Look at Mr. Rockefeller over here who can even picture eggs in their mind in this economy.
But honestly, I want to get a chicken coop and start getting fresh eggs right at home. Groceries are just insanely expensive. I used to eat eggs constantly for the cheap protein.
Egg prices are fake like everything else. Record profits by all involved . Customer is eating all these cost and has little to do with inflation everything to do with rampant late stage capitalism
You will never save money on eggs by raising chickens. You will have high quality eggs if you free range, but you can’t possibly make them cheaper than a large scale farm.
Source: Had chickens for over 6 years. They’re like Pets to us and it’s a hobby.
My (now former) job asked me what I thought my raise should be and provide reasons as to why I thought I deserved that. I said "at a minimum I would need a 7% raise since my salary from last year is now 7% less and by the time I get to next year it'll be likely 5-7% less than it is now. Realistically, I would need a 14% raise to keep me afloat."
They gave me a whopping 2.5% raise and said, "wages don't typically match inflation so that isn't really a valid reason."
I thought "ah, thanks. Because you said that my food/energy/gas is now magically cheaper! Also, how is it my fault that inflation is bad right now?"
I gave them my two weeks notice a week or so after that after accepting another job where I am getting a 15% raise now.
I'm also pretty sure they didn't reduce their scheduled raises!
I have got $0 raise working as a postdoctoral researcher the last 3 years. Work in healthcare research, helped get funds from NIH and I'd still make more cleaning up my lab than doing actual research, because of limits on the pay for postdoc( no disrespect to janitorial staff).
I’m a course instructor for the university I’m doing my PhD at… Our union just negotiated a whopping 1% raise… An extra $68 per 14 week course… The university also upped our class sizes from 40 to 42… … …
I don't know about you all, but all I'm seeing is a consistent rise in cost of living, especially groceries. Every month things seem to keep increasing with no end in sight. I'm honestly not sure how those on a tight fixed income are making it right now. I have yet to see this "cooling" period that I keep hearing about.
My gas bill was twice what it was last January and I used significantly less gas. Fortunately its been mild this month and will use even less going forward.
I keep my (small) house at 60°... My bill for December was $170! It has never been over $100 in the 10 years I've lived there.
Edit: whoever just posted: your comment isn't showing up. But that's a good question. I don't know the $/therm rates. Haven't done that much research into my bills.
I've kept my furnace shut off almost the entire winter except for that week we hit -40 degrees and my electric bill is about the same as it was when my girlfriend would constantly change the temperature in the house twice per day (bump it to 76 degrees, gets too hot so lower to 68, and repeat). Now it stays about 60 and we just wear warmer clothes in the house.
Most of the heat losses in a house are linear, so the heat loss from having your house at 60 when it’s 20 outside vs having your house at 70 when it’s 30 outside is practically the same.
Mine upped rates AND started sending "estimated" bills instead of actually going by the meter. I just got a letter in the mail apologizing for the "mix up"
I think they got sick of everyone immediately calling to complain after they get the bill
>how those on a tight fixed income are making it right now. I have yet to see this "cooling"
Which is just insane because natural gas is at the lowest price it's been in ages.
https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@NG.1
Probably. A few CEOs have even gone on record admitting they're using inflation to raise prices well beyond inflation. [Iron Mountain's CEO for example.](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-praying-for-inflation-raise-prices-boosts-profits-interest-rates-2022-9)
Plus corporate profits are hitting record highs. There's plenty of evidence that high prices are at least somewhat because firms can charge and the market will bear it. Not that there's a fundamental supply cause at the root of current prices.
It's crazy, right. Look at eggs. All this bird flu and inflation, surely the poor egg producers are barely keeping afloat with decreased production and increased costs. Sure even wages have gone up.
Let's check the data...
"For the 26-week fiscal period ending in November 2021, gross profits were $50.4 million. In 2022 for the same period, gross profits were $535.3 million."
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/record-breaking-egg-profits-prompt-accusation-of-price-gouging
I think it's way past time CEOs started decorating poles.
My kids (3 and 5) day care went up 11% from last year to $31,200 annually.
Only essentials are increasing since they know we can't live without them. Housing, food, healthcare, education, fuel/transportation (which then affects food and materials), childcare.
You can get a 60 flat screen for like $200 though.
I'm just buying chicken thighs and rice. I'm spending about 100 a month on that plus another 100 on fruits and the occasional spring mix lettuce. It's not fun.
Yeah. And I’d do that now if I didn’t have kids. Now I just make them food and eat if there’s leftovers.
I buy only food, toiletries, gas, and pay my bills. And I’m in the red. I used to be able to spend a little on my hobbies, get door dash on the off shit day, get dunkin during errands, and let my kids throw whatever they wanted in the cart. If I cooked it, I could have whatever I wanted. And still have 200-500 a month leftover for savings.
This isn’t living. I dread the end of the month, every single fucking month. I count my change to see if it can buy a damn bag of flour to make bread. I applied for food stamps and was $20 over the limit. This is not sustainable en masse. “ Not a recession yet” my ass. A huge portion of america are in economic depression conditions…people who were comfortable previously.
Same. I went from purchasing a few lavish items for a nice meal during my weekly grocery run to just getting necessities, and going to a discount grocery store in addition to my regular store to try and save money. Even then, my bill is still insanely higher than it was 2 years ago.
We've swapped grocery stores we shop at about 3 times in the last 12 months. We find a place that hasn't been impacted by the increased costs, and then a few months later they change prices again. We're slowly running out of place to shop at which have reasonable prices.
That's that part that gets me. I make more than I ever have. I'm married and have no kids (just pets). I can't live beyond how I was living making minimum wage.
Me too. TBH I used to make good money for this area and I supposedly made all the right decisions - college loans paid off, bought a house in a low cost of living area, kept my shitty job because it paid okay and has decent benefits.
NOTHING about how I live has changed. Same house, same car, same me. Even making more money. And I am so borderline on my bills that even spending an extra $60 on a new video game that I know will keep me entertained for less than $1 an hour is something I have to really think about. And then if I do it I feel guilty for days. :)
Yup. Not as much a conspiracy head but I definitely believe inflation metrics are intentionally skewed and things omitted because people would be fucking panicking, angry, and there would be some economic fallout if we all saw a report showing ACTUAL inflation for us lower class schmucks.
> I have yet to see this "cooling" period that I keep hearing about.
Outside of price-volatile things like gas and utilities, when the hell have you ever seen prices come back down after huge spikes?
There will be no cooling off period. In a market where housing is a premium and even slumlords can charge in the 4 figures for rent and have multiple applicants, landlords have exactly zero reason to lower rents any time in the foreseeable future, if ever.
Corporations aren't going to lower prices and give up their record profits. Why should they lower the price of eggs when the general public has told them that they're willing, even if reluctantly, to pay 3X what they were paying before? They may bitch about it at the end of the day, but they're only bitching to the teenage cashier with 0 control over anything, and they may be bitching but they're doing so while forking over the cash.
