Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Invisible Inflation
Old 05-23-2004, 08:33 AM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
cute fuzzy bunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
Invisible Inflation

Anyone else catching this? I keep seeing that product prices have been stable due to low inflation. Well for starters a lot of items like gas, milk, beef and so forth appear to have gone up substantially.

But how about invisible inflation? I was looking at a six pack of guiness yesterday when I noticed that the bottles are all 11.2 oz. Not 12. When I stopped by the pet store to buy food, the cans were 13oz, not the 14 they used to be and I think they were 16oz at one point. Coffee is now sold in 12oz bags instead of 16oz.

I started thinking and looking around and LOTS of things seem to come in odd sizes and volumes now, many an oz or .1L or whatnot off of a standard measurement size.

Are we have our lunch slowly eaten without even realizing it?
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
cute fuzzy bunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Re: Invisible Inflation
Old 05-23-2004, 10:06 AM   #2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
charlie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Dallas
Posts: 1,211
Re: Invisible Inflation

I remember as a kid when a 10 cent Babe Ruth
was really BIG!! It made an unforgetable impression
the day I bought a downsized bar.

Have you also noticed how they put less in bigger
containers and design packaging to look bigger?

A pox on marketing with their optical confusion tricks.

Charlie
charlie is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Invisible Inflation
Old 05-23-2004, 02:17 PM   #3
Confused about dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3
Re: Invisible Inflation

They call that "lack of pricing power" -- companies don't have the pull to make a price increase so they shrink the container. I guess it is cheaper than advertising "New and Improved" or redesigning the package to add a handy measuring spout or whatever.
anonapersona is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Invisible Inflation
Old 05-23-2004, 04:27 PM   #4
Dryer sheet aficionado
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 33
Re: Invisible Inflation

I think Guinness has always come in a smaller bottle - they have to leave room for the little nitrogen thingee. I think you point is valid though. There is an opposite but equal problem too. Sizes / quantities that are too big. We gave up the Costco membership because 10 lb boxes of pretzels are only a savings if you can actually eat all 10 lbs before they go stale. We were wasting a lot of food that came from Costco because we simply could not finish quickly enough. Well, that and my tendencay to buy crap I didn't need in the first place
COD is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Invisible Inflation
Old 05-24-2004, 03:35 AM   #5
 
Posts: n/a
Re: Invisible Inflation

My wife buys way to much food (can't resist a bargain).
Thus a lot of it spoils or is stale before we get to it.
The freezer is full. The frig. is full. The pantry is full,
etc etc. The other day she was at a supermarket and
bought a ton of ribeyes which were on sale. Then she
asked the guy behind the counter if they had more.
He siad yes. She said' I'll take them all!" Didn't even ask how many they had. We end up with a lot of weird
stuff even I won't eat, also. Fortunately, we have 4 dogs. They end up with the old leftovers and out of date stuff.

John Galt
  Reply With Quote
Re: Invisible Inflation
Old 05-24-2004, 08:56 AM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
mickeyd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: South Texas~29N/98W Just West of Woman Hollering Creek
Posts: 6,671
Re: Invisible Inflation

Hey John Gault,

Just curious, where do you put a ton a ribeyes if your refigerator/freezer is full? Do you have to cook them up as soon as you get home and invite the block over to put on the feedbag?

I'll have mine medium-rare if it's not too much trouble.
__________________
Part-Owner of Texas

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. Groucho Marx

In dire need of: faster horses, younger woman, older whiskey, more money.
mickeyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Invisible Inflation
Old 05-24-2004, 09:04 AM   #7
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,318
Re: Invisible Inflation

I hope John's dogs aren't getting those ribeyes! I might have to come over, too!
__________________
ER for 10 years; living off 4.3% of savings (and a few book royalties ;-)
ESRBob is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Inflation and market performance Rich_by_the_Bay FIRECalc support 6 07-08-2006 05:56 AM
Panama Inflation Arif FIRE and Money 7 04-19-2006 07:39 AM
Invisible Inflation continues cute fuzzy bunny FIRE and Money 92 02-18-2006 01:07 PM
Go with TIPs or am I crazy? Mister Bill FIRE and Money 147 06-14-2005 09:25 AM
Retiree Inflation Rate? mccl FIRE and Money 4 05-13-2004 07:51 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:56 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.