What's Up With Inflation and All These Shortages?

[Fishindude77]

Unfortunately these people who were voted in are the ones that most people want to be in charge of things like this.

The masses have spoken, this is what they want. Like the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

Unfortunately, this is the truth.
There is a huge segment of society that just isn't going to work anymore, and why should they when you can live pretty decently on the government handouts.

[Fishindude77]

Found the following interesting:

The NEWS says the California port situation is caused by a driver shortage.

Not so fast: It is in part caused by a California Truck Ban which says all trucks must be 2011 or newer and a law called AB 5 which prohibits Owner Operators.

Traditionally the ports have been served by Owner Operators (nonunion). California has now banned Owner Operators.

Long term, truckers in California are not investing in new trucks because California has a law that makes them illegal in 2035. The requirement is to purchase electric trucks which do not exist.

And in the words of Paul Harvey, “Now you know the rest of the story”

CALIFORNIA BUSINESS DIGEST

CARB to begin blocking certain trucks’ DMV registrations in 2020

Carriers domiciled in California with trucks older than 2011 model, or using engines manufactured before 2010, will need to meet the Board’s new Truck and Bus Regulation beginning in 2020 or their vehicles will be blocked from registration with the state’s DMV, the state has said.

The new “health-based requirements” will need to be met before a driver is allowed to register his or her truck through the Department of Motor Vehicles, CARB says. A new enforcement tool used by the DMV beginning in 2020 will automatically block 2010 and older trucks from registration.

Then there's the $5+ a gallon diesel prices in California. We simply aren't going there and paying those prices.

[myrdale]

Not so fast: It is in part caused by a California Truck Ban which says all trucks must be 2011 or newer and a law called AB 5 which prohibits Owner Operators.

Traditionally the ports have been served by Owner Operators (nonunion). California has now banned Owner Operators.

Long term, truckers in California are not investing in new trucks because California has a law that makes them illegal in 2035. The requirement is to purchase electric trucks which do not exist.

I did not realize this, but it doesn't surprise me at all. It goes back to my previous statement about voting these people out of office.

[scfr]

This morning I spent a couple hours updating the price list for DH's business. Again. It involved making calculations and editing documents on the computer. It got me thinking about all the businesses that have printed menus, cute farmhouse style painted price boards, prices posted on a web site, etc. ... and oh my goodness, just think about a supermarket with all those SKUs that need updating in the system and new shelf labels printed and applied. Whilst in a labor crunch. Doesn't seem too far fetched to imagine the costs involved to keep up with price changes will wind up contributing to more price increases.

[disneysteve]

This morning I spent a couple hours updating the price list for DH's business. Again.

I don't have that issue with sale prices but I did discover that I need to go into all of my ebay listings (I have about 50 at the moment) and update the postage charges since postage has gone up.

[disneysteve]

Another piece of the labor issue is people who were nearing retirement and took this as the final push to get out. Many were working just to stay busy and because they generally liked what they were doing and liked their coworkers, but then COVID came along. Jobs went remote so the social interaction went away. They didn't need to be working just to sit at home on their computer all day. Or they worked in a public setting and, as I mentioned above, working conditions have deteriorated, or their jobs totally vanished for a few months and they just didn't bother going back when things started to reopen. Or, being older, they were in the high risk group and weren't willing to put themselves at risk. So they retired.

There was an article today in the Washington Post about changes in the retirement landscape from the pandemic. They said that 3 million people retired which was double the number that would have otherwise been expected. So that means about 1.5 million extra people permanently left the workforce over the past year or so, and I have no doubt that the trend is continuing as we speak.

Interestingly, the actual main topic of the article was that the number of new retirees who are delaying SS has surged. It speaks to how millions of people have seen their nest eggs grow tremendously over the past couple of years not only making it possible for them to retire earlier than planned but also to do so without needing to collect SS.

[disneysteve]

Don't have discount stores

Really? You may not have Aldi or Lidl but what about Target or Walmart? Any off-brand grocery stores? Any grocery outlets that sell overstock or outdated items? Farmer's markets?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Really? You may not have Aldi or Lidl but what about Target or Walmart? Any off-brand grocery stores? Any grocery outlets that sell overstock or outdated items? Farmer's markets?

Target and walmart aren't close and they aren't super with full groceries so I try to go once a month. Grocery outlet there is one to try nearby. FM seasonal and not cheap, rather more expensive "organic"!

[disneysteve]

FM seasonal and not cheap, rather more expensive "organic"!

There is a big FM near us that isn't just an outdoor stand. It has a good sized indoor "mall" with a variety of stores. One of them is a grocery place that sells overstock and past date items (which are all perfectly fine to eat). My wife often stocks up on coffee there and we always find a few other items as well. If we really needed (or wanted) to trim the grocery bill, we could definitely save more by stocking up there.

[QuarterMillionMan]

My local casino still need coins, good deal for an exchange.

[disneysteve]

My local casino still need coins, good deal for an exchange.

