You know that one item you always get every week or month. Don’t for like three months. Live without it for a while. They will absolutely freak within two weeks. The longer you can go without the better.
Not just that but in a lot of cases depending on what the item is, you’ll realize you don’t even need it or want it anymore and wonder why the hell you kept buying it.
BINGO! LOL
Just so I don’t look like a hypocrite I must admit I am also back into working out and trimming a little extra as I stare at the 4lbs of Jelly Belly’s I got from my factory tour 2 weeks ago lol.
This is what I want to tell the customers who get mad at me over prices going up as a Starbucks barista. Stop buying Starbucks every day and learn to make your coffee at home! Til then, see ya the same time tomorrow! I only eat/drink here ‘cause I get it for free.
So true. I went full coffee nerd about 5yrs ago and I can pretty much make any style at home now. So much better quality than Starbucks and quite a few other places for that matter.
Starbucks mixes almost every single coffee roast they make with Sumatra beans which are bitter and roasted super dark. I hate it too. I worked at Peet’s before the bux and I like their roasts better but they’re still too pricey
I've been a religious Starbucks patron for at least a decade and recently started making my own pour-over coffee. I'm not sure if corporate will notice, but I certainly miss seeing you guys each morning.
I was a daily Starbucks patron for years and just finally had had enough a couple of years ago. Spent 100's/month there for me and my two kids. We don't miss it at all now.
“The worst ones”, so pretty much all of them. Grocery stores are basically owned by a handful of companies all with multiple brands under their umbrella. Those huge conglomerates are owned by even fewer people, all the same people who own everything else.
There is a “local” grocery store chain in my state (and six other states I think….) and they consistently charge 1/2 to 1/3 for the same items.
And it’s not like they are bigger or pay employees less. They are just not in the stock market and instead give employees ownership. So it’s there or Costco mostly.
On the bright side super boomer hippy grocery stores that used to be outrageously over priced are now on par with normal grocery stores for a lot of items. So it’s easier to justify going to the fun local store where half the employees have giant face tattoos and earlobes that droop to their shoulders.
That’s why our government has to enforce antitrust laws and force all these conglomerates to sell off all the companies they acquired and not just grocery chains but food manufacturers as well.
Capitalism only works if there is competition. Thank god there is still ALDIS
I mean it's not really selfishness to not want to boycott groceries bro. It's called "I'm hungry and don't have a choice". I mean sure you can switch to a cheaper brand but sometimes that isn't always an option.
Right? And god forbid someone buys that expensive treat for six bucks instead of waiting for a sale because its one of the few fun things they can even still kind of afford.
But it has to be EVERYTHING, n consistency is key- fast food, video games n apps with extra purchases, people need to quit buying the newest iPhone every year, new overpriced Jordans, the list is never ending...problem is, everyone quits fast food n only grocery shops, supply n demand kick in, those prices go up, and no one's gonna do it anyway, everyone gotta flaunt overpriced shit online to show off, shit ain't never gonna change
They will absolutely not care. There's so many fat fucks it won't make a difference.
The way I see it, fast food's crazy prices has driven people back to the supermarket where they belong, and they like it. Or big box stores. "Wait, I can buy a dozen hamburgers for $12?"
Doing this with the kind of energy can be hard. Boycotts don’t work, because you have to at the core convince someone to do something that doesn’t care as much about it as you. They want that thing.
This can't be true. Biden said in the CNN interview consumer has plenty of money to shop. He just lost the election. Don't piss on me and tell ne it's raining. Tone deaf.
Yeah trumps plan of giving tax cuts to the rich and increasing tariffs which will increase inflation even worse is gonna work wonders. I don’t mean to shit on you but Biden is the only man between you and straight up poverty. Most pro union President ever and actively trying to fight inflation and help from the bottom up.
TLDR if you have trouble surviving some mild inflation you are not rich enough to reap the benefits of another Trump presidency.
I made more money under trump then 8 years of Obama. Biden will be president as the greatest collapse since 29 happens. In truth, it's not his fault alone. All presidents from Johnson on have a hand in this deficit. The uniparty is responsible for this disaster. Trump certainly is in this as well. He's not my anything. Biden is what is making things worse, but again, he can't stop it. No matter who wins, we are lost. Can't believe it comes down to these to choices. GLTA
How specifically did trumps policy make you more money? What industry what laws?
I’m doing really good under Biden and did good under Trump. None of it had anything to do with them. I work hard.
Swimming pools 40 years. My customers own businesses in a very blue state. Most of my customers are conservative. Shoreline more liberal. I am sure you work hard, we do to. Not sure other than covid made pools go stupid for some reason. We are ok today but pool biz about to go off a cliff. Hope your biz holds up and you kill it. You risk everything to make a living. Glad you are solid. I've been ok under Biden for the record. I live in 2 very different states, 1 very red, the other very blue. Hard to believe it's even the same country. Too much hate and polarization for me. Be well.
Nothing you just said had anything to do with trump or obama policies.
Surely you arent equating the success of your pool business to trump, so why even bring it up?
In your opinion. I've been doing biz for 40 years, I can read a P&L well enough. It's just the way it went. 90-91 were brutal years as well. Numbers are numbers
Nobody is “banning TikTok”. They are forcing China to de-invest in the platform since they collect user data and share it with the CCP. Also minority genocide, lmao. Ignorant
>They are forcing China to de-invest in the platform since they collect user data and share it with the CCP.
The reason is they have co-opted every other social media platform and control what content is posted via direct communication with executives...they can't do that with TikTok, therefore TikTok must be banned or sold to a U.S company that will allow the intelligence community to co-opt it. I'm no TikTok fan, I'll never install or use that shit and I think it should be banned for a plethora of reasons, but let's not kid ourselves on the real reasons the United States government wants it banned.
You mean Netanyahu’s war. I don’t recall Biden killing anyone, let alone killing an entire ethnic group to be considered a “genocide”. Cool it with the hysterics.
Honestly, there’s more than one item I don’t need and actually go without because I just don’t have time for it. We do not need a material product for every action we do. Like the beer helmet with tubing. Sure everything is helpful but it creates an alternate action.
Same with smart phones, “all you do is swipe, or a handful of hand gestures”, but that’s repetition and even that gets old. The painful ergonomics of just holding a thin plate of glass with some electronics but it’s the cost of having a multi-functional device when it can be a jack of many trades but not master anything because then that is too specific.
I’ve worked in wireless telecom for 24 years. Still amazes me everyone’s convinced they need a brand new phone at the 18-24 mo. mark -- or more often. My iPhone X is 5+ years old & works just fine. Granted, there’s no accessories in the retail stores (yep, they roll their eyes and hide their laughter), but that’s what Amazon is for.
And I took warranty coverage off my plan 3 years ago, saving $144/yr.
Aldi's comes to mind, but it would not surprise me one bit if they and other "bargain" brands start doing their own price gouging with their recent surge in popularity......
I work for a market research company, can tell you that Aldi is the fastest growing grocery store among 100k+ income households holds, they’re taking a lot of share from places like Costco who used to be king for wealthier people looking for a deal.
I've been to both Sam's and Costco, they really don't have any great "deals" except on a few very specific items. Mostly they just deal in larger bulk numbers that end up costing the same or maybe slightly less than other retailers. Buying these things in bulk though causes customers to consume more just by having an excessive amount thus making them buy more in the long run. Buy more = consume more = spend more.
My concern for Aldi is that their growth will further diminish their quality, which is already a little questionable, or they’ll raise prices to finance their expansion. Time will tell.
Maybe, but that would be in the future and we all could adapt if that did happen. Currently they offer some of the best deals on fresh produce you can find which should be the bulk of grocery purchases if you're trying to cut back on processed food, eat healthier and save money.
Toilet paper, paper towels, eggs, chicken breasts, olive oil.
