How are you handling rising food and energy costs?

[Kennywood]

But, they're not 'our' resources are they? The oil and gas under public US soil belong to Exxon, BP, or whoever has leased the drilling rights. Not US citizens.

Unless, are you advocating we switch to a state-owned oil and gas company as Venezuela does?

I didn't think it necessary to explain, but I will. "Our" obviously refers to domestic sources. And if we do need to tap foreign sources, I know of a good neighbor just to our north that is more than willing to work with us.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I know you didn't ask me but, I live on the east coast/Virginia. For years I've bought the Eggland's Best Eggs. I think the cheapest regular price for them was always $3.19 a dozen. They did have sale prices occasionally that made them lower. They are up to $3.99 (and I get them lower occasionally). Yes the price is higher but it's not shockingly higher.

I mean, that's a 25% increase in one year - that is a shocking raise, only it doesn't feel it b/c it's a low level price...

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I didn't think it necessary to explain, but I will. "Our" obviously refers to domestic sources. And if we do need to tap foreign sources, I know of a good neighbor just to our north that is more than willing to work with us.

How does Exxon drilling an extra bit on US soil save you or me money? Are they required to sell it within the US?

 

[TwoMisfits]

As for corporate record breaking profits, when you're money is worth less, obviously a company who does not have a "record breaking" year would be having a suboptimal one.

If company one's best ever result was $100 profit and inflation was 25% that year (which if we compute based on 70s rates, we're not gonna be far off in the food and energy industries), if they make $124 the next year, they've actually made "less" in real value than the year before. If they only make $101, they've had a less than optimal year...and if they make under $100, it's a pretty bad year...

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I didn't think it necessary to explain, but I will. "Our" obviously refers to domestic sources. And if we do need to tap foreign sources, I know of a good neighbor just to our north that is more than willing to work with us.

And, there are no national or state owned oil companies in Canada either - are you saying we could compel private Canadian companies to sell their oil specifically to us rather on the global market? How would that work?

Also, if Canada can help the US out with oil, why do they have to import oil from the US? USA is the largest supplier for imported crude oil to Canada.

 

[TwoMisfits]

And, there are no national or state owned oil companies in Canada either - are you saying we could compel private Canadian companies to sell their oil specifically to us rather on the global market? How would that work?

Ummmm...the US had crude oil export bans before from 1975-2015...

So, rather easily...at least for us...

 

[lowlight]

I find it hard to believe that some are not noticing drastic price increases, short of the stuff you can buy from local farms, and even then the inputs have gone up drastically so the output has definitely increased in price. I have bought roughly the same things every week for the past 4 years and have every receipt saved in email (I use a cash back app that scans receipts), and I can tell you for certain that the average price of my weekly grocery has gone up from just shy of 200 to this week tipping the scales at 315. I buy my meat from a farm, my eggs from a farm, my milk was from a farm, but they had issues staying stocked and I can’t risk that with kids so I stopped, and while those have gone up less drastically, they have definitely gone up. This isn’t even taking into account that literally every thing I buy has gone up 10%+. I change my own oil, oil is way more expensive. Oil Filters are way more expensive. Water filters for my house have doubled. Cleaning supplies. I’m lucky I do shift work and can take overtime or I don’t think I’d be surviving without major life changes. If you don’t notice the price on increases, thank your lucky stars.

 

[barkley]

His SSDI is $1200. The proverbial blood from a turnip, sadly.

he gets SSDI? so he gets mediCARE correct? if so you may want to check his new (2023) evidence of coverage b/c a number of the advantage and other plans are adding or expanding OTC benefits which for some types can be used to buy a variety of food items. as an example-my disabled adult son's medicare advantage plan was giving him $50 per quarter of OTC benefits during 2022 which we could only order from with some limited online company BUT in 2023 it ups to $75 per quarter and will be a debit card he can use at walmart and other contracting retailers-if i go onto the walmart site and pull up their information on OTC eligible products it has hundreds upon hundreds of everyday groceries.

you might want to look into it-every little bit helps.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Ummmm...the US had crude oil export bans before from 1975-2015...

So, rather easily...at least for us...

That is really interesting, I never knew this, let alone it was so recent of a change.

 

[firefly_ris]

$4.99 for chicken, up a little but not much from mid 2010's.

