Flushing Money

Is it just me or have groceries gotten a lot more expensive?

Perhaps while I was living in Virginia, so close to a Wegman's I got spoiled. Wegman's was big enough to provide bulk items and diverse enough to provide everything you could possibly want. Their store brand items were always cheaper and, for the most part, they were just as good or even better than the name brand counterparts. I was paying $2.50 for a loaf of that really healthy whole grain bread, which is $4.50 here. I was paying $3.50 for those huge boxes of cereal that I can't even find here. The smaller boxes run at least $4.00 each, usually more. Upon close inspection of the store brand items I've found that sometimes they are actually more expensive or only 10 cents cheaper. I'm not above buying them anyway to save that dime but I've found many of these store brand cereals and such do not taste as good. I'll pay the dime to enjoy the cereal. 

At first I figured I needed to try the other stores to find the best value but now I've been to every grocery store in the area and they are largely the same. They are all overpriced, carry crappy store brand items and the baggers ALWAYS over stuff the bags. I just feel like I'm flushing money down the toilet. How I long for Wegmans to open a store in St. Louis. It isn't likely to happen any time soon. A girl can dream.

Have you noticed an increase in grocery prices too?