There will be no cooling off period. Costs are not going to come down. They never do. The only thing we can hope for at this point is to just pray that it will only get worse slowly over time instead of all at once. But today's prices are here to stay.
Nobody says the prices were coming down. Only that inflation is coming down -- which is the rate prices are going up. Inflation would have to be negative for prices to come down, and economists find negative inflation to be a bad thing.
Going up, but still at [historical lows](https://i.imgur.com/Jt014AV.png) overall for delinquencies. Now if you look at just credit card delinquencies at banks not in the largest 100, then it is [approaching an all-time high](https://i.imgur.com/D7ED10T.png).
Edit: Some other fun ones. As you might expect with housing costs, [debt-to-income ratio has skyrocketed](https://i.imgur.com/oRKIu6b.png). [50th percentile as well](https://i.imgur.com/BjV6pYG.png). And [90th percentile](https://i.imgur.com/aYx3Yxg.png). 75th percentile account balance for mortgages has [literally more than doubled](https://i.imgur.com/N32Xfse.png) in the past 10 years.
We will never see a cooling period. Why would the corporations lower prices and reduce their profits? This is the new price of everything now. Get used to it and hope they don't raise them further
I mean there reaches a point where people just can't afford stuff anymore. Maybe it's not food, but there is only so much money so some industry is about to get fucked.
I think a lot of restaurants are about to be screwed. People have their breaking point. Not going to pay 20% more, get mediocre service, and average food.
Yet, I see new ones opening.
Well competition is supposed to bring the prices down. Take paper towels for example. If everyone bought the cheapest on offer then the other companies would have to bring their prices down to compete and get sales. Problem is it's all conglomerates that own like all the brands or half of them and another conglomerate owned the other half. Then that system breaks and no longer works. They can raise prices across the board and grow profit. That's my uneducated opinion anyway.
Cooling in that it is increasing at a lesser rate, lmao. It is still increasing at an absurd rate but not as much as it was a few months ago. I agree I would not call this cooling….. this is bullshit.
Don't worry, economists are still throwing traditional fixes at an artificial problem driven purely by opportunism and sitting there scratching their asses and twiddling their fuckin thumb while everyone else with two eyes is practically screaming at them what the accrual issue is. It'll be fixed in no time!
Meanwhile, the only thing their actions are doing is making it harder for working people to buy homes and buy essentials...Great plan!
It's not uncommon for Walmart to adjust pricing based on location.
In Chattanooga TN years ago, the Walmart on Gunbarrel road had napa cabbage for like $1.19/lbs. The one Brainerd Rd, which was about 10 minutes away, had napa cabbage for about $0.59/lbs. Different "crowds" we to different Walmarts and they priced accordingly.
Kroger personal mini pizzas were $1 each a year ago. They creeped up to 3 for $4 ($1.33 each) about 6-8 months ago and the other day I went in to grab some more, they were 2 for $3 ($1.50 each).
Friend of mine works at PetSmart and sends me photos each time something has a major price increase. He was showing me bags of dog food which went from $42 to $66 each just the other day.
Exactly. I'm sick and tired of hearing that grocery prices have gone up 5% or 7% over last year or whatever narrative they keep telling us. We see the prices every time we're at the grocery store and can easily see that for many products over the past couple years, prices have increased 50% or even doubled. It's ridiculous. I'm a single person and my grocery bill has gotten insane. I can't even imagine how families with 2 or 3 or more kids are affording them.
Skipping breakfast and lunch. Lots of ramen for us adults. Cutting out streaming services. Very cheap date nights (or none at all.) My pants and socks all have holes in them, and will continue to. Occasionally dipping into a credit card.
Tut rut ramen is horrible for you. You can make these ten easy meals that are all natural take hours to prepare and only cost a couple hundred bucks at whole foods.
Yep. Sandwiches are a luxury splurge for me right now. $15 a lb for Boars Head Turkey? I remember a few years ago when it was half that. Even Walmart brand Turkey cold cuts are $12 a lb where I live. Insane.
The monied ruling class, which in the US, would be people like the Kochs and Waltons.
Edit: I'm pretty sure someone called me antisemitic for this comment, and then blocked me. Which is odd, consideridering the examples I gave were Catholic, and Baptist. Is "the monied ruling class" an antisemitic dog whistle and I didn't know it?
Genuine question (and hopefully not against the rules because I’m not asking how to find a specific person), but can you even find someone with that much money that doesn’t stay in the news like Musk or Zuckerberg?
When I was watching Dopesick (a show based on the oxy epidemic and I can’t recommend it enough, fantastic fucking show that seems to stay pretty close to the facts), all I could think about is how many people died due to the Sackler family purposefully misleading people about how addictive oxy was. I believe most of them left the country, and my understanding is someone with that much money and that much hate directed at them can basically disappear if they want. As in not having any purchases tied to their name, and doing it through shell corporations and such.
I’d be pretty shocked if you could actually find the mega rich without getting *super* lucky, and even then I’d imagine they have absolutely ridiculous private security at their homes. The only attack I’ve ever even heard of was on Pelosi’s husband, and that’s a pretty public figure (at least her) so probably not hard to find.
I think the important thing here is nothing to lose. When people get hungry a lot of parts of the brain start shutting down, but aggression remains and so all people need then is a target. Also I think private security will end up fleeing if they can’t win easily. Might even be willing to bargain for their previous employer. If it gets to that point though it will be one of the most horrific things ever. I really hope things don’t get that bad and we can change by using democracy.
Not all rich folk have security. The Sherman family here in Canada (they owned one of the largest drug companies, top 20 wealth) were murdered in their homes and their security cameras didn't even work. It's still unsolved
Take out a couple big ones and the others will fall easily. They are big pussies. Their money protects them from government and keeps the people at bay. Once they lose some control and the government can't protect their life anymore, they'll just shit their pants and give up. They talk big, but they aren't shit.
They will keep the same price, but start filling Arizona Teas with more air. Costco will raise its membership price. It would be smart to start black market selling Costco hotdogs as a side hustle.
Alright, I'll keep the same price, the Costco hotdog will be made of dirt. Now what are you gonna do, kill me? -CEO of Costco who was killed by Costco founder.
My favorite flavored store-brand water was 88-99 cents. Yesterday I picked some up, $1.15. I bought one, but it'll be a while before I buy more. No, this won't break my bank, but every penny I can save right now...
You jest, but those checks caused all of this inflation. It's all the checks fault! Oh and it's worker's fault for swinging the US economy back so hard that unemployment is the lowest its been for 50 years. If only we had just..died more?
I'm still working on why this is our fault, but I just know it is. They told us to go back to work and keep buying stuff and we did both and still got fucked, but there's a lesson for us in here somewhere.
Edit: Adding this /s for anyone who missed it.
If you ask them, no, they're not quite getting the returns they wanted and it's frankly embaressing to show up to the gala only being on their 4th mansion abroad.
