How is inflation affecting you?

[Pohemi]

...For shits and giggles, I tried to see what some dealers are selling stuff for and they want 10%+ over MSRP. I'm not that desperate to pad a dealership's bottom line when they would already be making bank selling at MSRP.

Yep and the used market is still mostly screwed as well because many people are trying to avoid buying new, heh.

 

[highland145]

Yep and the used market is still mostly screwed as well because many people are trying to avoid buying new, heh.

Cash for clunkers, anyone?

 

[biostud]

As the interest rates for long loans are going up (we have 1% fixed 30 years), we are thinking about refinancing our house, making it possible to decrease our debt in our house with ~12%

 

[Red Squirrel]

I've noticed that with cars, holy crap! I am not in the market but sometimes like to look for fun. Totally not a good time to buy a car, new or used. Hopefully things eventually calm down. I think that's partially inflation and also because of chip shortage so maybe once TSMC starts building their new plants things will get better, but it will be a few years at least since production will need to catch up with years of backlog.

 

[Fritzo]

I wanted to sign up for Misfits Market, but they don't ship to my area yet apparently. I've noticed food prices climbing and thought it'd be a good way to get fruits and veggies, save some food waste and some money. Hopefully they'll expand to here soon. There's also 'Ugly Produce' and 'Imperfect Foods' that are the same type of service, though selection may differ on variety of goods beyond produce (like meats, etc.) I don't care what my produce looks like as long as it isn't spoiled.

The stuff I've gotten from Misfits had been really good so far. Things like peppers and apples tend to be smaller, but nothing is rotten, bruised, or bad in any way. They have a lot of non-veggie items to. Like it so far!

 

[manly]

Yep and the used market is still mostly screwed as well because many people are trying to avoid buying new, heh.

In the U.S., the used car market is significantly larger than for new cars. But yes, inadequate new supply has greatly distorted all auto prices over the past year.

Buckle up, the chip shortage may worsen before it gets better:

Ukraine War Flashes Neon Warning Lights for Chips - Slashdot

Russia's invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea risks reverberating across the global chip industry and exacerbating current supply-chain constraints. Reuters Breakingviews: Ukraine is a major producer of neon gas critical for lasers used in chipmaking and supplies more than 90% of U.S...

hardware.slashdot.org

 

[Pohemi]

Wow...90% of our neon gas? That's harsh. Neon laser use is gonna get a lot more expensive.

 

[waffleironhead]

Cash for clunkers, anyone?

Are you claiming that those 600,000 vehicles that were valued at most $4500 in 2009 are somehow to blame for our current vehicle prices?

 

[highland145]

Are you claiming that those 600,000 vehicles that were valued at most $4500 in 2009 are somehow to blame for our current vehicle prices?

Are you claiming that you are stupid?

 

[waffleironhead]

Are you claiming that you are stupid?

oof, looks like I found someone who laments all those sweet sweet 1984 AMC eagles that got destroyed due to the cash for clunkers program.

 

[IronWing]

Are you claiming that you are stupid?

I’m claiming, with some evidence, that you’re drunk posting.

 

[Pohemi]

oof, looks like I found someone who laments all those sweet sweet 1984 AMC eagles that got destroyed due to the cash for clunkers program.

The AMC Eagle could have been a good vehicle...it was a decent concept and maybe the first vehicle to have more of a 'crossover' design than a pure wagon, and before the advent of SUVs. Too bad they were so problematic and broke down so often, heh.

 

[Geekbabe]

Groceries are up but… when fresh food costs as much as processed, prepackaged meals, it makes buying fresh food easier. I also use Instacart & Amazon Fresh, these services keep us out of stores & away from people.

Added bonus, my lab work showed my sodium count was down a lot, a good thing ❤️

 

[highland145]

oof, looks like I found someone who laments all those sweet sweet 1984 AMC eagles that got destroyed due to the cash for clunkers program.

Apologies, I was in a mood.

What clunkers did was take used cars off the market and drove the prices up for people that can least afford it.

I think the 84's were safe, just outside of the age limit.

 

[zinfamous]

Aren't all olives preserved? It's just the container size is different no?

jarred olives are the mass-produced, bland and overly-preserved product. You want to be able to select olives form an open olive bar, if possible, where they are generally fresher and have much shorter shelf life, due to avoiding the bottling (or canning) process that absolutely destroys their flavor and texture.

2nd best would be finding them in the organic or "fancy" isle, sold in those small plastic pint containers, where they are also packaged for short shelf life and come from much fresher source.

jarred or canned olives are just disgusting. It's like canned beans. Gross.

 

[Pohemi]

Wow...90% of our neon gas? That's harsh. Neon laser use is gonna get a lot more expensive.

It doesn't bother me, but...I'm curious if there was something amusing about this comment? It wasn't intended as a joke, so I'm just wondering if I missed something?

 

[FelixDeCat]

In the U.S., the used car market is significantly larger than for new cars. But yes, inadequate new supply has greatly distorted all auto prices over the past year.

