Prices drop for some consumer goods — but it could be due to sales

SALT LAKE CITY — The cost of certain consumer goods surveyed along the Wasatch Front shows that the cost of living has dropped 4.9 percent since last month, but that may be because of special sales currently being offered by grocery stores and pizzerias.

The imaginary Deseret News "grocery cart" shows that the cost of several food and household items dropped substantially at five stores surveyed. However, some stores are offering sales on fairly high-ticket items that produced markedly lower figures this month compared to last month and also to Sept. 1, 2009, which is when the newspaper first began tracking the cost of Utah living.

Among the price reductions was an average 10 percent drop in the cost of Pampers size 3 Baby Dry diapers in a 96-count box. The price range for that box of diapers last month at the five stores the Deseret News surveys was $19.77 to $22.49.

The price range for the same diapers at the same stores on Monday was $10.49 to $19.99.

Similarly, the price range last month for a pound of 80 percent-85 percent lean ground hamburger was $2.58 to $3.84.

On Monday, however, the hamburger price range was $1.76 to $3.79.

In addition, one pizza shop on Monday was offering a bargain for a large pepperoni take-out pizza for $6.46 and other shops were charging $10. That is considerably lower than last month's price range of $10 to $13 for the same pizza.

The average cost of milk, frozen corn, orange juice, Oreo cookies and ice cream went up over last month's prices, but the average cost for such things as bread, eggs and Cheerios cereal decreased — a scenario of varying prices that is typical of most months.

The Deseret News examines the cost of the same 12 items at the same stores each month, as well as the cost of takeout pizza at the three pizzerias, an evening movie ticket with a medium popcorn and soft drink at three theaters, and regular gasoline, with its price determined by the AAA Fuel Gauge daily report for Utah.

When it comes to gas, a gallon of regular cost $2.87 last month, but has dropped slightly to $2.84 this month, according to AAA. That is higher than the $2.65 per gallon price tag found in 2009.

The survey does not take into account every consumer item in each store or track each sale. Instead, it was intended to be a tool for consumers to get some price comparisons for their own shopping.

No store that is surveyed has either all the lowest prices or all the highest, and each always offers a substantial range in the cost of commonly purchased goods.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com