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moniss

(8,710 posts)
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 06:14 PM Jun 2025

Another shopping observation today

and none of it good. I had been buying a low end brand of flat twin size bed sheets in 100% cotton percale. I had been shopping and keeping tabs for months on these since the first of the year. Always priced on Amazon at $15.99 regular price. Not bad although they are thin. So I bought one 3 weeks ago to try it out. Not bad but now 3 weeks later I went to buy 2 more and they are now pricing at $20.99 for regular white with most of the colors going for $22.99. So the red one I previously bought 3 weeks ago has gone up nearly 50% in price. Made in Pakistan.

Medium level grocery store I frequent was making a big splash about selling round steak for $10.99/lb. Two years ago when Joe was President I could buy New York Strip on sale for that price from the same place. Good thing I know how to stretch meals with slow cooker stews and soups based with beans and lentils and don't need but a smattering of meat here or there.

38 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Another shopping observation today (Original Post) moniss Jun 2025 OP
Wait till you have to buy car parts... Everything back ordered & expensive as hell if you can find items! SheltieLover Jun 2025 #1
Yeah... There is generally no way to predict what you will need so I live "in fear..." hlthe2b Jun 2025 #5
I know SheltieLover Jun 2025 #6
My Wife had an 09 Red Civic BOSSHOG Jun 2025 #9
Mine has 280k & still gets 50 mpg SheltieLover Jun 2025 #16
I had a 77 civic. Wish I still had it. Clouds Passing Jun 2025 #19
Nice! SheltieLover Jun 2025 #25
90-91 CRX. DiverDave Jun 2025 #24
Sweet! SheltieLover Jun 2025 #26
Priuses are extremely reliable. spinbaby Jun 2025 #30
Yes, Toyotas & Hondas are both exceptionally reliable SheltieLover Jun 2025 #32
There are two that match your description within $.50 of the price you were watching (one above, one below). Ms. Toad Jun 2025 #2
Ikea have cotton sheets. I just bought some a few weeks ago. Decent. IcyPeas Jun 2025 #3
I've been doing a lot of crockpot meals and watching the sales for buy one get one. Stretching the dollar. TommieMommy Jun 2025 #4
I've loved my slow cookers for many years now moniss Jun 2025 #12
Had a stove just about like that Kali999 Jun 2025 #17
Those old stoves used to hit the dump but moniss Jun 2025 #18
My folks had that electric stove. Tarzanrock Jun 2025 #21
We had that exact stove when I was a kid. I think we replaced it in the late 60s. rsdsharp Jun 2025 #23
The interior doors I want jumped from $200 to $250 each. CrispyQ Jun 2025 #7
Jesus on a cracker! Eleven bucks a pound for round steak??? rsdsharp Jun 2025 #8
I might be even older than you ... FakeNoose Jun 2025 #10
I kept the local dentist busy back then. There was a commercial moniss Jun 2025 #15
Great stories and photos! Was this in Madison, Wisconsin? FakeNoose Jun 2025 #20
Yes the bakery was on Washington Avenue. Pabst used to moniss Jun 2025 #28
I remember 15 cent hamburgers at McDonalds. rsdsharp Jun 2025 #22
I can well remember as a boy when ... Tarzanrock Jun 2025 #11
2025 McDonald's pricing. Thanks, Turd, for your failed economy. Tarzanrock Jun 2025 #13
At Walmart about a month ago I noticed that they were markodochartaigh Jun 2025 #14
Here in small town KS we had Peter Pan Ice Cream stores which sold burgers and fries, on Thur you got 5 burgers for $1.. wcmagumba Jun 2025 #27
Remember when a major appliance would last 20-30 years? Bayard Jun 2025 #29
Years ago when I first started on my own I got an moniss Jun 2025 #31
When I was in my second year of college, so 1971, DFW Jun 2025 #33
The prepper community -- almost completely insane MAGAs -- has always been keen on gold. mucholderthandirt Jun 2025 #34
In former times DFW Jun 2025 #35
Excellent story and great points. nt moniss Jun 2025 #36
I'm going to start paying more attention, especially ecstatic Jun 2025 #37
I've caught the local Kroger run chain moniss Jun 2025 #38

SheltieLover

(76,809 posts)
1. Wait till you have to buy car parts... Everything back ordered & expensive as hell if you can find items!
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 06:19 PM
Jun 2025

hlthe2b

(112,814 posts)
5. Yeah... There is generally no way to predict what you will need so I live "in fear..."
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 06:44 PM
Jun 2025

every time I start my old Prius up... I have long ordered replacement parts online and had my dealership put them on, but now?

