charlie brown Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Hi All....don't know what it's like, in your various areas, but I suspect it's not much different, if at all, to what we're experiencing, here. Food prices, are out of control! Criminally high/ridiculous!! I suppose that's ok, IF you're a millionaire, or newly "oil riche" (as some are, in this area, now), and not on a somewhat (small) fixed income? But, those that are, it's really a problem. I have chosen (out of necessity) to drive 25 miles (each way), just to go grocery shopping (at the area Walmart) for some items...as my local grocery store prices, are often 2-3 times, the price, for the same item! I've mention all this, to the local manager, and he seems to be only "lip service" sympathetic. It's really Insane...IMHO. I (seriously) may have to try to start "gigging" again, and a lot more often, just to make enough money, to pay for my (paltry) grocery needs. $50 bucks, won't hardly buy anything, anymore ...seemingly! And, the "doom and gloomers" say it will only get (a Lot) worse! What's it like, where you are/shop? A note, to our younger members. Make AS MUCH MONEY as you can, working or playing music, and SAVE as much as you possibly can...you're going to NEED every penny!! Trust me! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Package sizes are shrinking along with prices rising. Not getting political but I warned my friends and family what was coming. No worries though. I'm covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Here in the UK it's got out of control. Fuel (gas and electric) have gone sky high. Food is a joke. We have more people in poverty than we have for 50 years. But the rich get richer. We still have massive immigration and no one does anything. I was reading about FEMA camps in the US today. Is it true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I was reading today that one of David Cameron's advisors said that people who can't afford to heat their homes should wear more jumpers! Poor David! His wife is only worth £35000000 (I think that's about $50000000 roughly). Got to feel sorry for those people haven't you. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 It's the same here... :blink: Many reasons...IMO kicking off in the last 2-3 years... Not pleasant...but it can be fun searching for the best deals V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 You can still buy 5 lemons here for a $1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 Well I WAS "OK," when I first came back here. And, still am, for the most part. BUT, for how long, is anyone's guess, at this point. Everything is totally ridiculous, price wise, but I especially worry about food, and "heating" (natural gas, here) prices. I know there is some reasonable expectation, for some price rises, but... not to this extent, especially on items that have been made the same way, for decades, and require no "extensive retooling, research prior to production, etc., etc.! At most, those particular items are "repackaged," and often as mentioned, in smaller quantities, per package, and much higher prices, than previously. Even in previous "bad economies," and such. WTH??! Plain, old fashioned Greed, at every level, I say! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Two factors that appear to be opposite "reasons" IMHO are involved here. 1. Increasing social welfare spending that ends up as much or more for the bureaucracies as those "in need." One (Red) Indian reservation here 20 years ago was getting roughly $50,000+ in federal spending per family of four, which would offer a pretty "middle class" sort of family income. Problem is that the county remains one of the most poverty-stricken in the nation. Why? Where'd the money go? It doesn't take a CPA to figure that out. 2. Increasing corporate size, leveraging growth and increasing stockholder demands for return on investment. The stockholders aren't all "rich people," but are various labor unions, group retirement plans, benevolent foundations, etc. Add to that a strong "green" constituency that works as much or more on emotion that increases costs of everything through the indirect "tax" of regulation... Hey, if I make the same gross revenue selling widgets and taxes and other costs increase due to taxes and regulation, I've gotta do something to keep net revenue even, right? Add to that now our increasing medical costs. That's pretty much everywhere as "we" learn about advances in technology that are not without cost regardless whether "we" live in a state-operated system or the now nearly-destroyed U.S. private system. No, I'm not just being political RE: "Obamacare," but difficulties incrementally added by changes both governmental and non-governmental over the past 60 years-plus since WWII and the beginnings of incredible medical breakthroughs we now take for granted. So... 3. Lessening amounts of social capital brought by a number of cultural factors in "the developed world," especially the Anglophone world, along with various developments in terms of rapid population increases, means that even food supply chains are international rather than regional (national in smaller nations.) That latter? We've had folks complain here about loss of "Ma and Pa" music stores, but the same hits everything from clothing to food, appliances to vehicles. It's too complex an issue to dismiss by hitting only one aspect. But the bottom line likely is that "we" want more, yet expect to give less, whether it's cash for groceries or paychecks for our daily work. Cost of doing business through tax and regulation, to the business directly and indirectly through the supply chain, has exploded. It's a feedback loop. We have fewer friends at work because those of us with jobs are pushing ourselves harder - so we have less social capital and less empathy for anyone whatsoever. "What's in it for me," and "Why work so hard for a company (or government agency) that doesn't care," and "I'd make more on unemployment or disability payments and food supplements" create disincentives along with bureaucracies caring only to perpetuate themselves. I don't see stuff changing much. There's more to it, of course, but note that when "bread and circuses," free food, lodging and entertainment, became the mode of life for most "free" Roman citizens with no responsibility, the empire fell, and with it all the "benefits" of large population urban society and large-scale government and supply chains. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Add to that the printing of more money to devalue the dolla' and tadaaaaa! Less for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 You can still buy 5 lemons here for a $1. I'll be right over! LOL (Limes, for just on example here, have been as high as a dollar apiece!) Lemons, more plentiful, so less expensive than Limes, generally. Still they can be 2 to 3 times, what you're paying. Plus, now the "experts" are warning us, nearly daily, to avoid produce, dairy, etc., that's mass produced, and buy from only farmers, farmer's markets, who grow "organically," without chemicals, etc., to avoid "cancer causing elements" in even the once healthy veggies and fruits. Never mind, all the "recalls" on harmful bacteria laden meats, and milk products, and even "peanut butter!" So, not only prices, but "food safety" is becoming a real concern! What a mess!! