Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
If you are really struggling with the high cost of living, I want you to know that you aren’t alone. In recent months, I have been hearing from so many people that feel like they are drowning financially. Have you experienced a palpable sense of panic when you compare your rising bills to the level of income that you are currently bringing in? So many people out there are stressed out of their minds because it has become such a struggle to pay the bills each month. As I discussed a few days ago, a typical U.S. household must now spend $1,069 more a month just to buy the exact same goods and services that it did three years ago. Over the course of an entire year, that is almost an extra $13,000 dollars. Month after month, prices just keep going higher, but those that are running things continue to insist that everything is just fine.
No, everything is not just fine.
Last week, a TikTok video about rising grocery prices at Walmart quickly garnered more than a million views. The person that made the video found a grocery order that he had placed two years ago, and he decided to hit the “Reorder All” button to see what that same order would cost today…
A recent TikTok video has gone viral, showing a user’s surprising experience with Walmart’s grocery prices. The user explained in his video that he tried to use the “Reorder All” button for an order he placed two years ago, which originally cost $126.67. To his shock, the same order would now cost $414.39.
I was quite stunned by this video.
Many of the things that I regularly purchase at the grocery store have doubled or more than doubled in price, but in this case the total cost of the grocery order had more than tripled…
The TikTok (@sewerlidd) explained that the original $126.16 purchase was for a month’s worth of groceries, which included 53 items.
“A whole month of groceries just for me,” he said in the video.
The total was updated to $414.39, almost quadrupling.
“I feel like I’m going to be sick,” he said.
Needless to say, this video has generated a ton of discussion online.
When Walmart was asked about this, they responded by saying that the primary reason there was such a difference is because the person that made the video was attempting to order “discontinued items”…
Walmart representatives have responded, stating that the claims in the video are not accurate. According to them, the discrepancies in prices are due to discontinued items rather than actual inflation.
But this explanation certainly did not satisfy everyone.
Another person hit the “Reorder All” button on an old order, and that order went from $180 back then to $430 today…
Viewers expressed both shock and frustration in the comments.
“Now I feel a little less gaslit about grocery prices because it has gone crazy, and it’s not just me!” wrote one person.
“Walmart, can you explain yourself, please,” added another.
A fellow shopper said they used to spend $180 for two weeks’ worth of groceries and are now spending over $430 for the same amount.
If you think that the price of groceries is not a problem, I have a challenge for you.
Fill up a grocery cart all the way to the very top with items that you typically eat, and try to keep the final bill under 300 dollars.
If you are smart, you can do it, but it won’t be easy.
In the old days, you could buy a used vehicle for 300 dollars.
Now, many people burn through more than 300 dollars in just one trip to the grocery store.
This is just one of the reasons why inflation has become such a huge political issue.
According to Gallup, inflation was not really considered to be an important issue at all prior to 2022…
For the third year in a row, the percentage of Americans naming inflation or the high cost of living as the most important financial problem facing their family has reached a new high. The 41% naming the issue this year is up slightly from 35% a year ago and 32% in 2022. Before 2022, the highest percentage mentioning inflation was 18% in 2008. Inflation has been named by less than 10% in most other readings since the question was first asked in 2005.
The last three years have been an inflationary nightmare, and no matter how much our leaders try to deny it, a lot more inflation is on the way.
Things are particularly bad in our major cities. In fact, it is being reported that Manhattan is the most expensive place to live in the United States by a wide margin…
The New York borough of Manhattan is the most expensive place to live in the U.S. — and the cost of living in the No. 2 place isn’t even close.
The cost of living in Manhattan is more than twice the national average. The second- and third-most expensive places are Honolulu and San Jose, California, but in comparison, they are much more affordable. Manhattan is 24% more expensive than Honolulu and 30% more expensive than San Jose.
It isn’t a big mystery why this is the case.
When our leaders pumped trillions upon trillions of dollars into the system, the financial markets benefitted greatly.
So Manhattan is swimming in cash, and prices there have gone into the stratosphere.
Many of us relentlessly warned about what would happen when our leaders flooded the system with cash, and now we are facing economic distortions that are extremely painful.
For most Americans, prices have been rising much faster than their paychecks.
As a result, our national standard of living has been steadily declining.
And now we have entered a time when it appears that economic conditions are really slowing down.
For example, it is being reported that Ford is preparing for yet another round of layoffs…
Ford Motor is preparing for a new round of layoffs for its salaried workers in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company in March last year announced plans to reduce structural costs of up to $3 billion at its gas-powered vehicle unit. In August, Ford said it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.
Over the past several years, our politicians in Washington have borrowed and spent trillions upon trillions of dollars, and the “experts” at the Federal Reserve have pumped trillions upon trillions of dollars into the financial system.
All that did was buy us a little more time.
All that did was delay the inevitable.
Now we are facing a crisis of absolutely epic proportions, and the economic suffering that we are currently experiencing is nothing compared to the economic suffering that is ahead of us.
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Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 07/02/2024 – 08:30
