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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 18:21:48 GMT -5
Do we already have a thread on inflation? Besides the one about chicken? Besides the crazy housing market, where are you seeing inflation, and how is it affecting you? I’m seeing it at the gas pump, like I imagine everyone else is also. It’s gotten bad enough that I’m driving my car more now for real, instead of automatically hopping in the Jeep. I start my work week with a full tank of gas, and I can only drive the Jeep back and forth to work for 4 days before I need more gas. Right now, it costs ~$40 to fill the Jeep if it’s close to empty, and it doesn’t even last a week. Yikes! Do any of you get COLA’s? I do, and the one in November 2021 was almost $1/hour. I get another one soon, it will be 60something cents/hour. In the past, they’ve usually been much less, if we got one at all. The only time I remember getting a noticeable amount was after the last housing market crash. So, surely, those COLA’s in a few months say something about what’s going on IRT inflation, right? I’m very grateful that increasing prices don’t make me have to make some difficult decisions to survive. Yet. Since I never know what might happen. I seriously feel for people that are having to do that. So what do the good people of YMAM have to say about inflation these days?
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djAdvocate
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Post by djAdvocate on Feb 20, 2022 18:24:14 GMT -5
i think it will fade quickly. before year's end.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 18:41:52 GMT -5
i think it will fade quickly. before year's end. I hope you are right! Do you think the housing market will settle down too? I’ve never seen anything like it here, where I live. My income is decent and if I needed to buy a house these days, I’d be screwed. I couldn’t even buy the house I live in now, and we just bought it less than 3 years ago. I’d prefer that increased costs for housing not take over this thread, since there’s another thread somewhere specifically about that, but I’m curious about your thoughts regarding it.
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cooper88
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Post by cooper88 on Feb 20, 2022 18:51:43 GMT -5
Yeah, housing is crazy. I could still afford my house, but that's because I bought a cheap house with a huge yard!
Groceries, pet food, clothing, appliances - prices have gone up quite a bit. We replaced a hot water heater last month and had sticker shock.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 19:05:19 GMT -5
Yeah, housing is crazy. I could still afford my house, but that's because I bought a cheap house with a huge yard! Groceries, pet food, clothing, appliances - prices have gone up quite a bit. We replaced a hot water heater last month and had sticker shock. Well, I could still afford my other house, for pretty much the same reasons you can. Except the backyard is fairly large and more than big enough for anything I’d want to do with it, but it’s not quite huge. For a while now, I haven’t been buying as much stuff or as often as I normally would, not even groceries. So I don’t think I really have a true picture of the increases in prices. Except for on chicken wings and gas lol.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Feb 20, 2022 19:12:52 GMT -5
I've seen higher prices on gas for my car in the past. I've seen higher prices on Natural Gas to heat my house.
As for groceries - I think we all got use to stable cyclical sale prices on stuff. Many of the "staples" I routinely purchase haven't gone up that much over the last 2 years - maybe .10 or .20 cents. Which is how they would go in price pre pandemic.
I'm frugal - back when gas prices went up to over $4.50 a gallon (2008? or 2015 or when ever) and every one was cutting back on their driving and what not - I literally couldn't cut back - I have always been a frugal driver - I combine errands, map on my path, etc. I already had a vehicle that wasn't a gas guzzler. I just had to suck up the higher prices. I was preparing to pull out the granny cart and walk to the grocery if prices went over $5
I'm doing the same thing now - the price of gas isn't enough to make me NEED to change my lifestyle.
I'm pretty frugal with grocery shopping too - I menu plan, shop with a list, use the sale paper, stock up when it seems appropriate. While I'm seeing some higher prices - I'm also seeing a lot of what I buy remain at a more "typical" price.
I think the higher prices are with us to stay... even when inflation starts to drop. We've had at least a decade of "prices held as low as possible" - so I'm not surprised to see increased costs to consumers.
I'm kind of with DJAdvocate - that inflation will fade as the year ends or early next year. Prices won't drop much - but they won't stop going up - we'll be back to the quarterly or every 6 month price increases we had pre-pandemic.