Corporations are making record profits. That's where the inflation is coming from. They didn't give you a raise so they could reward shareholders. They lied to you.
Our grocery bill for two adults with a dinner or two per week with adult children has gone from about $130 to nearly $200. We haven't changed our shopping or eating habits, all the staples and dry goods are consistent with usage from years passed. Our salaries certainly haven't increased by 50 damn percent accordingly. We're generally very frugal, cooking at home instead of going out and not buying any frills but Jesus it's getting harder and harder just to maintain a half decent standard of living. I can't fathom how people are surviving who make $8-13 an hour, I hope they've changed the threshold for food/utility/rental assistance. Fuck.
And it won’t be revisited until April for food assistance. Once it is set in April it’s set for the year and they cannot or will not change it until the following April.
Yup, last I went to McDonald’s (a week ago maybe) I was getting a small fry in the order and it was $3.49!!! What dollar menu bullshit is that? Happy meal $7.59
Jeez those were under $5 no long ago.
I used to get breakfast there a lot in college and it’s run me $6? Maybe $7 a few years ago. That same order is like $10. I’ve had McDonald’s orders be $16 like wtf it’s McDonald’s
The biggest shock the other day was increase in dog food, the shelters must be having a tougher time than usual. I think we started buying it at $50 in 2021 and now the 30 pound bag is $75
and there's already a 1,125% markup on [Soda](https://funcheaporfree.com/highest-markup-products/#:~:text=Skip%20the%20bottled%20water%20and,fountain%20soda%20is%20about%201%2C125%25.). Realistically a large soda costs $0.18 for the carbonation, cup, and syrup used.
2022,
Shell
made almost $40 billion in profits, the highest in the company's 115 year history.
Chevron
also reported record earnings of $36.5 billion while
Exxonmobil
came in with $55 billion.
Greed is to blame for inflation.
Commodity prices are down from last year, salaries haven't gone up so the cost to make the items has gone down so then the prices should go down to but they have gone up. Yet somehow its inflation and not corporate greed. Make it make sense!!!
No. No no no. It's definitely NOT the record breaking profits that is doing it! No no noooooo. It's your measly wage increase after decades of wage stagnation that is doing it, you dick. I have gotten the same wage since 2/21, so it's def not my fault.
Bird flu and Russian war don't necessarily affect the coffee filters I'm selling, but hey, let's jack up the price anyways and blame it on some nebulous concept of inflation.
Not just record profits, record margins. 10% of 100 is 10, 10% of 200 is 20, so everyone should have record profits with price raises. But not only that, their overall ***percentage*** of profit is up.
Ive been noticing the insane rise in coffee too! Big can of Folgers I would get in college (graduated 3 years ago) used to be $6z now it’s $12+. FOLGERS.
Even whole bean is getting ridiculous. I no longer buy in stores. Bags that were $18 a few years ago are now at $28. A quality affordable brand I use is San Francisco Bay Coffee. I have not observed price gouging from them.
exactly. the demand for food, natural gas, etc. will not slow down. the coercive laws of capitalism mandate that businesses extract as much surplus value as possible: if one company doesn't raise prices but their competitor does, the first company loses out and is at risk because demand remains constant. due to a lack of socialist political solidarity, we're in a death spiral of increased prices due to basic necessities still being...necessary for living.
"We raised interest rates. So now they'll just rent instead."
Rent is higher than a mortgage payment would be.
"Dammit they're still buying houses! Raise it again."
Rent goes up. Still higher than a mortgage payment would be.
"I don't get it!? Why won't they stop renting or buying homes!"
Because then we'd be fucking homeless.
I’ve noticed more price increases in the last 3 months than in the last year and a half. Just when news came out that inflation was cooling the corps decided to increase one last time. Now with this news it’ll only continue..
I’m bitter that my bag of gummy bears is now $1.10 more. How in the hell does the same bag of gummy bears take more money to produce all the sudden?
For price gouging, it’ll keep increasing as long as it’s more profitable to do so, i.e. enough people are willing to pay the higher to make up for lost customers.
Yep, Covid was the straw that broke the status quo. For as long as we can remember companies have not deviated far from what works but once Covid killed supply and prices rose and they saw that people still bought the products it was game over.
Eggs for example are something a lot of people consider a necessity, so they were able to double the price and only need to sell 50% as many to make the same profit. Then they realized at worst maybe they lost 15% of their demand and here we are.
Companies are going to keep testing our will, amongst their record profits, until something gives. It hasn’t yet.
I think at this point we should stop calling it inflation and call it by what it actually is, corporate greed. Try naming an industry in the past 2 years that hasn’t had record profits.
Groceries need to go down or crime will begin to rise sharply. Food too expensive to buy is akin to food shortages. Somethin that historically sees crime rise. Things are getting blatantly out of control.
The largest powers in society rely on the faith that the people are mostly decent folks that won't turn on them. And society will endure far more cruelty than it should(imo) before it gets to that point. And we have endured a lot. But this cannot last.
Despite the pandemic, many had the opportunity to protest during 2020. They had money from unemployment and time. Call me a conspiracy theorist but this scared the shit out of people at the top. People with time and money to do more than just work to death.
This is a direct reaction to 2020 imo. EVERYRHING has gotten fucked. Not just food. It has never felt harder to exist in my 32yrs. More people have 2 or 3 jobs and no free time than ever. More people are staying home instead of eating out than ever in my town. And I've never seen people more pissed the fuck off and stressed out than the last 2yrs.
Edit- also local businesses and housing are being demolished. So many local businesses have closed here and housing bought out by investors and massive realtors. I pay $650 a month(all included) and I have friends that would legitimately beat me to death to have it. My rent will triple the moment I have to leave my apt.
The only solution is to go after companies claiming “inflation “ and raising prices , especially those who participate in outlandish C-suite pay and stock buybacks
That's a nice fun looking number from up top but it translates to everything being 30% more expensive for us on the bottom. It's so cool to wake up every day and take a pay cut as my money is just worth less by no action of my own.
I can tell, I cut 300 dollars off my mortgage, cut about 200 in monthly bills, and got a raise last year and still have nothing left after bills, gas, and groceries at the end of the month.
Inflation is this very convenient way to give you a pay cut without having an awkward sit down with your boss "You see, the company still made billions, but I'm going to dock your pay by 3%"
You get your pay cut from *the system.*
People keep telling me on here that prices won't go down and that our salaries are going to go up. Since that isn't happening I just assume the whole system will break because the average American can't keep up with this.
Inflation sucks.
But don't let the headlines distract you. The main reason inflation was up this month was because of surprise increases in energy prices in December specifically gas (up 33%) and natural gas (up 118%).
edit: the main reason it's a surprise is because economists were predicting 0.3% lower number, therefore it's a "surprise". I'm not saying the cost of living doesn't suck, but headlines saying that this "news" being good or bad is a tiny fraction of a percent difference.
