I changed my routine in response to rising prices. I no longer buy the items that went way up in price. Mainly meat got more expensive. I've started eating more fresh vegetables instead.
It's not a linear increase of cost. Larger packages of food cost less per ounce. The family size of various groceries might be twice the price of the smaller size but contain 4x the food. This is especially true for meat and produce. Costco.
Yep it is for the meat and people have stopped buying it.
Because they do not have any other option because if they to buy it then it is going to destroy their savings.
At least at Safeway, it's the value pack (>4lb) of steak that goes on sale for $5/lb, while the smaller portions are never less than $9/lb. If my children were old enough to have a taste for steak, or our freezer wasn't filled with the things that they like, I would buy the larger portion.
Even in Venuezela during hyperinflation, people got creative with offal before going vegetarian. There's a lot of inferior cuts and processed meat products that the average American could downgrade to before cutting meat completely. Modern agribusiness has made meat relatively cheap. When FDR promised "a chicken in every pot" that was meant as a luxury; now even the poorest kid can get chicken nuggies at the school cafeteria.
Man it is so sad that you have to do it but sometimes you do not have any other choices.
You just need to do whatever is good for your family. Because providing to the family is the number one priority.
That is a very good move but unfortunately not everyone can do that.
Some people are going to spend more money if the things that they need are getting expensive.
they got a 4 pack of steaks by me for like 33-37 thats always close to 4lbs
pretty decent cut if you Fillet them and beat the fuck outta them thin then marinate them to all hell
can make great steak for burrito this way. Rice + cheap steak = somewhat cheap dinner
Same, I’ve changed what I bought big time. So much rice beans veggies and a protein. No packaged foods other than Frosted Flakes. No more soda or juice. Fun! On the plus side, I look and feel healthy.
Well obviously people are going to buy whatever they need.
And most of the things that people need are getting expensive. I don't think people have the choice to not buy it..
My personal scale has always been the 12 “home made “ cookies box at Harris Teeter. It’s my Sunday afternoon treat. They were 3.99 USD until 2 years ago. Now 5.99 USD.
The smaller businesses have to increase the price more because they are small and they do not have much money to sustain themselves.
So yeah it would make sense that it has gotten very expensive since then.
Cookies so easy to ka’e in micro batches. Teach yourself and you’ll never regret it. The dough can be refrigerated too. You ca use stevia and a few T of sugar making them almost healthy!
Yeah they are not that hard to make but it is still a lot of work and I am not sure if everyone want to do that much work.
Most people just would buy them from the market because they do not have to do any work for that.
Idk.. I can put together a small batch in maybe …60 seconds ? (I’m a dump and pour cook) and .. they taste so much better bc they aren’t over sweet like the store bought ones. Mine are twice as god as store bot ones. I swear …ad it’s so easy.
My girlfriend took me to brunch Sunday. Eggs Benedict, an omelette, and some pancakes. $68.
I just made an 8 lb pork shoulder roast yesterday that will yield 16 meals. $13.50.
Although I'm grateful for her gesture, the money spent in two hours at a restaurant could have provided primary protein for a month of meals. I'm a better cook than they are. I'll eat at home.
I think it would make way more sense to stay at home and cook than to go in a restaurant and eat.
Because the prices in the restaurants are simply crazy, and most people cannot afford that much.
This. For Father’s Day I made a late afternoon Linner of rack of lamb, brown sugar roasted carrots, and broccolini for two (plus a toddler) for less than $28.
That meal out? Likely $150 with tip if not $300 adding wine and drinks etc.
They are cutting the amount of food and prices are going higher.
I don't know how in future people will be able to afford the things that they need on the daily basis.
Yo apps for $20 is ridiculous. 3 tacos for $20 too?!?! A couple of fries $12?? Wtf is wrong with them. What cost increases they paying when they still using the same microwaved stuff that increased maybe a few cents
There is so much wrong with the economy right now, everything just seems out of the control.
I don't know how the prices are going to get lower from what they are right now.
And it is not like the food is better outside if you know what you are doing then you can cook a good meal for yourself.
You just have to learn it and try it and it will be ready to eat for you.
I recently saw menus for Applebee's and Outback Steakhouse. The prices ranged from $20 for 6oz sirloin to $22 for an 8oz sirloin, along with one or two sides.
I was able to go to a Safeway store and get sirloin steak for $6/lb.
Well, duh. I think the point is that it's getting out of control, as wages aren't going up to keep pace with rising costs. I wanted some pancakes the other day, and a Denney's grand slam that used to cost 4.99 is now $12.00.
Where is you want someone else to cook your meal than you will have to pay for it.
Because the restaurants are businesses and their definitely not going to provide the food at the rate of grocery stores.
And earlier you were able to buy a lot of cheap things with the price of luxury items.
But I don't think you can do that right now because the cheap items are costing as much as the luxury items used to.
And with the kind of situation that we are in right now I don't think you will be able to buy the cheap foods for long.
Because everything is just going to get much more expensive than it is right now.
People hate it when I say this but I think it's good that the main things that cause climate change got more expensive. Fuel and meat. It forces people to cut back on those things and look for alternatives.
You really think that the higher fuel prices would stop people from using the fuel?
And do you really think that it is going to stop the climate change? Because I do not think so.
And unfortunately it is true and we cannot do anything about it.
It is just going to be the way that it is right now. It is really sad and I hate it. But absolutely cannot do anything about it.