I think Americans will continue to happily spend money and consume even if it means sacrificing their future (thru less savings).
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Feb 20, 2022 19:16:45 GMT -5
Gas is the biggest line item increase I've noticed. However, DH had to completely change his diet in November, so our grocery bill has gone up. It just seems like it's gone up because of the types of purchases we now make as opposed to inflation.
I'm only appreciating the housing market increase because I'm benefitting from it. I was financially devastated by the crash in 2008, so it's kind of like I'm breaking even now. (Although I'm think I'm still under since that's over a decade of lost compounding.)
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Feb 20, 2022 19:16:47 GMT -5
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Feb 20, 2022 19:27:17 GMT -5
If I was in the market for a house or car, I might care, but as it is, it's not affecting me a whole lot. Gas is probably the main one since I drive a lot, but we're talking maybe $50-$60/month difference in my budget. I'm just enjoying the high rate on my savings bonds and am ready for the rates to go up as I'll just be on the saving and not borrowing side of that.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 19:46:17 GMT -5
My car is a gas-sipper and I don't drive that much on a typical day so gasoline prices haven't had a big effect on me. I see other things edging up: our two favorite restaurants, First Watch and a local Mexican restaurant (although I'm glad they didn't cut the quality), the price of hotels on road trips, rental cars, all the fresh produce I buy at Costco.
What's really hit me is the natural gas bill, which I've posted about elsewhere. It's up 50% over last year for the same usage level. I noticed that the Mexican restaurant has turned down its temperature, too! I know I'm fortunate- I whine but I have the means to pay it.
I am NOT looking forward to next year when the gubmint has their hand out for more property taxes on the increased value of my house. The one next to me, only slightly larger and with more hardwood flooring, sold at a higher-than-expected value so there's actually one that's comparable.
COLA: Yes for SS, no on my $1,800 of pensions from 2 previous employers. Early in my career they used to make sure annual raises were commensurate with inflation but I think employers in the private sector got stingier and also made more of the compensation "variable" based on how well the company did, so your total compensation could decrease if you got a 3% salary increase but your bonus went down a lot.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Feb 20, 2022 19:55:37 GMT -5
I'm seeing a lot of things 25-50% increases. Kind gf granola, paper plates.
Cat food is up ~$3/case. 12 cans fancy feast. I go through a lot of cat food......
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2022 20:12:08 GMT -5
The other time in my adult life when gas prices increased enough and quickly enough for me to really pay attention to what it was costing me, it still wasn’t a huge increase in what I paid for gas.
This time it’s hitting my pockets more, enough that I’m changing some fairly new habits.
Back then I just had my little Honda Accord, and a tank of gas lasted at least 7 days in my everyday life, usually closer to 10 days.
I still have the same car, and even though I live farther from my job now, a tank of gas still lasts at least 7 days. But for over a year now, my daily driver has been a Jeep Wrangler. It is not fuel efficient at all. It can’t even get me through my workweek on a full tank of gas, which costs about the same as a full tank of gas in my car. Gas prices are hitting my pockets differently now because of the Jeep. So it is no longer my habit to just jump in the Jeep whenever I’m going somewhere and try to remember to drive my car somewhere before the battery dies. Again.
I spent a lot of money (to me) putting my car back together last year. That’s even more reason to drive it more now, in addition to the money I save on gas.
Because I have a gas guzzler, right now I’m glad I have the option to drive something more fuel efficient.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Feb 20, 2022 20:18:03 GMT -5
The only thing that jumps out for me is gas. Paid $3.21 gallon today. But it was forever before it got over $3.00. It was $2.89 last time I filled up. Fortunately like Athena I drive a gas sipper and don’t drive a bunch. I spend around 20.00 - $25.00 a month. But I get about 30 mph in town driving. And I rarely let it get close to 1/4 tank. Have a fear of running out BTDT.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Feb 20, 2022 21:07:56 GMT -5
I've noticed some price increases but they're not making me purchase less. Sure, gas costs more but it's taken 14 years for it to reach a level that it saw back in 2008 so I'm not stressing over it. I'm still going to buy the gas. I'm still going to get whatever groceries that I need to get. I think where it's really effecting people is for all those who pre-2020 made large purchases that were at the top of their spending tier and are now struggling to keep up. Like, they could somewhat afford the $200,000 mortgage, $40,000 car, and their other monthly expenses two years ago but now those monthly expenses have all gone up and it's making the mortgage and car note much more difficult.
