I think there are not only more than 50 times as many products, but there are even more stores. You have more gas stations, a different independent Walmart on every street, local grocers, dollar...
Third, there are more products than ever. There are 50 times as many products at a grocery store than 80 years ago.
I think there are not only more than 50 times as many products, but there are even more stores. You have more gas stations, a different independent Walmart on every street, local grocers, dollar stores, and more.
I know that one store in my town has cheaper, better quality, bread than the others while the others may have cheaper overall produce. There are several factors, but I think this will play a large role.
Obligatory I’d also like to add in that there’s massive product differentiation these days, with store brand, national brands, foreign brands (now easily accessible), local and regional brands,...
Obligatory
It's one banana, Michael. What could it cost, $10?
I’d also like to add in that there’s massive product differentiation these days, with store brand, national brands, foreign brands (now easily accessible), local and regional brands, small artisanal brands, and so on — all with their mid market, upmarket, organic, and other variants and tiers.
Today at the store I saw single 12 oz. bottles of ginger beer being sold for $6 each.
I feel that $6 should buy either a dozen cans of cheap corn syrup-based ginger beer or a pack of four bottles of nice ginger beer. But a single bottle of ginger beer? My world of prices is spinning.
Interestingly the first thought that came to my mind didn't show up here. The big difference between how I shop and how my parents and grandparents shopped, at least in my mind, is that I never...
Interestingly the first thought that came to my mind didn't show up here. The big difference between how I shop and how my parents and grandparents shopped, at least in my mind, is that I never carry cash. When I grocery shop I don't try to fit my shopping into an arbitrarily lower budget of what's in my pocket at the moment, so I don't need to keep an accurate running total as I add products to the basket. Instead I just get the items I know I'm low on without paying too much attention to individual prices.
I have no idea what my yogurt currently costs. I may price-check it occasionally against other brands, but then promptly forget the individual numbers. I need four yogurts, I just grab four. My food budget pretty much always averages out month-to-month around the same, so I don't bother optimizing it on any individual trip.
I suspect that's more a function of your income than it is your credit card. It'd be easy enough for your grandparents to always have several hundred dollars in cash, and get the same effect.
I suspect that's more a function of your income than it is your credit card. It'd be easy enough for your grandparents to always have several hundred dollars in cash, and get the same effect.
That's probably the case, though I do make less than my parents adjusted for inflation. I can't imagine my parents or grandparents carrying more than $100 on them at any given time. When I went...
That's probably the case, though I do make less than my parents adjusted for inflation. I can't imagine my parents or grandparents carrying more than $100 on them at any given time. When I went shopping my with grandmother, she never carried more than $40 or $50 because you might get mugged. For where we lived that seemed silly, but she was pretty committed to it, so I have to assume that it was a real danger to her and her family at some point. I have to laugh at myself sometimes because I'll go and take $100 out of the ATM and, to this day, feel an irrational itch to get it home and put away where it's safe. I just remember shopping trips as a kid I was always in charge of the pencil and notepad, keeping track of what we had in the cart and what the tax on it would be so that we didn't go over--something I absolutely don't do anymore.
Edit: I should mention they all had much more cash at home--they just didn't carry much on their person when going out. Where their finances were split between savings, cash at home, and cash on hand, mine are all unified behind a single debit card.
I think there are not only more than 50 times as many products, but there are even more stores. You have more gas stations, a different independent Walmart on every street, local grocers, dollar stores, and more.
I know that one store in my town has cheaper, better quality, bread than the others while the others may have cheaper overall produce. There are several factors, but I think this will play a large role.
Obligatory
I’d also like to add in that there’s massive product differentiation these days, with store brand, national brands, foreign brands (now easily accessible), local and regional brands, small artisanal brands, and so on — all with their mid market, upmarket, organic, and other variants and tiers.
Today at the store I saw single 12 oz. bottles of ginger beer being sold for $6 each.
I feel that $6 should buy either a dozen cans of cheap corn syrup-based ginger beer or a pack of four bottles of nice ginger beer. But a single bottle of ginger beer? My world of prices is spinning.
Interestingly the first thought that came to my mind didn't show up here. The big difference between how I shop and how my parents and grandparents shopped, at least in my mind, is that I never carry cash. When I grocery shop I don't try to fit my shopping into an arbitrarily lower budget of what's in my pocket at the moment, so I don't need to keep an accurate running total as I add products to the basket. Instead I just get the items I know I'm low on without paying too much attention to individual prices.
I have no idea what my yogurt currently costs. I may price-check it occasionally against other brands, but then promptly forget the individual numbers. I need four yogurts, I just grab four. My food budget pretty much always averages out month-to-month around the same, so I don't bother optimizing it on any individual trip.
I suspect that's more a function of your income than it is your credit card. It'd be easy enough for your grandparents to always have several hundred dollars in cash, and get the same effect.
That's probably the case, though I do make less than my parents adjusted for inflation. I can't imagine my parents or grandparents carrying more than $100 on them at any given time. When I went shopping my with grandmother, she never carried more than $40 or $50 because you might get mugged. For where we lived that seemed silly, but she was pretty committed to it, so I have to assume that it was a real danger to her and her family at some point. I have to laugh at myself sometimes because I'll go and take $100 out of the ATM and, to this day, feel an irrational itch to get it home and put away where it's safe. I just remember shopping trips as a kid I was always in charge of the pencil and notepad, keeping track of what we had in the cart and what the tax on it would be so that we didn't go over--something I absolutely don't do anymore.
Edit: I should mention they all had much more cash at home--they just didn't carry much on their person when going out. Where their finances were split between savings, cash at home, and cash on hand, mine are all unified behind a single debit card.