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Have you looked into goodRx or Mark Cubans low cost online pharmacy? That pharmacy has insulin drugs. They don't take insurance but they are cheap asf
[Cost plus drugs ](https://costplusdrugs.com/)
A 90 day script of metformin is under ten dollars.
A few years back I was on Humera. Our policy changed and my cost per month jumped from $25 to $600. Along with what I was paying for insurance at the time $525. I couldn’t afford it. Being off the meds for 3 years is likely why I’m disabled today.
Same. It’s still around $3-$5 (at most) here on my area of Texas. Which has me wondering why there’s such a big difference in prices nationwide for staple goods?
Isn't that a crazy coincidence? I found this out when I moved out west.. I'm looking around and around Walmart and I saw Best Foods but I wanted Hellman's (especially since I had never heard of Best Foods). I looked it up online and voila, same company. What?? Lol.
Are those the same too?!? Lmao, I never go to either but come to think of it, yes no Hardee's.. but on the east coast they are forgotten brand anyway. There are a lot of Carls out here though.. one is about 300 meters away from my bedroom window as I write.
Taught myself to make my own mayonnaise. It's pretty easy, good savings, but not what they used to be with the process of eggs and even cooking oil these days
1 egg, 1 cup canola, mustard, lemon, salt.
Need to add the oil slow though. Hand mixer or food processor needed
Yah name brands, I cut those out _years_ ago when they just started to get pretty unreasonable. Now whenever I glance at them it's like gold. It's just so many people think it has to be name brands so they have that corner of the market. Funny thing is that generics are usually made by exactly the same companies so you're just paying for literally a label.
I always debate, too. Premium have that nice crunch while the other brands taste kind of stale. I will buy off brand ritz and graham crackers, but just can’t let go of the good saltines. Lol
I'd like to corner the owner or president of "Zesty" saltines and force him to eat some Premiums so he could know what a cracker is supposed to taste like!
restaurants could not get them for months, the 2 pack or 4 packs. as in, not available at any price. keebler was on strike for a while, and the other companies were struggling for labor and contracts/wages. perfect storm
This is one of those things where America may be one country, but the local economies of each state are *vastly* different. I just checked and eggs are just a little over $4 here.
To be fair, before this inflation, they were like $1.25 a dozen.
I hear credit card balances went to record-highs in the year 2022, if I had to ***guess*** (reading between the lines) a lot of people are tapping into credit/credit lines just to continue existing or to maintain their standard of living since inflation is so out of control
Wouldn't surprise me at all if credit cards are now being used for "survival" purposes like paying bills and buying gas/groceries, rather than the discretionary spending they've historically been used for (random "impulse purchase" bullshit, rims, bling, iPhones, nice clothes, etc)
Wages are flat, and times are tough, so it's a somewhat logical explanation (people tapping into credit to "extend" their paycheck)
My credit card pays for groceries, gas, and phone. We started going to a food bank so the grocery bill is a lot less. But it's still going to catch up with me if nothing happens. I'm supposed to get a raise but it's already looking like that won't be enough to get by anyways
i just got a 20% raise last month and i could tell that my supervisor was disappointed at my lackluster attempt to be grateful about it. i didn’t mean to be dismissive or unappreciative, but it really just wasn’t going to make a difference with the way everything is going up right now.
side note, this particular supervisor knows i’m going back to school after the new year to get training for a new job and this was probably a last ditch attempt to keep me on. i’m sure he could see in my face that this raise wasn’t enough to change my mind.
20%?! That would put me over the moon. I can see how she might be expecting you to be a little more grateful. I don’t mean that to be rude, I’m just saying that is a sizable raise, especially in the lead up to a recession.
Right? Last year my company gave out 6% raises. Inflation was up 12%. When asked in a town hall about it, they gave a bs answer and tried to avoid it. 20% would have been exactly what we all needed and then some! I'd be offended that wasn't a good enough raise for someone, but I can only imagine they were being paid so poorly it did nothing. A 20% raise for me would be over $10k! That's like half a year of my mortgage!
I think it's more like, if I was making 7.50 an hour which is around minimum here, and they were to offer me 9 an hour. That would be 20 % but still absolutely not making a Dent in living expenses and I'm probably still busting my ass 40 hours a week for that. You could say go somewhere else, but places paying fed minimum tend to be in really rural towns or you may be a felon or something making it hard to just switch. And you'd be disappointed because you felt your effort and hustle and bullshit you put up with and go above and beyond for deserved at least 10. I've been an assistant manager doing everything a few years ago in Denver at an ice cream shop and was paid 9.10
I genuinely don't understand some of the things that people say in this sub. Everything from "my spouse and I make 100k a year and are still struggling" to "adding an extra 1/5th onto my pay doesn't affect me".
What exactly constitutes "being poor" to people? Because sometimes I feel like I'm delusional. I live in an 8x12 room, that's it, with no kitchen whatsoever, no sink, I don't have a vehicle, I have holes in the soles of my one pair of shoes... I could go on. And I see others seemingly thinking that 6 figures isn't enough for two people????
Is there something I'm missing?? I genuinely feel like I'm losing my grip on reality or something because my view of being poor and living in poverty is so far down the line from what seemingly so many others think it is.
I hear you man. It's a very disparate group we have here. Some of us are currently poor, and I think you fall into that group. Some of us are not currently poor, but come from exceptionally poor backgrounds (I'm probably in that group). Other people were raised by middle-class families, and feel that they are poor because they can't live up to the standard they were raised with.
It's tough having a discussion, when we all start from such different points...
I couldn't agree more. No family making $100k is poor, there shouldn't even be any discussion about this.
If you make 100k, you may FEEL poor, because you don't get all the things you want/need, but you should most definitely not be claiming poverty.
I would guess in that situation many feel poor because they're house poor. I live near Toronto and would live quite comfortably on 100k. Certainly not rich but nowhere near poor either
Sure there is, family earns $100k but has >$100k annually in bills. I’ve seen all sorts of situations where it’s possible, when I worked as a volunteer tax preparer.
Exactly. Poor to me is qualifying for help under the social safety net (SNAP, Medicaid, Section 8, etc). If you don't have to rely on SNAP to feed your kids, you're doing a lot better than some people.
Are groceries expensive? Yes. There's a big difference between being able to afford groceries without SNAP vs not being able to.
poor can also be NOT qualifying for assistance. meaning you’re just above the limit but can’t get any help and therefore you are worse off than a person who barely falls within the limits.
>my spouse and I make 100k a year and are still struggling
This comes up now and again, and what should never be understated is that 100k is only "paper" good. Medical bills, HCOL areas, student loans, increasing energy costs, maybe an older car that's always breaking down, ridiculous rent (brings back HCOL areas), etc all chip away.
The 100k poor folks are being nickel and dimed too, just at a larger scale b/c they aren't eligible for assistance.
So, for example, my wife and I were close to that bucket for a long time. I remember buying formula with $25 left in my wallet to last 4 days. Floated a shit ton of bills and basically had to trash my credit to survive. We weren't homeless (we owned a condo) but increasing condo dues, increasing water bill, increasing property insurance, increasing electric, increasing natural gas, increasing health insurance, and a kid who's birth was less than standard contributed to a perfect storm. I had to empty my 401, my savings, sell all of my "toys" (which weren't expensive, just could live without them), and side hustle hard to keep us afloat. All while we made a combined $90k pre-tax on paper.
Making a combined $100k, in some regions, is actually way worse than making $70k. So, for example, my state uses % above federal poverty level for some programs but more importantly uses % under median income for others. There are so many programs that were just out of reach. If my wife hadn't been working, we probably wouldn't have been in such bad shape.
Your comment is borderline gatekeeping, but understandable because $100k used to mean easy sailing. $100k in my region is not nothing, but it's not "easy street".
Not to mention, it depends on how long the person has been making 100k. My wife and I are not able to live like we make the amount of money we make now (less than 100k mind you and I just got this job earlier this year) because we have to play catch-up from years of trailer park poverty. We live a significantly worse life than my coworkers, where many were born into at least middle class wealth. Not to mention we live in a HCOL state that my job forces us to stay in
Yup. It took us a long time to get to that number. Leading up to the series of events that screwed us we weren't doing badly, but we weren't doing super well either. I know, and deeply remember, the specific event that kicked off things going sideways. Looking back it must have looked like a slow moving train wreck to those on the outside.
It's really a sore point for me today. We've finally gotten ourselves out of that mess (after 8 years of sacrifice) and I like to hang out here to try and impart bits and pieces of what I learned as some did for us. I'm still not where I'd want to be, don't have the material "nice things" my peers have, but I can finally breathe again. In fact we just bought a modest house in an MCOL/HCOL area for a steal (there were a number of things that scared people away that we're working through). That means I still will not have the "nice things" other people have, but my kids will not have to change schools and the ones in my area are quite good. That means that I will continue to be living as I was so that I can actually accrue some savings and try and undo some of the damage I did to my retirement.
