8 ms·

I find comments like this weird, I never think about purchases that small. I honestly have no idea how much I pay for tortillas normally but $7 would not even b

I find comments like this weird, I never think about purchases that small. I honestly have no idea how much I pay for tortillas normally but $7 would not even be a blip on my mental radar

willismichael 4y ago
It's just one banana. What could it cost, ten dollars?
- justsocrateasin 4y ago
  you've never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you??
  - Tade0 4y ago
    This was a reference to some politician (I don't recall which) not knowing the price of a single banana.
    - CamelCaseName 4y ago
      No. This is a reference to the show "Arrested Development" Link to the scene: https://youtu.be/Nl_Qyk9DSUw https://youtu.be/Nl_Qyk9DSUw
      - samstave 4y ago
        Love that scene. Can't seem to find it - but some time ago there was a short vid on why the price of bananas world wide was a good litmus on the shipping/economic trade - it went into detail on how banana prices could be used to measure certain stress points in global trade... I cant seem to find it though. However, in looking for it I found this, which is kind of interesting: >>"Are there more international laws on the trade of bananas than conventional weapons, like AK-47s?" >>"The short answer is astonishingly, yes. The global trade in bananas or banana plants is governed by at least three binding global agreements and the non-binding, though strictly adhered to, Codex food code. The arms trade is not governed by any binding global agreements." - https://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/comparing-bananas-to-the-global-arms-trade/ https://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/comparing-bananas...
    - fullstop 4y ago
      It's from Arrested Development.
    - fennecfoxy 4y ago
      You're confusing the Arrested Development scene with this video probably: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5RiYxGahps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5RiYxGahps of Boris Johnson claiming to eat Gregg's all the time, but not knowing the price (which I could excuse him for; I have Gregg's now & then & I can only remember the price as being "maybe a little over 1£".
lepus 4y ago
If you don't know anyone who thinks about everyday purchases like this then you're in a social bubble. This is a normal concern for a lot of people.
- samstave 4y ago
  Funny anecdote: Jeff Bezos was interviewed in Pay Pal days after making many millions, and as they drove across the GGB, was asked why he was still driving his beat up honda - he said "Why, just because I have some money? Its still a good car!" FF 2020: Jeff Bezos builds worlds most expensive yacht, and is having a municiple bridge dismantled so it can pass through, and local residents want to throw eggs at it as it passes by!
  - moffkalast 4y ago
    I think we're all reading the wrong message from that quote. It's supposed to look like the guy's humble but that's just the miser entrepreneur mindset. Spend as little money on luxuries, spend as much as possible on making more money. The CEO at the company I work at is the same way, drives absolute banger cars in an effort to save money or something. I think he ends up paying more in repairs than if he just bought a new one.
  - zeroonetwothree 4y ago
    If the car works fine, why waste time buying a new car. Even if doesn't care about money, surely even taking 1 hour or whatever isn't worth it.
  - apexalpha 4y ago
    >FF 2020: Jeff Bezos builds worlds most expensive yacht, and is having a municiple bridge dismantled so it can pass through, and local residents want to throw eggs at it as it passes by! As someone from the country you're referring to: this is an internet meme... The bridge that was dismantled is meant to be dismantled for such a thing. Jeff Bezos did not and also cannot order bridges to be dismantled.
purpleturtle22 4y ago
This is because you probably make tech money (I do too). My family was poor growing up and we shopped by cent per oz, and noticed any significant price changes and went for alternatives. Planned dinner/produce/meat based off what was on sale, etc. Many, many people notice when milk goes up 50 cents. I still do.
- Tade0 4y ago
  I grew up lower middle-class and for a long time my tech salary kept my mind off such things, which was nice. I wanted to forget about that whole situation. But I recently stopped buying in corner shops because their prices are usually close to 50% higher than in large supermarkets and with food inflation it makes a difference in my budget.
- samstave 4y ago
  I didnt grow up poor, and I have made "tech money" my entire career - but I very often check cent/oz on products - because I dont like being cheated at that level... HOWEVER. Annecdote: I was at dinner in SF - and we were at a very nice restaurant, nice wine, food etc. My buddy was kvetching over buying this watch, which was something like $200 and was talking about how he wasnt sure if it was worth it... I looked at him and said "We are spending over $200 on this bottle of wine tonight without blinking, which will be gone in moments - and youre kvetching over a $200 watch which will be around forever?" Expense-perspective is something to reflect on.
  - Kon-Peki 4y ago
    > I very often check cent/oz on products - because I dont like being cheated at that level. You have to do this in the cereal aisle! All the different-sized boxes of the same exact cereal have wildly different price-per-weight. And the largest-sized box is rarely the cheapest-per-weight! what surprised me is how expensive plain Cheerios have become. My wife explained it as if I were stupid - they are mostly whole grains and very little garbage. All the other cereals have so much crap in them that the input price hasn't increased as much.
astockwell 4y ago
And that is OK, as long as you recognize your position of extreme privilege there.
- symlinkk 4y ago
  I don’t think it’s “extreme privilege” to not notice a price increase of maybe $3? I could see it if you’re living in extreme poverty but anyone middle class and above shouldn’t waste mental energy on things like that
  - gorbachev 4y ago
    You don't have to live in "extreme poverty" to have to pay attention to every penny you use. Expenses across the board have skyrocketed in the past year. Try and read some stories about what people living in colder, rural areas in Northern Europe (Scotland, Scandinavia, etc.) have had to deal with and you would start to get an idea. If your rent suddenly increased by 30%, and winter heating bill tripled since last year and food costs 25% more than a year ago, then a lot of people with normally sufficient income would be having financial issues.
  - bruce343434 4y ago
    Consider growing more emphatic to those less well off than you.
  - Ekaros 4y ago
    That is just single item, let's take buying something like 50 items a week and half of those go up by 3. So 75 more spend in week or 300 in a month. That is not exactly small amount for middle class.
  - kbelder 4y ago
    It's certainly not limited to extreme poverty. I'd say the clear majority will show concern when a grocery item climbs $3. While I wouldn't accuse you of showing "extreme privilege" for not noticing a $3 price increase... good on you for not needing to worry about that... I'm tempted to accuse you of it for thinking it's only the poor that would. That's a pretty glaring disconnect.
karaterobot 4y ago
I also do not think about the prices of (most) individual items, because I don't want to devote that much of my memory to the constantly fluctuating prices of dozens of small-ticket purchases. BUT, I do track my average weekly grocery bill, which is much easier to do, and it's been going up alarmingly fast. Is that what you meant?
NovaDudely 4y ago
I think growing up in poverty definitely instilled a sense of 'keep a track of every dollar!'. The one good thing I did was, my income has gone up but my spending has not. So even though I could move up in terms of buying power, I have instead bough - a very little bit - of comfort via stability.
kbelder 4y ago
Even if you don't care about a few dollars, careless excess spending can drive prices up. I don't care, really, whether the box of macaroni and cheese I buy is $0.35 or $1.69. But I'll tend to buy the cheaper, just because I don't want to contribute to the success of the higher price point. It's my fight for the common man. All my efforts are completely negated when my wife goes shopping :(
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