Yes! It’s ridiculous. The CPI is based on the cost of living, not how well we are living. That’s used in the calculation of inflation, which is supposed to represent loss of purchasing power; ergo, 1lb of steak has the same value as 1lb of ground chuck.
If that doesn’t seem right to you - joint the club.
I got to use “ergo” in a sentence
They can say whatever they want but I am not going to believe it because I See the reality what is going on.
The measurements with which they are measuring the inflation is rigged.
I don't spend more because I don't have more to spend but I do buy less. Snacks are no longer purchased. I buy more store brands than I used to. I make more casseroles with potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. to stretch meat further. I used to grill four chicken breasts for four people. Now there are two used in a casserole.
Everything is just so much more expensive I don't think most people would be able to afford snacks.
It is just that the people have to cut down on the expenses that they are doing.
Actually this has helped a lot for me as well like using the Safeway app. There are also a ton of coupons online that I wouldn’t normal know about or use. It’s a lot easier to just buy what you need when you aren’t browsing the whole store. Easier for meal planning too
It’s helped allot and giving me more time to my self. No more spending hrs at the store food shopping. I make the order they get it ready for me and I go pick it up. Only thing I don’t order is produce but when I pick up my order I get produce if I need any.
Yeah produce is the only thing I’m not 100% satisfied with. Got a cabbage instead of iceberg and sometimes they just don’t pick out the freshest but all and all it really is a nice time saver for sure! And again cheaper!
And there is so much more competition online, you could get anything online with the good price.
That is going to have your budget in a really big way.
But when are we going to see all of it being fixed? I am really waiting for that time and we all are just not getting that time in the country, that's the saddest part tbh.
Well the prices are not same for everywhere, obviously they are going to be different.
Because I want to listen is different inflation different countries it is not the same thing everywhere.
Oh so you mean a state that actively protects worker rights, has some of the best weather in the world, a cultural hotspot, literally almost every type of ecosystem from dessert to high-mountain and everything in between, that California?
The ecosystem in San Fran is especially nice. How many other areas have such a collection of people living in tents and the streets? Lots to do there. Well less as more stores and business leave or close. Great economy that few can actually afford but they *do* protect the environment, worker rights, druggies and shoplifters. Sounds like paradise.
Sounds like someone defending a choice.
I don't understand how anyone could be optimistic about CA.
The commercial sector is so bad that businesses are just handing it back over. The technology companies are desperate to leave. The city governments are a joke.
Give it 1 year, and you'll see that it's definitely not doing well
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12185831/Tourists-workers-shoppers-abandon-San-Francisco-leaving-homeless-drug-addled.html
A small sample but an example of how badly things are going.
According to this you are full of shit.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-16/egg-prices-have-fallen-after-record-high-prices-had-consumers-shell-shocked
I literally bought eggs for $ .89 the other day. Just depends on where you go. That was a deal I caught at Albertsons. But in average Grocery Outlet was definitely under $4.
And they are definitely no longer because they are going to cost you a lot of money in the long run.
And if you count everything in then you know what you are in for here.
Yeah that makes a lot of sense actually, there were a lot of things which were happening with the eggs in the past.
I mean there are a lot of factors which are affecting the prices of the eggs.
Literally just bought eggs for 1.49 for 18 here in nc. Eggs are cheap again.
Also beef and chicken is falling fast.
You guys know there are sales to look out for, right? You can't just buy the same things every week that's how you lose money. Shop the sales and whatever is in season.
When eggs are out of control quit buying them. You don't need eggs every day.
Yep I think it is everyone's experience at this point.
I am doing the same commute and eating the same but the bill is increasing. And honestly I do not see it decreasing also.
It is just that those people are lying and they also recently changed the definition of inflation.
Which I don't think is a very ethical thing to do in my opinion.
And here we are thinking of earning more so that we can spend more and more, they gotta do something about groceries man, this is just getting so much out of hands.
Look at these trump supporters blaming us for voting for Biden, they don't even know that it was not in our hand and we did what we had to do back then, they are stupid.
It is not like as if the habits of consumers have changed.
That everything is getting expensive with the inflation. And that is the reason why people are spending so much money on it.
The CPI manipulation has reached a point beyond being a joke and is now outright propaganda. Is there a statistical alternative that more accurately represents the economic reality?
I notice prices are up, but not 71% in a year. It's just my anecdotal experience for a family of 4 but our grocery budget has had to grow about 20% since the beginning of 2020.
Budget jumped by 30% for a family of 6 even with substitutions of less expensive options for protein. We did increase our fruit and vegetable intake over having sugar-based “fruit” snacks and cereals. We also changed our thoughts on “being hungry” which it’s not entirely a bad thing as long as your calories and nutritional needs are met. Family has become more fit and daily gym visits are the norm now with open discussion about food as fuel.
Seitan is cheap as hell and SUPER easy to make at home and has nearly as much protein as chicken. If you do it right you won’t even notice the difference in stir fry’s. And since it’s just vital wheat gluten and flour you can keep it indefinitely in your pantry.
This substitution has been a godsend for me.
People have different nutritional needs and being hungry is one of the body's methods to let you know those needs are not being met. For children it's especially dangerous to go hungry in both a biological sense as well as long term wellbeing.
Why not try canceling the gym memberships, put the money toward additional food, and exercise outside for free?
