Friends! SHOPPERS!! Lend Me An Ear....

If you're an avid grocery shopper, you will have noticed that many of the foods that we commonly consume have increased in price. I notice it all the time. But I sometimes wonder if the average shopper does--other then the fact that they have to wonder why the total at checkout is higher than usual.

I saw an article today on Yahoo's Financially Fit that explained one of the reasons for this broad banded increase. We've had a really bizarre year with weather. For example, Summer didn't get into it's groove until the second week of July, here in Spokane. Then it wasn't even consistent,that's for sure. It's now September and we are experiencing a brief heatwave after a week of cooler temperatures. So what I'm getting at: did you know that the Midwest had a drought while we were still wearing our jackets in June? Fluke and freak weather everywhere can really be a damper in the price of basic commodities that are produced in other parts of the country. Take corn, for example. It's primarily produced for manufacturer's in the bread belt of the country--the Midwest. Tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, drought...all that ring a bell? Yep--the land of corn, wheat, and barley. So when you see the price of your Corn Flakes stay at $3 a box ON SALE, there's a very good reason for that.

Corn goes into a LOT of things that we take for granted. Did you know that the sweetness in a granola bar is from corn? [I have a Corn-addition. No...I'm mean Coke-addiction. That's right. Coca-Cola is sweetened with corn syrup. The rising cost of corn equals the rising cost of Coke.] It's always good to put things in perspective because sometimes a picture of the real deal washes away the true significance of the scope of the problem. This article was a "scope" into what corn droughts can do to the prices of so many things.
http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-113449-10939-1-4-rising-food-costs-that-will-hurt-your-wallet?ywaad=ad0035&nc
I was just telling my husband yesterday, while we were at Fred Meyer, that the prices on food were entirely neurotic and I was amazed that people had carts brimming with food. It got me wondering though. I don't see very many people with fists full of coupons at the registers either. Food stamp programs have updated their look and now everyone qualifying for government assistance use EBT cards (formerly given out in the form of a coupon booklet--as an obvious sign that payment was "food stamps"). Now users just swipe a card that looks like any old debit card. But still. Where are the manufacturer's coupons and store coupons being used in this savings game? I think EBT users should have to qualify in more ways then just income. How about money management? Budgeting? Meal planning? Couponing? $400 in food funds a month would be more productive in a trained coupon shopper than in the average user.

[I have this theory that a dollar earned by your own hard labor, is more valued and better spent then the dollar that is given through an entitlement program. I don't have any research to back this theory up today--except for what I've seen with my own eyes and some informative yap with the grocery money-changers. But my question is are shoppers really noticing the prices of food when their EBT cards are loaded with preset dollar amounts? Would they care how much the cost is when somebody else is footing the bill? I don't think so.... And that's my sociology degree screaming in my head.]

Here's a little story about how I'm living up to my name.... No. Not that name. The other name...Saving Spokane. I saw this very old woman at the checkout ahead me yesterday buying a 2lb block of Tillamook cheese for $6.99, some hearing aid batteries, and small container of some bland "yum yums". Alright. Her total was $16+. She handed the cashier a $20 bill and I just couldn't let her do it! I yelled for him to STOP before he cashed out her change. [My husband went beet red and probably wanted to crawl under the conveyor belt...shamed that he can't have a totally quiet moment at a check-out stand with me. The old woman didn't even hear me--thus the batteries, right? And the post-child/pre-adult cashier looked at me like I was a raving loony. But what's new? I've seen that look before, and it doesn't bother me anymore.] I opened the store ad, the one with all the "store coupons" printed down the sides...and there was a coupon that made the Tillamook cheese $4.99. All the man-child had to do was shoot the scanner gun over the bar code and Grandma was $2 richer.

