Does rising inflation bring you down?
Everything is going up: gas, electricity, food, diapers, health care, and beer. You know this, so I won’t expand, but perhaps what you didn’t know is the item on the store shelf, while it may still cost the same, is actually . . . smaller. Yep, National Public Radio covered this story a few weeks back, asking if you’d notice that box of Fruit Loops was a bit smaller.
Instead of passing the costs along to consumers in a straight up price rise, they’re playing with our psyches, putting less product in that smaller box. They’re saving by putting less in the box, and they’re saving shipping from the smaller box. It’s a win-win . . . for them.
Read this recent NBC article to see the source of this quote:
To Dean Smith, the two containers of Breyers ice cream looked exactly the same at his supermarket in Evansville, Ind. Then he looked closely and figured out that the old package was 1¾ quarts, while the new package was just 1½ quarts.
People were saying the same thing the other day at work. My favorite is when they change the container’s shape and label it “new design” when it’s designed to cut volume. Even “buying bulk” preparedness style is getting redefined. Keep your eye peeled party peeps. Watch the cost AND the packaging.
Hell, there was even a local news article the other day on the number of complaints to the Maine Attorney General’s Office on people getting short changed on firewood. As I said before, firewood prices are up big time. All of these small time operators are hopping in on the action trying to score a buck. Some are crooked, others just don’t know that Maine law defines what a “cord” is, whether it’s a stacked cord or a “loose thrown” cord.
– Ranger Man
