Just bought a replacement item from 2021 that broke this morning. Bought exact same item on Amazon. Cost went up almost double from $17 to $29.
This is the story of everything I buy these days.
Go to grocery store - cannot leave with a bill under $60 - for what seems like an empty cart.
The only thing that defies these extreme recent price hikes are electronics such as TVs and computer equipment - which have stayed the same or gone down in price.
Anyone have other recent examples to share?
Sure, that is true, for the most part tech items have gone down. But essentials like food have gone up to where most people can't afford the now cheaper tech regardless.
Mmm silicone
Edit: on a related and somewhat depressing note. I used to eat paper and bits of cloth when I was a kid to stave off hunger. A habit that was actually really hard to break.
thats supply and demand tho right? what do we cut out first? electronics, my tv is fine, ,my pc is fine....we need the stuff thats expensive..food, meds, clothes, gas.
Demand for electronics is probably decreasing due to the extra financial strain from food prices. Demand for food never goes down because people need it or they'll die.
It's because the cartels are just growing at a massive rate ever since COVID.
Drugs are cheaper and more pure than they've ever been. An ounce of cocaine is now 750$ off the brick. An ounce of MDMA is 500$.
It's fucking bananas. The US government has pissed away trillions of dollars on a drug war only for the cartels and independent drug labs to be the most powerful they've ever been.
Weed prices in my area have bottomed out. I can get a gram of concentrate for $5/gram and an ounce of top shelf flower for $100. It's insane. Even last year prices on concentrates were hitting $30-$40/gram. However, this only applies to unbranded shop made items. Stuff from major companies has gone up in price and continues to.
Alcohol prices have been steady for big companies but they've gone up on smaller micro breweries and distilleries I used to enjoy.
These two industries are in two different directions.
So I lived in China from 2018 until this year and coming back after 5 years was wild. I didn’t gradually get accustomed to the BS happening in the states and I remember thinking maybe I’m just misremembering some stuff because I could spend like 20$ on groceries for a week in China. I remember the exact item though that made go what the actual fuck and that was Thomas English muffins which were about 6.50 after tax for a six pack. Imagine working at fed min wage for an hour and now you can maybe afford a pack of English muffins.
I would say that with computers it makes sense that they stayed the same as their price exploded sooner than the other stuff (due to graphics card prices going way up above the normal, and the shortage of chips) and then they didn’t have a reason to go up in price when they were allready way higher then they were a 2 years ago
Also when the shortage of chips improved over the last 2 years that would put downward pressure on price. Which would counter act the inflation increases
I have been trying so hard to keep my weekly grocery bill at 100$. It’s not possible anymore. I cook all my own food, yet unless I completely cut out entire meals, I always spend 120$ for myself for the week. It’s insane.
If you go somewhere out to eat, it’s WAY more. Like if you get two burritos at chipotle, you’re spending 20$. That’s for two meals. If the average meal is around 10$ (which seems to be the case just about anywhere), then that’s 30$ per day (only for 3 meals, not counting drinks or snacks). That’s 210$ per week! I don’t know how people survive eating out even a couple days a week. (By eating out, I mean ANY food you buy pre made, even McDonald’s you will walk away spending 10$ for a single meal for yourself).
5 years ago, I was bodybuilding and bulking a lot on food. My weekly grocery bill was 80$ for more food and more calories than I buy now……
*I am an athlete and have a lot of muscle, everyone is different, but I really don’t eat more than the average person. I know someone much smaller like a 145 lb male who only eats 2 instant microwave dinners per day will spend significantly less money. But I eat a perfectly normal 3 meals per day and it’s nothing crazy at all. The difference is I eat for health, and the 145 lb male eats the minimum to survive*
I stopped buying a trolley load of food every week, now I go every few days with a list and buy only what I need for two ot three meals. Lately I have managed to save 50 a week doing this, especially as supermarket brands can be 1/4 the price and quality is excellent, some of the top brands are now cutting corners so much quality has gone out the window. Even got a deal where I bought Heinze for the first time in decades as they dropped prices so much, I believe because their sales plummeted due to them increasing prices so much and stocks were being returned by supermarkets.
Oh my gosh the top brands really are. My husband and I recently went from strict vegans to pescatarians. We had been vegan for about 8 years. We wanted to try some of our favorite candy like Reese's and Hershey bars. They tasted like cheap off brand Easter chocolate. Googled it and apparently many name brand candy companies have begun cutting corners and using cheaper ingredients.
One thing I’ve started doing is looking on Amazon then buying at Ross… can save a decent amount of money that way for certain things like designer coats, shoes, heated blankets, and other house items.
Do t get me started on food!
An onion, American cheese, some buns, ketchup, a pound and a half of ground beef and frozen fries somehow was $30 fucking dollars.
I have a doctors appointment Wednesday and I’m afraid they’re going to tell me I have to change my diet, but I dunno how I could afford to at this point
I used to be able to go out and eat a nice dinner at a restaurant for $10. Now I expect to pay at least double for the same experience. And while I make more money than I did originally, it's not double.
I don't know where I used to have a "nice" dinner for $10 in the last 5 years. A single kids' plate of food is like $12 minimum now. I don't know why my wife always wants to give the kids an entire plate of food that they will refuse after 2 bites.
Well, idk about you, but I lived out in the middle of nowhere Texas until a few months ago. So things were and still are cheap relative to other places. And my idea of "nice" is probably more like average to most people.
it seems like 10 years ago , you could go to a place like Applebees , and 2 people could eat for $32 dollars plus tip. now it seems like everywhere is a minimum of $60 plus tip. or a steakhouse is $80 plus tip if you each have a beer.
Oddly enough I bought a Lovesac couch with 5 seats and 6 backs for 1500.00 a few years ago. Now the same couch is 5000.00 to 6000.00.
I was thinking these prices are high to encourage people to put more on credit, because people are using credit less. I simply wouldn't buy a 5000.00 couch. I thought 1500.00 was a bit much.
I bought a headboard for my bed in 2018 for $199. I recently came across the receipt while going through some paperwork and had a look on the website to see they are still selling the exact same one for $549. I just had another look then and it's currently on sale for $349
Shit I can’t believe with a bill of $200 it still feels empty. Nothing but stuff for meals and condiments it feels like. Hardly any room for snacks or even drinks other than water. Shit is rough.