Now I know that I'm in the first generation that won't live as high of a standard of living as my parents--but I don't think I have to be stingy with my money manners. Grandma looked like she could afford the extra $2. Obviously all of her money isn't going to the nursing home yet...and my efforts did earn me a smile and nod of appreciation. Why didn't the cashier voluntarily scan the coupon without her knowing? I don't know. You just don't see very many people that are trying to make it easier for others out there. Maybe it's true and we have an entitlement state of mind. But when times are lean and the costs are rising--it doesn't hurt to pass the word of savings along. It didn't cost me anything to be nice--and she surely didn't give me the $2 she would have handed over to the store a moment before. What is she going do with the $2? It probably seemed like a little thing at the moment. But what if that $2 was saved as daily occurrence? Weekly? Monthly? The little amounts don't look like much at first, but the savings would add up very quickly if it were acknowledged in every purchase.

So what does this have to do with corn and droughts? And why the price of food is increasing. Manufacturer's still have over $3 BILLION in coupons that are available for consumers to use on their grocery and household purchases every year. Just yesterday my husband told me he didn't know why I was so concerned about the prices of food, since I'd coupon them to death. Ah. A light bulb moment. He gets it, after all. Using coupons equal a certain peace of mind--especially in the hard times. It means that I can stock up on cereal during drought seasons. It means that the cost of beef, pork, and chicken (corn-fed animals that I think are pretty tasty...) may go up, but I can off-set the cost of consumption through couponing my necessities so low that I don't gag on the inflated price of meat. It's a win-win relationship--with these coupons.

Research corn. Find out all the different things that it goes into and watch those items increase in price. And when you are finished with corn, move onto wheat, cotton, rice, sugar...and the list goes on. We are more globally connected then we realize. When the crops fail in California or get blown away from the vines in Florida--we are all going to pay for those losses. Sometimes we are so "local-centric" in our view of consumption that we don't realize that the grocery store is just the middleman to the rest of the country's agricultural reserves. Capitalistic marketing and quick transportation have brought Georgia's peaches, Florida's oranges and Iowa's corn to our tables within hours of harvest. Devastation anywhere in our country will eventually be felt at home.

So prepare. Buy smart. Buy ahead of the drought. And who can really predict disaster and drought? No one. So that means study out the ways to save money even with the rising costs of basic goods and services. And, by golly--if you are one of the many that are receiving assistance to fill your cupboards every week--do not pay more for food than I would. Spend some time learning about how to save money on the second-highest expense in your life. It's a skill that will last a lifetime--and will continue to benefit you once the entitlement programs are over. Because you can't fund bankrupt programs from a bankrupt economy. [Remember all those theories and analogies about old dogs/new tricks, not riding a dead horse, money not growing on trees...and it still doesn't.] At the end of the day--you will still have to eat--so learn some mad shopping skills, in the mean time. We could be just a drought away from unafforadable!!
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2011/08/Stunted-corn-crop-could-lead-to-higher-food-prices/50080468/1

Rising Cost of Food

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f4189e60-404a-11e0-9140-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EwhFFJaZ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704506404575592313664715360.html




I read some articles today that set me thinking about saving money on our groceries. We saw the cost of sugar double last fall. Wheat and grains tend to be volatile with the supplies decreasing because of blight and being sold to overseas nations. We are in for some increasing prices, and it's not going to be pretty.


Increases are sometimes very subtle. We may not notice 3-4% on a box of cereal, especially if we are bargain shoppers and never pay full price. But I saw an increase that had me thinking about my poor little wallet. I was at Fred Meyer earlier this week getting bread for lunches when I did a double-take. Like most people, I have a certain kind of bread that I favor...Grandma Sycamore's white and wheat breads. I was a little put-out because the price was $3.19 a loaf. I splurge on good bread and don't think much of paying $2 a loaf. But that $1.19 per loaf increase really hit home because of the quantity we go through. I started doing the math on what that would add up to and it wasn't easy to swallow. So the increase wasn't just $1.19 once--but several times over. And that was just on ONE of the things that we go through quite a bit of. When price increases hit frequently used staples--we tend to notice what's hitting out pocketbooks harder.




