Coping with way too high inflation (....thanks a lot)

New hires are getting really good deals, or at least had been. NO adjustments for existing employees. My company (a large, multi-state company) does all it's merit raises in spring. I was at the high end (according to my boss) at a 4% raise. There is no COLA, just merit raises. However, we also are not replacing a bunch of employees that retire or move on to other companies. My group alone has been challenged to save $3 million dollars (in the spring it was only $1M, but with the energy prices an, inflation etc, that got raised in the summer). My group consists of less than 15 people so my guess is we won't hit the "challenge" so raises next year will be minimal if at all.

OTOH - if I still worked for small companies (just started here in early 2019), I would not make as much as I do now to begin with. And, small companies we lost benefits in the time of stress. Companies that supply the DoD don't normally have the option to raise prices for existing contracts. Cntracts are usually multi year, so we have to suck up any losses arising from the high inflation rate that would not have been expected at the time the contracts were signed.

 

I work in a union shop that is a major defense contractor for the government. We just signed our last contract with the company back in May. This time around they negotiated a 2 year contract as opposed to 2016 when they pushed for a 6 year contract. With all of the uncertainty, it makes more sense to not be locked in for too long. So this year we got a decent contract with respectable annual wage increases. If not for inflation, I would go as far to say that we made out really well, percentage wise. Still, between the annual increases and COLA pay, it doesn't cover the costs of inflation. Real wages are still dropping. I can only complain so much though, because a huge swath of Americans are fairing much worse than I am.

 

Same...inflation is running about triple our raise, (depending on who calculates the inflation) but still can't complain too much

 

Have a flag pole?

 

Yeah, one really needs to know kwh per month to start comparing. I use on average 110 kwh per month, which when my cost was $0.29 per works out to about $31/$32 per month. We're at $0.37 a year later and an average bill would be about $41. Course I ran the A/C more than ever last July and August and my August bill was for 183 kWh / $65.90 (32 day month for anyone with a calculator out and I couldn't tell you what time of day the meter reader came by each time) When I retired 9 years ago my electric bill was often $18 a month.

I'm retired and with the yearly (social security) COLA we sorta keep up with inflation ( not quite) but we are always a year behind.
I'm in a pretty good place financially and have always kept good tabs on the monthly budget and never had any debt except a mortgage and a car loan or two so I might gripe over food and energy prices it's not beacuse I can't afford it, it's just watching that line item in the budget grow and grow and grow ( a bit more than expected or used to).
Two years in a row now I haven't had extra vegetables from the garden to donate to the local food bank that takes and distributes them to those in need so I have to work on that.

 

billb3 great post.. Talk to anyone who works at a food shelf. They can’t keep cereal, box Mac N Cheese or heat and serve foods in stock. Good vegetables rot and go to composting

 

Today is a bad time to be in the cattle business with higher input costs and feed prices up 16 percent since 2021. High fertilizer prices have contributed to increased feed costs while drought conditions have squeezed feed grain and hay supplies. As of August 9, 2022, it was estimated that 46 percent of hay is growing in areas experiencing drought. In addition to rising feed costs, elevated diesel fuel and farm labor costs have also put pressure on farmer margins.

 

Aldi being our go to since they came here a few years ago, has raised prices across the board. Our fav bacon was &6.4x is now $8+, heavy cream was $2.xx is now $4.5x. Outright sodomy for schizzle, but I realize it's not their doing. We're not far from food stores, but I still try to buy a couple weeks food in one shot. and we're buying less of the fun snacks and stuff. We should be making more at home, everything was from scratch growing up, but we don't eat much in the way cookies pies and cakes or bread. buying raw ingredients is far cheaper than pre made, pre sliced, boned, whatever.

We've never owned a clothes dryer, with electric being high here since I can remember. For most of our time together we've lived in places with clothes lines out and in. in our own home now that has not changed. I have no idea how much we've saved over the years line drying everything all year. 'course I also cut my own hair 6x/yr, saved a few thousand there.

We're just trying to use less from big utilities. There is a real satisfaction when I can use the Jotul for cooking, knowing big gas isn't making money just then. The fridge is in the pantry, so the wood stove isn't heating the fridge up. Still working on the off grid fridge ideas though.

SCA

 

Wow, I thought Backwoods Savage used a low amount of electricity, you are really low - especially since you have AC.

 

I stood on a phone book this year , It gave me a small raise.

 

You better have one ready for installation or a back-up plan

 

Ya, well I have been procrastenating on that for 4 years already. Warranties start at time of purchase, so having 1 standing around is not in my best interest. I know that I will likely have to order one special or at least a conversion kit for propane. Just hard to swallow those $$$ for a new one.

 

The coop that I buy electricity from is charging $0.1208/kwh. I also pay $1.18 per day for basic service cost. I am sure prices will rise in January. August bill was $143.03

 

You and I think of the same thing about that. Although our climates are about 40-70⁰ difference in the winter.... I still gauge my truckload to be about 2 weeks or so depending on what's in it and how jam-packed or thrown in.

 

Pro plan is great dog food. I've noticed that it usual Fromm gold (hyper locally made but available everywhere) has gone up quite a bit in cost.

Heck, just went out to lunch with coworkers on Friday. Everything just costs more now. I've always been a coupon/ sale/ discount user, but even moreso now.

 

That's the other thing I really see is our electric costs have gone up. Not that we're using more, just the rates went up.

 

Nope. My wages haven't increased at the rate of inflation. I'm expecting a nice raise when the time comes, but that isn't until March.

 

Stick your finger in the light socket. That will give your hair a raise at least. But it will also be reflected in your electric bill.

 

Been using Fromm's for the pups since the 70's, used to do service work on their equipment for them. That Family has a very long history in WI.