Have you stopped buying certain things because of price?

[Superchief]

Folks - This thread has gotten very political. Knock off the comments blaming various governments/political groups. TUG is not the place to grind your axe.

? What comments do you consider to be political? People are stating problems they are experiencing due to inflation and the various causes for the increase and supporting information for their comment. I see no mention of political party and only general statements about government influence.

 

[mcdanielpj]

Does anything really come back down.

TVs

 

[slip]

TVs

That is true. We went to the Walmart while we were on the mainland last week. First time we have been in a store like that in three years. I couldn't believe how huge the tv's were even under $500.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I have significantly cut down on the amount of annual bedding plants I buy and am concentrating on perennials now. Nursery stock has really gotten expensive.

That is so true. My sister used to work for that industry, and she started growing her own bedding plants.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I also shop specials at multiple stores. I now buy a lot of our meat at Fresh Market, which has different daily specials that are better than Costco prices and is of excellent quality.

The specials are not always as good as you think.

Last week our favorite ships were on sale, buy two get two. I bought four to get the special, which took the price down to $2.75 per bag and thought I did well.

Got this weeks flyer in the mail, the same chips are one sale 3 for $5. Granted its a one day sale... but I am well stocked from last weeks purchase...

 

[ScoopKona]

I really don't get the ongoing idea that the way to make money is to fool your customer. When you devalue your brand this way, it just pushes people to the "whatever X commodity is cheapest because it's going to suck anyway".

This describes how most people buy things.

If someone put a gun to your head (you, the person reading this right now) and said, "Tell me whether your olive oil is real or adulterated. If you get it wrong, I'm pulling the trigger" -- how many people know the answer to that question?

If you don't know and want the safest answer, go with adulterated. It's slightly better odds than a coin flip.

"The invisible hand" only works for a literate, thoughtful market. Once people show that they're willing to buy any damned thing, simply because it's more convenient than doing some research/legwork, companies will milk these people for whatever they can.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We used to fly the main air carriers, United, Delta etc.

Now using Southwest for most domestic and the new International no frills that have Premium Economy - Norse Airways, French Bee and Level (in the future) for Europe. The meals on main carriers are now equivalent to the no frills so really all we care about is a comfortable seat and they have same seats for about 1/3 of the price.

We used to seek premium across the country and Hawaii but we are fine in Southwest and AK coach as it has more legroom.

 

[DancingWaters]

We feed the kids and grandkids alot. We don’t have soda, so we serve: tea, lemonade and water.
No drinks at restaurant. Cut out the variety of snack foods a week, which means we go get ice cream often. I am reaching in my cupboards and freezer to look and see what I have. Simpler meals

 

[DancingWaters]

And this year we are cutting back on one week of travel this year! We are planning to enjoy our inground pool more and our condo and boat at Lake Erie.

 

[easyrider]

While we haven't really cut back on things I do notice the price. I'm replacing deck boards and thought the price of the boards really didn't come down as much as it should have from the highs of the pandemic with some products. The screws were spendy too. The stain I wanted doubled in price even with an expired contractor discount. When I walked in to buy some stain the price off the shelf was $95 a gallon. The contractor price was about $50 a gallon. It was about $30 a gallon several years back.

I will probably build a shed or deck or something after the deck is finished to use up the old deck boards. Most of them are still in good shape. That means I will need to buy building materials. A better idea might be giving all of those boards away or hauling them to the landfill, lol.

Bill

 

[klpca]

When we eat out we try to go for lunches rather than dinners. Less expensive and better for digestion/health to have heavy meal in middle of the day.

Pet boarding has gotten ridiculous in our area. Cats used to be $17/day now $50/ day if you want a premium larger kennel where they are let out into a room to explore. Dogs were $35/day now $70+. Even Rover sitters are asking $30/visit now. So if they visit 2x per day plus tip you are still at$70 - 100/day. We are increasingly asking our adult kids to watch our pets and I will happily pay them to do so.

It is so expensive. I am paying $75/day for our old dog. All she does is sleep! Our daughter is almost always our petsitter but we do have a backup person. I told my husband that we should start petsitting in retirement!

 

[klpca]

Honestly, other than my wine, we have just changed the way that we live. The higher prices have just made the decision easier.

I feel that for the cost, restaurant food isn't a good value. It is ok, and I appreciate not having to cook or clean, but the food isn't that good. We can make better at home. We make homemade things that we used to buy. All of my baked goods are from scratch, as are soups, guacamole and salsa, even corn tortillas ( I still buy ready made flour tortillas). We haven't bought salad dressing since before covid. It is easy-peasy to make and tastes so much better than the bottled dressing. Once you get the hang of it, things are pretty easy. We learned a lot from our kids. Two of them live far away from any big box stores, so they started making things from scratch and they taught me how when we went to visit. It has changed my taste buds because I don't really care for the taste of processed food any more. Sure I will still buy some junk food, but most meals are homemade.

We went from soda, to Spindrift, to Pellegrino, to filtered water (we use Pur water filters). We are fine with the water at this point. I don't tolerate artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup (tummy issues) and because of that, water is just easier. I don't have to worry about what is in the drink. If I am really living large, I add sliced limes or lemons.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Our son has a Lamborghini. The kids cannot even ride in it. What a waste of garage space, but he loves it and takes our granddaughter to the playground in it. I don't get sports cars. Still driving my 2003 Toyota Avalon.

LOL Just like my mother in law. I pray it doesn't break down. She would never like getting a car without a front bench seat.

 

[TolmiePeak]

? What comments do you consider to be political? People are stating problems they are experiencing due to inflation and the various causes for the increase and supporting information for their comment. I see no mention of political party and only general statements about government influence.

