Prices

firedog31

New Member
Original Poster
Its something that everyone has noticed the prices of gas and food keep on climbing. I was woundering how if at all they have effected summer plans or everyday living. It cost me 95 - 100 dollars to fill up my truck at the station and when we went to the grocery store the other day picking up only veg and a couple other small things are bill was almost 65 dollars. I think it is only going to get worse. We have a trip planned to myrtle beach this summer and gas is goin gto cost us 400 dollars alone.:mad:
 

PotteryGal

Active Member
I know that we've budgeted at least $400 for the drive to Orlando next week, and grocery prices have been going up for us well - that's where I notice it the most. What can you do? :shrug: We have to feed our family, go to work, and run various errands, no matter what. But I do have to say, other than our already paid for WDW trip, we are not going anywhere we don't absolutely have to, and I'll be cutting every corner I can from the budget.
 

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
Many people have already paid for their summer travel (or would lose money if cancelling) so I think they will bite the bullet and just continue with their plans.

There are also many who are anticipating that things will get even worse, so are taking a "now or never" attitude. This is especially true of younger people who have not been through a recession on their own dime, but were still dependent upon their parents during the last one or two.

This will be my 7th recession (if we indeed are entering into/are in one already) but only my 4th since becoming an independent adult.

I recall not only factoring the price of gas before a trip (it also went up dramatically), but also the availability! (because the government was trying to control the price to keep it low) There were times when people would have been willing to pay twice as much at the pump just to get their car filled. (You were limited to amount, could only go on certain days according to the last number/letter on your plate, etc.) This didn't last for very long, but was definitely more inconvenient than what is happening today.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
The rise in gas and food prices as well as the decline in new construction have definitely effected my travel plans. Right now my wife and I are having to spend nearly $200 a week in gas where as 2-3 years ago we were only spending around $70. The price of meet has shot through the roof in the last year or so. We used to get boneless, skinless chicken for around $2 a pound and it in now hard to find them for under $4. Ground beef, fish and pork have seen a similar increases in prices. To add insult to injury I am making considerably less money now. Three years ago I could pretty much work as much as I wanted, now overtime is strictly forbidden and the company I work for recently cut every ones pay 10%. Lastly my side business, a natural products MLM, has all but dried up because everyone else is going through the same thing and is having to cut expenses wherever they can.

All of that has added up to us being in a circling the wagons mode from a financial status until things improve. We had WDW trips scheduled for last weekend, October and December, all of which were cancelled. We had plans for Seaworld this summer that are now cancelled. Extra spending is our house is now down to near zero.

On the bright side I think that we are better off than many other people out there. I am one of the lucky/smart ones that did not get over extended in my mortgage and both my wife and I still have a job. Our sacrifices are Disney trips, toys and movies not food, shelter and medicine. We will come out of this more financially secure and responsible and if and when another recession hits us we will be much better equipped to handle it.
 

k.hunter30

New Member
On the bright side I think that we are better off than many other people out there. I am one of the lucky/smart ones that did not get over extended in my mortgage and both my wife and I still have a job. Our sacrifices are Disney trips, toys and movies not food, shelter and medicine. We will come out of this more financially secure and responsible and if and when another recession hits us we will be much better equipped to handle it.
How wonderful! Thanks for putting that positive spin on it, it helps others to be more positive about this tough situation.

While the cost of gas and food has gone up, it hopefully will teach America to be more fiscally responsible--especially those in my age group (20's). I'm in a similar situation as you Richard, with being blessed with a mortgage payment that's less than 15% of our take home pay and absolutely no other debts. My family will no doubt get through this tough financial time, but we will have to make small sacrifices along the way. There's no trip to WDW in our near future. The weekend get-a-way to Savanah we had wanted to do most likely won't be happening... But, with a budget in place, we should be able to come out of this no worse off than before. I just hope that people my age do the same instead of taking advantage of "0% interest, no money down." :dazzle::brick:
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
How wonderful! Thanks for putting that positive spin on it, it helps others to be more positive about this tough situation.

While the cost of gas and food has gone up, it hopefully will teach America to be more fiscally responsible--especially those in my age group (20's). I'm in a similar situation as you Richard, with being blessed with a mortgage payment that's less than 15% of our take home pay and absolutely no other debts. My family will no doubt get through this tough financial time, but we will have to make small sacrifices along the way. There's no trip to WDW in our near future. The weekend get-a-way to Savanah we had wanted to do most likely won't be happening... But, with a budget in place, we should be able to come out of this no worse off than before. I just hope that people my age do the same instead of taking advantage of "0% interest, no money down." :dazzle::brick:
We are not quite as well off as you as our mortgage is about 20% of our net income and we do have some other debts. The good thing is that this whole experience has been a big wake-up call. They say the first step of getting out of a hole is to throw out the shovel. Well we have not only thrown out the shovel but we have put it through a wood chipper so we can never use it again. The debts are being actively paid off and we are not acquiring any more. Our last car payment will be made in October of this year and if things continue at a steady pace our last CC payment that we will ever make will be around October of 2009. We now have a cash emergency fund of around $2000 as well as an active savings plan that will build it up further and/or replace the money used out of it.
 

tooltime

Member
times are a changing.

gas may be ten dollars a gallon in ten years or less....sounds crazy but it will soon be 5 a gallon, then 6.

i heard yesterday Dow Chemicals is raising prices across their entire product line by 20% starting this weekend. they only gave four days notice on this price hike, unprecedented. others will follow.

