Read these excerpts from this article, brought to you by El Borak, very carefully and fully absorb the raw decadence that is on display here:
The last thing Marti Tracy wants to do on a Saturday is clip coupons. But last month the 34-year-old Bowie resident felt she no longer had a choice. She'd already given up organic meat and decided to buy organic milk only for her 2-year-old son, not for the whole family.
Tracy and her partner also stopped buying the cereals they like in favor of whatever was on sale; stopped picking up convenient single-size packs of juice, water or crackers; and, in order to save gas, stopped going to multiple stores. "I find the whole thing a huge hassle, but I've reached a tipping point," said Tracy, a government human resources specialist who is pregnant with her second child. "Clearly, I'm not unable to feed my family. But I just can't feed my family the way I'd like to feed them."
"We are in shocking new territory," said Todd Hale, senior vice president of consumer shopping and insights at Nielsen Consumer Panel Services. "With the exception of the very affluent, everyone is looking to save by altering where they shop, how they shop and the brands they buy."
The price hikes have hit home for Nicole Gindraw-Parrott, a 29-year-old trainer at an Atlanta gas utility and a mother of two. Since January, she said, she's been transformed into a "coupon-clipping, price-matching monster."
Other shoppers, like Kathleen Holly, are coping by visiting fewer stores and shopping closer to home. The Congress Heights senior said she hadn't yet made big changes to what she buys. Instead, she's conscious of "making a circle" when she gets in the car. "If I'm driving, I go to the bank, the grocery store, the cleaners all in one trip. That way, I can save money on gas and keep buying the things I'm buying."
You would think that these women think that they exist in the same universe of financial suffering that the majority of the world lives in, based on the way that they bemoan their now miserable existence of bargain shopping and coupon clipping. Sweet mother of God, you might have to buy at Costco and Giant now, instead of Wegmans and Trader Joes. How ever will these poor ladies ever live with themselves having to condescend to buying mayonaise in large jars, and doing more dishes because they pour juice into a glass now instead of drinking it from small, one-serving size juice boxes.
The main reason that Rachel and I don't get hit badly on our groceries is that we bargain hunt. Lunch costs me $2 a day because I will buy enough Lean Pockets to get me through at least one work wee when they are on sale. When large cases of Deer Park water were on sale for $3.50 each, I bought 4 cases. I rarely go to Starbucks, and most of the time brew my own latte in the morning for a fraction of what it would cost me at Starbucks; $10 buys a tin of Espresso grind and a gallon of milk. I swear, sometimes I think this country deserves a great depression part deux just so that a lot of the American people can finally appreciate the fact that right now, what we call "poverty" in America is called a middle class lifestyle in much of the world.
"Clearly, I'm not unable to feed my family. But I just can't feed my family the way I'd like to feed them." explains pretty much every complaint that Obama and Clinton have about food and healthcare in America. Let me put it another way: "Clearly, I'm not unable to get medical care for my family. But I just can't get treatment for my family the way I'd like to get it and from the doctor of my choosing; having to file for bankrupcy over medical bills is not that different from dying in the third world because the treatment isn't available".
...said Tracy, a government human resources specialist
Doesn't that basically tell you everything you need to know?
People these days have no clue what it means to suffer. Consider our parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression and WWII; do you think they'd ever complain about clipping coupons or hunting for bargains??
Oh, and here's something else they could tell you: if you want MORE, then work HARDER. No one owes you anything. Really.
Speaking from the vantage point of someone who ALREADY buys second-hand and walmart, these price increases SUCK. Because my paycheck sure isn't going up, nor will it as long as I am in this state (working on that!)
Its easy to get interview people who are adjusting but aren't really hurting, but that doesn't change the fact that many people really are being squeezed quite badly right now. Food continues to go up, gas is getting outrageous, and wages aren't moving up with them. Of course, its not horrendous yet, but it is certainly going to be getting worse. This crap "stimulus check" is going to really hike up inflation. Usually the money filters into the economy but this will be on top of what normally is printed and it will be direct at the consumer level, meaning its inflationary effects will be felt much sooner.
I am posting this reply from Delhi, India. Here among the mix of new affluence, some limited old affluence, and a lot of chronic poverty, virtually everyone eats organic foods.
How ironic is it that the destitute dwellers of curbside shantytowns in Delhi eat organic foods when Americans cannot afford them.
We both know the problem is real, but you won't see it from the sort of people that they are interviewing from Northern Virginia and Maryland. Bowie, MD is a very, very affluent city in Maryland. Bowie and Crofton are not hurting that badly. None of the counties within a few county radius of Washington D.C. are doing that badly because of how many government contracts are awarded to people who work there. What pisses me off about a lot of the people that live around here is precisely the fact that they don't appreciate the fact that their "suffering" is nonexistent compared to the rest of the country.
Touche', but can your average destitute dweller of curbside shantytowns in Delhi afford to drink pasteurized beverages?