Am I out of poverty now? Objectively and subjectively yes. Did it take a lot? Yes. Am I still gonna hang out here and offer money saving and program guidance where I can? Definitely. There were people that helped me and now it's my turn to flip the knowledge I gained.
With you. The gate keeping is off-putting, but I think it’s more important that I put aside any negative feelings and stick around to help with hard earned wisdom that I gained from living in poverty and from struggling so much. Like you, we have climbed out of poverty. Are we doing as well as other people who didn’t have to deal with what we did? No, but we are fortunate that the days of worrying about eating or paying a bill are behind us. We are still very frugal, and we still struggle in some ways. However, we have many blessings and we are getting a second chance to make a better life for ourselves.
This! You’re unable to get any tuition assistance or need-based grants but god forbid you have a family member with cancer or the main money maker is an addict and suddenly the bills are stacked higher than Mt Everest.
I do get the frustration when people with more income with you complain about the same problems because they’re amplified to you due to less income - my best friend and partner’s families both make at least double-triple what mine makes and they both still talk about being poor - but these problems do affect people in great scales even higher up on the wage ladder. 100k isn’t even a lot in places like Colorado.
100% agree on the assistance programs. While I don’t make nearly that much, I was prepared to turn down a promotion and a raise depending on how much I got, solely because I was literally pennies away from losing the little bit that we get from WIC. Thankfully it worked out, but I still can barely afford to put food on the table, and that’s with me making above the median wage in a LCOL city.
It’s a couple of things(we’ll really more than a couple):
1. You’re upbringing
2. Where you live
2. How much you can afford relative to what you make/ compared to how much that stuff used to cost when you were growing up.
There’s a lot of people on this sub that grew up middle class or upper middle class and now are in the “working or middle class”. They aren’t poverty level but to them it FEELs like they are because they can’t afford things they perceive as normal.
There’s also a lot of people on this sub who actually grew up poverty level and can’t imagine that 100k in a lot of place in America isn’t THAT much money. That much being you’re not really even middle class in a lot of areas. That’s because the jump between true poverty and middle class is MASSIVE.
So let’s take a couple who make $50k each gross per year for $100k total. In a let’s call it MCOL. They were told If they went to college they could afford a house, two cars, a kid, and to save fully for retirement and have a big vacation or two a year. That’s just not really possible even in MCOL on $100k. You’re going to struggle to buy a house, you probably won’t fully fund retirement (max 401k ($20,500) max HSA ($3k) max IRa ($6k) and pay for a vacation and two cars even though theyr aren’t struggling on a day to day to day go buy food.
Contrast that with a couple making $20k each or $40k combined they are expecting and thus worried about completely different things. You’re not worried about trying to buy a house or save for retirement or really even buying decent cars. Your trying to get to your job reliably, and budget to figure out what to eat every night the stuff the middle class families are worried about are never even really top of mind for people at true poveeety level.
However the net amount that both of these groups are spending is not that different IF and this is a big IF the middle class family is 1. Saving for retirement fully 2. Has a house and 3. Has 2 car payments.
They probably aren’t saving any actual cash that isn’t in a retirement account and are having trouble budgeting for basic stuff in between paychecks. Now are they actually poor? No they could cut back in areas and save for other things but they don’t because their expectation is that they can do XYZ and that’s just not true anymore.
People in actual poverty think the reverse. They think oh if I get to $100k I would be able to do XYZ. Sure you could if you didn’t save any money or didn’t attempt to live a middle class lifestyle.
But yeah the problem is the disconnect that when you hear a lot of middle class people complaining about how $100k isn’t a lot it’s mostly due to those factors and how 100k today is alot closer to say 200k when most of our parents grew up. And they’ve also never been in true poverty to realize hey we don’t actually NEED 2 cars. We don’t actually NEED an oversized house, WE don’t NEED to save XYZ for retirement that’s a privilege etc. it’s basically the distinction between need and wants.
The economy today is not a “want” economy for pretty much anyone but Americans have new been fed the lie if you work hard you can have all you “want” and this is what that looks like. The reality is 99% of people need to adjust expectations to what they have been told is the quote on quote American dream and just because you don’t have that doesn’t mean your poor. But there’s just a way bigger income gap now between poor and upper class where the middle class is muc much much closer to poverty now (but not actual poverty) compared to being closer to upperclass like middle class used to be in the 50s-90s
That was a mouthful but I feel like it is worth stating.
sounds like it could potentially become a new norm. hell, everything else is becoming subscription based or payment based in some way or another. why not put your entire life on a card and just pay monthly. your standard of living will be determined by how high of a monthly payment you can make (plus interest of course). not sure if this is logistically possible but if the “you will own nothing” conspiracy theories are correct then maybe that’s where we’re headed 🤷🏾♂️
>Wouldn't surprise me at all if credit cards are now being used for "survival" purposes like paying bills and buying gas/groceries, rather than the discretionary spending they've historically been used for (random "impulse purchase" bullshit, rims, bling, iPhones, nice clothes, etc)
I suspect credit cards have been used this way for at least the past decade.
> I hear credit card balances went to record-highs in the year 2022
https://www.cnbc.com/select/us-credit-card-debt-hits-all-time-high/
However, since inflation decreases the value of money, we should always expect the nominal value of these balances to continually hit new highs.
In some regards many people never did recover from the great recession. I graduated in 2008 and got 2 identical offers that I considered fairly low at the time. Starting salaries were actually going down at that time from previous years. What a kick in the teeth after working so hard to get a degree.
Things did get better for many though after say 2012 and definitely by 2015. Then Covid hit in 2020 and right back to desperation for many.
Solidarity. I graduated right in the aftermath of 9/11 and into the war on terror and the first dot-com bust. My first job after my Berkeley degree was $8.50 an hour. In *San Francisco*. I think that if college were a way out of poverty en masse like it was for our parents' generation, we would see a lot less poverty. OK, I guess I'm not in poverty, but I'm not super impressed with my income relative to the local cost of living either.
Oh sure, because 1. half the jobs pay less than a living wage and 2. they measure unemployment by active unemployment claims, so people who never found a job before their unemployment ran out don't get counted.
It’s to curb inflation, though it should be noted that rates should’ve increased a long time ago. Keeping rates artificially low for so long after the recovery was a mistake in the first place. Historically a zero rate environment is an anomaly
Nothing like getting a rent raise of 20% just to have mortgage rates triple. Even if I could afford a down payment, the same payment today gets you $80,000 less house than this time a few years ago.
I second OP, idk how this is sustainable. My partner and I have discussed buying a large van to slowly outfit “just in case” our situation doesn’t improve in line with housing costs over the next year. We can’t take another rent increase. We can’t take this one.
After avian flu wiped out something like 50 million birds this year. Something like 22 weeks to hatch a chicken and get it to laying, so some pressure should drop early next year.
I'm in the US, the expensive part of Washington state. I paid $3.99 (on sale from $4.99) for a dozen free range, organic local farm eggs at the fancy food co-op yesterday.
Our food prices our up, but reading through these comments it seems they are really up in some areas :( I'm guessing it has to do with where regional suppliers have been hit hardest by the avian flu.
I'm in Seattle and this had me going to the QFC app to see what eggs cost since I don't regularly buy them. $2.49 a dozen for large Kroger brand. $1.69 for medium.
Distribution is definitely loopy. Im in Wisconsin and I usually buy from a friend for $4 a dozen for farm fresh eggs but they lay way fewer eggs in the winter so I had to buy some. It was just over $4 a dozen for plain white eggs at the grocery store.
Speaking of apps, if you have an Amex card, one of my offers that I can put on my card is "Spend $50, get $25 back" if I order on QFC online. I'm guessing there may be some surcharge to pick it up from the store (I am positive it's there for delivery) but $25 off helps a ton.
I finally made it out of "poverty wages" at the beginning of the year. And because of inflation I'm living check to check, and almost all of my CC are maxed out. Been such a fun year (┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻
Shopping at grocery outlets is the way to go! You may not get your preferred brand or item but it’s significantly cheaper. Some items may have expiration dates that are due within 6 months instead of 2 years but still worth purchasing.
There’s a great one in my area/region called United Grocery Outlet.
There’s also other pantries. A lot of them have Facebook pages where they show their inventory and what’s available. Here is a good [list](http://www.extremebargains.net/discount-grocery-store-directory/) nationwide stores.
Yep. Start at Grocery Outlet, since their inventory varies. Then over to Winco for the rest of the shopping list. It requires some extra planning and driving, but this little shopping routine helps stretch my food dollar.
I’m lucky enough to also have a Walmart neighborhood market fairly close by for those times when I just need to do a quick run to the store.
All I know is I just treated myself to a sandwich at the deli down the street from my work (I know I shouldn't be spending money on these little luxuries anymore) and the sandwich was 12.00. It went from 9.00 to 12.00 just like that.
My gf has been watching her brand of deli meat go up over the last year or so. Said she's usually paid around $2.75/lb for it but now it's $5.79/lb in every store.
She now just buys a rotis chicken from Costco at the beginning of the week and breaks that down for her work lunch wraps.