I waited way too long to trade it in so, I'm just going to have to hope...

SheltieLover

(76,809 posts)
6. I know
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 06:51 PM
Jun 2025

Some garbage flew up off the road & ruined my AC condenser. All back ordered. Thankfully, gs found a really nice Jspanese made one on ebay. Arrived today.

I literally cannot breathe in the extreme heat & 100% humidity here, so it's essential.

Nive that dealership lets you source your own parts. Most won't.

Hoping your Prius holds up! At least it sounds like it was made long enough ago to be a quality build! I'd hang on to it if I were you.

My baby is an 05 Civic. 😊

BOSSHOG

(44,738 posts)
9. My Wife had an 09 Red Civic
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 07:50 PM
Jun 2025

Dearly loved it. She sold it to her boss when we moved 7 years ago. He’s still loving it.

spinbaby

(15,366 posts)
30. Priuses are extremely reliable.
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 12:15 AM
Jun 2025

I’m on my fourth Prius—been buying them from the beginning. Knock on wood, nothing has gone wrong with any of them. I go for routine maintenance and that’s it.

SheltieLover

(76,809 posts)
32. Yes, Toyotas & Hondas are both exceptionally reliable
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 02:30 AM
Jun 2025

I wouldn't trade any of my decades old Hondas to a train l I ad of new cars.

Glad you love your Prius!

Ms. Toad

(38,304 posts)
2. There are two that match your description within $.50 of the price you were watching (one above, one below).
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 06:24 PM
Jun 2025

The site doesn't list where they are made. One is blue, one is beige.

TommieMommy

(2,661 posts)
4. I've been doing a lot of crockpot meals and watching the sales for buy one get one. Stretching the dollar.
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 06:43 PM
Jun 2025

moniss

(8,710 posts)
12. I've loved my slow cookers for many years now
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 08:12 PM
Jun 2025

and bought the original from Rival way back when it first came out. Of course people had Nesco roasters and stew pots before that. I remember my great aunt with a stew/soup always simmering 24/7 on the back of the wood cook stove. My paternal grandmother also on her nice porcelain white electric stove from the 1940's/early 1950's. It had top burners, oven and a built in clock/timer but it also had another neat feature. Out of the four burners it had one of the back ones that you could lower into the stove and then put in a pot that came with the stove so you could deep fry, make candy, stew etc. with this pot that was at surface level so you didn't worry about knocking over a pot of hot stuff etc. and it kept your stove-top open for handles on pans on the other burners to be turned in without a fuss. My grandma used to use it for canning also. Here it is and look how nice to have that big work surface on top of the oven and nice pan drawers.

Kali999

(289 posts)
17. Had a stove just about like that
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 08:58 PM
Jun 2025

Back in the 80's down in Tennesse. It was a maytag i think. Had a soup pot in it. It was great til it caught on fire. Kept the pots in the drawers.









I

 

Tarzanrock

(1,250 posts)
21. My folks had that electric stove.
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 09:07 PM
Jun 2025

My Mother's only complaint about it was that it was difficult to set and control the precision of the heat emanating from the electric burner elements from the stove's dials whereas gas stoves were easier to set and control the fire based heat on the gas burners. I never really appreciated that complaint until I learned a lot more about cooking when I became a whole lot older and a lot wiser and more learned.

rsdsharp

(11,794 posts)
23. We had that exact stove when I was a kid. I think we replaced it in the late 60s.
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 10:09 PM
Jun 2025

I burned the hell out of my hand dropping Crisco into that deep fryer trying to make french fries. That would have been in 1968, so we had it at least that late.

