How has inflation changed your quality of life?
About every six weeks, I go on a "stock the pantry" shopping trip to buy long-keeping items and non-perishables in quantity - cat food and litter, Costco, etc. After two hours of shopping yesterday, I was a little shocked to realize I'd spent half of my take-home pay on a trip that previously was about 25% less expensive. No one item had drastically increased in price - everything had just gone up that much.
[I'm also smarting because my primary care physician announced she was switching to a concierge care model, and I just made the first quarterly payment. U.S. healthcare sucks so badly that I can't take a chance on the two-year waitlists for in-network primary care M.D.s who provide 10-minute "annual exam" visits in my area.]
I'm dropping subscription services, buying cheaper conventional food instead of organic, getting generic personal care products instead of brand names and using less of them, cooking even more at home, thinking about making my own cat food, skipping buying pretty flowers for outdoors this year... and still feeling like the budget isn't going to keep stretching.
I know a great many aspects of Western lifestyles aren't sustainable, and I've tried to do my part to minimize material consumption. But there are so many expectations that you'll pay for perhaps excessive shelter (we didn't need a house the size we have, but it was what was available and affordable), have a car for work, be able to pay for services for things you don't have time, skill, or physical capacity to do yourself, and other monetary drains. I'm losing some sleep.
What are you doing to cope with exorbitant rents/mortgages, skyrocketing utility and grocery bills, extravagant medical costs, unaffordable childcare and services?
Do you feel like your quality of life has declined, due to missing luxuries, anxiety, fewer opportunities to connect with friends and family, or anything else?
Open rant here.
Between inflation and the abject horror of the job market, my family is in trouble.
Before the pandemic, I was near the top of my field in the market I serve, and we did well. Now beef is off the menu, vacations simply don't happen, and things that break around the house are replaced using circular-economy sites. We're rid of almost all our subscription services, and apart from dues at the martial arts school where I train, I spend maybe 30 bucks a week on luxuries.
My wife has been looking for work long enough that prospective employers are getting weird about it, and ageism is very much a factor. Realistically, she's in forced retirement now... and I'm likely to have to work until the end.
My partner has been out of work for almost a year and the recruiters started asking about the the gap last month. Its not great. Ageism also a factor for us too.
We’re lucky I make great money. Im saving what I can and cutting our costs but Im terrified. I never thought id be sole breadwinner, I’m a total fuckup.
Hey, give yourself credit. You feel like a total fuck up but you're obviously not. At least downgrade yourself to "partial fuck up" if you can't give yourself more grace than that (✿^‿^)
(I get it but you're doing the thing!)
I feel you - I'm not 100% of household income, but spouse is doing tipped labor in a very seasonal industry. He'll be out of work for surgery for a few months during the slow season this year. We're kind of fucked if I lose my job (and health insurance), and we're both old enough that the job market won't have any equally good options.
Dude what is up with Recruiters who do this?
I have yet to hear from a recruiter or HR person who addresses the insanity of bringing up job gaps when the American job market is a HUGE issue right now and has been for years.
These recruiters are supposed to be up to date with the job market, but seem oblivious to how bad it is for people?
When I got laid off from my dream job at Disney in 2020, I interviewed for another position with them a year later and the interviewer had the gall to ask about my job gap between May 2020 and December 2020. You mean the gap where you laid me off and the world was shut down for 6 months? What are we playing at here?!
It feels like gaslighting at this point, and I really want a recruiter or hiring manager to address this bizarre question because I'm kind of sick of these people acting like the job market isn't difficult considering how many other people are talking about it and how it's in the news.
I choose to be optimistic about it and assume recruiters ask that in order to give you a chance to fill that gap yourself somehow with something a potential boss would accept
Its already bad enough companies prefer to hire people who are already employed. Being totally out of the workforce for over a year at this point prob means you know nothing about LLMs and would need to get caught up.
Its the same issue women have when returning from maternity leave and why its so important to have protections for them to be able to leave and come back.
It's probably a good thing health-wise, but beef is off the menu much of the time. My cats also now eat a mix of what they'd usually get (Hills dental) and the still good, but more cost efficient (Prime dental) kibble.
For me, it's the savings. I have automatic withdrawals for ETFs and investments each cheque, but those numbers get squeezed more and more.
Don't remember the last time I bought red meat, but chicken is our staple once-a-week meat meal, and it's gotten expensive since the bird 'flu outbreak. Weirdly, shrimp is now the same price as chicken (yes, I still buy organic chicken - there's an antibiotic used in conventional poultry that I'm exquisitely allergic to, and it's not worth the occasional trip to the ER if I get a bad batch). If you're not too particular about how and where the shrimp is harvested. Even meat substitutes (i.e. TVP, tofu, seitan) are as costly as meat on a per-pound basis. We're eating more beans and eggs (which are still relatively cheap, easy to prep protein).
