Inflation hits home..

Gouging is correct. Then blame the Government. A buddy of mine owns a HVAC company. He said that due to the rise in fuel prices, he now adds $10 to every job to cover the cost. He said that he uses about fifty gallons of gas a week. He has about twenty to twenty five customers a week. I told him that he was gouging the customer because he is making $200 t0 $250 a week more but only spending $50 a week more on fuel. He said that everything else has gone up also, but the way I see it is that he still marks everything up the same percent so the customer is paying for that also. I asked him if he deducted $10 off of the customers bill in 2020 because gas was cheap. He got pissed off and left!

 

Wow Jim,
That sounds steep even with todays pricing and not counting eating out.
How many in your family?

 

That was the point Peter.. it's just the two of us, and two dogs (who do eat good food and treats, which are not cheap).

Beth and I are not having Steak Tartare or Lobster Thermidor either.. just simple basic stuff.. The price of meat is crazy.. Everything is expensive now.

Went in there yesterday.. pick up the house brand two pound packs of ham and turkey, some fresh sandwich buns, an 8 pack of Yogurt, Oranges and bananas, some dog stuff and a few other items.. total was $60 bucks..

And I could carry everything in the house in one trip.

JW

 

Grocery shopping is basically $35 per bag

 

Wife and I MAY have spent that much at a gawdawful expensive place for our anniversary just last month, but I don't drink and she doesn't drink much.

Dinner at a reasonable place is still just that -- reasonable.

 

Now it makes sense Jim.
I barely go buy the meat section anymore. Yesterday I saw a guy pick up a pound of bacon package and throw it back after he mumbled $14 for this, could of been more.
Last paid $28 for 4 or maby 5 chicken breasts on the bone because de boned it cost way more. That was awhile ago too.
I had mentioned the $7.99 for a jar of Hellmans mayo.
Prices have me eating processed crap like pot pies and corn dogs and gaining some weight. I'm not that hard up that I can't eat better but the prices have me turned off. Sounds stupid I know.
Cat food is getting real hard to find, way more the dog food it seems? My cat and my girls cat picky as they are or going to have to eat whats out there and adjust or they will starve.

 

Thank God I hate spicy food!

 

I'm old school, so You have to shop sales in order to keep the costs down. This week our local stores have had hams on sale for .99 lb. Wife and I will get 2 dinners out of one, ans well as lunch for a few days. Then whats left becomes soup. Bacon was on sale 2.99 for 3/4 lb with the store coupon limit 4, so we have 4 in the freezer. Yeh things like milk products don't go on sale so you pay the new price. Someone mentioned mayo being 7.99 qt. Got the 2 qt at BJ's for $7. There are ways to minimize the cost.

 

Even with East coast prices.. that's a crazy amount of money for a bag of frozen wings.

And your right Fred.. I have never been married, never had kids at home to feed, always had a good job.. so I never paid much attention to "sales" like my Mom did. I just went an bought whatever I wanted.. no big deal.

I guess it's time to re-up my costco membership, buy in bulk the stuff that makes sense to do that, and then start shopping the sales. Problem is, the nearest costco is a 120 mile round trip.. so the price of gas in the Suburban kills most of your savings.. need to get the Riv fixed, to mitigate those costs..

JW

 

We go to Sam's and if we get out under $100 it's a Miracle

 

Hey Jim pay close attention to the "Bulk deals" at Costco, sometimes you pay more buying a 4 pack of something than you would buying it individually. My wife came Hine with a 4 pack of sandwich bags and I looked at the reciet, it was something like .19 a box more than it was to buy them singular at our local grocery store. I know it's not alot but do that over a cart full and you've overspent, not saved anything. Now for buying meat in bulk that's the place to go, we have a vacuum sealer and a separate freezer so we can have meat for 3months or more to feed a family of 4. Our costco trip is usually a $400 or more bill, bit that lasts us for minimum 3 months so it's not that bad really.

 

There's a Sam's club a couple miles from the Dyno Shop. You're probably there often enough to make it worthwhile.

 

Costco still has the cooked rotisserie whole chickens for about $5. Their gas is significantly lower in price then elsewhere, but Thursday I stopped there for gas and it reminded me of the Arab oil embargo. I'll bet there were 100 cars lined up at the pumps. I figured that the car would take 15 gallons of gas at a savings of .20 per gallon, or $3. I'm not trading a half-hour of my life for three bucks, so I went to a Shell station a mile away and did pay the extra .20 per gallon. Publix often will have a "buy one, get one free" deal; if it's something we will use in a reasonable period of time, I'll take advantage of it.

 

I think we spend what Jim does and it's just pretty much my wife and I at this point. We've started eating more soup. At this age, it's easier on the gut too.

 

Went to the local hardware store yesterday to pick up some grass fertilizer and a few other things. $48. The fertilizer is made locally.