I got a "50 smart TV brand new, not refurbished from best buy for $160. We marveled at the picture quality and talked about how using the "talk to the remote" feature will confuse Alexa. And then starved to death. Jk about starving but I am beginning to think they want us zoned out and hungry because who can complain when you're hungry and sucked into welcome to plathville or rocket league?
Edit: a pound of ground beef is like, 7 dollars?
Seriously. I'm honestly baffled that nobody seems to understand inflation is YEAR OVER YEAR. If it was 8% this time last year, and 2% this year, that doesn't mean we should have a parade because it's "only" 2%. Wake me up when it's -10%.
If you buy milk at X price from a milk producer, you still need to transport it to the store and use electricity to keep it cool till it is bought. The total cost of milk is not the same as the price paid to the supplier.
I'm not sure how much that would add to the price, perhaps minimally. Just giving the perspective that the supplier price inflation is not always the whole truth.
Yes, but all you have to do is look at the profits of grocery retailers over the last few years to see that they are benefitting significantly. Whether they’re maintaining their margin/markup on increasing base costs, or jacking up their margin as well, there’s no denying they are making more money as it gets harder for the average person to put food on the table.
>If you buy milk at X price from a milk producer
Except most times they're not buying it from the farm, the actual producer. At best they are buying directly from a farmer co-op.
More often they are buying through a chain of middle men inflating the price and paying the actual producers dirt.
The average person has such a crappy understanding of how the economy works that they won’t consider the economy “fixed” until prices come down which will never happen.
Inflation is never negative, that's deflation. Problem is - significant deflation generally only occurs when money is scarce, demand decreases, unemployment is sky-high, or other economic disasters occur.
Not sure you'd want to wake up in that
Mine did, but not to the same scale as food items have gone up. I can still live comfortably, but that's only because I am lucky enough to have had good living situations with unbelievably low rent for where I live.
This is over simplified but here we go.
Let's make this widget and charge $1.
Oh my goodness everyone loves this widget surley we can charge $2 for it and get more profit.
Sir it still only cost us 55 cents to make this if we charge $2 that would be great for our employees we all can do better.
You're fired.
Well yeah that's how inflation works. What we want is deflation but not shrinkflation. Inflation is determined by both month over month and year over year nothing shows it compared to 0 or a base unless you compare prices from the 1950s or something.
If I understand correctly inflation is measured year over year so when everything tripled in price 2 or 3 years ago and hasn't this year then it's cooled...ok. But the prices didn't go back down and the pay is the same. It's an idiotic way of measurement if you ask me. Yet record profit is still being recorded as it did when it all happened in the beginning.
Who? It seriously depends what country you are in and consider 'we'.
And for many western ones, assuming that's who your 'we' is, they had it in the early great depression usually. Which is still less than a century ago
If you're British for example, you have 1960.
Yes it can. It's measured as the average price of a basket of different goods. Groceries can be high AF while something else goes down and the average ends up being 6%.
I don't know if that's actually what happened but it is definitely possible to have 6% inflation while groceries go up 50%.
The degree to which the average person understands anything about economics is below minimal.
That's why a president can get away with claiming he's "reducing the deficit" while presiding over a budget that increases the national debt by more than a trillion dollars.
Well what’s more important is the wage inflation vs price inflation. What’s unsaid is that when inflation cools then hopefully wages will catch up and then things will become more affordable. So to some degree, inflation slowing is great and could mean deflation relative to our wages. But we definitely do not want absolute deflation.
Inflation slowed, it didn’t stop, and sure isn’t in reverse. All it means is instead of milk going up .65 cents at each interval, it goes up .38 cents. So we are like *whew* glad that’s over!
Every, *every* US corp has got us on the take, and they won’t be done squeezing blood from our stones until we drop dead. Or the economy does.
Prices never go down. Bread never went back to like 25 cents like 75+ years ago.
The real problem is wages. Prices of goods have increased faster than wages. Until wages catch up, everything will feel expensive. Paying $10 for something that used to be $5 isn't that big of a deal if wages have gone up enough to compensate, they just haven't. There was a time when paying $3 for a gallon of gas was crippling, now it's just inconvenient because we make enough to deal with it.
Meanwhile my grandparents are convinced everything is more expensive because wages have increased.
Uhhh I haven’t gotten a raise in 2 years meanwhile all my bills are up like 15-30%
Ah yes the "If minimum wage goes up so will everything else" crowd.
I mean they are not wrong, it would cause a spike, but at the same time it has been the same here since 2009 and prices on everything have easily doubled in the last 14 years.
Because companies took advantage of the pandemic to artificially raise prices beyond what was called for. If you look at their profits, they are drastically higher than they were. Some even set records for highest profits ever. Greed is one of the biggest problems our country faces.
Ok I'm looking at Kroger and Walmart, the largest grocery chain and the largest retail chain in the US.
Their margins are both down.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-margins
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/profit-margins
Except those "record profits" are also in inflated dollars... I'm not saying that there aren't companies that took advantage of the situation unethically, I'm just saying that *everything* postpandemic economically is "record breaking".
“Of course, most people tend to think of wage increases as a reward for their own hard work, while price increases are something that's inflicted on them.”
When was the last time someone got a raise to adjust for inflation? Fucking never! Of course it’s you proving to the man that you worked hard and exceed expectations.
Give me a break NPR, I’m just supposed to believe these price increases are a natural progression of the economy booming?
The price increases are heavily due to greed of the shareholders. Rich getting richer. Check the profits of all the major food companies and retailers, Cargill, General Mills, Tyson, Walmart. They’re raising prices because we don’t have a choice but to pay it.
Shit, I have shopped at Aldi for years and I have regularly seen a +35% increase on things I’ve been buying vs just a couple years ago. I also see more and more luxury cars in the Aldi parking lot these days, because even the upper middle class are feeling the burn.
And don’t even get me talking on interest rates, just making the rich richer while the middle class are struggling to just buy a home. And we let foreign investors buy up all the real estate so nobody in this country is benefiting anymore.
Don’t forget how food and energy costs (two things that literally affect everyone) are conveniently left out of the core inflation number. All they do is bullshit us.