Buckle up, the chip shortage may worsen before it gets better:

Ukraine War Flashes Neon Warning Lights for Chips - Slashdot

Russia's invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea risks reverberating across the global chip industry and exacerbating current supply-chain constraints. Reuters Breakingviews: Ukraine is a major producer of neon gas critical for lasers used in chipmaking and supplies more than 90% of U.S...

hardware.slashdot.org

Glad I bought a 2022 car last year. Not glad I had to pay 5% over sticker to get it since they could not keep it in stock. Sold right of the truck (for those who could not wait for an order with indeterminate delivery date).

 

[FelixDeCat]

Groceries are up but… when fresh food costs as much as processed, prepackaged meals, it makes buying fresh food easier. I also use Instacart & Amazon Fresh, these services keep us out of stores & away from people.

Added bonus, my lab work showed my sodium count was down a lot, a good thing ❤

Glad to hear about the lab.

I had to see a hematologist for the first time ever in January and wound up being stuck with about thousands in un-reimbursed expenses.

 

[brianmanahan]

this feels like the start of the 21st century Natural Resource Wars

i thought they wouldn't begin until the 2050s, but maybe russia is getting a head start

 

[FelixDeCat]

this feels like the start of the 21st century Natural Resource Wars

i thought they wouldn't begin until the 2050s, but maybe russia is getting a head start

Yeah, 8 billion humans on a planet will tend to put a strain on resources. Notably clean water, food and minerals. Oh, and energy.

 

[waffleironhead]

The AMC Eagle could have been a good vehicle...it was a decent concept and maybe the first vehicle to have more of a 'crossover' design than a pure wagon, and before the advent of SUVs. Too bad they were so problematic and broke down so often, heh.

You, my wifes grandpa had one. We had the chance to buy it when he passsed away. It was great concept, it was just not that great of a vehicle.

 

[waffleironhead]

Apologies, I was in a mood.

What clunkers did was take used cars off the market and drove the prices up for people that can least afford it.

I think the 84's were safe, just outside of the age limit.

Im not going to deny that it was a terrible program, but I think you are putting too much value on a lot of those terrible cars that were taken off the road. They were a mix of mostly unreliable, unsafe and just plain terrible vehicles. Heck some of them were all 3.
According to sources, there were 193 million vehicles registered on the road in 2009, those cash for clunkers only removed like .4% of that. That still left plenty of vehicles out there, heck used car prices continued to decrease in the years right after the program, something that wouldn't have happened if supply was indeed short.

 

[highland145]

Im not going to deny that it was a terrible program, but I think you are putting too much value on a lot of those terrible cars that were taken off the road. They were a mix of mostly unreliable, unsafe and just plain terrible vehicles. Heck some of them were all 3.
According to sources, there were 193 million vehicles registered on the road in 2009, those cash for clunkers only removed like .4% of that. That still left plenty of vehicles out there, heck used car prices continued to decrease in the years right after the program, something that wouldn't have happened if supply was indeed short.

This seems to be fair...

Cash for Clunkers

Cash for Clunkers was a former federal program that gave owners a way to dispose of old vehicles in exchange for more fuel-efficient cars.

www.investopedia.com

Maybe I was too close, seeing the price hikes 1st hand on low end cars. It still hurt the poor. And I think there probably were some that saw an opportunity and did some gouging, starting at the wholesale level.

I think stimulus checks were a bad idea too if the $ was used to purchase goods made outside of the US. The pandemic unemployed needed help. The rest of America didn't.

 

[Fritzo]

The AMC Eagle could have been a good vehicle...it was a decent concept and maybe the first vehicle to have more of a 'crossover' design than a pure wagon, and before the advent of SUVs. Too bad they were so problematic and broke down so often, heh.

Those Eagles are collector's cars now- people are modding them with different engines to make them great off roaders. This made me giggle a bit:

Power came from a 258-cubic-inch 4.2-liter I-6 developing 112 hp backed by a three-speed automatic transmission.

This Minty 1987 AMC Eagle Limited Wagon Could Be Yours in 2022

The grandaddy of the entire crossover segment, the Eagle has a rugged charm all its own.

www.motortrend.com

Wow! That thing must have went from 0-60 in 3 weeks and got 12 gallons to the mile! Americans had no idea how to make engines back then.

 

[manly]

Those Eagles are collector's cars now- people are modding them with different engines to make them great off roaders. This made me giggle a bit:

This Minty 1987 AMC Eagle Limited Wagon Could Be Yours in 2022

The grandaddy of the entire crossover segment, the Eagle has a rugged charm all its own.

www.motortrend.com

Wow! That thing must have went from 0-60 in 3 weeks and got 12 gallons to the mile! Americans had no idea how to make engines back then.

It doesn't make any sense to me, but there's still an AMC dealership in NC with decaying inventory for sale.

America's Last AMC Dealer Is Literally Cutting Cars Out of Trees

They're freeing cars from nature's tight grasp.

www.thedrive.com