The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: twyacht on December 16, 2010, 06:39:55 PM
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/16/MN571GQRDL.DTL
For the first time since 2008, inflation is hitting consumers in the stomach.
Grocery prices grew by more than 1 1/2 times the overall rate of inflation this year, outpaced only by costs of transportation and medical care, according to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Economists predict that this is only the beginning. Fueled by the higher costs of wheat, sugar, corn, soybeans and energy, shoppers could see as much as a 4 percent increase at the supermarket checkout next year.
"I noticed just this month that my grocery bill for the same old stuff - cereal, eggs, milk, orange juice, peanut butter, bread - spiked $25," said Sue Perry, deputy editor of ShopSmart magazine, a nonprofit publication from Consumer Reports. "It was a bit of sticker shock."
Since November 2009, meat, poultry, fish and eggs have surged 5.8 percent in price. Dairy and related products have gone up 3.8 percent; fats and oils, 3 percent; and sugar and sweets, 1.2 percent.
While overall inflation nationwide was 1.1 percent, grocery prices went up 1.7 percent nationally
Kraft Foods Inc., one of the world's largest food producers, has already announced plans to increase its prices because of mounting ingredient costs and flagging sales. General Mills, maker of everything from flour and baking mixes to cereal and Yoplait yogurt, has said it, too, will raise some of its product prices in January. Experts said consumers can expect the same from Kellogg's and Nestle.
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Check the price of cotton, it's up over 30%, want new clothes next year? You'll pay more.
Check the price of gas lately, $3.00+ will be the new norm.....just like 10% unemployment.
Canned goods, buy one get one? Get them,
Pull out your grandmothers canning recipe's, and get those old mason jars out of the basement, attic, garage, start a garden, even in hard winter states, grow your own basil, thyme, oregano indoors. Make a makeshift greenhouse at Home Depot, plant heavy in Spring. Even those with small yards can utilize raised beds, or large pots, even bags of soil with slits cut in them.
I'm tellin ya', it's not going to get cheaper or better. This includes coffee.
There was a time when "Victory Gardens" were in many yards,,.....it's time again.