CrispyQ

(40,671 posts)
7. The interior doors I want jumped from $200 to $250 each.
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 07:04 PM
Jun 2025

I want nine but could get by with five.

rsdsharp

(11,794 posts)
8. Jesus on a cracker! Eleven bucks a pound for round steak???
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 07:23 PM
Jun 2025

A hundred years ago, when I worked in a meat department as a kid, we sold round steak for 69¢ a pound; sometimes 49¢ a pound on sale.

I am now officially an old fart.

FakeNoose

(40,186 posts)
10. I might be even older than you ...
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 07:57 PM
Jun 2025

I can remember getting McDonald's hamburgers for $.25 each, and fries were $.10 each, and I'm pretty sure the sodas (Cokes) were $.10 each. We could buy real penny candy, and most chocolate bars were a nickel. This was during the mid-1960's and I was probably in 8th or 9th grade at the time. Not old enough to drive yet, but we used to ride our bikes everywhere.

We'll never see anything like those prices again.

moniss

(8,710 posts)
15. I kept the local dentist busy back then. There was a commercial
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 08:55 PM
Jun 2025

bakery in the Midwest called Gardner's. The little local general store in my unincorporated town had groceries, fence wire, fence posts, nails, bolts etc. and he put new glass in broken windows. His bread guy was a Gardner's and they also had bakery in thin cardboard trays that were cellophane wrapped. Frosted Jelly bismarks, donuts etc. I used to buy the tray of frosted jelly filled bismarks and wolf them down on a hot day with 2 sodas. There were like 6 of these in a tray and the cost with the 2 sodas was right around $1.50 or so. I remember the soda was about 15 cents each which included the 5 cent bottle deposit. The pastries were like 89 cents for the whole tray when I first started buying them. Cigarettes were 29 cents a pack and a six pack of Pabst would go for $1.65 regular price and even less on sale. If you bought a case of returnable bottles then it was just over $4.00 a case. Lower quality beer you could get for right around $1.00 for a six pack. This is before pop-tops.

I was working on the family farm and getting paid $1.00 an hour so I had money and no place to spend it other than at the general store. I bought garbage to eat like it was going out of style. Thought I was doing a good job of keeping that hidden until my visit to the dentist and he told my Mom how much the bill was going to be. I miss those bismarks.

This is the old original bakery building in Madison and it just closed about 7 years ago. Also a picture of what their bread trucks looked like. They had been around for 90 years.



FakeNoose

(40,186 posts)
20. Great stories and photos! Was this in Madison, Wisconsin?
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 09:07 PM
Jun 2025

My Mom and Grandmother were born there. I've been to Madison several times to visit cousins and extended family. I actually grew up in Saint Louis, but Mom told us cool stories about Madison and her childhood. I actually just visited there a couple years ago, and it still looks pretty great.

I think Pabst is made in Milwaukee, am I right?

moniss

(8,710 posts)
28. Yes the bakery was on Washington Avenue. Pabst used to
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 10:57 PM
Jun 2025

be made in Milwaukee but I lost track of where the brand is made now.

rsdsharp

(11,794 posts)
22. I remember 15 cent hamburgers at McDonalds.
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 10:03 PM
Jun 2025

At Henry’s they were 12 cents, but they sucked.

 

Tarzanrock

(1,250 posts)
11. I can well remember as a boy when ...
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 08:10 PM
Jun 2025

35 cents at McDonald's got you two hamburgers, fries and a coke. I think that today that runs about $10 bucks at McDonald's.

 

Tarzanrock

(1,250 posts)
13. 2025 McDonald's pricing. Thanks, Turd, for your failed economy.
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 08:15 PM
Jun 2025

The exact cost for two hamburgers, fries, and a Coke at McDonalds cannot be determined without knowing the specific type of hamburger and the size of the fries and Coke. However, based on available information, you can expect to pay around $12.40 for a Big Mac + Fries + Coke combo, with a margin of $6.30 for the restaurant, according to Marketfit.co

markodochartaigh

(5,029 posts)
14. At Walmart about a month ago I noticed that they were
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 08:44 PM
Jun 2025

clearing out a sheet section. Most sheet sets had been sold but they had a few full sheet sets left for $6 marked down from about $12. I bought a couple. I checked last week and the restocked ones are $14.