My cats get a mix of canned and dry cat food. I'm scrupulous about giving them high-quality protein (poultry and fish), which is expensive. Most dry and cheaper wet foods have excess carbohydrates for feline diets, which can cause dental problems, diabetes, and liver/kidney disease. It's gotten as costly to feed them as me, though...
I've got my cats on Ketokibble to graze and either 1/2 can of fancy feast or Costco's pate 2x a day each. It's the cheapest of the low carb option kibble that I've found (cheaper than prescription diet) and keeps my costs as low as I can while keeping the diabetic cat healthy alongside the other two.
Fancy feast and friskies pate are both incredibly low carb and cheap and the Costco pate works out comparably and they eat less of the denser kibble now that they're used to it.
It's not cheap but it's cheaper and I'm not sure it's "high quality" vs focusing on the "low/no carb" part but they're healthier for it
We have moved away from a large city and I now work 100% remotely. I lucked out and the people I work with are OK with this and our clients are no wiser as all meetings are online anyway. I am able to put in more hours, which means my revenue went up a tiny bit and our costs fell quite a bit. We pay zero rent as we are living in my wife's parents house now. It's a separate unit, but they are very nice and we cook and eat together quite often. After many years in a city we are finally saving something every month.
This would be impossible were I not a software developer. Regional job offers I might be forced to accept otherwise, typically in manufacturing, would net me not even half of what I am making now. I have no idea how people get by here. Well, that's a lie. That are frugal and do not rent. Municipal apartment rents are very low here, too. When I look back how much have I been paying for all those years... Landlords truly are the scourge of our times.
Dude, rent was expensive because you were in a big city and it's cheaper now because you're in a rural area.
No, rent in big city was expensive because the neoliberal cultists have sold all municipal apartments away (as well as municipal water and other assets) and proceeded to build zero new ones. Then proceeded to allow foreigners park their wealth by buying up the housing supply (not even bothering to rent and definitely not live in it), and then to make it extra insane allowed landlords to chain mortgages to buy up property and use half of it for Airbnb. And then allowed landlords to keep increasing prices at 2× wage growth levels for over a decade. And then watched developers postpone projects every time prices have stabilized.
This was a clear failure of governance, not a natural phenomenon.
And ironically, it's also part of the reason that the "cheap" rural areas also saw huge cost of living increases over the last 6 years. Highly paid folks from expensive areas flocking to the "cheap" areas and driving up prices.
[mockingly] but landlords provide housing to many who can't otherwise afford it [Mockingly]
No they don't. Land is originally free to live on, ownership is one tier of insanity, with landlording a second shaky tier built atop. It's a more evil practice than usury.
But yes, working remotely is a cheat code that allow some privileged few to still build modest wealth this day and age.
When land was free, someone bigger and stronger could (and did) come along and kick you out. Ownership is what prevents that.
In many parts of rural Africa all the land is still owned by local kings (tribal chiefs) and the people who live there are just borrowing it. The system does not work better, let me tell you.
Setting aside the wild world of squatting, before, it was physical size and prowess, but now those with financial size and prowess can still take it from you...
By buying it if you choose to sell, lol. A little different.
By redlining you away from ever having it. By making agreements with the city and the city using eminent domain to take it. By financially pressuring you and harassing you and threatening you. By tricking your grandma into a disadvantageous reverse mortgage. By being able to pay "cash" on a deal and beat you to it
It is possible not to kill each other over land and to shift things in favor of the average person. Owning land is not the original paradigm, if there can be said to be a singular one rather than dozens/hundreds etc. Either way we can do better now.
The folks on San Juan Hill who were displaced for the Lincoln Center may disagree.
Or the residents of New London who were kicked out of home via Eminent Domain for a 'economic development' project that was "suspiciously favorable to Pfizer" (Justice Thomas' words) and wound up never materializing.
Or, more broadly, the financial institutions who rig the economy so that they privatize the gains and socialize the losses (2008 bailouts) and use predatory lending, robo-signing, and aggressive foreclosure practices to apply even more leverage against home owners, then swoop in and grab the property at a discount.
Yes, I am very familiar with the New London study. It's a good example.
Obviously it happens, right? But the situation is still not remotely comparable to how things were before -- even under feudalism, to say nothing of pre-society.
Still, you raise a good point. I was wrong to imply that it's only ever voluntary.
Which is incidentally how most of the current owners got it. By murdering and ousting the prior owners whenever they saw fit.
Land is only owned insofar that you can defend it.
In olden times, it was physical. Now it's financial with mercenaries for enforcement.
Historically true, but how many people who acquired land by force do you suppose are still alive in the US? Rather than “most” I’d expect hardly any at this point.
Once you factor their decendents, I would.
The landowning class divvied the commons between themselves, killed anyone else who had claim on it prior, and traded it like pokemon cards, happy to have anyone who disagrees with this system be bludgeoned to death.
