Today's Costs

applecruncher said:
Holly, bite your tongue! Kroger is the second largest supermarket chain in the USA. :) The headquarters in in Ohio - the midwestern state I live in (which if you look at a map, is south of Michigan).
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Here in AZ Krogers is FRY's Markets.
 

I buy some of my staples at Wal-Mart, and cleaning stuff and paper products, and that's about it. Their produce is terrible and overpriced, and their meat has SO much fat. I do buy their bulk packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts at $1.99/lb. I get my produce, etc, from a store called Sprouts Farmers' Market -- I think it's a chain here in the west. They have wonderful produce at lower prices than the regular grocery stores, and they have good weekly specials. I buy my meat (not much anymore) from them, too.

I go to Wal-Mart as infrequently as possible, as parking is a hassle, the store seems to attract rude people, and it's impossible to find a clerk to help you, not to mention that they have like 25 check out stations, but only usually have 2 or 3 open.
 
My neighbor in Missouri, a radical sort of rebel, hated Wal-Mart for the fact that Sam Walton had essentially eliminated the "Mom & Pop" concept of store-ownership upon which America's family credo was built. He may have had something there..... imp
 
I do the bulk of my shopping at ASDA which is now part of the Wal Mart group and is one of the cheapest. Most of the rest is bought in Lidl, the German chain which along with Aldi, has grabbed a significant chunk of the market. Applecruncher, apart from the special offers, your prices don't look very cheap. Of course, I'm assuming that I understand what your products are!

"Ground chuck"? - asume that equates to our minced beef/steak. I buy minced steak at £2.59 / 500gms - approx $4 / lb.
A box of 15 mixed weight eggs was £2 , approx $3.10 and a 'Burgen' 750gm (28 oz) mixed grain loaf was on offer at £1 ($1.55).
 
I do all my shopping at a chain called Morrison's. In my area it is the only choice except for the Co-op which has little variety, higher prices and lousy fruit and veg. But for some reason lots of elderly shop there.

Our Morrison's was a Safeway when I arrived in 2000, then a Somerfield, then a Morrison's. This store radically improved in size, layout, choices a few years ago and I'm very pleased with it. Prices are always a wee bit higher than the Morrison's that are not isolated like this one as they claim it's all about fees on the ferries.
 
imp said:
My neighbor in Missouri, a radical sort of rebel, hated Wal-Mart for the fact that Sam Walton had essentially eliminated the "Mom & Pop" concept of store-ownership upon which America's family credo was built. He may have had something there..... imp
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When I was working, I made several trips to the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. to assist in major computer upgrades, etc. On a couple of occasions, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sam Walton. He was a retail genius, whose goal was to give the consumers the best variety of products, at the best possible price. The huge quantity of his purchases from the manufacturers insured that no small business could possibly compete. His concept certainly spelled doom for "Mom and Pop" stores, but with the consumers demands for lower prices, he fulfilled the need.
 
Don M. said:
When I was working, I made several trips to the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. to assist in major computer upgrades, etc. On a couple of occasions, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sam Walton. He was a retail genius, whose goal was to give the consumers the best variety of products, at the best possible price. The huge quantity of his purchases from the manufacturers insured that no small business could possibly compete. His concept certainly spelled doom for "Mom and Pop" stores, but with the consumers demands for lower prices, he fulfilled the need.
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Yes, and he saves a fortune by paying his employees so little that they need food stamps to survive.
 
