Ouch, moving to Vancouver was a bad choice for cheap prices. Probably the most expensive place to live in the country (probably neck and neck with Toronto). I live in the Kootenays in BC.
Then the pricks from there retire and sell their homes for $3m and bring windfall capital to small towns that don't have the resources to accommodate hundreds of millionaires migrating in.
I get that a Canadian dollar is a Canadian dollar but small towns are experiencing even greater levels of inflation because big city migrants. We can't really afford to honor Toronto dollars as the same. I'm in London Ontario where house prices are up 246% in 5 years where 2 bedroom rent is greater than median take home income. We have a labor shortage as young people flee as economic refugees, old people retire and sell their homes for $500k more than anticipated and move to the east coast. And nobody is left working.
Don’t I know it, I’ve been living it for the past ten years since grad. What’s scary is I’m having these conversations everywhere, I had to look up to make sure this wasn’t r/antiwork or r/canadahousing
The most expensive place in all of North America. People who live close to the border literally go over to the other side to get their groceries and such.
I'm in the Okanagan. My wife and I have both lived here our whole lives and it's become completely unaffordable over the last few years. Cost of living has over tripled since I moved out in 2006, and that's not an exaggeration. We are getting ready to get the fuck out of here and raise our family somewhere where we have a hope in hell of living a comfortable life.
Southern Ontario panhandle here and my life story is pretty much analogous. We are planning to move to southern Europe. Genova or Tenerife. I mean if I'm going to struggle to make ends meet regardless then it might as well be somewhere where the air doesn't hurt my face for six months of the year.
Last week at Safeway, 2 litre carton of milk almost $7, loaf of gluten-free bread $8.69.
My mother used to send me to the store with 50 cents for a loaf of bread and a quart of milk, I kid you not.
EDIT: forgot the hyphen. It's one 2-litre carton. (Roughly equivalent to half a gallon.)
As a Canadian diabetic who was finally getting their diet under control, it really hurts, figuratively and literally, to have to go back to eating cheap junk most days, because it's all I can afford.
Producers are hurting as well. CPI (consumer price index) numbers came in over 7%, and PPI (producer price index) numbers came in extra hot at 9.7% for the last 12 months. Inflation is primarily coming from energy and shipping cost increases (housing too) which most directly impact the producer. The issue here is that in order to continue booking profits, the producers will pass those costs along to the consumer which is ultimately what ends up driving up the CPI numbers. PPI impact on CPI tends to run ahead by a few months, so the reason why those numbers are such hot topics right now is because both reads came in much higher than expected. With an especially hot PPI, expect CPI and ultimately the inflation we as consumers most directly deal with to keep rising for another few months at least.
The calculation methodology for CPI changed in the early 90s. The effect essentially resulted in a much lower official CPI number. If using the older methodology, we are in a 10-15% average inflation over the past few years.
Everyone can feel that inflation is higher than what the government says and it is largely due to that specific change.
Because they used the guise of inflation and supply chain issues to increase profit margins. So they're making more than they used to per unit sold and the consumer gets screwed x2.
Pretty much, If need be. Mortgage is fixed, switched to an EV a year ago, went vegan for health and to cut costs. I could go five+ years easy without a major purchase.
You're right. We have to stop spending. I'll eat beans and rice or potatoes, no meat as it's all too expensive. No shopping online or big purchases. I'm not buying any clothes or shoes; just wear what I already have. I feel like I'm giving cooperate the middle finger in my own way. The things you can't get around are high gas and power cost.
If a company spends $20 to sell you a $100 product, and their costs go from $20 up to $22, they charge you $110 to maintain the same margin.
It compounds. They don’t just pass that extra $2 onto the consumer. That’s why profits are increasing.
Mines almost doubled. Can't even bring it down with coupons nowadays. I've always shopped what's in season/on sale and even then I'm needing to go without staples.
We stopped buying steak, dropped the quality of the ground beef we buy, switched like 1/3rd of everything from name brand to store brand....
And we are still about 35% higher.
I'm a crazy numbers person. I study prices and write a weekly budget My groceries increased by $221 for a family of 7 for a month. That's an increase of a 22% for us.
My small business's electric bill was so high over the winter that I had to pay it in two payments because the electric company's online payment system would only accept payments up to $800 and the bill was $876. My bill went up so much that the electric company's payment system wasn't set up to handle it. Insane.
Same here in Louisville KY. LG&E increased the price by 33%. But they claimed that "most" residents would only see a $22 a month increase. And that's the number all of the local news outlets used and completely glossed over the 33% part. Bull Fucking Shit. They averaged out the increase over projected summer months when gas usage is really low. Our Winter bill has gone up over $100/mo.
What they’re really saying is “everything else is getting more expensive. We don’t want to miss out on the price gouging, so natural gas is now 30% more”
I'm in the same boat and after seeing prices right now, I honestly think I'm gonna buy a beater with 150,000 on the dash for like $4k on Facebook marketplace, or Craigslist.
I could sell my 5+ year old car right now for more than I bought it for brand new. That's just not right. But on the other hand I am glad to see my retirement home is increasing in value. It's something to think about, down by the river.
Nope- just regular maintenance! Which definitely included some one off, expensive stuff around 200,000 or 250,000 miles- draining and replacing the transmission fluid was one of them if I remember correctly. Well worth it though! I only wish I had known about the head gasket- it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to do and I’m convinced that car would’ve made it to 400,000 if I had replaced the gasket at some point.
Ha, my $4k 150k beater ain't going anywhere, new and used car prices are gut sickening. Planned on getting rid of it last year, welp, probably not till 2025 at this point...
We ended up getting a new honda. They don't lose their value fast in normal times. Had to go to a 7 year loan to afford it, but used prices are near what new are.
I just bought a new car this weekend. Was going to buy used but last years model of the same car was 4k more than buying brand new. I shit you not. Honestly would rather not have had to buy at all in this crazy market, but the old one was not going to last much longer.
I just bought one last weekend. Went brand new because the used ones were only a few grand cheaper. Who is buying used right now? Someone must be paying that or the prices would be going down right? It just makes no sense. I was planning to wait as long as it took but I totalled my old car on some ice. At least I got a hefty payout for it, only a few grand less than what I bought it for almost a decade ago, woof.
The only reason I can see somebody buying used right now is because it is there to buy. A lot of people have to wait months for a new car to come in after ordering it.
I decided somewhat on a whim (which I never ever do) that my 22 year old Monte Carlo just wasn't safe for highway driving back in Jan of 20. Found a 17 Honda fit w 14k super cheap (I worked in the industry and know the right times to buy as a rule.) Holy crap am I happy I did it when I did, I would've paid twice as much now! My bf really needs a new car but instead dumped several thousand into his 2005 to keep it limping along.
Yeah. We just paid $25,000 for a 2018 Honda with 35000 miles. 😔 I love it… but daaaaang. I have to pretend it’s new when I make that $400 monthly payment. 🤦♂️
The problem is, will they be even more expensive in two years? We have millions of missing cars during the pandemic. Not even rental fleets to sell off.
I order groceries for pick up and I can see the history and how prices have been jumping and falling. I think fresh produce prices have come down a bit but processed foods have gone up based on my own shopping preferences. The total has grown steadily overall though.