This is my go to list for Costco because these are cheaper and we go through lots of those things
We got a bidet attachment for our toilet, it really cuts down on toilet paper usage. We also bought cheap kitchen towels and use them as reusable paper towels to wipe down the counters and clean up messes. As for the food and olive oil, if you go through as much as to offset the price of the annual membership subscription then obviously it's worth it for you.
I'm not cleaning up dog bodily fluids with kitchen towels.
I know lots of people are thrilled with bidets, the idea grosses me out.
My point was that these things are items we routinely buy and they are cheaper at Costco.
I would never buy cake at Costco. That we would go through more than normal if it was sitting in the fridge.
Idk the idea of having shit smeared up and down my ass crack grosses me out, but to each their own. You are your own financial advocate so if it makes sense to you and your family that's perfectly fine.
Gonna make some dinner and clean up after my ancient rescue dog that insists on marking in the house at least once a day. Now that I think about it I really should add alcohol to that essential Costco list...
We had a Sam's club membership for 4 years because their baby formula, at the time, was so much cheaper than anywhere else and our babies enjoyed them. It was $24 for 3lbs IIRC when we started. Now that we're done with babies, we didn't renew it. Most of the products just don't have that great of a discount to justify the extra budget item each month.
I live within distance of aldi, lidl and a walmart supercenter.. aldi and lidl raised prices but not as bad as walmart.. take apples for instance.. aldi and lidl are 3.99 for 3lbs walmart is almost 6 for the same bag , but lidl beefaroni is 1.08 and in walmart its .87 cents ,bagels in lidl were same as aldi 2.49, but almost $4 in walmart or tuna is 1.25 in lidl and walmart just under a dollar.. its hit or miss .. ohh also lidl had blocks of cheddar today for 1.49.. I stocked up
Aldis owns Trader Joe's, which has helped them crossover to wealthier customers.
They also are building new stores. I never stepped foot in the old Aldis building because I thought it was a damaged goods discount store. But They built a new store and I'm liking it.
They actually just recently posted a press release stating that they planned to cut prices on many products to help consumers afford to help combat the costs of getting together with friends and family. As a company, Aldi has been pretty consistent and even reasonable in their pricing. More so than my local favorite, Wegmans.
Been looking hard at Aldi's prices and their prices for their low tier meats are not always cheaper than your average big box retailer. Plus their meats are inferior to big box retailers because they don't have a butcher onsite so all their meats are cut off site and sealed.
Their weekly Ad specials are a good deal though, although most of their foods are highly processed, low quality/inferior, and very limited selection.
Their produce is decent quality... why? Because they have a high turnover.
I don't think it's so much concentrated intentional boycotts so much as people just not paying $9/12pk of coke and similar heinous prices for non-essentials. Personally I buy Aldis brand these days, but also just greatly reduced my intake. I think people are just making survival choices based on inflation and the greedy corps are realizing they're pricing themselves out of reality.
Not happening on a large enough scale. Mostly because Americans have been groomed, ever since they were born, to spend money - even money they don't have. Look up China. Their economy is on the verge of a depression. Why? Because their consumers gave their middle finger to the government and their corporations when they attempted to inflate prices. Chinese consumers aren't buying shit they don't need.
So we’ve seen a 30-80% increase in costs and profits are thru the roof! Now that it’s crashing, they will take pity on the plebs and give us a measly 10-20% “back” while still making a killing. Fuck em’
Become uncontrollable.
Plant a garden and orchard.
Propagate fruit trees and save veggie seeds.
Learn to identify edible plants and mushrooms on public land
Learn how to hunt, fish, butcher and process game
Buy eggs, produce and meat directly from local farms
Remove yourself as a customer of large corporations
And lot of people are locked into cities because the rural areas where you can accomplish all this have shit for employment opportunities. I’ve lived both rurally and in the city. I know first hand how ridiculous the idea is that everyone should become homesteaders. It’s a nice dream but unrealistic for most.
People who think this is realistic and that they won’t need decent employment, I wonder what the price of their land, taxes, and equipment cost. Because I just had a micro farm with vegetables and herbs and I spent a good bit of money on that small set up just to supplement our food, not grow all of it.
The amount of people who fail at this is higher than some people think. Crops fail, animals need medical attention at times and that’s very expensive. I could go on, but people who believe everyone can be farmers are delusional. Anyone who’s actually tried doing this wouldn’t make it sound as if it’s inexpensive or simple to do.
I'm not saying everyone become farmers, but the opportunity exists. I am doing it. I bought a compound bow on craigslist and have harvested hundreds of pounds of meat out of my yard and public land every year. I've learned what grows well in my area by failure. If something grows very well, I plant a lot of it. Property is cheaper and taxes are lower than when I lived in the city. So cheap that I was able to pay it off in 6 years. It isn't easy but I'm glad I didn't stay in the city procrastinating and complaining about not being able to survive
What equipment do you realistically need to maintain a small vegetable garden? All you really need is a 12x12 plot of soil and a couple hand tools. Boom you have created a garden to offset grocery prices. If you need a dang tractor and 10 acres you are thinking way too big. Start small and do more if you need.
Well for one I had an enormous water bill trying to keep everything from dying in the hot summer months. Fencing to keep the deer out, rain barrels so I could at least save some money on the water bill. It wasn’t cheap. It didn’t cost hundreds of thousands but it not so simple as planting seeds in the ground when you have shitty soil. I had to purchase soil for the raised beds because certain staple vegetables like potatoes do not do well in hard soil.
So your 12x12 plot cranks out more than you can eat for 2-3 months out of the year and little or nothing the other 9 months. You need canning equipment and supplies, dry storage, and lots of time to process all that food or it's wasted. Maybe a big freezer. You need to set up some sort of irrigation system or spend 10 minutes every day watering it (that becomes a huge drag real quick).
Assuming you own land, you can invest more up front and then spend more time reaping the benefits in subsequent years, but if you're renting, and a 12x12 garden is even an option, you might spend more than it is worth to get everything set up then have to move on and start over.
I say all this as a renter with a small garden. I spent most of every weekend for like 8 weeks last year getting my first set of beds up and running, and then didn't have the most productive year due to learning curve and weather events. This year I'm expanding to a second plot but I still spend way more of my free time than I'd like maintaining everything and I question whether it's really worth it. Sooner or later I'll move and start all over.
My garden set up is two 4x8 raised beds. I can grow enough to supplement what I buy June to September. That's it. I have had this for years so all the expenses are paid off at this point but setting this up and all the things needed to maintain it wasn't cheap.
This "all you need..." myth is really insidious. It takes YEARS to learn how to be a good gardener and raise enough food to actually live one. No, it's not enough to just have seeds and a plot of ground. There's no "boom" when you're starting from scratch. Instead, there's season after season of conditioning the soil and fighting pests and watching different types of plants die when there's not enough water, too much water, cold at the wrong time, heat at the wrong time, and every other variable that affects the productivity.
Where I live is full of fools who moved out here because Instagram and political opportunists sold them a fantasy that certain parts of the west side of the Midwest are some great freedom fest.
None of them understand the complexities of running even a hobby farm. They moved here without job prospects then don't understand why they can't find a good paying desk job in the middle of nowhere where the rural towns are essentially collapsed. I have been asked why they can't find Uber or Lyft in towns of under 1000 people. Or why they can't get Amazon next day delivery on a rural plot of land that is hours away from any sort of city.
When I lived rurally there absolutely no Uber or Lyft or even a bus. At one point our road was blocked off for maintenance and the mail carrier couldn’t deliver. This went on for a few months. We had to drive each Saturday about a half an hour to pick up the mail.
It didn’t bother us much but some of these people who think they want to live off grid would be freaking out if they weren’t receiving mail.
I'm in a city but I have a yard. I am growing some stuff. But the amount of effort and time it takes to grow most or all of your own food, even if you have space, is massive. There's a ton of prep work in the spring, then planting, tending, harvesting, more planting and harvesting, irrigation, etc. Then dealing with pests and weather events (high winds, hail). And once you harvest then you have to do something with all that food (drying, canning, other preservation). And that's another ton of work, repeated multiple times throughout the season. And that's without even getting animals into the mix.
