It's All About The Money

[labelwench]

Meanwhile, I noticed another little detail last night while putting out the price changes, which were mostly increases on a wide variety of baking mixes which reflect the effects of weather on wheat harvest and quality, the cost of fuel and energy etc.

The product was Ragu spaghetti sauce, a consistent seller.

Several weeks ago, I had been most surprised when this item went on sale for $1.00 a jar, when it regularly sells for $2.69. Needless to say, the hordes descended upon this item like locusts and it was gone in very short order, the shelf and the display table depleted. At the end of the week the price returned to $2.69, as is regular with our weekly specials.

Last night, the labels for all varieties of Ragu sauce came down, but there was no price change.

IT WAS A SIZE CHANGE.

The formerly 700ml bottle has now been reduced to 640 ml, yet the price remains as before. That explains the earlier sale. They were clearing the warehouse of all stock in the larger bottles, possibly to make the size change less obvious to customers are my dark thoughts.

8 1/2 % less product in the jar now.

I wonder how many people will even notice.

In maintaining their bottom line, most producers find a size reduction to be more palatable to the customer than a price increase, even though it amounts to the same thing.

Be aware, and be prepared. This has been ongoing for some time now. The customer is getting significantly less for their money than in the not too distant past.

[labelwench]

You have to have used one of the self-serve check-outs to truly appreciate just how annoying these 'talking check-outs' are, lol.....

[Wick]

We buy 6 bushels of tomatoes every year from a place near my parents. The tomatoes generally costs us about a hundred dollars. We grow bell peppers, jalapenos, onions and garlic in our own garden. These quantities allow us to bottle about 40 quarts of tomatoes and 50 pints of salsa. This generally suffices us for a year or more. If we purchased these things from the store, they would cost us several hundred dollars.

The world is trying very hard to take our hard earned money...but we shouldn't let them. If all of us tried harder to live off the land the best we could, we would greatly reduce the impact on our environment. The carbon released into the environment by moving food about is enormous. The closer we eat to home the better for our wallets and our world.

If everyone who was able would do this, the demand for canned foods would go down...and so would prices. Less food would be moved about so the air would stay cleaner. I feed a family of nine for much of the year on a garden about 30 by 30. You may not be able to do this in the Yukon...but many of us could.

If its all about the money, then we can beat the greed mongers at their game by finding ways to say no to their products and by re-learning what they have enticed us to forget...namely how to acquire our food in a gentle, sustainable way.

[labelwench]

We buy 6 bushels of tomatoes every year from a place near my parents. The tomatoes generally costs us about a hundred dollars. We grow bell peppers, jalapenos, onions and garlic in our own garden. These quantities allow us to bottle about 40 quarts of tomatoes and 50 pints of salsa. This generally suffices us for a year or more. If we purchased these things from the store, they would cost us several hundred dollars.

The world is trying very hard to take our hard earned money...but we shouldn't let them. If all of us tried harder to live off the land the best we could, we would greatly reduce the impact on our environment. The carbon released into the environment by moving food about is enormous. The closer we eat to home the better for our wallets and our world.

If everyone who was able would do this, the demand for canned foods would go down...and so would prices. Less food would be moved about so the air would stay cleaner. I feed a family of nine for much of the year on a garden about 30 by 30. You may not be able to do this in the Yukon...but many of us could.

If its all about the money, then we can beat the greed mongers at their game by finding ways to say no to their products and by re-learning what they have enticed us to forget...namely how to acquire our food in a gentle, sustainable way.

My main crop this year was carrots, as they are a proven reliable crop over the broadest range of climatic conditions encountered in these parts. I produced approx. 65 lbs and have most of them scrubbed and stored in my fridge, and more cooked and frozen for use in soups/stews and dessert recipes. My mother adores my carrots and claims they are superior to any she can buy, even after they have been months in storage. (Of course, her opinion may be biased, lol...)

We have one local grower who produces enough food to sell to the local corporate stores. In the past, he has limited his production to potatoes and grain. This year he expanded into carrots, cabbage and beets which made for a well received display in my store.

For the sake of our health and sanity, we need to find more ways to incorporate the production of food into our own living spaces, in my opinion. Herbs, sprouts and baby greens are a good place to start for many. I still have Tiny Tim tomatoes ripening in the back window of my home, grown in small windowsill boxes. A delight to the spirit while the snow accumulates outside, and I graze on a few in passing.

[Wick]

My main crop this year was carrots, as they are a proven reliable crop over the broadest range of climatic conditions encountered in these parts. I produced approx. 65 lbs and have most of them scrubbed and stored in my fridge, and more cooked and frozen for use in soups/stews and dessert recipes. My mother adores my carrots and claims they are superior to any she can buy, even after they have been months in storage. (Of course, her opinion may be biased, lol...)

We have one local grower who produces enough food to sell to the local corporate stores. In the past, he has limited his production to potatoes and grain. This year he expanded into carrots, cabbage and beets which made for a well received display in my store.

For the sake of our health and sanity, we need to find more ways to incorporate the production of food into our own living spaces, in my opinion. Herbs, sprouts and baby greens are a good place to start for many. I still have Tiny Tim tomatoes ripening in the back window of my home, grown in small windowsill boxes. A delight to the spirit while the snow accumulates outside, and I graze on a few in passing.

