Economy

My generation is too young to have lived through inflation and really understand it. I do have vague memories of gas shortages and electricity brownouts (is that what they were called?) in the 70's as a child.

But this week I've been noticing small things that are signs of the times and I don't just think, I KNOW it is going to get worse.

1. Ram needs his car replaced. It is cheaper to buy a NEW car than a used car. Well technically, it's about a $1000 more for a new vs. a car with 65,000 miles on it. This is a good time to be a car buyer, not a good time to be a car salesman. I thought the days of buying a new car for less than $20,000 were long gone. I was wrong.

2. I've heard that everyone is doing their shopping at the grocery store and they are doing well because people are eating out less. But recently our small local grocery store has had incredible deals. I don't know if this is because people are shopping at Walmart or if the grocery store isn't doing well. Today Bryers ice cream was $3. I realize the container is smaller than it used to be, and $3 isn't that good of a price when we lived in Fort Wayne. But for out here at the local store, Bryers is normally $5.75. I could go on about other prices, but what really shocked me was you could use manufacture coupons with their good deals and get double coupons and there was no limit to their good deals. And it wasn't just a few items on sale for these incredible deals, it was lots of items. So that tells me it wasn't just a few items to get you in the store. Again, a great time to stock up and be the buyer, not so good for the local grocery store.

3. There is also talk about how incredible mortgage rates are right now. We live in a parsonage so I don't know anything about that. But it's a great time to refinance or buy, not a great time to be the seller or bank.