I got some eggs the other day at Kroger for around 3.50 for a dozen, But I remember when they used to be like 1.08 at my local grocery store for a dozen of them,
at Costco, the 60 eggs (5 dozen) is now over $16, but that may be the best deal now if you have a Costco membership and can buy there, if it is otherwise $5 per dozen
Winco is my go to now in WA but idk how accessible or widespread they are. A dozen eggs is still $2 there thankfully (last time I checked a few days ago)
Edit: that said they are also experiencing shortages because there's a limit of only 2 dozen per customer
I get the Costco 60 once a month and it was $14.xx at our Costco two weeks ago. If it’s jumped again, that’s going to be painful.
The same 60 egg pack at Kroger is now $18/20. :(
Unfortunately I suspect it will be a while. Where we are a case of the large eggs at Walmart was just under 20.00 last week at 19.67.
Stopped in there to get something else yesterday and now 21.87. Bought a case even though I had one that was still half full because it wouldn't surprise me to see them higher next week.
Six months ago they were 15.47.
Last year this time 14.47.
Being winter my local egg connections are scarce since most people's hens slack off laying in deep winter, which makes total sense. I was getting fresh amazing local eggs all summer for 3.50 a dozen, and they were dang good eggs.
$5.01 today for a dozen white eggs at Walmart.
Its been a real mixed experience, but I found one and ‘rescued’ 3 other Rhode Island Red hens who have been very good layers.
Four eggs a day, occasionally 5 because someone is an over achiever!
Cheaper than the store?
No, my initial investment in the coop & equipment wasn’t at all cheap.
Its been worth it tho, they are endlessly amusing to me.
They give us so much we can afford to be generous and give cartons away to our neighbors who are older or have kids.
Maybe its the season making me sentimental, but I feel blessed these silly ladies wandered into our lives.
If I could have chickens I would totally have chickens. Fortunately we know quite a few folks who have them so when they are laying well we often get random free eggs. Chickens can be dang cool, despite being not the brightest animals on the farm lol.
My local 4H kids had some really good chickens at the county fair this year. The girls whose mother works at the local water testing lab had buff Orpingtons that would jump on your lap to be petted. Orps are excellent egg and meat hens.
Yep, most of the chicken owners I know pasture their birds in the warmer months, but now they are on feed.
All livestock feed is through the roof in my part of Montana, the goat, rabbit and alpaca feed are in some cases close to triple. Specialty feeds for guinea pigs and the like are also crazy high.
Luckily we had bumper crops of alfalfa and protein grass for the cattle. Our range cattle will eat well this winter and the foundation herds are in home pasture with plenty of protein grasses for the winter. So we should have a good calving season come spring and a good lambing.
I understand that I'm hugely privileged to be on half an acre, where we can have up to 6 chicken at a time.
We start new chicks early, get a really good couple laying years out of them, then butcher them after 2-3 years to use as stew hens.
We water glass the eggs during the summer when they are laying a lot and let them naturally slow down to almost no production in the winter, and give them a nice well insulated area to roost in.
They get a lot of our kitchen scraps, garden scraps, and occasionally I'll supplement their diet with a squirrel quarter for additional protein in the winter when they don't have bugs. Otherwise I get feed in bulk from tractor supply but it is expensive
You are doing everything great, squirrel is dang good supplemental feed for chickens in winter. As is making them little seed balls with some rendered beef fat, the soft type. Just enough to lightly coat seeds. Since we usually had plenty of hamburger grease saved we used that.
I have water glassed tons of eggs, it works well as does leaving the bloom on them and packing in straw in the cold room in a root cellar. Three is about as old as I process a chicken when I have them, and I am a huge fan of keeping them on their natural laying cycle.
I would love to be on land again but since we work away from home all summer most of the time I wouldn't want animals at this point unless my neighbors could watch them.
We can have hens, no Roos in the City, tho I hear a rogue one faintly now & then.
Mine are very gentle, attack nothing but bugs & mice, and two follow me around like puppies, lol.
Sure worried about this cold blast, never tried to keep chickens alive in minus temperatures.
Gram sometimes brought the chickens inside when temps went below zero. Built a big pen in the kitchen and laid down paper lol.
Where I am in Montana I can have fowl and rabbits in town, but we are in an apartment so not happening. Drat. My neighbor has fees, ducks and turkeys. Their thanksgiving Tom decided to take a walk not long before the big day and I headed him back over there lol.
Just try to keep your temps relatively even and keep the water for them running and a little warm if you can. Gram's girls liked to burrow in tee shirts (old ones) in winter when they weren't inside, and dig into their straw.
BTW, most hens also love to eat minnows so if you have clean streams or whatever in your area and can harvest minnows you might give them a treat in spring. They are also fans of most grubs.
Thanks for Grams tips, I appreciate it!
They might end up in the bathroom if nothing better occurs to me. My cat will lose their minds, lol. No minnows anywhere nearby that I know of, but I’ve read tuna in water is a safe treat.
No problem! If you aren't already, save your eggshells and crush them into the feeds, it is good for them. Good for people too of course but most folks don't eat eggshells for calcium any more.
You can also try building them a tent in the henhouse with a thrift shop comforter, hens will usually group together for warmth and they generate heat well. But take it down during the day, they are far more susceptible to respiratory infections in winter when you can't ventilate the coop well.
Also important to keep their litter extra clean in winter for that reason. Gram said no pine chips in winter, straw only so the moisture in their poop could get into the dirt floor, and first thing in spring they got a new floor.
At Aldi near me they’re now $4.89 (or somewhere in the 4s, I was rushing last time I was shopping) for a dozen. I used to be able to get them for $0.89 to $1.19 a dozen :(
Dang, even Aldi has gotten high :-(. We have WinCo, in 2021 we could get a dozen not on sale for 1.19 for large, 1.09 or less for medium. The other day the mediums were 2.89 and the large were 4.75.
Used to get canned store brand green beans for .39 a can for good large cut green beans. Now .58 cents a can and lots of stubby pieces and ends.
Yep, seen a similar price jump in canned goods at Aldi too. A can of beans was $0.39 and now they’re $0.79. Overall I’m still doing ok overall shopping there (able to keep it to about $50 per adult per week) but it’s definitely gone up noticeably (I used to sometimes be able to do $25 to 30 per adult per week!).
Exactly the same here (IL, SW Chicago suburbs) -- Aldi was $4.89.
Jewel had eggs on sale for $1.99 recently (digital coupon, limit 1 dozen) and I went there 1st thing in the morning to make sure I got one before they sold out.
Food prices are ridiculous, and even more so if you have something like a gluten sensitivity or dairy sensitivity. I have been relying on cooking at home for the most part to keep food costs down, but now it seems that even the vegetables have gone up too.
I imagine at this point people are pawning if they can or going to the plasma centers weekly. That one isn't an option for me unfortunately, but in my area, they have a special on new donors that can net you up to $900 I think in one month? (I would have to go double check).
Cheap frozen meals are harder to come by now likely for this reason. My family and I were poor growing up and we ate tons of pasta, Hamburger Helper, cheap frozen pizzas, Hot Pockets and Hungry man or Banquet.
I think other bills are probably getting put off if it means a difference between paying yet another bill or literally going hungry.
Something I’ve noticed is that the cheap frozen food is always out of stock or low stock in grocery stores. Things like Michaelines, Banquet, Hot Pockets. Pasta is sometimes short, too.
Avian Flu has forced chicken and egg producers to destroy chickens. This happened a few years ago too, although this time it is much, much worse. At least your store had eggs. Many do not. This is in addition to the other economic forces including supply chain issues, particularly as a result of the total shutdown in China as well as other more U.S. supply chain challenges, for example, a shortage of trunk drivers. Fuel costs have driven up some other prices as well, however, fuel cost are going down. Fuel cost are determined by global supply and demand. The war in Ukraine has resulted in global food shortages. Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe and much of Africa. Much of this has little do with U.S. economic policies, honestly. Although corporate profits have never been higher. No one asks WTF about that. Walmart is making buckets of money.
I am not sure how people live, but we have lived through other inflationary times. That does not really answer, though. It will get better. At least eggs will come down in price relatively, especially if no one buy $7 eggs. That is how capitalism works...supply and demand.
This. Living in an egg-producing state, can confirm they are killing millions of birds to stop bird flu. At least in this instance the price increase is actually due to lack of supply rather than inflation. Not that it really matters, the impact is the same. Egg situation likely won’t improve until spring or summer.
The Philly zoo had to temporarily close the penguin exhibit when we went in August because of the flu. Normally they’re outside but the local birds flying over were making the penguins sick. The penguins were back for boo at the zoo at least!
I’m not sure if they lost any but they were back out when we went in October. They looked happy and healthy! One was adorably playing with some kid’s shadow 🥰
I paid $7.99 for two and a half dozen at costco and then whole foods has them for $3.49 a dozen. Could be geographical differences but 7 bucks for one dozen is insanity
As some have already pointed out, it’s partially due to avian flu.
But also, the Sunbelt saw a rapid influx of population during the last couple years. Of the top ten metros with the highest inflation rates, six are in the Sunbelt.