Everyone going ballistic over egg prices and I'm scratching my head over why you're going nuts over such cheap eggs.

WNY -- chicken is up to 6.99/lb near me. I am not a single person and have 5 people to feed. Two years ago I could still find chicken on certain sale cycles at 2.00/lb.

Eggs are up from $1.79/dozen to almost $4.00/dozen. That's a jump. If I'm paying that much I'll give $3.50 to the guy with the fresh eggs.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Ummmm...the US had crude oil export bans before from 1975-2015...

So, rather easily...at least for us...

OK, so last year US imported 8.47 million barrels per day, and exported 8.54 million barrels per day. So it's very nearly balanced, the amount that is exported vs. the amount that is imported. What is gained by exporting some that was produced here and importing some that was drilled on the other side of the earth?


https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.....54 million b,gross petroleum exports in 2021.

In 2021, the United States imported about 8.47 million barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum from 73 countries. Petroleum includes crude oil, hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGLs), refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel fuel, and biofuels. Crude oil imports of about 6.11 million b/d accounted for about 72% of U.S. total gross petroleum imports in 2021, and non-crude oil petroleum accounted for about 28% of U.S. total gross petroleum imports.

In 2021, the United States exported about 8.54 million b/d of petroleum to 176 countries and 4 U.S. territories. Crude oil exports of about 2.96 million b/d accounted for 35% of total U.S. gross petroleum exports in 2021. The resulting total net petroleum imports (imports minus exports) were about -0.06 million b/d in 2021, which means that the United States was a net petroleum exporter of 0.06 million b/d in 2021.

 

[tasha99]

I've started going over the grocery store ads and buying the loss leaders, sometimes from more than one store. I get basics that aren't on sale from Winco or Walmart, because they have the cheapest every day prices in my area. We're spending less on groceries than before, but that's because I used to make my grocery trips with no concern about cost at all. Now it's a major concern, because we're making less (I'm not working) and food prices are up.

I'm also being a little more experimental in the kitchen. For example, last week, chuck roast was on sale for $3.47/pound. That's a super good price in our area, so I bought 2 and one is brining in the garage fridge to become a sort of faux corned beef "brisket." Has anyone here done that? I felt like having corned beef, but brisket was more expensive. I guess I'll know in a few more days.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I mean, that's a 25% increase in one year - that is a shocking raise, only it doesn't feel it b/c it's a low level price...

That's a good point about it not feeling like a measurable increase because it's a smaller number to begin with but none the less it is one.

We don't buy eggs too too often but using the example from the conversation, 6 of the Great Value brand was $0.81 last December, in April it was $0.84. If I were to buy it today it's $1.22. That said I'm not sure if that's a mixture of avian flu and inflation.

 

[disneyseniors]

Back to the original post, LOL:
We are a retired couple and have usually done what we want. However, now with the high prices everywhere, we have had to make adjustments.
I primarily shop at Walmart. In our town, their extra large box of Cherrios is around 4 dollars. It is 6.50 at our local family owned chain. We save a lot shopping at Walmart. I shop around because we have the time. Target is right across the street from Walmart and I shop there for certain items that I know are cheaper than anywhere else. I shop for meat and the weekly sales at our local family owned supermarket.
My daughter did a shopping comparison between Walmart, Aldi, and family owned store. she had always wante to this, so she bought only the same items at each store. She found that Aldi and Walmart were only a dollar or two difference between them. However, our family owned store was $20 to 30 dollars more than the others!!! That was a surprise to me. We always shopped there and never realized that it was so much higher than everyone else. The results were surprising to me.

The real high cost for us in is in heating. We live in a very cold climate. It can get to minus 30 or more in the winter. We have an older house with baseboard heating (which is the worst for savings), floor heat, and back up with LP propane gas stove. The floor heat doesnt work in half the house, so it's no good there. If we use it in the living room area the cost is over $100 a month more for electric than without. So we don't use floor heat anymore.
Our electric bills can run as high as 550 a month with a really cold winter. Average during a regular cold winter is around 400 a month. I don't keep the house very warm. We use back up LP alot. Our house is a "cool" house which is nice in the summer, but harder to heat in the winter. We prepay 600 gallons of LP in the fall and still run out by March, depending on how cold it is. We wear long sleeve tops and flannel shirts or sweatshirts, long pans, sox, and I even use fingerless gloves to be on the computer in the house.

