'Tis the Seaon

Here we are again, headed for the holidays with all their warmth, love, colors, flavors and stress. Last year the ‘Hood discussed ways to celebrate the holidays. Some of us like to go to the mall and share our hard earned money with manufacturers and run up credit debt. It is the American way. Some of us are forced to be more creative and resourceful, shopping at Goodwill, thrift stores, and garage sales. Many of us just plain like seeing what a delightful holiday can be created without contributing to Black Friday and by buying locally. Our family goes so far in our not participating in Black Friday that we actually celebrate Thanksgiving on that day instead of Thursday. It will be interesting to see how well businesses do on this year the day after Thanksgiving.

Have you started your holiday shopping? Will the current American economic situation impact the amount you spend? As a nation we started conserving gas and the price came down. We have become a nation of consumers, consuming 25% of the world’s resources and goods while we are only 5% of the planet. Maybe if we start buying less and giving more of our time to each other we can discover some of the spirit that was original to our country. But then I’ve been accused of being un-American and attempting to destroy the American economy by my thrift.

If this discussion interests you, read more on "The View from My Broom."

Lovely Spam

Paul Volcker may not be ready to declare the United States in a recession, but the signs are there. Housing prices are down and oil is up which is driving up the cost of everything else. While Volcker watches the unemployment rates and the cost of a barrel of oil, there’s a sure indicator that the nation is feeling the pinch as the Hormel Company enjoys a 14% increase in sales. Why are Hormel’s profits up? In no small measure because Spam sales are up.

The ubiquitous canned lunch meat that made its first appearance during the Great Depression in 1937 and became a running gag for Monty Python’s Flying Circus beginning in 1970 has been inexpensive and therefore a staple for people stretching their food dollars. I fed a certain amount of the stuff to my children in the ‘70s and ‘80s when money was thin.

Recently the San Francisco Chronicle published an article about the economy and Spam sales.

Food prices are increasing faster than they've risen since 1990, at 4 percent in the U.S. last year, according to the Agriculture Department. Many staples are rising even faster, with white bread up 13 percent last year, bacon up 7 percent and peanut butter up 9 percent.

There's no sign of a slowdown. Food inflation is running at an annualized rate of 6.1percent as of April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price of Spam is up too, with the average 12 oz. can costing about $2.62. That's an increase of 17 cents, or nearly 7 percent, from the same time last year. But it's not stopping sales, as the pork meat in a can seems like a good alternative to consumers.

Kimberly Quan, a stay-at-home mom of three who lives just outside San Francisco, has been feeding her family more Spam in the last six months as she tries to make her food budget go further.

She cooks meals like Spam fried rice and Spam sandwiches two or three times a month, up from once a month previously.

Pulling Spam from the shelf prevents last-minute grocery store trips and overspending, said Quan, 38, of Pleasanton, Calif.
"It's canned meat and it's in the cupboard and if everything else is gone from the fridge, it's there," she said.

Spam's maker, Hormel Foods Corp., reported last week that it saw strong sales of Spam in the second quarter, helping push up its profits 14 percent. According to sales information coming from Hormel, provided by The Nielsen Co., Spam sales were up 10.6 percent in the 12-week period ending May 3, compared to last year. In the last 24 weeks, sales were up nearly 9 percent. (Fredrix)

Back when Seattle Flight Service was still part of the FAA the facility held a Spam-off each year. My husband received an honorable mention the year we made a “Spammobile” using canned pineapple for headlights, maraschino cherries for tail lights and marshmallows for wheels. Who knows, the stuff may end up on our table again yet.

What's in Your Wallet?

The current state of the economy is playing havoc with American family financing and it promises to get worse. Very little of our budget is within our direct control. We can shop around for the best mortgage or a smaller domicile for a cheaper rent; we can turn off unnecessary lights, run full dish and clothes washers and air dry both, but the only real control we have is over what we spend on those day to day items we purchase at the grocery store. A new flat screen television can wait, but food on the table cannot. So what do we do to stretch those discretionary dollars?

My husband and I each came into our marriage with methods of stretching food dollars learned from experience—he as one of seven sons of two teachers and I as a mostly single mother. I am familiar with the best brands and methods of mixing powered milk; he with watering down orange juice. The latter I am totally opposed to. Watered down orange juice is worse than powered milk in my opinion. When the juice is gone, it’s just gone. Drink water.

There’s no getting around the fact that powered milk doesn’t taste like fresh. I use it for cooking, but in a pinch have mixed it with fresh to stretch it further in much the same way my mother-in-law watered the orange juice. Milkman brand is probably the best, but more costly than Carnation and others. I have found that mixing it in the blender nets the best result, but the milk will need a night to settle out the bubbles created in the process.

Cutting back on prepared and processed foods is one of the best ways to save money and increase health. It takes longer to make things from scratch, but it tastes better and keeps dollars in your wallet. I’ve written more than once about my love for our crockpot. Throwing things into it in the morning guarantees an easy dinner that evening and vice versa.

My daughter-in-law and I got into a conversation regarding grocery shopping recently. With the price of gas soaring, it is no longer feasible to hop from store to store shopping the sales as my mother-in-law did raising her family in the ‘50s & ‘60s. Now those of us on the Gig & Key Peninsulas can add an extra dollar to our bridge toll (an extra $52 per month for our family) and current $4 gas (headed to $5 by the end of summer according to the TNT)making a trip to Cash & Carry or Grocery Outlet a questionable bargain. Better to stay near to home and buy in bulk whenever something is on sale. Personally, I still believe that shopping a good sale at a regular grocery store is frequently a better deal than Costco, but it takes the planning of a military campaign and no spur of the moment meal planning.

Then there is the whole coupon debate. Many dyed-in-the-wool bargain shoppers claim that manufacturers’ coupons are not a bargain, that buying store or sale brands in bulk is best. I don’t save as many coupons as I did back in the 1980s, but for items used regularly I will go through the Sunday papers clipping away and keep an envelope of them in my purse. I use them when the item is also on sale.

What are you doing to cut costs? Where do you like to shop? Overall I prefer Fred Meyer, but I’ve seen even their prices inching upward.

We’ve just had our first holiday weekend since the price of gas has reached $4 a gallon. My unscientific study of what Washingtonians did is that most stuck near home. Normally the Long Beach Peninsula feels crowded at holidays, but this weekend while there were tourists there they did not seem to be in the numbers of other years. Perhaps the best indication came on the way home Monday. When we stopped in Montesano at the Chevron station there, I was the only one pumping gas (and at $4.09 very little),and there was no wait at the bathroom where usually there would be a line. Our son and daughter-in-law had to travel via Olympia to pick up a car and planned to complete the trip through Shelton since the end of a holiday weekend can be gridlock on I-5. Not so on Monday. They said there were a few slow downs, but not the accordion stop-and-go that is the norm on summer and holiday weekends.

So what are you doing to curb your car’s thirst and what are your plans for the summer? Day trips to parks with a picnic packed from home may be the order of the summer. Are you seeing the rise in prices at the store that I’m seeing? Are you cutting anything from your shopping list or planting a garden to offset the bite food is taking from the budget? Having raised four children largely alone I think I’m good at making a penny scream, but the current state of the economy seems to indicate the need for more creativity than ever. We are cutting out dining out and out of the house entertainment. If it’s not on sale at the grocery store it doesn’t go in the cart.