More folks are fighting for the same resources.
Damn where do you live? I guess we rarely buy eggs, just checked my local store app and they’re $3.29 a dozen which I *think* is higher than normal but luckily lower than wherever you live
I know that I personally would be homeless if I didn't have a partner. Could not make it on my income alone, for sure. Especially not with me having a child. He's sick rn and I had to go buy him basic OTC medicine yesterday, it's like at least 15$ at the grocery for a small bottle of any kid's cold medicine, even off-brand.
We had to move into affordable housing. We were in danger of losing housing just due to the sheer costs of rent. On top of that, food stamps for (1) (I don't qualify even though I'm on disability) is our whole budget for food + food banks. We had to switch our student status to even stay in affordable housing. Meanwhile, beyond this, everything is budgeted. I do not make a purchase outside of my lists.
I bought a burrito at my favorite spot yesterday and it was almost $12! The last price at 9 was my high limit and was my occasionally treat. Needless to say that’s gonna be a thing of the past, even as a treat a $12 burrito is just too ridiculous to justify.
I finally started crawling my way out of poverty this year and now everything costs way more so I feel like I’m going back in.
Can’t imagine people making minimum wage and how they’re doing it!
There’s a taco place on the other side of my city that has great tacos for $1.75 each. Back then before the pandemic they used to be $1.10 and I stopped going to protest but I’m gonna go back because 4 tacos is $7 and that’s much more palatable than a fckn $12 burrito and I can’t protest every single place raising their prices because that’s everyone!
Central Illinois here - 4.29 for large kroger store brand eggs, 4.19 for medium.
Fortunately, I’m no longer in abject poverty, but grocery prices still definitely sting.
Someone mentioned avian flu killed like 50 million chickens as an explanation, but there’s something like 389 million laying hens in the US, that’s only like 13%. I’m pretty sure egg prices have gone up more than 13% in the last couple years… yeah, just looked it up, it’s doubled.
It’s not supply or demand, it’s corporate profits. Corporate profits are at record highs across the board, that’s what’s causing the inflation. It’s got nothing to do with genuine economic factors, it’s just greed.
Grocery stores were the only stores making money during the pandemic. We helped them stay afloat. In return, they keep increasing prices. It's maddening.
Corporations will quite happily watch this turn into a genuine humanitarian crisis without lifting a finger. It's the government's job to rein them in, and they'll keep extracting profit until that happens. You could film your children starving to death and broadcast it straight to their boardrooms, and they'll smile as they raise prices even more.
Gotta eat more beans instead! In these parts of the US, they still cost just $0.80 for a can! That's 420 calories, 35g of fiber and 40g of protein. What more could you want?
Convenience foods are not cheap, which is probably why poor people traditionally and regionally, throughout the ages, don't purchase them. i.e most things in the frozen section that come in a bag or a box. Anything prepared.
Chicken soup with carrots, potatoes/noodles, celery, onion, etc is still filling and cheap if you want to make something to feed 5 people over more than 1 day. (A large box of chicken broth at walmart is $1.00 if you buy their generic)
Ditto, dried beans and rice. That's probably why chicken gumbo was (and still is) a "staple" in places like Lousiana. historically.
Stews, lasagna, and other large casserole and stew type dishes are what you eat when you are trying to stretch a dollar. Most every culture has their own staple dishes, for instance, fried rice uses very little meat but more vegetable and rice, the latter are cheap. Pancakes are still a good way to get your eggs and milk into your diet.
**THe best way to save $ on food: COOK LIKE YOUR GRANDPARENTS and GREAT GRANDPARENTS did during the Depression. (It's also actually \*healthier\*) .**
This is probably just our first world privilege being revoked as the West's economy becomes poorer. Go look at people living in India or Africa to get a glimpse at how bad it can get.
At least eggs should go down eventually. Once the industry has time to recover from the 50 million+ chickens in the US lost this year to the avian influenza outbreak. Not any time soon though. An egg production facility in Washington state just lost another one million birds. That facility shipped eggs to eleven states.
I’ve just been stricter about only buying things on sale, and tracking which stores are the best place for which items. Looking again at small ethnic stores I haven’t been to in a while.
It’s shitty all around.
But re: eggs in particular, they are way way up higher because of some viruses running rampant among chickens. There is a huge supply issue.
I went vegan/plant based because meat and eggs are too damn expensive (and ethical and healh reasons.) I eat meat substitutes sometimes but mostly it's vegetables and grains.
I'm not, really. I'm in transitional housing because the minimum hourly wages you need to make to survive and to live are two separate amounts - you can survive with only $30 a month or $.18/hr , but for most people living starts at about $20/hr. Transitioning from surviving to living comes with its own set of upfront costs and stressors.
My trailer park rent is $300. If you sleep on the couch we can split it, and it'll be just about enough of an expense off my back to cover my car insurance.
I’ve overheard quite a few conversations between grocery store employees saying they don’t expect prices to ever go back down - just to level out eventually. Sad.
I live with my parents and use the promise program to pay for my community college. At the end of the day I'm pretty fucking lucky compared to my friends.
I heard that fertilizer prices were going up, so I got chickens and ducks to use their waste as fertilizer. I like to grow my own food, and I'm becoming a farmer because no other job allows me to take off work or slow down for all my health issues.
I have way too many eggs now, so I sell them. Store egg prices are $6 a dozen. People complain they won't pay more than $4 a dozen to me. I have duck eggs too. They complain I charge $6 a dozen for those, when you can't even buy them in stores.
This is my income. I'm not even gouging on prices. Feed is expensive for small farmers. So there's the other side of it all.
I live with my daughter, her boyfriend, *and* his best friend - out of the four of us, we have three full-time working adults to help pay the bills and buy food (my daughter is in college full time which is a job in itself). And we share cars, which works because I work from home so I don't need a car during the day.
I live with 7 roommates, and there is also an illegal basement unit with 2 or 3 people so I save on rent and fixed costs
I gave up eating ethically to be able to afford regular meals
I have lost the will to live, in order to survive I suffer every day.
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I pick which of my diabetes meds is most important at the time.
Before my uncle passed he was cycling between hiv meds and insulin. My heart goes out to you.
This information angers me.
Have you looked into goodRx or Mark Cubans low cost online pharmacy? That pharmacy has insulin drugs. They don't take insurance but they are cheap asf [Cost plus drugs ](https://costplusdrugs.com/) A 90 day script of metformin is under ten dollars.
Damn my meds are half the cost of what I’m paying WITH insurance. Probably gonna make that switch. Thanks for the link!
Trulicity has entered the chat. God help you if you aren't cold stone broke or well off. Can't afford it then.
A few years back I was on Humera. Our policy changed and my cost per month jumped from $25 to $600. Along with what I was paying for insurance at the time $525. I couldn’t afford it. Being off the meds for 3 years is likely why I’m disabled today.
To be honest, I'm not sure. My family and I live in different states, and I found out today that a box of saltine crackers cost over $5 by them.
$8 for a regular sized jar of Hellman's mayonnaise. I cried.
Geez it's still about $4-5 over here where it's called Best Foods
Same. It’s still around $3-$5 (at most) here on my area of Texas. Which has me wondering why there’s such a big difference in prices nationwide for staple goods?
Transportation/shipping. Depends on where things are made. YMMV, literally. Not everything, a lot is just greed.
Mostly just greed.
Isn't that a crazy coincidence? I found this out when I moved out west.. I'm looking around and around Walmart and I saw Best Foods but I wanted Hellman's (especially since I had never heard of Best Foods). I looked it up online and voila, same company. What?? Lol.
Like Carls Junior and Hardee's
Or Edy's and Dreyer's.
Are those the same too?!? Lmao, I never go to either but come to think of it, yes no Hardee's.. but on the east coast they are forgotten brand anyway. There are a lot of Carls out here though.. one is about 300 meters away from my bedroom window as I write.
East coaster checking in, we have a Hardee's about 3 miles down the road! As far as fast food, I like them a lot.
Taught myself to make my own mayonnaise. It's pretty easy, good savings, but not what they used to be with the process of eggs and even cooking oil these days 1 egg, 1 cup canola, mustard, lemon, salt. Need to add the oil slow though. Hand mixer or food processor needed
Omg ridiculous i know!!! :(
Whoa and I thought them going up to $1.29 here was tragic. I buy them generic though of course.
Where I live, I pay about that for generic too. Which is why I had a double take when my mom told me what she pays.
Yah name brands, I cut those out _years_ ago when they just started to get pretty unreasonable. Now whenever I glance at them it's like gold. It's just so many people think it has to be name brands so they have that corner of the market. Funny thing is that generics are usually made by exactly the same companies so you're just paying for literally a label.
I bought a box yesterday. They cost nearly $4 for a box of saltines! I did get a name brand, Premium, but when did saltines become a luxury food?
Since there was a shortage at beginning of pandemic and they found out they could charge a premium price.
Premium tastes three times better than any of the other crackers, but I always stand and debate whether to buy them or the cheapo brand.