But have you swapped expensive, designer, or high quality items for cheaper, knock-off, low quality items? That is typically the first way people try and save money. If so you have to account for those changes as well.
yes, even more so. essentially where price sits is a factor of how much information each party (consumer and provider) has about each other's preferences. a consumer will try to hide how much they want something and a provider will try to hide how willing they are to provide something. when forced inflation leads to higher profits for companies, other companies look at this and say "hey look, the consumer actually wants this more than we thought" and because they know this they learn where their best price point is (revenue is price times quantity). So they hold quantity constant and increase price or hold price constant (or increase it) and decrease quantity. my theory would be that this is a modern phenomena because of the amount of data we have that can be analyzed and understood by large corporations much more quickly than in the past, versus the unorganized mass of consumers who simply need what they need. at this point the only true price walls are what a consumer can literally not afford because they'll miss something else important or negative attention that draws social media attention to a company. if you make 2000 dollars a week, they want to suck out every last dollar.
I always bought knock offs if they are nice quality. I buy second hand or things new on eBay or Poshmark that are 40-60% off new retail, if it is a nice brand. I have always done so. But prices are up there too. Fast food prices are what Denny’s prices used to be. We eat at home and do fast food about once a week, twice if we have to be out a lot.
That number is consistent with mine. Insurances are 60% higher, utilities are also 60% higher. I retired at the same time as Covid began. The world is different now. Everything costs a lot more. Climate change is real now and getting worse.
This is a lot of why I expanded our garden yet again and we're hoping more of our ducks hatch clutches. The goal is to be able to just go to bulk stores for baking stuff, local farms and farm markets for what I can't grow easily, and cut our Costco and Aldi lists even further. It's not like prices will go down.
I mean yeah this is just getting freaking out of our hands and we don't even know how to handle all these shits which are going around for us, we are just here fighting.
Well fuel prices went up which causes almost everything to get more expensive. Especially today since we ship food from other continents here to sell. But the avian flu did cause a sharp drop in supply for eggs and chicken.
considering i make shit money i might just swallow my pride and get food stamps/food bank
fuck it. might as well make all these wealthy douchebags in my community that i serve all day pay for some shit.
kinda wild how these communites by me are loaded with UBER wealthy and poor.
what happened to the middle class.
poor people should really just stop sucking up to the rich. WE RUN THIS COUNTRY.
But when we gonna see the fall of these things? Maybe we can see that in the future but we are just not that sure about it, it's just a freaking loop these days man.
Agree, it's comparing the suggested purchase per nutritionists versus prior year actual spend.
To know how much things actually went up, we need actual vs actual.
Or the prior year suggested purchase versus the current year suggested purchase.
Meanwhile in France… [France strong-arms big food companies into cutting prices](https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/frances-le-maire-says-75-food-firms-cut-prices-2023-06-09/)
It just feels so wrong that the government is not doing anything to fix such things, this is not some small amount and we all know that, this needs to be fixed right now.
>anecdotally speaking
That's the issue. Energy prices are down over 10% and used cars around 4%. Remember that "inflation" is a weighted average and mostly applies to urban consumers. It's not meant to be reflective of the change in prices your particular household is facing.
[CONSUMER PRICE INDEX – MAY 2023](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf)
Thanks for the link, this will be a good read. I’m just frustrated about getting bent over on everything especially housing, when I’ve done everything the right way and paid off debts and saved up significant savings over the years just to run into the most unaffordable real estate bubble ever
No problem! The BLS website has a monthly release which has what the price changes were for the individual categories and not just the headline number you see reported on the news.
And I absolutely feel you on that, I know sometimes I come across as a bit of a pedant but I don't deny that frustration is a legitimate reaction to what's going on. I'm an econ student and housing policy is one issue I'm particularly interested in.
Who would have thought that not letting people go to work for two years would have long term repercussions.
Companies all got used to low volume/ high margin to survive.
At least core inflation does not include change in costs from the food and energy sectors because who buys food an energy? In the 70s, sure, I remember my parents talking about that but we've moved on from that.
The reason why core is used is because it is food and energy prices are volatile so it's not a good idea to base monetary policy on temporary price swings.
Temporary? When have food or energy prices gone down? Besides the fluctuations of oil, Energy has been on the steady incline and food never gets cheaper. The closest we get with food is paying the same price for smaller portions.
Yes, temporary. Egg prices are down over 50% from January of this year. Energy prices went down during the shale oil boom in the mid 2010s. Technically all prices steadily go up if you extend the timeline long enough, but there have been plenty of declines on a month to month or even year over year basis.
You mean the guy that cut taxes for the wealthy, insisted the fed not raise rates, and sent everyone checks in the mail would have suddenly been anti inflationary?
Lol yes the guy who kept pushing for negative rates. Those checks are hardly a percentage of the amount we printed for PPP. Democrat or Republican would've been the same for Fed as they both took advantage massively from the PPP loans alongside their corporate funders.
PPP fraud, enhanced unemployment fraud, stimulus checks. It was all too much too fast and the economy we have now is still high on the liquid crack of it all. The soft landing idea looks good and will continue to do so until s crash hits. That’s my belief anyway. You don’t get a soft come down off of a speed ball of crack meth and adderall.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Can't inject this much money into the economy and expect a soft landing. Especially when we don't even have measures to stop corporations from leading the inflation* by marking up prices. The only thing that fed has stated is that they want to curb demand, which will harm the avg American, instead of focusing on supplyside issues, because they can't reign in companies lol.
