Inflation Sucks...

 ...your hard earned dollars right out of your pocket and your bank account(s). I went to Costco with my son & his girlfriend yesterday and spent $360 on mostly groceries and a bit on toothpaste and a sleep aid. That did not include a turkey, we had to go to Walmart for the bird and some baking needs because the fresh turkeys at Costco were about $3.50 per pound and they were out of frozen (they had been going for only .99 cents per pound - such a deal in hard times). As it was, Wally World's frozen Butterball turkeys were $1.18 a pound. That was not bad at all but everything else was ridiculous at both stores and gas & diesel are not getting any less expensive. Watch the video (it has been taking a few to several seconds to load).

 

 

Christmas dinner is going to be a pauper's delight as compared to what we will have on Thanksgiving because I can not afford another expenditure like the one yesterday. The upper I planned to get myself for Christmas may have to wait. Seriously, two hits like that for a couple of feast-like meals just a month apart along with the bills for Christmas presents, the additional expenditures I laid out for some ammo & gun stuff I purchased earlier this month and in October is going to be just too much for me and I need to dig pretty deep into my savings to get it all paid off when the credit card payments are due. I may have to get a job to replenish the bank account - perish the thought but I kid you not - it may become a reality that I will need to go back to work in retirement and that may suck more than inflation.

 

Add to all that, all the fuckers in Washington, at least those with any sense at all, keep telling us it is going to get worse, much worse for our economy. Of course, that arsewipe in the oval office keeps telling us what a great job he's done to keep inflation at bay and how things like gasoline a less expensive under his watch (an outright lie kike most things he has said about the economy & the causes of the current inflation crisis).f course, bear in mind he really does seem to be a perpetual liar and more than merely somewhat demented. He is the one responsible for this quagmire in which we find ourselves paying much more for the necessities than we have paid, relative to our incomes, in over 40 years. How there was not a red wave in the elections is beyond me because 99.5% of the dems seem to support his claims that he is saving the economy while they actually seem to be fervently assisting him to destroy what was our thriving economy.

 

I kid you not, if I only spend on rent, utilities, dog food & treats, gasoline & normal car maintenance - it will take me at least 6 months to recoup what I have spent in the last few weeks and what little more I will spend on the few Christmas presents I have yet to purchase. Last year, spending on the same things at the same rate of making purchases as I am now, might have taken me two months of belt pocketbook cinching, at most, to make up.

 

I think that the Grinch & Scrooge (before him having been visited by the spirits of Christmas) had nothing on Joe Biden regards to destroying the spirit of giving at Christmas! 

 

All the best,

Glenn B

So You Tell Me - What's Up With Gas Not Going Down?

I mean, just two or three days ago, Iheard that the price of crude had gone down by just over $9.00 per barrel. When the friggin price of a barrel went up, even by just a quarter or half buck, the price at the pumps went up the next day; but when the price fals by over $9.00 per barrel - well there has not even been one friggin red cent take off the price at the pumps near me! If the info about the drop in crude prices was right, well then it is just gosh darned greed that is all that is keeping the prices as high as they are; greed and an absolute lack of respect for any of us consumers.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ammo Price Differences

I just don't understand the current state of affairs regarding the pricing of ammunition. Sure I know, the excuses for higher priced ammo over the last few years have been:

1) Higher fuel prices, so the cost had to go up because it cost more to components to the factories, and ammo from the factories to the stores.

2) A shortage of components because of the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq.

3) Good old inflation.

Okay, I can buy these three reasons; but it seems that when the ammo manufacturers, and the ammo retailers, tell us there are price increases coming and these are the reasons, they leave out what surely, at least in my opinion, must be another reason - out and out price gouging due to greed. For example, I was at an ammunition retailer yesterday, as a matter of fact I was at more than one, in the form of sporting goods stores. I took a look at the price of Remington's .35 Remington Cor-Lokt, 200 grain soft points. One of the stores had a box of 20 rounds for about $24.99 plus tax. The other store had it for the same price give or take a dollar or so. Then tonight I checked online with a major retailer who specializes in great deals on sporting goods (among other things). They wanted $55.77 per box of 20 for the same exact ammunition. That is absurd since I got the same ammo from them for under $14.00 per box of 20 just last August. There is no legitimate way, as I see it, that they have boosted the price by 3.8 times since last August - not when the other retailers are selling it for so much less. As a matter of fact those other retailers had it for about $20 to $22 last August, so they have only gone up a few bucks in price during the time between last August and the present.

Not that anyone out there thinks this is just a one item fluke. The online store has 32 WIN Special for $19.77 per box of 20, same brand Remington, same bullet configuration Cor-lokt, 170 grain softpoint. This time it was one of the retail stores that seemed to have a way too high price; the store was selling the 32 WIN Special (same exact stuff) for almost $40.00 per box of 20 rounds! The role of possible price gouger seemed reversed between the store and the online seller.

This is not something limited to this small group of ammo types, nor to these two retailers. If you shop around there are what seem to be some out of this world price differences for the same exact types of ammunition between different retailers. Is there any legitimate reason for the difference in price between these retailers? If there is - well I cannot see it, but if you do then please explain it to me. Of course I guess these prices could be mistakes, but this type of 'mistake' if that is what they are, are becoming all too commonplace lately. I guess the old saying of Buyer Beware is one that makes a lot of good sense; so if you are in the market for ammo, don't be a schmuck, shop around before plopping down your hard earned gelt.

All the best,
Glenn B

Are Ammo Prices Really Set To Rise By Up To 25%?

There has been a bunch of discussion on the gun forums lately saying that ammunition prices are set to rise. Some bloggers like Greybeard have also noted likewise in their rants. In addition, the news media is spouting off about ammunition shortages for police departments; though I tend to think that article is a lot of hooey. So it seems do others think likewise, see:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=296522.

What I do not think is hooey, is that ammo prices will rise as guys like Greybeard have pointed out. The reason I think this is true is because I have heard it from him, and elsewhere, and in fact from an ammunition dealer's website. As per the good folks at Natchez Shooter's Supplies ammo prices have been set to rise from 5 to 25% by ammo manufacturers, effective September 1, 2007; see:

http://www.natchezss.com/customerService.cfm?contentID=manuIncrease&src=BA481.

Not only do they point out the expected rise in ammo pricing, they actually give links to letters they attribute to certain manufacturers: CCI & Federal, Remington, and Winchester. Click on each of those ammo manufacturer names to see PDF format letters, apparently from each of them about the upcoming ammo pricing increase.

OUCH, that is gunna hurt! So, to avoid the sting later on, I just went ahead and placed an order with Sportsmansguide.com for 200 rounds of .35 Remington (a case as far as that round goes) at only 13.97 a box for 200 Gr. Winchester Super-X. That is a good deal since I have seen locally at gun shops and mega stores at about $18 to $20 per box. I also ordered 500 rounds of Wolf 7.62x39 122 Gr. HP steel cased ammo at $88.32. Even with shipping at $17.99 its a deal, especially since I got $10 off with a coupon, so in effect shipping was only $7.99. I really needed some other ammo too, but truth be told, I cannot even afford that which I just ordered. Then again, once the prices go up, I'd be even less able to afford it, so it is sort of a good purchase even if it makes things tight for a month. If I can swing it, I'll also buy 500 rounds of .22 WMR before the month is over.

I suggest anyone who anticipates a need for ammo in the near future do what I did and buy now before any price increases. Shop around and find the best prices that you can, then scoop up as much as you can. Just a 15% raise in prices will be cost prohibitive for many shooters, let alone some increases up to 25%.

All the best,
Glenn B