A couple of months ago on Amazon the well pump pressure switch I replace when ants or lizards fry themselves was marked down from $27 to $22. I saw that they are made in México so I bought three. They are still around $27, but I may have enough to last me the rest of my life.

wcmagumba

(5,640 posts)
27. Here in small town KS we had Peter Pan Ice Cream stores which sold burgers and fries, on Thur you got 5 burgers for $1..
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 10:16 PM
Jun 2025

They were good too....late 60s early 70s...

Bayard

(28,581 posts)
29. Remember when a major appliance would last 20-30 years?
Sat Jun 7, 2025, 11:40 PM
Jun 2025

Planned obsolescence is the name of the game now. When we remodeled--I think 7 years ago now? We got all new appliances. In the last couple years we've had to, again, replace the stove, dishwasher, washer, and now the air conditioner. The water dispenser on the fridge stopped working a couple years ago. We're on our third microwave in that time.

Its the American way. And grocery prices continue to skyrocket. trump has just exacerbated that, unlike his campaign promises.

moniss

(8,710 posts)
31. Years ago when I first started on my own I got an
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 12:48 AM
Jun 2025

old fridge that had been in a family for years. Had that pull handle like opening a car door. They had bought it new, moved many times, had it in their garage/shop for refreshments after they got a new one for their kitchen. I bought it for $20.00 and moved it 50 miles and down into a basement apartment. In all that time it never failed and never needed service of any kind. Well over 30 years. It had the curved front and compressor on the bottom. Little shelf with a door on it inside that was the freezer compartment. Big enough for a couple of ice cube trays.

It's like cars. The old simple ones can run almost forever with just an occasional oil change and spark plugs.

DFW

(59,737 posts)
33. When I was in my second year of college, so 1971,
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 03:27 AM
Jun 2025

I summoned most of my savings and ordered a $20 gold piece in average uncirculated condition. I was greatly influenced by some of the articles I had read at the time about the “coming” liberalization of restrictions on gold ownership (didn’t happen until 1975) and didn’t want to miss the boat. It cost me $59.95 including postage.

Today, that coin is worth about $3200, so roughly 53 times what I paid in 1971–apparently just like a lot of other things. The argument is often made in some investment “newsletters” that it’s not gold that increased in value, it’s the dollar that decreased in value.

In days of greater idealism, I used to diss gold as an investment because you can’t eat it, you can’t live in it, you can’t drive it anywhere, and it pays neither interest nor dividends. However, I have to ask myself, what is there that you could buy in 1971 that will get you just as many hamburgers today as it did then? Certain collectibles, certainly—selected art, rare coins, a few stocks that are still around, but few things that are both accessible to (and affordable to, in 1971) the masses, of which I thought myself a charter member back then.

mucholderthandirt

(1,753 posts)
34. The prepper community -- almost completely insane MAGAs -- has always been keen on gold.
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 05:30 AM
Jun 2025

Gold and silver, especially coin, and you can use that after the apocalypse (or the libruls burning it all down to kill off Christians) to pay for most things. The other things you pay for with ammo you hoarded so you could shoot everyone you don't like and take what you want.

DFW

(59,737 posts)
35. In former times
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 07:17 AM
Jun 2025

There were always a few firms pushing gold coins at inflated numbers to right-leaning extremists and/or fundamentalist “Christians.”

A couple of them are still operating. Some have faded into the night, some have been arrested for fraud (i.e. overcharging for common items having a standard market value). Some even offer a legit product at fair (retail) market value (though not many). The common factor was the audience they were pushing their wares on: blindly trusting the source, as long as that source couched their sales pitch in terms that identified them to be as politically radical as they were.

ecstatic

(35,012 posts)
37. I'm going to start paying more attention, especially
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 10:10 AM
Jun 2025

after learning that Kroger may be systematically tricking customers into paying more than they expect (showing one price in the aisle but it rings up at a higher price).

https://www.kcra.com/article/consumer-reports-investigation-kroger-stores-overcharging/64773100

moniss

(8,710 posts)
38. I've caught the local Kroger run chain
Sun Jun 8, 2025, 10:24 AM
Jun 2025

ending sale pricing early on the day a sale ends.

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