Grocery Woes

The grocery store is starting to piss me off. I tried to be more gentle, or at least more ladylike in writing that sentence, but I just can't. I get cranky when I think about the price of food and the ways it effects every family, every week.

I've been noticing a trend that I haven't read about and haven't heard the politicos addressing. Maybe corporate America thinks we aren't paying attention, but products that we have been buying for years are getting smaller. Much smaller. And the prices are either staying the same or rising. For example, have you noticed that a five pound bag of sugar that you are accustomed to picking up in the store no longer weighs five pounds? It now weighs four pounds. And it costs the same.

A 96 count box of Glad kitchen garbage bags now only contains 80 bags.

There's been a package redesign by General Mills. The box of Honey Wheat Cheerios that costs $3.99 used to be in a 14 oz. box. They made the box taller and slimmer. It looks bigger. For the same price you now get 12.5 ounces.

How does this figure into the inflation rate? My guess is that it doesn't. And the consumer is left absorbing the loss while giant corporations continue to make record profits.

See why I get pissed?

We are trying to make ends meet and cut corners however we can, while our incomes don't increase at the same rate that our expenses do.

Here's something I'm willing to try. I'll let you know how it works out and do a cost analysis compared to leading national brands.

Homemade Laundry Detergent (recipe from Recipezaar.com)
1 bar bath soap, grated (your favorite brand, fels naptha is great)
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda laundry detergent (a laundry booster)
1/2 cup borax
hot water
essential oil of your choice for fragrance

Directions
1. Place grated soap in a pot.
2. Cover with water and simmer over medium heat until all soap is melted, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour into 5 gallon bucket.
4. Add washing soda and borax.
5. Add enough hot water to fill the bucket.
6. Stir (I use a long measuring stick, but any long stick will work).
7. Let sit overnight to gel.
8. Use 1 cup per load. (This recipe makes enough for 80 loads of laundry.)