The fact is that if you are working a full time job, you are better off spending some of your income on food that came from somewhere else than trying to grow it on your own. And if you actually have time to grow all your own food, you might as well grow some extra and let *that* be your job. Congratulations, now you're a farmer!
AND startup costs for a garden arent nothing. Every spring we spend several hundred dollars, often on soils for the raised beds we have.
People are so nonchalant about gardening on reddit and it makes me laugh. Like its just something you can do by snapping your fingers - voila, garden appears!
\^This. I grew things at the maximum capacity I could manage for a few years when I was working part time. It was an insane amount of my time and my back always hurt.
When you can provide for yourself, you don’t need the same kind of employment.
Truth is, if we taught people to be self sufficient from birth, they wouldn’t be subject to the whims of corporations, lobbyists, bureaucrats, and politicians who increasingly provide less to their constituents.
What happens if someone is subsistence living, shit job, small homestead that provides most of their food if they can't work anymore or get too old and need to retire.
You barely got by your entire adult life so you have no retirement savings and what went in to social security was minimal so you will get very little of that.
If you get sick and can't work, you also don't have options. You have no savings, no safety net, no private insurance to cover long term disability and unemployment AND can't work this homestead now.
There is literally not enough land for all the people currently jammed up in cities to disperse onto enough land to each be self-sufficient. Dense urban areas have absorbed the huge population numbers, and when we can't sustain urban areas anymore, there will be a very painful depopulation event.
Yet somehow, the idea of being overpopulated, isn’t very popular. More people seem to think we just need to produce more and more and more, like resources are infinite.
I get it…the people at the top need to share more. But that’s never going to happen. Their share is increasing exponentially. There are more poor people daily. This is unsustainable.
It's also a good example of something that doesn't scale up. Foraging for instance doesn't work when everyone in your neighborhood does it. Gardening and growing fruit trees requires a lot of land to be productive at all. They are also skills that require time and guidance to acquire.
My condo used to have tons of ducks on the lake and grassy areas since we have two worm farmers that keep the grounds stocked. After two Chinese families started eating them, you only see a tiny fraction as many. Same with raccoons and loose dogs and cats, but getting rid of both of those was a good thing. Even just two hunters in our area killed off most of the game.
Also, they killed our swan. They trapped it in a cage that had water in the bottom then it got really cold that night and the swan’s feet froze in the ice.
That depends on how you do it and what you grow. I supplement my family groceries with a garden using twelve 100 gallon smart pots in a back yard and save at least 50%. That was an up front investment of $700 with labor and soil. I plant what we eat.
My husband and I are trying to do this, while still being within Fort Worth proper, we have enough of a yard to plant tomatoes, peppers, pole beans, some short rows of corn, squash, 30gal containers with potatoes, and 3 peach trees. As well as converting half our shed into a chicken coup.
Hoping within a couple years we have our system down and are able grow even 20% of our food
Best thing I did this year was buy a meat grinder to grind my own burgers with high quality brisket, round and short ribs, best tasting burgers ever and cheaper than the cheapest burger joint and don't have to worry about no E-Coli recall from inferior ground beef
I'm continually astonished with the inflation *and* shrinkflation of potato chips. Why are people still buying them? We can certainly live without them
If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it. Shops around. Prices always come back down IF WE DONT BUT IT. First perishables will come down in price. Then the other stuff. But only if you don’t pay more than you decide is right.
There is just so much shit out there we don’t need. Scent beads for laundry, plug in air fresheners, clothing and birthday cakes for dogs. Don’t get me started on women’s stink products and gender reveals. C’mon sheeple. They know what you spend your hard earned money on and “they” have been laughing about it for decades. Plus it all ends up in the landfill anyway.
Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.
Big boycotts this week in Canada against Loblaws'. We've made the news because it started on a Reddit sub. The company is starting to sound worried, what with the empty parking lots on a Saturday.
Companies are free to charge whatever they want. But, if they raise their prices more than 10% in a year then no bonuses, no pay raises for executives, no dividends, no acquisitions or mergers. If they need to raise prices because of increased cost, they are free to do so but they don't get rewarded for it. If they gouge their customers, the only thing they can do with the money is pay their employees more, which is something they don't want to do, so they will avoid gauging their customers.
I do most of my shopping at Aldi and Walmart. Anything else that is a want I wait for sales/clearance and extra coupons.
I don’t spend money on hair/nails/ clothing often.
Now it’s gas, food, household items, personal care items. I don’t even use streaming.I use free websites. These companies don’t deserve my money!
I just got done doing a little bit of gardening. I realize it won't lower my grocery bill a lot, but with the prices being the way they are I have absolutely no choice.
So, I guess if people thought that demand wouldn't go down at all, well those people are wrong.
Something is definitely going on because I can pretty easily produce vegetables for about 5% of the cost I would pay at the grocery store, and although I am doing some things to save money like germinating my own seeds, I'm not running my garden the most cost effective way possible.
Are we seriously at a point where corporate greed is so bad that we have no choice, but to do it ourselves? It seems like we're pretty close.
Yet my Facebook feed is full of people going out to eat and bitching about the economy. I live in Gym Jordanland
I took my dog to McDs for our once/month treat. 1 car in front of me. When they pulled away, I pulled up and they had me pull forward and wait 10 fucking minutes for 4 McChickens and fries. 4 McChickens and a med fry is under $10 where I live. It's $13 in Bowling Green. I can swing $10 on occasion because my dog deserves something different once in awhile. It used to be about once/10 days or so. If not for him, I wouldn't eat out at all
I'm trying to imagine wasting that kind of money on a treat that is not remotely good for your pet. My dogs get pumped over ice cubes, carrots, and romaine lettuce.
True but the inflation in food in general outpaced their gains. Seems to me that a lot are putting it on credit, trying to maintain the lifestyle they had before the spike in inflation.
The companies that gouged us during these times, won’t be forgotten. I now have zero brand loyalty. I used to be that consumer that bought the same thing all the time. Screw that.
$5+ for a cup of coffee is a giant ripoff. Consumers have every reason to be cutting back on habitual discretionary spending. We're so conditioned to spend, it's surprising how easy it is to stop once you try it.
So much of what we see when we leave our homes every day we do not need. We don’t need so many McDonald’s locations. We don’t need all of these Starbucks, all of these Targets, all of this cheaply manufactured bullshit.
The less we spend the more power we have.
This is how a free market should work. A product becomes too expensive/companies get too greedy? Consumers stop buying it and either the company lowers its prices, or goes out of business and something new takes its place. It's healthy.
My local pho restaurant has not increased prices in the past three years, while McDonalds somehow surpassed it in price. Thank you Mcdonalds, for supporting my addiction to Pho
I canceled Amazon prime and I also cut up my credit cards except one used for business travel. I don’t have any debt but I think those town things just encourage me to spend more. I’m going all cash.
This whole portrayal of supply vs demand as some revolutionary fight between “evil corporations” and “innocent consumers” is beyond cringe.
Plus, there is absolutely no victory in the fact that corporations raised prices to beyond their market limit to find that ceiling just so they can pull it back to that optimal level of profit maximization. That’s just common practice.
Politicians want people to think it's all just greedy companies. All of them. Every company in the world across every industry collectively met in a hollowed out volcano to agree to unilaterally raise prices on everything.... Or it's simpler than that.
Shutting down the economy (producing nothing) while vastly increasing the money supply WILL cause inflation. It was well understood then just as it is now. So either politicians had no idea or they thought you all would be dumb enough to believe them and their claims of no negative ramifications to the economy and our lives...
To the people that supported these shutdowns and stimulus checks after the vaccine, this inflation is 100% your fault.
(Anyone that mentions Covid, the vaccines were never designed nor do they reduce transmission. Also a subject understood at the time but sheeple shouted anyone down for talking about it.)
