Ok- toys are cheap, but...

[redhen]

except the factory worker wont get a pay increase. His bosses may though...

 

[Whispering Winds]

Milk is higher here too, I think Aldi's is the cheapest at $1.99 a gallon. Gas is suppose to stay below $2.50 for the next year, so let's see how that plays out. I still think the dentist (I am afraid I will misspell his name) is right about starting to stockpile. I am looking for a good upright freezer after the worse of winter is over.

 

[ranchhand]

All I can say is that this time last year we lived cheaply but comfortably on our income. The income has not gone up. We are naturally thrifty people.

This year, we are cold because we can't pay more on the heating bill, we have lessened all services and eliminated what we could, we are eating a lot more beans and rice, we are doing without a lot more than we did a year ago. DH can't even replace his contacts because by mandate he has to see an eye Dr. for another prescription and we simply do not have the money for it.

I do the finances here- I was an office manager/bookkeeper for a farm that has gone out of business because shipping costs went through the roof. So I took a long hard look at our finances, and saw that the grocery store is eating us alive. I have cut it to the bone, and it is still too high a percentage of our income just to eat!

So what to do? Grin and bear it! Make my vote count. Learn even more ways to pinch a penny until it screams. Tell Bank of America that I am NOT happy with them. (I do that daily)

But the main thing I do is bow up and say you are not going to turn me into a sheep, just going with the flow and suffering more and more. I WILL find ways to get by in a comfortable way! And keep my sense of humor, which has apparently abandoned me for a minute- need to find the darn thing........ oh, there it is, hiding in the corner!

Sorry about the soapbox rant- I guess I'll stop now!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
Uprights take up less space but are more expensive to run than chest type freezers. Also chest type freezers hold heat better if the power fails an you can open them without all your cold air falling out.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Rebel the word you are looking for is not monopoly its oligopoly. Try working that into a conversation! Yep, it is a real word widely used to refer to corporations that have gained control over both the production end and the distribution end of a product. McCormick's spices is one, they control the production of most spices you purchase and as the sole high volume distributer they are the only real avenue into the market for most producers of spice.

Of course Wal-Mart is one too, but there are many, many of them in the food chain that people have never even heard the name of!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Both are $5 words an Im short on cash.

 

[Cetawin]

It is a holiday...they are honored to jack up their prices on food because they can....I banned wal-mrt years ago for separate reasons but they BITE!

 

[mamaKate]

Quote:
Not necessarily. When people use less fuel or electricity the prices are often raised to compensate for the the lost profit.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Maybe with electricity because they have a captive consumer base but when it comes to fuel when people don't buy it the price evintualy comes down.

If everyone just bough a little less fuel they could raise prices to compensate but if alot of people parked there cars for a while the price would drop.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
Sort of off topic but related... But the fair tax folks crunched the numbers, if 10 million folks sort of skipped paying their taxes for one year it would make our government grind to a halt. Maybe that's how we should look into various boycotts to drop prices around the country.