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Inflation

Undead said:
I'm not saying there aren't exceptions. And in the case of real STEM jobs, one certainly needs the training and credential. But it's absolutely the case that the majority of "soft" office jobs require relatively paltry training. And correspondingly, the basic lib arts degrees leading to these jobs are equally stultifying. These days people are actually stupider coming out of the universities than they were going in.
Click to expand...
Not sure I'd use the word 'stupid' but I get what you are saying. When you are told you are special from virtually day one, get awards for simply being, higher education can simply add fuel to the empowered/entitled fire.
 
Another way to cut costs is to make lunches at home and take it to work , for those who don't work frome home.

Seeing the stupid prices of grab and go meals, especially salads, because of lettuce shortages. (i had plan on getting a side salad the other day to go with my wrap, the price of the tiny salad was $9.45! ) I now make my own lunches at home. Saves money and i use up the left over veggies from dinner.

retail-insider.com

Lettuce Shortage in Canada Signals Supply Chain Challenges for Food Retailers [Op-Ed]

Canada became dependent on foreign markets prior to NAFTA, and the situation is complicated according to Sylvain Charlebois.
retail-insider.com retail-insider.com
 
Today my grocery bill topped 400 bucks. I went through every item to see if i was over charged? Nope! Just prices are ridiculously high. Normally i avoid shopping at Metro, and stick to Food Basics or No Frills, but i have company arriving later tonight and it was close by.

I don't know how a working class family of four can afford to grocery shop every week or so.

My mom wasn't paying attention to prices, and got bought some of Loblaws stupidly expensive chicken breasts. She had quite the sticker shock when she got home! lol She now checks every sticker price before buying.

www.cp24.com

Toronto, Canada & Global Breaking News – CP24

Most recent News News business news stories and video from CP24
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
 
gabe said:
Today my grocery bill topped 400 bucks. I went through every item to see if i was over charged? Nope! Just prices are ridiculously high. Normally i avoid shopping at Metro, and stick to Food Basics or No Frills, but i have company arriving later tonight and it was close by.

I don't know how a working class family of four can afford to grocery shop every week or so.

My mom wasn't paying attention to prices, and got bought some of Loblaws stupidly expensive chicken breasts. She had quite the sticker shock when she got home! lol She now checks every sticker price before buying.

www.cp24.com

Toronto, Canada & Global Breaking News – CP24

Most recent News News business news stories and video from CP24
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
Click to expand...

o_O

$400? For a weekly shop? Ok, as self-appointed chief foodie here at UT, LOL; even I don't blow that, unless your talking Christmas or throwing in a couple of pricey bottles of wine.

Time to cut back on the Beluga Caviar Gabe; maybe a bit less Kobe Beef too. I don't recall Metro selling either of those, so maybe some special order charges there too!
 
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Northern Light said:
o_O

$400? For a weekly shop? Ok, as self-appointed chief foodie here at U of T, LOL; even I don't blow that, unless your talking Christmas or throwing in a couple of pricey bottles of wine.

Time to cut back on the Beluga Caviar Gabe; maybe a bit less Kobe Beef too. I don't recall Metro selling either of those, so maybe some special order charges there too!
Click to expand...

We are not chefs! But we are buying for four people this coming week. I think my boyfriends organic healthy crap drove the prices up. I don't normally do all the grocery shopping. I usually just grab odds and ends at No Frills. But yeah,... 400 bucks seems insane doesn't? This could be a case of people who don't know how to grocery shop. We do eat out a lot 😆
 
I was curious and it seems like these days, I'm spending around $850 a month for groceries (for 2, wine not included). No caviar or truffles are involved (but admittedly, no dented cans of tuna à la Tsubouchi). We have takeout no more than once a week, and no indoor restaurants in the past 3 years. But I mean, $14 for a pound of non-organic chicken thighs? $20 for a jar of Luxardo cherries? And has anyone bought pistachio$ lately?
 
gabe said:
.... My mom wasn't paying attention to prices, and got bought some of Loblaws stupidly expensive chicken breasts. She had quite the sticker shock when she got home! lol She now checks every sticker price before buying...
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I'm noticing more frequently that there frustratingly won't be a price displayed for many things. You'll only find out how much it costs when you check out. This happens at major grocery stores, but unsurprisingly it's the convenience stores that are particularly bad for this. The checkout people there seem to just randomly charge whatever price they think can get away with, and it might be different for next person buying the same thing ten minutes after you. Some prominently display a shelf price sign then charge more. I saw this happen yesterday with someone buying one item and he pointed to the shelf (and I could also clearly see it), but the guy behind the counter said "That's the old price. It went up." I know it's possibly just laziness through not changing the display sign, but this strikes me as deliberately misleading. They almost certainly have no intention to change the sign.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/price-code-free-1.6263904

Double ticketing

The purpose of the section 54 of the Competition Act is to prevent consumers from being deceived or confused about the price charged.
ised-isde.canada.ca ised-isde.canada.ca
 
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AlbertC said:
globalnews.ca

Inflation has ‘squeezed’ Canadian wallets dry. What happened? - National | Globalnews.ca

Inflation has left Canadians feeling 'squeezed' after prices accelerated at rates not seen in decades last year, economists say. How did we get here?
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
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Not much being said about the effect of inflationary trends across all spectrums of agriculture - but I can assure you they are felt. Feed, fuel, cost of credit,....run down the line, every input . And that does not include ROI, and in this case, that means the standard of living of the farming family. There are a couple of good reports available through the FCC which speak to the pressures seen in so many areas of agriculture and forecast continuing inflationary pressure running about 5% per year.
 
gabe said:
Today my grocery bill topped 400 bucks. I went through every item to see if i was over charged? Nope! Just prices are ridiculously high. Normally i avoid shopping at Metro, and stick to Food Basics or No Frills, but i have company arriving later tonight and it was close by.
Click to expand...
We’re Costco and No Frills. We also eat less animal protein.
 