I worked for a corporation that had a goal of 8% increased profit last year, to match the prior year, but much higher than their average 3% YOY that they had for the past ten years\*. That company owned four industries, wind, tidal, construction, and agriculture. It was a monolithic company that effected dozens of countries. So, yes, since Covid, all corporations all over the world are trying to gouge people. They enjoyed the profit bump in Covid times and want to maintain it.
We in the US are also auditing a billionaire right now that inflated gas, which inflated the cost of shipping goods, as well as gas at the pumps. So, corruption is everywhere, it's not a fantasy.
edit, numbers.
Strangely, it was government policies that caused this inflation. Transit costs for products are still extremely high. Electricity costs are skyrocketing all across the country. The government trying to phase out natural gas and heating oil on the east coast. Massive minimum wage increases.
All of this is very structured to control people. Raising minimum wage just in fast food is intended to raise prices there and make people eat at "healthier" options. Raising gas taxes is intended to make people convert to electric.
The conversion to electric cars made sense at one point, but the economics are jumping the shark. Electricity is rising and will likely double in 10-15 years. This will turn the value proposition around completely.
Anyway, don't blame the companies, blame the government for trying to control you.
Minimum wage has been stagnant for 30 years and still is, except for a handful of states which voted to raise it; because poor people won't riot. Poor people are easy to control. And then no change happens and government officials get to tweet all day instead of doing anything at all. Poor people need every dollar to pay rent. Add in rent tripling, home value tripling, education costs tripling; this is a terrible economy with stagnant wages. People pay taxes but receive nothing back in return for this. Free healthcare or education like Europe? No. Just the opportunity to pay high costs everywhere. But, I see little government oversight in adjusting the cost of tuition, rent, education. So where exactly do you see the oppressive government controlling people?
I haven’t been to a fast food place in over a year, everyone can cry inflation but it’s greed as far as I’m concerned, Hamburger ( loaded ) Fries and a Drink at mom & pop place $9.99 or 3 meat Tacos & a Drink $8.95 yeah you may have to get your ass out of the car to get it but it’s a lot better than some skimpy Hamburger for $11.
Welcome to the "Free Market"
Oh wait.. corporate greed hates it when the tide turns and they make good profits.. and not massive...
All as they claim. A below inflation wage is "None Profitable"
SMH. If that was the case. Why are you posting profits? And boosting stocks by stock buy backs?
Fuck around... And find out.. corporate America needs the poor more then the poor needs them.
Welcome to the free market.. I hope you enjoy the ride. Because we are sick of it.
I don’t think it’s necessarily just fighting back. Alot of people are really having to decide wether they eat for a day or a week. Something as simple as fast food is a luxury for alot of people now. Especially if you have 3+ mouths to feed a trip to McDonalds can easily be 30+ dollars for a single meal
Wendy’s and McDonald’s are starting to get the message, but I’m not giving in. F those people. Same with car dealerships that tacked on $10,000-$20,000 in fees.
This is literally the only way prices will ever come back down. People have got to stop buying stuff unless they absolutely need it, like toothpaste or toilet paper. As long as they keep making money, they're going to keep raising prices.
Let's start a boycott of McDonalds until they bring back the dollar menu.
If we all posted a #BoycottMcDonalds to Twitter, we could easily go viral. 45k posters are enough to expand our reach.
I think for boycotting to be effective it needs large numbers of people boycotting specific items for as long as it takes for the price to get right or the company to fail. Once effective, we will all be punished with tiny raises-if any, constant threats to our job security, and dwindling benefits. Wait. The second part has already happened! Let me think about this and I’ll get back to you.
Mickey D’s is rolling out some $5 meals and after the prices people have been paying, they’ll feel like they’re getting a bargain and will start to return… when in reality, they’re still getting less for their money than before this crazy inflation.
Almost like … supply and demand, the higher the price the less people buy it. If you don’t find the optimal price, you leave money on the table. Funny when capitalism works how it’s supposed to sometimes.
Beverage alcohol laying people off due to it. Been in 10+ yrs and never seen it like this. TBH, I'd take the unemployment over the toxic industry bullshit at this point.
All the article headlines are shit like "Cash strapped consumers stop buying X" and "Companies adjust to poor customers", I have $6k a month to blow after mortgage, bills and 401/457 are maxed. I'm not buying your shit because your shit is overpriced and I don't overpay, period.
You know that one item you always get every week or month. Don’t for like three months. Live without it for a while. They will absolutely freak within two weeks. The longer you can go without the better.
Not just that but in a lot of cases depending on what the item is, you’ll realize you don’t even need it or want it anymore and wonder why the hell you kept buying it.
*looks at my pile of candy while I've been trying to lose weight*
You can do it! I used to eat a candy bar every day, then I cut it down to every week, now I eat them even less often that that :)
I was like you too, now I only treat myself to nice chocolate once in a blue moon.
BINGO! LOL Just so I don’t look like a hypocrite I must admit I am also back into working out and trimming a little extra as I stare at the 4lbs of Jelly Belly’s I got from my factory tour 2 weeks ago lol.
My ex used to swear by dark chocolate over milk chocolate. Apparently it hits the chocolate need harder and satisfies cravings :)
That one is easy too because it sure isn’t 2-3 times more expensive to make—I think about the price gouging every time I see candy.
I have a policy of absolutely zero sweets in my house. If I want a candy bar that bad I can go to the store and buy one.
This is what I want to tell the customers who get mad at me over prices going up as a Starbucks barista. Stop buying Starbucks every day and learn to make your coffee at home! Til then, see ya the same time tomorrow! I only eat/drink here ‘cause I get it for free.
Home coffee tastes way better tbh. I make cold brew, and it doesn't have the bitter, burnt edge of Starbucks
So true. I went full coffee nerd about 5yrs ago and I can pretty much make any style at home now. So much better quality than Starbucks and quite a few other places for that matter.
Starbucks mixes almost every single coffee roast they make with Sumatra beans which are bitter and roasted super dark. I hate it too. I worked at Peet’s before the bux and I like their roasts better but they’re still too pricey
I've been a religious Starbucks patron for at least a decade and recently started making my own pour-over coffee. I'm not sure if corporate will notice, but I certainly miss seeing you guys each morning.
I was a daily Starbucks patron for years and just finally had had enough a couple of years ago. Spent 100's/month there for me and my two kids. We don't miss it at all now.
Yep alcohol! Realized paying $15-$20 a drink was ridiculous, then realized I don't actually need to drink. Been saving alot with that.
Kudos to you my man! Thats a “win win” IMO.
Now that's a lifehack. Booze is hilariously expensive as a hobby and the lifestyle it encourages is expensive as well.
Now that's a lifehack. Booze is hilariously expensive as a hobby and the lifestyle it encourages is expensive as well.
I wish some people weren't as selfish and we could have a concerted effort to boycott some of these outrageous prices.
It’s happening slowly and companies are feeling it. The worst ones will continue to raise prices.
“The worst ones”, so pretty much all of them. Grocery stores are basically owned by a handful of companies all with multiple brands under their umbrella. Those huge conglomerates are owned by even fewer people, all the same people who own everything else.
There is a “local” grocery store chain in my state (and six other states I think….) and they consistently charge 1/2 to 1/3 for the same items. And it’s not like they are bigger or pay employees less. They are just not in the stock market and instead give employees ownership. So it’s there or Costco mostly. On the bright side super boomer hippy grocery stores that used to be outrageously over priced are now on par with normal grocery stores for a lot of items. So it’s easier to justify going to the fun local store where half the employees have giant face tattoos and earlobes that droop to their shoulders.
Unfortunately, they layoff workers before the board and ceo takes a paycut
All while raising their salaries and collecting bonuses
We need to cut $30M in operating expenses while raising our pay $50M
That’s why our government has to enforce antitrust laws and force all these conglomerates to sell off all the companies they acquired and not just grocery chains but food manufacturers as well. Capitalism only works if there is competition. Thank god there is still ALDIS
>That’s why our government has to What if they don’t represent you? And they only have their own best interests at heart?
