Food producers announce price increases

"...Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months. And food makers and retailers including McDonald's Corp., Kellogg Co. and Kroger Co. have begun to signal that they'll try to make consumers shoulder more of the higher costs for ingredients.

For food executives, how quickly to pass along higher costs presents difficult choices. Missteps could be costly when the economy...."

Per the Wall Street Journal

There is a window to stock up now on staples before these preplanned price increases take effect, unless of course one believes the money can be invested elsewhere for a higher return than the price increases will be, right now it appears to be anywhere from 3% for companies and 4 dollars on 1 pd of premium beef.

Thank you helicopter Ben, now armed with information, I'd expect a buy of staples as not even pasta and rice will escape this round of price inflation and Coffee seen as a daily staple inside the US will certainly see even more of a price increase as the dollar's decline will make importing Coffee even more expensive as well as piggy back price increase by coffee producers that they will blame on the declining dollar.

Knife Sharpening.

Well, if you have time to watch TV, you have time to sharpen all of your utensils. A sharp knife means less effort is needed to use as well as being a nice helper when you are deboning a chicken thigh or a fish or what have you.

This a video on how to use a wheeled knife sharpener these do a fine job especially on longer blades and charming cheapy flea market blades.

The old fashioned way, a wet stoned pocket knife

For a prepper, or Frugalist, how to use a cinder block to sharpen a knife

How to use some commercial systems such as a Lansky

How to fix a blade with a chip in it with a stone

Wet stone maintenance

Learn to sharpen your own blades, scissors, shovels, hatchets, what have you, so they perform the way they should when you reach for them.

The Bicycle experiment

Lately I've found, with additional time on my hands, that I have a renewed interest in bicycling, a past time I loved as a young man moreso than driving an automobile. Being forced into frugality, my selection for bicycles to engage in this past time is limited to the products at the local Goodwill Thrift Store.

Which means..Huffy bicycles, at one time Huffy was just considered a lower end bike, now among bicycling purists Huffy is akin to cow flop with rims that may or may not melt when exposed to direct sunlight.

At least that is what my online research (research=lurking on Bicycle Forums and reading old posts) has shown. Undaunted, I picked up two Huffy bikes, one a Superia 15 speed, the other an ancient Santa Fe 10 speed. The Superia appears to have been what I'd politely call a "good idea at the time" bicycle, someone bought it, rode it maybe 5 times, parked it in the garage and eventually donated it to Goodwill, the tubes are fine, the tires are fine, the brakes work etc. But with air in the tires, and a relubing the crank, forks, and wheels, it was road ready from Day 1.

It also cost a whopping 12.50 cents

The Santa Fe is a different situation completely, it was more or less from the "rode hard, put away wet" category, the 1 3/8th inch tires were flat, the front derailuer does not work, the bearing were all dry as sun bleached bones, the inner tubes had holes, the rear dereaileur was out of adjustment, and to top it off, it came from an era where tires and tubes are not standardized a 26 inch road tire could mean one of 3 possibilities and no amount of googling will solve the mystery one has to try them out or take the wheel to the local bicycle shop were to enjoy the faintly patronizing looks as the innocent question of "do you have a tire to fit this rim" question is asked.

I have no intention of mentioning that it belongs to a Huffy, least wise the patronizing look turns into thinly veiled contempt as they consider this klutz in front of them basically married their Sister, or at least 1st cousin, by owning a Huffy and having the gall to walk into THEIR shop with such a piece of garbage!

Pardon the digression.

The Sante Fe cost a whopping 10 dollars, but the reality is a Huffy of that vintage is worth 100 dollars..at most. So repairs are an expense that is not going to be recouped. However the advantage the 10 speed has over the 15 speed is simple, it is a lighter, quicker bike if one has to peddle 10 miles less weight and less rolling resistance is the way to go.

I found the tires and tubes needed on Amazon.com for 32 dollars delivered which is somewhat expensive, however if the Santa Fe works I suspect that it will be ridden far more than the more durable, but heavy, Superia. 