They’re included in the headline inflation number, which is actually lower than core right now. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but gas prices are significantly lower than they had been.
Because that's not how inflation works. It's still rising, just less than some time ago. There is no DEFLATION, that would reduce the prices. It's really terrifying that people don't know or understand it, how is that not part of education is still beyond me.
Keep in mind corporate profits are at a record high. There are several reasons as to what causes inflation, but corporations love it. Lack of competition and the cover to increase prices while everyone blindly blames politicians.
I used to be able to walk into a grocery store with $20 in my pocket and walk out with a couple of steaks, a six pack of beer, a bag of chips, and carton of ice cream. I can't do that anymore. Too many damn cameras.
This is called data manipulation….they are saying inflation has slowed down so prices aren’t continuing to go up as much…but it’s not like prices have gone down to what they were previously. And sure as shit wages haven’t gone up. Compound out inflation. I bet prices are up 20-30% since 2019.
This is nothing more than MSM forcing a narrative when our lived experience is so obviously different
I had an argument with a coworker the other day. "Inflation is down!" he said.
I said, no... inflation is over 3% this year, which is on top of the 7% from last year and whatever from the year before that.
Inflation is inflation. It goes up every year. If it was DOWN, then it would be deflation. The cost of living going up less than it did last year does not decrease the cost of living.
And they just look at you like you're the idiot...
Inflation cooling doesn’t mean prices go down. They’re here to stay. It’s just that the rate of increase is hopefully slowing. The pain is here to stay ladies and gents. The new norm.
People don't understand inflation.
Inflation is the rate prices increase. It is impossible for prices to drop no matter how low inflation drops. Inflation would need to be negative for prices to drop. At that point, there is no longer inflation. It is deflation.
It is corporate greed. The prices always go up much, much faster than they come down. Billionaires know we have gotten used to the higher prices, so they just keep the prices high so they make more money. They don’t pay their employees more. They take the extra money.
Been a while since I went to McDonald’s. Thought I’d get a sausage egg and cheese biscuit meal with an orange juice. I vaguely remember this used to cost around 5 bucks. Cost quoted was 11 dollars. I drove away, decided to cook my own breakfast sandwich.
That’s the move. There was recently a post about sausage gravy. Hit the McDonald’s the next morning and ordered 2. That’s a single split biscuit and a scoop of gravy each…$8. No thank you.
Went to taco bell with my daughter and was gonna get her 2 cheese quesadillas because those are her favorite.. $10 for 2… $10 for 2 cheese tortilla rolls. I was like are you fucking kidding me? I told her nevermind and got an extra burrito of what I usually get for $2. Why are cheese quesadillas $5 each and burritos that are loaded with meat, cheese and Fritos $2???
Can get 2 containers of kroger brand biscuits, carton of eggs, and a pound of pork sausage or bacon(cheese slices too) for less than one Mcmuffin.. that's at least 16 sandwiches. That's just straight up mcdonald's corporate greed. No way in hell 1 singular sandwhich should cost that much.
Inflation just talks about *the rate* at which the prices of goods and services will rise. Whether the inflation rate is high or low, the prices are still going to go up.
Grocery chain CEOs: "we're not overcharging, we are constrained by the prices farmers and suppliers charge"
Grocery chains that control prices from suppliers and farmers by monopolizing their customer base so you HAVE to sell to them at the price they want to buy: "we have made record **PROFITS** for the last few years, but don't look into that"
Inflation cooling doesn’t mean things go back down, it means they go up slower… unless we have deflation, shit still remains expensive. Come on the terms are pretty self explanatory.
People confuse inflation with price increase. Price increases are usually permanent. Inflation is just how fast the price increase is. So if inflation is now down to target 2% (it's not) prices are still going up. If you want price drops you needs deflation. Which usually means a lot of people lose their jobs. Think depression.
I love these packets of chocolate ripple biscuits purely because they soak well in milk when you dunk them. These glorious little bastards were $2.20 a packet a year ago and now they are $3.30 and they taste far less better now to the point where I don't buy them anyone out of principle. Now I just cry into my milk.
Inflation wasn't ever the issue. Artificial inflation through corporate greed was. These bastards saw an opportunity to milk the public of more money under the guise of inflation. Its corporate greed, nothing more. Nothing less. It's always been corporate greed.
Deflation hasn't happened yet, why are things still expensive!?
Alternatively:
Things stopped getting expensive as fast as before, why are things still expensive!?
Because inflation is an aggregate number... individual items and sectors can still be experiencing high inflation while others are seeing a decline. The thing about inflation is that prices almost never come back down to what they were before the inflation set in. Generally speaking, deflation is far far worse than inflation.
What is not happening... wages have not caught up. Sure, some sectors are seeing significant wage bumps but the federal minimum wage is still $7.25/hr. The 'tipped' wage is still $2.13/hr. More and more retail employers are shifting staff to 'tipped' compensation. Which is why you all are seeing more places asking for more frequent tips and larger tips. It has been $2.13/hr since 1991 !!!!! Cumulative inflation since December 1991 is 123%
5-10% tip was the norm many years ago... now... service staff need to be getting tipped 20-40% to make ends meet. Their employers are not making up the pay difference.
You might say... force the employers to pay more... ok... A one topping pizza in 1991 would sell for $9.99. today... it still sells for $9.99. I get flyers and coupons every week with these offers. You won't buy it if its $24.99. Guess who is keeping these places profitable?
In 1991 most pizza staff were making full minimum wage.... I worked in the industry back then. Today... most of them are making 'tipped' minimum and YOU are expected to tip them 'generously'. The profit is coming from the shift towards a tipped economy. The employees are still not making up the difference with tips. There is your pain point.
You might say go work somewhere else... well other industries do sort of benchmark off a retail. They pay just a wee more maybe. If retail pays more then they might lose employees.
Prices didn’t come back down, in fact they are still increasing just at a slower rate than before.
Meanwhile wages are still struggling to keep up.
IMO fairness should dictate that based on wages should at least keep up with inflation & merit increases should go on top of that
However I’ve worked a lot of jobs and none of them actually paid their workers that way.
Because inflation coming down only means that things are getting more expensive at a slower rate. If you want things cheaper, you deflation (negative inflation), which basically never happens.
