I’ve had
enough. Quite frankly, this whole inflation thing just pisses me off. In
all my life I’ve never seen the rate of inflation soar to the level it has,
especially when it comes to one of our most basic needs – food. And the prediction for 2024 is that it will
continue. Stick a fork in me folks, I’m
done!
We, as consumers,
wield a lot of power with our
spending habits. Inflation is all about
supply and demand (and greed) and the best way to combat inflation is to stop spending. By lowering our demand it creates an
abundance of supply which forces prices to go down in order to tempt
buyers. As long as we continue to pay
whatever it costs to have the things that we want then prices will continue to
rise.
This year I’ve
decided that as long as I don’t absolutely need something I’m not going to buy it
and that includes at the grocery store.
I’m going to be very selective about all
of the items I am purchasing and if it isn’t at a decent price I will shop elsewhere,
wait or simply go without. It is
something I feel very strongly needs to be done until retailers pull their heads
out of their… well, you know what I mean.
I’m sure most of
us can attest to the fact that we all carry a few more pounds than we should
and we have more than enough crap in our houses, way too much. Scaling back on the amount of food I eat as
well as the crap I buy isn’t going to hurt me one little bit. It won’t hurt any of us. We’ve got to get out of this consumer
mentality (buy, buy, buy) in order to put a stop to the nonsense. What is the worst that could happen? No debt?
Increased savings? We lose a few unwanted
pounds and get healthier? Wouldn’t that
be terrible?
Share your
thoughts. How do you feel about our
economy at present and where we might be headed?
This country has enjoyed incredibly low inflation rates for quite some time. A correction was inevitable. Just like housing prices are going to correct eventually and leave many, many people underwater or with zero equity, just like the late 80's/early 90's.
ReplyDeleteI understand that many things have gone up in price, but I am most furious with sellers who have jumped on the bandwagon, even though their product is not scarce nor has supply chain issues. Everyone has jacked up prices, regardless if the increase is necessary or not.
I'm with you; I vote with my wallet. You can't make me need or want what you're selling...
What is the saying? Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I made through the stock market taking a dive and the housing market crash that started in 2007, but I've always been financially cautious. I'm with you Sue. I'll be happy to hang onto my $$, thank you. ;)
DeleteI just saw on the news yesterday that consumer debt is continuing to rise. People just want what they want. They “deserve” it. Retailers, and manufacturers, see that people are willing to just spend whatever the going price is to have what they want, and of course are taking advantage of this. We are fueling this inflation, and blaming everyone else. When I say “we” I don’t mean you and me, but rather we as consumers in general. As I have said before, my grocery expense really hasn’t gone up in the last couple years. In fact it’s gone down. We aren’t eating rice and beans. We still eat pretty what we want. I’m just more mindful of what I’m buying. Rather than people going on social media and complaining, they need to take responsibility for their own actions and do something about it. The reason that we (you and me this time) are able to weather this storm is because we are debt free. These people just running up credit card debt are going to have a day of reckoning one of these days. They have no one to blame but themselves, but of course they won’t.
ReplyDeleteDiane
Consumer debt is really scary right now. And trending upward. Pretty crazy!
DeleteThis is just my personal opinion, but with the grocery stores I think a lot of the high prices are related to corporate greed. But some of it is also related to higher wages. I can no longer shop at my local Kroger branded store. Prices are just outrageous. I can see everything is financially engineered. And if their Albertson's merger goes through they have even more leverage to raise prices. This is scary to me. Carrie
ReplyDeleteYou could be right about that. My kids worked at Albertson's and they didn't raise wages like Kroger did. I'm worried about the merger too. We need Aldi to get in here and add some competition. ;)
DeleteI am with you 100% on this. I'm lucky that I buy most of our meat from local farmers and in the spring/summer/fall grow our own veggies or buy from local farmers. The prices have gone up a bit but nothing compared to the grocery stores and the quality is 10x better. We did buy a new TV console in December as our Christmas to each other but I'm only buying what we absolutely need for the foreseeable future. Like you said, I don't need any more stuff and my pantry is full so I'll be saving my dollars. This is beyond crazy.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for buying and supporting local. I'd much rather give my money to a small business over a big corporation.
DeleteI am doing the same thing this year. I have determined not buy anything but absolute needs. I am cleaning and clearing out every closet and room. We are carefully purchasing food as well. We have so much stuff and I am over being the keeper of stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest posts. I look forward to reading them every week. Keep up the good writing
Thank you Tracy. I appreciate your kind comments. I'm over "the stuff" too!