Exactly. Not like people are complaining about the price of crudites at Wegmans....

 

[dioxide45]

I drink water from our reverse osmosis system a lot. Probably half a gallon + a day. Plus, I brew my own tea and brew tea for my stepdad as well. He brings me gallon containers every week, and I fill them up. He drinks 3 gallons of tea a week.

A countertop RO system is one of the best things I have bought this year. The tap water here in Florida is terrible. The RO makes it taste great. We even take it on driving trips with us and the resulting filtered water basically tastes the same everywhere. It wasn't cheap and will take a while to pay for itself as we no longer have to buy water by the gallon at the grocery store.

As for tea, we make cold brewed sun tea. Just put a couple family size tea bags into a gallon of cold water and let it sit for about 12-18 hours. My wife drinks it all the time. I don't since tea of any kind tastes awful to me.

 

[TravelTime]

I hadn't been in a Chili's in probably 20 years. Someone told me about this special and I went in last week. It was a TON of food. And really pretty good.

My point is that some of these chain type restaurants have some deals which wind up being the same as fast food. The food quality is a bit better AND you get some service with real plates & silverware.

Once a week or so my jaw drops at the prices that I see on this or that.

I thought you were being sarcastic about Chili’s being cheaper than fast food. To me, Chili’s is fast food. Am I the only person who sees it this way? Just curious.

 

[dioxide45]

I thought you were being sarcastic about Chili’s being cheaper than fast food. To me, Chili’s is fast food. Am I the only person who sees it this way? Just curious.

Given the quality drop in fast food, Chili's is still a slight notch above. With fast food you don't have a waiter that you need to tip. At Chili's you do. So by definition it certainly isn't fast food. It is just the low end of full service casual dining. They are on par with Applebee's. If someone is snooty, then they might not go to either one.

 

[TravelTime]

I’ve stopped buying timeshares LOL but this was before inflation. I have also considered selling some timeshares due to inflation. Finally I am reducing air travel and doing more driving trips bc airfare for 4 people is out of control.

 

[Tia]

I went to McDonalds today, first time in a very long time, for a small bite before an appointment that was going to last a couple hours as had not eaten lunch. My regular burger and small fries were $5. I didn't do the drive in, thought the go in counter thing would be quicker, that was wrong it took them 15 minutes to deliver my order at the counter. Way slower then it used to be and it must of been a couple more $ more then last time I went .

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Everybody who has cut down on salty snacks and carbonated HFCS water should thank the inflation gods and "corporate greed" for the health advice. Those almost disappeared from my life on my 40th birthday. Almost ... I have to say I found an awesome bag of "beef-flavored" corn-snacks when we were just in Japan. We bought 3 bags, one for the plane on our way to Taiwan.
Bought the first bag to go with the can of JD & Coke from the grocer, which cost about the same as a can of Coke in the USA. Sake is great but when I saw a can of JD & Coke, I couldn't resist.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

red wine over $150/bottle (looking at you Bourgogne). white wine over $75/bottle.
I suppose they could price chocolate & CC cookies like gold & I'd still buy them.

 

[Phil Thomas]

I stopped buying CUTCO as I found them very experience. I found cheaper alternatives at TacKnives.

 

[rapmarks]

I can’t stop myself from being very frugal, and I pass up lots of items because of the price. It is stupid, but it is hard to change a lifetime habit. I could not bring myself to buy grouper for $39.99 a pound
I also am pretty frugal about airline tickets and don’t like paying to upgrade my seat, and I stick to a carry on bag. ironically I paid for first row seats for nine of the 12 people who flew down to help me, and they all had a carry on and a checked bag.
I drive a 2001 dodge caravan also. But when you find out a used car with 150000 miles is $15000, why give up a car with less mileage that you know works.

 

[isisdave]

My usual Sausage McMuffin at McD's is 3.99 in Evansville. Yesterday, in Flagstaff, it was 6.89 -- I ordered it with Rewards points instead. On closer inspection, all the sandwiches with egg were 3.00 more than their counterpart without.

I always order from the app, and there's usually a buy one get one for free, or for $1, which makes the price reasonable. It's an unusual day I would pay full price for McD, except for the convenience.

 

[jp10558]

This describes how most people buy things.

If someone put a gun to your head (you, the person reading this right now) and said, "Tell me whether your olive oil is real or adulterated. If you get it wrong, I'm pulling the trigger" -- how many people know the answer to that question?

If you don't know and want the safest answer, go with adulterated. It's slightly better odds than a coin flip.

"The invisible hand" only works for a literate, thoughtful market. Once people show that they're willing to buy any damned thing, simply because it's more convenient than doing some research/legwork, companies will milk these people for whatever they can.

I think there's a value to being convenient - it's why I'll pay for Schwanns / Yelloh delivery, as well as Walmart + etc. The problem is when you're trying to compete with Temu (a la Amazon, third party Walmart) for random fly by night brands - you're basically going to lose. The only people I've seen beat out Temu is some eBay and I think that's cause they can get large bulk shipping and ordering discounts.

I suppose it's possible to keep in business mainly in the "convenience / gas station" market of way overpriced but the location or time of day being open winning out. However, that seems like a tiny market vs mass purchases at Wal-Mart or grocery stores etc. I may just be wrong about that.

Strangely enough compared to the 90s, brands have killed their brands so hard that branding is mostly meaningless in 2024 online, so that's why Temu does so well. Amazon and Facebook ads already conditioned people to "trust" random makers (I don't even want to call XHUIOGUI a "brand").