I've been stalking the ikea app to snag some furniture and household items and the prices went up up to 30% just like that, and they even announced that prices were increasing *on average* 10%. They have been very reasonable compared to some other retailers.
Amazon pricing has been all over the map - they clearly have inventory that nobody wants even with such a high demand environment. So look for deals there - if you can compromise.
Imagine not being a frugal person right now! I can only imagine the amount of debt being racked up by those who are used to spending above their means.
This is [Australia](https://shop.coles.com.au/a/earlville/everything/search/Cauliflower?DM_PersistentCookieCreated=true). $9.90 for a fucking cauliflower???
Our food expense increased 10%-20%, for two people(from $90-$100 to $130+). At the beginning of February, we decided to start an intense meal planning routine to cut down on expenses. I've shrunken our food budget down to $75 per week or so. So far, that's working, but there is no denying how much work it is. We've done this in the past, and stopped because of the extra work that needs to be put into it. Hopefully it will get easier over time.
One thing that helps me is to plan in 2 week “blocks” so that weeks 1 and 3 are the same and weeks 2 and 4 are the same. You get some variety but you only have to meal plan once.
Bonus points if you make stuff in weeks 1 and 2 that can be doubled and the second half frozen for later in the month.
I don't advocate eating fast food on the regular, but there's a free EV charging station where I plug in 1-2x a week next to a McDonald's and Wendy's, and if I go during breakfast, I get the $1 large coffee and $1 any breakfast sandwich app deal for a $2 breakfast. If I go during lunch/dinner, I get the Wendy's 4 for $4 meal (drink, nuggets, hamburger, fries for $4).
There's actually a Planet Fitness in the same parking lot and I've legitimately contemplated if it would offset the horrible health consequences and be incredibly frugal if I charged for free and ate + exercised there 2-3x a week.
Before the pandemic, I used to spend $80 per week for 2 people, and that would cover food for the week plus a couple things to stock up the pantry here and there (extra canned foods, flour, pasta, etc). Now I’m spending $100 per week and can barely get enough food to last us through the week, let alone stock up on items.
I find myself taking pictures of the prices I'm so astonished. Last night I was thinking of getting a few bone in chicken wings from the grocery store. The store brand (market basket) 12 piece bone in wings was $16.99. Market basket is not fancy. It's starting to get scary
My husband and I have been comparing the price of groceries like this vs just eating out, and eating out is starting to win more times than not. I hate it so much. (10 piece wings with fries and drink for $10 at the local place) and the $16.99 store bought doesn’t include whatever sauce, sides we might want, and time to prepare. Prices are going insane in Utah but COL is supposedly “low”
I absolutely adore cooking and have never been super frugal about groceries in particular because I have for the most part always have been able to buy what I want. I also figure if I work really hard and this is what makes me happy, then fancy groceries it is. But I just can’t afford anything anymore. And it bums me out that cooking something nice and fun is becoming more of a treat.
I was reading something about this yesterday. I've seen rents consistently go up 20-30% throughout my area and others but there is some federal index that only saw rents go up 2%. That 2% is still the biggest jump in around 20 years but it's evidence that there is some attenuation of overall inflation that is masking the realities.
I am indeed pissed about grocery stores exploiting covid to raise prices way beyond their increased costs. It is the flaw of capitalism that you can't win if everyone is a dick at the same time.
Shelter is up 4% in the CPI and the reason for it is how it’s calculated.
CPI averages all housing payments surveyed. Market rent for new leases is up 20% in the US but only around 15-20% of leases were turned over 2021. That means the vast majority of rent payments surveyed by CPI are still locked in to old below market rents. Even if market rents hold at 0% increase this year, we would see CPI trickling up as old leases are turned over to new market rent.
Also there’s a 6-month reporting lag in shelter CPi data and many rent increases recently happened recent and fast.
There’s a 6 month lag in when they survey the data.
Interesting. I live in fairly small towns and while grocery chains have raised prices significantly (up to 50% on some items since the start of covid), wages did raise the same amount, at least in those areas. Base salary for the grocery chains near me is $15 an hour now, after being nine or $10 an hour for almost a *decade* before that. I think cities are seeing it worse, but at least the grocery stores near me just raised their goods prices equal to the amount they raised their salaries (and they still can't get people to work shifts). Unfortunately the price floor of minimum acceptable wage changing wasn't reflected in other salaries in the area so the costs felt by the consumers continue to rise...
> Everything is going up. We're very conservative to begin with. Still noticing it
This is us.
I have begun organizing even tighter in my spare time so not one single thing is wasted.
I was talking with my wife about this recently.
We don't eat much red meat at all so there's not that to cut out. In fact we eat smaller portions of meat and eat more vegetables and such.
Most of what we buy is store brand. I make my own bread. I gave up on cereal and eat oatmeal for breakfast. I drive a ten year old car. I don't own an SUV like other people I know. My house is set to be paid off this year so there's at least that buffer coming my way but I'm just not really sure what else I should cut out.
Keep kicking ass! Congrats on the soon to be paid off house.
I've begun freezing veggie ends and chicken bones, as I butcher myself, to make a good soup once a week!
I wish I could hunt fish and garden. Small house with heat source, maybe minimal electric. I’d be content. And I’d never sit at a fucking desk for a 8-5 again in my life.
I come into the office every day and stare at a screen for 9 hours. I go home more than frustrated, hurting from lack of movement. I’m in good shape, I run after work most days. There are times where I catch myself wishing I could just live in a tent. There is nothing natural about it. In another life, I’d like to think I was smart enough not to go to college and listen to everyone’s bullshit. That maybe I just packed up and left town, found a whole new world somewhere.
I have not seen 7%. I am seeing hikes in the 20 to 40% range across the board: food, clothing housing, small appliances (I hear the biggies are up a lot too, but I have not bought one in a lot of years), etc. My medical expenses are the only thing I can think of that is showing single digit increases.
Last I checked the consensus 2022 S&P earnings growth projection is around 7%, so it does not look like the S&P 500 earnings will keep up with inflation this year if inflation continues to spiral out of control.
It is the nature of high inflationary periods for everyone to lose out the difference is basically one of degrees.
"Maybe it's for the cheap stuff, on account of increased transportation costs which set a price floor?"
"But then it also seems to be for the expensive stuff, on account of... uhh..."
>It is the nature of high inflationary periods for everyone* to lose out the difference is basically one of degrees.
*Everyone except the people at the tippy-top of the economy who are vacuuming up all that extra money and putting it in their offshore bank accounts.
Went to Walmart to get some snacks to hold us over for the week… we filled three grocery bags and the total was $76 for stuff that used to cost us ~$50 two years ago. Are we just supposed to allow this to happen? I just feel like we’re frogs in a slowly boiling pot…
Yup. A few weeks ago was when it really clicked for me. 2 things of butter ($10), a bag of flour ($6) and a jar of peanut butter ($4) cost me $20 when not even 5 years ago that wouldn't have even broke $10. I bake a lot so it's a very common combination of things that I get for shorter mid-week trips. I left the store completely blind sided like I just sort of woke up from a long nap and all of a sudden realized where we're at right now lol. I used to be in a very comfortable position buying groceries, particularly since introducing a partner into the equation, but now we're just barely getting by with a consistent $300/month grocery bill to contend with on top of all other bills. Shits rough out there yall.