DeleteAgreed & very well said. I truly enjoy reading your blog, thank you for writing and I get inspired with our own retirement. We try to be frugal and only purchase what we need when it's on sale and then stock up. My husband was able to harvest 2 deer this fall and we purchase veggies & fruits at the local produce auction during season to fill our freezer. There's also a second hand store we check occasionally for clothes and other stuff we use. I'm always amazed at the stuff people buy and ends up at this store. Makes me happy it's not in the landfill. Karen
ReplyDeleteGood job you guys. I love hearing about your ways of doing things. Thank you for your kind comments.
DeleteWe are a one-income family and we don't buy frivolous things, but we are certainly feeling the pinch. We have one child. I can't imagine how much people are spending on groceries to feed a larger family. It's honestly scary to me.
ReplyDeleteIt scares me too. I truly feel for families that are struggling to put food on the table these days. They're holding a big foodbank event at one of our arenas two towns over next Wednesday to assist those in need. It is supposed to last for over 3 hours or until the food runs out. I wouldn't be surprised if they run out of food beforehand.
DeleteI wish the problem was just retailers deciding to charge more and take advantage of customers. Every entity from the manufacturers and producers to the shippers and vendors are experiencing higher costs due to various reasons.. Then it finally shows up in our carts. Remember those shipping containers that got bottled necked in the Post of Los Angeles? Well, some of those companies had to find shipping alternatives that were more expensive in order to get their products.
ReplyDeleteThis is a problem that has been brewing for a while . It's world wide. The blame can be shared among the governments and their uncontrolled spending, easy money and financial institutions, and consumers financing their lifestyles with debt.
The shipping container thing that happened 2021 right? Check this out: https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2024/02/07/why-your-groceries-are-still-so-damn-expensive/?sh=5229904b1dd8
DeleteThanks for the article. I've seen those charts detailing which company owns what brand. It's horrifying. That's another reason I don't buy that stuff. Buying ingredients rather than packaged/ ultra processed foods keeps most of those manufacturers out of my cart.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely.
DeleteVery sad, they are hurting lots of people, so they can get richer. My heart goes out to families, trying to feed their families and really struggling. Also older people living on little. Sad!
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. I worry about that a lot.
DeleteInteresting article that you shared. For the last several months I’ve been blaming the price hikes on candy and soda on the increased cost of sugar, which I do believe is related to weather related crop losses, maybe that’s a lie, too?!?! We don’t buy much candy or soda for our own personal consumption, but do buy some to resell in our hardware store.
ReplyDeleteAt home, most of our treats are home baked goodies, especially cookies. I said to my husband that it seemed odd that other sugary products have jumped so in price, but the Aldi brand chocolate chips have increased by a much smaller percentage. The information in the article helps to explain some of that!
We’ve always tried to be conservative but are extra motivated right now with banks actually paying a valuable interest rate on money that is saved. I’m sure those rates won’t last much longer so I’m trying to get all I can out of them while it lasts! We’ve been working at establishing ways to produce a large portion of our own food for the last severe years. I’m so thankful we’ve done that as our grocery expenses have actually decreased since 2020. It does take a lot of time, but producing our food also doubles as our entertainment.
I found it interesting as well. Of course, as with any media you do have to filter it and decide for yourself what you want to believe and then decide for yourself how you want to use that information. At the end of the day we need to do what is best for our particular situation. I love that you are doing more sustainable living and growing a lot of your own food. That is something I am working on as well. Like you I am taking advantage of the higher interest rates for as long as it lasts.
DeleteI've grown almost all my own veggies for over 40 years and buy most of my meat and what other staples I can locally. As someone who worked in retail management for many years, I also never underestimate the impact of fuel costs on everything that is sold. Freight has a HUGE impact on operating cost and the actual profit margins are not as big as one would like to think.. While we have a LOT of work to do as Individuals on reining in ridiculous spending habits, once we get our act back together on fuel, we will see grocery inflation decline pretty quickly (especially given everyone's more thoughtful shopping habit). The one thing about grocery costs is that they do react pretty quickly to supply and demand rules.
ReplyDeleteRising fuel prices does affect the overall costs, so true. And again, like you said, if you just buy, buy, buy, regardless of the cost then demand remains high. I do hope you are correct and we'll see some more mindful spending in the future. We just had a report on our local news about increasing overall debt. It might be a while before we see change. Thank you for your comment!
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