Are You Better Off Now?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Than 4 years ago? Reagan's a propos question..

 

For the first time in 20 years, I gotta say "No" and this

is why.

[lI1|1!]

[billcoe]

YES

[sexual_chocolate]

Than 4 years ago? Reagan's a propos question..

 

For the first time in 20 years, I gotta say "No" and this

is why.

 

how much driving do you do, and how many mouths do you feed?

 

let's say one drives their prius 20 miles a day 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month. that's 560 miles a month, and around 10 gallons of fuel. so with fuel going from $2 a gallon to $4 a gallon, one's monthly fuel bill goes from $20 a month to $40 a month, just a $20 monthly increase.

 

with food, the average increase across the food board has been what, around 10%? if an average person spent $200 a month 4 years ago, and now spends $220, that's also a $20 a month increase.

 

This totals $40 a month in increased food and fuel expenditures. Not that bad, really.

 

Now one might be encountering lower or stagnant pay, thanks to the republicrats, and that would magnify the sting.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

I have seen a price crunch in groceries and gas. More like $200-300 per month.

[sexual_chocolate]

jeez, that's a lot of driving and eating.

 

restrict their diets, and grow your own food.

[Fairweather]

Yes.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

jeez, that's a lot of driving and eating.

 

restrict their diets, and grow your own food.

 

I cut out driving to work, carpool more to TH's, etc. Look, it's no fantasy - there is a price crunch for the basic living expenses. Gas, water, and electrical are higher too.

[chucK]

Food prices up 10% in four years?!

 

I'd say it's closer to 100%.

 

For a family of four that adds up. So do the gas prices, what with all the ferrying around you gotta do for the younguns. Prius sounds nice, but less than one fillup per month? You obviously have a different lifestyle than many.

[sexual_chocolate]

Food prices up 10% in four years?!

 

I'd say it's closer to 100%.

 

For a family of four that adds up. So do the gas prices, what with all the ferrying around you gotta do for the younguns. Prius sounds nice, but less than one fillup per month? You obviously have a different lifestyle than many.

 

100% on food price increase? lemme guess: you went from shopping at albertson's to shopping at whole foods?

 

plus, i wasn't speaking from my own experiences. my gas bill has gone up to about 200 a month, but over half of that is business-related. i do want to get an electric car though, maybe the zenn....

 

and food: i just don't pay attention. seems like the produce i buy (organic) is close to what it was a few years ago....along with everything else at pcc and WF. mebbe i'm wrong though....

[chucK]

I guess with all my edits I forgot the mandatory, "we're not talking whole foods here!" disclaimer. Safeway, cheaper than QFC, that's where we go. Same damn loaf of bread we buy has increased over the last couple of years from 1.29 to 2.39. Beer! That's gone from ~$5 a six of micros to $5 a six of Bud. Ouch.

 

I'd say our food bill has probably gone up 100% in four years, but there's lots of stuff that factors in to that like growing kids, and switching to some organic stuff. But I still stick to my carefully worded claim that the increase is "closer to 100%" than 10%.

 

You know one thing that hasn't gone up in 10 years? Rock gym entrance fee. It's been $15 as long as I can remember. Oh...and computers and cheap shit neon plastic toys.

[Fairweather]

I guess with all my edits I forgot the mandatory, "we're not talking whole foods here!" disclaimer. Safeway, cheaper than QFC, that's where we go. Same damn loaf of bread we buy has increased over the last couple of years from 1.29 to 2.39. Beer! That's gone from ~$5 a six of micros to $5 a six of Bud. Ouch.

 

I'd say our food bill has probably gone up 100% in four years, but there's lots of stuff that factors in to that like growing kids, and switching to some organic stuff. But I still stick to my carefully worded claim that the increase is "closer to 100%" than 10%.

 

 

Think biofuels and corn prices.

[JosephH]

Am I personally better off? Sure, does that mean most folks or the country is? In no way. The average American has taken it in the shorts economically again and again for this administration. That's why pay day loan places are now as common as dandelions. Add the subprime, credit card, and student loan scandals to the mix and you've f#cked most folks. Then throw in gutted agencies and eroded constitutional, environmental, consumer, banking, and insurance protections and it pretty well sums things up.

 

And are you more secure? Definitely not - domestically you are no more secure than on 9/10 and foreign security is now a disaster and our military savaged. Overall security on every front is far worse than it was before 9/11. So sorry, but those are some pretty short-sighted and self-interested yes's from where I sit. I personally would rather not see a sequel to these felons and traitors any time soon.

[foraker]

Think biofuels and corn prices.

 

Rather, think increased demand for grain and grain-fed meat from by China and India as they are definitely better off now.

