Heard from someone online that one of the stores that I don't visit all that often has winter clearance on clothes for 70% off the lowest marked price, so I headed over there last night, since it is one of those stores that stays open until later. It is basically an all-inclusive type of store, since you can get food as well as clothes as well as furniture... well, you get the point.
Well, I'm not the type (usually) that buys something just because I show up at a shopping establishment, and the clearance items had been pretty much picked over for the type of items I was really interested in. I looked at the clearance items displayed at the front of the store, and then at the clearance items in the children's section. Only a few things available that were only slightly tempting, so, nooooo.....but hey, I was already in the store, so I checked out the grocery section.
Most of the prices were similar to/slightly higher than what I would be willing to pay if I had to, and some were of the type that makes me wonder how anyone can afford to pay that much for that particular item, but I did hit a couple of winners. For instance, the canned pasta that is preferred in my family was on sale, down from 10/$10 to $.88/can. I bought a couple, and made mental note of the fact that it appeared from the shelf labeling that it will remain that way for a couple of weeks. I've been trying to work more on my 3-month supply, which differs from the long-term supply items because the goal is to have that length of a supply of the items you normally eat, rather than more of the staples (although rice and beans is now more normal around here than it was last year :) . Anyway, a couple of those went into the cart, as well as a bottle of shampoo for $.99. Granted, the bottle looked smaller than what I remember buying in the past, but we need to replenish the supplies on the soap shelf downstairs, since we seem to deplete them when needed....
Then I went to the local national grocery store and found out that the item that I thought was on sale this week that I wanted particularly was not on sale after all. Ended up picking up a couple of cans of Spam because they were somewhere in the realm of the prices that I would pay at the local national chainstore, and a couple of frozen items that were at a good price and that my children really like, and would help in the 3-month goal category. I don't store all that much in the freezer, because the electricity thing, coupled with the fact that we don't have a generator, makes me more inclined to invest in things that don't need refrigeration.
And now, more to the point, for those that are still reading, is what my husband said when I got home. He asked me if it was busy. It was not, at either store. It could have been the hour. It could have been the prices. Whatever the case, the slower goes the store, the more people's jobs are affected, and that is why, when I can, I try to spread my money around, other than just at the local national chainstore. It does seem like it is extremely difficult to beat the prices at the local national chainstore in many cases, and since the local national chainstore is also an all-inclusive type of store, it can be more time effective as well. But I still try to "spread the wealth" as it were, and support more local businesses. When I did that recently, I reaped a lot more than a price decrease...
A couple of weeks ago, now, I was out and about in the afternoon on a Saturday, and I went past the local crafts store. I knew that I had to prepare an item for the following day that required sewing of a sort, (those who may recall my feelings about sewing can imagine the gasp of horror that accompanies such a project) and having heard of a method that included a glue gun and very little actual stitching, I was planning to buy some glue sticks and try my hand at it later that evening. (Nothing like procrastination to improve an already stressful situation.... :) The parking lot looked busy, so I decided I would run that particular errand later in the evening.
In the meantime, I went several places where I probably could have ferreted out the needed glue sticks if I had been so inclined, but I wanted to give my business to the craft store, so I didn't. It got later and later in the day, and finally, knowing that the crafts store closed at 9:00, made my way there probably a little more than an hour before closing (I'm really good--make that practiced--at the procrastination thing). I asked for directions to the glue stick aisle. Couldn't find it. But I did find one of my neighbors, who was working there. She directed me to the glue sticks. She asked me about my project. She told me about a wonderful item that is a liquid that is permanent that acts like sewing, but isn't. And then she offered to do my sewing for me.
Yeah, she told me when she would get off work, and invited me to come over because what I had in mind would only take her about 2-3 minutes, and she already had her sewing machine out. I bought the glue sticks for future use, and took her up on her offer, arriving at the pre-arranged time at her house with my project in hand.
Turns out she is an accomplished seamstress. I saw some of her handiwork--she had been sewing quilts for her family, and they were absolutely gorgeous. She has a wonderful talent, and she did me a great favor. Since the project was for one of my children, she has done a favor for my family as well. She offered to help me in the future.
I have known for a long time that she is one of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet, but I only found out recently that she works at the crafts store. I wanted to help the business, (what little I can) but it turns out that I benefitted from my shopping habits more than they did in this case. The more businesses that stay in business, the more options (and hopefully price competition) we'll have. This experience just helped me realize that when we are supporting a business, we're supporting the employees, who may be our neighbors, as well. And it turns out to be a win-win situation all around....