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geenamercile
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Post by geenamercile on Feb 20, 2022 21:23:53 GMT -5
I have seen the gas prices go up, I am glad I got the car I did, when I did, because it sips gas. I average 45 miles a gallon on it's little estimate thing. One trip I even got to 50 miles a gallon estimate. Cutting back on my driving isn't going to happen. I did budget in some extra gas cost for when I take my trips over the summer this weekend when I looked over the budgets.
Beef has gone up enough in the stores where I am going to put down a deposit next week at a local farm for 1/2 a cow that I will get at the end of July. They have a set coming up at the end of March, but I want to get it after the trips and they said I could just do the next set. I have not seen much of a price change in produce. I posted in the other thread that I haven't seen an increase in chicken breast, just have to grab them when I see them. But I have noticed that when it comes to meat there use to always be some with the sell now/ reduced stickers.... I don't see them anymore. Haven't noticed a much when it comes to cheeses, milk, eggs, or pantry staples. I tend to shop around the outside of the store, so really have no idea about the pre-package middle parts.
Out natural gas went up some, I am on the budget plan and the plan got updated, it went from $52 to $71 increase.... but it has also been a lot colder this year then last year and our usage went up past the estimates, so I am sure it is some of both. Our budget electric reset for the year from 200 to 250.
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jerseygirl
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Inflation
Feb 20, 2022 21:46:14 GMT -5
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Post by jerseygirl on Feb 20, 2022 21:46:14 GMT -5
Our electricity increased this month about 30% also oil for furnace. I have a Tesla so gas not a problem Expect electricity and oil will continue to increase a lot, also natural gas for heating cooking. Based on changes government is making and increasing to stop use of oil and gas and solar and wind not being as efficient. Until powerful batteries are developed to store electricity from solar and wind
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MN-Investor
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Post by MN-Investor on Feb 20, 2022 22:42:42 GMT -5
At this point in my life, my needs are fairly minimal and I have sufficient savings to not worry. However, I've watched my sister-in-law help two of her daughters buy replacement vehicles in December. Good used cars get snatched up right away and you pay a premium for anything you can find. I am SO glad I don't need a new car right now! One of those nieces is getting married this summer and she and her fiance are wondering if they can buy a house. I was at her apartment a couple of weeks ago and we looked on one of the realtor apps to see what was available. Wow! I have looked periodically at that app, wondering if I should move from my house to a condo and I was amazed at how few homes were available now. And the prices! Oh dear. It's funny looking back... we bought our house in 1980 and house prices were really going up at that point too. Of course, our initial mortgage was 14%. That's something today's buyers don't have to worry about. I hope the market settles down.
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susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on Feb 20, 2022 22:56:22 GMT -5
Inflation is everywhere, and I disagree that prices are going to come back down. Sure, housing and fuel and some groceries are cyclical. But Amazon and Costco have raised their prices. Hulu went up. Cars are selling at or above MSRPs. Used car prices are up. Procter and Gamble have announced price increases.
I am not being Chicken Little. Wages are rising, which means prices of products have to increase to balance that out.
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djAdvocate
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Post by djAdvocate on Feb 21, 2022 0:04:16 GMT -5
Inflation is everywhere, and I disagree that prices are going to come back down. Sure, housing and fuel and some groceries are cyclical. But Amazon and Costco have raised their prices. Hulu went up. Cars are selling at or above MSRPs. Used car prices are up. Procter and Gamble have announced price increases. I am not being Chicken Little. Wages are rising, which means prices of products have to increase to balance that out. the inflationary aspect of wage increases is generally less than 10% of the CPI increases, due to competitive pressures, and the fact that so little of the US economy is tied to wages. in other words, if minimum wage doubles, the price of a whopper will go up 10%. i didn't claim that PRICES would come back down. i claimed that INFLATION will. and sure, it is possible that it won't. in fact, that is what people tend to believe. i just don't personally believe it for a variety of reasons.