Might make right is still very much the name of the game.
What about when the descendants sold the property? Many houses have been sold multiple times.
The Typical U.S. Homeowner Hangs Onto Their House For 12 Years. In Los Angeles, It’s 20 Years.
Whoever owns them now has little to do with the original theft, if that’s what it was. In the suburbs, perhaps some developer divided up the land and sold it off a century ago.
Funnily enough, our landlord owns the entire block and a good portion of the next block over. She inherited it from her father, who had deep Sicilian roots. I only mention because our area had/has quite the relationship with the Italian mafia - see Jimmy Panetta - and we suspect it was likely the case here.
We had an older woman in her 70s ask us if we lived in our house and then proceeded to tell us about how her family owned it and during a sleepover on her 8th birthday a bunch of guys broke down the front door and beat her dad within an inch of his life. The had vacated the house the following morning. I'm not saying that our landlord's father used violence to acquire all the houses on our block, but hearing that story only strengthened the thought.
Also very funny, I rent a little office downtown from a 94 year old man who was born and raised in the area. The first thing he said to me when we looked at the office was "Don't worry, I'm Spanish... Not Italian! But this guy..." (points at his nephew) "His mom is Italian, so you watch out for him and deal with me!" It was all in good fun but it was clear it had been an issue. He'd stop in some times and tell stories about it.
So... yeah, definitely still an issue. Also see any large landholding in the US. El Sur Ranch is the first one that spring to mind for me.
In your ideal world, if you live on some land, and I decide that I want to live on that land, who should end up living on that land?
You have a conversation and recognize it's not reasonable to take something from someone just so you can have it. (Kids learn this lesson as toddlers.)
If you can't agree for some compelling reason you go to the recognized group of people you mutually respect because you're part of the same society - that could be elders or a council or whatever that looks like - and they probably tell you the same thing but either way you work it out without there ever being a threat of harm or violence.
Ideal worlds can live by higher standards.
Ideal worlds also need to deal with bad actors, because that’s humanity. It’s not (usually) the majority, but it’s never zero.
This implies that the people already on the land have a right to continue existing on it, which is fine, but it’s also… ownership. Of land.
No, it doesn't imply that. The toddler using the toy at daycare doesn't own it, but it's not okay to take it away from them just so you can use it. Maybe it makes sense to share it, maybe it makes sense to pass it on, but that's why you have a conversation with said mediator group if it's pressing. Where you have to articulate why you need a thing that someone else is using. And someone isn't made homeless because of your want.
Ideal worlds don't require that, actually. They're ideal.
I think there are ways to implement similar ideas within the real world, but it requires people not to assume violence is the first and ultimate answer. Your scenario is set up with a bunch of presumptions that do not have to be true. There are people who will do evil things now from any number of angles, I don't have to prevent every single one of those for a better system to do less harm. And the societal pressure of a council and everyone else's disapproval, and the perception of harming others as not just "illegal" but "taboo" can do as much as police. IMO. Most people are motivated by those things day to day far more than laws - I don't only avoid stealing because it's illegal.
I used to think this. I'm a big Iain Banks fan, and in the culture books this is how society is governed. Shame based justice, more or less.
Lately, I've noticed that there are a lot of people out there that will blatantly and openly screw other people over and not even try to hide it. They're just completely immune to being ashamed of the harm they cause other people. Shock based influencer types, crypto/nft/AI grifter bros, the president.
I'm pretty convinced that you need strong, codified laws, and people with guns to enforce them nowadays. Even though 99.9999% of people are generally good and won't actively screw other people over, that last remainder sure can fuck a place up.
If that percentage of people will do all that anyway, and they are, even with the guns and the laws, then it doesn't sound like those solve anything either.
So if nothing else in a harm reduction sense, this probably does less harm in total.
Or we could just have one punishment, the death penalty, for everything and permanently remove anyone who does anything wrong. But SF doesn't suggest that that goes well either.
So, they have exclusive usage of it. Presumably they can also choose to allow someone else to have it.
We're just redefining ownership. People still own things, even in a utopian world where violence isn't necessary to enforce said ownership. Regardless of if the force backing the "mediator group" is a monopoly of violence, or simply society's permission to be the arbiter of "disapproval", it doesn't change the fact that entities in this world who have things have an implicit permission to continue having and using things. This is ownership.
If you're only going to engage with one sentence of a much longer conversation that discussed sharing or passing things on too, sure, you're
redefining ownershiptelling me that the thing I'm defining as different isn't actually, because you've reduced it down to something that is the same as ownership if you squint.Sure.
Regardless, the "right to use" something is different than "ownership" of something. Kids are capable of learning and understanding this at a young age. If all the toys are there for sharing, you can't all play with the same toy but will need to work out how to share the toys amongst each other. Someone can help you work it out if you can't manage it. You can't all sit on the same colored circle on the carpet, but if someone needs to sit closer to the bathroom you would probably get asked to move.