I doubt that my neighbor will find this post. (You would probably be surprised to know how few people know that I have a blog, much less which blog it is.) However, my sincere thanks go out to her if she does. A talent is a wonderful thing, to share it is a wonderful thing, and who knows, as a result of her example, I may be prompted to try my hand at sewing again.... it doesn't hurt to try, does it? Well, in the case of sewing it has caused me mental anguish in the past, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't try again anyway..... :)
Showing posts with label stores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stores. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
That's usually a call to some sort of action
Not too long ago we were at a sports activity for one of our children. Sometime in the middle of said activity, the door in the back of the gym was opened, setting off an alarm that sounded to me like a fire alarm. Once the door was closed, the ringing stopped.
Now the gym was small enough that it was easy to see that there was no immediate need to grab your children and trample other people on your way out to sweet freedom. In fact, though I initially thought that the alarm was set off by a small child messing around in small child fashion, my husband later told me that someone did actually exit the building to activate the alarm. Thing is, everyone heard the alarm, everyone looked around to see that they wouldn't be personally affected, and everything went on as usual. No one did anything out of the ordinary, unless you want to count whoever tripped the alarm in the first place. Thing is, no one did anything at all. What's the problem, you say? After all, there was no actual emergency. And hey, nobody panicked, causing unnecessary pandemonium and havoc. In this situation, you would be right--it didn't hurt anyone to ignore the alarm bells. But (and I know you knew this was coming :) there are "alarm bells" sounding out in many ways that should usually be a call to action to us all to improve our emergency preparation and food storage. If we are not personally affected at the moment that they are ringing, we may be tempted to figuratively glance up, do nothing, and go back to what we were doing. Which alarms are you/I/we ignoring?
One of the things that has been bothering me is the closure of stores, a subject that I put into a poll not long ago. The poll and poll results were as follows:
How do you feel about the number of stores closing in the U.S.?
I think that it is good that people are becoming more frugal 47%
I'm worried about what it means for the economy 47%
I'm worried about what it means in terms of unemployment 47%
I'm already very frugal, so the stores closing will not really affect me 41%
I think that in the long run it will help the economy 17%
I don't like that it will restrict my choices 0%
Other 11%
I was pretty amazed at how evenly the percentages came out, and you can tell that I didn't vote on this particular poll, because no one chose that they don't like that it will restrict their choices, and I will explain why that particular poll choice is troubling to me in a bit. First, though, the fact that stores are closing is a huge red flag to me, even though at first glance that doesn't really personally affect me. I don't work in a store, and I don't shop all that much, so why don't I just go back to my non-retail, non-shopping activities? Well, when the stores close, people lose their jobs, leaving larger unemployment, and less money to spend in the stores where they get their items, which will affect those stores, who may have to cut the number of their employees, and/or close down--are you seeing the domino effect here? And the only way I can see of getting out of the tumble down line is to have my food storage and emergency preparation items so that I can remain standing and perhaps help others to remain standing as well. If I am not totally reliant on a store for the basic necessities, it does not have to affect me as hard if said store goes down. Make no mistake, however--it will affect me in some way. The bells that are ringing out an emergency for those who have lost their jobs or have fewer hours should be a warning for us as well--to get as prepared as possible while we still can, so we will be in the best possible situation we can be in when the bells get closer. Because they probably will. And if they don't? We'll be better able to help someone else up.
It may seem that I'm awfully self-absorbed when I say that I don't like the fact that the stores closing limit my choices, but the way that I think about it is actually something that would affect everyone. When you have fewer and fewer choices, you could end up with a monopoly situation, where one supplier has all the power, and therefore the option to make the prices what they want them to be--which I would think off the top of my head would not be an ideal situation for the rest of us. There is something to be said for "price wars", where stores actually compete for business, and where people still have options. I'm not talking about missing rampant consumerism--just thinking about some basic components of human nature that appear when those who have power exploit situations in ways that reap the highest benefits for them. Hopefully, monopolies won't happen, and if they do, those in charge won't exhibit such unfortunate human tendencies. Either way, the fact that stores are closing should set off alarm bells even if we aren't immediately personally affected, and if nothing else, we can improve our preparedness situations so that we will be better off when we are personally affected. We may not be able to stop a store from closing, but we can stop procrastinating our preparation.