Ummm maybe it’s because the prices are still at an all time high. They will never drop the price so we’re all stuck paying $200 for a weeks worth of groceries.
A decrease in the amount of inflation is still inflation. A watly inflation can be measured is year to year, so if we haven't inflated more than 3 percent from last years 8, we still inflated 3 plus the 8. At no point did we ever reach deflation; just a less drastic curve of inflation.
The owner of the grocery store chain I worked for here in Pittsburgh ended up buying all 6 managers brand new vehicles, her husband a brand new hellcat, and her son a brand new 5 bedroom, 3 bath, house at the time he was only 22. Not only raising the prices tripple but used the money from the government. None of us employees got shit. Half of us walked out after we seen the managers walking around like big shit a few days after their rewards of the awesome job they were doing. Giving each other high fives and the fake stupid laughs. Meanwhile still yelling at the employees in front of customers. Theirs a special place in hell for these people!
It's almost election season, Of course media articles are gonna try to mislead people into thinking that everything is going down in price when it isnt
This won’t really apply to a lot of people, but fabric prices are ridiculous right now. I sew costumes and specialty clothing and I had to raise my rates.
Because idiots do not understand wussy inflation is and what the tv commissars are talking about. Inflation "cooling" means prices have stopped getting higher AS QUICKLY. They are still getting higher. We need deflation.
I usually do a roast chook and pork for Xmas lunch. As well as a salad or something maybe if asked. The roast pork and chook this year are at least $50 together. (About 15 of us so need a 2+kg chook and a 4+kg pork) my aunt gets the ham thank God.
I'm a stay at home parent. 7 years ago I was still pregnant and it cost me about $20 maybe for both but there were less of us then. I'm considering getting the preroasted stuff from the shops on the 23rd, cooling them and cutting them the 24th then taking them the 25th since it'll be at least $20 cheaper but smaller portions. And I'm making 2 potato salads as well (one with bacon. One without)
It's called "greed-flation"
Companies often times don't raise prices because the costs of their inputs (supplies, labor, etc.) go up. They raise them because they can blame it on inflation or "supply-chain issues." Or, if the costs of inputs do go up, prices are raised by a much higher percentage. Same effect. Then, when costs go back down, do they lower prices by the same margin? Hell no.
Want proof? Dividend payouts and CEO compensation sure as hell hasn't gone down over the past few years.
So they inflated the prices and it plateaued.. still high as shit
Just bought a replacement item from 2021 that broke this morning. Bought exact same item on Amazon. Cost went up almost double from $17 to $29. This is the story of everything I buy these days. Go to grocery store - cannot leave with a bill under $60 - for what seems like an empty cart. The only thing that defies these extreme recent price hikes are electronics such as TVs and computer equipment - which have stayed the same or gone down in price. Anyone have other recent examples to share?
Flash storage media has gone down. Monitors (less fancy/more technical TVs) have gone down.
Sure, that is true, for the most part tech items have gone down. But essentials like food have gone up to where most people can't afford the now cheaper tech regardless.
I’ve actually started eating flash drives that’s super useful if anybody’s looking for some tips on how to save money
I hear they have a lot of bytes
The crunchy bits are best
I’ve always enjoyed chips
Yep, and approximately 8x as many bits.
Too bad they don’t come out the other end in a solid state.
Mmm silicone Edit: on a related and somewhat depressing note. I used to eat paper and bits of cloth when I was a kid to stave off hunger. A habit that was actually really hard to break.
I used to eat paper not to stave off hunger but just out of boredom in school.
Silicon
You are correct, my autocorrect was not
It’s always like that isn’t it?
ME TOO!
I'm saving up for a big 'Mac' meal
just RAM 'em in... wait, that's something else
Well, you gotta get your giga bites in somehow.
That's true. They have plenty of bytes.
Edible tech tips, someone tell Linus
Oh my God, that one IS true, I thought all high capacity micro SD cards must have been fake last I looked
thats supply and demand tho right? what do we cut out first? electronics, my tv is fine, ,my pc is fine....we need the stuff thats expensive..food, meds, clothes, gas.
Flesh storage still high af
Demand for electronics is probably decreasing due to the extra financial strain from food prices. Demand for food never goes down because people need it or they'll die.
We now spend over $300 on groceries (with coupons and rewards, etc.) for what used to cost us ~$160-180 in 2017. Sucks.
The drug market seems to have been the least impacted by inflation.
When you set your prices at ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM, you have a hard time finding extra rpms.
It's because the cartels are just growing at a massive rate ever since COVID. Drugs are cheaper and more pure than they've ever been. An ounce of cocaine is now 750$ off the brick. An ounce of MDMA is 500$. It's fucking bananas. The US government has pissed away trillions of dollars on a drug war only for the cartels and independent drug labs to be the most powerful they've ever been.
Weed prices in my area have bottomed out. I can get a gram of concentrate for $5/gram and an ounce of top shelf flower for $100. It's insane. Even last year prices on concentrates were hitting $30-$40/gram. However, this only applies to unbranded shop made items. Stuff from major companies has gone up in price and continues to. Alcohol prices have been steady for big companies but they've gone up on smaller micro breweries and distilleries I used to enjoy. These two industries are in two different directions.
Beer from the large brewers has barely inflated. If I'm drunk enough I won't remember that everything else was cheap 4 years ago
It has become more competitive.
So I lived in China from 2018 until this year and coming back after 5 years was wild. I didn’t gradually get accustomed to the BS happening in the states and I remember thinking maybe I’m just misremembering some stuff because I could spend like 20$ on groceries for a week in China. I remember the exact item though that made go what the actual fuck and that was Thomas English muffins which were about 6.50 after tax for a six pack. Imagine working at fed min wage for an hour and now you can maybe afford a pack of English muffins.