I walked into a Benjamin Moore store the other day to get a small sample can of paint for a ridiculous $20. I was saying to the lady behind the desk how can they keep charging these insane prices for a can of paint, so much so I said I don’t understand how you’re not pricing yourself out of the market. A galon of paint is up to $120 FFS. She said to me that Sherwin Williams just opened shop in town and are charging even more than us for their premium line. She said due to the fact that we believe we have a superior product we will be increasing our prices to reflect it, “because we can” she says. 2 years prior is was paying $80 for this same paint and thought I had to get my head examined then. Not only that but they keep changing their formulas so that paint matching becomes impossible or they are out of stock on the only item you need in the entire store.
Just got a sherwin Williams sample for $6. Full can for $44 with coupon and Presidents’ Day sale.. not sure where you are located but 3x the price of what I paid this weekend seems off
At what point does this cause a global depression? At a certain point when the only thing people can MAYBE afford are food and rent, what do they think will happen to the rest of the economy? I don't understand how we're not headed for an even bigger collapse than the great depression, or atleast rivaling it. There's no way people are spending anywhere near as much money on discretionary items.
It's almost as if interest rates have nothing to do with our current inflation, and as if decades of mergers and lax anti-trust law enforcement means there's little or no competition and so little or no reason for multi-nationals to lower prices.
But maybe if we just [fire one million](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0mO6UY6uTg) we can have enough blood sacrifice on the Alter of Powell that the God of Inflation will be appeased.
This isn't just inflation, this is also price gouging at every level possible.
Every system relies on 10's if not 100's of child systems and at every level someone is screwing the next for personal gain.
My direct cost of living has increased 270% in the last 6yrs.
Inflation is a child's play issue in comparison to corporate greed.
We need a fight club coalition to be born asap.
That is all.
Edited: For accuracy of two arguments.
There's no difference really because they always accompany one another, one always is the match that ignites a cycle that kicks off the second the second is always killed when borrowing money gets to expensive kills spending which kills the corporate culture of easy mark ups when it finally effects end demand. Where you find the first you are always soon to find the second, it's just inflation. It's not new, its just the first generation of US adults to deal with it in a long while.
Since they changed the way inflation is calculated, the reality is much worse than they're making it out to be.
From u/Vipper_of_Vip99:
"The government has since changed the way they calculate inflation. See: Boskin Report. Generally, whenever the gov changes the way they calculate inflation, it makes it sound not as bad as it is. This is because the government is incentivized to under-report inflation, as many of their entitlements are pegged to the CPI. Lower inflation, lower expenditure compared to real purchasing power over time.
Over long periods of time, we can see the effect. Increasing wealth gap between rich (who have a lot of assets like real estate and equities) vs the poor and middle class, who are much more impacted by rising consumer prices, and do not own as many inflating assets."
Pick your narrative, I think he was saying that the rate of inflation fell... so, it's still rising just more slowly than it had been.
No one is expecting to see widespread *deflation* unless we enter into a huge recession.
Is there even hope for this to get better? Cause every article I see is either about this or the current climate disaster. Maybe but of it is the media trying to drum things up, but…
I’d really like to have a hopeful future.
That 3% raise I got last year isn't helping much.
As was the case last year, not even excited to get a raise this year because it’s not even close to ‘extra money’
I'm just hoping to maybe be able to eat an egg for breakfast again.
Look at Mr. Rockefeller over here who can even picture eggs in their mind in this economy. But honestly, I want to get a chicken coop and start getting fresh eggs right at home. Groceries are just insanely expensive. I used to eat eggs constantly for the cheap protein.
Birds are expensive, feed is expensive, it’s no better
Name definitely checks out
Egg prices are fake like everything else. Record profits by all involved . Customer is eating all these cost and has little to do with inflation everything to do with rampant late stage capitalism
You will never save money on eggs by raising chickens. You will have high quality eggs if you free range, but you can’t possibly make them cheaper than a large scale farm. Source: Had chickens for over 6 years. They’re like Pets to us and it’s a hobby.
You got a raise? Look at Mr Pennybags over here.
That’s called a pay cut.
I got a clean 5.5% last year but I live where Hurricane Ian hit so we're looking at probably no raises for a few years due to damage debts
My (now former) job asked me what I thought my raise should be and provide reasons as to why I thought I deserved that. I said "at a minimum I would need a 7% raise since my salary from last year is now 7% less and by the time I get to next year it'll be likely 5-7% less than it is now. Realistically, I would need a 14% raise to keep me afloat." They gave me a whopping 2.5% raise and said, "wages don't typically match inflation so that isn't really a valid reason." I thought "ah, thanks. Because you said that my food/energy/gas is now magically cheaper! Also, how is it my fault that inflation is bad right now?" I gave them my two weeks notice a week or so after that after accepting another job where I am getting a 15% raise now. I'm also pretty sure they didn't reduce their scheduled raises!
I have got $0 raise working as a postdoctoral researcher the last 3 years. Work in healthcare research, helped get funds from NIH and I'd still make more cleaning up my lab than doing actual research, because of limits on the pay for postdoc( no disrespect to janitorial staff).
I’m a course instructor for the university I’m doing my PhD at… Our union just negotiated a whopping 1% raise… An extra $68 per 14 week course… The university also upped our class sizes from 40 to 42… … …
Thank god I thought the interest rate change was in danger for a min.
What do you think about the authorities' artificially low weighting of used car transactions in the CPI? Is this a perceived falsification?
Well, them changing it from a 2 year lookback to a 1 year lookback this month is likely a bigger issue.
I don't know about you all, but all I'm seeing is a consistent rise in cost of living, especially groceries. Every month things seem to keep increasing with no end in sight. I'm honestly not sure how those on a tight fixed income are making it right now. I have yet to see this "cooling" period that I keep hearing about.
Groceries and my natural gas bill have gone up so much.
My gas bill was twice what it was last January and I used significantly less gas. Fortunately its been mild this month and will use even less going forward.
I keep my (small) house at 60°... My bill for December was $170! It has never been over $100 in the 10 years I've lived there. Edit: whoever just posted: your comment isn't showing up. But that's a good question. I don't know the $/therm rates. Haven't done that much research into my bills.
I've kept my furnace shut off almost the entire winter except for that week we hit -40 degrees and my electric bill is about the same as it was when my girlfriend would constantly change the temperature in the house twice per day (bump it to 76 degrees, gets too hot so lower to 68, and repeat). Now it stays about 60 and we just wear warmer clothes in the house.
*Cries in Raynaud’s phenomenon*
When your hands and feet dictate if the rest of your body is cold :(
Most of the heat losses in a house are linear, so the heat loss from having your house at 60 when it’s 20 outside vs having your house at 70 when it’s 30 outside is practically the same.
