Supply and inflation issues 2020 and 2021

[Opti]

Inspired by another thread, what were the supply and inflation issues you encountered this year and last. I looked up inflation for 2020, which was low, but I feel that was not my experience.

In 2020, the pandemic caused all sorts of shortages and in some cases price hikes. For me, I noticed some choices disappeared entirely and coupons seemed to no longer exist or no longer cover the items I generally used them for. For me, TP and soft soap was more expensive, assuming you could find some. 

In 2021, huge rent hike and gas prices are the biggest although Walmart upped a significant portion of their grocery prices early this year around February. No shortages of meat and poultry, but prices are higher and sales seem to be less frequent.

What have you noticed in your life?

[Value Buy]

Nov 11, 2021 12:05:58 GMT -5 Opti said:

Inspired by another thread, what were the supply and inflation issues you encountered this year and last. I looked up inflation for 2020, which was low, but I feel that was not my experience.

In 2020, the pandemic caused all sorts of shortages and in some cases price hikes. For me, I noticed some choices disappeared entirely and coupons seemed to no longer exist or no longer cover the items I generally used them for. For me, TP and soft soap was more expensive, assuming you could find some. 

In 2021, huge rent hike and gas prices are the biggest although Walmart upped a significant portion of their grocery prices early this year around February. No shortages of meat and poultry, but prices are higher and sales seem to be less frequent.

What have you noticed in your life?

Yes, 2020 pandemic did a number on the grocery stores and big box retailers. Hoarding was a part of it, and the fact restaurants were closed down in many states, people simply had no choice but to buy food at the store for a few months. This did mess the product mix of manufacturers of meat and food products as everything was retail produced product,  rather than for restaurant size boxes produced for wholesalers which created a packaging shortfall. I was even able to score cheap 24 pk Miller genuine draft cs at cheap prices. Turned out it was close dated and boxed in plain cardboard boxes for bars, etc, without the glossy outside graphics and they were pulling it out of closed bars and restaurants to try to sell it before it went out of date.
Then the meat houses suffered tremendous infection rates shutting them down periodically.
The last couple of months although most mainstay food products (not the imported stuff) are American or Canadian made we now have seen big holes in grocery stores, mass marketers, etc. WalMart and Aldi even seem to be experiencing out of stocks at large rates lately. Red Meat prices have exploded, pork somewhat, and same for chicken although some retailers stil have boneless skinless chicken breasts retaing for $1.99 lb as a loss leader.
Towels and tp seem to be short once and awhile but nothing like spring of 2020. Prices are extremely higher on them. Asl your children who have babies what they are payong for diapers. Some multi pack diapers are pushing $50 a box.

Really we have not seen shortages of gasoline, just higher prices, same for produce and dairy items. Some of the price increase has to be higher transportation cost (gasoline, diesel) as well as wages from the farm field to wholesalers to retailers.....Basically everything consumers buy have prices that are higher than even six months ago.
Wait til you get your heating bills this winter from your utility provider. Unless you were able to lock in your rate, you will not be happy.

[dondub]

Nov 11, 2021 13:41:54 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

Nov 11, 2021 12:05:58 GMT -5 Opti said:

Inspired by another thread, what were the supply and inflation issues you encountered this year and last. I looked up inflation for 2020, which was low, but I feel that was not my experience.

In 2020, the pandemic caused all sorts of shortages and in some cases price hikes. For me, I noticed some choices disappeared entirely and coupons seemed to no longer exist or no longer cover the items I generally used them for. For me, TP and soft soap was more expensive, assuming you could find some. 

In 2021, huge rent hike and gas prices are the biggest although Walmart upped a significant portion of their grocery prices early this year around February. No shortages of meat and poultry, but prices are higher and sales seem to be less frequent.

What have you noticed in your life?

Yes, 2020 pandemic did a number on the grocery stores and big box retailers. Hoarding was a part of it, and the fact restaurants were closed down in many states, people simply had no choice but to buy food at the store for a few months. This did mess the product mix of manufacturers of meat and food products as everything was retail produced product,  rather than for restaurant size boxes produced for wholesalers which created a packaging shortfall. I was even able to score cheap 24 pk Miller genuine draft cs at cheap prices. Turned out it was close dated and boxed in plain cardboard boxes for bars, etc, without the glossy outside graphics and they were pulling it out of closed bars and restaurants to try to sell it before it went out of date.
Then the meat houses suffered tremendous infection rates shutting them down periodically.
The last couple of months although most mainstay food products (not the imported stuff) are American or Canadian made we now have seen big holes in grocery stores, mass marketers, etc. WalMart and Aldi even seem to be experiencing out of stocks at large rates lately. Red Meat prices have exploded, pork somewhat, and same for chicken although some retailers stil have boneless skinless chicken breasts retaing for $1.99 lb as a loss leader.
Towels and tp seem to be short once and awhile but nothing like spring of 2020. Prices are extremely higher on them. Asl your children who have babies what they are payong for diapers. Some multi pack diapers are pushing $50 a box.