At some point we decide that because bullies exist the rest of us shouldn't bother sharing and being kind anymore. In part because our ancestors set it up so the kind, sharing people lose and we feel we have to be selfish to survive or succeed. But in part because we actively decide it's weak, foolish, naive, etc. over and over again.
But we don't have to.
Even if I have a "right to use" the place I live for my entire life in a way that feels like ownership to you, but to me feels like a responsibility to care for part of something that is bigger and return it cared for and better than I found it, my attitude will be different. It's no longer "my property so fuck off I'll do what I want" and that distinction matters.
I’m renting the place I currently live in. The rental agreement includes exclusive usage of the place until such time as either party decides to end the contract. Exclusive usage is not sufficiently similar that you can redefine it as ownership.
stu2b50, I have no answer. I currently "own" land that is someone else's unceeded, ancestral and traditional territories. When I have the privilege of hearing from indigenous communities, they still don't believe land should be owned and privatized and gated and sold and leased and evict people off of.
What will happen is that the strong will be merciless to the weak. But what should happen between members of an intelligent race with empathy and a consciences is something else, yet not something we have seen often.
We are speaking of two different things here:
To steelman things a bit, land is governed fairly communally in most of Somalia. It's the only extant large-scale communal system I'm familiar with (i.e. not just a kibbutz or something.) So it is possible, setting aside all the questions about how we'd shift to such a system. And to answer your question, under xeer, the clan elders decide.
But the flip side is... Xeer fucking sucks. (Opinion. Obviously.) It struggles when there's disputes between different clans in border regions. It struggles when discussing something like an individual house, rather than pasturing rights. And it doesn't work at all in multicultural and/or urban areas, which is why the somalis don't really use it in those areas.
And zooming out a bit - this is only barely relevant but it's a big hobby horse of mine - the property title might be more responsible than any other single factor for economic development. It is almost impossible to overstate how significant it is. Property titles allow the government to know who to tax, how much to tax them, and what they're taxing them on. Property titles allow entrepreneurs to obtain affordable credit to start their businesses. Property titles allow you to create durable wills so your family can live in your house after you die. They are super important.
So, yeah. I definitely don't support a reversion, but it is possible to govern land communally and there are some peoples that do it.
That's still land ownership, it's just not private land ownership. You could also argue that at least in the in-between stages of some communist regimes, that the government did own all of the land, even if as things progressed land was de facto given to various party members as private possessions. Nonetheless, some entity owns the land.
There have been human societies without the concept of land ownership, but these were smaller nomadic societies. When land's value is just to have grass on it so your animals can eat it, it's not particularly valuable - certainly long-term ownership is somewhat moot, since once the grass is depleted there's nothing to be done except wait for it regrow - and hence there wasn't a great need to have defined land ownership - ownership of livestock and loyalty of men were more of the important resources. Some, although certainly not all, native american societies were structured in this way, leading to a somewhat over-romanticization of the concept.
That kind of society, however, can only support a relatively small population density, and even then isn't going to be a life most people on the earth today would want to live.
If you really want a world where land ownership is deprioritized, then things that devalue land are the only way to it. Land ownership is solved in the world of the Matrix, since everyone is content with their pod :) maybe Meta had the right idea all along.
Well, sure. I think that's what they meant anyway, but if not that's the closest remotely realistic analogue I could think of.
Not just our times, they have been a scourge for thousands of years.
One could argue that it used to be somewhat more expensive to be a landlord in the past. Hard to evict squatters from 50km distant parcel without a car and digital cadaster.
Crassus may not have a digital cadaster or a car, but he did have a private army and sole access to a firefighting team.
At that point they still did not control 100% of land. But yeah, scourge.
Check out the history of renting in New York City, these bastards have been fucking us forever.
Not much difference. The only thing I’ve really done less of is drink. Cocktails are like $22, beers on tap are at least $13. Not that I completely abstain but for casual meals I usually skip a drink these days, which is probably better healthwise anyway.
Everything else is about the same.
This can explain when alcohol sales are down in the US. Not Just at bars but in general it's expensive. ETA: I was at a street fair this weekend, the kind with zeppole and taco stands. There was more than one card table and booth with bottles of whiskey, and only whiskey, being sold. They didn't seem to have any buyers.
This is true. Spouse picks up occasional work at a boutique wine shop with an avid clientele, and the tariffs have had a major impact even before the current bout of inflation. Prices jumped 25% to 50% depending on the country of origin. Customers who used to buy top shelf are now buying middle/bottom tier, and fewer bottles. U.S. wines are still pricy by comparison with imports, and costs are rising here, too.
Where are these prices? Or is it normal for the US?
In LA, SF, or NYC those are normal prices. Elsewhere in the USA, less so.
NYC, although I wouldn’t say it’s all that different in other major US/CA metro areas.