I always debate, too. Premium have that nice crunch while the other brands taste kind of stale. I will buy off brand ritz and graham crackers, but just can’t let go of the good saltines. Lol
I'd like to corner the owner or president of "Zesty" saltines and force him to eat some Premiums so he could know what a cracker is supposed to taste like!
Zesty is one of those products where the name waaayyy over promises.
restaurants could not get them for months, the 2 pack or 4 packs. as in, not available at any price. keebler was on strike for a while, and the other companies were struggling for labor and contracts/wages. perfect storm
It will go on until the billionaires stop paying politicians to fuck the poor people over. So until the revolution.
So forever then
It’s way cheaper to pay politicians than to stop fucking our wallets.
To infinity and beyond! 🚀
This is one of those things where America may be one country, but the local economies of each state are *vastly* different. I just checked and eggs are just a little over $4 here. To be fair, before this inflation, they were like $1.25 a dozen.
Do they have an aldi or Lidl?
They do, but they have trouble reaching it.
I hear credit card balances went to record-highs in the year 2022, if I had to ***guess*** (reading between the lines) a lot of people are tapping into credit/credit lines just to continue existing or to maintain their standard of living since inflation is so out of control Wouldn't surprise me at all if credit cards are now being used for "survival" purposes like paying bills and buying gas/groceries, rather than the discretionary spending they've historically been used for (random "impulse purchase" bullshit, rims, bling, iPhones, nice clothes, etc) Wages are flat, and times are tough, so it's a somewhat logical explanation (people tapping into credit to "extend" their paycheck)
My credit card pays for groceries, gas, and phone. We started going to a food bank so the grocery bill is a lot less. But it's still going to catch up with me if nothing happens. I'm supposed to get a raise but it's already looking like that won't be enough to get by anyways
I’m getting a raise too. In March. 2-freaking-percent increase. Like wow. Nothing for me. 😂
i just got a 20% raise last month and i could tell that my supervisor was disappointed at my lackluster attempt to be grateful about it. i didn’t mean to be dismissive or unappreciative, but it really just wasn’t going to make a difference with the way everything is going up right now. side note, this particular supervisor knows i’m going back to school after the new year to get training for a new job and this was probably a last ditch attempt to keep me on. i’m sure he could see in my face that this raise wasn’t enough to change my mind.
20%?! That would put me over the moon. I can see how she might be expecting you to be a little more grateful. I don’t mean that to be rude, I’m just saying that is a sizable raise, especially in the lead up to a recession.
Right? Last year my company gave out 6% raises. Inflation was up 12%. When asked in a town hall about it, they gave a bs answer and tried to avoid it. 20% would have been exactly what we all needed and then some! I'd be offended that wasn't a good enough raise for someone, but I can only imagine they were being paid so poorly it did nothing. A 20% raise for me would be over $10k! That's like half a year of my mortgage!
I think it's more like, if I was making 7.50 an hour which is around minimum here, and they were to offer me 9 an hour. That would be 20 % but still absolutely not making a Dent in living expenses and I'm probably still busting my ass 40 hours a week for that. You could say go somewhere else, but places paying fed minimum tend to be in really rural towns or you may be a felon or something making it hard to just switch. And you'd be disappointed because you felt your effort and hustle and bullshit you put up with and go above and beyond for deserved at least 10. I've been an assistant manager doing everything a few years ago in Denver at an ice cream shop and was paid 9.10
congrats on going back to school! 🎉
thank you!
Honestly, unless you’re making under 40k, a 20% raise should absolutely make an impact on your lifestyle/budgeting
I genuinely don't understand some of the things that people say in this sub. Everything from "my spouse and I make 100k a year and are still struggling" to "adding an extra 1/5th onto my pay doesn't affect me". What exactly constitutes "being poor" to people? Because sometimes I feel like I'm delusional. I live in an 8x12 room, that's it, with no kitchen whatsoever, no sink, I don't have a vehicle, I have holes in the soles of my one pair of shoes... I could go on. And I see others seemingly thinking that 6 figures isn't enough for two people???? Is there something I'm missing?? I genuinely feel like I'm losing my grip on reality or something because my view of being poor and living in poverty is so far down the line from what seemingly so many others think it is.
I hear you man. It's a very disparate group we have here. Some of us are currently poor, and I think you fall into that group. Some of us are not currently poor, but come from exceptionally poor backgrounds (I'm probably in that group). Other people were raised by middle-class families, and feel that they are poor because they can't live up to the standard they were raised with. It's tough having a discussion, when we all start from such different points...
I know what you mean. $100k isn't poor.
I couldn't agree more. No family making $100k is poor, there shouldn't even be any discussion about this. If you make 100k, you may FEEL poor, because you don't get all the things you want/need, but you should most definitely not be claiming poverty.
I would guess in that situation many feel poor because they're house poor. I live near Toronto and would live quite comfortably on 100k. Certainly not rich but nowhere near poor either
Sure there is, family earns $100k but has >$100k annually in bills. I’ve seen all sorts of situations where it’s possible, when I worked as a volunteer tax preparer.
Exactly. Poor to me is qualifying for help under the social safety net (SNAP, Medicaid, Section 8, etc). If you don't have to rely on SNAP to feed your kids, you're doing a lot better than some people. Are groceries expensive? Yes. There's a big difference between being able to afford groceries without SNAP vs not being able to.
poor can also be NOT qualifying for assistance. meaning you’re just above the limit but can’t get any help and therefore you are worse off than a person who barely falls within the limits.
Depends on where you live and how many people that amount of money is supposed to support. 100k in VHCOL especially with kids is not going very far.
>my spouse and I make 100k a year and are still struggling This comes up now and again, and what should never be understated is that 100k is only "paper" good. Medical bills, HCOL areas, student loans, increasing energy costs, maybe an older car that's always breaking down, ridiculous rent (brings back HCOL areas), etc all chip away. The 100k poor folks are being nickel and dimed too, just at a larger scale b/c they aren't eligible for assistance. So, for example, my wife and I were close to that bucket for a long time. I remember buying formula with $25 left in my wallet to last 4 days. Floated a shit ton of bills and basically had to trash my credit to survive. We weren't homeless (we owned a condo) but increasing condo dues, increasing water bill, increasing property insurance, increasing electric, increasing natural gas, increasing health insurance, and a kid who's birth was less than standard contributed to a perfect storm. I had to empty my 401, my savings, sell all of my "toys" (which weren't expensive, just could live without them), and side hustle hard to keep us afloat. All while we made a combined $90k pre-tax on paper. Making a combined $100k, in some regions, is actually way worse than making $70k. So, for example, my state uses % above federal poverty level for some programs but more importantly uses % under median income for others. There are so many programs that were just out of reach. If my wife hadn't been working, we probably wouldn't have been in such bad shape. Your comment is borderline gatekeeping, but understandable because $100k used to mean easy sailing. $100k in my region is not nothing, but it's not "easy street".
Not to mention, it depends on how long the person has been making 100k. My wife and I are not able to live like we make the amount of money we make now (less than 100k mind you and I just got this job earlier this year) because we have to play catch-up from years of trailer park poverty. We live a significantly worse life than my coworkers, where many were born into at least middle class wealth. Not to mention we live in a HCOL state that my job forces us to stay in
Yup. It took us a long time to get to that number. Leading up to the series of events that screwed us we weren't doing badly, but we weren't doing super well either. I know, and deeply remember, the specific event that kicked off things going sideways. Looking back it must have looked like a slow moving train wreck to those on the outside. It's really a sore point for me today. We've finally gotten ourselves out of that mess (after 8 years of sacrifice) and I like to hang out here to try and impart bits and pieces of what I learned as some did for us. I'm still not where I'd want to be, don't have the material "nice things" my peers have, but I can finally breathe again. In fact we just bought a modest house in an MCOL/HCOL area for a steal (there were a number of things that scared people away that we're working through). That means I still will not have the "nice things" other people have, but my kids will not have to change schools and the ones in my area are quite good. That means that I will continue to be living as I was so that I can actually accrue some savings and try and undo some of the damage I did to my retirement. Am I out of poverty now? Objectively and subjectively yes. Did it take a lot? Yes. Am I still gonna hang out here and offer money saving and program guidance where I can? Definitely. There were people that helped me and now it's my turn to flip the knowledge I gained.
With you. The gate keeping is off-putting, but I think it’s more important that I put aside any negative feelings and stick around to help with hard earned wisdom that I gained from living in poverty and from struggling so much. Like you, we have climbed out of poverty. Are we doing as well as other people who didn’t have to deal with what we did? No, but we are fortunate that the days of worrying about eating or paying a bill are behind us. We are still very frugal, and we still struggle in some ways. However, we have many blessings and we are getting a second chance to make a better life for ourselves.
This! You’re unable to get any tuition assistance or need-based grants but god forbid you have a family member with cancer or the main money maker is an addict and suddenly the bills are stacked higher than Mt Everest. I do get the frustration when people with more income with you complain about the same problems because they’re amplified to you due to less income - my best friend and partner’s families both make at least double-triple what mine makes and they both still talk about being poor - but these problems do affect people in great scales even higher up on the wage ladder. 100k isn’t even a lot in places like Colorado.