There was an older lady studying the prices of the bread as I went to make my selection this day. I commented about the higher price of bread. She grumbled back at me that it wasn't just bread! My hand faltered. I couldn't pay that for the bread--even if I had enough means to do so. I quickly rethought my choice and went with a different kind that was $2 cheaper per loaf--although not a favorite. I whistled under my breath that my bread cost too much. The lady was right. Everything is going up. It doesn't take a a daily dose of reading the Wall Street Journal to notice the increasing prices at the grocery store. It's one of the few places that we repeatedly go to spend our hard-earned money and when we don't bring home the same amount of stuff that we used to for the same amount of money--we know!



I don't know if you've ever given much thought to "trickle-down" theories. But one very crude example goes like this: a bushel of wheat doubles in price to produce and is sent to market. The purchaser has to pay more to get the supplies it needs to make products and services for the public. But they are a business, not a charity--and the price of the wheat is added to the retail price of the products for the consumer to pay for. So the higher cost of production due to poor results in weather, or from higher demand versus product--are always passed on down the line. And very few consumers give much thought to how MUCH wheat goes into the things we consume. Cereals, breads, crackers, pastas, sauces, soups, puddings....everything with a wheat derivative in it--go up in price. So a box of cereal that used to go on sale for $1.50 a box, now goes on "sale" for $2.00 a box.Marketing lingo often disguises the increase in actual cost by tricking the consumer into thinking that they are buying the product "on sale." But in reality, the stores is just passing on the cost of production on to you--the customer. The rising cost of production ultimately comes down to YOU.



We feel the increase the most because all the costs have been added to the products that we rely on to feed our families.



Think about this same theory in regards to corn, sugar, and other grains. A year ago, you were able to buy a 25lb bag of rice at the store for approximately $10. Over night, the prices doubled and tripled because the US panicked that they had over-sold their GNP (gross national product) overseas and there wasn't enough for domestic use. So supply and demand meant a drastic increase in the cost of goods. If you wanted rice--it cost a LOT more money to buy it. A rise in demand results in a rise in price. And those with the most money get the product....




But what about us that want/need the product and cannot afford it? We are forced to do without until the costs go down...OR--we use what we have in our personal inventory, that was purchased before the prices sky-rocketed. [I noticed that our favorite little Teriyaki restaurant was forced to raise the prices on the menus when rice was pricey. When staples and goods cost more, the profit margins decrease and business owners are forced to either raise the prices to the public or go out of business].


So how to avoid getting trapped in the escalating food game?
Tip: Make an inventory of your family's food consumption and plan to build a three-month reserve of foods you can have on-hand that would off-set the drastic inflation of food commodities until other means or sources can be found to subsidize there purchase. I think the easiest way to do this is to create a 14 day menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then multiply that by 6 (6x2 week cycles=approximately 3 months worth of provisions needed). When those products you regularly use and consume go on sale, buy in quantities of 6 to build up your reserve. If you come across some stellar finds or bulk discounts, plan your shopping accordingly to invest in the next three months.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4705900_start-food-storage-plan.html
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/
http://www.emergencyfoodinanutshell.blogspot.com/
http://www.mormontimes.com/article/18717/Four-simple-steps-to-planning-food-storage?s_cid=newsline
http://www.surviveabide.com/Advanced/Food%20Plan/2%20Food%20-%20Storage.htm

I googled "food storage" on the net and found numerous ideas and plans that suggested economical and space-efficient ways to start building a family reserve. I suggest doing something that works for your space and budget--but do it. I'm a much better shopper than gardener, so my supplies run towards the things I can buy quite inexpensively--but other means of storing, producing, and harvesting are all excellent skills to incorporate into being prepared for harder economic times and volatile pricing.


I like the quote that says: "It's better to be prepared 10 years ahead, than 10 minutes too late." It's so true. Preparation brings a sense of security and helps ease anxiety over things that are out of our control. Preparation eliminates fear and desperation. "Now go and do something today."