At the end of it all, the benefit from a cost point of view will not be all that great, even with gasoline at 2.80 a gallon, my vehicle achieves 22 mpg, meaning to recoup that 42 dollars I'll have to peddle 70 miles or so to just break even and since it is the Fall heading into Winter, that seems like a tough deal to manage to accomplish. However the health benefits should not be ignored as if one does not have health, what do you have to replace it?

Free Stuff and a Cold Steel Shovel upgrade

Gentlemen sounds as if he is Australian, but his modification of the Cold Steel Special Forces Shovel are among the best I've ever seen the cord wrapped handle along with the additional pouches attached to the nylon sheath are good ideas. I've used a CS shovel for everything from camping to a coal moving device on a BBQ grill to a thrower and the CS shovel just trucked right through everything that I've thrown at it.

Ah, Kuntao Silat Footwork, Steve Gartin IS a fine teacher, but with a troubled past, as with most teacher/student relationships, both should take away what they are looking for and discard that which is unprofitable.

General Mills has announced a 5% price increase for their products.

Take advantage of opportunities, especially if you live in the Southern Portions of the US as Winter will be upon us soon and all we can wait for is Spring, and the rebirth of the Earth..5 months from now..

Federal Reserve Announces:we have to steal more value from your savings

We've all been to the movies to see an Action Film, the Hero is some supposedly highly trained merchant of death out to save the world, the villian is of course clearly delineated, suspicious laugh, psychotic small army of men willing to spend their lives etc.

That of course is Reel Life, in Real Life, they are much more difficult to spot but occasionally they do mark themselves, to whit:

Federal Reserve Open Market Committee:

"...The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and is prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate..."

In their view, the way to fix things is to make the money you have in your pocket, bank account, piggy bank, what have you, worth much less in order to stimulate the Economy.

Basically they are planning to rob the value of your money through the silent tax of inflating the currency, now would be a great time to use a Modern Version of the Alpha Strategy to purchase items that are needed, but will be more expensive in the future as the Robber is not using a firearm, but a digital creation of US Dollars to make everyone in the United States all the more poor.

This is in addition to the news that now 1 in 7 Americans are in poverty, the highest level ever recorded, there are an additional millions barely above the poverty line via Unemployment Insurance Payments that should have expired some time ago.

However as a philosophical issue, income should never mean poverty or no poverty as it is safe to say whomever bothers to read this blog is smart enough to structure their life to have as Wealthy a lifestyle as Common Sense may provide.

From raising a garden to self improvement to recapturing that health of youth, "we" know the score no matter the promises from a politician of Nuevo Utopia, it is up to ourselves to create our own lives and it would be helpful if they stepped out of the way and allowed that to happen.

Lower Fixed Costs by any means necessary.

Welcome the Consumerist to the links at the bottom of the page

Ran across the Consumerist on Survival Blog and thought it a useful tool for those who are concerned with both saving money and receiving good value when money has to spent.

Their Shrink Ray is both funny and sad and illustrates "how" Large Food Corporations change weights and amounts of ingredients but use the same size packaging. Any consumer or modern Alpha Strategist needs to know that information as per unit cost is one of the keys to savings and value.

How the Alpha Strategy has made money for me.

Ah, Unemployment, the new American Pandemic, a terrible affliction that has reached my doorstep in the form of losing my job in the down economy. Fortunately I had a month and half of lead time before the closure and put it to work via stocking up on goods that would have to be purchased with expensive but cheap money over the upcoming months whilst the job search, or new venture is launched.

Expensive but cheap money, one asks, isn't that an oxymoron?

Allow me to explain, right now after years of working the household is well stocked with the items that make a home a home, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, soap, toilet paper etc. as time rolls forward those items will be depleted through normal usage, to purchase replacement items two months from now, with dwindling cash reserves is quite expensive when there is no other income coming into the home. But the money is "cheap" as it was created out of nothing at all but a vague promise of "full faith and credit".

By purchasing those household items over the past two years, in bulk, the Alpha Strategy helped me to avoid the "Expensive but Cheap" conundrum, as well as sidestepping the 10% inflation on those items that has bumped prices upwards.