I find comments like this weird, I never think about purchases that small. I honestly have no idea how much I pay for tortillas normally but $7 would not even be a blip on my mental radar

willismichael 4y ago

It's just one banana. What could it cost, ten dollars?

justsocrateasin 4y ago
you've never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you??
- Tade0 4y ago
  This was a reference to some politician (I don't recall which) not knowing the price of a single banana.
  - CamelCaseName 4y ago
    No. This is a reference to the show "Arrested Development" Link to the scene: https://youtu.be/Nl_Qyk9DSUw https://youtu.be/Nl_Qyk9DSUw
    - samstave 4y ago
      Love that scene. Can't seem to find it - but some time ago there was a short vid on why the price of bananas world wide was a good litmus on the shipping/economic trade - it went into detail on how banana prices could be used to measure certain stress points in global trade... I cant seem to find it though. However, in looking for it I found this, which is kind of interesting: >>"Are there more international laws on the trade of bananas than conventional weapons, like AK-47s?" >>"The short answer is astonishingly, yes. The global trade in bananas or banana plants is governed by at least three binding global agreements and the non-binding, though strictly adhered to, Codex food code. The arms trade is not governed by any binding global agreements." - https://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/comparing-bananas-to-the-global-arms-trade/ https://politicsofpoverty.oxfamamerica.org/comparing-bananas...
  - fullstop 4y ago
    It's from Arrested Development.
  - fennecfoxy 4y ago
    You're confusing the Arrested Development scene with this video probably: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5RiYxGahps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5RiYxGahps of Boris Johnson claiming to eat Gregg's all the time, but not knowing the price (which I could excuse him for; I have Gregg's now & then & I can only remember the price as being "maybe a little over 1£".

lepus 4y ago

If you don't know anyone who thinks about everyday purchases like this then you're in a social bubble. This is a normal concern for a lot of people.