[G-spotter]

Higher prices encourage conservation.

[StevenSeagal]

Food prices up 10% in four years?!

 

I'd say it's closer to 100%.

 

For a family of four that adds up. So do the gas prices, what with all the ferrying around you gotta do for the younguns. Prius sounds nice, but less than one fillup per month? You obviously have a different lifestyle than many.

 

100% on food price increase? lemme guess: you went from shopping at albertson's to shopping at whole foods?

 

plus, i wasn't speaking from my own experiences. my gas bill has gone up to about 200 a month, but over half of that is business-related. i do want to get an electric car though, maybe the zenn....

 

and food: i just don't pay attention. seems like the produce i buy (organic) is close to what it was a few years ago....along with everything else at pcc and WF. mebbe i'm wrong though....

 

Here's a very good article I read back in December about food price increases:

 

Food Price Increase

 

 

The Economist's food-price index is higher today than at any time since it was created in 1845 (see chart). Even in real terms, prices have jumped by 75% since 2005.

[lI1|1!]

Higher prices encourage conservation.

 

yeah but that slows the economy down, creating poverty and thus lowering the relative importance of preserving the environment. if you really want to see some environmental catastrophes look at the third world or the former soviet union.

 

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

With 60% of Americans in the obese category and our country producing 25% of the worlds greenhouse gases with only 5% of the world's population, I'd say that both food and gas prices have been kept artificially low through unsustainable practices for way, way too long. The prices for these commodities will and should go up as we're forced to adopt more sustainable ways of getting calories and energy, and we (us and the rest of the world) will be better off for it through improved health and a better environment.

[Fairweather]

Yes.

[catbirdseat]

I am worse off than I was under Clinton. Wages are not going up, but the cost of living is.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I guess with all my edits I forgot the mandatory, "we're not talking whole foods here!" disclaimer. Safeway, cheaper than QFC, that's where we go. Same damn loaf of bread we buy has increased over the last couple of years from 1.29 to 2.39. Beer! That's gone from ~$5 a six of micros to $5 a six of Bud. Ouch.

 

I'd say our food bill has probably gone up 100% in four years, but there's lots of stuff that factors in to that like growing kids, and switching to some organic stuff. But I still stick to my carefully worded claim that the increase is "closer to 100%" than 10%.

 

You know one thing that hasn't gone up in 10 years? Rock gym entrance fee. It's been $15 as long as I can remember. Oh...and computers and cheap shit neon plastic toys.

 

How about produce? Apples are up to like $2 a pound, and I clearly remember them being more like $1 a pound a few years ago. And I mean the ones on sale, not the most expensive, out of season ones.

 

Suddenly I feel a little like the frog whose water was turned up a few degrees until I boiled.

 

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Yes.

 

I was better off every year until this year. I peaked last year. I'm sure America's best days are ahead of her though, unlike that peanut farmer.

 

 

[sexual_chocolate]

How about produce? Apples are up to like $2 a pound, and I clearly remember them being more like $1 a pound a few years ago. And I mean the ones on sale, not the most expensive, out of season ones.

 

 

organic apples: $1.49 a pound at PCC this evening. I almost always find Org apples at PCC or Whole Foods for a buck fifty or sometimes less.

[Dechristo]

I've never known a change for the worse.

[tvashtarkatena]

I guess with all my edits I forgot the mandatory, "we're not talking whole foods here!" disclaimer. Safeway, cheaper than QFC, that's where we go. Same damn loaf of bread we buy has increased over the last couple of years from 1.29 to 2.39. Beer! That's gone from ~$5 a six of micros to $5 a six of Bud. Ouch.

 

I'd say our food bill has probably gone up 100% in four years, but there's lots of stuff that factors in to that like growing kids, and switching to some organic stuff. But I still stick to my carefully worded claim that the increase is "closer to 100%" than 10%.

 

You know one thing that hasn't gone up in 10 years? Rock gym entrance fee. It's been $15 as long as I can remember. Oh...and computers and cheap shit neon plastic toys.

 

How about produce? Apples are up to like $2 a pound, and I clearly remember them being more like $1 a pound a few years ago. And I mean the ones on sale, not the most expensive, out of season ones.

 

Suddenly I feel a little like the frog whose water was turned up a few degrees until I boiled.

 

 

You just don't know how to shop. I go to one of two produce stands in Seattle that have apples, pears, oranges etc regularly for from .49 to .79/lb. Oh, wait...you don't have produce stands like that in the burbs. Not enough population density/concentrated demand. Oh well, expect your suburban cost of living to keep going up then. We all have to live with our choices.

Edited February 28, 2008 by tvashtarkatena