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Feb 21, 2022 0:12:52 GMT -5
The only thing that jumps out for me is gas. Paid $3.21 gallon today. But it was forever before it got over $3.00. It was $2.89 last time I filled up. Fortunately like Athena I drive a gas sipper and don’t drive a bunch. I spend around 20.00 - $25.00 a month. But I get about 30 mph in town driving. And I rarely let it get close to 1/4 tank. Have a fear of running out BTDT. Cheapest place around here was $4.449 a week ago. I have heard on the news that prices are set to get up significantly. Not too worried though since I drive very little. I guess with my current (more active now I don't stay in to work every day) lifestyle I need a tank of gas every other month.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Feb 21, 2022 6:51:52 GMT -5
We don't drive much, so even though we notice gas prices have gone up, it hasn't hit our pockets very hard. Our grocery bill hasn't changed a whole lot. We still buy on sale whenever possible and stock up when the sale is good. I haven't been cooking a whole lot, so most of the increase we've seen is expected. Housing here was booming before covid and I expect it to keep booming for a while. We're about an hour outside of Dallas and a lot of people who WFH or are only in the office one or two days a week have been moving here. There's also been considerable growth in the manufacturing in our area. New housing developments can't keep up with the demand and current housing is difficult to find. The Zillow value of our house has doubled in the past eight years. I'd guess it's pretty accurate as I know what our neighbors paid for their house and ours has more yard, a pool, and is a bit larger. Since we don't plan to sell any time soon, it's kind of a moot point. We do receive COLA on our SSDI, but not on DH's small pension. They gave an increase for 2020, but nothing since then. This year they didn't do the extra check they've done for several years. It pisses DH off because the pension is 128% funded based on this year's audit. At least he gets something!
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bookkeeper
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Post by bookkeeper on Feb 21, 2022 9:23:35 GMT -5
We bought a new KitchenAid range last December. It was the same model we have at the house up north and we paid $2000 with tax. We bought that model 5 years ago for $1100 with tax. That's a pretty large price jump over that period of time. We couldn't get the Whirlpool model. The salesman said that Whirlpool corporation had decided their limited inventory was going to the new home builders in the area and that the appliance dealers could just sell something else. Who thought we would run out of appliances?
We bought a 2020 Chevy Silverado in May of 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Got a smoking deal, about $5000 under other new trucks. We can still sell that truck for more than we paid for it. What a goofy time to be alive.
Inflation will affect us through the new goods we want to purchase. However, we have two houses full of stuff, we don't need much in the way of new things. We went to Nebraska to visit DS1 and they are getting honked on groceries. Food is cheap in Arizona. I had better get ready for the sticker shock at the grocery store when I snowbird home. We have been collecting beef when it's on sale. We generally take a cooler full of steaks home when we head north.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2022 10:09:07 GMT -5
We bought a 2020 Chevy Silverado in May of 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Got a smoking deal, about $5000 under other new trucks. We can still sell that truck for more than we paid for it. What a goofy time to be alive. In many ways I'm grateful that my last car died in June, 2020. It was a 2012 and it should have lasted longer but it was a good time to buy a new car. I think where it's really affecting people is for all those who pre-2020 made large purchases that were at the top of their spending tier and are now struggling to keep up. Like, they could somewhat afford the $200,000 mortgage, $40,000 car, and their other monthly expenses two years ago but now those monthly expenses have all gone up and it's making the mortgage and car note much more difficult. I (almost) laugh when I read sad tales bout people who bought a giant, macho gas-hog truck when the price of gas was at a low and then cry at the cost of a fill-up when the price goes up. Like, you never considered the possibility that gas might get more expensive?
