5 ms·

Have you noticed how your cash is buying fewer items than it did a ~year ago? My daily item costs are WAY up, which is really just saying the value of the cash

by jp555 5y ago

Have you noticed how your cash is buying fewer items than it did a ~year ago? My daily item costs are WAY up, which is really just saying the value of the cash is WAY down.

newsclues 5y ago
Yes, inflation is real, and since I’m on a fixed income I noticed that despite cutting out luxuries and limiting meat purchases, my groovy bill went up and I still lost weight.
- toss1 5y ago
  Insufficient data - supports several modeks. If you are trying to lose weight, shifting away from sugary & processed foods & meat to high-quality fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc. can definitely increase your grocery bill while reducing your weight in a very healthy way. Food bill may go down by going directly to farmers, but travel & fetching costs increase. Or, it could be an unhealthy shift towards more processed foods, costing more in factory work & transport, and you are seeing real inflation. So, insufficient data to indicate inflation or not.
  - newsclues 5y ago
    Wasn’t trying to lose weight and my diet remained essentially the same other than modification due to cost (mainly less meat). I had a fixed grocery budget, and over months, I lost weight due to a caloric deficit. Literally I bought less food with the same money and the result was just over a pound a month lost .
    - toss1 5y ago
      I'm sorry to hear that you are having such difficulties; I hope things improve for you soon. That is the data we need to confirm that you're seeing inflation. Curious where you are located that you are seeing these numbers?
      - newsclues 5y ago
        It’s ok, I might be poor but I’m pretty happy despite the disability. I live in a city an hour away from Toronto, Canada.
jfengel 5y ago
Honestly, no, I haven't. My groceries are the same. My electric bill is stable. The watch I'm replacing today is the same price today as ten years ago when I got its predecessor. I don't know if it's because I buy different things from you, or if I live in a different place from you, or what. But my andecdote is that no, I'm not paying more for stuff than a year ago.
- newsclues 5y ago
  Odd that some people don’t notice things like this... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation Do you actually track spending or just don’t notice?
  - jfengel 5y ago
    A gallon of milk is still a gallon of milk. A pound of carrots is still a pound of carrots. It sounds as if your basket of goods is different from mine. Most of the examples on that Wikipedia page are sugary foods, which I just don't buy a lot of.
    - newsclues 5y ago
      I used to buy 3lbs of carrots, but now the bags are 2lbs but cost the same.
      - jfengel 5y ago
        Here, two pounds of carrots are $1.79, just as they have been for as long as I can remember. I don't have a spreadsheet, but I know what carrots cost. They certainly haven't shot up by 50%.
  - gruez 5y ago
    >Do you actually track spending or just don’t notice? Do you? The BLS does, and their inflation numbers for food is 3.5% YOY. [1] https://www.bls.gov/cpi/ https://www.bls.gov/cpi/

by jp555 5y ago

Have you noticed how your cash is buying fewer items than it did a ~year ago? My daily item costs are WAY up, which is really just saying the value of the cash is WAY down.

newsclues 5y ago

Yes, inflation is real, and since I’m on a fixed income I noticed that despite cutting out luxuries and limiting meat purchases, my groovy bill went up and I still lost weight.

toss1 5y ago
Insufficient data - supports several modeks. If you are trying to lose weight, shifting away from sugary & processed foods & meat to high-quality fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc. can definitely increase your grocery bill while reducing your weight in a very healthy way. Food bill may go down by going directly to farmers, but travel & fetching costs increase. Or, it could be an unhealthy shift towards more processed foods, costing more in factory work & transport, and you are seeing real inflation. So, insufficient data to indicate inflation or not.
- newsclues 5y ago
  Wasn’t trying to lose weight and my diet remained essentially the same other than modification due to cost (mainly less meat). I had a fixed grocery budget, and over months, I lost weight due to a caloric deficit. Literally I bought less food with the same money and the result was just over a pound a month lost .
  - toss1 5y ago
    I'm sorry to hear that you are having such difficulties; I hope things improve for you soon. That is the data we need to confirm that you're seeing inflation. Curious where you are located that you are seeing these numbers?
    - newsclues 5y ago
      It’s ok, I might be poor but I’m pretty happy despite the disability. I live in a city an hour away from Toronto, Canada.

jfengel 5y ago

Honestly, no, I haven't. My groceries are the same. My electric bill is stable. The watch I'm replacing today is the same price today as ten years ago when I got its predecessor. I don't know if it's because I buy different things from you, or if I live in a different place from you, or what. But my andecdote is that no, I'm not paying more for stuff than a year ago.

newsclues 5y ago
Odd that some people don’t notice things like this... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinkflation Do you actually track spending or just don’t notice?
- jfengel 5y ago
  A gallon of milk is still a gallon of milk. A pound of carrots is still a pound of carrots. It sounds as if your basket of goods is different from mine. Most of the examples on that Wikipedia page are sugary foods, which I just don't buy a lot of.
  - newsclues 5y ago
    I used to buy 3lbs of carrots, but now the bags are 2lbs but cost the same.
    - jfengel 5y ago
      Here, two pounds of carrots are $1.79, just as they have been for as long as I can remember. I don't have a spreadsheet, but I know what carrots cost. They certainly haven't shot up by 50%.
- gruez 5y ago
  >Do you actually track spending or just don’t notice? Do you? The BLS does, and their inflation numbers for food is 3.5% YOY. [1] https://www.bls.gov/cpi/ https://www.bls.gov/cpi/