Northern Light said:
o_O

$400? For a weekly shop? Ok, as self-appointed chief foodie here at UT, LOL; even I don't blow that, unless your talking Christmas or throwing in a couple of pricey bottles of wine.

Time to cut back on the Beluga Caviar Gabe; maybe a bit less Kobe Beef too. I don't recall Metro selling either of those, so maybe some special order charges there too!
Click to expand...
Yes, I have to say there's definitely a divide on this and costs. II spend less than $400/month as a single person. In fact I might not even get to $300.

I honestly don't see much food inflation at all in my shopping which is about half at Metro and half and No Frills or Freshco. Indeed, fresh produce seems lower than any recent years in memory. but the way others talk, it's like prices are up 400% for many food staples, I have found prices are at 12-24 month lows. I've talked about this with other people where I work and there are the same mixed responses, with some agreeing with me completely that there is near zero food inflation, and possibly deflation for several months; while some are shocked and say I have no clue what I am talking about and food is now hundreds of percent more expensive than ever before.

It's really difficult to reconcile what is going on and would be nice if some media would look into this. I've heard many others on social media asking the same questions that the actual shopping experience of does not at all match the media, but they're too busy on clickbait "LOBLAWS JUST PAID A DIVIDEND TO THE ULTRA RICH!" narrative.

My personal sense is there had been a generational change in food buying and consumption that has not been captured, and we are too focused on a food consumption group that had no ability to substitute what they eat. "Thursday night is pork chop night, and if pork chops cost $10 each, I still have to buy them because that's what my mom did and her mama did and her mama did, and so I must do so too every Thursday! It's the law of God, even when chicken is 50% off!"
 
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Jonny5 said:
Yes, I have to say there's definitely a divide on this and costs. II spend less than $400/month as a single person. In fact I might not even get to $300.

I honestly don't see much food inflation at all in my shopping which is about half at Metro and half and No Frills or Freshco. Indeed, fresh produce seems lower than any recent years in memory. but the way others talk, it's like prices are up 400% for many food staples, I have found prices are at 12-24 month lows. I've talked about this with other people where I work and there are the same mixed responses, with some agreeing with me completely that there is near zero food inflation, and possibly deflation for several months; while some are shocked and say I have no clue what I am talking about and food is now hundreds of percent more expensive than ever before.

It's really difficult to reconcile what is going on and would be nice if some media would look into this. I've heard many others on social media asking the same questions that the actual shopping experience of does not at all match the media, but they're too busy on clickbait "LOBLAWS JUST PAID A DIVIDEND TO THE ULTRA RICH!" narrative.

My personal sense is there had been a generational change in food buying and consumption that has not been captured, and we are too focused on a food consumption group that had no ability to substitute what they eat. "Thursday night is pork chop night, and if pork chops cost $10 each, I still have to buy them because that's what my mom did and her mama did and her mama did, and so I must do so too every Thursday! It's the law of God, even when chicken is 50% off!"
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I find these to be completely opposite takes neither of which is founded.

I pay close attention to prices.

The price range on Tomato paste 2 years ago was .69c to $1.09 (sale to full price across all banners)

Today, its .99c to $1.49; an increase of 30-40%

The price of Cola 2L, ranged from 0.99c - $2.49 2 years ago

Today its between $1.25 - $3.49, an increase of 25% - 40%

The price of butter has skyrocketed from $3.99 (store brand, discount banner) to $6.49 (name brand, conventional banner)

Today its $5.99 { store brand, discount banner, to $8.29, name brand, conventional banner) An increase of 50% at the low end in 2 years.

Pasta is another bad one, a staple item for many, it was consistently $1.25 per package (900 grams, store brand, discount banner) 2 years ago

Today its $2.50 a pkg in those same stores, a whopping 100% increase!

****

Its certainly true that there are items that have not moved at anywhere near that rate.

Onions have remained fairly stable.......up a bit, but no big leaps........

Domestic Cheese, hard bars (Black Diamond et. al) are up in terms of every day price, but holding steady at sale prices in the $4.44 price range.

Meat is an interesting one and a bit harder to gauge across different loss leader strategies and different pricing strategies.

But for the low-income or cost-conscious consumer, the discount banners have been big on fixed-price pkgs of chicken breasts in the value/family packs for a few years. This is always a rip off if you don't pay attention as they vary wildly by weight.

That said, the median price in the GTA for such pkgs was $10 2 years ago, today its $12

Assuming comparable weights, that's a 20% price lift.

So groceries are indeed up. How much, of course, depends on where you shop, whether you're able to take advantage of sales etc,
 
The LCBO hiked the price of many wines on January 1st.

I did a quick sample check of a few and worked out an average price increase of 18%
 
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