samstave 4y ago
Funny anecdote: Jeff Bezos was interviewed in Pay Pal days after making many millions, and as they drove across the GGB, was asked why he was still driving his beat up honda - he said "Why, just because I have some money? Its still a good car!" FF 2020: Jeff Bezos builds worlds most expensive yacht, and is having a municiple bridge dismantled so it can pass through, and local residents want to throw eggs at it as it passes by!
- moffkalast 4y ago
  I think we're all reading the wrong message from that quote. It's supposed to look like the guy's humble but that's just the miser entrepreneur mindset. Spend as little money on luxuries, spend as much as possible on making more money. The CEO at the company I work at is the same way, drives absolute banger cars in an effort to save money or something. I think he ends up paying more in repairs than if he just bought a new one.
- zeroonetwothree 4y ago
  If the car works fine, why waste time buying a new car. Even if doesn't care about money, surely even taking 1 hour or whatever isn't worth it.
- apexalpha 4y ago
  >FF 2020: Jeff Bezos builds worlds most expensive yacht, and is having a municiple bridge dismantled so it can pass through, and local residents want to throw eggs at it as it passes by! As someone from the country you're referring to: this is an internet meme... The bridge that was dismantled is meant to be dismantled for such a thing. Jeff Bezos did not and also cannot order bridges to be dismantled.

purpleturtle22 4y ago

This is because you probably make tech money (I do too). My family was poor growing up and we shopped by cent per oz, and noticed any significant price changes and went for alternatives. Planned dinner/produce/meat based off what was on sale, etc. Many, many people notice when milk goes up 50 cents. I still do.

Tade0 4y ago
I grew up lower middle-class and for a long time my tech salary kept my mind off such things, which was nice. I wanted to forget about that whole situation. But I recently stopped buying in corner shops because their prices are usually close to 50% higher than in large supermarkets and with food inflation it makes a difference in my budget.
samstave 4y ago
I didnt grow up poor, and I have made "tech money" my entire career - but I very often check cent/oz on products - because I dont like being cheated at that level... HOWEVER. Annecdote: I was at dinner in SF - and we were at a very nice restaurant, nice wine, food etc. My buddy was kvetching over buying this watch, which was something like $200 and was talking about how he wasnt sure if it was worth it... I looked at him and said "We are spending over $200 on this bottle of wine tonight without blinking, which will be gone in moments - and youre kvetching over a $200 watch which will be around forever?" Expense-perspective is something to reflect on.
- Kon-Peki 4y ago
  > I very often check cent/oz on products - because I dont like being cheated at that level. You have to do this in the cereal aisle! All the different-sized boxes of the same exact cereal have wildly different price-per-weight. And the largest-sized box is rarely the cheapest-per-weight! what surprised me is how expensive plain Cheerios have become. My wife explained it as if I were stupid - they are mostly whole grains and very little garbage. All the other cereals have so much crap in them that the input price hasn't increased as much.

astockwell 4y ago

And that is OK, as long as you recognize your position of extreme privilege there.

symlinkk 4y ago
I don’t think it’s “extreme privilege” to not notice a price increase of maybe $3? I could see it if you’re living in extreme poverty but anyone middle class and above shouldn’t waste mental energy on things like that
- gorbachev 4y ago
  You don't have to live in "extreme poverty" to have to pay attention to every penny you use. Expenses across the board have skyrocketed in the past year. Try and read some stories about what people living in colder, rural areas in Northern Europe (Scotland, Scandinavia, etc.) have had to deal with and you would start to get an idea. If your rent suddenly increased by 30%, and winter heating bill tripled since last year and food costs 25% more than a year ago, then a lot of people with normally sufficient income would be having financial issues.
- bruce343434 4y ago
  Consider growing more emphatic to those less well off than you.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  That is just single item, let's take buying something like 50 items a week and half of those go up by 3. So 75 more spend in week or 300 in a month. That is not exactly small amount for middle class.
- kbelder 4y ago
  It's certainly not limited to extreme poverty. I'd say the clear majority will show concern when a grocery item climbs $3. While I wouldn't accuse you of showing "extreme privilege" for not noticing a $3 price increase... good on you for not needing to worry about that... I'm tempted to accuse you of it for thinking it's only the poor that would. That's a pretty glaring disconnect.

karaterobot 4y ago

I also do not think about the prices of (most) individual items, because I don't want to devote that much of my memory to the constantly fluctuating prices of dozens of small-ticket purchases. BUT, I do track my average weekly grocery bill, which is much easier to do, and it's been going up alarmingly fast. Is that what you meant?

NovaDudely 4y ago

I think growing up in poverty definitely instilled a sense of 'keep a track of every dollar!'. The one good thing I did was, my income has gone up but my spending has not. So even though I could move up in terms of buying power, I have instead bough - a very little bit - of comfort via stability.

kbelder 4y ago

Even if you don't care about a few dollars, careless excess spending can drive prices up. I don't care, really, whether the box of macaroni and cheese I buy is $0.35 or $1.69. But I'll tend to buy the cheaper, just because I don't want to contribute to the success of the higher price point. It's my fight for the common man. All my efforts are completely negated when my wife goes shopping :(

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]