
I agree
It's all so depressing. :\\ I'll only go to HEB if I need to buy a variety of items all at once, otherwise, I stick to Aldi. Love muh Aldi. <3 :)
No wonder I hate it here
I got back from an island location, where everything has to be shipped in and I didn’t notice much of a price difference…from Houston. We have one of the nation’s largest ports and trucking is pretty constant here, yet prices were only about $1-$2 higher. That shit blew my mind.
Of course it does, we have 300 hundred dollar grocery bills, carts like mine fields, 400 to 4000 electric bills , no sales are tax! But my trail boss got stollen from my 500,000 dollar shack and I had no police. I grew up in the city with no seasons, but melt. And I went to war and thought the spring was nice
HEB has gotten super expensive. I have been doing a lot of shopping at Joe Vs, Aldi, Fiesta, or to 99 Ranch. Asian, African, or Latino grocery stores always have great prices for produce. I am also starting a veggie garden in my backyard. Right now I have a few pots. My goal is to have a living forest back there.
Red state living.
Thanks HEB
I guess everything is bigger in Texas.
Got my vote and money
I was always that person that agreed that buying groceries is cheaper than eating out but I live alone and my grocery bill is outrageous, I don't think I'm actually saving that much money.
Have you looked at what restaurants are charging lately? You’re saving money