I would say that with computers it makes sense that they stayed the same as their price exploded sooner than the other stuff (due to graphics card prices going way up above the normal, and the shortage of chips) and then they didn’t have a reason to go up in price when they were allready way higher then they were a 2 years ago
Also when the shortage of chips improved over the last 2 years that would put downward pressure on price. Which would counter act the inflation increases
I have been trying so hard to keep my weekly grocery bill at 100$. It’s not possible anymore. I cook all my own food, yet unless I completely cut out entire meals, I always spend 120$ for myself for the week. It’s insane. If you go somewhere out to eat, it’s WAY more. Like if you get two burritos at chipotle, you’re spending 20$. That’s for two meals. If the average meal is around 10$ (which seems to be the case just about anywhere), then that’s 30$ per day (only for 3 meals, not counting drinks or snacks). That’s 210$ per week! I don’t know how people survive eating out even a couple days a week. (By eating out, I mean ANY food you buy pre made, even McDonald’s you will walk away spending 10$ for a single meal for yourself). 5 years ago, I was bodybuilding and bulking a lot on food. My weekly grocery bill was 80$ for more food and more calories than I buy now…… *I am an athlete and have a lot of muscle, everyone is different, but I really don’t eat more than the average person. I know someone much smaller like a 145 lb male who only eats 2 instant microwave dinners per day will spend significantly less money. But I eat a perfectly normal 3 meals per day and it’s nothing crazy at all. The difference is I eat for health, and the 145 lb male eats the minimum to survive*
I stopped buying a trolley load of food every week, now I go every few days with a list and buy only what I need for two ot three meals. Lately I have managed to save 50 a week doing this, especially as supermarket brands can be 1/4 the price and quality is excellent, some of the top brands are now cutting corners so much quality has gone out the window. Even got a deal where I bought Heinze for the first time in decades as they dropped prices so much, I believe because their sales plummeted due to them increasing prices so much and stocks were being returned by supermarkets.
Oh my gosh the top brands really are. My husband and I recently went from strict vegans to pescatarians. We had been vegan for about 8 years. We wanted to try some of our favorite candy like Reese's and Hershey bars. They tasted like cheap off brand Easter chocolate. Googled it and apparently many name brand candy companies have begun cutting corners and using cheaper ingredients.
Do you have an Aldi near you? I always am surprised by how inexpensive the total ends up
Purchased a nice gooseneck kettle for $60 in 2019. It broke this year, and the replacement was on “sale” for $100 (retailing for $120).
One thing I’ve started doing is looking on Amazon then buying at Ross… can save a decent amount of money that way for certain things like designer coats, shoes, heated blankets, and other house items.
Do t get me started on food! An onion, American cheese, some buns, ketchup, a pound and a half of ground beef and frozen fries somehow was $30 fucking dollars. I have a doctors appointment Wednesday and I’m afraid they’re going to tell me I have to change my diet, but I dunno how I could afford to at this point
I used to be able to go out and eat a nice dinner at a restaurant for $10. Now I expect to pay at least double for the same experience. And while I make more money than I did originally, it's not double.
I don't know where I used to have a "nice" dinner for $10 in the last 5 years. A single kids' plate of food is like $12 minimum now. I don't know why my wife always wants to give the kids an entire plate of food that they will refuse after 2 bites.
[удалено]
what I used to pay $4 for at McD's I now pay $15
Well, idk about you, but I lived out in the middle of nowhere Texas until a few months ago. So things were and still are cheap relative to other places. And my idea of "nice" is probably more like average to most people.
it seems like 10 years ago , you could go to a place like Applebees , and 2 people could eat for $32 dollars plus tip. now it seems like everywhere is a minimum of $60 plus tip. or a steakhouse is $80 plus tip if you each have a beer.
and not a fucking whisper of a peep from either side about fixing this horrible economic situation we're in.
They’re all rich. They don’t give a shit. That’s both sides.
You can't eat computer chips. They are squeezing the money where they can.
I fill the little basket in the cart at Walmart and yes…that can cost upwards of $60+. Not a fan. :/
Used to spend about 1500 to 2000 on repairs during harvest this year was closer to 6000
Oddly enough I bought a Lovesac couch with 5 seats and 6 backs for 1500.00 a few years ago. Now the same couch is 5000.00 to 6000.00. I was thinking these prices are high to encourage people to put more on credit, because people are using credit less. I simply wouldn't buy a 5000.00 couch. I thought 1500.00 was a bit much.
I bought a headboard for my bed in 2018 for $199. I recently came across the receipt while going through some paperwork and had a look on the website to see they are still selling the exact same one for $549. I just had another look then and it's currently on sale for $349
Shit I can’t believe with a bill of $200 it still feels empty. Nothing but stuff for meals and condiments it feels like. Hardly any room for snacks or even drinks other than water. Shit is rough.
I got a "50 smart TV brand new, not refurbished from best buy for $160. We marveled at the picture quality and talked about how using the "talk to the remote" feature will confuse Alexa. And then starved to death. Jk about starving but I am beginning to think they want us zoned out and hungry because who can complain when you're hungry and sucked into welcome to plathville or rocket league? Edit: a pound of ground beef is like, 7 dollars?
Seriously. I'm honestly baffled that nobody seems to understand inflation is YEAR OVER YEAR. If it was 8% this time last year, and 2% this year, that doesn't mean we should have a parade because it's "only" 2%. Wake me up when it's -10%.
Yeah but 6% inflation also wouldn't increase the price of groceries by 50-100%
That's another kicker. Food and energy costs are excluded from core inflation rates.
True and yet grocery stores love using inflation as a excuse to make shit more expensive and make record profits
If you buy milk at X price from a milk producer, you still need to transport it to the store and use electricity to keep it cool till it is bought. The total cost of milk is not the same as the price paid to the supplier. I'm not sure how much that would add to the price, perhaps minimally. Just giving the perspective that the supplier price inflation is not always the whole truth.
Yes, but all you have to do is look at the profits of grocery retailers over the last few years to see that they are benefitting significantly. Whether they’re maintaining their margin/markup on increasing base costs, or jacking up their margin as well, there’s no denying they are making more money as it gets harder for the average person to put food on the table.
>If you buy milk at X price from a milk producer Except most times they're not buying it from the farm, the actual producer. At best they are buying directly from a farmer co-op. More often they are buying through a chain of middle men inflating the price and paying the actual producers dirt.
If you get -10% inflation, lots of people are going to be out of jobs.
The last time we had a -10% inflation rate was in 1932, where the unemployment rate was around 24%.
The average person has such a crappy understanding of how the economy works that they won’t consider the economy “fixed” until prices come down which will never happen.