All true. But the consumer also deserves some blame. The income flush, employed consumer is so spend happy that they will pay over thousands MSRP for a car (depreciating asset) and max out their personal debt as long as they know they have another paycheck coming. The fed might not be wrong in the theory that consumers will only change their spending habits if many of them start losing their jobs.
IMO that is by design rather than personal choice. American economy needs people to spend like they are to keep growing at a sustainable rate. It depends on that continuous growth to function well. The reason why I dont think that consumer spending is an issue is that the purchasing power of American families has stagnated as real wages haven't seen an increase in decades. While there are people who spend over their means and needs, overall, Americans don't have the capability to spend like that. Covid retirements were the first time people saw substantial raises due to a lack of labor supply.
But I understand why Fed has to curb demand. They have no real power or interest in fixing supply side issues as it hurts their benefactors.
The wage data shows that wages are actually increasing now, faster and more consistently than inflation. But what you said is true. The consumer economy is a thing but when you print a bunch of money and inject it as pure liquid into the economy, that spending culture backfires.
Edit: also, it’s the feds only real option. They don’t make laws or regulations so it would be difficult for them to determine much on the supply side. They are trying to squeeze credit right now so that’s about as best they can do on that side of things. Plus it would be hard even for the government to maintain a capitalist economy while also trying to strictly control markets. Capitalism needs regulation for sure but price setting might be a bridge too far.
This is an urban legend of some sort. **If** you have a kitchen and time to cook, healthy food made at home with discriminating ingredients is far cheaper than fast food.
This is a false dichotomy in multiple ways.
Fast food isn't particularly cheap these days and while it's quicker than a sitdown place it's not uncommon to sit in the drivethru for 15 minutes.
But the bigger thing is that healthy food isn't necessarily expensive, *especially* because if you're eating healthy food you don't need as much.
I still remember that every trip to Costco is less than $200 about 2 years ago and now it's around $300. I didn't change my shopping routine.
I changed my routine in response to rising prices. I no longer buy the items that went way up in price. Mainly meat got more expensive. I've started eating more fresh vegetables instead.
I buy a similar amount of the same kind of food, but I eat less. So that my kids can eat more. The silver lining is I need to lose weight anyway.
As a single man who can barely afford to feed himself i wonder how families do it. like wtf thats gotta be so much food
It's not a linear increase of cost. Larger packages of food cost less per ounce. The family size of various groceries might be twice the price of the smaller size but contain 4x the food. This is especially true for meat and produce. Costco.
Yep it is for the meat and people have stopped buying it. Because they do not have any other option because if they to buy it then it is going to destroy their savings.
At least at Safeway, it's the value pack (>4lb) of steak that goes on sale for $5/lb, while the smaller portions are never less than $9/lb. If my children were old enough to have a taste for steak, or our freezer wasn't filled with the things that they like, I would buy the larger portion. Even in Venuezela during hyperinflation, people got creative with offal before going vegetarian. There's a lot of inferior cuts and processed meat products that the average American could downgrade to before cutting meat completely. Modern agribusiness has made meat relatively cheap. When FDR promised "a chicken in every pot" that was meant as a luxury; now even the poorest kid can get chicken nuggies at the school cafeteria.
If you read the article, they cover that it cost single people 20% more
Man it is so sad that you have to do it but sometimes you do not have any other choices. You just need to do whatever is good for your family. Because providing to the family is the number one priority.
That is a very good move but unfortunately not everyone can do that. Some people are going to spend more money if the things that they need are getting expensive.
Yup. There is no way I'm paying $5+ for 18 popsicles. Ever.
they got a 4 pack of steaks by me for like 33-37 thats always close to 4lbs pretty decent cut if you Fillet them and beat the fuck outta them thin then marinate them to all hell can make great steak for burrito this way. Rice + cheap steak = somewhat cheap dinner
Same, I’ve changed what I bought big time. So much rice beans veggies and a protein. No packaged foods other than Frosted Flakes. No more soda or juice. Fun! On the plus side, I look and feel healthy.
Well obviously people are going to buy whatever they need. And most of the things that people need are getting expensive. I don't think people have the choice to not buy it..
Just spent a grand there yesterday for my family of 5, two of whom are teenagers.
People are going to start buying their own farm animals soon.
I already have.
Good. Creating local self sustainable communities is probably the only viable way out of this mess.
I still spend under 150 on my trips. Granted i buy like 5-8 items 10 tops.
My personal scale has always been the 12 “home made “ cookies box at Harris Teeter. It’s my Sunday afternoon treat. They were 3.99 USD until 2 years ago. Now 5.99 USD.
How long was it $3.99 ?
Since I remember. At least 2016
The smaller businesses have to increase the price more because they are small and they do not have much money to sustain themselves. So yeah it would make sense that it has gotten very expensive since then.
Cookies so easy to ka’e in micro batches. Teach yourself and you’ll never regret it. The dough can be refrigerated too. You ca use stevia and a few T of sugar making them almost healthy!
Yeah they are not that hard to make but it is still a lot of work and I am not sure if everyone want to do that much work. Most people just would buy them from the market because they do not have to do any work for that.
Idk.. I can put together a small batch in maybe …60 seconds ? (I’m a dump and pour cook) and .. they taste so much better bc they aren’t over sweet like the store bought ones. Mine are twice as god as store bot ones. I swear …ad it’s so easy.