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Feb 21, 2022 10:14:52 GMT -5
We bought a 2020 Chevy Silverado in May of 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Got a smoking deal, about $5000 under other new trucks. We can still sell that truck for more than we paid for it. What a goofy time to be alive. In many ways I'm grateful that my last car died in June, 2020. It was a 2012 and it should have lasted longer but it was a good time to buy a new car. Same here. Mine died in 2018. Just in time for my 75th birthday present to me. Bought a 2017 Hyundai. Should be my last car!
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susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on Feb 21, 2022 10:24:26 GMT -5
Inflation is everywhere, and I disagree that prices are going to come back down. Sure, housing and fuel and some groceries are cyclical. But Amazon and Costco have raised their prices. Hulu went up. Cars are selling at or above MSRPs. Used car prices are up. Procter and Gamble have announced price increases. I am not being Chicken Little. Wages are rising, which means prices of products have to increase to balance that out. the inflationary aspect of wage increases is generally less than 10% of the CPI increases, due to competitive pressures, and the fact that so little of the US economy is tied to wages. in other words, if minimum wage doubles, the price of a whopper will go up 10%. i didn't claim that PRICES would come back down. i claimed that INFLATION will. and sure, it is possible that it won't. in fact, that is what people tend to believe. i just don't personally believe it for a variety of reasons. Fair enough. But what we are really talking about here is buying power. That's what most people mean by inflation. And if inflation goes to zero next year, but we are still looking at paying $25k for a Corolla, we will still call it "inflation."
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Feb 21, 2022 10:30:43 GMT -5
... I think where it's really affecting people is for all those who pre-2020 made large purchases that were at the top of their spending tier and are now struggling to keep up. Like, they could somewhat afford the $200,000 mortgage, $40,000 car, and their other monthly expenses two years ago but now those monthly expenses have all gone up and it's making the mortgage and car note much more difficult. I (almost) laugh when I read sad tales bout people who bought a giant, macho gas-hog truck when the price of gas was at a low and then cry at the cost of a fill-up when the price goes up. Like, you never considered the possibility that gas might get more expensive? Particularly when they use them to make runs to Wally World. In those situations, My Give a Damn's Busted There are only two reasons a guy needs that type of truck, if he has a need to haul something big or ...
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Feb 21, 2022 10:40:18 GMT -5
Every time I turn around, the price jumps on something I buy regularly. The price increases are much bigger % jumps than I used to see. Many food items are up 50% or more from last fall. My grocery spending is about double my norm last year - partially increases, partially buying more to feed the boys at home. DS4 is working a physically strenuous job in the cold, and DS5 is a growing teen, began working out to build muscle, and is doing Building Trades in BOCES this year.
Gas at the one station locally used to go up $.02 at a time. Then $.05 at a time. Last week it jumped $.10 in one day, after 2 $.05 increases the previous week. The increases are larger each time, and coming more frequently. DH has been driving all around to meet a hiking challenge; he filled my tank at the rez when he was going past. It was $.70 less at the rez! That's worth chasing - normally the cost of extra gas to drive out there negates the cost delta (more so as absolute cost per gallon increases), but not at $.70 difference.
We had a bunch of car repairs to get DS5's car operable. Parts were way up, even the mechanic was shocked at the cost jumps.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Feb 21, 2022 10:45:54 GMT -5
One thing I noticed huge price increase was vegetable oil. Used to be able to get for close the $2. Now it’s $4. I don’t but a lot, thankfully.
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nidena
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Post by nidena on Feb 21, 2022 10:50:55 GMT -5
One thing I noticed huge price increase was vegetable oil. Used to be able to get for close the $2. Now it’s $4. I don’t but a lot, thankfully. This is one item that I get at Costco--well, olive oil but still an oil. I have a 2L size that I use daily but I refill it from the 3L that I buy every couple months. I think it's $11 or something like that.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on Feb 21, 2022 10:51:55 GMT -5
Folks, we’ve been told that the US policy is to stop using oil and gas (drilling, pumping, leasing land for oil gas) So the increases in electricity, fuel oil, gas for cars and everything that is shipped by trucks are PLANNED to increase - a lot
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