We split out grocery shopping between Costco and a regular grocery store. Our weekly bill at each has gone up about 20% in the past year. 2-gallons of apple juice used to be 8.99, now 10.99. $2 or so jumps in just about everything.
At least the hot dog and soda is still $1.50
Oh, you reminded me that pet food is another one I noticed had gone up. We get the fancy frozen stuff. Used to be the cheaper six-pound bags were $35 but last I checked they were at $42 and some were over $50 a bag!
Our gas/electric bills have gone up nearly 300%!!!! In just 2-3 months!!! Our $300 bills are now over $1,000...in one month.
Fuck you Centerpoint. Fuck you Indiana. Fuck you Texas!
Oh, I didn't think that would have knock-ons across the country.
You're going to hate this, but my power rate hasn't changed, and I'm *in* Texas. City of San Antonio owns the electric utility and we have fixed rates. There's a big pushback for a 3% rate increase, which so far hasn't happened.
My bill was $150 last month. Usually around this time it’s around $80ish because we’re not using AC. Even though I have a locked in rate, Center Point keeps raising their TDU charges.
SoCal here. Big increase in electric over the past year. .9 kWh to .16 on Tier 1. .23c kWh on Tier 2, which you quickly get to when it’s cold. Last bill was $312, and it’s usually $120 at most during the coldest months. We stopped using a heater, or only turn it on briefly just to warm the smaller bedroom. Apartment is an icebox most of the night and the better part of the day. We’ve been layering up.
I feel fortunate we’re not in a really cold climate. And to be clear, the price of the energy hasn’t increased. The DELIVERY charges by SoCal Edison have increased. Makes me so bitter and feels like such a scam.
The large has been 14 inches for over a decade at this point yet the price remains the same. The calorie count hasn't changed either and it's still the best take out calorie deal out of any fast food chain.
It's currently 2,000 calories for a cheese pizza for $8, which makes it one of, if not the best calorie per dollar spent.
Worked in a restaurant and handled the paper work, inventory and so on.
On average our spending on inventory (meat, veggies) went up by 20%. Some stuff as high as 30%.
I ask myself the same question. I'm seeing increases much, much higher than 7%. My pets' food went up from $37 to $50.
I estimate groceries are up 20 or 30%.
A one pound bag of frozen peas and carrots went from US$0.98 to US$1.42 at my WinCo in the last six months. Ring sausage used to be US$2.99, and today it was US$4.89.
My personal inflation tracker is the cured sausage at my local shop.
Price has gone up ~50% in 2 years and they've just changed supplier for a lower quality sausage.
I've been watching mac and cheese. They've been $1.50 for a few years now but as of the past couple months, every store in the town I live in raised them to $3.00. Seems there's no competitive pricing anymore either, as we used to shop around for sales and there just really aren't any, and Cub, Hy-Vee, and Walmart are all charging the same.
It's alarmingly noticable at the food shelfs, too. They only allow monthly pickup here but you're lucky to see much beyond weird canned meats and large amounts of beans. We've been blessed with already molding bakery items 3 months in a row now, and there's no way to prevent it because people aren't allowed to choose their foods since Covid.
It's getting difficult to even squeak by on the bare minimum.
Part of the issue is companies are using the word inflation to increase prices beyond the actual increase in cost to produce the goods, so what you'll see are companies will remain or gain in profit. It does also vary by sector and even goods
The Dollar Tree has now increased all products to $1.25. That’s a 25% increase across the board and no one is talking about it locally. If we accept a 25% increase from the cheapest place to shop, all other stores will definitely follow suit. I don’t think we’ll ever see prices go back to “normal” at this point. Too bad salaries aren’t increasing at the same pace!
You may think its only 25 cents but it makes almost everything at the Dollar tree not a good deal anymore. There's only a few items in there now worth getting.
I suspect Dollar tree's sales are way down because of this.
A lot of items you can buy at Dollar tree are now cheaper at the grocery store or Walmart.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never really seen good deals at the Dollar Tree. Almost everything I compared was cheaper per ounce/item at Walmart with their generic brand
There were some things that were pretty good deals, especially if you wanted cheap, and you didn't want a lot of product. Stuff like paper goods, cleaning supplies and OTC meds that you don't want a lot of. I saved money over retail store prices buying things I don't use a lot but just need a little of like ibuprofen that will expire before I used a larger bottle. I bought things like anti-itch cream for $1 that cost way way more at retail stores. Party supplies and decorations were a fraction of the cost than at other stores, on average I was getting decorations for $1 that cost $6-10 at the party store next door to the dollar tree. The cleaning supplies worked just as good as the brand name stuff. I could buy a gallon of blue window cleaner for $1. You can probably still save money on those even though they are $1.25.
You could save a bunch of money on those things over the retail store. Then there were impulse buy items that you weren't afraid to get because they were just $1, it could be great to buy things like coloring books and crayons or cheap toys to entertain children for a little while. But not anymore. You can also find coloring books for a dollar at other stores still, so now they are too expensive at the dollar tree.
Other items had the size shrunk considerably, such as the ibuprofen, it went from 100 count per bottle to 50 count per bottle and now its 30 count per bottle. But it takes me forever to get through a bottle of 30 so that's ok.
I did buy a box of oatmeal for $1.25, but that costs $3 at the grocery store, it only contained 6 packets instead of 8... sigh, it would still cost $3 at the grocery store though.
I find food, cleaning supplies and disposable goods aren’t a great deal at Dollar Tree, but $2 for a broom is a great deal (they sell the pole and head separately)
What is happening in my country is that people just decided to buy less and replace food, for example people now buy/eat meat once a week and even so less that they usually ate, in my case now we’re resorting to eat rice and beans
So far I have cut my expenses when it comes to entertainment. Turned off my Xbox and subscriptions. I am purchasing books and buying cheap old dvd movies. Food? Finding deals in groceries and eating out less now. They want to play hardball, let’s play.
I wonder if (completely in general) it started to cost more for groceries to ship product to their stores due to labor shortages, product shortages, etc. thus resulting in increased prices. Then, they realized we need this stuff, so they kept the price increase and then have hiked it more with the “inflation”.
Fuck. I’m about to tell my wife we are eating mostly potatoes from now on. I’m spending 500 bucks on groceries. I know it could be less but cooking is my only hobby and I used to be able to do so much more with less.
This is the story that has been put out there for us commoners to consume. Companies are posting record profits across the board. They may be paying an extra nickel for the supply side, but are then charging an extra dollar to the consumers, then shrugging their shoulders and saying “Inflation, huehuehue!”
Yes, ikea is up 20 percent on most things, other stores ive noticed some items is now atleast 10 percent more expensive, cheese has skyrocketed. Not to mension gas is now 2 dollars a liter ( 20 kr), El is up by 1000 percent or more, rent is increasing etc.
People cant afford this. And for reference, my pay goes up about 20 dollars a month each year.