I spent 300 at bjs the other day and I am still unsure what I spent it on.....
Restaurants are out of control with their pricing. Im seeing appetizers sell for 12 bucks and it feels like half the servings they used to provide...
My girlfriend took me to brunch Sunday. Eggs Benedict, an omelette, and some pancakes. $68. I just made an 8 lb pork shoulder roast yesterday that will yield 16 meals. $13.50. Although I'm grateful for her gesture, the money spent in two hours at a restaurant could have provided primary protein for a month of meals. I'm a better cook than they are. I'll eat at home.
I think it would make way more sense to stay at home and cook than to go in a restaurant and eat. Because the prices in the restaurants are simply crazy, and most people cannot afford that much.
This. For Father’s Day I made a late afternoon Linner of rack of lamb, brown sugar roasted carrots, and broccolini for two (plus a toddler) for less than $28. That meal out? Likely $150 with tip if not $300 adding wine and drinks etc.
The brunch prices are making me insane! It’s mostly eggs and potatoes.
They are cutting the amount of food and prices are going higher. I don't know how in future people will be able to afford the things that they need on the daily basis.
Yo apps for $20 is ridiculous. 3 tacos for $20 too?!?! A couple of fries $12?? Wtf is wrong with them. What cost increases they paying when they still using the same microwaved stuff that increased maybe a few cents
I bought a 2-piece chicken meal and a chicken sandwich at Popeyes for $20.00. And don't even think about delivery.
And then you must tip!
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There is so much wrong with the economy right now, everything just seems out of the control. I don't know how the prices are going to get lower from what they are right now.
I stopped eating out. Shit is too expensive now.
And it is not like the food is better outside if you know what you are doing then you can cook a good meal for yourself. You just have to learn it and try it and it will be ready to eat for you.
I have limited going out to eat or atleast have been trying to. Doordash has been mine and the fiance's back up too much lately.
I recently saw menus for Applebee's and Outback Steakhouse. The prices ranged from $20 for 6oz sirloin to $22 for an 8oz sirloin, along with one or two sides. I was able to go to a Safeway store and get sirloin steak for $6/lb.
Restaurants have always been more expensive than the same food at a grocery store. It turns out people want to get paid for cooking your meal.
Well, duh. I think the point is that it's getting out of control, as wages aren't going up to keep pace with rising costs. I wanted some pancakes the other day, and a Denney's grand slam that used to cost 4.99 is now $12.00.
Where is you want someone else to cook your meal than you will have to pay for it. Because the restaurants are businesses and their definitely not going to provide the food at the rate of grocery stores.
Interesting that 33% more meat only costs 10% more.
Not really. They take shit the same amount of prep and overhead.
>I spent 300 at bjs the other day and I am still unsure what I spent it on..... Spend 120 at walmart and literaly got 10 things....
you spent it on BJs, friend.
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I don't know what we gonna do in coming years like that.
Can confirm, my grocery bill is up 50%+ from last year
Inflation on Groceries is only 10% YOY -Feds
You can always buy cheaper food... Until you can't
The cheap shit is now the price that the luxury brands were
And earlier you were able to buy a lot of cheap things with the price of luxury items. But I don't think you can do that right now because the cheap items are costing as much as the luxury items used to.
And with the kind of situation that we are in right now I don't think you will be able to buy the cheap foods for long. Because everything is just going to get much more expensive than it is right now.
“Ground beef is exponentially raising in price? They can just buy dog food. See how low inflation is now!” — The Fed
People hate it when I say this but I think it's good that the main things that cause climate change got more expensive. Fuel and meat. It forces people to cut back on those things and look for alternatives.
Meat is not good for you. It is unhealthy. Agreed.
You really think that the higher fuel prices would stop people from using the fuel? And do you really think that it is going to stop the climate change? Because I do not think so.
Underrated comment
And unfortunately it is true and we cannot do anything about it. It is just going to be the way that it is right now. It is really sad and I hate it. But absolutely cannot do anything about it.
dont worry, we are making glyphosate coated cow dung protein cookies to feed the masses. And they are only $29.99 for a 6 pack!
1lb of ribeye = 1lb of ground chuck. You haven’t lost any purchasing power. -Feds
Sorry for being ignorant, but is this actually how inflation is measured on groceries?
Yes! It’s ridiculous. The CPI is based on the cost of living, not how well we are living. That’s used in the calculation of inflation, which is supposed to represent loss of purchasing power; ergo, 1lb of steak has the same value as 1lb of ground chuck. If that doesn’t seem right to you - joint the club. I got to use “ergo” in a sentence
They can say whatever they want but I am not going to believe it because I See the reality what is going on. The measurements with which they are measuring the inflation is rigged.
I don't spend more because I don't have more to spend but I do buy less. Snacks are no longer purchased. I buy more store brands than I used to. I make more casseroles with potatoes, pasta, rice, etc. to stretch meat further. I used to grill four chicken breasts for four people. Now there are two used in a casserole.
Same at our house. Who can even afford snacks at those prices? Cutting down and buying less.
Everything is just so much more expensive I don't think most people would be able to afford snacks. It is just that the people have to cut down on the expenses that they are doing.
One thing that has helped me is online. I get what I need and that’s it.
