Yeah, it's no big surprise that prices tend to go up. And up. And up. But I recently had a very specific experience with price/availability that shows that it can go up reallly quickly...
I've written in the past about the price of ground turkey--we like to buy it in "bulk" (if you can call 3 lb. packages "bulk") brown it, and freeze it in meal-size packages. Having done so, we went for a while without doing what we call "big-time shopping"--quite a while, in fact, and just picked up milk and the like occasionally instead of planning out weeks' worth of menus, and making do with what we had without adding to our storage. (This applies to food and non-food items.) Not surprisingly, our storage went down, down, down while some prices were going up, up, up. Here's what happened with the ground turkey during this time:
I noticed as I was picking up milk or whatever that the ground turkey wasn't there. So I decided to keep an eye on it, because in the past it seemed to be a first-come, first served basis for the turkey, and you just had to be there at the right time. But this time, there didn't even appear to be a place marked for the packages of turkey that I usually bought.
Fast forward to when I really needed to get some more turkey. We found that there were 2 pound packages available at our other preferred place for grocery shopping, and if memory serves, when we first started buying ground turkey there, it was $3.98/2 lbs. Since then, it has gone up to $4.98/2lbs.
Bad enough, right? Well, at our used-to-buy turkey place, ground turkey made a reappearance, perhaps a different brand, and perhaps a different fat content or something, but the bottom line is that there is only one kind of package of ground turkey available last time I looked, and it was $3.98/1.25 lbs. Ouch. Hopefully it does not soon become our buy-again-turkey place because it becomes the best buy in town again. Might have to swear off turkey if that happens...
Anyway, my point is that having some food on hand for price hikes alone is a good idea because they most likely will continue to go up. At least if you have something in storage, it gives you a little time to save up for/look around for your next purchase without going hungry in the meantime. It doesn't have to be an emergency per se for a person to be glad they've put something aside for a rainy day...
And speaking of rainy days, it sounded like a rainy day outside the window today, but it was because of the melting snow, which was not melted enough after falling today to not require some shoveling when it came to the driveway. :) And thanks to all who participated in the poll about snow. I have mislaid the results, but if memory serves, 85% said they were getting less snow than normal, and everyone else who answered doesn't usually get snow where they live. The roads have been easier to drive on, but the really uncharacteristic lack of snow makes me wonder about the water supply.
Oh, I just found the post on my other blog where I wrote about the price of turkey. It used to be $6.22/ 3lb. package. Hope it comes back--it's happened before... :)
Fast forward to when I really needed to get some more turkey. We found that there were 2 pound packages available at our other preferred place for grocery shopping, and if memory serves, when we first started buying ground turkey there, it was $3.98/2 lbs. Since then, it has gone up to $4.98/2lbs.
Bad enough, right? Well, at our used-to-buy turkey place, ground turkey made a reappearance, perhaps a different brand, and perhaps a different fat content or something, but the bottom line is that there is only one kind of package of ground turkey available last time I looked, and it was $3.98/1.25 lbs. Ouch. Hopefully it does not soon become our buy-again-turkey place because it becomes the best buy in town again. Might have to swear off turkey if that happens...
Anyway, my point is that having some food on hand for price hikes alone is a good idea because they most likely will continue to go up. At least if you have something in storage, it gives you a little time to save up for/look around for your next purchase without going hungry in the meantime. It doesn't have to be an emergency per se for a person to be glad they've put something aside for a rainy day...
And speaking of rainy days, it sounded like a rainy day outside the window today, but it was because of the melting snow, which was not melted enough after falling today to not require some shoveling when it came to the driveway. :) And thanks to all who participated in the poll about snow. I have mislaid the results, but if memory serves, 85% said they were getting less snow than normal, and everyone else who answered doesn't usually get snow where they live. The roads have been easier to drive on, but the really uncharacteristic lack of snow makes me wonder about the water supply.
Oh, I just found the post on my other blog where I wrote about the price of turkey. It used to be $6.22/ 3lb. package. Hope it comes back--it's happened before... :)
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