Inflation

[W2R]

And, as for how we are personally coping with inflation - - I guess we have a little bit of the "prepper" mentality, because we have always talked about what we could easily do without if need be, without feeling deprived. So now, it's been pretty easy to just cut back on a few things and enjoy a less expensive lifestyle.

Frank has been a ham radio operator for over half a century, so he has plenty of equipment to keep him occupied. I have a big "backlog" of video games that I bought and never got around to playing as much as I might like.

And so on. There are a million ways to have fun without spending a cent. This helps to compensate for food and utilities going up like they have. Also we are cutting back on pleasure drives and neither of us has been buying more than one tank of gasoline each month or two.

 

[foxfirev5]

After 45 years DW and I instinctively make adjustments although it is not required. We are so hard wired in our mindset that we refuse to overspend. The satisfaction of saving exceeds that of consumption. Our big splurges were always recreation and travel oriented. While we're keeping the lake house our travel plans are paring back. Due to rising values and no where else to put the money the lake house is not costing us much. However our 3x annual trips to Key West have crossed the stupid threshold. $700 and up hotels per night have sucked away any pleasure we would experience. We have a couple trips booked already at decent rates and we'll see how it works out.

Meanwhile we're shopping at three grocery stores in a loop close to home to save $20-30 per week. I'm also beginning to buy T Bills at Fido to make a few bucks on the cash we have laying around. A good day is when I can make us $50 -100 we wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[Surewhitey]

According to several sources like cnet.com, Amazon is adding an extra fee due to fuel and inflation:

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-...sellers-5-fuel-and-inflation-fee-reports-say/

That's pretty hefty! Inflation must be hitting them hard. All the more reason to choose items that aren't third party. I guess Amazon Basics stuff maybe?

Sherwin Williams did this last year for "supply chain costs". I would think they'd be better off just doing it and just not bring undo negative attention to themselves. Unless this is a ploy to bring sales forward to boost quarterly sales. Will people really notice 5% increase on a $10 product?

 

[friar1610]

We get three regular streams of income each month: my pension and SS x 2. They get a COLA adjustment most years. So far (about 19 years) we’ve lived well on the pension and banked most/all of the SS each month. If we have a particularly big expense or, say, a European trip planned, we dip into the excess we’ve banked. So, although our expenses have likely increased with inflation, the COLAs have thus far kept up with or exceeded them. We don’t hesitate to spend for things we value (such as travel or gifts to our kids/grandkids) but otherwise live quite modestly.

Bottom line: we don’t consciously adjust for inflation but the COLAs sorta do it for us.

 

[jollystomper]

We do not budget on individual items. We track cash flow. As long as our monthly net outflows are less that what we planned for, we are doing okay. Even with the current inflation our outflows are still well below what we modeled.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Frank has been a ham radio operator for over half a century, so he has plenty of equipment to keep him occupied. I have a big "backlog" of video games that I bought and never got around to playing as much as I might like.

When we were first out of college and totally broke, I became very aware of entertainment that has very low variable costs. One time cost might be punchy but then you can hours and hours of enjoyment:

Low variable cost:
Video games -- particularly used
Bike riding/hiking
Movie subscriptions
Reading
Board games

High variable cost:
Movies in the theatre
Skiing
Golf
Boats

Inflation is likely going to trigger a lot of people to consider economics substitutes...which of course is part of how inflation gets corrected.

Spring of 2023 might be an awesome time to pick up a used boat!

If I might suggest a high fixed/low variable cost modern enjoyment: grab a Meta VR headset. I've lost count of how many hours I've spent playing Onward and various zombie killing games with my family. Great exercise apps too.

Yesterday I bought up a VR strategy game for £15. If its bad, I will return it. If its good I suspect my entertainment cost will be <50p per hour. Perhaps much less depending on replayability.

 

[Magus]

Inflation may be going up on almost everything, but I did notice appliance prices are finally coming down from the pandemic pricing. The stove I've been looking at since 2019 is finally just $100 more than it was pre-pandemic.. I stopped looking at it for awhile as they jumped $500+ in price and I just wasn't willing to pay up. As an added bonus Lowe's has 10% of their gift card at one the rebate sites I frequent which wipes that $100 out.

THat's good to hear and makes sense. I had a new tenant that was able to order the appliances they wanted and have them delivered the next day a couple weeks ago - the last time I was in the market for appliances, the lead time was at a minimum several weeks and in many cases months for delivery.