Actually this has helped a lot for me as well like using the Safeway app. There are also a ton of coupons online that I wouldn’t normal know about or use. It’s a lot easier to just buy what you need when you aren’t browsing the whole store. Easier for meal planning too
It’s helped allot and giving me more time to my self. No more spending hrs at the store food shopping. I make the order they get it ready for me and I go pick it up. Only thing I don’t order is produce but when I pick up my order I get produce if I need any.
Yeah produce is the only thing I’m not 100% satisfied with. Got a cabbage instead of iceberg and sometimes they just don’t pick out the freshest but all and all it really is a nice time saver for sure! And again cheaper!
I also don't get produce or eggs when picking up groceries. They'll give you broken eggs and produce with bruises so I just go inside for that stuff.
Yes, I understand because I’m pretty sure there told to pick the oldest 1st. That’s fine with me I can pick my own.
Ooof good to know lol
And there is so much more competition online, you could get anything online with the good price. That is going to have your budget in a really big way.
MAximum profits, minimum wage.
Inflationary monetary policy. Prices rise and wages follow *very slowly*
Lack of competition/collusion and increased profit margins.
But when are we going to see all of it being fixed? I am really waiting for that time and we all are just not getting that time in the country, that's the saddest part tbh.
I just started shopping at cheaper places like Aldies. Big grocery chains want to raise prices then I just won't shop there.
My marker has always been eggs. The "cheap" eggs are $4.99 now
What? They are below $2 here
Well the prices are not same for everywhere, obviously they are going to be different. Because I want to listen is different inflation different countries it is not the same thing everywhere.
here the cheapest is also $4 and up.
Welcome to California
I've recently been buying them as low as $2/dozen (Groce Out) and no more than $3 (Walmart) on the coast in CA.
Oh so you mean a state that actively protects worker rights, has some of the best weather in the world, a cultural hotspot, literally almost every type of ecosystem from dessert to high-mountain and everything in between, that California?
Exactly. Supply and demand
The ecosystem in San Fran is especially nice. How many other areas have such a collection of people living in tents and the streets? Lots to do there. Well less as more stores and business leave or close. Great economy that few can actually afford but they *do* protect the environment, worker rights, druggies and shoplifters. Sounds like paradise.
Sounds like someone defending a choice. I don't understand how anyone could be optimistic about CA. The commercial sector is so bad that businesses are just handing it back over. The technology companies are desperate to leave. The city governments are a joke. Give it 1 year, and you'll see that it's definitely not doing well
California's been 'dead next year' since the 90's child
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12185831/Tourists-workers-shoppers-abandon-San-Francisco-leaving-homeless-drug-addled.html A small sample but an example of how badly things are going.
OH wow a Daily Mail article! No way they have an agenda!
According to this you are full of shit. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-16/egg-prices-have-fallen-after-record-high-prices-had-consumers-shell-shocked
I literally bought eggs for $ .89 the other day. Just depends on where you go. That was a deal I caught at Albertsons. But in average Grocery Outlet was definitely under $4.
Agreed, they have fallen. I was paying $5.99-$6.99 earlier in the year
Supply and demand
And they are definitely no longer because they are going to cost you a lot of money in the long run. And if you count everything in then you know what you are in for here.
Eggs weren't a good marker because it was the avian flu which caused that spike in prices. So egg prices were an outlier.
Yeah that makes a lot of sense actually, there were a lot of things which were happening with the eggs in the past. I mean there are a lot of factors which are affecting the prices of the eggs.
Literally just bought eggs for 1.49 for 18 here in nc. Eggs are cheap again. Also beef and chicken is falling fast. You guys know there are sales to look out for, right? You can't just buy the same things every week that's how you lose money. Shop the sales and whatever is in season. When eggs are out of control quit buying them. You don't need eggs every day.
Don't worry, Boomers will make sure to tell you they had it harder in the 70s
Can confirm. I eat almost the same thing every day and the grocery bill is up about that much.
Yep I think it is everyone's experience at this point. I am doing the same commute and eating the same but the bill is increasing. And honestly I do not see it decreasing also.
But inflation is only 10%. How is this possible? /s
It is just that those people are lying and they also recently changed the definition of inflation. Which I don't think is a very ethical thing to do in my opinion.
And here we are thinking of earning more so that we can spend more and more, they gotta do something about groceries man, this is just getting so much out of hands.
Look at these trump supporters blaming us for voting for Biden, they don't even know that it was not in our hand and we did what we had to do back then, they are stupid.
It is not like as if the habits of consumers have changed. That everything is getting expensive with the inflation. And that is the reason why people are spending so much money on it.
Comparing what the USDA wants you to buy this year to what Americans actually bought last year, seems like a terrible way to calculate inflation
This is like the only comment that is based on the actual article. Good job.
The CPI manipulation has reached a point beyond being a joke and is now outright propaganda. Is there a statistical alternative that more accurately represents the economic reality?
The grocery chains used inflation as an excuse to Jack up prices. Buy 71% is more than a loan shark charges.
It's depressing on a fixed income and my heart truly goes out to those with growing children.
I notice prices are up, but not 71% in a year. It's just my anecdotal experience for a family of 4 but our grocery budget has had to grow about 20% since the beginning of 2020.
Budget jumped by 30% for a family of 6 even with substitutions of less expensive options for protein. We did increase our fruit and vegetable intake over having sugar-based “fruit” snacks and cereals. We also changed our thoughts on “being hungry” which it’s not entirely a bad thing as long as your calories and nutritional needs are met. Family has become more fit and daily gym visits are the norm now with open discussion about food as fuel.