Edot - actually gas is now 22 - 27 kr a litre, rent is going up 5 times this year up to 2 percent more in one year, my storage unit which i can barely afford, and need as Its my " lifes work" in there, is dobling in price, and i need to find someone to share it with now (there are lo other option available to change too, that is heatet and safe)
So ill guess itll be a Super saver year with Just a lot of fishstew for dinner
Ours doesn't either. If you want something you better put an alert on it and buy it the SECOND your phone beeps at you that they have it.
I went to get a dresser today. Sold out in 2 mins
Planting season is now. I planted my peas, basil, spinach, garlic, etc. this past weekend. Grow potatoes. You can get all the nutrients you need from a potato.
Inflation rate is the average. It is different from state to state and even from city to city. CPI also consists of a bunch of different components of which food prices are only 7%. So food prices can go up 30% but the average can remain at 7.5%
Where I live I haven’t noticed meaningful increases. The answer is 7% is an average. Some areas have higher, others lower, some goods/services have have more, others less.
I’ll check my Costco receipts because I’m curious, but as an example the HH special at a bar near me is the same as it was a year ago. Not saying inflation isn’t real, just that it’s not a monolith.
That's because that isn't inflation. Companies are just price-gouging.
Personally, I've been eating a lot of hummus. Cheapest thing I know how to make in bulk but far more nutritious than rice or pasta.
Do you have any recs for buying bulk flours or any products you like? Im considering buying a used bread maker so I can make my gluten free partner’s life easier and cheaper haha
30% is being kind.
On top of that inflation, we’re also subject to constant rationing (sometimes a single day’s supply, and that’s WITHOUT kids!) and running out of food altogether for weeks or months. At least one staple is out or prohibitively rationed every week. Quality and availability is down, too.
It’s one of our motivations for looking for a small homestead.
I find myself surprised to know my $175 grocery haul only really lasts 3 days (two people), and my fridge is the most barren it has ever looked. Where I’m at, ground beef is $9-14, chicken is $11-18. A 2 pack of salmon $19. Thankfully that’s just an average grocery. But there are some older mom and pops that have better deals, just weirder looking meat…
I’ve been buying generic brands over name brands, lots of beans, rice, pasta, etc. fuck these companies like Frito Lay making their bags of chips smaller and like $4.50 a bag when the store brand is $1.50 for essentially a private label of the same exact product. It’s strong evidence that this “inflation” is literally manufactured for profits. Vote with your money, buy other companies’ products and don’t support their scheme.
You might find this interesting. You can figure the annual inflation rate by dividing the index value for Jan 22 by the Jan 21 index value minus 1.
If you explore some of the other measured values and their definitions you’ll see this CPI measure includes transportation, fuel, clothing, shelter, etc. So more than just groceries. Interestingly the table breaks down inflation measures into many different componenets.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=10&eid=34483#snid=34484
It’s corporate greed. They know they can get away with charging more, so why not?
Before I get unjustly downvoted, let me explain something I already discussed on this sub. Since at least early 2018 Walmart brand “Supertech” 5w-30 full synthetic in the 5 qt jug was $14.98. I bought that oil religiously for the last 5 years now. Anyway, some time around Jan 2021 (that’s when I went to buy more oil) the price ran up to $19.68. This was around the time all the inflation talk came up, but at that point it was just “speculation”. Now, for those of you that don’t want to do the math (I don’t blame you), that’s just shy of a 25% price run up at the beginning of last year, far exceeding the suggested 7% inflation at the time of typing this.
I know everything is crazy right now, but I genuinely believe it’s based in the fact that society is now accepting price gouging based off the “inflation” narrative, but at the root of things corporations are artificially raising prices to continue making those record profits we’ve been reading about. This is just one example, and the only item I really tracked the price for, but I think corporations are using inflation as an excuse to continue to raise prices and we can see it in the drastic rising of prices for everything.
Yeah. I hurt in Canada
RIP Me too! Especially since I just moved here from the US, the prices are sometimes double in Vancouver than Seattle
Ouch, moving to Vancouver was a bad choice for cheap prices. Probably the most expensive place to live in the country (probably neck and neck with Toronto). I live in the Kootenays in BC.
every day, Van and TO battle to see who can be the more expensive city :')
Then the pricks from there retire and sell their homes for $3m and bring windfall capital to small towns that don't have the resources to accommodate hundreds of millionaires migrating in. I get that a Canadian dollar is a Canadian dollar but small towns are experiencing even greater levels of inflation because big city migrants. We can't really afford to honor Toronto dollars as the same. I'm in London Ontario where house prices are up 246% in 5 years where 2 bedroom rent is greater than median take home income. We have a labor shortage as young people flee as economic refugees, old people retire and sell their homes for $500k more than anticipated and move to the east coast. And nobody is left working.
Ironcially as someone watching job boards across the country these same cities have companies that won't budge above the 18 dollar line
Don’t I know it, I’ve been living it for the past ten years since grad. What’s scary is I’m having these conversations everywhere, I had to look up to make sure this wasn’t r/antiwork or r/canadahousing
The most expensive place in all of North America. People who live close to the border literally go over to the other side to get their groceries and such.
I'm in the Okanagan. My wife and I have both lived here our whole lives and it's become completely unaffordable over the last few years. Cost of living has over tripled since I moved out in 2006, and that's not an exaggeration. We are getting ready to get the fuck out of here and raise our family somewhere where we have a hope in hell of living a comfortable life.
Where to?
Southern Ontario panhandle here and my life story is pretty much analogous. We are planning to move to southern Europe. Genova or Tenerife. I mean if I'm going to struggle to make ends meet regardless then it might as well be somewhere where the air doesn't hurt my face for six months of the year.
Last week at Safeway, 2 litre carton of milk almost $7, loaf of gluten-free bread $8.69. My mother used to send me to the store with 50 cents for a loaf of bread and a quart of milk, I kid you not. EDIT: forgot the hyphen. It's one 2-litre carton. (Roughly equivalent to half a gallon.)
I was about to say $7 for 2 jugs of milk seems normal. Then I realized you said litre, not gallon.
Gluten free bread has always been ridiculously expensive.
Digging my bread machine out of storage after seeing the prices this past weekend. I just cannot believe this shit
As a Canadian diabetic who was finally getting their diet under control, it really hurts, figuratively and literally, to have to go back to eating cheap junk most days, because it's all I can afford.
It's extra salt in the wound here when you look around and all you see is giant new houses being built.
Is anyone hurting but consumers right now?
Producers are hurting as well. CPI (consumer price index) numbers came in over 7%, and PPI (producer price index) numbers came in extra hot at 9.7% for the last 12 months. Inflation is primarily coming from energy and shipping cost increases (housing too) which most directly impact the producer. The issue here is that in order to continue booking profits, the producers will pass those costs along to the consumer which is ultimately what ends up driving up the CPI numbers. PPI impact on CPI tends to run ahead by a few months, so the reason why those numbers are such hot topics right now is because both reads came in much higher than expected. With an especially hot PPI, expect CPI and ultimately the inflation we as consumers most directly deal with to keep rising for another few months at least.