Recently, we went out to dinner with a gift certificate we received. We went to a fairly popular family restaurant that is usually (at least when we have gone) packed with people. I was amazed, given the night of the week that it was, and the time that we arrived, at the ratio of customers/employees. Suffice it to say, business traffic did not look optimal. Same good food, same good service, just fewer people to enjoy it. At the end of the meal, my husband asked what the deal was with the slow traffic, and the server started talking about the economy. When you consider how much hourly a server makes, (my understanding is that it is very little) and how much tips figure into their wages, people not being able to afford to eat out becomes one of those dominoes. Again, going back to those alarm bells--if you take the attitude that you aren't personally affected because you don't go out to eat, and people eat out too much anyway, you may be missing the point--when the alarm bells ring, and scream out the necessity to get some food in storage, they are not only ringing for those in the food service industry. They are not only ringing for those in the retail industry. They are ringing out, just like they did in that gymnasium, for everyone present. You may not see how it concerns you just now, but believe me, it concerns you, and it concerns me, and it concerns anyone else you can think of, because we are all in this together. If you/I/we are among the fortunate who aren't in the midst of a crisis right now, you/I/we need to heed the alarms and get ready. To those who are reading this and are already having a crisis, I truly hope that things get better for you soon.
The closing of stores is one alarm bell going off that I can think of. A few others may be the continual rise of food prices, the foreclosure on farms, the seemingly shrinking availability of non-hybrid seeds, the state of the economy in general--how many alarm bells do we need? There are probably some that I am missing, but hopefully there is an alarm bell that will ring for each of us before it is too late to prepare. We won't all be able to prepare on the same scale, because we all have different economic means, but each of us can do something, even if it is only to put aside a very tiny bit at a time. We need to do the best we can when we hear the alarms ringing, and not just ignore what is going on---what was/will be your call to action?
And a second question--is there anyone out there that would be interested in an Idaho preppers network? Like I have mentioned before, there are more qualified people around, so it won't hurt my feelings if someone wants to start one up themselves. However, if there is interest, I could set up a page. Let me know.
Now the gym was small enough that it was easy to see that there was no immediate need to grab your children and trample other people on your way out to sweet freedom. In fact, though I initially thought that the alarm was set off by a small child messing around in small child fashion, my husband later told me that someone did actually exit the building to activate the alarm. Thing is, everyone heard the alarm, everyone looked around to see that they wouldn't be personally affected, and everything went on as usual. No one did anything out of the ordinary, unless you want to count whoever tripped the alarm in the first place. Thing is, no one did anything at all. What's the problem, you say? After all, there was no actual emergency. And hey, nobody panicked, causing unnecessary pandemonium and havoc. In this situation, you would be right--it didn't hurt anyone to ignore the alarm bells. But (and I know you knew this was coming :) there are "alarm bells" sounding out in many ways that should usually be a call to action to us all to improve our emergency preparation and food storage. If we are not personally affected at the moment that they are ringing, we may be tempted to figuratively glance up, do nothing, and go back to what we were doing. Which alarms are you/I/we ignoring?
One of the things that has been bothering me is the closure of stores, a subject that I put into a poll not long ago. The poll and poll results were as follows:
How do you feel about the number of stores closing in the U.S.?
I think that it is good that people are becoming more frugal 47%
I'm worried about what it means for the economy 47%
I'm worried about what it means in terms of unemployment 47%
I'm already very frugal, so the stores closing will not really affect me 41%
I think that in the long run it will help the economy 17%
I don't like that it will restrict my choices 0%
Other 11%
I was pretty amazed at how evenly the percentages came out, and you can tell that I didn't vote on this particular poll, because no one chose that they don't like that it will restrict their choices, and I will explain why that particular poll choice is troubling to me in a bit. First, though, the fact that stores are closing is a huge red flag to me, even though at first glance that doesn't really personally affect me. I don't work in a store, and I don't shop all that much, so why don't I just go back to my non-retail, non-shopping activities? Well, when the stores close, people lose their jobs, leaving larger unemployment, and less money to spend in the stores where they get their items, which will affect those stores, who may have to cut the number of their employees, and/or close down--are you seeing the domino effect here? And the only way I can see of getting out of the tumble down line is to have my food storage and emergency preparation items so that I can remain standing and perhaps help others to remain standing as well. If I am not totally reliant on a store for the basic necessities, it does not have to affect me as hard if said store goes down. Make no mistake, however--it will affect me in some way. The bells that are ringing out an emergency for those who have lost their jobs or have fewer hours should be a warning for us as well--to get as prepared as possible while we still can, so we will be in the best possible situation we can be in when the bells get closer. Because they probably will. And if they don't? We'll be better able to help someone else up.