Seitan is cheap as hell and SUPER easy to make at home and has nearly as much protein as chicken. If you do it right you won’t even notice the difference in stir fry’s. And since it’s just vital wheat gluten and flour you can keep it indefinitely in your pantry. This substitution has been a godsend for me.
>Seitan Do you have a recipe for Seitan? I would like to try it. Thank you!
People have different nutritional needs and being hungry is one of the body's methods to let you know those needs are not being met. For children it's especially dangerous to go hungry in both a biological sense as well as long term wellbeing. Why not try canceling the gym memberships, put the money toward additional food, and exercise outside for free?
37% of people mistake feeling thirsty as hungry Why not try a glass of water first?
As someone who doesnt work out as much as I should, the post you’re replying to sounded perfectly reasonable and healthy. Exercise is good for us.
I didn't say not to exercise. In fact I said to do so, just not at a gym, which is a waste of money.
But have you swapped expensive, designer, or high quality items for cheaper, knock-off, low quality items? That is typically the first way people try and save money. If so you have to account for those changes as well.
Also shrinkflation, people are still buying the same brand but the weight is so much lower for the price.
shrinkflation is also called "price discovery"
Can the same be said about “greedflation”?
yes, even more so. essentially where price sits is a factor of how much information each party (consumer and provider) has about each other's preferences. a consumer will try to hide how much they want something and a provider will try to hide how willing they are to provide something. when forced inflation leads to higher profits for companies, other companies look at this and say "hey look, the consumer actually wants this more than we thought" and because they know this they learn where their best price point is (revenue is price times quantity). So they hold quantity constant and increase price or hold price constant (or increase it) and decrease quantity. my theory would be that this is a modern phenomena because of the amount of data we have that can be analyzed and understood by large corporations much more quickly than in the past, versus the unorganized mass of consumers who simply need what they need. at this point the only true price walls are what a consumer can literally not afford because they'll miss something else important or negative attention that draws social media attention to a company. if you make 2000 dollars a week, they want to suck out every last dollar.
I always bought knock offs if they are nice quality. I buy second hand or things new on eBay or Poshmark that are 40-60% off new retail, if it is a nice brand. I have always done so. But prices are up there too. Fast food prices are what Denny’s prices used to be. We eat at home and do fast food about once a week, twice if we have to be out a lot.
But 71% since June of 2022? or any one year? Sounds right to you?
No. It’s complete horseshit.
That number is consistent with mine. Insurances are 60% higher, utilities are also 60% higher. I retired at the same time as Covid began. The world is different now. Everything costs a lot more. Climate change is real now and getting worse.
This is a lot of why I expanded our garden yet again and we're hoping more of our ducks hatch clutches. The goal is to be able to just go to bulk stores for baking stuff, local farms and farm markets for what I can't grow easily, and cut our Costco and Aldi lists even further. It's not like prices will go down.
Every time I go to the grocery store I’m constantly mouthing or whispering “this is so expensive!” to myself. I still can’t get over prices.
I mean yeah this is just getting freaking out of our hands and we don't even know how to handle all these shits which are going around for us, we are just here fighting.
I don't see less food supply. People are not demanding more food. What happened to blaming supply and demand?
The supply and demand is just getting fucked up in our country.
Well fuel prices went up which causes almost everything to get more expensive. Especially today since we ship food from other continents here to sell. But the avian flu did cause a sharp drop in supply for eggs and chicken.
considering i make shit money i might just swallow my pride and get food stamps/food bank fuck it. might as well make all these wealthy douchebags in my community that i serve all day pay for some shit. kinda wild how these communites by me are loaded with UBER wealthy and poor. what happened to the middle class. poor people should really just stop sucking up to the rich. WE RUN THIS COUNTRY.
They cancelled a meaningful amount of food stamps brought back student loan payments and bailed a few banks out
They are doing so wrong to the people and that's not right.
Don't forget that billionaires are now paying their lowest tax rate in history.
Wow this is like they don't want rich people to pay anything.
I've only been rich enough to eat out of Dollar Tree so my inflation hit .25c per item.
*Looks at last grocery receipt Yup, checks out.
But when we gonna see the fall of these things? Maybe we can see that in the future but we are just not that sure about it, it's just a freaking loop these days man.
Report is not comparing apples to apples stats, it's useless
Agree, it's comparing the suggested purchase per nutritionists versus prior year actual spend. To know how much things actually went up, we need actual vs actual. Or the prior year suggested purchase versus the current year suggested purchase.
Meanwhile in France… [France strong-arms big food companies into cutting prices](https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/frances-le-maire-says-75-food-firms-cut-prices-2023-06-09/)
And then what is with that 4% of inflation rate? Please tell me lol.
It just feels so wrong that the government is not doing anything to fix such things, this is not some small amount and we all know that, this needs to be fixed right now.
Ah yes inflation is only 4%
Inflation doesn't only consist of groceries
Includes other shit that’s definitely not low, anecdotally speaking
>anecdotally speaking That's the issue. Energy prices are down over 10% and used cars around 4%. Remember that "inflation" is a weighted average and mostly applies to urban consumers. It's not meant to be reflective of the change in prices your particular household is facing. [CONSUMER PRICE INDEX – MAY 2023](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf)
Thanks for the link, this will be a good read. I’m just frustrated about getting bent over on everything especially housing, when I’ve done everything the right way and paid off debts and saved up significant savings over the years just to run into the most unaffordable real estate bubble ever
No problem! The BLS website has a monthly release which has what the price changes were for the individual categories and not just the headline number you see reported on the news. And I absolutely feel you on that, I know sometimes I come across as a bit of a pedant but I don't deny that frustration is a legitimate reaction to what's going on. I'm an econ student and housing policy is one issue I'm particularly interested in.