Nice. I haven’t seen any offers for quite some time.

[scfr]

My personal experience has been that farmer's markets can be on the chichi side, with lovely specialty & maybe organic foods that aren't necessarily money-saving. They seem to have a social element to them, with people from a community gathering in one area to shop & mingle. Often there is music, food trucks, craft booths, etc. And there's nothing wrong with that if it's your thing! I have family members who love going. But they are not necessarily relevant when discussing ways to deal with the rising cost of food. When I was a child we went to a farmer's market that was more like a wholesale market, without all of the modern day trappings. We'd do things like buy an entire bushel of a product and then go home and process it. Maybe such places still exist? I don't know. There aren't any near where I live now.

In contrast, farm stands are where you may be able to find really fresh seasonal product at reasonable prices (not always but often less than at a grocery store). What I mean by farm stand is where there's a little selling booth attached to an actual farm. I'm fortunate that I pass within a mile of a farm stand on my way to and from work. During harvest season, I can usually find 1 or 2 items that are not only at the peak of quality but also really reasonably priced. I assume that it's whatever product they have an over-supply of at the moment. But I'm not going to check off my entire shopping list at the farmstand. Instead I'm going to walk away with a couple items. And I'm going to have to resist the non-produce items (baked goods, crafts, etc) if my goal is to save money. Farm stand shopping may not be practical for many; it depends on where you live.

One thing I wonder about is whether families with children ever combine family outings or day trips with acquiring food? I have fond memories of doing things like going to the wholesale/farmer's market that I mentioned above, or apple picking expeditions, or spending a day at a friend's house baking from scratch. Other examples are foraging for mushrooms or fishing. I don't know if doing things like that would result in actual food cost savings, but it could mean an overall cost savings since entertainment expense and food cost get rolled in to one.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

My personal experience has been that farmer's markets can be on the chichi side, with lovely specialty & maybe organic foods that aren't necessarily money-saving. They seem to have a social element to them, with people from a community gathering in one area to shop & mingle. Often there is music, food trucks, craft booths, etc. And there's nothing wrong with that if it's your thing! I have family members who love going. But they are not necessarily relevant when discussing ways to deal with the rising cost of food. When I was a child we went to a farmer's market that was more like a wholesale market, without all of the modern day trappings. We'd do things like buy an entire bushel of a product and then go home and process it. Maybe such places still exist? I don't know. There aren't any near where I live now.

In contrast, farm stands are where you may be able to find really fresh seasonal product at reasonable prices (not always but often less than at a grocery store). What I mean by farm stand is where there's a little selling booth attached to an actual farm. I'm fortunate that I pass within a mile of a farm stand on my way to and from work. During harvest season, I can usually find 1 or 2 items that are not only at the peak of quality but also really reasonably priced. I assume that it's whatever product they have an over-supply of at the moment. But I'm not going to check off my entire shopping list at the farmstand. Instead I'm going to walk away with a couple items. And I'm going to have to resist the non-produce items (baked goods, crafts, etc) if my goal is to save money. Farm stand shopping may not be practical for many; it depends on where you live.

One thing I wonder about is whether families with children ever combine family outings or day trips with acquiring food? I have fond memories of doing things like going to the wholesale/farmer's market that I mentioned above, or apple picking expeditions, or spending a day at a friend's house baking from scratch. Other examples are foraging for mushrooms or fishing. I don't know if doing things like that would result in actual food cost savings, but it could mean an overall cost savings since entertainment expense and food cost get rolled in to one.

It costs more to go pick apples than just buying at the store. Much like chopping a christmas tree. Cost more and they are so ugly to cut your own tree and lots of work. Versus going to home depot and getting a $30 tree. Bet it's not $30 this year.

[Like2Plan]

One thing I wonder about is whether families with children ever combine family outings or day trips with acquiring food? I have fond memories of doing things like going to the wholesale/farmer's market that I mentioned above, or apple picking expeditions, or spending a day at a friend's house baking from scratch. Other examples are foraging for mushrooms or fishing. I don't know if doing things like that would result in actual food cost savings, but it could mean an overall cost savings since entertainment expense and food cost get rolled in to one.

We enjoyed taking our son to farms and orchards as he was growing up. Our son enjoys continuing the tradition as a grown up One orchard that we visited also made cider, Popsicles and apple butter and other interesting apple treats. I agree with LAL that it is more expensive (for us, anyway) to get produce that way, but I considered it more entertainment and a nice visit to the countryside. When we picked apples, it was generally more than we could use so we always brought some back for friends, too.

I like farmers markets, too. We don't go as often as I would like to go. You never know what is going to be there and what you get is the stuff that is season locally.

[disneysteve]

Someone over at ER made a great point. When they say the current inflation is transitory, that doesn’t mean prices will come back down. It means the rate of inflation will come down. Right now it’s 5%. It will drift back down to 2-3%. But today’s higher prices are here to stay. That totally makes sense. I hadn’t thought of it in those terms.