Certainly less of a gap than there used to be. I'm thankful to live in a town where $7 craft beers are still a thing, sometimes $2-3 for macro stuff at dives. But it's wild to me how much prices have increased in smaller cities with no corresponding income boost. I'm shocked when I visit Rust Belt cities now -- they used to be cheap!
The big one is just not eating out all that much. I can afford to, I have the disposable income. But it's so expensive! Two years ago, I use to treat myself every Friday, at the end of the week, to some fast food. And like once a month, I'd order pizza or Chinese or Thai takeout. I don't do that anymore. I think the last time I ordered Chinese was Easter weekend, and it was like $80! And before that...sometime in the fall? Admittedly, that lasted me like 5-6 days (I don't have a problem eating the same thing over and over). But still. Is $16-18/day worth it? I think there's other food I can make at home, even if it's just frozen pizza, that's cheaper.
I still buy coffee. Not every grocery trip, but like once every 6 weeks lets say (so every 2-3 grocery trips), I'll buy some coffee. But it's pricey these days for a bag. Like $18 for 12oz (~340g) of beans. I remember when like 2yrs ago it was like ~$10/bag. I also reuse grounds; I just "refresh" the previous day's grounds with a lesser amount of fresh grounds, run it, then throw out the grounds. So I'm only brewing truly fresh coffee every other day. But even then, I don't throw out yesterday's leftover coffee. I'll microwave it and drink it, then brew the next pot. My coffee consumption hasn't dropped, but I'm definitely stretching the beans.
Since the government shutdown, where I wasn't paid for 8 weeks or so, I've gotten into the habit of spending as little as possible. I'm waiting for sales before I buy things. And I really think about if I need something or just want something. Is it really worth it? Though the downside of this is that by waiting, the price may go up down the road.
I'm saving a decent amount of money every month. I'm not living on the knife's edge, thank goodness. I survived not getting paid for two months and likely could've gone another 4-6wks (not that I wanted to) before I had to start taking drastic measures. I'm lucky my rent only went up like 2%, in exchange for a 16mo renewal. But I haven't received a COLA this year (I will get an automatic "step increase" in September that'll be worth like ~$2000 at least). And I probably won't, and I probably won't get one next year either. If I do, it'll be like 1%. Which I know is more than what lot of people get, sadly.
There are other areas I'm not pulling back, like travel. I haven't done much this year, but later in the year, it'll pick up. I try not to run the AC when I don't have to, but if it's hot, I'm running it. I don't care. I'll keep it between 76-78 (~24-26C), but I'm not gonna stew in 80F (27C) temps inside.
Though do I feel like my quality of life has changed drastically? Not really. It's probably a good thing I'm not eating out as much. At least on the fast food front. I'm still enjoy a good quality of living. I'm not having to decide between eating and shelter or something. Or paying this bill and letting this other one go late. So I guess I can't complain that much.
Inflation is extremely good thing. It basically slowly decays all debt. Without it, people have routinely had to sold themselves into slavery. The first solution to that issue was periodic debt forgiveness, e.g. when a new monarch has gotten crowned. I'd argue doing a little bit every year is smoother.
What is worrisome is that our power to negotiate fair share of produce diminishes every year. Normally when company has more expenses -- say it has to pay more for electric power -- they raise prices. Now obviously workers have more expenses, so it would follow they would ask for a rise, too.
Some employers try to argue that the worker does not deserve a rise, because they are not better at the job than they were say last year. Curiously a lot of employees find that hard to argue with. I would recommend replying: "OK. In what ways have the electric power improved since last year? Because it has gotten the raise."
So what's left then is the naked truth. Unless you can credibly threaten to withdraw your work from the employer -- much like the power company can withdraw the electric power deliveries -- you are screwed.
Either you accept that this is the reality and find others to bargain collectively with, or you stick to dreaming about meritocracy as you starve, freeze or succumb to a treatable illness. And I hear you: you cannot afford to risk getting fired. The thing is, it is going to be even worse the next year. And the one after that. And the one after that. And then you are going to have debts and maybe untreated medical problems. Every year you postpone organizing makes it harder to organize down the line.
This is why reasonable companies provide cost of living adjustment raises every year that are automatic, not related to goals or productivity or other metrics.
And that's a legacy in the private sector gifted from yes, labour unions collective bargaining.
I was randomly channel flipping (so to speak) yesterday and saw an American, live event with the stands full of attendees watching fossil fuel cars race in a circle. It made me angry that those people have time for war in the mid east and $6 gallon gasoline and time for weinemobiles drive in a circle but no time for class warfare
Inflation is more complicated than that. Keep in mind that "savings" is debt that banks and markets owe to the little people, and devaluing that debt hurts small depositors much more than large ones who've usually negotiated better payment terms. Furthermore, inflation can have the perverse effect of accelerating scarcities because people are better off buying now instead of deferring purchases that might be much more expensive in future.