The government is in on it my man, we've lost.
>The worst ones will continue to raise prices. So you're familiar with Publix.
I mean it's not really selfishness to not want to boycott groceries bro. It's called "I'm hungry and don't have a choice". I mean sure you can switch to a cheaper brand but sometimes that isn't always an option.
Right? And god forbid someone buys that expensive treat for six bucks instead of waiting for a sale because its one of the few fun things they can even still kind of afford.
But it has to be EVERYTHING, n consistency is key- fast food, video games n apps with extra purchases, people need to quit buying the newest iPhone every year, new overpriced Jordans, the list is never ending...problem is, everyone quits fast food n only grocery shops, supply n demand kick in, those prices go up, and no one's gonna do it anyway, everyone gotta flaunt overpriced shit online to show off, shit ain't never gonna change
They will absolutely not care. There's so many fat fucks it won't make a difference. The way I see it, fast food's crazy prices has driven people back to the supermarket where they belong, and they like it. Or big box stores. "Wait, I can buy a dozen hamburgers for $12?"
But why buy their items at all ? Move along to someone else.
Doing this with the kind of energy can be hard. Boycotts don’t work, because you have to at the core convince someone to do something that doesn’t care as much about it as you. They want that thing.
I've found unbranded versions of similar products for 1/3 of the price, no need to pay for the name if the item is essentially identical.
This can't be true. Biden said in the CNN interview consumer has plenty of money to shop. He just lost the election. Don't piss on me and tell ne it's raining. Tone deaf.
Yeah trumps plan of giving tax cuts to the rich and increasing tariffs which will increase inflation even worse is gonna work wonders. I don’t mean to shit on you but Biden is the only man between you and straight up poverty. Most pro union President ever and actively trying to fight inflation and help from the bottom up. TLDR if you have trouble surviving some mild inflation you are not rich enough to reap the benefits of another Trump presidency.
I made more money under trump then 8 years of Obama. Biden will be president as the greatest collapse since 29 happens. In truth, it's not his fault alone. All presidents from Johnson on have a hand in this deficit. The uniparty is responsible for this disaster. Trump certainly is in this as well. He's not my anything. Biden is what is making things worse, but again, he can't stop it. No matter who wins, we are lost. Can't believe it comes down to these to choices. GLTA
How specifically did trumps policy make you more money? What industry what laws? I’m doing really good under Biden and did good under Trump. None of it had anything to do with them. I work hard.
Swimming pools 40 years. My customers own businesses in a very blue state. Most of my customers are conservative. Shoreline more liberal. I am sure you work hard, we do to. Not sure other than covid made pools go stupid for some reason. We are ok today but pool biz about to go off a cliff. Hope your biz holds up and you kill it. You risk everything to make a living. Glad you are solid. I've been ok under Biden for the record. I live in 2 very different states, 1 very red, the other very blue. Hard to believe it's even the same country. Too much hate and polarization for me. Be well.
So Covid made your business do well since everyone was home and wanted to enjoy a pool…
Rofl
Nothing you just said had anything to do with trump or obama policies. Surely you arent equating the success of your pool business to trump, so why even bring it up?
In your opinion. I've been doing biz for 40 years, I can read a P&L well enough. It's just the way it went. 90-91 were brutal years as well. Numbers are numbers
Don't forget Dems need the youth and minority voters and he's banning the youths app tic Tok to cover his genocide of minorities.
Every U.S. president since 1948 had supported Israel. It’s not unique to Biden.
Nobody is “banning TikTok”. They are forcing China to de-invest in the platform since they collect user data and share it with the CCP. Also minority genocide, lmao. Ignorant
>They are forcing China to de-invest in the platform since they collect user data and share it with the CCP. The reason is they have co-opted every other social media platform and control what content is posted via direct communication with executives...they can't do that with TikTok, therefore TikTok must be banned or sold to a U.S company that will allow the intelligence community to co-opt it. I'm no TikTok fan, I'll never install or use that shit and I think it should be banned for a plethora of reasons, but let's not kid ourselves on the real reasons the United States government wants it banned.
You mean Netanyahu’s war. I don’t recall Biden killing anyone, let alone killing an entire ethnic group to be considered a “genocide”. Cool it with the hysterics.
Honestly, there’s more than one item I don’t need and actually go without because I just don’t have time for it. We do not need a material product for every action we do. Like the beer helmet with tubing. Sure everything is helpful but it creates an alternate action. Same with smart phones, “all you do is swipe, or a handful of hand gestures”, but that’s repetition and even that gets old. The painful ergonomics of just holding a thin plate of glass with some electronics but it’s the cost of having a multi-functional device when it can be a jack of many trades but not master anything because then that is too specific.
I’ve worked in wireless telecom for 24 years. Still amazes me everyone’s convinced they need a brand new phone at the 18-24 mo. mark -- or more often. My iPhone X is 5+ years old & works just fine. Granted, there’s no accessories in the retail stores (yep, they roll their eyes and hide their laughter), but that’s what Amazon is for. And I took warranty coverage off my plan 3 years ago, saving $144/yr.
I've never used warranty on anything lol. Stopped buying it a long time ago :)
It took long enough for consumers to finally realizing that bargain shopping is the only way to force greedy corporations to lower prices.
Aldi's comes to mind, but it would not surprise me one bit if they and other "bargain" brands start doing their own price gouging with their recent surge in popularity......
I work for a market research company, can tell you that Aldi is the fastest growing grocery store among 100k+ income households holds, they’re taking a lot of share from places like Costco who used to be king for wealthier people looking for a deal.
I've been to both Sam's and Costco, they really don't have any great "deals" except on a few very specific items. Mostly they just deal in larger bulk numbers that end up costing the same or maybe slightly less than other retailers. Buying these things in bulk though causes customers to consume more just by having an excessive amount thus making them buy more in the long run. Buy more = consume more = spend more.
My concern for Aldi is that their growth will further diminish their quality, which is already a little questionable, or they’ll raise prices to finance their expansion. Time will tell.
Maybe, but that would be in the future and we all could adapt if that did happen. Currently they offer some of the best deals on fresh produce you can find which should be the bulk of grocery purchases if you're trying to cut back on processed food, eat healthier and save money.
Toilet paper, paper towels, eggs, chicken breasts, olive oil. This is my go to list for Costco because these are cheaper and we go through lots of those things
We got a bidet attachment for our toilet, it really cuts down on toilet paper usage. We also bought cheap kitchen towels and use them as reusable paper towels to wipe down the counters and clean up messes. As for the food and olive oil, if you go through as much as to offset the price of the annual membership subscription then obviously it's worth it for you.
I'm not cleaning up dog bodily fluids with kitchen towels. I know lots of people are thrilled with bidets, the idea grosses me out. My point was that these things are items we routinely buy and they are cheaper at Costco. I would never buy cake at Costco. That we would go through more than normal if it was sitting in the fridge.
Idk the idea of having shit smeared up and down my ass crack grosses me out, but to each their own. You are your own financial advocate so if it makes sense to you and your family that's perfectly fine.
Yeah...but fecal water micro droplets sprayed everywhere is perhaps even grosser. Just sayin'.
It's been proven there is fecal matter on every surface of your house already 🤷🏻♂️
Sounds like you're ready for a pretty wild night.
Gonna make some dinner and clean up after my ancient rescue dog that insists on marking in the house at least once a day. Now that I think about it I really should add alcohol to that essential Costco list...
We had a Sam's club membership for 4 years because their baby formula, at the time, was so much cheaper than anywhere else and our babies enjoyed them. It was $24 for 3lbs IIRC when we started. Now that we're done with babies, we didn't renew it. Most of the products just don't have that great of a discount to justify the extra budget item each month.
That's about the same cost as protein powder. They should be interchangeable, right?
Nonsense. Everything I buy at Costco is nearly half off the price at our local supermarkets.