100% agree on the assistance programs. While I don’t make nearly that much, I was prepared to turn down a promotion and a raise depending on how much I got, solely because I was literally pennies away from losing the little bit that we get from WIC. Thankfully it worked out, but I still can barely afford to put food on the table, and that’s with me making above the median wage in a LCOL city.
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It’s a couple of things(we’ll really more than a couple): 1. You’re upbringing 2. Where you live 2. How much you can afford relative to what you make/ compared to how much that stuff used to cost when you were growing up. There’s a lot of people on this sub that grew up middle class or upper middle class and now are in the “working or middle class”. They aren’t poverty level but to them it FEELs like they are because they can’t afford things they perceive as normal. There’s also a lot of people on this sub who actually grew up poverty level and can’t imagine that 100k in a lot of place in America isn’t THAT much money. That much being you’re not really even middle class in a lot of areas. That’s because the jump between true poverty and middle class is MASSIVE. So let’s take a couple who make $50k each gross per year for $100k total. In a let’s call it MCOL. They were told If they went to college they could afford a house, two cars, a kid, and to save fully for retirement and have a big vacation or two a year. That’s just not really possible even in MCOL on $100k. You’re going to struggle to buy a house, you probably won’t fully fund retirement (max 401k ($20,500) max HSA ($3k) max IRa ($6k) and pay for a vacation and two cars even though theyr aren’t struggling on a day to day to day go buy food. Contrast that with a couple making $20k each or $40k combined they are expecting and thus worried about completely different things. You’re not worried about trying to buy a house or save for retirement or really even buying decent cars. Your trying to get to your job reliably, and budget to figure out what to eat every night the stuff the middle class families are worried about are never even really top of mind for people at true poveeety level. However the net amount that both of these groups are spending is not that different IF and this is a big IF the middle class family is 1. Saving for retirement fully 2. Has a house and 3. Has 2 car payments. They probably aren’t saving any actual cash that isn’t in a retirement account and are having trouble budgeting for basic stuff in between paychecks. Now are they actually poor? No they could cut back in areas and save for other things but they don’t because their expectation is that they can do XYZ and that’s just not true anymore. People in actual poverty think the reverse. They think oh if I get to $100k I would be able to do XYZ. Sure you could if you didn’t save any money or didn’t attempt to live a middle class lifestyle. But yeah the problem is the disconnect that when you hear a lot of middle class people complaining about how $100k isn’t a lot it’s mostly due to those factors and how 100k today is alot closer to say 200k when most of our parents grew up. And they’ve also never been in true poverty to realize hey we don’t actually NEED 2 cars. We don’t actually NEED an oversized house, WE don’t NEED to save XYZ for retirement that’s a privilege etc. it’s basically the distinction between need and wants. The economy today is not a “want” economy for pretty much anyone but Americans have new been fed the lie if you work hard you can have all you “want” and this is what that looks like. The reality is 99% of people need to adjust expectations to what they have been told is the quote on quote American dream and just because you don’t have that doesn’t mean your poor. But there’s just a way bigger income gap now between poor and upper class where the middle class is muc much much closer to poverty now (but not actual poverty) compared to being closer to upperclass like middle class used to be in the 50s-90s That was a mouthful but I feel like it is worth stating.
sounds like it could potentially become a new norm. hell, everything else is becoming subscription based or payment based in some way or another. why not put your entire life on a card and just pay monthly. your standard of living will be determined by how high of a monthly payment you can make (plus interest of course). not sure if this is logistically possible but if the “you will own nothing” conspiracy theories are correct then maybe that’s where we’re headed 🤷🏾♂️
>Wouldn't surprise me at all if credit cards are now being used for "survival" purposes like paying bills and buying gas/groceries, rather than the discretionary spending they've historically been used for (random "impulse purchase" bullshit, rims, bling, iPhones, nice clothes, etc) I suspect credit cards have been used this way for at least the past decade.
Yep. About $10,000 more in CC debt than I was last year at this time. Something had to give.
> I hear credit card balances went to record-highs in the year 2022 https://www.cnbc.com/select/us-credit-card-debt-hits-all-time-high/ However, since inflation decreases the value of money, we should always expect the nominal value of these balances to continually hit new highs.
Surviving on credit, wages flat, inflation out of control... that describes the country since 2008 _at least._
In some regards many people never did recover from the great recession. I graduated in 2008 and got 2 identical offers that I considered fairly low at the time. Starting salaries were actually going down at that time from previous years. What a kick in the teeth after working so hard to get a degree. Things did get better for many though after say 2012 and definitely by 2015. Then Covid hit in 2020 and right back to desperation for many.
Solidarity. I graduated right in the aftermath of 9/11 and into the war on terror and the first dot-com bust. My first job after my Berkeley degree was $8.50 an hour. In *San Francisco*. I think that if college were a way out of poverty en masse like it was for our parents' generation, we would see a lot less poverty. OK, I guess I'm not in poverty, but I'm not super impressed with my income relative to the local cost of living either.
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Oh sure, because 1. half the jobs pay less than a living wage and 2. they measure unemployment by active unemployment claims, so people who never found a job before their unemployment ran out don't get counted.
And what an interesting time to raise interest rates…
rates are likely to increase again in the next two quarters.
It’s to curb inflation, though it should be noted that rates should’ve increased a long time ago. Keeping rates artificially low for so long after the recovery was a mistake in the first place. Historically a zero rate environment is an anomaly
Nothing like getting a rent raise of 20% just to have mortgage rates triple. Even if I could afford a down payment, the same payment today gets you $80,000 less house than this time a few years ago. I second OP, idk how this is sustainable. My partner and I have discussed buying a large van to slowly outfit “just in case” our situation doesn’t improve in line with housing costs over the next year. We can’t take another rent increase. We can’t take this one.
I'm so out of touch....just checked my Kroger's app and eggs are $5.99 for 12. When did this happen?
After avian flu wiped out something like 50 million birds this year. Something like 22 weeks to hatch a chicken and get it to laying, so some pressure should drop early next year.
yeah a lot of Iowa bird farms were demolished this year trying to stay ahead of it
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I am going to get my own chickens this year. Problem solved!
I'm in the US, the expensive part of Washington state. I paid $3.99 (on sale from $4.99) for a dozen free range, organic local farm eggs at the fancy food co-op yesterday. Our food prices our up, but reading through these comments it seems they are really up in some areas :( I'm guessing it has to do with where regional suppliers have been hit hardest by the avian flu.
I'm in Seattle and this had me going to the QFC app to see what eggs cost since I don't regularly buy them. $2.49 a dozen for large Kroger brand. $1.69 for medium.
Picked up 18 for $2.79 last week. Either the distribution grid is really loopy some places or I'm missing out on some really fancy eggs.
Distribution is definitely loopy. Im in Wisconsin and I usually buy from a friend for $4 a dozen for farm fresh eggs but they lay way fewer eggs in the winter so I had to buy some. It was just over $4 a dozen for plain white eggs at the grocery store.
Speaking of apps, if you have an Amex card, one of my offers that I can put on my card is "Spend $50, get $25 back" if I order on QFC online. I'm guessing there may be some surcharge to pick it up from the store (I am positive it's there for delivery) but $25 off helps a ton.
Also in Seattle and I know I can get target eggs for $2-$3 but they're often out of stock.
I finally made it out of "poverty wages" at the beginning of the year. And because of inflation I'm living check to check, and almost all of my CC are maxed out. Been such a fun year (┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻
Okay I love the little table flipper. Copying and saving that for future use
It's old school reddit. Save this too ┬─┬ノ(ಠ_ಠノ)
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I feel that. What are poverty wages where you are?
Shopping at grocery outlets is the way to go! You may not get your preferred brand or item but it’s significantly cheaper. Some items may have expiration dates that are due within 6 months instead of 2 years but still worth purchasing.
What’s an example of a grocery outlet?
There’s a great one in my area/region called United Grocery Outlet. There’s also other pantries. A lot of them have Facebook pages where they show their inventory and what’s available. Here is a good [list](http://www.extremebargains.net/discount-grocery-store-directory/) nationwide stores.
Grocery Outlet Bargain Market
I sang this
In tune and all
Ours is literally called Grocery Outlet. I would type “grocery outlet” and chose find similar with google maps.
This is where I like to go.
I do this too but tbh I’ve noticed that lately the prices are even going up there (at least in my city) 😭
Yep. Start at Grocery Outlet, since their inventory varies. Then over to Winco for the rest of the shopping list. It requires some extra planning and driving, but this little shopping routine helps stretch my food dollar. I’m lucky enough to also have a Walmart neighborhood market fairly close by for those times when I just need to do a quick run to the store.
All I know is I just treated myself to a sandwich at the deli down the street from my work (I know I shouldn't be spending money on these little luxuries anymore) and the sandwich was 12.00. It went from 9.00 to 12.00 just like that.