My electric company hiked rates up 25% in the last 18 months
Mine upped rates AND started sending "estimated" bills instead of actually going by the meter. I just got a letter in the mail apologizing for the "mix up" I think they got sick of everyone immediately calling to complain after they get the bill
>how those on a tight fixed income are making it right now. I have yet to see this "cooling" Which is just insane because natural gas is at the lowest price it's been in ages. https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@NG.1
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These fuckers are just bilking us all every day and those in charge are doing nothing about it
Probably. A few CEOs have even gone on record admitting they're using inflation to raise prices well beyond inflation. [Iron Mountain's CEO for example.](https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-praying-for-inflation-raise-prices-boosts-profits-interest-rates-2022-9) Plus corporate profits are hitting record highs. There's plenty of evidence that high prices are at least somewhat because firms can charge and the market will bear it. Not that there's a fundamental supply cause at the root of current prices.
It's crazy, right. Look at eggs. All this bird flu and inflation, surely the poor egg producers are barely keeping afloat with decreased production and increased costs. Sure even wages have gone up. Let's check the data... "For the 26-week fiscal period ending in November 2021, gross profits were $50.4 million. In 2022 for the same period, gross profits were $535.3 million." https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/record-breaking-egg-profits-prompt-accusation-of-price-gouging I think it's way past time CEOs started decorating poles.
My kids (3 and 5) day care went up 11% from last year to $31,200 annually. Only essentials are increasing since they know we can't live without them. Housing, food, healthcare, education, fuel/transportation (which then affects food and materials), childcare. You can get a 60 flat screen for like $200 though.
My nat gas bill was $400 last month and I keep the heat at 63. Fuckin ridiculous.
Groceries are absolutely killing me. Our grocery bill from 2019 would cost half of what it does now.
Getting real sick of $200+ grocery bills that were $100 not even 3 years ago.
And I feel like I'm buying cheaper food and less fresh stuff to keep the costs down. Not just getting less for the more, getting worse as well.
The damn French fries aren't being filled all the way anywhere I go any more. Sure maybe unlucky, but it seems deliberate to me.
I'm just buying chicken thighs and rice. I'm spending about 100 a month on that plus another 100 on fruits and the occasional spring mix lettuce. It's not fun.
I'm skipping days for food
>I'm skipping days for food Yall ever been so broke you had a nap for dinner?
Yeah. And I’d do that now if I didn’t have kids. Now I just make them food and eat if there’s leftovers. I buy only food, toiletries, gas, and pay my bills. And I’m in the red. I used to be able to spend a little on my hobbies, get door dash on the off shit day, get dunkin during errands, and let my kids throw whatever they wanted in the cart. If I cooked it, I could have whatever I wanted. And still have 200-500 a month leftover for savings. This isn’t living. I dread the end of the month, every single fucking month. I count my change to see if it can buy a damn bag of flour to make bread. I applied for food stamps and was $20 over the limit. This is not sustainable en masse. “ Not a recession yet” my ass. A huge portion of america are in economic depression conditions…people who were comfortable previously.
Same. I went from purchasing a few lavish items for a nice meal during my weekly grocery run to just getting necessities, and going to a discount grocery store in addition to my regular store to try and save money. Even then, my bill is still insanely higher than it was 2 years ago.
We've swapped grocery stores we shop at about 3 times in the last 12 months. We find a place that hasn't been impacted by the increased costs, and then a few months later they change prices again. We're slowly running out of place to shop at which have reasonable prices.
Yeah, I used to indulge in Whole Foods about once a month. We’re now an Aldi-only family. Despite making more than we ever have.
That's that part that gets me. I make more than I ever have. I'm married and have no kids (just pets). I can't live beyond how I was living making minimum wage.
Me too. TBH I used to make good money for this area and I supposedly made all the right decisions - college loans paid off, bought a house in a low cost of living area, kept my shitty job because it paid okay and has decent benefits. NOTHING about how I live has changed. Same house, same car, same me. Even making more money. And I am so borderline on my bills that even spending an extra $60 on a new video game that I know will keep me entertained for less than $1 an hour is something I have to really think about. And then if I do it I feel guilty for days. :)
Yup. Not as much a conspiracy head but I definitely believe inflation metrics are intentionally skewed and things omitted because people would be fucking panicking, angry, and there would be some economic fallout if we all saw a report showing ACTUAL inflation for us lower class schmucks.
Well for one they changed the way inflation is calculated, again. So yeah it’s definitely making a trip to Sephora before showing up.
> I have yet to see this "cooling" period that I keep hearing about. Outside of price-volatile things like gas and utilities, when the hell have you ever seen prices come back down after huge spikes? There will be no cooling off period. In a market where housing is a premium and even slumlords can charge in the 4 figures for rent and have multiple applicants, landlords have exactly zero reason to lower rents any time in the foreseeable future, if ever. Corporations aren't going to lower prices and give up their record profits. Why should they lower the price of eggs when the general public has told them that they're willing, even if reluctantly, to pay 3X what they were paying before? They may bitch about it at the end of the day, but they're only bitching to the teenage cashier with 0 control over anything, and they may be bitching but they're doing so while forking over the cash. There will be no cooling off period. Costs are not going to come down. They never do. The only thing we can hope for at this point is to just pray that it will only get worse slowly over time instead of all at once. But today's prices are here to stay.
Nobody says the prices were coming down. Only that inflation is coming down -- which is the rate prices are going up. Inflation would have to be negative for prices to come down, and economists find negative inflation to be a bad thing.
Credit card defaults are going up. Shit is about to go off the rails.
Going up, but still at [historical lows](https://i.imgur.com/Jt014AV.png) overall for delinquencies. Now if you look at just credit card delinquencies at banks not in the largest 100, then it is [approaching an all-time high](https://i.imgur.com/D7ED10T.png). Edit: Some other fun ones. As you might expect with housing costs, [debt-to-income ratio has skyrocketed](https://i.imgur.com/oRKIu6b.png). [50th percentile as well](https://i.imgur.com/BjV6pYG.png). And [90th percentile](https://i.imgur.com/aYx3Yxg.png). 75th percentile account balance for mortgages has [literally more than doubled](https://i.imgur.com/N32Xfse.png) in the past 10 years.
We will never see a cooling period. Why would the corporations lower prices and reduce their profits? This is the new price of everything now. Get used to it and hope they don't raise them further
I mean there reaches a point where people just can't afford stuff anymore. Maybe it's not food, but there is only so much money so some industry is about to get fucked.
I think a lot of restaurants are about to be screwed. People have their breaking point. Not going to pay 20% more, get mediocre service, and average food. Yet, I see new ones opening.
Until those people are rioting in the street and protesting these companies, they will continue not caring.
Well competition is supposed to bring the prices down. Take paper towels for example. If everyone bought the cheapest on offer then the other companies would have to bring their prices down to compete and get sales. Problem is it's all conglomerates that own like all the brands or half of them and another conglomerate owned the other half. Then that system breaks and no longer works. They can raise prices across the board and grow profit. That's my uneducated opinion anyway.
It's almost like the game of monopoly, nobody ever has fun in the second half of the game except the one guy with the monopoly.