 

[Chuckanut]

Inflation is likely going to trigger a lot of people to consider economics substitutes

+1

 

[Fermion]

Lumber dropped a buck on 2x6x8 framing...still up way more than pre pandemic but I think these 5%+ interest rates are waking people up to paying $1m for a starter home.

 

[GenXguy]

Inflation is likely going to trigger a lot of people to consider economics substitutes...which of course is part of how inflation gets corrected.

Inflation isn't new, but it's a lot higher these past couple years than it had been in previous years.

But, I was already making frugal choices, like no longer buying steak and going with lower cost alternatives before the pandemic ever hit, and using low cost entertainment (like biking, movies at home, reading going back years, never traveling, driving an old car. So inflation is hitting super hard with no where to cut, probably about 20% for me, mostly due to such a large increase in building materials and home maintenance related costs over the last couple years. Just one example: one of my very recent furnace repairs went up 50% over 2 years. And some building materials have gone up much more than that over the last couple years. In the meantime, my total investments/savings are worth about 20% less in terms of buying power than these same $$$ would have been worth a couple years ago, so it's a double whammy.

Despite what you hear in the media and from various politicians about prices coming back down, even if inflation eventually drops to 2 to 3% in a few years, that does NOT mean that prices will drop on average. On average, prices will continue going up, just not as quickly as they have been these days. Which means, even when inflation gets "corrected", prices will continue to go higher and higher for most things.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Yesterday I bought up a VR strategy game for £15. If its bad, I will return it. If its good I suspect my entertainment cost will be <50p per hour. Perhaps much less depending on replayability.

CRITICAL UPDATE:

Game wasn't so great. Dang.

Good concept and someone will do it again, get it right and make a load of money. £15 back in my wallet for the time being..

But I played Onward for 2 hours for free...got killed way more often than I actually helped the team though.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

On average, prices will continue going up, just not as quickly as they have been these days. Which means, even when inflation gets "corrected", prices will continue to go higher and higher for most things.

Prices are going to get higher and higher in the U.S. due to a lack of price competition among corporations. Right now many companies are enjoying record profits, so how much of prices going up is really due to supply chain and tight labor markets and how much to a lack of competition that allows them to raise prices just because they feel like it to increase profits?

I try to unplug from corporate products as much as I can like low energy and water use, Buy Nothing Group, shopping at ethnic markets, books used at library sales, music downloads free from the library, DIY nontoxic cleaning supplies, capsule wardrobe, college plays and concerts, nonprofit senior and science clubs for activities, shop at charity thrift shops, and following the science on happiness research instead or corporate advertising. Longer term we have some bigger projects planned like a heat pump, solar panels, electric car, xeriscape, and gray water system. We do what we can every year to lower our personal inflation rate.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

CRITICAL UPDATE:

Game wasn't so great. Dang.

Good concept and someone will do it again, get it right and make a load of money. £15 back in my wallet for the time being..

But I played Onward for 2 hours for free...got killed way more often than I actually helped the team though.

I think you have the right idea, though. There are many ways to have fun that don't cost a lot. Like we can buy regional and state park annual passes at senior rates for a nominal amount and that gets us free entry into probably hundreds of scenic parks for free all year. Plus the parks here have activities like paddle boats, kayak rentals, boat tours on the lakes, tide pool activities, one has mine tours, and all sorts of hikes and naturalist activities. The regional parks alone (pre-pandemic) used to have around 40 different activities each week.

 

[JoeWras]

Thanks for nothing, Dare Foods. Nice shrinkflation implementation on your Brenton crackers. "New Look!" consists of different box printing and exactly 8 less crackers. Went from a nice even 250grams to 207. That's a 17% shrinkage factor.

Bah humbug!!!!!!!!!

 

[Magus]

Prices are going to get higher and higher in the U.S. due to a lack of price competition among corporations. Right now many companies are enjoying record profits, so how much of prices going up is really due to supply chain and tight labor markets and how much to a lack of competition that allows them to raise prices just because they feel like it to increase profits?
.

Not that much - PPI (cost for producers to buy inputs) has increased 3% faster in the last 12 months than CPI (cost producers are selling for). Wages are up about the same - wages by the BLS is a bit misleading since the majority of new jobs are lower income, it pulls down the average - like for like is higher, and a lot higher for lower wages.