Sweet!! I love hearing stories like this. It's clear that businesses will exploit us with smaller bottles and higher prices. How else are they to rip away our hard earned cash! But we can trick them by growing things that are better and cheaper and nicer on mother earth.

A trick I learned about carrots: Take your carrots out of the ground and top them. Don't worry about scrubbing them. Find a reliable source of nice clean sand and a large picnic ice cooler. Put a half inch of sand on the bottom of the cooler. Now place a flat layer of carrots over the entire bed of sand and cover them with sand until most of the carrots are covered. Place another layer of carrots, and another layer of sand, carrots and sand, once more. You now have three layers of carrots and dry sand. Now carefully pour clean water over the sand and carrots to just dampen the sand through to the bottom (NO STANDING WATER AT THE BOTTOM). Repeat these steps until the cooler is full.

The cooler will be really heavy, so you'll want to do this close to the place of storage. The storage area needs to be a cool place which is mostly frost free. Some frost won't hurt...but heavy frost will cause the carrots to split. Temperatures between 50 and 30 are ideal. The carrots actually grow sweeter over time.

We have kept carrots this way for several years. Beets can be stored in the same way!

[melanie]

You have to have used one of the self-serve check-outs to truly appreciate just how annoying these 'talking check-outs' are, lol.....

Just seen this, LOL thanks for the laugh Lorrina.

Bye the way, they are infuriating I've used them, but prefer human assistance.

Another thing I find very amusing is the voice on a talking text message, the message you get on a land line phone - have you heard one of those, they make me wee my pants, they're so funny.

[melanie]

[labelwench]

The retail 'price wars' are a thing to behold in actual practice. Sometimes there are genuine bargains to be had, while at other times one has to marvel at the strategies employed.

One package of two bars of premium hand soap for $2.49 or on special at 2 for $5.00? Really....Or a price match where the price goes UP to match the competitor? Give me a break.

Apparently in Great Britain, several large supermarkets are under investigation for their pricing practices and I hope that corporate retailers in North America are paying attention, because they are following these same confusing, confounding and in some cases downright unethical practices.

Supermarkets have been accused of misleading shoppers with confusing and untrue claims that could leave them open to prosecution.
Research into the ‘big four’ – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – pours scorn on their claims to be in the middle of a price war.

For at the same time as retailers have claimed to be slashing prices, their profits have ballooned and their stranglehold on grocery shopping has tightened.
Studies by the consumer group Which? and by the BBC for a Panorama programme, presented by Sophie Raworth, have revealed some of the tricks used by the supermarkets to pull the wool over customers’ eyes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1fhPknAMl

[labelwench]

I'm thinking that it was well worth my time to question the bank on their service charges. An account that I have had for years was suddenly hit with monthly service fees, and when I stated that I was not prepared to pay $119.60 per year (9.95/month) to maintain this account, they changed it's status to a $4.00/month fee which is rebated if I maintain a monthly balance of $1,000.00.

Only once in many years did I go below this balance and that is when these charges started last fall. As I work nights, I had not had an opportunity to go in to the bank personally until today.

The bank refunded the last three months fees and my account should now once again be 'free' as I maintain that balance.

I also questioned the increase in my auto insurance rates only to find that I had been listed at fault for an auto accident last year when all the documentation proves otherwise. That, too, has now been corrected and I shall not be penalized.

I wonder how many people are the victims of these 'mistakes' by the establishment and end up paying more than they should because they do not dare to question.

I am happy with the outcomes of my efforts but I am feeling quite exhausted from doing the work of these people that we are all paying to look after our interests.

My advice is to pay close attention to these matters, people, and do not be afraid to question the numbers when they do not seem to be correct.

[labelwench]

In spite of the many flaws in our retail system in Canada, we still enjoy some of the best quality of food for the cheapest prices if one but pays a bit of attention to their selection in purchases. Most grocery stores also carry some household and personal care products and these items also offer weekly features.

This week, I noticed a brand of shampoo and conditioner that went on sale for a ridiculously low price....$1.00 for a 444ml bottle. It was a brand that I had never used and my first thought was that surely it was an inferior product, yet it was a brand name, though not as popular as once it had been.

I picked up a bottle and compared the ingredients to the one I was currently using, a 370 ml bottle, I noticed, regularly at $5.69 though it sometimes goes on sale for $3.99. I was surprised to see that the ingredients were identical with minor exceptions and that the inexpensive one had several herbal components that were lacking in the more expensive one.

I was curious enough to buy a bottle and give it a try that evening.

Pleasant texture, mild scent and it passed the comb out test as my long hair will tangle easily if the conditioner is not effective. Once dry, my hair actually seemed nicer, lacking that 'fly-away' look that sometimes accompanies hair that is recently washed.

The next shift, I grabbed 5 more bottles. With the one that I had already purchased, that was a whole year's supply of conditioner for $6.00 plus 5% tax, or barely over the cost of one bottle of my usual conditioner.

Since I have been working in retail grocery, there are few things that I pay full price for any more, as I have come to recognize most of the cycles of the regular and seasonal sales.

This is a strategy that anyone can tune into and use to save themselves a considerable amount of money on their daily purchases.