Don M. said:
When I was working, I made several trips to the Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. to assist in major computer upgrades, etc. On a couple of occasions, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sam Walton. He was a retail genius, whose goal was to give the consumers the best variety of products, at the best possible price. The huge quantity of his purchases from the manufacturers insured that no small business could possibly compete. His concept certainly spelled doom for "Mom and Pop" stores, but with the consumers demands for lower prices, he fulfilled the need.
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Understood, and appreciated! My neighbor believed that the "Old American" traditions of many small businesses and many small farmers, provided a more "serene" everyday culture in America. The "Corporate Greed" factor came with huge conglomerate-type companies controlling most all markets. And so it goes! imp
 
imp said:
Understood, and appreciated! My neighbor believed that the "Old American" traditions of many small businesses and many small farmers, provided a more "serene" everyday culture in America. The "Corporate Greed" factor came with huge conglomerate-type companies controlling most all markets. And so it goes! imp
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Sam Walton was a great person...both as a human being, and as a businessman. He used to show up randomly at some of his stores, and meet with customers and employees, to make sure that everyone was being treated properly. He drove a 2 year old Chevy Caprice...but everywhere he went, there was a big black Chevy Suburban with big armed guards following him around. When he passed away, and his spoiled rotten kids took over the company, Profit became the primary goal...and they are all billionaires.
 
Just a quick note: they don't tax hybrids solely because they use less/no gas. It's because they use the same roads as drivers who pay gas taxes do, but hybrid owners pay little or no gas taxes - which btw, was never indexed for inflation and is thus one of the major reasons why our infrastruture is deteriorating. The money collected now thru gas taxes is worth 40% less​ than when first instituted.
 
imp said:
Not entirely, Jim! Smith's is also owned by Kroger, and possibly, though I'm not sure, so is Albertsons. Kroger is pretty dang big! imp
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Albertson's is based in Idaho and was purchased by a consortium in 2006, which split the stores up geographically: half became Albertsons (without the apostrophe) and half became SuperValu. In 2015 Albertsons purchased Safeway, its major rival in the Western states. Neither is associated with Kroger's.
 
Lethe200 said:
Just a quick note: they don't tax hybrids solely because they use less/no gas. It's because they use the same roads as drivers who pay gas taxes do, but hybrid owners pay little or no gas taxes - which btw, was never indexed for inflation and is thus one of the major reasons why our infrastruture is deteriorating. The money collected now thru gas taxes is worth 40% less​ than when first instituted.
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The Federal Gas tax has been sitting at 18.4 cents/gal., since 1993. In that time, cars have become substantially more fuel efficient, yet there are more of them, and they are beating up our roads and bridges. This fuel tax is quickly becoming an insufficient way to fund our transportation needs. It either needs to be raised or, IMO, replaced with the "per mile" usage tax that has been proposed. Hybrids, and these newer electric cars still beat up the pavement just as much as gasoline vehicles, but they escape paying their fair share for the damage they contribute to. As our roads and bridges continue to deteriorate....along with most everything related to infrastructure in this nation...it is high time that our government faces up to this reality.
 
I've found some of the more common items have gone up like vitamins. In decades past you could walk into a supermarket or drug store and get a 100 capsules or pills for 1-2 dollars on sale. Now stuff that was 4-5 dollars regular price frequently exceeds 10-12 for a 60-90 day supply.
 
BLS figures exclude food and energy. If you don't eat, drive to the grocery store or use heat or air conditioning, then their figures might have some validity. In the meantime they negatively impact your social security COLA big time.
 
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The CPI has never been a true cost of inflation. It's merely an arbitrary measurement so that long-term fluctuations can be tracked. We cannot have it both ways - if SocSec is running out of $$$, then indexing it to true inflation will deplete it even faster. As it stands now without some sort of change, by 2037 (a mere 22 yrs from now), benefits will be reduced to 75 cents on the dollar.

Would you prefer the fund run out of money sooner, say by 2020? You can have an increased benefit for 5 yrs but then see your check decreased by one-quarter for the rest of your/our lives.

Complaining is easy. Fixing things to the benefit of the greatest number of people both current and FUTURE, is hard.

None of the Republican presidential candidates have said they support the SocSec as it now stands. They want to privatize it and reduce benefits. Instead of Medicare, which is running out of money much faster than SocSec, it would be a voucher system for you to buy private insurance....good luck with that one!

I used to work in insurance and can assure you a voucher system would be virtually worthless to you within ten years, or if you became seriously ill. And just try using a voucher for a skilled nursing or Memory Care facility - the good ones will all laugh at you.
 

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