It may seem that I'm awfully self-absorbed when I say that I don't like the fact that the stores closing limit my choices, but the way that I think about it is actually something that would affect everyone. When you have fewer and fewer choices, you could end up with a monopoly situation, where one supplier has all the power, and therefore the option to make the prices what they want them to be--which I would think off the top of my head would not be an ideal situation for the rest of us. There is something to be said for "price wars", where stores actually compete for business, and where people still have options. I'm not talking about missing rampant consumerism--just thinking about some basic components of human nature that appear when those who have power exploit situations in ways that reap the highest benefits for them. Hopefully, monopolies won't happen, and if they do, those in charge won't exhibit such unfortunate human tendencies. Either way, the fact that stores are closing should set off alarm bells even if we aren't immediately personally affected, and if nothing else, we can improve our preparedness situations so that we will be better off when we are personally affected. We may not be able to stop a store from closing, but we can stop procrastinating our preparation.
Recently, we went out to dinner with a gift certificate we received. We went to a fairly popular family restaurant that is usually (at least when we have gone) packed with people. I was amazed, given the night of the week that it was, and the time that we arrived, at the ratio of customers/employees. Suffice it to say, business traffic did not look optimal. Same good food, same good service, just fewer people to enjoy it. At the end of the meal, my husband asked what the deal was with the slow traffic, and the server started talking about the economy. When you consider how much hourly a server makes, (my understanding is that it is very little) and how much tips figure into their wages, people not being able to afford to eat out becomes one of those dominoes. Again, going back to those alarm bells--if you take the attitude that you aren't personally affected because you don't go out to eat, and people eat out too much anyway, you may be missing the point--when the alarm bells ring, and scream out the necessity to get some food in storage, they are not only ringing for those in the food service industry. They are not only ringing for those in the retail industry. They are ringing out, just like they did in that gymnasium, for everyone present. You may not see how it concerns you just now, but believe me, it concerns you, and it concerns me, and it concerns anyone else you can think of, because we are all in this together. If you/I/we are among the fortunate who aren't in the midst of a crisis right now, you/I/we need to heed the alarms and get ready. To those who are reading this and are already having a crisis, I truly hope that things get better for you soon.
The closing of stores is one alarm bell going off that I can think of. A few others may be the continual rise of food prices, the foreclosure on farms, the seemingly shrinking availability of non-hybrid seeds, the state of the economy in general--how many alarm bells do we need? There are probably some that I am missing, but hopefully there is an alarm bell that will ring for each of us before it is too late to prepare. We won't all be able to prepare on the same scale, because we all have different economic means, but each of us can do something, even if it is only to put aside a very tiny bit at a time. We need to do the best we can when we hear the alarms ringing, and not just ignore what is going on---what was/will be your call to action?
And a second question--is there anyone out there that would be interested in an Idaho preppers network? Like I have mentioned before, there are more qualified people around, so it won't hurt my feelings if someone wants to start one up themselves. However, if there is interest, I could set up a page. Let me know.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
It can be scary when a door gets closed...
It can be scary when a door gets closed. It can be even scarier when multiple doors of opportunity get closed, as is happening in the business world as stores shut down due to the economy. Isn't there a saying about when a door closes, open a window? That's why I think that it's important that we have a window to open, even (and maybe especially) if it's in our own home in the form of the things we have stored in the way of emergency preparedness supplies. If we already own what we need and have it available in our storage space, we have a lot less to worry about in terms of which stores stay open, and which are forced to close.
I have heard about stores closing, but I have thought more about it since reading this post on the Cordite Country website while I was blog-hopping. When I saw on their list that JC Penney was closing some stores after January, I went out searching to find out more about what was going on with other specific companies as a result of everything that is going on with the economy. The article that I found here didn't mention JC Penney, but there are still a few names of companies that are having problems that are familiar to me on it. There is a link to the full article on that page, and the news isn't good (and I found the accompanying photos to be rather depressing as well).