Really we have not seen shortages of gasoline, just higher prices, same for produce and dairy items. Some of the price increase has to be higher transportation cost (gasoline, diesel) as well as wages from the farm field to wholesalers to retailers.....Basically everything consumers buy have prices that are higher than even six months ago.
Wait til you get your heating bills this winter from your utility provider. Unless you were able to lock in your rate, you will not be happy.

Due to lack of worldwide demand 2020, the suppliers of gasoline did put limiters in production. Supply and demand curve in effect. Now demand is higher and supply has yet to catch up or is deliberately slow to capitalize on the higher prices.
This game has been played regularly for at least 50 years. Of course Biden has had nothing to do with this nor is there really anything he can do about it.

[busymom]

Prices at the grocery store have continued to increase, including more recently at Walmart.  We do have shortages of some items, but I'm not so locked in to certain brands, or specific foods, that I can't find good alternatives.  I can only imagine what these increases must be doing to someone who, for example, lives exclusively on Social Security...

[kadee78]

Here's a reason too....

A dire truck driver shortage that’s wreaking havoc on the US economy is getting worse — and it’s being fueled partly by tough federal drug-testing restrictions that were imposed nationwide last year, industry officials told The Post.



More than 72,000 truck drivers have been taken off US roads since January 2020 because they have failed drug tests that are now required by the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, a 22-month-old registry established to increase safety on US highways, according to government data.



That’s a big number, considering that the American Trucking Association — which also blames the pandemic and a lack of younger drivers, among other factors — recently pegged the industry’s overall driver shortfall at 80,000, up from 60,800 in 2018 and 50,700 in 2017.

nypost.com/2021/11/07/supply-chain-stalled-by-72000-truckers-who-failed-drug-tests/amp/

[pulmonarymd]

Nov 11, 2021 20:47:44 GMT -5 kadee78 said:

Here's a reason too....

A dire truck driver shortage that’s wreaking havoc on the US economy is getting worse — and it’s being fueled partly by tough federal drug-testing restrictions that were imposed nationwide last year, industry officials told The Post.



More than 72,000 truck drivers have been taken off US roads since January 2020 because they have failed drug tests that are now required by the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, a 22-month-old registry established to increase safety on US highways, according to government data.



That’s a big number, considering that the American Trucking Association — which also blames the pandemic and a lack of younger drivers, among other factors — recently pegged the industry’s overall driver shortfall at 80,000, up from 60,800 in 2018 and 50,700 in 2017.

nypost.com/2021/11/07/supply-chain-stalled-by-72000-truckers-who-failed-drug-tests/amp/

Who was president last year? Valuebuy seems to think it was Biden

[Tiny]

I can see that the "asking prices" of just about EVERYTHING has gone up dramatically. I don't know how often people pay those asking prices - or if they find some way to buy the thing on sale.


Yes, I am seeing inflation and price increases - but much of it is on things I don't use or purchase.

I don't think inflation effects everyone equally.

[Miss Tequila]

Nov 11, 2021 12:05:58 GMT -5 Opti said:

Inspired by another thread, what were the supply and inflation issues you encountered this year and last. I looked up inflation for 2020, which was low, but I feel that was not my experience.

In 2020, the pandemic caused all sorts of shortages and in some cases price hikes. For me, I noticed some choices disappeared entirely and coupons seemed to no longer exist or no longer cover the items I generally used them for. For me, TP and soft soap was more expensive, assuming you could find some. 

In 2021, huge rent hike and gas prices are the biggest although Walmart upped a significant portion of their grocery prices early this year around February. No shortages of meat and poultry, but prices are higher and sales seem to be less frequent.

What have you noticed in your life?

Since I am a landlord, I can speak to the rental situation in my area. It is through the roof! I am seeing more than 20% increases from last year. It’s very good for me, since most of my rentals were purchased prior to the huge jump in purchase price of housing.

In my area, people are being paid a lot more than pre-pandemic, at least at the lower end. But that increase is being eaten up by increase in housing and food costs. I won’t bring up gas, because it was artificially low because of the pandemic.

[Miss Tequila]

Nov 12, 2021 10:01:15 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I can see that the "asking prices" of just about EVERYTHING has gone up dramatically. I don't know how often people pay those asking prices - or if they find some way to buy the thing on sale.


Yes, I am seeing inflation and price increases - but much of it is on things I don't use or purchase.

I don't think inflation effects everyone equally.

The purchase prices of homes in my area have gone through the roof. And houses were being snatched up within hours of being listed. People relying on FHA mortgages were just ignored. Cash buyers were king. I know several people that sold houses and they all got over asking price, which was already crazy.

In my area, I see this hitting the low income the hardest. Wages have gone up dramatically, but so has the cost of living. My apartments have seen a 20% - 25% increase in rents just from last year. Just this month we rented a unit for $200 more than last year. Add in the increase in food, gas (I know the last two years were very low but it’s still felt by people) and pretty much everything else, and the increase in wages has been eaten up.