:eek:
 

yankspy

Well-Known Member
Many people have already paid for their summer travel (or would lose money if cancelling) so I think they will bite the bullet and just continue with their plans.

There are also many who are anticipating that things will get even worse, so are taking a "now or never" attitude. This is especially true of younger people who have not been through a recession on their own dime, but were still dependent upon their parents during the last one or two.

This will be my 7th recession (if we indeed are entering into/are in one already) but only my 4th since becoming an independent adult.

I recall not only factoring the price of gas before a trip (it also went up dramatically), but also the availability! (because the government was trying to control the price to keep it low) There were times when people would have been willing to pay twice as much at the pump just to get their car filled. (You were limited to amount, could only go on certain days according to the last number/letter on your plate, etc.) This didn't last for very long, but was definitely more inconvenient than what is happening today.
Ahh.. Historical perspective, how refreshing. I find myself reminding people that while this may be bad, it has happened before. All I can say is, I thank whoever for trading in our cars last year and buying two Nissan Versa's. I am also thankful that we did not buy a house last year, as we were planning to. I wish the best of luck to those who might be feeling the pinch. :wave:
 

k.hunter30

New Member
We are not quite as well off as you as our mortgage is about 20% of our net income and we do have some other debts. The good thing is that this whole experience has been a big wake-up call. They say the first step of getting out of a hole is to throw out the shovel. Well we have not only thrown out the shovel but we have put it through a wood chipper so we can never use it again. The debts are being actively paid off and we are not acquiring any more. Our last car payment will be made in October of this year and if things continue at a steady pace our last CC payment that we will ever make will be around October of 2009. We now have a cash emergency fund of around $2000 as well as an active savings plan that will build it up further and/or replace the money used out of it.
That is so great!:sohappy: There is such an awesome sense of freedom that comes with not owing anyone anything!
times are a changing.

gas may be ten dollars a gallon in ten years or less....sounds crazy but it will soon be 5 a gallon, then 6.

i heard yesterday Dow Chemicals is raising prices across their entire product line by 20% starting this weekend. they only gave four days notice on this price hike, unprecedented. others will follow.

:eek:
*faints*
 

SirNim

Well-Known Member
Inflation tends to be thought of as the "increase in prices." When prices go up, we say there is inflation, and we wonder what could be done to combat this phenomenon. However, inflation is more correctly defined as the increase in the money supply. When extra dollars are ordered by a central bank and printed with no tangible assets backing the value, the central banks use this newfound, almost counterfeit money to purchase bonds from private banks, therefore giving extra cash to the banks which are low on reserves. This results in artificially low interest rates. The extra cash is then lent out by banks to their customers, thereby increasing the money supply. But if a commodity is less scarce, its value correspondingly decreases. The price of an ounce of dirt is worth less than the cost to pick the dirt up off the ground, because dirt is everywhere. Precious metals, on the other hand, have an intrinsic value not only because of their use in certain technological applications, but also because they are so scarcely distributed within the crust of the earth.

Thus, as the money supply increases, the value of each unit of currency decreases. This effect is not always uniformly distributed across an economy and time, but it is real and present nonetheless. As a result, prices must go up, because everybody in the economy has more money to spend, but productivity remains the same. Increases in prices must be thought of as increases in the money supply, and the only way to deal with increases in prices is to curb the excessive, artificial acceleration of the magnitude of the money supply by central banks which are not audited by the legislative bodies of those countries for which they operate.
 

DisneyGigi

Well-Known Member
Many people have already paid for their summer travel (or would lose money if cancelling) so I think they will bite the bullet and just continue with their plans.

There are also many who are anticipating that things will get even worse, so are taking a "now or never" attitude. This is especially true of younger people who have not been through a recession on their own dime, but were still dependent upon their parents during the last one or two.

Very well put. That is kind of what I have thought a few times. I am a very positive person but if prices keep going up will any of us be able to go to WDW or anywhere like we have been?

Our trip is already planned and paid for but the money that we have to budget for gas has almost doubled since our trip last year, which means that we will have to cut back on other things that we would have been more free with last year. And who knows what gas will be when our trip rolls around. But at least we are getting to go.

Just what we are spending buzzing around town is really staggering, enough so that we try to do our errands in fewer trips and everything is going up especially groceries. Thankfully I know how to grow and can my own vegetables (they are better anyway) but many people do not.

I really, really worry about people that are limited in income the most. Think about the people that have to work almost an hour to buy 1 gallon of gas to get to work. It is insane!
 

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