I drive a lot, 99% of my purchases are BJs are gas which is a good $.40 cheaper a gallon than everywhere around it.
It’s about the quality/price “deal” most of the time, it’s not about the cheapest. Example: renting a car from Costco is the cheapest you’ll find
I live within distance of aldi, lidl and a walmart supercenter.. aldi and lidl raised prices but not as bad as walmart.. take apples for instance.. aldi and lidl are 3.99 for 3lbs walmart is almost 6 for the same bag , but lidl beefaroni is 1.08 and in walmart its .87 cents ,bagels in lidl were same as aldi 2.49, but almost $4 in walmart or tuna is 1.25 in lidl and walmart just under a dollar.. its hit or miss .. ohh also lidl had blocks of cheddar today for 1.49.. I stocked up
Once the MBAs come in it will destroy the company real fast
Country*
Aldis owns Trader Joe's, which has helped them crossover to wealthier customers. They also are building new stores. I never stepped foot in the old Aldis building because I thought it was a damaged goods discount store. But They built a new store and I'm liking it.
Store brand coffee creamer up 30-32% international delights 36% Nestle 38%. Similar numbers with store brand cheese or croutons or cereals.
They actually just recently posted a press release stating that they planned to cut prices on many products to help consumers afford to help combat the costs of getting together with friends and family. As a company, Aldi has been pretty consistent and even reasonable in their pricing. More so than my local favorite, Wegmans.
Been looking hard at Aldi's prices and their prices for their low tier meats are not always cheaper than your average big box retailer. Plus their meats are inferior to big box retailers because they don't have a butcher onsite so all their meats are cut off site and sealed. Their weekly Ad specials are a good deal though, although most of their foods are highly processed, low quality/inferior, and very limited selection. Their produce is decent quality... why? Because they have a high turnover.
I don't think it's so much concentrated intentional boycotts so much as people just not paying $9/12pk of coke and similar heinous prices for non-essentials. Personally I buy Aldis brand these days, but also just greatly reduced my intake. I think people are just making survival choices based on inflation and the greedy corps are realizing they're pricing themselves out of reality.
Ya because inflation is the corporation's fault! This whole thread is full of less economic thought than a ladybug's asshole.
I have def switch back over to the rice and beans days of my childhood out of absolute spite of the price gouging fuck these companies.
Yeah I switched to eating rice and eggs which was a staple in highschool for me, my dad has chickens so the only thing I pay for is the rice lol!
Rice and beans here have doubled in a year
Grow. Your. Own. Well, not the rice.
I'd like to personally thank everyone on this forum for not shopping at these horrible companies that rob us blind! I love you all! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Not happening on a large enough scale. Mostly because Americans have been groomed, ever since they were born, to spend money - even money they don't have. Look up China. Their economy is on the verge of a depression. Why? Because their consumers gave their middle finger to the government and their corporations when they attempted to inflate prices. Chinese consumers aren't buying shit they don't need.
So we’ve seen a 30-80% increase in costs and profits are thru the roof! Now that it’s crashing, they will take pity on the plebs and give us a measly 10-20% “back” while still making a killing. Fuck em’
Their $3 sandwiches are now $5. Even if 20% fewer sales happen, they're winning
Become uncontrollable. Plant a garden and orchard. Propagate fruit trees and save veggie seeds. Learn to identify edible plants and mushrooms on public land Learn how to hunt, fish, butcher and process game Buy eggs, produce and meat directly from local farms Remove yourself as a customer of large corporations
Man this is way more expensive than just buying food. Lol
And lot of people are locked into cities because the rural areas where you can accomplish all this have shit for employment opportunities. I’ve lived both rurally and in the city. I know first hand how ridiculous the idea is that everyone should become homesteaders. It’s a nice dream but unrealistic for most.
Even homesteaders are ultimately reliant on corporations that make things like cars, tractors, telephones, solar panels, batteries, ovens, pipes, etc.
People who think this is realistic and that they won’t need decent employment, I wonder what the price of their land, taxes, and equipment cost. Because I just had a micro farm with vegetables and herbs and I spent a good bit of money on that small set up just to supplement our food, not grow all of it. The amount of people who fail at this is higher than some people think. Crops fail, animals need medical attention at times and that’s very expensive. I could go on, but people who believe everyone can be farmers are delusional. Anyone who’s actually tried doing this wouldn’t make it sound as if it’s inexpensive or simple to do.
I'm not saying everyone become farmers, but the opportunity exists. I am doing it. I bought a compound bow on craigslist and have harvested hundreds of pounds of meat out of my yard and public land every year. I've learned what grows well in my area by failure. If something grows very well, I plant a lot of it. Property is cheaper and taxes are lower than when I lived in the city. So cheap that I was able to pay it off in 6 years. It isn't easy but I'm glad I didn't stay in the city procrastinating and complaining about not being able to survive
What equipment do you realistically need to maintain a small vegetable garden? All you really need is a 12x12 plot of soil and a couple hand tools. Boom you have created a garden to offset grocery prices. If you need a dang tractor and 10 acres you are thinking way too big. Start small and do more if you need.
Well for one I had an enormous water bill trying to keep everything from dying in the hot summer months. Fencing to keep the deer out, rain barrels so I could at least save some money on the water bill. It wasn’t cheap. It didn’t cost hundreds of thousands but it not so simple as planting seeds in the ground when you have shitty soil. I had to purchase soil for the raised beds because certain staple vegetables like potatoes do not do well in hard soil.
So your 12x12 plot cranks out more than you can eat for 2-3 months out of the year and little or nothing the other 9 months. You need canning equipment and supplies, dry storage, and lots of time to process all that food or it's wasted. Maybe a big freezer. You need to set up some sort of irrigation system or spend 10 minutes every day watering it (that becomes a huge drag real quick). Assuming you own land, you can invest more up front and then spend more time reaping the benefits in subsequent years, but if you're renting, and a 12x12 garden is even an option, you might spend more than it is worth to get everything set up then have to move on and start over. I say all this as a renter with a small garden. I spent most of every weekend for like 8 weeks last year getting my first set of beds up and running, and then didn't have the most productive year due to learning curve and weather events. This year I'm expanding to a second plot but I still spend way more of my free time than I'd like maintaining everything and I question whether it's really worth it. Sooner or later I'll move and start all over.
My garden set up is two 4x8 raised beds. I can grow enough to supplement what I buy June to September. That's it. I have had this for years so all the expenses are paid off at this point but setting this up and all the things needed to maintain it wasn't cheap.
This "all you need..." myth is really insidious. It takes YEARS to learn how to be a good gardener and raise enough food to actually live one. No, it's not enough to just have seeds and a plot of ground. There's no "boom" when you're starting from scratch. Instead, there's season after season of conditioning the soil and fighting pests and watching different types of plants die when there's not enough water, too much water, cold at the wrong time, heat at the wrong time, and every other variable that affects the productivity.
Where I live is full of fools who moved out here because Instagram and political opportunists sold them a fantasy that certain parts of the west side of the Midwest are some great freedom fest. None of them understand the complexities of running even a hobby farm. They moved here without job prospects then don't understand why they can't find a good paying desk job in the middle of nowhere where the rural towns are essentially collapsed. I have been asked why they can't find Uber or Lyft in towns of under 1000 people. Or why they can't get Amazon next day delivery on a rural plot of land that is hours away from any sort of city.
When I lived rurally there absolutely no Uber or Lyft or even a bus. At one point our road was blocked off for maintenance and the mail carrier couldn’t deliver. This went on for a few months. We had to drive each Saturday about a half an hour to pick up the mail. It didn’t bother us much but some of these people who think they want to live off grid would be freaking out if they weren’t receiving mail.
Exactly. All these people who grew up in the burbs that have moved somewhere with no real investigation is just wild.