None of the companies mentioned here probably have as great as an impact on my shopping habits as does JC Penney, but it does bother me that Safeway is having problems--it's a food chain. That and the newspaper group mentioned--I know that we have the internet, but it would be scary to have limited access to the press because of economics, especially if a non-biased source runs out of money, and a press source with a biased agenda is the only one available. With limited sources, I would think that it would be difficult to determine which was which.
So that's the bad news. The good news is that at the time that I am writing this, the companies mentioned are only struggling, not completely gone. If I find out that the JC Penney closures extend to my community, I will probably stock up on children's clothes before my location closes, if I have the means and opportunity. If you find that one of the companies listed has things that you need to have in stock, it would probably be wise to stock up before it's too late. My opinion? I bet you can't guess :), but I say get some food in before it becomes less available. Eating never goes out of style, and if we plan wisely, we can get what we need while we still have so many choices. You may have noticed a theme that runs through my blog-- I love to have choices. That holds true for food. It holds true for clothes and other basic needs. I plan to exercise my choices while I still have some, and I hope that you will as well.
We are pretty frugal around here--to give you an example, we are currently looking for a vehicle to replace our 18-year-old car, that we bought used, and which recently demonstrated attributes that will be too expensive for us to repair and still be able to justify keeping it. We usually try to "wear things out." I doubt that that many stores depend on our constant patronage to raise their revenue. But we do need the basics plus we like to have some non-essentials, and hopefully we will be able to get ourselves well-prepared before even harder times come. You may have noticed that my current poll is centered on the problem of store closures, and I will tell you what I think, at least in part. The stores closing bother me--yes, because of the restriction of choices, but more because it means that more people will find themselves unemployed and struggling. To those who have found themselves more directly involved in the problems of the "doors closing", whether due to employment or lack of resources in your area, I hope that things get better for you soon, and that you have enough of a window in terms of preparedness to make your life easier. For those of us who can help, I certainly hope that we will where we can. The more we prepare ourselves, the bigger the window we create, and hopefully, the greater the opportunity to share...
I have heard about stores closing, but I have thought more about it since reading this post on the Cordite Country website while I was blog-hopping. When I saw on their list that JC Penney was closing some stores after January, I went out searching to find out more about what was going on with other specific companies as a result of everything that is going on with the economy. The article that I found here didn't mention JC Penney, but there are still a few names of companies that are having problems that are familiar to me on it. There is a link to the full article on that page, and the news isn't good (and I found the accompanying photos to be rather depressing as well).
None of the companies mentioned here probably have as great as an impact on my shopping habits as does JC Penney, but it does bother me that Safeway is having problems--it's a food chain. That and the newspaper group mentioned--I know that we have the internet, but it would be scary to have limited access to the press because of economics, especially if a non-biased source runs out of money, and a press source with a biased agenda is the only one available. With limited sources, I would think that it would be difficult to determine which was which.
So that's the bad news. The good news is that at the time that I am writing this, the companies mentioned are only struggling, not completely gone. If I find out that the JC Penney closures extend to my community, I will probably stock up on children's clothes before my location closes, if I have the means and opportunity. If you find that one of the companies listed has things that you need to have in stock, it would probably be wise to stock up before it's too late. My opinion? I bet you can't guess :), but I say get some food in before it becomes less available. Eating never goes out of style, and if we plan wisely, we can get what we need while we still have so many choices. You may have noticed a theme that runs through my blog-- I love to have choices. That holds true for food. It holds true for clothes and other basic needs. I plan to exercise my choices while I still have some, and I hope that you will as well.
We are pretty frugal around here--to give you an example, we are currently looking for a vehicle to replace our 18-year-old car, that we bought used, and which recently demonstrated attributes that will be too expensive for us to repair and still be able to justify keeping it. We usually try to "wear things out." I doubt that that many stores depend on our constant patronage to raise their revenue. But we do need the basics plus we like to have some non-essentials, and hopefully we will be able to get ourselves well-prepared before even harder times come. You may have noticed that my current poll is centered on the problem of store closures, and I will tell you what I think, at least in part. The stores closing bother me--yes, because of the restriction of choices, but more because it means that more people will find themselves unemployed and struggling. To those who have found themselves more directly involved in the problems of the "doors closing", whether due to employment or lack of resources in your area, I hope that things get better for you soon, and that you have enough of a window in terms of preparedness to make your life easier. For those of us who can help, I certainly hope that we will where we can. The more we prepare ourselves, the bigger the window we create, and hopefully, the greater the opportunity to share...
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