Ancona
30th May 2009, 12:07
In the last eighteen months, our government has seen fit to encumber each and every living soul in the United States with an additional 50,000 dollars in un-payable debt. We have promised a rich return on investment to China, Japan and a host of other nations for their “investment” in America. Each week brings stories of bond rates, corporate bond defaults and major bankruptcies. Your savings accounts are slowly being reduced to nothing through continued devaluation of our national fiat currency and your hard work now results in the purchase of fewer goods. The deflation we hear about seems to me to be a myth, created by our banking elite to blind us to the clearly present inflation we are all suffering.
My most recent trip to the grocery store resulted in the purchase of our usual list of required items and a very few luxury food stuffs. Upon examination of the receipt however, I discovered that prices had indeed risen 1.55% from just one month earlier. We have an Excel® spread sheet, created for the purpose of tracking our expenditures and controlling our finances on a ‘micro level’. I was disturbed by the trend and began digging a little further back.
During the first quarter of the year, we did get some good bargains on a variety of foods as a result of the consumer slowdown, but those gains were eroded in April and now May. The things that struck me hardest were meats and prepared foods. It seems that the wholesalers are working hard to make up for lost revenues by decreasing the total weight of products and by jacking up the price. While we do not spend a great deal on “luxury” items such as, ribeye steaks, pre-cooked/pre-prepared foods we do indeed buy them from time to time. This trip to BJ’s, I went half insane and bought an entire filet mignon, the large end. At $6.69 a pound it was just too irresistible. At just under nine pounds we cut, vacuum packaged and froze 12 three quarter pound filets.
The last time I bought one of these was March of 2008, and we paid $5.89 a pound [albeit for the smaller end]. The increase of 12% in one year +/- was astounding to me. Same thing for cereal. We indulge our daughter every other week with a box of Cocoa Krispies, at $3.89 per box. This time last year, the box was three ounces heavier and cost $3.44, for a net difference per ounce of 16%.
Now with raised hackles, I pulled out the paid invoice file for our utilities. Holy shit!! Every single entity was charging more, by adding “surcharges and fees and just plain charging more……across the board. When I read the weekly stories about deflation and inflation I am perplexed by the complete lack of recognition for what are clear and obvious inflationary signals in our every day lives. Without the three most consumed items added to the inflation calculation, food, fuel and medical expenses, the numbers can not be anything approaching realistic.
I read the stories about folks being tossed out of rented or leased apartments and homes as a result of owner default. Sometimes they are given less than an hour to remove every single belonging and move it elsewhere. This to satisfy the bank, who has re-possessed the property. As we continue down this road, watching our savings evaporate and the prices we pay for food and essential services, just remember that everything “they” say is a patent lie.
Silver is on a tear that should continue as long as the dollar is falling. Watch out for the inevitable attempt at a take-down, but keep on stacking real money. The chatter on the street is getting louder than I can ever remember, and now includes a lot of talk about the June OI in gold. I will wait patiently and watch for dips, during which I will be a buyer.
Our futures are not written in stone, and can be directed down a different path through preparation and planning. This group in particular, will do quite well in the months and years of continued austerity to come.
Our President has decided that irrespective of the financial Armageddon we are currently experiencing, that it is time to force rationed social health care down our throats, at a cost that I would not even guess at. Suffice it to say, that most people in Great Britain are paying close to 62% of their wages in income tax and VAT.
Get ready for it, because it is coming here.
My most recent trip to the grocery store resulted in the purchase of our usual list of required items and a very few luxury food stuffs. Upon examination of the receipt however, I discovered that prices had indeed risen 1.55% from just one month earlier. We have an Excel® spread sheet, created for the purpose of tracking our expenditures and controlling our finances on a ‘micro level’. I was disturbed by the trend and began digging a little further back.
During the first quarter of the year, we did get some good bargains on a variety of foods as a result of the consumer slowdown, but those gains were eroded in April and now May. The things that struck me hardest were meats and prepared foods. It seems that the wholesalers are working hard to make up for lost revenues by decreasing the total weight of products and by jacking up the price. While we do not spend a great deal on “luxury” items such as, ribeye steaks, pre-cooked/pre-prepared foods we do indeed buy them from time to time. This trip to BJ’s, I went half insane and bought an entire filet mignon, the large end. At $6.69 a pound it was just too irresistible. At just under nine pounds we cut, vacuum packaged and froze 12 three quarter pound filets.
The last time I bought one of these was March of 2008, and we paid $5.89 a pound [albeit for the smaller end]. The increase of 12% in one year +/- was astounding to me. Same thing for cereal. We indulge our daughter every other week with a box of Cocoa Krispies, at $3.89 per box. This time last year, the box was three ounces heavier and cost $3.44, for a net difference per ounce of 16%.
Now with raised hackles, I pulled out the paid invoice file for our utilities. Holy shit!! Every single entity was charging more, by adding “surcharges and fees and just plain charging more……across the board. When I read the weekly stories about deflation and inflation I am perplexed by the complete lack of recognition for what are clear and obvious inflationary signals in our every day lives. Without the three most consumed items added to the inflation calculation, food, fuel and medical expenses, the numbers can not be anything approaching realistic.
I read the stories about folks being tossed out of rented or leased apartments and homes as a result of owner default. Sometimes they are given less than an hour to remove every single belonging and move it elsewhere. This to satisfy the bank, who has re-possessed the property. As we continue down this road, watching our savings evaporate and the prices we pay for food and essential services, just remember that everything “they” say is a patent lie.
Silver is on a tear that should continue as long as the dollar is falling. Watch out for the inevitable attempt at a take-down, but keep on stacking real money. The chatter on the street is getting louder than I can ever remember, and now includes a lot of talk about the June OI in gold. I will wait patiently and watch for dips, during which I will be a buyer.
Our futures are not written in stone, and can be directed down a different path through preparation and planning. This group in particular, will do quite well in the months and years of continued austerity to come.
Our President has decided that irrespective of the financial Armageddon we are currently experiencing, that it is time to force rationed social health care down our throats, at a cost that I would not even guess at. Suffice it to say, that most people in Great Britain are paying close to 62% of their wages in income tax and VAT.
Get ready for it, because it is coming here.