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I've noticed some things like milk and cheese have gone up in price. I'm a vegetarian so I don't eat meat and don't pay much attention to the prices
Now days I'm trying to save money so I buy stuff like cans of black eyed peas, collard greens, kale, and rice. I cut down on the prepackaged foods like pizza or burritos, or snack bars. Tortillas have gone up in price, I have noticed that, but they are still affordable.
I have noticed things like soap, shaving cream, and so forth have gone up in price in the last 5-10 years.
Three weeks ago, a nice package of chicken might have cost me, 4 maybe 5 bucks....
Today the same damn thing cost me EIGHT DOLLARS. For fricken chicken!
When I drove to the grocery store, the price of gas was 3.29....when I was driving back home, it had gone to 3.35. Six cents in less than an hour! Oy!
Here's something that puzzles me too....a town that is not even 30 miles away from us, has gas prices at 20 cents LESS than our area. Same dealers, same brands and such...so what's up with that? I mean, doesn't BP keep the price the same at all its stations? I mean BP is BP right? Or is it dependent upon the people who run the store?
I guess I just don't get it.
The store has some control, of course, but a 20-cent difference might have to do with the distributor. The distributor is the company delivering the fuel, and different distributors have different costs to recover. I live in a similar area as you, where gas is significantly cheaper a few miles away. The news media have researched the problem, and the answer seems to be that our local distributor is new, and still having to pay off the initial construction and infrastructure costs, plus uses some newer systems that are an improvement over the old distribution system, but cost more. So our distributor charges more than any other distributors, and that gets passed on to consumers. The stations could purchase from older distributors further away, but the additional delivery charges because of the distance would offset any gains, so we would still have to pay that high price.
Dude, what are you even talking about? Seriously. People are claiming inflation on food is in the 20% over the last six months yet the official figures are only 2.3% Get it? That was my point.
Actually, it was you who tossed out the 20% figure to begin with. People were saying that specific items they had purchased had gone up, and they were paying more, sometimes a great deal more, but you put out the 20% figure and then proceeded to knock it down with the government figures. The government figures don't reflect the time period the initial OP was asking about, and even a 4.5% increase last year puts a crimp on many budgets, especially when the cost of fuel has increased so much. The figures also show that food cost inflation is escalating, it is not rising gradually, and this trend is expected to continue. So people have reason to be concerned.
Actually, it was you who tossed out the 20% figure to begin with. People were saying that specific items they had purchased had gone up, and they were paying more, sometimes a great deal more, but you put out the 20% figure and then proceeded to knock it down with the government figures. The government figures don't reflect the time period the initial OP was asking about, and even a 4.5% increase last year puts a crimp on many budgets, especially when the cost of fuel has increased so much. The figures also show that food cost inflation is escalating, it is not rising gradually, and this trend is expected to continue. So people have reason to be concerned.
^^
just to add to that, people are receiving yearly raises of 1.5 to 3.5%. That in no way, shape or form keeps up with inflation.
just to add to that, people are receiving yearly raises of 1.5 to 3.5%. That in no way, shape or form keeps up with inflation.
Few.....very very few people are getting raises of any kind anymore unless they work for the Govt or a Union worker. Raises are a thing of the past. They are going the way of the Dinosaur.
Ok so some of the better employers are tossing a token pittance of a quarter an hour PER YEAR to their better employees. That is no where near 1.5 - 3.5% you so generously suggested. But most people can dream.
Few.....very very few people are getting raises of any kind anymore unless they work for the Govt or a Union worker. Raises are a thing of the past. They are going the way of the Dinosaur.
Ok so some of the better employers are tossing a token pittance of a quarter an hour PER YEAR to their better employees. That is no where near 1.5 - 3.5% you so generously suggested. But most people can dream.
I work at a university so I didn't know people weren't getting raises. We all get raises where I am at unless you are just a bad worker. If what you say is true, things are worse than I originally though.
WoW, im sorry to hear that. Man this is a crazy, crazy time. I keep thinking I should just go to Canada or the Arabian Gulf. Come next month I think I will have to kick my job search into over drive (when I get my passport sorted out)
WoW, im sorry to hear that. Man this is a crazy, crazy time. I keep thinking I should just go to Canada or the Arabian Gulf. Come next month I think I will have to kick my job search into over drive (when I get my passport sorted out)
I know how you feel. We prepared for it. What they did not freeze was tuition reimbursement. He is getting them to pay for his MBA. A better trade off all in all. What is killing me is...the first month I see an impact in my wallet from gas and food.
When you get your passport in order, come on over for a farewell dinner and I can serve mac n' cheese and hot dogs.
I refuse to stop investing and saving so I am buying mega cheap food, no clothes, no gifts...just essentials.
This is the govt site. On the right there is a table with various figures.
The reported figure is CPI less food and energy which was 2.3% for 2007
The other figure there is CPI all items which was 4.4% for 2007
Now if you start reading the details on how they come up with these figures, you'll see they use weighted averages and those change constantly depending on how quick the price of that item is going up. That's where the seasonally adjusted comes from.
If an item is more expensive at a certain time, they weight it lower in the calculation.
It's not truly reflective of how Americans live and buy items. We don't get a choice to "seasonally adjust" our paychecks depending on the rise/fall of prices of certain items.
I think the true inflation figures are there somewhere..but are so recalculated and massaged to get the lowest number possible.
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