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Just Transitory

Another jarring reminder that inflation isn’t quite as transitory as They said it was. Our kitchen garbage can was getting a little gross so I thought I might just order me a new one. Off to Amazon I went and this is what greeted me….

That is the number one best selling wastebasket at Amazon. It isn’t anything fancy, just a plastic garbage can with a lid and the little step thing to open it. I figured something like that might run $25. Nope, it is over $40!

I said eff that and made one of my kids give the old one a good scrubbing. No way I am paying that much for a damn plastic box to hold garbage bags that cost maybe $5 to manufacture. There are lots of garbage cans that are way more expensive, including some close to a hundred bucks. For a garbage can.

Think about it this way. If you make $20/hour, which was a pretty decent wage until Sniffy Joe took over, you have to work probably three hours to afford a very simple plastics garbage can (when you factor in taxes). Everything is like this. A simple ironing board is over $50 and made so poorly that it is barely functional. A basic laundry basket? $36

You can probably get cheaper versions of all of the above at a dollar store but how long do you think those will last?

This is an example of the race between wages and consumer goods, and that race is going to make inflation stick around. Transitory my ass.

23 Comments

  1. Moe Gibbs

    We are just inches from retirement, beloved wife and me. She is early-retired, aside from an occasional 6-week tour as a travel nurse, from a quite lucrative career in administration in the medical field. And I am slowly easing my way out of an equally lucrative career in computer engineering, working remote and part-time now for as long as I can still stand it. But I fear what our lifetime accumulation of wealth from two white-collar incomes will evaporate into under the current regime.

    Just yesterday, for the very first time, we visited a Goodwill store in our area, and walked out with $60 worth of fine, lightly-used items. We have donated to Goodwill, Salvation army, local Christian thrift stores and others for 30+ years, even donating half of our household goods last year when we relocated. Yet never once before now set foot inside one of their retail outlets. I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised.

    We used to buy original artwork for the walls in our wage-slave McMansion up north on Long Island, all of which we passed along to St. Vincent de Paul when we moved. Yesterday I was thrilled to pick up some equally nice pieces for our blank new walls for a tiny fraction of what we used to throw away on some bearded hippy’s abstract “art”. ‘Fools and their money’ was never more apt than in describing the snobs we used to be.

    Inflation is not transitory; it is here to stay. I am embarrassed to think about the things that used to matter to me, but I like to think that I’ve learned my lesson. There is no point in chasing the illusion of wealth and success. And no shame in realizing that all that glitters is not gold.

  2. Steve S6

    The Chinesium goods on Amazon don’t last any longer than the Dollar store stuff. If the brand has their own website you can often get a better price than from Bezos, or possibly another on-line retailer. I’ve seen as much as a 2x difference to Amabucks prices.

  3. Xzebek

    Things will continue to get worse economically.
    We are close to the end stage of the saying that something that can’t go on forever won’t. The access to easy, cheap money couldn’t go on forever and we are now the “beneficiaries” of its cessation.

  4. Bear Claw

    They will not let stagflation occur it doesn’t meet their needs. Most things you see in stores are made by very few companies so in area’s like this I buy the cheapest. In other areas I don’t buy cheap chinese shit.

  5. LGC

    I do the shopping for our household.

    One thing I notice (and have confirmed with other friends and neighbors) you NEVER see a overflowing cart at the grocery store anymore. People clearly limit out long before they fill up their cart now.

    also eggs jumped from $5/18 (which is outrageous, they were less than $2/18 2 years ago) to $7.50 LAST WEEK. That’s a 50% move in a week. something something hyper something

    I also notice that when items go on sale, when come off sale their new “regular” price is higher than the old “regular” price. Even the store workers confirmed this.

    Soda and chip/snack prices are insane. I refuse to buy it anymore. I can’t be the only one.

    I expect many prices to go up a lot on Jan 1st.

    Oh if you haven’t priced a new A/C unit make sure you are sitting down when you get an estimate. They have more than doubled in last two years AND a new “efficiency” standard starts Jan 1, 2023 so they’ll be even more expensive (and less reliable).

  6. June J

    “Smart guy” Paul Krugman says “Is there any good reason to believe that inflation hits low-income households especially hard?”

    Moron…if you have small amount of money to spend and everything costs more, it hits especially hard.

    A big problem in this world is people who think they are so damn smart that reality doesn’t matter.

  7. Gryphon

    “…made one of my kids give the old one a good scrubbing.” Child Abuse there , Art. Report to yourself to the re-education camp, Immediately!

    What I find most Amazing about the chinesium crap is, if you can Look at a piece of it and understand how it’s Made (and with What) it is truly Mind-Boggling how high the Profit Margin is on that stuff.

  8. 3g4me

    For garbage cans, laundry baskets, and other household basics, let me suggest Aldi if you have one near you, and especially if you have one that quickly marks down weekly specials that don’t sell out (we have three very close by and one where I frequently find such items on clearance). While most people are aware of the ‘price’ increase in food costs, they often don’t realize just how dramatic the % increase is (a can of something that used to be $0.69 is now $1.59). But it’s the non-food items that often shock me, because that is what I’ve been stocking up on as well in preparation for our move (postponed until spring). A roll of copper flashing I bought (for either replacing the existing roof and/or roofing the hoped-for future extension) cost me $63 on Amazon in mid 2022. Then it was out of stock for over a year. Then it was in stock for a week or two in November for $81 and change. Now it’s out of stock again. Same for many other items.

    While having a certain stock of edibles ought to go without saying (quantity and quality depends on each individual’s circumstances), don’t forget any household goods or repair items. I remember looking at the All American canner in late 2021 for about $285 and thinking it was too expensive and I would wait until the price dropped (and until I felt the need for and desire to learn how to can). It’s now $420. An electric chain saw I paid $167 for last year is now $246. I also started buying (and putting aside) extra winter coats, scarves, gloves, boots, etc. when they went on clearance this past spring. Cost of basic cotton and wool (clothing, sheets, blankets, etc.) along with insulating base layers and work gloves is through the roof.

    Just assume either an insane increase in price or utter lack of availability, and it makes spending the fiatbucks now a bit less painful. Better to have the tangible items than the paper (although the paper is still necessary to live for now).

  9. Mike Hendrix

    Gas prices up 40%, groceries 35% or thereabouts, power bill likewise…yet somehow, they have the brazen audacity to tell us the inflation rate is just below 8%. How the bleedin’ hell does THAT work? I never was any good at math, so maybe it’s just me, I dunno.

  10. TechieDude

    You can get that laundry basket for 10-11 bucks at wally world. Same thing with the kitchen can, 15-35 bucks.

    That said, I just came back from Sam’s and their meat prices used to be really good. Today, they were no different than anywhere else. Most food products I buy have doubled in price the last year or so.

  11. Jack Holloway

    Cost of a kerosene heater just went from $159 last week to $223 today at HD. Just insane. At some point people normally stop buying and demand destruction *should* bring prices down but I think the other “systemic” problems means a future that looks more like Venezuela.

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