That's just the way it is up here. We could go live in a warmer climate, but our kids and grandkids are up here, so here we will stay, LOL.

Our 2 weeks of summer are great though, LOL.


We have cut back on eating out. We love to eat out at least 3 times a week, but have cut back to once a week, which helps. Sorry for this long post, and I feel sorry that so many have to suffer with these increased costs. It's unavoidable to not have warmth, or sufficient food even with higher prices. The food shelves are doing a big business now with alot of the elderly going to them.

 

[Kennywood]

And, there are no national or state owned oil companies in Canada either - are you saying we could compel private Canadian companies to sell their oil specifically to us rather on the global market? How would that work?

Also, if Canada can help the US out with oil, why do they have to import oil from the US? USA is the largest supplier for imported crude oil to Canada.

Okay....I honestly can't tell if you're joking or are deliberately trying to take what I say out of context. Really....I can't tell.

I stated that our neighbor to the north would be willing to work with us. I'm not sure how, from that statement, you inferred I was in favor of compelling anyone to sell their oil to us.

 

[FQLover]

@barkley Thanks so much for this info! I will look into that.

He is on Medicaid/Medicare. His version of MS is completely crippling. When he applied for Disability, he was approved immediately which is not common, I have been told. MRI scans don't lie.

 

[pigletto]

What do I do? I spend more money. I can't eat less food, I can't feed my kids less food. So I spend more money. The only suggestion I have, is to get out and vote this week.

While I truly admire the nod toward civic engagement, these economic pressures are being felt the world over. The entire G7 is dealing with record inflation, and it’s not specific only to the USA.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Okay....I honestly can't tell if you're joking or are deliberately trying to take what I say out of context. Really....I can't tell.

I stated that our neighbor to the north would be willing to work with us. I'm not sure how, from that statement, you inferred I was in favor of compelling anyone to sell their oil to us.

Uh, neither? I guess what exactly do you mean by the statement that Canada 'would be willing to work with us?'

 

[mrodgers]

I find it hard to believe that some are not noticing drastic price increases, short of the stuff you can buy from local farms, and even then the inputs have gone up drastically so the output has definitely increased in price. I have bought roughly the same things every week for the past 4 years and have every receipt saved in email (I use a cash back app that scans receipts), and I can tell you for certain that the average price of my weekly grocery has gone up from just shy of 200 to this week tipping the scales at 315. I buy my meat from a farm, my eggs from a farm, my milk was from a farm, but they had issues staying stocked and I can’t risk that with kids so I stopped, and while those have gone up less drastically, they have definitely gone up. This isn’t even taking into account that literally every thing I buy has gone up 10%+. I change my own oil, oil is way more expensive. Oil Filters are way more expensive. Water filters for my house have doubled. Cleaning supplies. I’m lucky I do shift work and can take overtime or I don’t think I’d be surviving without major life changes. If you don’t notice the price on increases, thank your lucky stars.

But I don't feel so lucky my prices (food) haven't risen much, but instead I've been paying these prices for the last 10-15 years rather than over the course of the past 2 years.

My $700/month vs. $300/month heating bill on the other hand... Or my $190 electric bill vs. my old $80 bill... Or my also 37% rent increase from being bought out by a faceless corporation... Just those 3 things I need another $3/hour to cover for the year.

 

[mrodgers]

I'm also being a little more experimental in the kitchen. For example, last week, chuck roast was on sale for $3.47/pound. That's a super good price in our area, so I bought 2 and one is brining in the garage fridge to become a sort of faux corned beef "brisket." Has anyone here done that? I felt like having corned beef, but brisket was more expensive. I guess I'll know in a few more days.

Don't know about corned beef as I'm not a fan, but will tell you that a chuck roast will come out of the smoker almost exactly like a smoked brisket. The chuck is known as the poor man's brisket in the BBQ world. It was phenomenal and I have another one in the freezer waiting for time to cook for 10 hours or so.

And that price for chuck roast I would feel like I was stealing it, LOL. No one believes my prices, but chuck roast was on sale last week at $7.99.