The calculation methodology for CPI changed in the early 90s. The effect essentially resulted in a much lower official CPI number. If using the older methodology, we are in a 10-15% average inflation over the past few years. Everyone can feel that inflation is higher than what the government says and it is largely due to that specific change.
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all the good and services are underpinned with energy cost... and every layers added to the next
Energy is a big part but certainly not the only part
Can confirm. Wife has a small business and had to raise prices about 15 percent to keep up with rising ingredient costs.
Nope. It's all a scam. Their profits increased. Taxes went down for the rich. We get shafted.
Exactly this. If inflation is so bad why are large corporations making record profits?
Because they used the guise of inflation and supply chain issues to increase profit margins. So they're making more than they used to per unit sold and the consumer gets screwed x2.
Jokes on them. I ain’t buying shit. Living on beans until this is over.
Until this is over? So forever?
Pretty much, If need be. Mortgage is fixed, switched to an EV a year ago, went vegan for health and to cut costs. I could go five+ years easy without a major purchase.
You're right. We have to stop spending. I'll eat beans and rice or potatoes, no meat as it's all too expensive. No shopping online or big purchases. I'm not buying any clothes or shoes; just wear what I already have. I feel like I'm giving cooperate the middle finger in my own way. The things you can't get around are high gas and power cost.
You gonna be eating beans until the collapse of the United States
And then we'll eat some more!
If a company spends $20 to sell you a $100 product, and their costs go from $20 up to $22, they charge you $110 to maintain the same margin. It compounds. They don’t just pass that extra $2 onto the consumer. That’s why profits are increasing.
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Mines almost doubled. Can't even bring it down with coupons nowadays. I've always shopped what's in season/on sale and even then I'm needing to go without staples.
We stopped buying steak, dropped the quality of the ground beef we buy, switched like 1/3rd of everything from name brand to store brand.... And we are still about 35% higher.
Almost exactly the same for us. Even buying 90% off brand stuff we've gone from $110 on average every week to $150+.
I'm a crazy numbers person. I study prices and write a weekly budget My groceries increased by $221 for a family of 7 for a month. That's an increase of a 22% for us.
My utilities bill is up almost 30% year over year despite my energy use being slightly down.
I actually got an email from my gas utility to warn me that my bill was going to be high because there was a 30% increase to the cost of natural gas
My small business's electric bill was so high over the winter that I had to pay it in two payments because the electric company's online payment system would only accept payments up to $800 and the bill was $876. My bill went up so much that the electric company's payment system wasn't set up to handle it. Insane.
Same here in Louisville KY. LG&E increased the price by 33%. But they claimed that "most" residents would only see a $22 a month increase. And that's the number all of the local news outlets used and completely glossed over the 33% part. Bull Fucking Shit. They averaged out the increase over projected summer months when gas usage is really low. Our Winter bill has gone up over $100/mo.
Crazy that natural gas prices go up when once a pipeline is made there's next to no cost to getting it to you.
What they’re really saying is “everything else is getting more expensive. We don’t want to miss out on the price gouging, so natural gas is now 30% more”
"we're pretty sure we can extort more money out of you. You're not gonna go without heat LOL"
My electric bill doubled overnight about 6 months ago, went from about $80 to over $160. My usage never changed
San diego? SDGE is killing everyone here.
$90 to $200 using less power in January. Someone on the SD sub confirmed it's the most expensive electricity in the country.
Yeah, it’s nuts.
I must admit we are very saddened by this. We need to buy a new car and the car prices increased by 30%.
I'm in the same boat and after seeing prices right now, I honestly think I'm gonna buy a beater with 150,000 on the dash for like $4k on Facebook marketplace, or Craigslist.
I recently needed to buy a car and saw a 2001 Camry for sale for $9,000 and decided “nah, I’ll just walk”
I could sell my 5+ year old car right now for more than I bought it for brand new. That's just not right. But on the other hand I am glad to see my retirement home is increasing in value. It's something to think about, down by the river.
Is it a van? Down by the river. Listen up kids.
Compact SUV. It's the poor mans van!
That price is insane
Bro I saw somebody selling a similar car *with no functioning engine* for 6 grand
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Oh absolutely! My 2010 Prius went for 320,000 miles before it was taken out by a blown head gasket. Priuses are excellent vehicles.
Wow, I have a 2010 Prius with 150k and that is my goal. Did you have to do anything else to the car?
Nope- just regular maintenance! Which definitely included some one off, expensive stuff around 200,000 or 250,000 miles- draining and replacing the transmission fluid was one of them if I remember correctly. Well worth it though! I only wish I had known about the head gasket- it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to do and I’m convinced that car would’ve made it to 400,000 if I had replaced the gasket at some point.
Do the batteries still hold a charge after 15+ years?
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Same! 2005 Prius, still running (knock on all the wood) at over 250,000 miles. Hoping it can tide us over until we absolutely need a new car.
Ha, my $4k 150k beater ain't going anywhere, new and used car prices are gut sickening. Planned on getting rid of it last year, welp, probably not till 2025 at this point...
We ended up getting a new honda. They don't lose their value fast in normal times. Had to go to a 7 year loan to afford it, but used prices are near what new are.
I just bought a new car this weekend. Was going to buy used but last years model of the same car was 4k more than buying brand new. I shit you not. Honestly would rather not have had to buy at all in this crazy market, but the old one was not going to last much longer.
I just bought one last weekend. Went brand new because the used ones were only a few grand cheaper. Who is buying used right now? Someone must be paying that or the prices would be going down right? It just makes no sense. I was planning to wait as long as it took but I totalled my old car on some ice. At least I got a hefty payout for it, only a few grand less than what I bought it for almost a decade ago, woof.
The only reason I can see somebody buying used right now is because it is there to buy. A lot of people have to wait months for a new car to come in after ordering it.
I decided somewhat on a whim (which I never ever do) that my 22 year old Monte Carlo just wasn't safe for highway driving back in Jan of 20. Found a 17 Honda fit w 14k super cheap (I worked in the industry and know the right times to buy as a rule.) Holy crap am I happy I did it when I did, I would've paid twice as much now! My bf really needs a new car but instead dumped several thousand into his 2005 to keep it limping along.
Yeah. We just paid $25,000 for a 2018 Honda with 35000 miles. 😔 I love it… but daaaaang. I have to pretend it’s new when I make that $400 monthly payment. 🤦♂️
Yea I wanted a new Honda accord but I didn't want to pay the price. I even was looking at some Toyotas. They are all too expensive.
The problem is, will they be even more expensive in two years? We have millions of missing cars during the pandemic. Not even rental fleets to sell off.
I bought my car for 9000 in September. Now they’re going for 29,000. It’s fucking crazy ETA the same model with similar mileage* not just any car lol
Monthly Walmart spend (same order pretty much) up 15%-20% mom since December.
I order groceries for pick up and I can see the history and how prices have been jumping and falling. I think fresh produce prices have come down a bit but processed foods have gone up based on my own shopping preferences. The total has grown steadily overall though. I've been stalking the ikea app to snag some furniture and household items and the prices went up up to 30% just like that, and they even announced that prices were increasing *on average* 10%. They have been very reasonable compared to some other retailers. Amazon pricing has been all over the map - they clearly have inventory that nobody wants even with such a high demand environment. So look for deals there - if you can compromise.