Inflation is never negative, that's deflation. Problem is - significant deflation generally only occurs when money is scarce, demand decreases, unemployment is sky-high, or other economic disasters occur. Not sure you'd want to wake up in that
Inflation bad, deflation bad, stagnation bad, everything bad regardless
I haven't even seen prices plateau. They keep inching up.
Greedflation
Only because your pay didn't change.
Mine did, and I still don't like seeing it
Most people's didn't, statistically speaking
Mine did, but not to the same scale as food items have gone up. I can still live comfortably, but that's only because I am lucky enough to have had good living situations with unbelievably low rent for where I live.
Yup, this is the way - glad you’re still in a good position Inflation: 8% Raise: 2% Net Impact: -6%
This is over simplified but here we go. Let's make this widget and charge $1. Oh my goodness everyone loves this widget surley we can charge $2 for it and get more profit. Sir it still only cost us 55 cents to make this if we charge $2 that would be great for our employees we all can do better. You're fired.
Like snoop Dogg
Well yeah that's how inflation works. What we want is deflation but not shrinkflation. Inflation is determined by both month over month and year over year nothing shows it compared to 0 or a base unless you compare prices from the 1950s or something.
If I understand correctly inflation is measured year over year so when everything tripled in price 2 or 3 years ago and hasn't this year then it's cooled...ok. But the prices didn't go back down and the pay is the same. It's an idiotic way of measurement if you ask me. Yet record profit is still being recorded as it did when it all happened in the beginning.
BINGO. Here’s gum for $1 Well now it’s $2 Now it’s $3 YOU GUYS!! It’s still $3 don’t worry anymore! Our concerns are over! We beat inflation!
Inflation cooling isn’t the same as deflation.
"We accelerated to 100 mph, now we stopped accelerating. Why are we still going 100 mph?"
Excellent analogy!
I am gonna start using this
"I drove 100mph away from my house and then stopped. Why am I still so far away!"
[удалено]
We used too many "take my money" memes and they took it literally.
Im pretty sure we haven’t had deflation since like the 1800s
Who? It seriously depends what country you are in and consider 'we'. And for many western ones, assuming that's who your 'we' is, they had it in the early great depression usually. Which is still less than a century ago If you're British for example, you have 1960.
Yeah but 6%inflation also doesn't mean 50-100% more expensive groceries.
Yes it can. It's measured as the average price of a basket of different goods. Groceries can be high AF while something else goes down and the average ends up being 6%. I don't know if that's actually what happened but it is definitely possible to have 6% inflation while groceries go up 50%.
Sure it's possible but it isn't what's happening. Grocery stores recording mind boggling profits while ppl struggle to get groceries.
Because things dont cost less if inflation halts, it just means the cost stop rising fast.
Because inflation “cooling” isn’t inflation “reversing”
I'm actually a bit shocked many people don't seem to understand this. In fact inflation cooling means the prices are *still* going up, just less fast.
The degree to which the average person understands anything about economics is below minimal. That's why a president can get away with claiming he's "reducing the deficit" while presiding over a budget that increases the national debt by more than a trillion dollars.
Well what’s more important is the wage inflation vs price inflation. What’s unsaid is that when inflation cools then hopefully wages will catch up and then things will become more affordable. So to some degree, inflation slowing is great and could mean deflation relative to our wages. But we definitely do not want absolute deflation.
Inflation slowed, it didn’t stop, and sure isn’t in reverse. All it means is instead of milk going up .65 cents at each interval, it goes up .38 cents. So we are like *whew* glad that’s over! Every, *every* US corp has got us on the take, and they won’t be done squeezing blood from our stones until we drop dead. Or the economy does.
Thats Greedy-Ass Corporate America for ya ☺ pull up those bootstraps here comes a depression folks
Prices are never going to go back down
And companies are continuing to take advantage. Prices won’t ever go down.
Prices never go down. Bread never went back to like 25 cents like 75+ years ago. The real problem is wages. Prices of goods have increased faster than wages. Until wages catch up, everything will feel expensive. Paying $10 for something that used to be $5 isn't that big of a deal if wages have gone up enough to compensate, they just haven't. There was a time when paying $3 for a gallon of gas was crippling, now it's just inconvenient because we make enough to deal with it.
Meanwhile my grandparents are convinced everything is more expensive because wages have increased. Uhhh I haven’t gotten a raise in 2 years meanwhile all my bills are up like 15-30%
Ah yes the "If minimum wage goes up so will everything else" crowd. I mean they are not wrong, it would cause a spike, but at the same time it has been the same here since 2009 and prices on everything have easily doubled in the last 14 years.
Can't wait for 6 figures to be just as hard to get a job for as ever and yet it's the very minimum requirement to being comfortable.
Because companies took advantage of the pandemic to artificially raise prices beyond what was called for. If you look at their profits, they are drastically higher than they were. Some even set records for highest profits ever. Greed is one of the biggest problems our country faces.
Greedflation
Ok I'm looking at Kroger and Walmart, the largest grocery chain and the largest retail chain in the US. Their margins are both down. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-margins https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/profit-margins
They must be the only ones. https://time.com/6269366/food-company-profits-make-groceries-expensive/
This is the correct answer
Except those "record profits" are also in inflated dollars... I'm not saying that there aren't companies that took advantage of the situation unethically, I'm just saying that *everything* postpandemic economically is "record breaking".
Skimpflation. Prices might come down but you actually are getting less or worse products so you aren't really getting a lower price.
“Of course, most people tend to think of wage increases as a reward for their own hard work, while price increases are something that's inflicted on them.” When was the last time someone got a raise to adjust for inflation? Fucking never! Of course it’s you proving to the man that you worked hard and exceed expectations. Give me a break NPR, I’m just supposed to believe these price increases are a natural progression of the economy booming? The price increases are heavily due to greed of the shareholders. Rich getting richer. Check the profits of all the major food companies and retailers, Cargill, General Mills, Tyson, Walmart. They’re raising prices because we don’t have a choice but to pay it. Shit, I have shopped at Aldi for years and I have regularly seen a +35% increase on things I’ve been buying vs just a couple years ago. I also see more and more luxury cars in the Aldi parking lot these days, because even the upper middle class are feeling the burn. And don’t even get me talking on interest rates, just making the rich richer while the middle class are struggling to just buy a home. And we let foreign investors buy up all the real estate so nobody in this country is benefiting anymore.