While I notice that prices have gone up, it doesn’t impact me. Sure, I grumble about paying more, but that’s it. Counter that to people making $15-$20/hr, they really feel it

[bean29]

Nov 12, 2021 10:01:15 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I can see that the "asking prices" of just about EVERYTHING has gone up dramatically. I don't know how often people pay those asking prices - or if they find some way to buy the thing on sale.


Yes, I am seeing inflation and price increases - but much of it is on things I don't use or purchase.

I don't think inflation effects everyone equally.

I think this is true, but I am noticing prices are up at the grocery store.  We live pretty comfortably, so inflation does not change my habits.  I am thinking about quitting my Diet Pepsi Habit, but I have thought about it before, and I still buy soda every week.  DH and I regularly comment on wasting less food.  Hopefully we will manage to accomplish that.  We just paid a premium for an Electric car, just meaning that we bought at MSRP, without any normal discount.  That decision does make me more conscious not to leave lights on and use energy needlessly.  

I really want to replace my refrigerator...but I have been telling myself no for 2 years already.  DH told me again to wait.  2 years ago he was willing to replace it and I nixed the purchase.  Now I am questioning how well my Dishwasher is working. We won't have a fight or anything if I go and buy new appliances, but I think we have learned to trust each other on this stuff.  We are both restless about our employment and DH told me this am that he has a looming investment opportunity he wants to pursue.  

Yesterday, maybe in an article about Zillow selling their housing inventory, I saw a number on how many fewer entry level starter homes have been built in the last 15 years.  I don't think housing prices will come down anytime soon.  

www.noradarealestate.com/blog/housing-market-predictions/  (This is not the article I was looking for, I believe I read that we are 15 million houses short of the single family homes we needed over the last 15 years...so at this rate, it will be a long time before SF housing prices come down.

While the current housing shortage is also due to the moratorium on foreclosures but it's mainly because of home builders not keeping up with long-term demand growth. Single-family housing starts rose last year to 991,000 units but builders would need to construct between 1.1 million and 1.2 million single-family homes a year to meet long-term demand. The last time single-family housing starts broke 1 million was in 2007. Hence, there's no doubt that with the continued supply-demand imbalance, this upward pull on prices is expected to remain consistent in 2021 and beyond.

[Tiny]

The thing about houses being purchased with cash - where are people getting the money to do that? How many people have 300K or 500K or 1M lying around gathering dust - not allocated to something like retirement?

There's a lot of people with easy access to large quantities of money. I'd say that's the most basic thing that has driven up the prices of houses. And probably used/new cars as well.

There's a lot of money burning holes in people's pockets.   And if so very many people have money burning holes in their pockets - maybe inflation isn't that surprising... 
 

[Tiny]

I've noticed the increase in costs at the grocery. I buy mostly "staples" and very little "processed" foods so it hasn't been that bad for me - other than paper products, diet coke and "meat" - most of the groceries I buy have gone up just a little bit. the other 3 things skyrocketed in price.

I did need to buy a box cake mix - I waited for a sale (they usually go for $1.25 or a $1.50 on sale) but no sales happened and I couldn't wait any longer - I paid $3.49 for a lemon cake mix. More than double what I would have normally paid - but it's a one or two times a year expense... so I rolled with it.

I think the lack of predictable sales and sale prices has been the biggest annoyance to me.

[busymom]

I stopped at Target tonight, as we're supposed to get our first "real" sNOw tomorrow.  You know, the kind that sticks.


DS loves those multipacks of Frito-Lay chips.  You know, where you get 18 little bags to the package.  I used to be able to buy them for $5.99 on sale, with the regular price being around $6.99 or $7.99.  I'd planned to pick that up for DS, and was stunned to see the price has gone up to $9.49.  That's a huge increase!  Also, their chip aisle was 1/2 cleaned out.  I'm guessing the supply chain issues are affecting snacks.  

[Value Buy]

Nov 12, 2021 17:09:21 GMT -5 Tiny said:

The thing about houses being purchased with cash - where are people getting the money to do that? How many people have 300K or 500K or 1M lying around gathering dust - not allocated to something like retirement?

There's a lot of people with easy access to large quantities of money. I'd say that's the most basic thing that has driven up the prices of houses. And probably used/new cars as well.

There's a lot of money burning holes in people's pockets.   And if so very many people have money burning holes in their pockets - maybe inflation isn't that surprising... 
 

Zillow was in the business of purchasing homes to resell after touching them up.
They decided to get out of the business for various reasons and said they have to sell tens of thousands of properties.
There are many private hedge funds in the business of purchasing single family homes for rentals.
It would be interesting to know just how many homes were purchased by businesses rather than potential home owners in 3030 and 2021.

[thyme4change]

It is going to get worse. We are taking another big price increase. Some of our vendors are raising prices every quarter. We haven't seen as many of our competitors shelf prices increase as much as we thought, but are thinking Jan 1 will be when a lot of price increases go into effect.