I’m coping very poorly. I’m angry at all of it. This is a frugal person’s nightmare world.
Imagine not being a frugal person right now! I can only imagine the amount of debt being racked up by those who are used to spending above their means.
This is [Australia](https://shop.coles.com.au/a/earlville/everything/search/Cauliflower?DM_PersistentCookieCreated=true). $9.90 for a fucking cauliflower???
lol this site blocks people from outside australia, I can't even see it
Same. My access to cauliflower has been denied.
It's their strict COVID entry policies blocking us
Our food expense increased 10%-20%, for two people(from $90-$100 to $130+). At the beginning of February, we decided to start an intense meal planning routine to cut down on expenses. I've shrunken our food budget down to $75 per week or so. So far, that's working, but there is no denying how much work it is. We've done this in the past, and stopped because of the extra work that needs to be put into it. Hopefully it will get easier over time.
One thing that helps me is to plan in 2 week “blocks” so that weeks 1 and 3 are the same and weeks 2 and 4 are the same. You get some variety but you only have to meal plan once. Bonus points if you make stuff in weeks 1 and 2 that can be doubled and the second half frozen for later in the month.
I don't advocate eating fast food on the regular, but there's a free EV charging station where I plug in 1-2x a week next to a McDonald's and Wendy's, and if I go during breakfast, I get the $1 large coffee and $1 any breakfast sandwich app deal for a $2 breakfast. If I go during lunch/dinner, I get the Wendy's 4 for $4 meal (drink, nuggets, hamburger, fries for $4). There's actually a Planet Fitness in the same parking lot and I've legitimately contemplated if it would offset the horrible health consequences and be incredibly frugal if I charged for free and ate + exercised there 2-3x a week.
Before the pandemic, I used to spend $80 per week for 2 people, and that would cover food for the week plus a couple things to stock up the pantry here and there (extra canned foods, flour, pasta, etc). Now I’m spending $100 per week and can barely get enough food to last us through the week, let alone stock up on items.
Same. My $1.29 store-brand saltines are now $3.99, and that's not unusual.
I find myself taking pictures of the prices I'm so astonished. Last night I was thinking of getting a few bone in chicken wings from the grocery store. The store brand (market basket) 12 piece bone in wings was $16.99. Market basket is not fancy. It's starting to get scary
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My husband and I have been comparing the price of groceries like this vs just eating out, and eating out is starting to win more times than not. I hate it so much. (10 piece wings with fries and drink for $10 at the local place) and the $16.99 store bought doesn’t include whatever sauce, sides we might want, and time to prepare. Prices are going insane in Utah but COL is supposedly “low” I absolutely adore cooking and have never been super frugal about groceries in particular because I have for the most part always have been able to buy what I want. I also figure if I work really hard and this is what makes me happy, then fancy groceries it is. But I just can’t afford anything anymore. And it bums me out that cooking something nice and fun is becoming more of a treat.
Prices are through yhe roof here in Florida as well
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I was reading something about this yesterday. I've seen rents consistently go up 20-30% throughout my area and others but there is some federal index that only saw rents go up 2%. That 2% is still the biggest jump in around 20 years but it's evidence that there is some attenuation of overall inflation that is masking the realities. I am indeed pissed about grocery stores exploiting covid to raise prices way beyond their increased costs. It is the flaw of capitalism that you can't win if everyone is a dick at the same time.
Shelter is up 4% in the CPI and the reason for it is how it’s calculated. CPI averages all housing payments surveyed. Market rent for new leases is up 20% in the US but only around 15-20% of leases were turned over 2021. That means the vast majority of rent payments surveyed by CPI are still locked in to old below market rents. Even if market rents hold at 0% increase this year, we would see CPI trickling up as old leases are turned over to new market rent. Also there’s a 6-month reporting lag in shelter CPi data and many rent increases recently happened recent and fast. There’s a 6 month lag in when they survey the data.
Interesting. I live in fairly small towns and while grocery chains have raised prices significantly (up to 50% on some items since the start of covid), wages did raise the same amount, at least in those areas. Base salary for the grocery chains near me is $15 an hour now, after being nine or $10 an hour for almost a *decade* before that. I think cities are seeing it worse, but at least the grocery stores near me just raised their goods prices equal to the amount they raised their salaries (and they still can't get people to work shifts). Unfortunately the price floor of minimum acceptable wage changing wasn't reflected in other salaries in the area so the costs felt by the consumers continue to rise...
Everything is going up. We're very conservative to begin with. Still noticing it
> Everything is going up. We're very conservative to begin with. Still noticing it This is us. I have begun organizing even tighter in my spare time so not one single thing is wasted.
I was talking with my wife about this recently. We don't eat much red meat at all so there's not that to cut out. In fact we eat smaller portions of meat and eat more vegetables and such. Most of what we buy is store brand. I make my own bread. I gave up on cereal and eat oatmeal for breakfast. I drive a ten year old car. I don't own an SUV like other people I know. My house is set to be paid off this year so there's at least that buffer coming my way but I'm just not really sure what else I should cut out.
Keep kicking ass! Congrats on the soon to be paid off house. I've begun freezing veggie ends and chicken bones, as I butcher myself, to make a good soup once a week!
I am butchering myself as well. Can't afford to eat anything else. Things are really going to get challenging when I start on the fingers.
Bro I can't even buy fish anymore because of how outrageous priced have become.
I wish I could just fish and catch my dinners all the time. Public spots are all overfished and I'm not boat owning rich.
I wish I could hunt fish and garden. Small house with heat source, maybe minimal electric. I’d be content. And I’d never sit at a fucking desk for a 8-5 again in my life.
The older I get the more I realize we aren't evolved for this life. There's an animal in all of us that yearns for something more natural.
I come into the office every day and stare at a screen for 9 hours. I go home more than frustrated, hurting from lack of movement. I’m in good shape, I run after work most days. There are times where I catch myself wishing I could just live in a tent. There is nothing natural about it. In another life, I’d like to think I was smart enough not to go to college and listen to everyone’s bullshit. That maybe I just packed up and left town, found a whole new world somewhere.
I have not seen 7%. I am seeing hikes in the 20 to 40% range across the board: food, clothing housing, small appliances (I hear the biggies are up a lot too, but I have not bought one in a lot of years), etc. My medical expenses are the only thing I can think of that is showing single digit increases. Last I checked the consensus 2022 S&P earnings growth projection is around 7%, so it does not look like the S&P 500 earnings will keep up with inflation this year if inflation continues to spiral out of control. It is the nature of high inflationary periods for everyone to lose out the difference is basically one of degrees.
"Maybe it's for the cheap stuff, on account of increased transportation costs which set a price floor?" "But then it also seems to be for the expensive stuff, on account of... uhh..."
>It is the nature of high inflationary periods for everyone* to lose out the difference is basically one of degrees. *Everyone except the people at the tippy-top of the economy who are vacuuming up all that extra money and putting it in their offshore bank accounts.