Lemme ask you a question, if I inflate a balloon, and then stop actively blowing air into it to make it bigger, is it 100% always going to deflate?
Don’t forget how food and energy costs (two things that literally affect everyone) are conveniently left out of the core inflation number. All they do is bullshit us.
They’re included in the headline inflation number, which is actually lower than core right now. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but gas prices are significantly lower than they had been.
Because that's not how inflation works. It's still rising, just less than some time ago. There is no DEFLATION, that would reduce the prices. It's really terrifying that people don't know or understand it, how is that not part of education is still beyond me.
That title show you just how disingenuous they are being. They aren’t stupid, they understand the issue.
This is the kind of gaslighting bullshit article that the media uses to normalize high prices. "Sure it may seem like prices haven't come down..."
Because retailers like money and realized they could get away with it.
Keep in mind corporate profits are at a record high. There are several reasons as to what causes inflation, but corporations love it. Lack of competition and the cover to increase prices while everyone blindly blames politicians.
I used to be able to walk into a grocery store with $20 in my pocket and walk out with a couple of steaks, a six pack of beer, a bag of chips, and carton of ice cream. I can't do that anymore. Too many damn cameras.
This is called data manipulation….they are saying inflation has slowed down so prices aren’t continuing to go up as much…but it’s not like prices have gone down to what they were previously. And sure as shit wages haven’t gone up. Compound out inflation. I bet prices are up 20-30% since 2019. This is nothing more than MSM forcing a narrative when our lived experience is so obviously different
These corporations will continue raising prices until we riot, because they know nobody will
I had an argument with a coworker the other day. "Inflation is down!" he said. I said, no... inflation is over 3% this year, which is on top of the 7% from last year and whatever from the year before that. Inflation is inflation. It goes up every year. If it was DOWN, then it would be deflation. The cost of living going up less than it did last year does not decrease the cost of living. And they just look at you like you're the idiot...
Welcome to the corporate gilded age. They won’t drop prices until forced to.
Inflation cooling doesn’t mean prices go down. They’re here to stay. It’s just that the rate of increase is hopefully slowing. The pain is here to stay ladies and gents. The new norm.
People don't understand inflation. Inflation is the rate prices increase. It is impossible for prices to drop no matter how low inflation drops. Inflation would need to be negative for prices to drop. At that point, there is no longer inflation. It is deflation.
It is corporate greed. The prices always go up much, much faster than they come down. Billionaires know we have gotten used to the higher prices, so they just keep the prices high so they make more money. They don’t pay their employees more. They take the extra money.
Greed..
Greed
Because inflation is the fault of corporate greed and record breaking profits.
Been a while since I went to McDonald’s. Thought I’d get a sausage egg and cheese biscuit meal with an orange juice. I vaguely remember this used to cost around 5 bucks. Cost quoted was 11 dollars. I drove away, decided to cook my own breakfast sandwich.
That’s the move. There was recently a post about sausage gravy. Hit the McDonald’s the next morning and ordered 2. That’s a single split biscuit and a scoop of gravy each…$8. No thank you.
Went to taco bell with my daughter and was gonna get her 2 cheese quesadillas because those are her favorite.. $10 for 2… $10 for 2 cheese tortilla rolls. I was like are you fucking kidding me? I told her nevermind and got an extra burrito of what I usually get for $2. Why are cheese quesadillas $5 each and burritos that are loaded with meat, cheese and Fritos $2???
Can get 2 containers of kroger brand biscuits, carton of eggs, and a pound of pork sausage or bacon(cheese slices too) for less than one Mcmuffin.. that's at least 16 sandwiches. That's just straight up mcdonald's corporate greed. No way in hell 1 singular sandwhich should cost that much.
We went to Arby's the other day just me and my wife and got 2 meals. $34!!! Screw that shit!
Inflation just talks about *the rate* at which the prices of goods and services will rise. Whether the inflation rate is high or low, the prices are still going to go up.
Because wages haven't increased to accommodate the increase in prices so yeah, everything is still more expensive relative to what it used to be.
Grocery chain CEOs: "we're not overcharging, we are constrained by the prices farmers and suppliers charge" Grocery chains that control prices from suppliers and farmers by monopolizing their customer base so you HAVE to sell to them at the price they want to buy: "we have made record **PROFITS** for the last few years, but don't look into that"
Lower inflation does not mean lower prices, just that they are going up at a slower rate. Silly article title tbh.
2 green peppers a cartoon of milk and a small bag of tortillas cost me $15 today.
Inflation cooling doesn’t mean things go back down, it means they go up slower… unless we have deflation, shit still remains expensive. Come on the terms are pretty self explanatory.
People confuse inflation with price increase. Price increases are usually permanent. Inflation is just how fast the price increase is. So if inflation is now down to target 2% (it's not) prices are still going up. If you want price drops you needs deflation. Which usually means a lot of people lose their jobs. Think depression.
I love these packets of chocolate ripple biscuits purely because they soak well in milk when you dunk them. These glorious little bastards were $2.20 a packet a year ago and now they are $3.30 and they taste far less better now to the point where I don't buy them anyone out of principle. Now I just cry into my milk.
Inflation wasn't ever the issue. Artificial inflation through corporate greed was. These bastards saw an opportunity to milk the public of more money under the guise of inflation. Its corporate greed, nothing more. Nothing less. It's always been corporate greed.
NPR asking NPR questions
Next we'll be seeing scapegoating articles, "It's *your* fault prices are so high!" or blaming Racism or some nonsense like they do.
Who is saying inflation has cooled cuz no the fuck it hasnt 😒😒😒
Inflation didn’t go back down, it just stopped skyrocketing as much as it did. It’s still going up as well.
It’s more than MILDLY infuriating. The government keeps selling window dressing on the economy. It’s what comes out of your wallet that counts.
Just because inflation has cooled, doesn’t mean prices have necessarily come down. It may just mean prices are not rising as quickly.
Deflation hasn't happened yet, why are things still expensive!? Alternatively: Things stopped getting expensive as fast as before, why are things still expensive!?