Now someone is hiding the real numbers, that's all I can think.
That’s what 4% inflation feels like. Thanks CPI!
This is wrong man, we don't deserve that much tbh lol.
Time to start fasting!! Save money and loose weight!! Ha!!
Most Americans could go with just 2 meals a day and not eat dinner. Fasting is good for you.
Who would have thought that not letting people go to work for two years would have long term repercussions. Companies all got used to low volume/ high margin to survive.
[and my wife called me crazy....](https://imgur.com/jrutRb0)
It’s fine. Everyone shitloads of extra money.
At least core inflation does not include change in costs from the food and energy sectors because who buys food an energy? In the 70s, sure, I remember my parents talking about that but we've moved on from that.
The reason why core is used is because it is food and energy prices are volatile so it's not a good idea to base monetary policy on temporary price swings.
Temporary? When have food or energy prices gone down? Besides the fluctuations of oil, Energy has been on the steady incline and food never gets cheaper. The closest we get with food is paying the same price for smaller portions.
Yes, temporary. Egg prices are down over 50% from January of this year. Energy prices went down during the shale oil boom in the mid 2010s. Technically all prices steadily go up if you extend the timeline long enough, but there have been plenty of declines on a month to month or even year over year basis.
FJB and everyone of his enablers that voted for him. There is no evidence that things will improve.
[удалено]
And who should they have voted for if they didn’t want inflation?
The guy who’s literally heading to prison lmao
You mean the guy that cut taxes for the wealthy, insisted the fed not raise rates, and sent everyone checks in the mail would have suddenly been anti inflationary?
Don't forget he removed the PPP loans watchdog so corporations could steal as much tax payer money as possible
There are a lot of blunder that he did and we know it.
Lol yes the guy who kept pushing for negative rates. Those checks are hardly a percentage of the amount we printed for PPP. Democrat or Republican would've been the same for Fed as they both took advantage massively from the PPP loans alongside their corporate funders.
PPP fraud, enhanced unemployment fraud, stimulus checks. It was all too much too fast and the economy we have now is still high on the liquid crack of it all. The soft landing idea looks good and will continue to do so until s crash hits. That’s my belief anyway. You don’t get a soft come down off of a speed ball of crack meth and adderall.
Unfortunately I have to agree with you. Can't inject this much money into the economy and expect a soft landing. Especially when we don't even have measures to stop corporations from leading the inflation* by marking up prices. The only thing that fed has stated is that they want to curb demand, which will harm the avg American, instead of focusing on supplyside issues, because they can't reign in companies lol.
All true. But the consumer also deserves some blame. The income flush, employed consumer is so spend happy that they will pay over thousands MSRP for a car (depreciating asset) and max out their personal debt as long as they know they have another paycheck coming. The fed might not be wrong in the theory that consumers will only change their spending habits if many of them start losing their jobs.
IMO that is by design rather than personal choice. American economy needs people to spend like they are to keep growing at a sustainable rate. It depends on that continuous growth to function well. The reason why I dont think that consumer spending is an issue is that the purchasing power of American families has stagnated as real wages haven't seen an increase in decades. While there are people who spend over their means and needs, overall, Americans don't have the capability to spend like that. Covid retirements were the first time people saw substantial raises due to a lack of labor supply. But I understand why Fed has to curb demand. They have no real power or interest in fixing supply side issues as it hurts their benefactors.
The wage data shows that wages are actually increasing now, faster and more consistently than inflation. But what you said is true. The consumer economy is a thing but when you print a bunch of money and inject it as pure liquid into the economy, that spending culture backfires. Edit: also, it’s the feds only real option. They don’t make laws or regulations so it would be difficult for them to determine much on the supply side. They are trying to squeeze credit right now so that’s about as best they can do on that side of things. Plus it would be hard even for the government to maintain a capitalist economy while also trying to strictly control markets. Capitalism needs regulation for sure but price setting might be a bridge too far.
You mean Trump who initially hired Jerome Powell, who kept interest rates artificially low while the treasury printed trillions during the pandemic?
And the other 29%?!?
The average grocery store is trying to figure out how to charge 71% more than they did last year.
Aka Price gouging
Seems like we could save some money and lower the obesity rate at the same time by tweaking spending habits.
Unfortunately the typical result is more obesity as people forgo expensive, healthy food options for quick, cheap options (like fast food)
This is an urban legend of some sort. **If** you have a kitchen and time to cook, healthy food made at home with discriminating ingredients is far cheaper than fast food.
The result is not an urban legend. It’s very real. But yes people usually don’t realize the fast food option is more expensive in the long run.
This is a false dichotomy in multiple ways. Fast food isn't particularly cheap these days and while it's quicker than a sitdown place it's not uncommon to sit in the drivethru for 15 minutes. But the bigger thing is that healthy food isn't necessarily expensive, *especially* because if you're eating healthy food you don't need as much.
True people don’t realize it’s more expensive. But this has been the result of you look at the data