There are places in the world that have experienced deflation, and it's not pretty. As much as I dislike seeing prices go up, moderate inflation is much better.
But you are correct that cash deposited in the bank loses value. That's what the current inflation policy is designed to do, with the intent that you will do something useful with your money, like invest it. My personal preference is a simple ⅓/⅔ bond/stock portfolio. Or, if you're a little guy and you would like risk-free return to match inflation, buy some I-bonds.
If you save money, you are owed that much work by people being taxed in that money. At least if you believe in MMT, which would be a good idea to if you want to actually talk policy. If you purchase company shares, you are owed dividends and you are betting somebody will purchase those shared from you down the line, typically.
I don't think markets or banks owe you anything.
Also: "Little People"
If it’s a mild and semi-predictable inflation then I agree that it’s not so bad, but that’s not what we’ve been seeing since the pandemic. Also, other countries have it far worse.
My wife and I don't eat out much, like special occasions only, and when we do we do it at restaurants we know we'll enjoy and feel happy spending the money we did. Pre-Covid we both made less money and exploring restaurants and bars was something that made us both happy, for both the good and mediocre evening. It was fun and exciting. Now everything costs so much money that unless we had a nice night out, it just doesn't seem worth it. Honestly, unless we had a really nice night out it doesn't seem worth it. We also noticed that the low end restaurant prices have like doubled, while the high end restaurants have gone up maybe 10%. High end feels worth it, low end not so much.
We're also effectively done with take out. No more cold food for the price of an expensive date night. When you could get a good Chinese or Thai for about $10-15 each it made sense. Now that it's $60+ for dinner you can forget about it. And absolutely no delivery. Who can pay $80 for a mediocre, tepid dinner. I'd rather grab the mac and cheese at that point. Pizza might be the only thing we ever do takeout with now and even that is when we're feeling like we need a break but want something a bit... more.
I've also been more selective at the farmers market. It used to be my happy splurge. It goes directly to the farmers, get's you really fresh produce, allows you to pick amoungst a crazy variety of produce, and you know where each and every bite comes from. But these days prices have also started to climb there. I still indulge, but everything I get I make sure to eat within 4 days to fully take advantage of the premium I'm paying.
Currently all "luxury" foods not gotten at the farmers market are gotten at Costco or Gross-Out. As others have mentioned Costco's prices are also rising, so I'm not going so crazy on the cheese anymore. Treating it more like an indulgence than an expectation. Even things like cereal I refuse to buy from our local grocery store. $9 for a box of off brand raisin brand, are you joking?!?!? Rice Crispies at $10!!! We wait to see what comes up at Grocery Outlet and just buy a bunch of boxes when it's what we like. The orange halloween rice crispies were a bit weird to look at, but for $2.50 a box I couldn't say no!
Lastly, gas prices have really shifted how I'm thinking about activities. I like to mountain bike and while I think of it as a cheap hobby once you have the gear - so long as you can tool on the bike yourself - the gas to get out to fun locations is getting harder to swallow. If I stay local, like within 15 miles, it's a pretty reasonably priced trip, like $5-10. But if I want to do a nice big weekend ride with friends at a really quality location it'll usually cost $35-40 round trip so it's much more of a consideration.
All to say, yeah inflation has us rethinking lots of things.
I'm with you on a lot of this, but particularly the farmers market purchases. Even at the higher price, it feels good to buy from my local farmers market, but now I skip weeks and buy less when I go because the rest of my expenses are also higher.
Of all the ways I look to save, this one makes me feel particularly bad, because food resiliency is so important.
I live in farm country, and it's advantageous in so many ways to use the farmer's market - freshness, better-tasting varieties than the ones bred for long shipping/storage, lower environmental impact, making community connections, supporting sustainable farming and local small businesses, trustworthy organic foods...
And yet I haven't been going lately because the prices are just painful and the seasonal selection isn't great right now. I can get twice as much conventional grocery store produce for the farmer's market price, and a much wider range of (usually imported) products. I don't want the farmer's market to be a "luxury", but it is.
I'm fortunate that it hasn't affected me too much but I have noticed the price increases. Groceries are about 20% more expensive for me weekly, gas for my car is also about 20% more expensive (though I drive infrequently), eating out hasn't gotten much more expensive oddly enough, and most other experiences are roughly the same too. My rent is quite expensive, but I feel lucky that my landlord didn't increase my rent when my lease ended earlier this year and I went month-to-month. My utilities are roughly the same too. My utility company had a big press release earlier in the year bragging about lowering costs so I assume any increases due to inflation and the Iran War have just offset those decreases.
I'm in one of the most expensive electricity regions in the country... except that my city has its own electric power cooperative, largely based on renewables. No price spikes yet, and we're using my electric vehicle for most short trips. It's wonderful not to have to worry about that particular utility bill.
