The U.S. Coca-Cola market just isn’t what it used to be — bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises’ profit fell 23% due to commodity costs and sluggish U.S. sales. The solution? Raise prices. You can expect battled Coke to cost a little more after labor day.
inflation
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits White Rain Shampoo, But It's Still "33% More"
By 7.16.08
Reader Luke noticed that the grocery shrink ray mercilessly zapped his bottle of White Rain shampoo– but mysteriously left the “33% more” label untouched. 33% more than… what exactly?
Federal Reserve Chairman Thinks High Gas Prices Are Here To Stay
By 7.15.08
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told congress today that he expects the economy to stay sluggish, and was extremely pessimistic about the price of oil in the future. Despite the the airline industry’s open letter to consumers claiming that speculators are driving up the price of oil and causing a commodities bubble, Bernanke doesn’t agree.
See How Soaring Gas Prices Have Impacted Your Community With This Transportation Cost Heat Map
By 7.9.08
The Center for Neighborhood Technology has an fun (but painfully slow) interactive map that will allow you to see how soaring transportation costs are impacting different metro areas across the US.
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Purina Dog Food
By 7.9.08
Michael sends in this latest Grocery Shrink Ray victim, found at the Petsmart where he works. He writes, “The price is the same, and the 20lb bag is apparently being “upgraded” to an 18lb bag. This was the only 20lb bag left, but consumers who pay attention may be able to still be able to find some of the larger bags in stores.”
15 Easy Ways To Save Money At The Supermarket
By 7.5.08
Saving money at the supermarket has never been more important or difficult thanks to the tag team threat of inflation and the Grocery Shrink Ray. Get Rich Slowly published 15 money-saving tips to help you hold onto your hard-earned cash.
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Publix, Yoplait Yogurt
By 7.1.08
Where did those two ounces of yogurt go? The dreaded grocery shrink ray has blasted them to oblivion, my friends. Not even store brands are safe.
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Garden Salsa Sun Chips
By 6.17.08
These Sun Chips have shrunk from 11.5 oz to 10.5 oz and are still being sold at the same price. “Not even healthy foods that normally are already sold in smaller portions are safe,” says tipster MasonTwo who spotted these on the shelves at Walmart. CNN says the products most vulnerable to the Grocery Shrink Ray are paper towels, potato chips, sticks of gum, toilet paper, detergent and candy bars. Hey, look at the bright side, maybe the Grocery Shrink Ray is just what we need to fight the obesity crisis.
As Food Costs Rise, People Are Buying More Ramen and…Spam?
By 5.29.08
The Associated Press is saying that rising food costs are driving people to buy more Spam, despite the fact that the Spam itself is more expensive. Are you really doing this?
By 5.20.08
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Wal-Mart has launched a personal finance website at walmart.com/savemore. It offers tips and saving advice, while also pushing Wal-Mart’s own money services and weekly specials. [Wal-Mart]
By 5.14.08
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Inflation rose far less than expected in April, mitigating fears that the Feds would have to grapple with both trying to loosen credit and fight off rising prices. [AP]
By 5.9.08
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Oil has hit a new high of $126 a barrel. If you listen quietly you can hear the sound of Delta and United softly weeping. [AP]
Visualizing Inflation As A Pile Of Mold
By 5.9.08
The NYT has a cool graphic up that shows all the parts of the Consumer Price Index and uses a color scheme to show how much they’ve gone up by in the past year. Go to the version on their site so you can zoom in closer on all the cells. It looks like a horribly growing fungus inside a petri dish, which I guess is not far from the truth.
By 5.9.08
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“We can only serve two options and beef and pork obviously have religious restrictions.
Consumer Price Index Shows That Consumers Like Eating Out, Gasoline
By 5.7.08
The New York Times made a pretty cool graph out of the Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in prices for many consumer goods over the past year. Turns out, gas prices went up.
Consumer Bankruptcies Up Nearly 50% From A Year Ago
By 5.5.08
The number of people filing for bankruptcy continues to increase, as bad mortgages and the rising price of [insert noun here] squeezes every last penny out of debt-laden consumers. The American Bankruptcy Institute says the number of filings was up 47.7% in April from a year ago, and up 7.1% from March ’08.
Food Companies Threaten Higher Prices If FDA Increases Safety Oversight
By 4.28.08
Last week, the Grocery Manufacturers Association told lawmakers that if the FDA doubled its safety oversight budget by increasing fees from food companies, they’d have to raise prices to make up the cost. That’s right: affordable food or safe food. Choose one!
