The thing I like least about the recent wave of inflation is having to now forensically check every cafe/restaurant menu to decide whether I can afford to eat there. Never really had to do that before. But prices are soaring while my freelance income remains much the same.
Something I've noticed about restaurants in this cost of living crisis... if it's an existing restaurant, it'll put up prices but feel the need to have some continuity with their previous prices.
If it's a new restaurant replacing an old one, they just jump straight to high prices, the $35 bowls of pasta etc. And I never pass through their doors.
Dining out has gotten ridiculous. We’ve cut way back, but last night we took our daughter out to dinner… two grilled salmon sandwiches that were mostly bread and an ahi rice bowl that was mostly rice, $96. Add a 20% wage adjustment for our server and we were at $115. Add 3 drinks and we were at $170.
Seriously?? The Met Gala theme is all about "celebrating clothing and fashion so delicate it could never be worn again"?
How much more tone-deaf could one be, than to celebrate planned obsolescence and conspicuous consumption in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis (not to mention the climate crisis)? #MetGala#PlannedObsolescence#sustainability#ClimateCrisis#CostOfLiving
The #minimumwage is going up to $12-15/hr all over the country because this isn't 1973, and the #costOfLiving has far exceeded the legacy minimum wages workers have been kept down by for decades. But in #Ohio, #Republicans are so mad at the thought of workers earning a living wage that they're pushing legislation to stop the minimum wage from being lifted. These people are disgusting, and they clearly want to prevent workers from being paid appropriately.
☝️I should add, when I was able to get out of the house and out from under the scalping that is Instacart, exploring stores I found shopping at my local hippie store less expensive than going to zehrs/superstore. Which is bananas, that a specialty shop is less overpriced than regular groceries.
So you may as well check out your indie grocers this month in protest, you may accidentally find a grocery store you like better anyways.
Housing isn't meant to be affordable
Michel Durand-Wood April 25, 2024
"...According to data from the US Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, indexed home prices in the US are 88.1% higher than they were in 2005, near the peak of the “housing bubble,” making it the second highest of the G7 countries. [Literature fans will recognize that as “foreshadowing.”]
...Turns out that a return to Victorian-era practices of locking out an entire class of people from land ownership tends to lead to civil unrest and revolt...
...We’re screwed if housing prices keep going up. We’re also screwed if they go down. That’s the trap..."
The big price rises at cafes and restaurants are helping me save money, because there are red lines I will not cross.
Eg I'm not paying more than $15 for a sandwich or $25 for a pub/cafe main. And I'm definitely not paying double figures for a slice of cake! Jesus.
Pubs and bars are getting a bit cheeky with pricing zero-alcohol beers too. I don't mind $9-$10 for a Heaps Normal, but no way am I paying $12. It's soft drink after all, get real.
@junesim63 this article by a researcher from the University of Bath makes a similar point for #Pakistan, but less toned-down
The gist is, the way capitalism (finance) is structured is making sure no renewables transition occurs, despite a fall in generation costs. The solution is gov led and funded transition
The only difference is the #UK can afford either path, but Pak can only afford green
Newly released data from Ontario's rental housing tribunal analyzed by CBC News shows that fewer than two dozen corporate landlords filed most of the applications to raise rents above provincial guidelines for most of 2022 — which one Toronto housing lawyer says is a sign of the increasing concentration in the province's rental market.
Malaysian and Philippine #unions discuss #LivingWage and decoupling of #productivity and wages, "It is evident that the global economic system is a failure that only favours few owners of #capital"