More competition would definitely be good for prices of course and I prefer to buy local when I can. S&P Margins have largely being driven by tech and financials. Anything consumers are buying, the production cost is going up worse. My company (we make food - won't say what kind) we've increased prices in the US by about 10% while our commodity costs - even with locking it in - is up 35% (would be more than doubled if not hedged partially), wages are up 13% and insurance is up close to 100%. Rents about the only thing not skyrocketing and thats just cause we're locked into long term leases.

 

[cyber888]

It pays to shop around. My coal tar shampoo 16oz went from $16 to $32, and found a great generic brand for $9 with better quality. Last Dec., bot DW a Skecher shoes, and I didnt buy because I still have good shoes. They were about $60s in the Skecher outlet. A few days ago I bot a great Skecker from Costco at $24.99. We also got a 7 qrt air fryer from Costco at $39, while Amazon cost $100+

 

[Amethyst]

I'm so old, I can remember when a regular supermarket box of Triscuit crackers weighed 16 ounces. I used to buy one with my allowance, and eat it all by myself.

A regular box nowadays is 8 ounces, with a "super family size" box at 12.5 ounces.

Thanks for nothing, Dare Foods. Nice shrinkflation implementation on your Brenton crackers. "New Look!" consists of different box printing and exactly 8 less crackers. Went from a nice even 250grams to 207. That's a 17% shrinkage factor.

Bah humbug!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fermion]

Go buy that half gallon of ice cream now...the container sort of looks the same, but it is 1.5 quarts.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm so old, I can remember when a regular supermarket box of Triscuit crackers weighed 16 ounces. I used to buy one with my allowance, and eat it all by myself.

A regular box nowadays is 8 ounces, with a "super family size" box at 12.5 ounces.

I don't want to pile on Dare Foods too heavily since they are one of the little guys who "try harder," and they have factories in my region, BUT man...

This is just getting downright wasteful. Dare, Nabisco, Mondelez, Frito-Lay, Lance, etc. all better look at their corporate selves in the mirror and realize they are creating waste and hurting the environment with this shrinking packaging. The amount of box end packaging doesn't change, hence the shrinking weight results in more package per product.

It seems to be the only way to get these corps' attention these days is to yell "ESG!" I hate to go there, but it is true. This shrinkflation is bad for our wallets, and bad for the environment.

 

[Chuckanut]

I was at a well known superstore store in my area. I needed a new belt so I checked out theirs offerings. Leather belts by a name brand were in the area of $28 to $40 with most above $30 each.

I found one at another store of $18, same name brand.

 

[Amethyst]

And has been, for 15 years or so. I think Walmart sells a brand that is still 1/2 gallon.

...the container sort of looks the same, but it is 1.5 quarts.

 

[Amethyst]

I don't believe manufactures shrinkflate on their own. For a big decision such as changing box size and design, they consult with (or spy on) other manufacturers, and with supermarkets and other retail outlets.

Roughly 15 years ago, our local supermarket underwent a much-ballyhooed renovation "in response to you, the customer's expressed needs."

Turned out the shelves were made much lower and closer together, to accommodate increasingly smaller package sizes from many, many manufacturers, including the ice cream makers, who'd mostly gone to 1.5 quart cartons.

Evidently The Customer had cried out for lower shelves?

I don't want to pile on Dare Foods too heavily since they are one of the little guys who "try harder," and they have factories in my region, BUT man...

This is just getting downright wasteful. Dare, Nabisco, Mondelez, Frito-Lay, Lance, etc. all better look at their corporate selves in the mirror and realize they are creating waste and hurting the environment with this shrinking packaging. The amount of box end packaging doesn't change, hence the shrinking weight results in more package per product.

It seems to be the only way to get these corps' attention these days is to yell "ESG!" I hate to go there, but it is true. This shrinkflation is bad for our wallets, and bad for the environment.

 

[Breedlove]

What was the rule of inflation ? It seems it was inflation will not decline until interest rates are higher then the inflation rates . So inflation 8.5% means interest must go 9% .

 

[JoeWras]

Evidently The Customer had cried out for lower shelves?

I'm also crying out to buy some swampland in Florida.

 

[Dtail]

I'm also crying out to buy some swampland in Florida.

Hey, that worked out for Walt Disney.