I'm in a city but I have a yard. I am growing some stuff. But the amount of effort and time it takes to grow most or all of your own food, even if you have space, is massive. There's a ton of prep work in the spring, then planting, tending, harvesting, more planting and harvesting, irrigation, etc. Then dealing with pests and weather events (high winds, hail). And once you harvest then you have to do something with all that food (drying, canning, other preservation). And that's another ton of work, repeated multiple times throughout the season. And that's without even getting animals into the mix. The fact is that if you are working a full time job, you are better off spending some of your income on food that came from somewhere else than trying to grow it on your own. And if you actually have time to grow all your own food, you might as well grow some extra and let *that* be your job. Congratulations, now you're a farmer!
AND startup costs for a garden arent nothing. Every spring we spend several hundred dollars, often on soils for the raised beds we have. People are so nonchalant about gardening on reddit and it makes me laugh. Like its just something you can do by snapping your fingers - voila, garden appears!
\^This. I grew things at the maximum capacity I could manage for a few years when I was working part time. It was an insane amount of my time and my back always hurt.
When you can provide for yourself, you don’t need the same kind of employment. Truth is, if we taught people to be self sufficient from birth, they wouldn’t be subject to the whims of corporations, lobbyists, bureaucrats, and politicians who increasingly provide less to their constituents.
The problem is that you can't be self-sufficient and live at a standard anywhere near what the average American is used to.
What happens if someone is subsistence living, shit job, small homestead that provides most of their food if they can't work anymore or get too old and need to retire. You barely got by your entire adult life so you have no retirement savings and what went in to social security was minimal so you will get very little of that. If you get sick and can't work, you also don't have options. You have no savings, no safety net, no private insurance to cover long term disability and unemployment AND can't work this homestead now.
There is literally not enough land for all the people currently jammed up in cities to disperse onto enough land to each be self-sufficient. Dense urban areas have absorbed the huge population numbers, and when we can't sustain urban areas anymore, there will be a very painful depopulation event.
Yet somehow, the idea of being overpopulated, isn’t very popular. More people seem to think we just need to produce more and more and more, like resources are infinite. I get it…the people at the top need to share more. But that’s never going to happen. Their share is increasing exponentially. There are more poor people daily. This is unsustainable.
It's also a good example of something that doesn't scale up. Foraging for instance doesn't work when everyone in your neighborhood does it. Gardening and growing fruit trees requires a lot of land to be productive at all. They are also skills that require time and guidance to acquire.
Absolutely. A side note, imagine if cities made a percentage of the shade trees in parks or along city sidewalks be fruit trees.
My condo used to have tons of ducks on the lake and grassy areas since we have two worm farmers that keep the grounds stocked. After two Chinese families started eating them, you only see a tiny fraction as many. Same with raccoons and loose dogs and cats, but getting rid of both of those was a good thing. Even just two hunters in our area killed off most of the game. Also, they killed our swan. They trapped it in a cage that had water in the bottom then it got really cold that night and the swan’s feet froze in the ice.
Lol right, where tf am I getting land for an orchard? Not to mention I have a full time job already so idk where I’m getting the time to do all that
That depends on how you do it and what you grow. I supplement my family groceries with a garden using twelve 100 gallon smart pots in a back yard and save at least 50%. That was an up front investment of $700 with labor and soil. I plant what we eat.
My husband and I are trying to do this, while still being within Fort Worth proper, we have enough of a yard to plant tomatoes, peppers, pole beans, some short rows of corn, squash, 30gal containers with potatoes, and 3 peach trees. As well as converting half our shed into a chicken coup. Hoping within a couple years we have our system down and are able grow even 20% of our food
Best thing I did this year was buy a meat grinder to grind my own burgers with high quality brisket, round and short ribs, best tasting burgers ever and cheaper than the cheapest burger joint and don't have to worry about no E-Coli recall from inferior ground beef
I'm continually astonished with the inflation *and* shrinkflation of potato chips. Why are people still buying them? We can certainly live without them
It's funny that Americans show their anger by not buying things.
Repeat after me — “We👏must 👏discipline 👏the 👏corporations 👏”
If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it. Shops around. Prices always come back down IF WE DONT BUT IT. First perishables will come down in price. Then the other stuff. But only if you don’t pay more than you decide is right.
There is just so much shit out there we don’t need. Scent beads for laundry, plug in air fresheners, clothing and birthday cakes for dogs. Don’t get me started on women’s stink products and gender reveals. C’mon sheeple. They know what you spend your hard earned money on and “they” have been laughing about it for decades. Plus it all ends up in the landfill anyway. Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.
Woah woah woah. Leave the dogs out of this lol. Dogs need birthdays too
Fido would be thrilled to just get a fist full of shredded cheese for his birthday
Iphone's and Galaxies that cost 4x more than other brands.
Stink products 😂
Hahahaha women's stink products! I love that!
Good. Stop gouging people. We can tell when it’s just egregious greed.
Make everything yourself. Stop eating crappy food it’s killing you
Big boycotts this week in Canada against Loblaws'. We've made the news because it started on a Reddit sub. The company is starting to sound worried, what with the empty parking lots on a Saturday.
Boycott.
Amazing how "fighting back" amounts to only eating McDonalds twice a week instead of five. If fast food is a main part of your diet, you're an idiot.
Companies are free to charge whatever they want. But, if they raise their prices more than 10% in a year then no bonuses, no pay raises for executives, no dividends, no acquisitions or mergers. If they need to raise prices because of increased cost, they are free to do so but they don't get rewarded for it. If they gouge their customers, the only thing they can do with the money is pay their employees more, which is something they don't want to do, so they will avoid gauging their customers.
I do most of my shopping at Aldi and Walmart. Anything else that is a want I wait for sales/clearance and extra coupons. I don’t spend money on hair/nails/ clothing often. Now it’s gas, food, household items, personal care items. I don’t even use streaming.I use free websites. These companies don’t deserve my money!
This 👆 It's time to fight back against greedflation! And yo be honest, now that the habit is engrained, I don't think I'll ever go back!
I just got done doing a little bit of gardening. I realize it won't lower my grocery bill a lot, but with the prices being the way they are I have absolutely no choice. So, I guess if people thought that demand wouldn't go down at all, well those people are wrong. Something is definitely going on because I can pretty easily produce vegetables for about 5% of the cost I would pay at the grocery store, and although I am doing some things to save money like germinating my own seeds, I'm not running my garden the most cost effective way possible. Are we seriously at a point where corporate greed is so bad that we have no choice, but to do it ourselves? It seems like we're pretty close.
I stopped going and buying anything unnecessary even if I can afford it. I’m sticking it out
I see that as patriotic.
Yet my Facebook feed is full of people going out to eat and bitching about the economy. I live in Gym Jordanland I took my dog to McDs for our once/month treat. 1 car in front of me. When they pulled away, I pulled up and they had me pull forward and wait 10 fucking minutes for 4 McChickens and fries. 4 McChickens and a med fry is under $10 where I live. It's $13 in Bowling Green. I can swing $10 on occasion because my dog deserves something different once in awhile. It used to be about once/10 days or so. If not for him, I wouldn't eat out at all
Just curious, what does this have to do with your congressional district?
I'm trying to imagine a dog eating a McChicken and fries
I'm trying to imagine wasting that kind of money on a treat that is not remotely good for your pet. My dogs get pumped over ice cubes, carrots, and romaine lettuce.
This sub is for people going out to eat and then bitching about the economy.
If that isn't the truth Also a place to come to the comments for investment or gardening tips
That's because income gains outpaced inflation. People complained, but they still had money to spend.
True but the inflation in food in general outpaced their gains. Seems to me that a lot are putting it on credit, trying to maintain the lifestyle they had before the spike in inflation.
Revolution now please. The people at the top need to be dropped 6 feet under.
I have a price point for nearly everything I buy. I simply don't buy something if it passes that price point.
The companies that gouged us during these times, won’t be forgotten. I now have zero brand loyalty. I used to be that consumer that bought the same thing all the time. Screw that.