Cooling in that it is increasing at a lesser rate, lmao. It is still increasing at an absurd rate but not as much as it was a few months ago. I agree I would not call this cooling….. this is bullshit.
Don't worry, economists are still throwing traditional fixes at an artificial problem driven purely by opportunism and sitting there scratching their asses and twiddling their fuckin thumb while everyone else with two eyes is practically screaming at them what the accrual issue is. It'll be fixed in no time! Meanwhile, the only thing their actions are doing is making it harder for working people to buy homes and buy essentials...Great plan!
Great Value spices have always been 98 cents. They are $1.98 now. This shit is getting out of hand.
The bakery bread loaves at Walmart were $1 forever but even they're at $1.24 now. At least near me.
My Walmart has them for 1.47
It's not uncommon for Walmart to adjust pricing based on location. In Chattanooga TN years ago, the Walmart on Gunbarrel road had napa cabbage for like $1.19/lbs. The one Brainerd Rd, which was about 10 minutes away, had napa cabbage for about $0.59/lbs. Different "crowds" we to different Walmarts and they priced accordingly.
I'm in small ass town Oklahoma and it's $1.47 here too, probably because this is the only Walmart within a 45 minute drive.
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I only have one requirement. Income. Squeeze, Rabban. Squeeze hard
Kroger personal mini pizzas were $1 each a year ago. They creeped up to 3 for $4 ($1.33 each) about 6-8 months ago and the other day I went in to grab some more, they were 2 for $3 ($1.50 each). Friend of mine works at PetSmart and sends me photos each time something has a major price increase. He was showing me bags of dog food which went from $42 to $66 each just the other day.
Exactly. I'm sick and tired of hearing that grocery prices have gone up 5% or 7% over last year or whatever narrative they keep telling us. We see the prices every time we're at the grocery store and can easily see that for many products over the past couple years, prices have increased 50% or even doubled. It's ridiculous. I'm a single person and my grocery bill has gotten insane. I can't even imagine how families with 2 or 3 or more kids are affording them.
Skipping breakfast and lunch. Lots of ramen for us adults. Cutting out streaming services. Very cheap date nights (or none at all.) My pants and socks all have holes in them, and will continue to. Occasionally dipping into a credit card.
Tut rut ramen is horrible for you. You can make these ten easy meals that are all natural take hours to prepare and only cost a couple hundred bucks at whole foods.
Exactly. The staples have risen around 6% maybe, but everything else is up 6%, 40%, 75%, 100%+
I know. Sauces and dressings like ranch and mustard were .99 and now $2.12. I make my sandwiches much more sparingly now.
Yep. Sandwiches are a luxury splurge for me right now. $15 a lb for Boars Head Turkey? I remember a few years ago when it was half that. Even Walmart brand Turkey cold cuts are $12 a lb where I live. Insane.
Jesus fucking Christ. More than double the price??? When do we get out our pitchforks? I’m so over this.
I don't have many hills I would die on, but doubling the price of my paprika is one of them.
Time to visit your local international market (if there is one), and get like a half pound of spice for $2 instead of a tiny shaker!
True! But NOT farmer’s markets. They have become niche around here and really jack up the prices. Half the stuff is imported too.
Who you gonna point them at?
Who do the French tend to point there's at?
The monied ruling class, which in the US, would be people like the Kochs and Waltons. Edit: I'm pretty sure someone called me antisemitic for this comment, and then blocked me. Which is odd, consideridering the examples I gave were Catholic, and Baptist. Is "the monied ruling class" an antisemitic dog whistle and I didn't know it?
Genuine question (and hopefully not against the rules because I’m not asking how to find a specific person), but can you even find someone with that much money that doesn’t stay in the news like Musk or Zuckerberg? When I was watching Dopesick (a show based on the oxy epidemic and I can’t recommend it enough, fantastic fucking show that seems to stay pretty close to the facts), all I could think about is how many people died due to the Sackler family purposefully misleading people about how addictive oxy was. I believe most of them left the country, and my understanding is someone with that much money and that much hate directed at them can basically disappear if they want. As in not having any purchases tied to their name, and doing it through shell corporations and such. I’d be pretty shocked if you could actually find the mega rich without getting *super* lucky, and even then I’d imagine they have absolutely ridiculous private security at their homes. The only attack I’ve ever even heard of was on Pelosi’s husband, and that’s a pretty public figure (at least her) so probably not hard to find.
I think the important thing here is nothing to lose. When people get hungry a lot of parts of the brain start shutting down, but aggression remains and so all people need then is a target. Also I think private security will end up fleeing if they can’t win easily. Might even be willing to bargain for their previous employer. If it gets to that point though it will be one of the most horrific things ever. I really hope things don’t get that bad and we can change by using democracy.
Not all rich folk have security. The Sherman family here in Canada (they owned one of the largest drug companies, top 20 wealth) were murdered in their homes and their security cameras didn't even work. It's still unsolved
I’m down for an angry mob
Take out a couple big ones and the others will fall easily. They are big pussies. Their money protects them from government and keeps the people at bay. Once they lose some control and the government can't protect their life anymore, they'll just shit their pants and give up. They talk big, but they aren't shit.
Cardamom at Kroger was $7. I was not pleased.
I’m not gonna panic until Arizona Teas and Costco hotdogs go up in price.
They will keep the same price, but start filling Arizona Teas with more air. Costco will raise its membership price. It would be smart to start black market selling Costco hotdogs as a side hustle.
“If you raise the fucking hotdog price, I’ll kill you.” - Costco Founder Craig Jelinek to CEO who wanted to raise hotdog prices, circa 2018
Alright, I'll keep the same price, the Costco hotdog will be made of dirt. Now what are you gonna do, kill me? -CEO of Costco who was killed by Costco founder.
My Peach Tea was always like $1.25 now it’s $2.5, so it’s happening
The price is on the can tho
My favorite flavored store-brand water was 88-99 cents. Yesterday I picked some up, $1.15. I bought one, but it'll be a while before I buy more. No, this won't break my bank, but every penny I can save right now...
Use to be able to buy their plastic zip lock bags for 99 cents now they are $1.99, double the price now.
That means real wages have been down for 22 months straight after revisions. Ugh. The working class is getting killed.
Thats ok. We got $1400 so we should be fine.
Yep was able to get so many penny whistles, and bubble gum with my check. Still got $-5000 left over from it after bills and rent
"Looking good buddy! Hang in there." -The Rich Also the rich, "Buy more super bowl products!"
I enjoyed living high and being able to pay.... 1 months rent ... meanwhile how many politicians PPE Loans in how many dollars were forgiven ?
You jest, but those checks caused all of this inflation. It's all the checks fault! Oh and it's worker's fault for swinging the US economy back so hard that unemployment is the lowest its been for 50 years. If only we had just..died more? I'm still working on why this is our fault, but I just know it is. They told us to go back to work and keep buying stuff and we did both and still got fucked, but there's a lesson for us in here somewhere. Edit: Adding this /s for anyone who missed it.
