Community Chat

[Foxxee]

October 6, 2021

Over the past couple of months, Allison, a wife and mother of a toddler and teenager in Chicago, says she’s been spending about $50 more each week on groceries to feed her family — and that’s at a discount supermarket chain, Aldi’s. 

“I used to spend $70 a week, but all of sudden this summer, I noticed that I couldn’t leave the store without spending at least $120,” said Allison, who works in education. 

Like millions of Americans whose income has not kept pace with inflation — up 5.3 percent in August compared with a year ago — Allison and her family are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living and giving up some things just to make ends meet. 

Her family is scrimping now. “There are no more splurges like going to Home Depot to buy an extra plant or eating out,” Allison said. 

A lot of people have not seen their incomes keep up with rising inflation in the US.“That’s the equivalent of a full grocery, electric or cellphone bill."

Inflation is running at a 30-year high, and has been for months. 

Unpredictable supply-chain issues, including a record number of more than 70 cargo ships waiting to dock at the Port of Los Angeles, have made it difficult to predict when prices will stabilize. 

To make matters worse, a trucker shortage has exacerbated the situation and shows no signs of abating. Everything from wood to electronics is becoming scarcer and more expensive. 

Many consumer experts do not see any immediate relief in sight — with some bracing for a surge in credit card debt. During the pandemic, many consumers had paid down debt because they were spending less while collecting larger unemployment checks. 

Americans have seen everyday grocery items rise in price over the last year.

Dozens of cargo vessels are seen anchored offshore, sharing space with about a half-dozen oil platforms, before heading into the Los Angeles-Long Beach port on Oct. 5, 2021.

But since April, credit card balances and delinquency rates have been ticking up after decelerating for most of the pandemic, according to Zandi. Delinquencies are 1.54 percent as of Sept. 21, compared with 1.30 percent on April 21. 

“Price increases will continue until the middle of next year,” predicted Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom, pointing to a PepsiCo announcement this week that consumers can expect another round of price hikes in early 2022 on the company’s snacks and beverages. 

"Indeed, a 10-ounce bag of Lay’s potato chips — Frito-Lay is owned by PepsiCo — cost $3.75 in August, 50 cents more than a year earlier at Dollar General stores in the Southwest," Grom said. 

The prices of other items have also ratcheted up at the discount chain, including a dozen 12-ounce Coca-Cola cans that cost $5.75 in August — 50 cents more than in 2020 — at its Southwest stores, and a half a gallon of 2 percent store-brand milk that now costs $4.49, 74 cents more than a year earlier, according to Grom. At Family Dollar stores in the Northeast, the 12-pack of Coke cost $6.90 in August, up $1.50, and a can of Folger’s coffee costs 85 cents more, $8.80, he found. 

In the Big Apple, grocery chains Gristedes and D’Agostino’s have increased prices by as much as 15 percent on chicken wings and beef, 10 percent on milk and 5 percent on eggs, while non-food-related items have gone up by about 10 percent. 

What’s more, some consumers are reporting that it has become more difficult to cover their usual expenses. 

The number of US households that report that it is “very difficult” to pay their usual expenses has increased by 8 percent since early August, to 26.5 million, according to the Oct. 6 Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. 

From New York Post.

[Nataliesgramma]

I think it will get worse before it gets better...

Very hard on those with a fixed income...

[catter70]

Seems like everything is a mess anymore.

[millieshops]

Even before this year's inflation set in, I knew that after a couple of decades on a retirement income I needed to make some changes and I have done that--  some expenses I cut were big and deliberate, but what surprised me recently was my realization of how many smaller ways the inflation has changed my spending.  And like @Nataliesgramma, I do think things will get worse before they level off.  I wish I thought prices will sink greatly in a year or two, but magical thinking hasn't taken me that far in the past.

[chrystaltree]

Now tell us something we don't already know.

[scatcat]

This is the exact conversation my parents had 40 years ago. Prices rise, interest rates rise and fall, stock market rises and falls, job sector and unemployment rises and falls.

Nothing new under the sun

[millieshops]

@scatcat   what has happened in those 40 years is that more and more of the nation's money has moved to those with the top 20% of the wealth (wealth, not income) and the income of right around half of the nation has barely moved.  Part of the lack of workers some places, some jobs, as well as part of the inflation we are seeing comes from all those years of leading to this location.

Where we're headed in the next 40 years, I do not have the slightest idea.  But I am concerned about the next few months.

[Duckncover]

Most younger people who have never worried about prices of anything may now need to think about how much they are spending...and that might be a good thing as I see it.

[magicmoodz]

Get your woolies out ladies! I just heard on tv yesterday we can expect it will cost 30% more to heat our homes this winter.

I live in a condo so I don't directly pay for water (that doesn't mean my HOA fees won't be affected), but I was reading Nextdoor recently where the water bills people were receiving were astronomical for this area--for 3 months some were paying $684, 756, $830.