Not much, mostly just different numbers in the budgeting spreadsheet. My household's income has gone up enough to compensate for the inflation of the past few years. Sometimes I get a bit of sticker shock when buying something I haven't bought in a while, but money is for spending, so as long as it fits in the budget, it is what it is. So, maybe the impact is that despite a few promotions at work for both earners, we don't feel that much richer.
From inflation specifically? Honestly nothing has really changed.
I’m just poor because I have a shitty teaching job that’s basically just part time. Last Friday I was offered a summer camp class from the company I work with which would have been huge because it meant three hour classes every weekday for two weeks. They told me they would let me know when they figured out schedules. Today was supposed to be the first day but it’s been radio silence.
The thing about money is that the past few weeks I’ve been putting myself out and socializing with locals (which is a major lifestyle change that has been very fulfilling), and without fail everyone I have been able to meet up with has been either very poor or unemployed. To be fair this might be selection bias because my schedule means I’m available mostly during the times people are working, but it’s still concerning.
In reality I am just really poor right now from poor financial decisions. We keep partying and even though I am not spending a lot of money at each thing I am still spending money. On top of that I owe money for my university classes and haven’t been able to register because of it.
Food
The Beyond brand not-meat cost more than ground animal meat so I don't buy that a lot either. The family won't eat the different types of textured veg protein I bought so that was ~$60 wasted, which was my fault.
Vegetables are expensive and I'm glad we still have frozen options at reasonable prices. I'm not a good enough gardener that we get returns on initial costs; thank goodness for local farmers .
Click to expand animal meat comment.
I was shocked to see $80/kg steak at the local grocery the other day. Even at half off (to be eaten day of) that was a no for me, dawg. Turkey's can still be ocassiaonlly purchased for frighteningly low amount of money : it's a lot of meat and scraps for broth. The other thing I've discovered is chicken necks for broth - better skin and bone and muscle ratio than feet or knees, unless one was aiming for the cartilage and collagen.I will definitely be fishing and foraging more this summer to freeze.
Housing
The plan to move closer to an airport and Church has been put off for yet another year. We bought the cheapest house we could find during the pandemic, with the thought that we could take our time to look for a bigger less century old home in a better location, and in 6 short years prices have easily doubled or tripled , and while there is some cooling down, I now hesitate to catch a falling knife when no jobs are safe + insane job market + no pension to back us up.
Driving
Is a necessity in my area. But now I've gotten stingy about offering to drive people. For folks who get offered rides: calculate what's fair mileage rate in your area, divide by passengers, round up to $10, and offer it. If cash is turned down, buy gift in equal value. Trust this miser, you'll get more frequent rides for longer this way.
I'm just glad I don't commute, and I feel very badly for the folks who do.
Medical
Thank goodness for universal health care + extended work benefits. We'd be entirely in trouble without, and/or we would be forgoing a lot of health services. It ain't perfect but when I hear of a dear friend in health crisis, I am never worried about them financially pulling through.
Clothing
I'm learning how to do sashiko mending (hint: do NOT use regular or DMC embroidery threads). Thrift. Quality items new purchased on seasonal clearance, but to be fair this brand has a free repair service and trade in options. Zero fash fashion items purchased new.
Other
Not purchasing more animals this year. Probably will not replace our pets when they cross the rainbow bridge eventually.
Travel, I haven't done recreationally for a while now. Going to Japan being put on backburner at least until the Taiwan China issue feels slightly more predictable. Probably propose cheaper eats options when out with friends, entree only no desserts no drinks.
I am job hugging and making sure my employer gets good value for their money. I feel like everyone is hustled out to the max already and worry if I need casual employment to bridge a sudden gap if anything would even be available. My (modest) investments are not going to look anywhere as rosy as previous years.
For the TVP that nobody will eat, my mom used it when I was a teenager, and I mostly disliked it, but I do remember that in chili, she could sub out some of the ground beef for it without it being noticeable at all.
What kind of thread are you using for the visible mending?
The theory behind sashiko is that the thread isn't purely decorative like cross stitch or black work, but meant to hold and blend into the fabric itself to reinforce the piece, not just patch. Regular cotton or acrylic thread on a spool in Western countries are too tightly woven and will tear mended portions away from the rest of the already fraying frabic. So, non glossy not DMC not regular thread, but sashiko specific thread, which is woven differently to hold and blend into and strengthen. One immediately noticable difference, one doesn't tie knots to begin and end a thread, you just weave in and the fibre itself grips. I'm using Daruma brand I got off Amazon, with no way of knowing if it's a knock off making me nervous a bit. I ordered 2 types of threads and needles and fabric pens, with everything but one of the threads looking obviously fake and made in China and cheap.
So now I'm waiting for my Olympus ones to arrive ordered directly from their english site.
Paging @RoyalHenOil : are you around and do you have advice?
