You are so right.

I just noticed in the latest ads section that 150 ft. rolls of steel concrete reinforcing mesh that I like to use for fencing, just jumped in price from $69 to $85 overnight!

Last week in the grocery store I saw that 10 lbs of bread flour was close to $8. Not long ago that same bag and brand of flour was around $3.

Unless you're rich, you can feel your standard of living sinking like a rock! I know it won't save me that much money, but I put in a new big potato patch this year so at I feel like I'm fighting back. I also drive and use as little gas as possible. I despair when I look at the growing grass and hate the idea of burning gas in my lawnmower. If we all would cut our gas consumption maybe we could pop this horrible oil price speculation bubble and everything that's going up along with it.

.. And the last inflation report in a recent government publication was that inflation was in check. Go figure.

I think the ultimate culprit here is the devaluation of the dollar. It now takes $1.58 to equal 1 euro. We're seeing the inflation of consumer products and commodities (like gold, silver, oil, etc). Each time the fed lowers interest rates, they just print more money out of thin air and further devalues our fiat currency (i.e. not backed by a precious metal).

The media is already releasing reports that we could see anywhere between $8 - $12 per gallon of unleaded in a few years. Our currency is on a steep decline. We're also creating roadblocks to drilling in the ANWR and the gulf of mexico, so shipping oil from farther away is also a problem.

Look at the price of gas per gallon in Venezuela-- $0.14 per gallon. http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/price.html

Peggy
I paid $4.03 a gallon for gas on Sunday of last week here on Long Island. Its utterly disgusting, but thank goodness I have a new 4 cylinder car.
Alberta

$4.20 today in NE Michigan. That, the price of everything else and a 12% unemployment rate in area is killing us!
Kay.

I'd love to find straw for 3.50. I paid $7 a bale three weeks ago, up from $4. I was told it was because the guy had to drive so far to get it to the garden center, and with the price of gas.....

I agree the price of steel has gone up, I was out to pick up some rebar to support a garden trellis and it was $3.49 per 3' sections! I would hate to have to put in a sidewalk it would cost a fortune just in rebar.

_____________________________________________
Check out my veggie garden blog:
http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/

WRT energy I hope that the USA strategy is to conserve our homeland deposits and use up everybody else's first, then turn on our spigots and not share with anyone else. You heard it here first.

You guys are right about inflation. It's absolutely insane. I am not sure we'll see any of these prices for goods going down either when things "stabilize". I do believe that most of it is due to commodities speculation so hopefully that bubble will burst too.

You can only conserve so far. I've been reading about a few farmers who are not using their tractors any more. That's nuts. That's like financially bombing us back to the stone age.

Wayne

What I find particularly annoying is that the stores aren't raising the prices to cover their costs, they're raising prices on stuff that they already had! I went to Home Depot last week and priced some concrete reinforcing panels. They had a stack of them there, priced at $6.97 apiece. I went back the VERY NEXT DAY with the truck, it looked like the exact same stack, but the card above it had been changed to $7.97.

At WalMart, a tiny bottle of makeup (1 oz) goes up $3 between visits. Much of their stuff is going up over 25%. You KNOW this is price-gouging, because it simply isn't costing them that much.

Our politicians do their very best to avoid the two words "recession" and "inflation". They figure that if they refuse to use them, they aren't happening.

BTW, have you seen the article by columnist Charlie Reese titled "545 People"? Google it, it's all over, and it is GREAT!

Sue

The price of gasoline rose again yesterday. I know we don't pay the highest gas prices in the country but it sure is high! A little market near me sells it for 10 cents less than any other place I've seen. It's right at $4 in most places now.

I feel for poor families who could barely afford to feed their children before. I don't imagine fresh fruits and veggies are high on their list of 'necessities' these days. I feel so fortunate to have a space large enough to grow my own. The food pantries are begging for donations.

Dirtdauber, my goodness, $7 is alot to pay for straw. I would be paying more but I get mine directly from a farmer who grows it.

I found 2- 50' rolls of reinforced concrete fencing in a junkyard last year for $20. DH made a number of tomato cages with it and I still have plenty left.

Peggy

Our Tractor Supply store is still selling cattle panels for $19.99 apiece, so I'm going to get one more today before they rise in price here, too. Thanks for the heads-up.

Even the Dollar stores are raising their prices between 15-30% in this area. You have to wonder how many families are going to be able to keep up when you add the rising cost of gasoline, stamps, delivery costs for things you can't buy locally, etc.

"And the last inflation report in a recent government publication was that inflation was in check. Go figure."

I think the gummit factors in (now) the falling price of homes. There's only so much lipstick a pig can wear.
It was reported this morning that steel prices have doubled in the last 3 months or so. This crap must be due to commodity speculators? They seem to be buying futures in everything we eat, burn, or build wanting to turn their million$ into billion$, they just can't get enough? Only thing that can reverse this is a Depression, how depressing, but it beats the other option of hyper-inflation that'll kill us all. Like the Wiley Coyote standing on a cloud - the gummit doesn't want us to look down!

vgkg said: "Only thing that can reverse this is a Depression, how depressing, but it beats the other option of hyper-inflation that'll kill us all. Like the Wiley Coyote standing on a cloud - the gummit doesn't want us to look down!"

I don't know, I was just cruising around and found this-- looks like hyperinflation may come just before a depression.

