Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wednesday

I can't bring myself to blog lately. I don't know what to write about. I'm going to a farm expo tomorrow. Is that interesting enough?

I did read a report yesterday that said food costs are going to rise $178 per person this year. I saw another report that showed how much Americans spend on certain things. The graph in this report states that the average U.S consumer spends $2,698/year on entertainment. Now, when it comes to rising food costs, it seems a number of people squeal that farmers are getting rich. I'm not going to say we aren't enjoying near record high prices, but we also have very high costs. With as much money as people spend on entertainment alone, they can't take $178 out of that?

I'll tell you a story. There was a time in my life I was contemplating going to a Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers show that was opened by the Drive By Truckers. Anyone that knows me could tell you that I would give a lot of money for that ticket. I love those bands. The best seats I could find? $140. 

That was a sacrifice I made. Well, not really a sacrifice, more of a reasoning - "Hey, that pays my utilities for a month and a half." 

We can't do anything about food costs. Sorry. What we can do is pay attention to what we spend our money on. I spend $178/year on beer pretty easily I'm sure, not to mention the $.83 I spend on coffee at the Pump most days, or the $1.09 I spend for a 32 oz. fountain pop at Casey's. I love ice cream, but it's about $7 a gallon. 

I wish people would focus on what they need to live, and not what they want. I want a lot of things. An '81 GMC 4x4 pickup. A 6030 John Deere. A 5020 John Deere with a Detroit re-power. A Guild D-55. A Gibson J-45. Tom Petty/Drive By Trucker tickets. 

People can spend their money any way they want. I wish they wouldn't blame farmers for it, though.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2011/03/07/food-prices-increase-2011/http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-the-average-us-consumer-spends-their-paycheck/

2 comments:

  1. Are you buying gold ice cream? Because that is really expensive...

    Next to housing, I can't think of anything more important than food. Actually, forget housing, too. But seriously, food is medicine. The pharmaceutical companies don't want you to know that.

    Also, so what if beans were selling at over $14 last month? Who knows what next year will bring? You might be"rich" for a month and then forced to sell everything the next. (Unless you plan for it...and that's the responsibility factor you're talking about here.)

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  2. "I wish people would focus on what they need to live, and not what they want." Me too. I wish I would, too.

    And I agree with Lisa - the food money (and for good food) is worth it. I've seen stats before about the health-care costs you can avoid if you're willing to put a fraction of that money into food.

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