Interesting. Thanks. I have a couple of bits of instructions on visible mending but they didn't include indication of not using regular thread, unless it was using embroidery thread by default and I'm just forgetting.
Ive done a lot of small mends over the decades and for the most part regular ladder stitch or a small patch goes a long long way, especially for areas that don't see a lot of movement or stretches. But for fraying frabic or larger holes I do see them tear soon after and usually not worth the time, so I'm excited to try something else
Please please please take some picture of some of your mendings to show us whats possible for us noobs!
(I could definetly look it up online, but seing yours would feel much more relatable.)
They'll be ugly noob jobs to inspire others to also try and show off their one-ups lol
But yes good reminder, I always regret not taking before after photos
Oh I'm definitely looking at the sashiko style, it just wasn't originally labeled that. I just haven't sat down and tried it yet. Sigh
Yeah you seem like you have a lot going on all the time :( mending is one of those things the rich don't need but the poor have no time for
It's a mix of that and the ADHD leading to a lot of good intentions.
Ugh did I write this comment?
I said, staring at a t-shirt project from 2 years ago.... On a pile among many others
Financially it's not really an immediate issue. I spend well below my means. I'm saving less, so I guess that in the long term I'll be working more as a result.
I'm also a bit more cynical about, work, wages and consumption. The way I interpret this is as a massive wealth transfer from the working class to the owning class. Hopefully history will recognize it as such.
I barely noticed the inflation concretely, I just save a bit less, but I know I have most things going my way: I was brought up very frugal, I live in europe (france) where we have high taxes but decent (excellent by american standards) public service (mass transit, healthcare, education) / cost of living is lower, and I earn much more than i need (I live comfortably with about 500 euros a month, which includes vacation, restaurant and home maintenance, i expect my expenses will dramatically increase when we have kids).
I will admit to being skeptical of most people claiming to struggle, as most I met IRL who did so were being financially irresponsible or had unreasonable expectation. I find it more satisfaction inducing to compare my life to the average life even just 100 years ago (regular people, not nobility) instead of the american billionaire (I have running hot water, functionally infinite free quality entertainment, and a banana for 10 minutes of minimum wage FFS).
Do note that not all of Europe is like that. The public health system in Ireland is horrible to the point of being largely unusable unless you have one of a handful of serious diseases the system focuses on, with private insurance largely being necessary for decent care, mass transit is worse than some parts of the US, anything outside of certain cities is difficult or outright dangerous for walkability, and cost of living is quite high. €500 a month would not cover a room in someone's house; we have a student currently paying twice that for a room in a shared house. And somehow, taxes still end up being high: if I recall correctly high for individuals even compared to France, which actually manages to do useful things with the money.
Curiosity: if you spend + earned the way you currently do, but suddenly have added expenses for two kids (such as child care, saving for university, and extracurricular activities, school supplies, second car, two extra bedrooms) would that put your finances into struggle territory? Sometimes, responsible frugal people have high rent, aging parents, or are saddled by health bills in America, or have student loans.
I'm not denying that people can struggle, just that i've met plenty of people who struggle yet don't complain, and plenty of people who complain but don't struggle.
(In the situation you suggest, without my spouse, yes I would start to struggle).
As an exemple, hearing people being horrified of not eating beef anymore sounds like " my buttler's buttler had to fire his buttler! ".
Now obviously this was a cherrypicked exemple, i'm sure some people here do really struggle. I just wish the diva's would stop hogging the attention.
In the end, inflation will help reduce consumption, which the planet needs. Voluntary degrowth doesn't seem very popular, inflation is the least bad alternative.
I'm in a comfortable enough position financially at the moment, but my typical savings just aren't coming naturally like they used to because of spending more on basics. I have to be much more intentional about putting aside savings regularly. At the same time, because things just keep getting more expensive, I get into debates with myself over whether to buy/do things now vs later.
I'm also feeling more anxious and tired. I had been hoping to take at least a bit of extra unpaid time off work this year to recharge, but now I'm feeling it wouldn't be wise. Betwen the chaos of a reorg, the loss of a side gig that used to be my backup plan, and a terrible job market, I'm trying to hold on to my job for now. At least until I can figure out where to land next (I posted a while ago about considering a new career direction; I'm still unsure but am poking around more actively now).
All in all, just trying to figure out what the right decisions are while managing my own tendancy to stress.
Not much in a direct way, except for the higher grocery prices. But the overall uncertainty motivated me to save even more money than before. If I was previously saving only 20% of my income, for the past 2-3 months I have been saving 50%, or even more. I don’t eat out, buy things, my hobbies mostly involve the computer, and luckily I am healthy.
Overall I can’t say that my quality of life has been seriously impacted, but that’s mostly because I try to be satisfied with little. I know that my partner was a bit frustrated with adjusting to a more frugal lifestyle, and would have had a different opinion than I some years ago.