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Ruff/ruff_apr212008.html

Hyperinflationary Depression

Until now, I have given equal credence to two possible scenarios:

1. We could have several years of inflation as we do now, and the powers-that-be would have a sudden rush of brains to the head, like Paul Volcker and Ronald Reagan did in 1980, and stop the "printing press," ending inflation and the gold and silver bull market, for at least a few years;

or

2. It is too late to stop it. The political forces and the Unfunded Liabilities would prevent the powers-that-be from ending the money-printing process, and in fact, would grossly accelerate it. This would result in a hyper inflation (400 percent inflation or more), and the eventual total destruction of the dollar. Suddenly America would find its money totally useless. Store shelves would be empty, gas would go through the stratosphere, and Americans would suffer through the greatest threat since the Great Depression of the Â30s.

Now I am just a dumb 'ole country boy but it seems that if we sap the worlds supply of oil and then tap into ours and not sell it we will be in for one hell of a war, and this time it will be here not like Vietnam or Iraq. It will also be a nuclear war because all the money we are pumping into these radical countries is allowing them to arm themselves with nuclear or other, dare I say, worse weapons. It seams to me that we need to batten down the hatches, bring everyone home and fend for ourselves and stop being the patron saint of the world. These other countries sit back and laugh their backsides off at our stupidity. We are like a bunch of cows waiting our turn for the phneumatic hammer. As far as the gas prices go the petroleum companies have a monopoly. Didn't the government investigate Bill Gates for that?? I don't know what the answer is but America as a whole needs to stand up and say enough is enough. We elected them we can sure as hell kick them out.

Carl Edwards

And the price of gasoline at my favorite market jumped to $3.97 today! YIKES!! That's a 14 cent increase since Wednesday.

Anney, I found my cattle panels at Tractor Supply as well. No one else had them that cheap...Ha! The word CHEAP takes on a new meaning!!

This is depressing.

The only thing I know is that God willing at least we will be eating a few fresh vegetables this year. I have beds as large as I could get going but am getting lasagna beds together for later in the summer and next year.

Thankfully I live 4.5 miles from work...getting the legs in shape again for biking. Ha! This economy has been good for my health with not eating much and now exercising. Wonder what will be next. Oh yeah! Cable TV is gone so been out in the yard more...oh no more exercise LOL.

OK so I am one of those annoying glass is half full kinda people...otherwise I'd be too depressed. It's just as easy for me to try to be positive as it is way to easy to let these things get me down. Kim

Driving around, I am seeing at least 50 new, large vegetable gardens going in. What's fun is to see the ancient, rust-bucket 5 - 7 hp garden tillers that have been in storage for 25 years put back to work. And canning jars / lids are flying off the shelves now, early in the spring.

Remember when Bill Oreilly suggested we not buy gas on Sunday? What if nobody went to work for a day. Would that send a message? Doctors, nurses and policemen would be the exception. Regular gas is $4.09.9 south of Buffalo.

It's a simple equation. Our goverment can get more money by:
1. collecting taxes
2. printing it.
If they elect to print more money, each $1. is going to be worth less and less. And that is what they are doing. We've told them time and again that we don't want more taxes. We're now seeing the consequences of spending without taxation.
Either way, we pay. And with the war set to cost trillions, we're going to be paying for a long time.
Or, rather, you are. I'm an old, old timer and won't be around when the final bill comes in.

I'm getting my bicycle out and using it for mailbox duty that I sometimes used to drive to. More healthy for sure and save a little more gas too! I even have a nice little basket for it.

I don't think the USA has vast amounts of untapped oil anywhere within our borders because in the 100 years and more of driving gas guzzling cars and fueling too many wars, we have used up the easy cheap oil we did have. I'm all for drilling in ANWAR and finding new reserves, but I think this energy problem goes deeper than that. We used the easy stuff up and now depend on foreign sources. These heartless market speculators who buy on margin are also driving prices to the moon. Then kick in 2 BILLION Indians and Chinese who emulate the American lifestyle and the chickens really come home to roost!

All I can say is smart or lucky, I decided to become an avid gardener to save my family thousands on fresh veggies this year alone. I've done everything I can do already to limit the amount of gasoline we consume personally, so now I just need to convince 200 million others to join me. No problem. hehe Now I know why I've been so down lately. My income went up 2.7% this year (way more than the last few years) and the cost of living has gone up way more than that so far this year and the year ain't half over. Joy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfoinian's fight back... hehe

We have always had a little veggie garden. It's been years since we have actually canned. This year hubby has broken over a half acre and is still breaking. We have out over 300 tomatoes and 100 peppers along with beans, greens, onions, and no telling what else. My mom was raised during the last depression and drove home the fact that the first year food was hard to come by. She always told me to make sure when things got back that I had a way to feed myself. After talking with a number of old timers and all of them worrying about another depression that's exactly what we are doing, taking mom's advice.

Our major problem is the gas prices since we live 15 miles from the nearest anything. Plus Hubby runs a lawn service and depends on gas.

I read yesterday where Warren Buffet says we are going to have a LONG and DEEP recession this time and I think he may be right.

We have seen gardens go in everywhere this year, even a number of Hubby's customers have planted veggies instead of flowers this year.

All I can say is "Garden On" and maybe we can all survive!!

-Angelia