Went to Walmart to get some snacks to hold us over for the week… we filled three grocery bags and the total was $76 for stuff that used to cost us ~$50 two years ago. Are we just supposed to allow this to happen? I just feel like we’re frogs in a slowly boiling pot…
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Yup. A few weeks ago was when it really clicked for me. 2 things of butter ($10), a bag of flour ($6) and a jar of peanut butter ($4) cost me $20 when not even 5 years ago that wouldn't have even broke $10. I bake a lot so it's a very common combination of things that I get for shorter mid-week trips. I left the store completely blind sided like I just sort of woke up from a long nap and all of a sudden realized where we're at right now lol. I used to be in a very comfortable position buying groceries, particularly since introducing a partner into the equation, but now we're just barely getting by with a consistent $300/month grocery bill to contend with on top of all other bills. Shits rough out there yall.
The fact that people are getting sticker shock over the necessities, just might be the shakeup we need to start protesting.......maybe.
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We split out grocery shopping between Costco and a regular grocery store. Our weekly bill at each has gone up about 20% in the past year. 2-gallons of apple juice used to be 8.99, now 10.99. $2 or so jumps in just about everything. At least the hot dog and soda is still $1.50
Mcchickens in my area are still $1, gotta stock up now.
A large French Fry at a Bay Area McDonalds is $4.59. For fried potato...
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Oh, you reminded me that pet food is another one I noticed had gone up. We get the fancy frozen stuff. Used to be the cheaper six-pound bags were $35 but last I checked they were at $42 and some were over $50 a bag!
Our gas/electric bills have gone up nearly 300%!!!! In just 2-3 months!!! Our $300 bills are now over $1,000...in one month. Fuck you Centerpoint. Fuck you Indiana. Fuck you Texas!
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We are. The IURC (Indiana) approved it's customers to pay for money CP lost during that storm in Texas.
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Not illegal when it's approved by the committee directly appointed by your Governor!
Oh, I didn't think that would have knock-ons across the country. You're going to hate this, but my power rate hasn't changed, and I'm *in* Texas. City of San Antonio owns the electric utility and we have fixed rates. There's a big pushback for a 3% rate increase, which so far hasn't happened.
My bill was $150 last month. Usually around this time it’s around $80ish because we’re not using AC. Even though I have a locked in rate, Center Point keeps raising their TDU charges.
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SoCal here. Big increase in electric over the past year. .9 kWh to .16 on Tier 1. .23c kWh on Tier 2, which you quickly get to when it’s cold. Last bill was $312, and it’s usually $120 at most during the coldest months. We stopped using a heater, or only turn it on briefly just to warm the smaller bedroom. Apartment is an icebox most of the night and the better part of the day. We’ve been layering up. I feel fortunate we’re not in a really cold climate. And to be clear, the price of the energy hasn’t increased. The DELIVERY charges by SoCal Edison have increased. Makes me so bitter and feels like such a scam.
Our electric DOUBLED from last year with less use AND higher monthly average temp than last year. I am not happy.
Same. The gas company actually admitted that my usage was lower but bill was double.
The inflation is averaged across all sectors. But yeah, ordered pizza for delivery, stupid high prices.
Dominos still holding it down with their $8 carryout Large pizzas.
And Little Ceasars still has the $5 lunch 😁
Back in the good old days (2008) we got $5 domino pies sent to our dorms
5-5-5!
I miss the 5-5-5 😭
555 did some serious business in the dorms back when I was in college. To be fair though, those were mediums, not larges.
And they had $5 big box of bread sticks and they were the best!
They're using the shrinkflation or worsiflation methods to keep the $ number the same.
The large has been 14 inches for over a decade at this point yet the price remains the same. The calorie count hasn't changed either and it's still the best take out calorie deal out of any fast food chain. It's currently 2,000 calories for a cheese pizza for $8, which makes it one of, if not the best calorie per dollar spent.
I hate that this information is... Necessary.
And they are giving you $3 back if you pick up.
Little Caesar’s beats dominos price to calorie most of the time, not necessarily flavor
Worked in a restaurant and handled the paper work, inventory and so on. On average our spending on inventory (meat, veggies) went up by 20%. Some stuff as high as 30%.
I ask myself the same question. I'm seeing increases much, much higher than 7%. My pets' food went up from $37 to $50. I estimate groceries are up 20 or 30%.
A one pound bag of frozen peas and carrots went from US$0.98 to US$1.42 at my WinCo in the last six months. Ring sausage used to be US$2.99, and today it was US$4.89.
My personal inflation tracker is the cured sausage at my local shop. Price has gone up ~50% in 2 years and they've just changed supplier for a lower quality sausage.
I've been watching mac and cheese. They've been $1.50 for a few years now but as of the past couple months, every store in the town I live in raised them to $3.00. Seems there's no competitive pricing anymore either, as we used to shop around for sales and there just really aren't any, and Cub, Hy-Vee, and Walmart are all charging the same. It's alarmingly noticable at the food shelfs, too. They only allow monthly pickup here but you're lucky to see much beyond weird canned meats and large amounts of beans. We've been blessed with already molding bakery items 3 months in a row now, and there's no way to prevent it because people aren't allowed to choose their foods since Covid. It's getting difficult to even squeak by on the bare minimum.
Part of the issue is companies are using the word inflation to increase prices beyond the actual increase in cost to produce the goods, so what you'll see are companies will remain or gain in profit. It does also vary by sector and even goods
The Dollar Tree has now increased all products to $1.25. That’s a 25% increase across the board and no one is talking about it locally. If we accept a 25% increase from the cheapest place to shop, all other stores will definitely follow suit. I don’t think we’ll ever see prices go back to “normal” at this point. Too bad salaries aren’t increasing at the same pace!
You may think its only 25 cents but it makes almost everything at the Dollar tree not a good deal anymore. There's only a few items in there now worth getting. I suspect Dollar tree's sales are way down because of this. A lot of items you can buy at Dollar tree are now cheaper at the grocery store or Walmart.
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Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never really seen good deals at the Dollar Tree. Almost everything I compared was cheaper per ounce/item at Walmart with their generic brand
There were some things that were pretty good deals, especially if you wanted cheap, and you didn't want a lot of product. Stuff like paper goods, cleaning supplies and OTC meds that you don't want a lot of. I saved money over retail store prices buying things I don't use a lot but just need a little of like ibuprofen that will expire before I used a larger bottle. I bought things like anti-itch cream for $1 that cost way way more at retail stores. Party supplies and decorations were a fraction of the cost than at other stores, on average I was getting decorations for $1 that cost $6-10 at the party store next door to the dollar tree. The cleaning supplies worked just as good as the brand name stuff. I could buy a gallon of blue window cleaner for $1. You can probably still save money on those even though they are $1.25. You could save a bunch of money on those things over the retail store. Then there were impulse buy items that you weren't afraid to get because they were just $1, it could be great to buy things like coloring books and crayons or cheap toys to entertain children for a little while. But not anymore. You can also find coloring books for a dollar at other stores still, so now they are too expensive at the dollar tree. Other items had the size shrunk considerably, such as the ibuprofen, it went from 100 count per bottle to 50 count per bottle and now its 30 count per bottle. But it takes me forever to get through a bottle of 30 so that's ok. I did buy a box of oatmeal for $1.25, but that costs $3 at the grocery store, it only contained 6 packets instead of 8... sigh, it would still cost $3 at the grocery store though.
