Iwas talking about inflation the other day with someone and they opined that inflation was ‘no big deal’. I asked them what about people on fixed incomes? They shrugged and said that having to spend a few extra dollars here and there won’t make any material difference. Not eating for a month is, to me, a material difference.

People on fixed incomes…pensions, Social Insecurity,  or disability…are the ones who get it worst. Let me give some examples….

Every month you carefully budget and spend $400 on groceries. That means for $4800 you get to eat all year…January 1 to December 31. Well, at 7% inflation you get to eat until…December 6th. And thats at the official rate of 7%. They took food and fuel out of inflation calculations years ago because those prices were too volatile…they could be affected by factors that had nothing to do with economic policy. Factors like oil embargos or crop failures. In all actuality, inflation is probably higher.

But, lets run with that 7% number. At 7% inflation you’re only able to spend out until that first week of December. After that you either do without, go into debt, use reserves, or come up with more income. And as inflation goes up, that deadline of when your money runs out moves closer and closer to ‘now’. And, whats worse, is that it’s compounded over the years…7% inflation this year means your money only buys 93% of what it did, and next year that money that bought 93% of what it used to will now only buy 93% of that. (In other words, your $100 that used to buy $100 of groceries will now only buy $93 worth. And next year it’ll buy about $87 worth of what it bought two years earlier.

What can you do? Well, I’m an idiot so my knee jerk reaction is ‘go make more money’. Alternatively, you juggle your budget to accommodate the new normal…you cut back on things, buy the cheaper brand, or find a less expensive source. But for some people thats not an option. I don’t know what to tell them. Only thing I could suggest to them is that they tighten their belts now so they can get used to making do with less.

For me, inflation is a pain in the butt, but it isn’t a crippler. My living expenses are low enough that having to pay extra on gas, food, etc, won’t break the bank but it does tie up resources I’d rather have elsewhere. Additionally, I have enough necessities in storage that i can defray a bout of inflation by living out of my stored supplies. Inflation doesn’t last forever, but it doesn’t go away overnight either…those of you who can remember the late 70’s and early 80’s know what I mean.

Inflation is an insidious thing…it devalues what you have worked hard to save, assuming you’ve dumped a pile of greenbacks in the bank. This is why you always hear people talking about ‘tangibles’. A ten dollar bill may only be worth nine dollars next year, but a Glock 17 will still be worth..a Glock 17 next year. If only there was some sort of compact form of wealth that would keep its value over time against inflation.

Fortunately, most of us arent on fixed incomes (yet), so we can roll with the inflationary punches a little bit. But the smart move, in my uneducated opinion, is to to buy any big-ticket items you’ve had your eye on sooner rather than later. (Assuming they are in stock and not subject to ‘supply chain issues’.) Why? Because it’s just gonna be more expensive later.

Oh, and before I forget, someone is actually coming out with a literal gold-backed currency. No, seriously, the bill is imbued with a specific weight of gold. I’m curious if stetting the bill on fire would result a small pile of ash and a residual tiny couple flecks of gold. No doubt this will got he way of the Liberty Dollar but the idea is clever. Paper notes that are actually gold.

You know, the problem with living out of your freezer for months at a time is that when you ultimately do head down to the supermarket to grab some dead animal flesh you are shocked at the price because you’ve not had to be aware of pricing for the last several months.

Even at the grocery places that traditionally have been the least expensive it was still, to me, outrageous what the prices on beef was.

Chicken even took a hit….Winco had been selling boneless skinless chicken breast at 1.98/#. Then a couple weeks ago there was a note limiting purchase to four trays of meat. Then last week they were completely out. And then when I was in there today…it was back…at $2.18/#…almost a 10% increase. Hmmm.

Pork loin roasts have now become my ‘go to’ for animal protein since it’s the least expensive of the meats I usually buy.

But, geez Ruiz, 85/15 at $5.50? 93/7 at almost $7? Owie. I need to keep my eyes open for deals on meats like I do for deals on ammo.

I am amazed at what meat prices are doing these days. I was at CostCo the other day and regular 88/12 ground beef was something like $4.30 a pound. For freakin’ hamburger! It still seems like just yesterday I was getting it remaindered for less than $2/#. Fortunately I have a pretty healthy supply of the stuff in the deep freeze and, honestly, I don’t eat it that much. My go to is usually chicken breast and, as of late, various pork cuts. WinCo sells boneless skinless chicken breast at $1.99/#, which is reasonable, and pork for around $1.85/#. For my cooking, which is often a stir-fry type of affair, those types of meat are just fine.

But, good grief, hamburger at almost four and a half bucks a pound? What the heck are they feeding those cows? Imported Swiss hay?

But, this is the sort of thing I suppose we should be getting ready to encounter on a more frequent basis. Some of you may be old enough to remember a time in the 1970’s when inflation and meat prices were driving many people to designate one day of the week as “Meatless [weekday]”…Meatless Mondays, etc, etc.

I’m an omnivore, as all of us human-ish types are. I do , however, like meat. In fact, I am of the opinion that a meal is not a meal if there is no meat. (Eggs kinda count but that’s getting pretty nitpicky).

Here’s a really odd thing – I’ve been taking pictures of the pricing board at the CostCo meat department for the last few months and the price of some meats has actually come down. That kinda puzzled me until it occurred to me that with ‘supply chain issues’ and whatnot, it may make more sense for ranchers to slaughter their herds (and thus flood the market and drive prices down) than to pay higher prices for feed as the supply becomes unpredictable. What you wind up with is a glut and price drop…for now. The other side of that equation will not be a happy one for the consumer.

I’m lucky because I can live with ‘cheap meats’. I have a pressure cooker, cast iron cookware, a penchant for cooking, and rather low standards. I can take pretty much any cut of meat and make it into something I’m willing to eat. So…I’ve no problem with switching over to cheaper cuts and critters.

But, geez Ruiz, $almost four and a half bucks for burger is just alarming.