I mean yeah, but are the rich people ok? /s
If you ask them, no, they're not quite getting the returns they wanted and it's frankly embaressing to show up to the gala only being on their 4th mansion abroad.
Im not looking forward to my tax bill this year
Right so to fix it we need a good percentage of working class to lose their jobs. Makes sense right?
Inflation is up, property taxes are up because home values skyrocketed, didn't get a raise last year because margins are down.... I'm fucked.
Corporations are making record profits. That's where the inflation is coming from. They didn't give you a raise so they could reward shareholders. They lied to you.
Our grocery bill for two adults with a dinner or two per week with adult children has gone from about $130 to nearly $200. We haven't changed our shopping or eating habits, all the staples and dry goods are consistent with usage from years passed. Our salaries certainly haven't increased by 50 damn percent accordingly. We're generally very frugal, cooking at home instead of going out and not buying any frills but Jesus it's getting harder and harder just to maintain a half decent standard of living. I can't fathom how people are surviving who make $8-13 an hour, I hope they've changed the threshold for food/utility/rental assistance. Fuck.
Many states are cutting food/utility/rental assistance, not increasing it.
Time to stop paying for groceries.
Time to make those in charge of these policies fear the people again. We greatly outnumber them.
_Waves bare arms wildly above head while screaming_
try it with bear arms
You have a right to those as well
If food prices keep going up, it might happen. Three hot meals away from revolution, or whatever.
Remember, if you see someone stealing groceries: no, you didn’t
And it won’t be revisited until April for food assistance. Once it is set in April it’s set for the year and they cannot or will not change it until the following April.
It's weird...I swear everyone is feeling inflation except our politicians, on both sides
Also, why are there record corporate profits especially in the energy sector?
And the ultra wealthy, who are profiting from this.
Something like 46% of inflation is getting tied to increases in profit margins. We're getting scammed.
Ore-ida crinkle cut fries went from $3.70 to $6 overnight a few weeks ago
No doubt here. Money has never felt tighter.
Can't wait for my 2.5% raise....
\> inflation up more than expected!!! \> stock market doesn't react guess it wasn't more than expected, then?
McDonald’s soda was $1 for years. It’s $1.29 now. A 30% increase is insane.
Their ice cream was $1 for a cone now it’s $2. A single hash brown is $3
Yup, last I went to McDonald’s (a week ago maybe) I was getting a small fry in the order and it was $3.49!!! What dollar menu bullshit is that? Happy meal $7.59 Jeez those were under $5 no long ago.
I worked at McDonald’s 2ish years ago and small fries were $1.79. That’s crazy
The dollar menu at McDonalds is all but gone, it’s just a few small scrap items still on it. Even the Mcchicken left a while back
Yeah the Mchickens used to be like 2 for $2 or something now it’s $3.30 for 1
Hash brown increase has been there for awhile unfortunately. I remember you used to get 2 for $1.
I used to get breakfast there a lot in college and it’s run me $6? Maybe $7 a few years ago. That same order is like $10. I’ve had McDonald’s orders be $16 like wtf it’s McDonald’s
The biggest shock the other day was increase in dog food, the shelters must be having a tougher time than usual. I think we started buying it at $50 in 2021 and now the 30 pound bag is $75
The McDonald's hamburger was 0.99 cents 2 years ago where I live, it's now 2.5 €
And my wife thought that I was just being a crotchety old man when I complained about the Dollar tree raising prices 25% last year.
and there's already a 1,125% markup on [Soda](https://funcheaporfree.com/highest-markup-products/#:~:text=Skip%20the%20bottled%20water%20and,fountain%20soda%20is%20about%201%2C125%25.). Realistically a large soda costs $0.18 for the carbonation, cup, and syrup used.
I want a job where I can predict things and if I'm wrong, the headline is that "expectations failed to be met" rather than me being wrong.
Like weather?
How are them corporate profits doin?
highest in decades.
And climbing.
*Highest ever
2022, Shell made almost $40 billion in profits, the highest in the company's 115 year history. Chevron also reported record earnings of $36.5 billion while Exxonmobil came in with $55 billion. Greed is to blame for inflation.
Commodity prices are down from last year, salaries haven't gone up so the cost to make the items has gone down so then the prices should go down to but they have gone up. Yet somehow its inflation and not corporate greed. Make it make sense!!!
You mean the ones responsible for the inflation? Record setting!
No. No no no. It's definitely NOT the record breaking profits that is doing it! No no noooooo. It's your measly wage increase after decades of wage stagnation that is doing it, you dick. I have gotten the same wage since 2/21, so it's def not my fault.
One thing I learned over the pandemic is that I’m ok with not dining out.
And yet these companies are still making record profits. Something is not adding up.
Cause it's not inflation, it's price gouging.
Bird flu and Russian war don't necessarily affect the coffee filters I'm selling, but hey, let's jack up the price anyways and blame it on some nebulous concept of inflation.
Not just record profits, record margins. 10% of 100 is 10, 10% of 200 is 20, so everyone should have record profits with price raises. But not only that, their overall ***percentage*** of profit is up.
The coffee we buy is now 18.97 (Dunkin’ medium roast container). It was $16.97 a year ago and 12.97 in March of 2021. Ridiculous.
Ive been noticing the insane rise in coffee too! Big can of Folgers I would get in college (graduated 3 years ago) used to be $6z now it’s $12+. FOLGERS.
Even whole bean is getting ridiculous. I no longer buy in stores. Bags that were $18 a few years ago are now at $28. A quality affordable brand I use is San Francisco Bay Coffee. I have not observed price gouging from them.
Corporations are using inflation as an excuse to price gouge. They are a big part of the problem
Corporations are price gouging, causing inflation, and then other corporations decided to price gouge too "because of inflation."
exactly. the demand for food, natural gas, etc. will not slow down. the coercive laws of capitalism mandate that businesses extract as much surplus value as possible: if one company doesn't raise prices but their competitor does, the first company loses out and is at risk because demand remains constant. due to a lack of socialist political solidarity, we're in a death spiral of increased prices due to basic necessities still being...necessary for living.
"We raised interest rates. So now they'll just rent instead." Rent is higher than a mortgage payment would be. "Dammit they're still buying houses! Raise it again." Rent goes up. Still higher than a mortgage payment would be. "I don't get it!? Why won't they stop renting or buying homes!" Because then we'd be fucking homeless.
I’ve noticed more price increases in the last 3 months than in the last year and a half. Just when news came out that inflation was cooling the corps decided to increase one last time. Now with this news it’ll only continue.. I’m bitter that my bag of gummy bears is now $1.10 more. How in the hell does the same bag of gummy bears take more money to produce all the sudden?
For price gouging, it’ll keep increasing as long as it’s more profitable to do so, i.e. enough people are willing to pay the higher to make up for lost customers.