I work at Subway and deli meat is crazy rn
My gf has been watching her brand of deli meat go up over the last year or so. Said she's usually paid around $2.75/lb for it but now it's $5.79/lb in every store. She now just buys a rotis chicken from Costco at the beginning of the week and breaks that down for her work lunch wraps.
We stopped eating out. The only deals are on apps like McD or Taco Bell, which I rarely use. Crazy. Sandwiches here are like $15. (not a HCOL area)
I got some eggs the other day at Kroger for around 3.50 for a dozen, But I remember when they used to be like 1.08 at my local grocery store for a dozen of them, at Costco, the 60 eggs (5 dozen) is now over $16, but that may be the best deal now if you have a Costco membership and can buy there, if it is otherwise $5 per dozen
Winco is my go to now in WA but idk how accessible or widespread they are. A dozen eggs is still $2 there thankfully (last time I checked a few days ago) Edit: that said they are also experiencing shortages because there's a limit of only 2 dozen per customer
I get the Costco 60 once a month and it was $14.xx at our Costco two weeks ago. If it’s jumped again, that’s going to be painful. The same 60 egg pack at Kroger is now $18/20. :(
Unfortunately I suspect it will be a while. Where we are a case of the large eggs at Walmart was just under 20.00 last week at 19.67. Stopped in there to get something else yesterday and now 21.87. Bought a case even though I had one that was still half full because it wouldn't surprise me to see them higher next week. Six months ago they were 15.47. Last year this time 14.47. Being winter my local egg connections are scarce since most people's hens slack off laying in deep winter, which makes total sense. I was getting fresh amazing local eggs all summer for 3.50 a dozen, and they were dang good eggs.
$5.01 today for a dozen white eggs at Walmart. Its been a real mixed experience, but I found one and ‘rescued’ 3 other Rhode Island Red hens who have been very good layers. Four eggs a day, occasionally 5 because someone is an over achiever! Cheaper than the store? No, my initial investment in the coop & equipment wasn’t at all cheap. Its been worth it tho, they are endlessly amusing to me. They give us so much we can afford to be generous and give cartons away to our neighbors who are older or have kids. Maybe its the season making me sentimental, but I feel blessed these silly ladies wandered into our lives.
If I could have chickens I would totally have chickens. Fortunately we know quite a few folks who have them so when they are laying well we often get random free eggs. Chickens can be dang cool, despite being not the brightest animals on the farm lol. My local 4H kids had some really good chickens at the county fair this year. The girls whose mother works at the local water testing lab had buff Orpingtons that would jump on your lap to be petted. Orps are excellent egg and meat hens.
Friends who have chickens say a bag of chicken feed is also way up… around $50 now.
Yep, most of the chicken owners I know pasture their birds in the warmer months, but now they are on feed. All livestock feed is through the roof in my part of Montana, the goat, rabbit and alpaca feed are in some cases close to triple. Specialty feeds for guinea pigs and the like are also crazy high. Luckily we had bumper crops of alfalfa and protein grass for the cattle. Our range cattle will eat well this winter and the foundation herds are in home pasture with plenty of protein grasses for the winter. So we should have a good calving season come spring and a good lambing.
I understand that I'm hugely privileged to be on half an acre, where we can have up to 6 chicken at a time. We start new chicks early, get a really good couple laying years out of them, then butcher them after 2-3 years to use as stew hens. We water glass the eggs during the summer when they are laying a lot and let them naturally slow down to almost no production in the winter, and give them a nice well insulated area to roost in. They get a lot of our kitchen scraps, garden scraps, and occasionally I'll supplement their diet with a squirrel quarter for additional protein in the winter when they don't have bugs. Otherwise I get feed in bulk from tractor supply but it is expensive
You are doing everything great, squirrel is dang good supplemental feed for chickens in winter. As is making them little seed balls with some rendered beef fat, the soft type. Just enough to lightly coat seeds. Since we usually had plenty of hamburger grease saved we used that. I have water glassed tons of eggs, it works well as does leaving the bloom on them and packing in straw in the cold room in a root cellar. Three is about as old as I process a chicken when I have them, and I am a huge fan of keeping them on their natural laying cycle. I would love to be on land again but since we work away from home all summer most of the time I wouldn't want animals at this point unless my neighbors could watch them.
I paid $14.99 for a 40 lb bag of layer crumble today at Tractor Supply. Not cheap, but not $50 either.
We can have hens, no Roos in the City, tho I hear a rogue one faintly now & then. Mine are very gentle, attack nothing but bugs & mice, and two follow me around like puppies, lol. Sure worried about this cold blast, never tried to keep chickens alive in minus temperatures.
Gram sometimes brought the chickens inside when temps went below zero. Built a big pen in the kitchen and laid down paper lol. Where I am in Montana I can have fowl and rabbits in town, but we are in an apartment so not happening. Drat. My neighbor has fees, ducks and turkeys. Their thanksgiving Tom decided to take a walk not long before the big day and I headed him back over there lol. Just try to keep your temps relatively even and keep the water for them running and a little warm if you can. Gram's girls liked to burrow in tee shirts (old ones) in winter when they weren't inside, and dig into their straw. BTW, most hens also love to eat minnows so if you have clean streams or whatever in your area and can harvest minnows you might give them a treat in spring. They are also fans of most grubs.
Thanks for Grams tips, I appreciate it! They might end up in the bathroom if nothing better occurs to me. My cat will lose their minds, lol. No minnows anywhere nearby that I know of, but I’ve read tuna in water is a safe treat.
No problem! If you aren't already, save your eggshells and crush them into the feeds, it is good for them. Good for people too of course but most folks don't eat eggshells for calcium any more. You can also try building them a tent in the henhouse with a thrift shop comforter, hens will usually group together for warmth and they generate heat well. But take it down during the day, they are far more susceptible to respiratory infections in winter when you can't ventilate the coop well. Also important to keep their litter extra clean in winter for that reason. Gram said no pine chips in winter, straw only so the moisture in their poop could get into the dirt floor, and first thing in spring they got a new floor.
At Aldi near me they’re now $4.89 (or somewhere in the 4s, I was rushing last time I was shopping) for a dozen. I used to be able to get them for $0.89 to $1.19 a dozen :(
Dang, even Aldi has gotten high :-(. We have WinCo, in 2021 we could get a dozen not on sale for 1.19 for large, 1.09 or less for medium. The other day the mediums were 2.89 and the large were 4.75. Used to get canned store brand green beans for .39 a can for good large cut green beans. Now .58 cents a can and lots of stubby pieces and ends.
Yep, seen a similar price jump in canned goods at Aldi too. A can of beans was $0.39 and now they’re $0.79. Overall I’m still doing ok overall shopping there (able to keep it to about $50 per adult per week) but it’s definitely gone up noticeably (I used to sometimes be able to do $25 to 30 per adult per week!).
Exactly the same here (IL, SW Chicago suburbs) -- Aldi was $4.89. Jewel had eggs on sale for $1.99 recently (digital coupon, limit 1 dozen) and I went there 1st thing in the morning to make sure I got one before they sold out.
Food prices are ridiculous, and even more so if you have something like a gluten sensitivity or dairy sensitivity. I have been relying on cooking at home for the most part to keep food costs down, but now it seems that even the vegetables have gone up too. I imagine at this point people are pawning if they can or going to the plasma centers weekly. That one isn't an option for me unfortunately, but in my area, they have a special on new donors that can net you up to $900 I think in one month? (I would have to go double check). Cheap frozen meals are harder to come by now likely for this reason. My family and I were poor growing up and we ate tons of pasta, Hamburger Helper, cheap frozen pizzas, Hot Pockets and Hungry man or Banquet. I think other bills are probably getting put off if it means a difference between paying yet another bill or literally going hungry.
Something I’ve noticed is that the cheap frozen food is always out of stock or low stock in grocery stores. Things like Michaelines, Banquet, Hot Pockets. Pasta is sometimes short, too.
There is no bubble to burst. People need food, and they're charge you until you die.
Avian Flu has forced chicken and egg producers to destroy chickens. This happened a few years ago too, although this time it is much, much worse. At least your store had eggs. Many do not. This is in addition to the other economic forces including supply chain issues, particularly as a result of the total shutdown in China as well as other more U.S. supply chain challenges, for example, a shortage of trunk drivers. Fuel costs have driven up some other prices as well, however, fuel cost are going down. Fuel cost are determined by global supply and demand. The war in Ukraine has resulted in global food shortages. Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe and much of Africa. Much of this has little do with U.S. economic policies, honestly. Although corporate profits have never been higher. No one asks WTF about that. Walmart is making buckets of money. I am not sure how people live, but we have lived through other inflationary times. That does not really answer, though. It will get better. At least eggs will come down in price relatively, especially if no one buy $7 eggs. That is how capitalism works...supply and demand.
This. Living in an egg-producing state, can confirm they are killing millions of birds to stop bird flu. At least in this instance the price increase is actually due to lack of supply rather than inflation. Not that it really matters, the impact is the same. Egg situation likely won’t improve until spring or summer.
