I think we are ahead of the pack....because we have frugal tendancies. I have had people at work tell me they can't believe the price of groceries these days. One woman went on to say how expensive her name brand: cereal, butter, cheese, tp, cleaner, etc... has become (she was naming some of the items she had seen increase in price). She said her weekly grocery bill had doubled. I just smile and nodded and made the mistake of suggesting trying out some generic brands. I got "the look" the one that is half disgust/half get real.
I didn't let them know that over 90% of my groceries are generic and 1/2 of those are from Aldi. I decided this person just wanted someone who she thought would also be suffering at the grocery store, since I don't make as much money as her. I am not suffering yet though and I have started cooking from scratch. At the time we were having this discussion I was eating my leftover sour cream and bacon crockpot chicken and this woman had a take out lunch and must have dropped at least $10 on it, she also began complaining about the price of her take out.
Clearly she's not someone who wants an answer and therefore she will have a harder time with the price increases on other items as well. A lot of people I work with make around $7,000 to $12,000 more a year than me on average. I am administration and they are case workers. I can't believe how spoiled and out of touch many of those I work with have become over time, with decent incomes and in most cases decent dual incomes.
I don't envy the masses that don't know how to fend for themselves in a struggling economy. I have been struggling so long that I have developed ways to cope and move on, no matter the money situation. These people can't give up their "luxuries" which include daily take out and their name brand groceries.