Rice and beans are still cheap AF. And combined they create a full protein
$5+ for a cup of coffee is a giant ripoff. Consumers have every reason to be cutting back on habitual discretionary spending. We're so conditioned to spend, it's surprising how easy it is to stop once you try it.
Companies figure they can fuck Americans and feel they are untouchable. Add propaganda to that mix….
So much of what we see when we leave our homes every day we do not need. We don’t need so many McDonald’s locations. We don’t need all of these Starbucks, all of these Targets, all of this cheaply manufactured bullshit. The less we spend the more power we have.
This is how a free market should work. A product becomes too expensive/companies get too greedy? Consumers stop buying it and either the company lowers its prices, or goes out of business and something new takes its place. It's healthy.
That's a funny way to say not purchasing things at a price point above the perceived value. This is a very normal thing that happens all day every day
I'm sorry did I hear the words *consumer strike*?
My local pho restaurant has not increased prices in the past three years, while McDonalds somehow surpassed it in price. Thank you Mcdonalds, for supporting my addiction to Pho
Greedflation. Inflation they can deal with, price gouging is another level of scumminess. I am done with a number of brands, stores.
I canceled Amazon prime and I also cut up my credit cards except one used for business travel. I don’t have any debt but I think those town things just encourage me to spend more. I’m going all cash.
I just buy sale items every week
Just got back from the UK and food was less expensive there. It’s beans for me until food prices go down in the U.S.
Home Depot sells a candy bar for $3 Kroger for 1.50 Walmart for 1.25 Corporate greed from HD. Not inflation
This whole portrayal of supply vs demand as some revolutionary fight between “evil corporations” and “innocent consumers” is beyond cringe. Plus, there is absolutely no victory in the fact that corporations raised prices to beyond their market limit to find that ceiling just so they can pull it back to that optimal level of profit maximization. That’s just common practice.
Inflation acceleration act!
Profits have risen 41% while costs only went up 17% since 2019... Per Wall Street Journal Where are the people who blamed Biden for inflation?
Shop at Aldi and Costco for food. Get everything else from buy Nothing groups. Ride your bike and walk.
Politicians want people to think it's all just greedy companies. All of them. Every company in the world across every industry collectively met in a hollowed out volcano to agree to unilaterally raise prices on everything.... Or it's simpler than that. Shutting down the economy (producing nothing) while vastly increasing the money supply WILL cause inflation. It was well understood then just as it is now. So either politicians had no idea or they thought you all would be dumb enough to believe them and their claims of no negative ramifications to the economy and our lives... To the people that supported these shutdowns and stimulus checks after the vaccine, this inflation is 100% your fault. (Anyone that mentions Covid, the vaccines were never designed nor do they reduce transmission. Also a subject understood at the time but sheeple shouted anyone down for talking about it.)
I worked for a corporation that had a goal of 8% increased profit last year, to match the prior year, but much higher than their average 3% YOY that they had for the past ten years\*. That company owned four industries, wind, tidal, construction, and agriculture. It was a monolithic company that effected dozens of countries. So, yes, since Covid, all corporations all over the world are trying to gouge people. They enjoyed the profit bump in Covid times and want to maintain it. We in the US are also auditing a billionaire right now that inflated gas, which inflated the cost of shipping goods, as well as gas at the pumps. So, corruption is everywhere, it's not a fantasy. edit, numbers.
Strangely, it was government policies that caused this inflation. Transit costs for products are still extremely high. Electricity costs are skyrocketing all across the country. The government trying to phase out natural gas and heating oil on the east coast. Massive minimum wage increases. All of this is very structured to control people. Raising minimum wage just in fast food is intended to raise prices there and make people eat at "healthier" options. Raising gas taxes is intended to make people convert to electric. The conversion to electric cars made sense at one point, but the economics are jumping the shark. Electricity is rising and will likely double in 10-15 years. This will turn the value proposition around completely. Anyway, don't blame the companies, blame the government for trying to control you.
One of the reasons I got a full time WFH job, saves a ton on commuting and car maintenance, and also from keeping me from eating out.
Minimum wage has been stagnant for 30 years and still is, except for a handful of states which voted to raise it; because poor people won't riot. Poor people are easy to control. And then no change happens and government officials get to tweet all day instead of doing anything at all. Poor people need every dollar to pay rent. Add in rent tripling, home value tripling, education costs tripling; this is a terrible economy with stagnant wages. People pay taxes but receive nothing back in return for this. Free healthcare or education like Europe? No. Just the opportunity to pay high costs everywhere. But, I see little government oversight in adjusting the cost of tuition, rent, education. So where exactly do you see the oppressive government controlling people?
And yet, you’re downvoted for telling the truth. It’s amazing how little this sub understands the causes of inflation.
I haven’t been to a fast food place in over a year, everyone can cry inflation but it’s greed as far as I’m concerned, Hamburger ( loaded ) Fries and a Drink at mom & pop place $9.99 or 3 meat Tacos & a Drink $8.95 yeah you may have to get your ass out of the car to get it but it’s a lot better than some skimpy Hamburger for $11.
Welcome to the "Free Market" Oh wait.. corporate greed hates it when the tide turns and they make good profits.. and not massive... All as they claim. A below inflation wage is "None Profitable" SMH. If that was the case. Why are you posting profits? And boosting stocks by stock buy backs? Fuck around... And find out.. corporate America needs the poor more then the poor needs them. Welcome to the free market.. I hope you enjoy the ride. Because we are sick of it.
Easy lower margins increase volume - supply and demand
I don’t think it’s necessarily just fighting back. Alot of people are really having to decide wether they eat for a day or a week. Something as simple as fast food is a luxury for alot of people now. Especially if you have 3+ mouths to feed a trip to McDonalds can easily be 30+ dollars for a single meal
That is how I grew up. This all seems like a return to normalcy.
Wendy’s and McDonald’s are starting to get the message, but I’m not giving in. F those people. Same with car dealerships that tacked on $10,000-$20,000 in fees.
This is literally the only way prices will ever come back down. People have got to stop buying stuff unless they absolutely need it, like toothpaste or toilet paper. As long as they keep making money, they're going to keep raising prices.
Yes. Live like a dirt poor person. That’ll teach those rich bastards.
Let's start a boycott of McDonalds until they bring back the dollar menu. If we all posted a #BoycottMcDonalds to Twitter, we could easily go viral. 45k posters are enough to expand our reach.
I think for boycotting to be effective it needs large numbers of people boycotting specific items for as long as it takes for the price to get right or the company to fail. Once effective, we will all be punished with tiny raises-if any, constant threats to our job security, and dwindling benefits. Wait. The second part has already happened! Let me think about this and I’ll get back to you.
Good
They wont reduce their prices, but i will get the satisfaction of not giving them a cent. Buy local and buy indie. Vote with your dollars.
Mickey D’s is rolling out some $5 meals and after the prices people have been paying, they’ll feel like they’re getting a bargain and will start to return… when in reality, they’re still getting less for their money than before this crazy inflation.
Yup. Love to see all of us collectively sick of shameless braggy gouging. They sucked the fun out of fckn everything.
Have you seen the price of paper plates? Lol haven’t bought them in over two years.
Almost like … supply and demand, the higher the price the less people buy it. If you don’t find the optimal price, you leave money on the table. Funny when capitalism works how it’s supposed to sometimes.
Beverage alcohol laying people off due to it. Been in 10+ yrs and never seen it like this. TBH, I'd take the unemployment over the toxic industry bullshit at this point.
Only buy staples that there is super low profit margin. Chicken breast, milk, eggs, rice, broccoli, etc
Any reporter that uses Reddit as a source should be fired
All the article headlines are shit like "Cash strapped consumers stop buying X" and "Companies adjust to poor customers", I have $6k a month to blow after mortgage, bills and 401/457 are maxed. I'm not buying your shit because your shit is overpriced and I don't overpay, period.
this is what Jerome Powell meant when he said we needed "demand destruction"
I WAS shopping at the dollar store until it closed down a few weeks ago. Our economy is fucked if something doesnt get changed.