A lot of people around here have a sense of entitlement because our economy is based in no small part on government contracts. They pay consistently, if nothing more. Money flows from the rest of the country into Northern Virginia and Southwestern Maryland, and people tend to forget just how artificially inflated our economies really are.
Mike,
They prefer raw juices. They believe them to be healthier (and I agree, with reservations) However, in many areas of India the basic necessities are not available so one can't compare their organics to ours, because while it is a luxury for us and non-organic food is in abundance, in many areas food clothing and water are not available in adequate quantities. The poverty that exists is the reason for that of course.
I was being facetious toward swag...
This one cracks me up so. My ex-fiancee was just such a woman. She wanted me to spend more on groceries than on rent. Some of the spending I did, as I enjoy good food and cooking, but much of what she "demanded" I just ignored. Beyond the grotesqueness of the cost of some basics which provide zero benefits (I will pay for better, but not similar yet more expensive), what I call the kings clothing of food syndrome (remember the story in which the king was naked, but just KNEW he was wearing the cat's meow of duds?), is the fact that organic food production is not sustainable.
As a fact, organic food processing cuts into standard food production and shipment, which weakens those, driving up those costs and weakening the whole global food market. All costs go up, organic local foods can only reasonably be produced in season (and much of it goes to waste), and it itself is way to expensive because the cost of labor is too high to sustain a reasonable living standard to farm hands, and other costs, even with the higher prices. Back to the plantations, just for the rich, or a fad, but for now a part of the reason all foods costs are rising. At least many liberals who enter the field (garden farming, I call it) learn a whole new set of rules, all unfortunately to their idealism, based in reality, in economics, in business, in tax, in red tape. And, how many organic growers cheat? How many cheat and are ALLOWED to cheat?
Still, she keeps shopping as best she can. She even double-time works on one of their farms, earning only produce when it is available, spending money on gas she cannot afford (she is over $50k in debt, about double her take home salary), yet she still has this fantasy that she is living the good life and will somehow become solvent. I have tried to advise, both in and out of our engagement, but she believes she is on a stairway to heaven, or something twisted like that. I honestly pray she doesn't just end up a typical discarded feminist bag lady.
What is it with the liberal mind that allows it's owner to believe it can think well in spite of laws, reality, facts, truth, economics, history, or even love at times? It must be a disease, if of the soul for some? Sorry about rambling, but this bugs me, makes me laugh, causes me to cry, and is ever present in this city of sin, this college town in which I reside.
Liberals are "optimism junkies." They imbibe ideas and causes in order to escape reality the same way that drug addicts of all persuasions use their chemicals of choice. The older they get, often the more extreme they need to disregard reality because they cannot deal with it, and the way they do this is to surround themselves with ideas and lifestyles that allow them to avoid facing up to the facts.
It's just part of the structure of liberalism that makes it untenable in the long run. Their entire belief system is built on a series of internal contradictions that require unprincipled, deep sacrifice of principles and reason to engage in.
Okay, MikeT... I consider myself liberal (not by the US political definition) because I accept that many different kinds of people have the right to live side by side and be respected as human beings. I may not agree with all of them, but they are free to be whoever they are as long as they are law-abiding. There are many "liberals" who clip coupons, hang laundry out to dry, don't shop at Whole Foods, don't go to Starbucks, and whatever else the Right assumes liberals do. I'm an ordinary person. I don't complain about much. I know I am lucky to have what I have and that although in this country I am considered working poor I am rich compared to most of the world. The only kind of people that really really bother me are filthy rich people who didn't do anything to get that way and look down on those who don't have what they do. I just don't get it. Oh, and those people who complain about not being able to buy what they want to. Oh boo hoo. At least they still have food to eat. We are so spoiled in this country.
The difference between liberals and conservatives on this issue is that conservatives tend to not tolerate this sort of whining among one another. They may whine about other things like some of them have a tendency to act like Christians are "oppressed" in America, but when it comes to economic matters, the "anti-entitlement mentality" kicks in.
Obviously, not all liberals are like this either, but it is more common to liberals than libertarians or conservatives because liberal economic views are based in no small part on an entitlement mentality.
Recession in times of Pres. Obama is a challenge in his tenure. Many suffer from lay-offs, unemployment and even starvation. As well as many groceries are increasing their product prices. But did you know about a Key Ring Thing? It lets you combine your Ace Hardware card and grocery store card and whatever else you have. This is a good idea if you owns bunch of loyalty programs card, especially grocery cards. It features separate bar codes that you can use as an all in one rewards card, and you don't even need a cash advance to get one – it's free! If you want to save money at Safeway, Albertsons, and Best Buy all at once, this might be the ticket for you. It's practical if you don't want to worry about needing a cash advance for groceries if you have a Ring Thing. Let's face it, all we can do is to be more aware of our expense and hope that we can move on in this recession.