Reviewing my notes from 2008, a jumbo box of Surf detergent at Sam's Club in 2008 cost 14.54, today they cost over 17.00, so every box of Surf purchased in 2008 has made around 3 dollars per box..not to bad a ROI.

There is one item that has retreated in price due to Govt Subsidies, Light Bulbs, in 2009 those mercury filled, energy efficient bulbs were 9 dollars for a pack of 8, now they are 3 dollars for a pack of 8 due to Subsidies from the Govt.

Win some, lose some.

Our Summer of Discontent

Well, for better or worse the US rolls forward into a uncertain future, it should be rather clear by now to all but fanatics that Obama's policies have, on the main, failed, now the US is looking at a mountain of debt, a War that is in shambles, and political leadership that enjoys the trappings more than the job.

Meanwhile, the small, quicker fish should be moving into Yr 2 of garden planning and harvesting, conserving cash to purchase durable goods, if not purchased already, and have finally realize the truth of the matter, the plaintiff cries from the flooded streets of New Orleans post Katrina "Help us, Help us" have been answered in the only manner the Govt knows how to..ineffectively.

Inflation rises by 2%

Death Taxes and Inflation.

With the Federal Reserve unlikely to tighten monetary supply, now would be a good time to stock up on Items one will need this Fall, things such as Motor Oil and Filters, Tools, Ammunition, Bulk Food and perhaps Christmas Gifts.

Time for this year's garden

It has been a long and cold winter but the first real green shoots are coming up now, which means "time to plant the early spring garden". 

This year's foray will be mostly herbs as last yr's experiment just did not have enough room for proper vegetables to flourish, Basil and Cilantro and Oregano will be the main crop this year as they are used the most around the house in cooking.

December Inflation rises 2.7%

Prices on food and fuel rose in December prompting the Fed to contemplate raising interest rates, which means the proto recovery, or faux recovery will be over before it begins.

 

1 in 5 US Families could not purchase food in 2009

Well, here at the Last Cause we tend to look eskew on anti Hunger groups in the US as the dichotmy, Obeisity and Hunger is simply to large to reconcile.

However, this story caught the eyes:

"..Nationwide polling found 18.2 percent of households reported "food hardship" -- lacking money to buy enough food -- in 2009, according to the group. That is higher than the government's "food insecurity" rating of 14.6 percent of households, or 49 million people, for 2008.

Households with children had a "food hardship" rate of 24.1 percent for 2009 compared with 14.9 percent among households without children. Twenty states had rates of 20 percent or higher. Seven Southern states led the list..."

Food insecurity? They made that up, or the respondents did not understand the question, or perhaps did not know how to prepare simple foods, after all Children's palates have been subtly changed via massive amounts of Sugar in nearly every food product aimed at the pre 12 yr old market.

A decent larder/pantry/storage would see people through the hard times, yet it would not include the Sugary foods, but would not be bland and tasteless either.

Extending the life span of lithium batteries

"Aging of lithium-ion is an issue that is often ignored. A lithium-ion battery in use typically lasts between 2-3 years. The capacity loss manifests itself in increased internal resistance caused by oxidation. Eventually, the cell resistance reaches a point where the pack can no longer deliver the stored energy although the battery may still have ample charge. For this reason, an aged battery can be kept longer in applications that draw low current as opposed to a function that demands heavy loads. Increasing internal resistance with cycle life and age is typical for cobalt-based lithium-ion, a system that is used for cell phones, cameras and laptops because of high energy density. The lower energy dense manganese-based lithium-ion, also known as spinel, maintains the internal resistance through its life but loses capacity due to chemical decompositions. Spinel is primarily used for power tools"

A fascinating article, and timely.

There are few things more frustrating than reaching for the cordless power tool, that has had a battery on the charger and being met with a slow hum and 3 turns per second.

On the plus side, apparently Scott Brown's election in MA has stopped Healthcare Socialization in it's tracks, which on the whole is good, but the additional 1.9 Trillion Dollars in debt the Federal Govt is forced to authorize is not so good.

