Food prices

[Joe]

Firstly if everything is expensive then someone somewhere is making a killing.
Perhaps you are being hit with a stick then some friendly person will come along and make everything ok.
Maybe in a year Brexit will be finished and you will be using your new digital money on your smart phone.

[bigpaul]

and maybe TS will hit the fan within the next 12 months.
maybe we will have nuclear WW3 if Russia is forced to retreat from Ukraine which seems quite likely at the moment.

[Straight Shooter]

So what’s going on with food prices ? In fact what’s going on to prices in all areas come to that ? …..well I can tell you everything is going upwards in price ! …..inflation knows no boundaries along with unscrupulous scum on the take from the weakest spurious excuses as a attempt to justify increases being dreamed up and dished out .

It appears we have loads of money to keep Ukraine stocked up with the hardware of war ……yet. No funds are available for the people of the UK ? Unless you arrive in a boat that is ….then you are booked into a nice hotel ?
WTF is going on ? …..can someone , anyone , explain this to me , I really want to know .

[iaaems]

The world is a complicated place SS and the older I get the more complicated it becomes.
It does appear that we are experiencing a repeat of what happened in the 70's but I sincerely hope that we do not repeat the three day working week and the 8hour power cuts.
I have noticed the food price increases as my weekly shop seems to get more expensive every time. So I have decided to keep the receipts and make a shopping list before I go to the shop. The list will have a price per item taken from the receipt and if the price of my usual goods goes up I will search around for something cheaper - that is what shopping is all about - I think.

[Mortblanc]

I can not see the wonder of food prices doing exactly what we said they would do one year ago??

I expected far worse.

As for support of the Ukraine, well that is the result of hard earned experience at Dunkirk, remembering Chamberlain waving his silly little paper guaranteeing "peace in out time", operation Sea Lion and the Battle of Britain. Then there was the Blitz, the rationing thing that lasted until you were a kid, a 6 year war and all those dead Tommies.

You can finance the fight against the Russians in the Ukraine or you can finance the fight against the Russians in Calais. Then you can send a surrender envoy to keep as many cowards as possible alive.

Truth is the UK and EU are not doing enough to stop the Russians in the present. The present sanctions are just toying with them.

Sone of the posts I read on the internet seem to indicate that the British would welcome Russian invasion as long as they kept their homes heated and food prices cheap.

[bigpaul]

I dont see what WW2 has to do with current food prices.

[Straight Shooter]

I do not know where the government figures come from or how they calculate inflation percentages , but they bear no relation to reality around where I live , I do wonder about the complete contempt and how stupid they think we are ? ….simple maths is all is required to blow their figures out the water ….a child could do it with ease ! .

Inflation does not discriminate anything ! Everything gets the same treatment ! And it’s now global , no matter where you live .

I have noticed low traffic in , Home base , the range , Wicks , B&Q and stores like that …..people and not buying …..however the food markets are busy and shop lifting is rising big time .

[Mortblanc]

Several things to consider here SS.

First is that food, petrol and utilities are always deleted from inflation rates. That is the way every nation figures it since those items are highly variable even inside a nation's boundaries.

Things like utilities in GB compared to Romania, or rent in London compared to the back side of the Hebrides. Inflation rate means nothing if all you buy is salt and coffee.

Second is that they figure inflation since the last month or quarter,, not from the price you paid in 2017.

Another factor is the number of customers you see in a store is highly variable based on time of day, day of the week and point in the month. Small projects are often paid cash and the materials purchased on payday for a weekend job.

If you shop a lumber company at 2 pm you have no idea how many trucks were lined up at the back door at 6am when they were loading for their day of work.

Also purchasing is not always based on the shelf price, but on the rate of interest one has to pay to get the high end product. Furniture and big ticket household items are an example.

You don't go out and buy a home when interest is sky high. Vehicles epically so.

There is also the situation where reverse inflation is in operation on a market that has rejected the base price of a consumer good.

Right now the Ford truck dealers are glutted with trucks due to the lack of computer chips to roll them out the door for two years and the sudden jump in interest rates. They finally have the chips and they are putting them into trucks, each of which average $70,000 price. That is before title fees, taxes and road fees. They are not selling so Ford has cut the price by 20%.

That actually shows as a reduction in inflation.

They now sit in wonder at why the average American family does not wish to pay $56,000 for a discounted pickup truck!

I saw a survey of one dealer that had 70+ trucks on his lot, none listed at less than $50k and 15 of them listed at over $100k.

Much of the reduction in shopping you see is due to lack of confidence from the consumer rather than the prices. People are simply hanging onto their money.

[CharlesHarris]

I recently went through the mental exercise considering whether to trade in my 2000 year model Jeep Cherokee with 200k miles on a new model or to rebuild the old vehicle. The new vehicles start at $50k for a base model and are made new down with electronics and computerized drivel. Taxes and insurance much greater on a new vehicle.

I decided to do an engine swap and bought a new Chrysler OEM engine, not a rebuild. Had it installed by the dealer and have 5-year warranty on parts and labor with no limit on mileage. Also replaced parts most likely to fail on a high mileage vehicle. With new software upgrade on computer I get 20 mpg city and 22 mpg highway on unleaded E10 blend. Very satisfied. Cost the same as down payment for new vehicle, but no increase in taxes or insurance, vehicle is paid for and I got free demo-loaner for ten days while work was done.

[Mortblanc]

I faced the same decision with my Jeep Liberty last year CH. My decision was a little more difficult.

I was faced with replacing the worst engine Chrysler ever made with a brand new copy of the worst engine Chrysler ever made. First Jeep I ever owned that I did not get 200k out of.
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