This is by no means a dis on beans. I love beans, but in the past, beans have been considered a staple for the poor or underprivileged in our country and around the world. Now, they are considered to be a health food, and the price now reflects this trend.
Let's not dismiss the super-inflation that we are also seeing on all grocery prices across the board. I was appalled the other day at the price of a head of garlic at Wal-Mart. It was .74 cents. It seems insignificant, doesn't it? Let me put this into perspective. A pound of ground beef used to be .86 cents a when we first got married. It is now $6 - $7 a pound. It took 30+ years to increase 100%. It took just a few years for it to increase by 500%.
Budget beans are now on average $1-$2 a pound while organic or specialty beans are now $2-$5 a pound. When did kidney beans become special?
We had an appointment in the city recently. We always try to buy gas and groceries at Sam's on our trips into the city and stop by Walmart next door if we need to. There are no taxes on food in the city. Gas was $1.78 a gallon. That's a really good price compared to other prices in the area. However, groceries were another story.
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| The fish sticks are not pictured here. They are already in the freezer. I picked them out as my treat. I know it's a weird thing to pick out as a treat, but I'm not too much of a sugar girl. |
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By the time we finished shopping at Sam's we were ready to head back into the mountains. I decided not to go to another store to pick up the other items on my list. Sam's was really busy for some reason, and we are avoiding crowds due to the awful flu that is going around and we just don't care for crowds. The other items on my list were not super important, so I may or may not pick them up at a later date.
Now, as you can see in the picture that this is not a lot of food. In fact, if you add up the total calories it would not feed the two of us for very long and we would definitely smell like garlic afterwards. This small but expensive grocery haul was thought out carefully to make our meals healthier and tastier. It certainly could not stand on its own for very long as far as meals go.
Let's talk about the bread. Over $10 for two loaves! This is a lot cheaper than the same bread at the regular grocery store. This is our favorite storebought bread. I haven't been able to make bread lately of neck and back pain that have interrupted my normal activities. I have been suffering with pain and other symptoms for quite some time now that has taken forever to get diagnosed, so I am not doing anything to make it worse. It's terrible and I'm terrible about not recognizing my limits, so I have just stop and take it easy for a while.
$1.98 for coleslaw mix! Now that's a good deal and convenient under my current circumstances. I started making egg roll bowls and the vegetable prep is just too much for me at the moment. As I mentioned before, I picked out fish sticks not only because I like them, but they are also convenient. I chose roasted peanuts for flavoring rice bowls.
Number One Husband picked out granola and honey roasted peanuts for snacks. I'm not making homemade granola either. Poor guy has to eat granola from a bag. The rest of the items are pretty much self-explanatory.
This new "Bean Economy" that we have been living with for the last few years is continuing to get worse every day for most people. People have burned through their savings, maxed out their credit cards and there are no more Covid checks coming, there is no more help coming for parents with children, no more help for businesses and let's not forget seniors who are the most vulnerable with limited means and expensive prescriptions.
Everyone else is having to deal with the consequences of living beyond their means and with the addition of super-inflation and inflated living expenses they may lose everything. Also, credit card debt is higher than it has ever been in history. People owe more than ever for their vehicles and houses. Most are upside down in debt. They owe more than the value of their cars and houses.
Only the wealthy continue to prosper on the backs of the lower and middle classes, but there is nothing left to squeeze out of us. Now job losses, reductions in hours and bankruptcies have begun. This is not just a US problem it's a global problem.
So welcome to the Bean Economy and hold on tight!
Mrs. Smith