Sooner or later, that will start the inflationary spiral, when jobs are being lost at 400k per month, the US is about to face a double squeeze, rising prices and no jobs to be had to buy anything anyway. 

2010 Food Crisis

Crisis, never really cared for the term or idea, a Crisis is lack of life boats while the Titanic was sinking, a Crisis is running out of water in the middle of the Sahara.

That said, there is a confluence of events concerning the upcoming Food Market around the globe, mainly Argentina is suffering a drought and their Grain harvest will be far below what the world markets expected, add in a unusually cold winter in the US and an increasing hungry China and  perhaps Writer Decarbonel is onto something:

Food Crisis of 2010

"...The same USDA that is predicting record harvests is also declaring disaster areas across half the Midwest because of catastrophic crop losses! To eliminate any doubt that this might be an innocent mistake, the USDA is even predicting record soybean harvests in the same states (Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama) where it has declared virtually all counties to have experienced 30 percent production losses. It isn’t rocket scientist to realize something is horribly wrong.

USDA motivated by fear of higher food prices

The USDA is terrorized by the implications of higher food prices for the US economy, most likely because it knows the immediate consequence of sharply higher food will be the collapse of the US Treasury market and the dollar, as desperate governments and central banks dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports. Fictitious USDA estimates should be seen as proof of the dire threat posed by higher food prices, as the USDA would not have turned its production estimates into a grotesque mockery of reality if it didn't believe the alternative to be apocalyptic....."

Decarbonnel also makes a great point here:

"..With one out of eight Americans on food stamps, foreign central banks are subsidizing US food consumption by funding the US government with their treasury purchases. Once the food crisis begins next year, they will be faced with the choice:

1) Continue subsidizing US food consumptions as triple digit food inflation ravages their economy and their people starve.
2) Dump their treasury holdings onto the market to rapidly appreciate their currencies, lowering the cost of food imports and preventing widespread domestic starvation...."

Hmm, I've been around a bit and have seen such predictions before, however 18% of adult workers in the US are on foodstamps including 1.1 million in Tennessee alone, so basically foreign banks are indeed paying, via buying Treasury instrument, to feed the masses in the US.

I have little doubt that the USDA is lying via statistics concerning Harvests in counties that have suffered 30% losses or greater in one crop, however the possibility also exists that additional crops were planted or different crops were planted which would magnify losses in any one crop.

Be that as it may, things are fuzzy, if one steps back and looks at the big picture, food prices are bound to rise in  2010 even more than they have since the Alpha Strategy was published, the only thing that can be said with this information is:

1. The Alpha Strategy is more valid than in the past

2. Something is cooking in the world food markets, though futures prices have not reflected that reality as of yet.

3. With Monetization by the Federal Reserve, including but not limited to purchasing Treasuries not sold at auction, and perhaps engaging in Stock Manipulation coupled with the possibility that there will be a Food Shortage means it is a good time to purchase those food items that will store the longest as well as being the most likely to rise in cost during 2010. 

Things like Canned Tuna for example, have risen 30% in prices since 2009, Rice would also be a safe bet (if one likes Rice),  I also think Coffee and Chocolate will have surprising rises in prices.

The thing about coffee is, it is the #2 Commodity traded in the world in terms of cash volume, as the dollar weakens the prices will rise..

Shadow Stats and real inflation numbers

New Year's day...eh...a somewhat bland holiday wherein I expect many are nursing hangovers at home and abroad, watch it lass, that is a bad place to have frost bite.

I find Shadowstats a great counterpoint to the "official" inflation numbers, .Gov has every reason to underreport actual inflation whilst proclaiming the recession as being "over", which is not quite the case to be sure, if anything we are seeing demographic specific effects of inflation. 

"Demographic inflation"?

Think of it this way, with the offical inflationary stats excluding food and fuel and the cost of increased laws and regulations, inflation hits some demographics of the economy much harder than others. 

A small business owner who now has to pay a slew of additional costs for emission controls, increased minimum wage taxes in the form of FICA and SS and Medicare, is hit much harder than say a Doctor's office who does not face the effects of that particular brand of .Gov inspired inflation.