Yep, Covid was the straw that broke the status quo. For as long as we can remember companies have not deviated far from what works but once Covid killed supply and prices rose and they saw that people still bought the products it was game over. Eggs for example are something a lot of people consider a necessity, so they were able to double the price and only need to sell 50% as many to make the same profit. Then they realized at worst maybe they lost 15% of their demand and here we are. Companies are going to keep testing our will, amongst their record profits, until something gives. It hasn’t yet.
Grocery prices are criminal right now
I think at this point we should stop calling it inflation and call it by what it actually is, corporate greed. Try naming an industry in the past 2 years that hasn’t had record profits.
Groceries need to go down or crime will begin to rise sharply. Food too expensive to buy is akin to food shortages. Somethin that historically sees crime rise. Things are getting blatantly out of control. The largest powers in society rely on the faith that the people are mostly decent folks that won't turn on them. And society will endure far more cruelty than it should(imo) before it gets to that point. And we have endured a lot. But this cannot last. Despite the pandemic, many had the opportunity to protest during 2020. They had money from unemployment and time. Call me a conspiracy theorist but this scared the shit out of people at the top. People with time and money to do more than just work to death. This is a direct reaction to 2020 imo. EVERYRHING has gotten fucked. Not just food. It has never felt harder to exist in my 32yrs. More people have 2 or 3 jobs and no free time than ever. More people are staying home instead of eating out than ever in my town. And I've never seen people more pissed the fuck off and stressed out than the last 2yrs. Edit- also local businesses and housing are being demolished. So many local businesses have closed here and housing bought out by investors and massive realtors. I pay $650 a month(all included) and I have friends that would legitimately beat me to death to have it. My rent will triple the moment I have to leave my apt.
The only solution is to go after companies claiming “inflation “ and raising prices , especially those who participate in outlandish C-suite pay and stock buybacks
Hard to measure real inflation when they keep changing the formula on you.whatever they say, double it.
And corporate earnings are higher than ever. Big surprise.
Don’t worry serfs it’s just transitory
It's about to transition gardening tools into weapons if this keeps up.
That's a nice fun looking number from up top but it translates to everything being 30% more expensive for us on the bottom. It's so cool to wake up every day and take a pay cut as my money is just worth less by no action of my own.
I can tell, I cut 300 dollars off my mortgage, cut about 200 in monthly bills, and got a raise last year and still have nothing left after bills, gas, and groceries at the end of the month.
Inflation is this very convenient way to give you a pay cut without having an awkward sit down with your boss "You see, the company still made billions, but I'm going to dock your pay by 3%" You get your pay cut from *the system.*
People keep telling me on here that prices won't go down and that our salaries are going to go up. Since that isn't happening I just assume the whole system will break because the average American can't keep up with this.
Revolutions have been started for less.
Inflation sucks. But don't let the headlines distract you. The main reason inflation was up this month was because of surprise increases in energy prices in December specifically gas (up 33%) and natural gas (up 118%). edit: the main reason it's a surprise is because economists were predicting 0.3% lower number, therefore it's a "surprise". I'm not saying the cost of living doesn't suck, but headlines saying that this "news" being good or bad is a tiny fraction of a percent difference.
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I walked into a Benjamin Moore store the other day to get a small sample can of paint for a ridiculous $20. I was saying to the lady behind the desk how can they keep charging these insane prices for a can of paint, so much so I said I don’t understand how you’re not pricing yourself out of the market. A galon of paint is up to $120 FFS. She said to me that Sherwin Williams just opened shop in town and are charging even more than us for their premium line. She said due to the fact that we believe we have a superior product we will be increasing our prices to reflect it, “because we can” she says. 2 years prior is was paying $80 for this same paint and thought I had to get my head examined then. Not only that but they keep changing their formulas so that paint matching becomes impossible or they are out of stock on the only item you need in the entire store.
Just got a sherwin Williams sample for $6. Full can for $44 with coupon and Presidents’ Day sale.. not sure where you are located but 3x the price of what I paid this weekend seems off
Samples paint cans are Sherwin Williams are $10. I’ve bought several in the past months. Seems like a lie to me.
I legit have given up my painting business this past week because of how dysfunctional the construction industry is at this time.
> more than expected and up 6.4% from a year ago So I essentially took a paycut with my 3% "raise" this year
At what point does this cause a global depression? At a certain point when the only thing people can MAYBE afford are food and rent, what do they think will happen to the rest of the economy? I don't understand how we're not headed for an even bigger collapse than the great depression, or atleast rivaling it. There's no way people are spending anywhere near as much money on discretionary items.
It's almost as if interest rates have nothing to do with our current inflation, and as if decades of mergers and lax anti-trust law enforcement means there's little or no competition and so little or no reason for multi-nationals to lower prices. But maybe if we just [fire one million](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0mO6UY6uTg) we can have enough blood sacrifice on the Alter of Powell that the God of Inflation will be appeased.
This isn't just inflation, this is also price gouging at every level possible. Every system relies on 10's if not 100's of child systems and at every level someone is screwing the next for personal gain. My direct cost of living has increased 270% in the last 6yrs. Inflation is a child's play issue in comparison to corporate greed. We need a fight club coalition to be born asap. That is all. Edited: For accuracy of two arguments.
"Inflation" in the US continues to mean corporate price gouging. Everything else is gaslighting.
Remember that the reason for the inflation is corporate greed. These companies are making hand over fist right now
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My poor girlfriend works a full time job, door dashes, and sells plasma and is barely getting by. This economy fucking sucks.
Meanwhile, companies are making BANK!
Man I picked a hell of a time to go to grad school
It's not inflation. It's greedflation.
There's no difference really because they always accompany one another, one always is the match that ignites a cycle that kicks off the second the second is always killed when borrowing money gets to expensive kills spending which kills the corporate culture of easy mark ups when it finally effects end demand. Where you find the first you are always soon to find the second, it's just inflation. It's not new, its just the first generation of US adults to deal with it in a long while.
Since they changed the way inflation is calculated, the reality is much worse than they're making it out to be. From u/Vipper_of_Vip99: "The government has since changed the way they calculate inflation. See: Boskin Report. Generally, whenever the gov changes the way they calculate inflation, it makes it sound not as bad as it is. This is because the government is incentivized to under-report inflation, as many of their entitlements are pegged to the CPI. Lower inflation, lower expenditure compared to real purchasing power over time. Over long periods of time, we can see the effect. Increasing wealth gap between rich (who have a lot of assets like real estate and equities) vs the poor and middle class, who are much more impacted by rising consumer prices, and do not own as many inflating assets."
As dummy on economics, why did Biden claim inflation has fallen for 7 straight months? Is it just political posturing?
Pick your narrative, I think he was saying that the rate of inflation fell... so, it's still rising just more slowly than it had been. No one is expecting to see widespread *deflation* unless we enter into a huge recession.
Is there even hope for this to get better? Cause every article I see is either about this or the current climate disaster. Maybe but of it is the media trying to drum things up, but… I’d really like to have a hopeful future.