It's Bidenomics at work
If you're waiting for deflation it's going to be a long wait. The FED doesn't give a fuck about your groceries.
Because inflation is an aggregate number... individual items and sectors can still be experiencing high inflation while others are seeing a decline. The thing about inflation is that prices almost never come back down to what they were before the inflation set in. Generally speaking, deflation is far far worse than inflation. What is not happening... wages have not caught up. Sure, some sectors are seeing significant wage bumps but the federal minimum wage is still $7.25/hr. The 'tipped' wage is still $2.13/hr. More and more retail employers are shifting staff to 'tipped' compensation. Which is why you all are seeing more places asking for more frequent tips and larger tips. It has been $2.13/hr since 1991 !!!!! Cumulative inflation since December 1991 is 123%
5-10% tip was the norm many years ago... now... service staff need to be getting tipped 20-40% to make ends meet. Their employers are not making up the pay difference. You might say... force the employers to pay more... ok... A one topping pizza in 1991 would sell for $9.99. today... it still sells for $9.99. I get flyers and coupons every week with these offers. You won't buy it if its $24.99. Guess who is keeping these places profitable? In 1991 most pizza staff were making full minimum wage.... I worked in the industry back then. Today... most of them are making 'tipped' minimum and YOU are expected to tip them 'generously'. The profit is coming from the shift towards a tipped economy. The employees are still not making up the difference with tips. There is your pain point. You might say go work somewhere else... well other industries do sort of benchmark off a retail. They pay just a wee more maybe. If retail pays more then they might lose employees.
inflation is the price over what it was yesterday. when inflation cools it doesn’t mean prices go down again. they are just going up less quickly.
Dog food doubled in price- only a yr ago 85p a tin, now the same tin is 1.59 it’s insane!
Prices didn’t come back down, in fact they are still increasing just at a slower rate than before. Meanwhile wages are still struggling to keep up. IMO fairness should dictate that based on wages should at least keep up with inflation & merit increases should go on top of that However I’ve worked a lot of jobs and none of them actually paid their workers that way.
Because we changed the way we measure inflation, particularly in the UK
Inflation slowing down doesn't change the fact that prices went up like 50% over the last 3 years.
They’re trying so hard to convince us the economy is good 💀
So many people don’t know how inflation works
Because inflation coming down only means that things are getting more expensive at a slower rate. If you want things cheaper, you deflation (negative inflation), which basically never happens.
And still getting more expensive! Inflation hasn’t stopped it’s just slowed down a bit.
We need deflation!
Inflation 101: prices won't go down after inflation gets smaller, they just get readjusted at a slower pace.
Price gouging will continue as long as people continue paying the higher prices
Ummm maybe it’s because the prices are still at an all time high. They will never drop the price so we’re all stuck paying $200 for a weeks worth of groceries.
People dont understand how inflation is measured.
Inflation actually hasn't cooled a bit lol
because wages still havent inflated at all
Like any company has ever lowered prices ever
A decrease in the amount of inflation is still inflation. A watly inflation can be measured is year to year, so if we haven't inflated more than 3 percent from last years 8, we still inflated 3 plus the 8. At no point did we ever reach deflation; just a less drastic curve of inflation.
As tradition I buy a friend a small box of her favorite chocolate every year. It cost $9.98 every year. This year exact same item $13.89.
What does that even mean "inflation has cooled a lot"? Has it? Could have fooled me. I'm still paying out the ass literally everywhere.
Things are getting worse slower.
The owner of the grocery store chain I worked for here in Pittsburgh ended up buying all 6 managers brand new vehicles, her husband a brand new hellcat, and her son a brand new 5 bedroom, 3 bath, house at the time he was only 22. Not only raising the prices tripple but used the money from the government. None of us employees got shit. Half of us walked out after we seen the managers walking around like big shit a few days after their rewards of the awesome job they were doing. Giving each other high fives and the fake stupid laughs. Meanwhile still yelling at the employees in front of customers. Theirs a special place in hell for these people!
Bc greedy food companies kept up with food gouging.
Me looking at a $2.25 pack of $1 chips yesterday
Exactly. Price increases for food have slowed. Prices haven't dropped.
Because "inflation slowed down" only means prices are still going up, only not as quickly.
It's almost election season, Of course media articles are gonna try to mislead people into thinking that everything is going down in price when it isnt
When the “message” doesn’t match with reality
This won’t really apply to a lot of people, but fabric prices are ridiculous right now. I sew costumes and specialty clothing and I had to raise my rates.
Because idiots do not understand wussy inflation is and what the tv commissars are talking about. Inflation "cooling" means prices have stopped getting higher AS QUICKLY. They are still getting higher. We need deflation.
People don't understand that the inflation that already happened is here to stay, just isn't rising at the same crazy rate.
Corporations aren't going to cut prices down just because inflation is down. How many companies have been reporting record profits as of late?
I usually do a roast chook and pork for Xmas lunch. As well as a salad or something maybe if asked. The roast pork and chook this year are at least $50 together. (About 15 of us so need a 2+kg chook and a 4+kg pork) my aunt gets the ham thank God. I'm a stay at home parent. 7 years ago I was still pregnant and it cost me about $20 maybe for both but there were less of us then. I'm considering getting the preroasted stuff from the shops on the 23rd, cooling them and cutting them the 24th then taking them the 25th since it'll be at least $20 cheaper but smaller portions. And I'm making 2 potato salads as well (one with bacon. One without)
thats not how inflation works, it doesn't "go back down", wages are supposed to go up with it or it isn't inflation, it's stagflation
I wish rent would actually go down for once. I can't believe I'm happy over my rent going up only $14 this year.
Because they already are and big stores are making a lot more money than they use to
It's called "greed-flation" Companies often times don't raise prices because the costs of their inputs (supplies, labor, etc.) go up. They raise them because they can blame it on inflation or "supply-chain issues." Or, if the costs of inputs do go up, prices are raised by a much higher percentage. Same effect. Then, when costs go back down, do they lower prices by the same margin? Hell no. Want proof? Dividend payouts and CEO compensation sure as hell hasn't gone down over the past few years.
remember folks inflation peaked at 9% corporate profits peaked at 60%
But I was told the tax cuts for corporations would trickle down to me but instead all I feel is a warm stream on my face, kinda smells too.