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Sounds like your area has become a victim of price gouging. I buy limes at 5 for a buck and lemons 3 for a buck from a local store. Wally world has the worst produce I've ever seen, I wouldn't buy it at half the price they charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The bottom line in the western world (and the East too it seems) is profit and greed. Companies can't have a healthy 7% profit now. They want 30-40 every year. It's just unsustainable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYVZKpH3pnM This is a frightening video. Do you believe it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Bill Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 CB...I feel your pain. I've recently relocated to central Florida. I'm headed out on Thursday to an open mic jam to try to make connections for work. I hope to start gigging again myself. No problem affording food, I'm just climbing the walls from not gigging. I've still got a few good years left, and I want to take advantage of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 We go to Publix and while a pleasant shopping experience is their thing prices are definitely high, no solid guarantee their fruit will be good either. At Walmart fruit is hit or miss but somehow with their fruit I can tell what to get and what to avoid. I wish we had H.E.B. here in TN, I was in Texas last week and it made me realize how much I miss those stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Namvet Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Try feeding 5 kids on a fixed income (one is an infant; diapers etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The bottom line in the western world (and the East too it seems) is profit and greed. Companies can't have a healthy 7% profit now. They want 30-40 every year. Don't believe it. I've worked in the food industry in one capacity or another since 78. Hey 40 % increase every would be awesome but we dont play in a fantasy world . Cost of raw materials is sky high. Sugar, grains, transportation etc. all effect what reaches your table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I'm about to have my second knee op this year. That's another two months off work. Plus I've hardly worked all summer due to a slipped disc. That'll be about 7 months off without pay. I'm self employed, so if I don't work I don't get paid. I'm going through the worst period of my life. My dad died in May and things aren't looking up. I live on my own and see no future in this s**thole of a country (UK). It's frightening to go into Birmingham city centre now. I'm a foreigner in my own city. Roll on old age and the wooden box, I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 Try feeding 5 kids on a fixed income (one is an infant; diapers etc) Yeah, I can ONLY Imagine! I have to wonder, HOW they/You do that?! :unsure: CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Don't believe it. I've worked in the food industry in one capacity or another since 78. Hey 40 % increase every would be awesome but we dont play in a fantasy world . Cost of raw materials is sky high. Sugar, grains, transportation etc. all effect what reaches your table. Well. We see it in the papers here. The large companies complain at 25% increases. It's not enough for them. Without getting into an argument. The US has lived in a false economy for many years. Times are changing. The money's moving East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 25% increase in what? Sales? Sales to budget? Last year? Five years ago. A 25% increase isnt 25% profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The sad reality is that crap food is way cheaper. Eating healthy is expensive. If governments want to subsidize something they should subsidize natural healthy foods and tax the crap outa crap foods. Would go a long way in health care down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I know this may not be politically correct in some quarters, but... If a store buys a "widget" for $1, how much should it be sold for in order for the merchant to make enough money to stay in business, pay taxes, utilities and in some cases employees? Not to mention a "profit" for the small "Ma and Pa" or even a corporation? What if the "widget" has a finite shelf life such as with much "fresh" food ranging from meat to veggies? It's a rather complex answer. Will selling it at $1.25 cover costs if 25 percent of the product must be tossed due to reaching the end of shelf life? I doubt it. What of $1.50? Will that cover costs of taxes, utilities and in some cases employees as well as damaged goods? I doubt that too. The idea that a store charging $2 retail for what cost $1 wholesale ignores costs of keeping the place going, not to mention taxes that can include the building, utility bills, employees (employers pay part of U.S. social security and also "unemployment insurance" on their employees), inventory and often on each item they sell. What I've seen is that cost of transportation, largely due to increases in taxes and fuels caused by both taxes and regulation, has gone through the roof. There's also truth to the U.S. being part of a worldwide marketplace whereas when I was a kid, it was broken up into a number of regional marketplaces. One example that hit me was when I lived in Wyoming 30 miles from where the natural gas for our heating emerged from a well, the price tag suddenly soared significantly. Why? Because the folks in California who don't want oil and gas wells had run out, and so the gas company piping gas to Cali could get the "California going rate" for gas instead of just the lower rate where I lived. So we all paid. It's not dissimilar on all fuels as the U.S. and Canada produce more, costs are added significantly by taxes and regulation that add huge price tags to the raw petroleum, then are added also to the international market. Sheesh. On the other hand, that's not entirely a new thing. Basically for well over 200 years the U.S. has had its major financial crises as a result of European circumstances that intruded here. The list of players has changed somewhat, but not the reality that before we had automobiles, even before we had trains and steam-powered ships, the world was a single economy with some local advantages but... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feldkeen4 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 33 million new immigrants will totally fix all the economic problems, so I hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Quap... I hate to say this, but IMHO there's no longer anything one might consider "natural" food. And even 4,000 years ago ditto as "wheat" was bred (pun intended, but still the truth) into being and enabled towns and city "states." m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Quap... I hate to say this, but IMHO there's no longer anything one might consider "natural" food. And even 4,000 years ago ditto as "wheat" was bred (pun intended, but still the truth) into being and enabled towns and city "states." m Holy nitpicking arseholes batman! lol.. Ya M,, I know and agree with ya. Let me change "natural" to fresh and "crap" to processed. Our "unnatural" fruits and veggies and grains and legumes and meats are still healthier than a twinkie or spam or processed cheese foods. But seeing as our trucks that bring us the foods don't have time machine highways to travel back 5000 years for 'natural' foods this is all we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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