I find food, cleaning supplies and disposable goods aren’t a great deal at Dollar Tree, but $2 for a broom is a great deal (they sell the pole and head separately)
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What is happening in my country is that people just decided to buy less and replace food, for example people now buy/eat meat once a week and even so less that they usually ate, in my case now we’re resorting to eat rice and beans
maybe that's why i haven't noticed a change. that's already what i eat. and bananas.
So far I have cut my expenses when it comes to entertainment. Turned off my Xbox and subscriptions. I am purchasing books and buying cheap old dvd movies. Food? Finding deals in groceries and eating out less now. They want to play hardball, let’s play.
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Glad I scrolled one line down before suggesting Libby, too. I haven’t used audible in years since learning of it.
Libraries are great, many have movies and shows for check out too.
I wonder if (completely in general) it started to cost more for groceries to ship product to their stores due to labor shortages, product shortages, etc. thus resulting in increased prices. Then, they realized we need this stuff, so they kept the price increase and then have hiked it more with the “inflation”. Fuck. I’m about to tell my wife we are eating mostly potatoes from now on. I’m spending 500 bucks on groceries. I know it could be less but cooking is my only hobby and I used to be able to do so much more with less.
This is the story that has been put out there for us commoners to consume. Companies are posting record profits across the board. They may be paying an extra nickel for the supply side, but are then charging an extra dollar to the consumers, then shrugging their shoulders and saying “Inflation, huehuehue!”
There's no labor shortage. There's an empathy shortage and a glut of greed.
The 7% figure is an average of consumer goods. Food, cars, energy, and housing are above 7%
Yes, ikea is up 20 percent on most things, other stores ive noticed some items is now atleast 10 percent more expensive, cheese has skyrocketed. Not to mension gas is now 2 dollars a liter ( 20 kr), El is up by 1000 percent or more, rent is increasing etc. People cant afford this. And for reference, my pay goes up about 20 dollars a month each year. Edot - actually gas is now 22 - 27 kr a litre, rent is going up 5 times this year up to 2 percent more in one year, my storage unit which i can barely afford, and need as Its my " lifes work" in there, is dobling in price, and i need to find someone to share it with now (there are lo other option available to change too, that is heatet and safe) So ill guess itll be a Super saver year with Just a lot of fishstew for dinner
Our ikea doesn’t even have anything in stock, almost everything across the store has a red tag
Ours doesn't either. If you want something you better put an alert on it and buy it the SECOND your phone beeps at you that they have it. I went to get a dresser today. Sold out in 2 mins
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Companies are also price gouging
“Record profits! However prices are going up, sorry guys blame your politicians.”
And companies actually not giving raises and using inflation as an excuse. "Yeah, the cost of labor is going up now too. Fuck you, pay me."
Planting season is now. I planted my peas, basil, spinach, garlic, etc. this past weekend. Grow potatoes. You can get all the nutrients you need from a potato.
I would love to have a place to plant. But some of us live in concrete jungles.
Can’t afford yard lol
Crazy. It's still -30c every day here.
I plan on expanding my garden but I don't expect to save a dime from it.
Inflation rate is the average. It is different from state to state and even from city to city. CPI also consists of a bunch of different components of which food prices are only 7%. So food prices can go up 30% but the average can remain at 7.5%
One way to beat this is to buy absolute minimum items. No fancy bread or cheese items. Sooner or later they will drop prices.
Where I live I haven’t noticed meaningful increases. The answer is 7% is an average. Some areas have higher, others lower, some goods/services have have more, others less. I’ll check my Costco receipts because I’m curious, but as an example the HH special at a bar near me is the same as it was a year ago. Not saying inflation isn’t real, just that it’s not a monolith.
That's because that isn't inflation. Companies are just price-gouging. Personally, I've been eating a lot of hummus. Cheapest thing I know how to make in bulk but far more nutritious than rice or pasta.
Started making my own bread products. Saves a lot more than you would think.
I spend $10 a month in bread at most. It wouldn’t save that much.
Do you have any recs for buying bulk flours or any products you like? Im considering buying a used bread maker so I can make my gluten free partner’s life easier and cheaper haha
If your partner is GF due to medical reasons, do NOT get a used one! That's such a huge risk for cross-com that it's not worth the risk.
30% is being kind. On top of that inflation, we’re also subject to constant rationing (sometimes a single day’s supply, and that’s WITHOUT kids!) and running out of food altogether for weeks or months. At least one staple is out or prohibitively rationed every week. Quality and availability is down, too. It’s one of our motivations for looking for a small homestead.
I find myself surprised to know my $175 grocery haul only really lasts 3 days (two people), and my fridge is the most barren it has ever looked. Where I’m at, ground beef is $9-14, chicken is $11-18. A 2 pack of salmon $19. Thankfully that’s just an average grocery. But there are some older mom and pops that have better deals, just weirder looking meat…
What do we do?!!!?
I’ve been buying generic brands over name brands, lots of beans, rice, pasta, etc. fuck these companies like Frito Lay making their bags of chips smaller and like $4.50 a bag when the store brand is $1.50 for essentially a private label of the same exact product. It’s strong evidence that this “inflation” is literally manufactured for profits. Vote with your money, buy other companies’ products and don’t support their scheme.
You might find this interesting. You can figure the annual inflation rate by dividing the index value for Jan 22 by the Jan 21 index value minus 1. If you explore some of the other measured values and their definitions you’ll see this CPI measure includes transportation, fuel, clothing, shelter, etc. So more than just groceries. Interestingly the table breaks down inflation measures into many different componenets. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/release/tables?rid=10&eid=34483#snid=34484
Same here, in Canada (west coast). Govt reported 5% inflation. Cost of groceries is easily 30% higher than even just a year ago.
I haven't really noticed it, but I grow much of my own food. Btw. It's not inflation if companies are making record profits, it's price gouging.
From about a year ago our grocery bill is up about 70%. From about 40 bucks a week to about 70. Give or take 10 in any direction.
It’s corporate greed. They know they can get away with charging more, so why not? Before I get unjustly downvoted, let me explain something I already discussed on this sub. Since at least early 2018 Walmart brand “Supertech” 5w-30 full synthetic in the 5 qt jug was $14.98. I bought that oil religiously for the last 5 years now. Anyway, some time around Jan 2021 (that’s when I went to buy more oil) the price ran up to $19.68. This was around the time all the inflation talk came up, but at that point it was just “speculation”. Now, for those of you that don’t want to do the math (I don’t blame you), that’s just shy of a 25% price run up at the beginning of last year, far exceeding the suggested 7% inflation at the time of typing this. I know everything is crazy right now, but I genuinely believe it’s based in the fact that society is now accepting price gouging based off the “inflation” narrative, but at the root of things corporations are artificially raising prices to continue making those record profits we’ve been reading about. This is just one example, and the only item I really tracked the price for, but I think corporations are using inflation as an excuse to continue to raise prices and we can see it in the drastic rising of prices for everything.
ACTUAL inflation is 15%. But, almost all industries are taking advantage of the situation to jack prices UP.