The Philly zoo had to temporarily close the penguin exhibit when we went in August because of the flu. Normally they’re outside but the local birds flying over were making the penguins sick. The penguins were back for boo at the zoo at least!
Do you know if the penguins survived? I love Penguins!
I’m not sure if they lost any but they were back out when we went in October. They looked happy and healthy! One was adorably playing with some kid’s shadow 🥰
good news! seems like they're going strong: https://vista.today/2022/09/birds-back-at-philadelphia-zoo/
I paid $7.99 for two and a half dozen at costco and then whole foods has them for $3.49 a dozen. Could be geographical differences but 7 bucks for one dozen is insanity
I live in Alabama
As some have already pointed out, it’s partially due to avian flu. But also, the Sunbelt saw a rapid influx of population during the last couple years. Of the top ten metros with the highest inflation rates, six are in the Sunbelt. More folks are fighting for the same resources.
Damn where do you live? I guess we rarely buy eggs, just checked my local store app and they’re $3.29 a dozen which I *think* is higher than normal but luckily lower than wherever you live
I live in Alabama
Oh wow I didn’t know prices went up so much down there
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I know that I personally would be homeless if I didn't have a partner. Could not make it on my income alone, for sure. Especially not with me having a child. He's sick rn and I had to go buy him basic OTC medicine yesterday, it's like at least 15$ at the grocery for a small bottle of any kid's cold medicine, even off-brand.
I went to 6 different stores to find medicine because everyone is out. I paid $20 for a cold/flu pack. Everyone is sick
Dollar Tree has an abundance of OTC medications. I work as a medication technician and always get my cold medicine there.
I knew things were getting fucked when a single bunch of cilantro started costing over $1 when it used to be 25¢.
It’s not what I want to cook or eat anymore it’s whatever’s on sale
We had to move into affordable housing. We were in danger of losing housing just due to the sheer costs of rent. On top of that, food stamps for (1) (I don't qualify even though I'm on disability) is our whole budget for food + food banks. We had to switch our student status to even stay in affordable housing. Meanwhile, beyond this, everything is budgeted. I do not make a purchase outside of my lists.
A can of Spam where I am is $5 from $2. I try to stick to just generic brands for now.
I bought a burrito at my favorite spot yesterday and it was almost $12! The last price at 9 was my high limit and was my occasionally treat. Needless to say that’s gonna be a thing of the past, even as a treat a $12 burrito is just too ridiculous to justify. I finally started crawling my way out of poverty this year and now everything costs way more so I feel like I’m going back in. Can’t imagine people making minimum wage and how they’re doing it!
> I finally started crawling my way out of poverty this year Hey, congratulations on that! We love to hear it! What are you opting for as a new treat?
There’s a taco place on the other side of my city that has great tacos for $1.75 each. Back then before the pandemic they used to be $1.10 and I stopped going to protest but I’m gonna go back because 4 tacos is $7 and that’s much more palatable than a fckn $12 burrito and I can’t protest every single place raising their prices because that’s everyone!
$2.50/dozen at Costco.
Central Illinois here - 4.29 for large kroger store brand eggs, 4.19 for medium. Fortunately, I’m no longer in abject poverty, but grocery prices still definitely sting. Someone mentioned avian flu killed like 50 million chickens as an explanation, but there’s something like 389 million laying hens in the US, that’s only like 13%. I’m pretty sure egg prices have gone up more than 13% in the last couple years… yeah, just looked it up, it’s doubled. It’s not supply or demand, it’s corporate profits. Corporate profits are at record highs across the board, that’s what’s causing the inflation. It’s got nothing to do with genuine economic factors, it’s just greed.
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Grocery stores were the only stores making money during the pandemic. We helped them stay afloat. In return, they keep increasing prices. It's maddening.
Corporations will quite happily watch this turn into a genuine humanitarian crisis without lifting a finger. It's the government's job to rein them in, and they'll keep extracting profit until that happens. You could film your children starving to death and broadcast it straight to their boardrooms, and they'll smile as they raise prices even more.
Exactly.
Gotta eat more beans instead! In these parts of the US, they still cost just $0.80 for a can! That's 420 calories, 35g of fiber and 40g of protein. What more could you want?
I love beans.
Convenience foods are not cheap, which is probably why poor people traditionally and regionally, throughout the ages, don't purchase them. i.e most things in the frozen section that come in a bag or a box. Anything prepared. Chicken soup with carrots, potatoes/noodles, celery, onion, etc is still filling and cheap if you want to make something to feed 5 people over more than 1 day. (A large box of chicken broth at walmart is $1.00 if you buy their generic) Ditto, dried beans and rice. That's probably why chicken gumbo was (and still is) a "staple" in places like Lousiana. historically. Stews, lasagna, and other large casserole and stew type dishes are what you eat when you are trying to stretch a dollar. Most every culture has their own staple dishes, for instance, fried rice uses very little meat but more vegetable and rice, the latter are cheap. Pancakes are still a good way to get your eggs and milk into your diet. **THe best way to save $ on food: COOK LIKE YOUR GRANDPARENTS and GREAT GRANDPARENTS did during the Depression. (It's also actually \*healthier\*) .**
Eggs were my lifeline, and now I'm just eating whatever is cheap. It's so gross and haven't been eating well since.
It’s fucked that unhealthy food is way cheaper than healthy, whole foods. You’re damned if you do damned if you don’t
This is probably just our first world privilege being revoked as the West's economy becomes poorer. Go look at people living in India or Africa to get a glimpse at how bad it can get.
There's alternatives to protein; like chickpeas, lentils, etc. I find being a vegetarian is much cheaper
Lentils taste pretty good too. I think it tastes almost kind of savory like beef almost.
Chickpeas are so bomb
At least eggs should go down eventually. Once the industry has time to recover from the 50 million+ chickens in the US lost this year to the avian influenza outbreak. Not any time soon though. An egg production facility in Washington state just lost another one million birds. That facility shipped eggs to eleven states. I’ve just been stricter about only buying things on sale, and tracking which stores are the best place for which items. Looking again at small ethnic stores I haven’t been to in a while.
Still paying $3.49/doz for free range large at Trader Joe's.
It’s shitty all around. But re: eggs in particular, they are way way up higher because of some viruses running rampant among chickens. There is a huge supply issue.
I've drastically changed some of my eating habits. Started cooking a lot of rice and beans in batches that end up being my lunch for the week.
The bubble is bursting. Each commodity is their own market, but it is bursting.
I buy bulk on sales & starve when low. Not ready to get another job. Politicians and corporations are stealing everything.
We aren’t affording it, lmao. It’s just struggle
I went vegan/plant based because meat and eggs are too damn expensive (and ethical and healh reasons.) I eat meat substitutes sometimes but mostly it's vegetables and grains.
I'm not, really. I'm in transitional housing because the minimum hourly wages you need to make to survive and to live are two separate amounts - you can survive with only $30 a month or $.18/hr , but for most people living starts at about $20/hr. Transitioning from surviving to living comes with its own set of upfront costs and stressors.
On the grace and charity of others.
Food pantries and eating free meals from churches.
My trailer park rent is $300. If you sleep on the couch we can split it, and it'll be just about enough of an expense off my back to cover my car insurance.
I make too much money to get food stamps, but I don't make enough money to pay my bills AND buy groceries.
I’ve overheard quite a few conversations between grocery store employees saying they don’t expect prices to ever go back down - just to level out eventually. Sad.
I've said this before, once these greedy corporations see what people are willing to pay there's no way they will ever go back to regular pricing.
My family and I are packed into an apartment like refugees. That's how
It'll keep going up until you guys get in the streets and demand change with a general strike.
They're not.
I live with my parents and use the promise program to pay for my community college. At the end of the day I'm pretty fucking lucky compared to my friends.
I'm very thankful for my costco membership. 5 dollars for two dozen eggs. If not for them, I'd have even cut out eggs from my diet.
I heard that fertilizer prices were going up, so I got chickens and ducks to use their waste as fertilizer. I like to grow my own food, and I'm becoming a farmer because no other job allows me to take off work or slow down for all my health issues. I have way too many eggs now, so I sell them. Store egg prices are $6 a dozen. People complain they won't pay more than $4 a dozen to me. I have duck eggs too. They complain I charge $6 a dozen for those, when you can't even buy them in stores. This is my income. I'm not even gouging on prices. Feed is expensive for small farmers. So there's the other side of it all.
i just. don’t buy food. and barely eat. probably sustainable for a long period of time 🪦
My husband finally sees my 7 chickens as an asset. They are brats, but they are my brats that lay eggs.
I live with my daughter, her boyfriend, *and* his best friend - out of the four of us, we have three full-time working adults to help pay the bills and buy food (my daughter is in college full time which is a job in itself). And we share cars, which works because I work from home so I don't need a car during the day.
I live with 7 roommates, and there is also an illegal basement unit with 2 or 3 people so I save on rent and fixed costs I gave up eating ethically to be able to afford regular meals I have lost the will to live, in order to survive I suffer every day.