Look, if I could go to Costco every week, I would. I love that place. But, my wife prefers we’re not in the poor house because I’m a “crazy” prepper, so we compromise…meaning she says I get to go once a month and that’s that.
But I’ve been noticing recently, let’s say over the past year or two, that our Costco grocery bill has been going up. Now, I’m not saying it’s definitely inflation at work, but I’m also not seeing what else the culprit could be. After all, we can only blame a global supply chain breakdown due to a worldwide pandemic once…the rest is on the bankers. 😉
From my own experiences, I swear I used to be able to bring home an overflowing shopping cart of food for less than $400 only a few years ago. These days, I’m spending closer to $500 or more for a less-than-full cart. That’s at least a 20% increase from my anecdotal experiences. Granted, I know there’s more to it, such as changes in what we’re eating, but I’d like to think I’m also purposely not buying the most expensive foodstuffs, either.
In any case, I was curious what TheUrbanPrepper (who still lives in Seattle, near where I used to live only two or three years ago) had to say about inflation at Costco. He can state this for sure because he did a video three years ago discussing which foods (and other items) you should purchase as a prepper, while also showing the exact prices. He recently did a follow-up video (see below) where he compares the cost of the same exact items from then to now. It’s an eye-opener:
Now, assuming you watched the video, a few points stand out:
- I was surprised that rice was lower in price. I’d simply figured that all food items were getting more expensive, particularly subsistence foods, like rice, because everyone is trying to pinch pennies. I guess that’s a small bit of good news.
- I was also surprised to see that multivitamins were significantly lower in price, about 25%, which makes me wonder why. Are they using cheaper ingredients? Or is it simply an economies of scale situation?
- On the other hand, I wasn’t surprised by the drastic rise in the cost of meat or fruit-based products. These are foods that most people eat and consider healthy. It’s also a good reason, if I may be so bold, to suggest that you stock up on these foods now, before they continue to rise. And, since they should be good for years to come, you’re staying ahead of everyone else who remains oblivious.
Nothing else truly stood out as an outlier, but that’s not the point of this discussion. Overall, prices of these specific goods, mostly foodstuffs, rose 31% on average in only three years. That’s 10% per year.
According to this U.S. Inflation Calculator chart, food prices rose 6.3%, 10.4%, and 3.3% respectively over the past three years (2021-2023), which, at a total of about 20%, is higher than I’d assumed they would admit to. But this doesn’t appear to be a government website, so there’s that.
Even if we assume 7% inflation per year from the numbers directly above (which also closely coincides with my anecdotal experience), that’s a big hit to the pocketbook. Is your salary increasing by at least 7% per year? What if you’re on social security or SNAP? And that’s to say nothing of the cost of everything else we need, including utilities, gasoline, housing, and so on.
I don’t need to list this all out for you. You feel it. I just wonder how the sheeple are going to fare when the bankers can’t keep the lid on inflation no matter what they try. True, people like you and I are going to be better off, but for how long? After all, we do enjoy eating fresh food on a regular basis. I’d sure hate to dive into our food storage for most of our meals. As I pointed out in my article on survival diets sucking, I’m afraid we’re headed that way whether we’re prepared for it or not.
My advice: buy the most important foods you can now, which they’re still relatively inexpensive. I’m not saying you should break the bank or max out the credit card, but I am saying you should remember your priorities. You probably don’t need a new car. You certainly can’t eat gold. And that fancy new battle rifle only helps when there’s trouble. Food is ALWAYS needed.
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