My coworker has chickens and if I’m lucky enough to be in the office when he brings eggs I always take them. The yolks are very golden and the eggs taste great!
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It’s a function of what the hens eat. Eggs from most, if not all, pasture-raised hens have this deep orange color, for example.
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The taste comes from the diet and health of the chicken. We also have our own chickens, but there are periods of time when we use some basic store bought eggs too - usually at FIL’s house since he always buys whatever is cheapest. It’s always easy to spot ours vs basic store bought.
At home I buy the Certified Humane pasture ones and it can be difficult to tell. I think those are either 5/6.99 at the store.
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I wasn’t able to read the article due to a paywall but I can say that this is the first time in my life that I’ve ever felt the impact of inflation in my every day life.
I would consider myself an upper middle class income earner and i do a good job of budgeting but here in California the rising cost of everything from gas, food, labor, etc has all gone up so much that I feel it each day.
I don’t have any data to confirm this but it feels like my expenses are up 30% this year and it’s only getting worse.
Does anyone else feel this too?
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Absolutely! Most of my expenses are up at least 30%, my grocery bill it’s sometimes 50+%. It hits you every day with every purchase. This is the first time inflation is adversely and materially affecting the lives of a huge portion of the US population; millions of people who were not born or were not working adults during the 1970s and have lived most or all of their lives in a low inflation, low interest, easy money financial environment. Quite a rude awakening.
And just because you “can afford” higher prices doesn’t mean it isn’t hurting your financial situation or the economy overall. Every extra dollars you pay for your essentials of gas, housing, food, and so forth are dollars that aren’t saved, invested, donated or spent in other “optional” areas of the economy. Overall we are all poorer.
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Except for OPEC and others whose income and wealth are tied to oil prices. Probably not unlike the 1970s.
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Maybe you should read.
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I’ll respond just to show how perspectives can differ. DH and I are upper middle class, however we came from very modest backgrounds. We got to where we are by 1. living well below our means, 2. saving/investing at a very early age and 3. a whole lot of luck.
We don’t have a high income, but we have a high net worth and no debt. We continue to purchase for quality (yes, I said we bought Bearaby weighted blankets on another thread) but are frugal in many ways. We launched our two kids, who graduated from our state flagship and are financially self-supporting themselves; though I do confess occasionally buying in bulk at Costco and giving them a grocery bag of “extras” we won’t be able to use up before the expiration date. (Yes, they roll their eyes at me, but usually accept the bag with a laugh. It’s just mom being mom.)
Our highest expense is health insurance since we are too young to qualify for Medicare and retired years ago.
Food prices have gone up but it doesn’t really affect us (we’re only feeding the 2 of us) and we understand some of the causes of price fluctuations. We do shop sales and since we’re of a certain age, we don’t need to spend much on furniture, clothing, household basics, etc. We’re fortunate we never bought into high consumption or keeping up with the neighbors.
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Are we though? For many income has gone up as well, so it balances out. That’s our personal situation. I’m sure it’s not the same for everyone.
Even with low inflation people don’t always have their income going up (fixed income or job losses) or their income goes up (raises, etc) in spite of inflation.
If folks can still afford things, the money is coming from somewhere. If they’re putting it into debt, then it isn’t. Overall I’m not sure which one is in the lead, esp since many were in debt before inflation hit. They started to pay it off during Covid. Now it’s more back to normal with what is happening - just at a higher price point for both costs and income.
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I was only stating that high oil prices are good for the oil industry, which that page confirms. I did not say that they have full control over oil prices, as much as they may try.
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What about they lose money in some other years, like 2020. Did anybody complained then?
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I can guarantee as a sample of one (but knowing that this is also true for many, many fields of work) that income has not gone up. And certainly not to the degree matching the % of inflation.
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Yes, but for your sample of one there is someone on the other end - like those starting their first jobs who are starting at a much higher rate of pay (often) than in the past.
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Only if your income increases more than inflation increases. Just making more money doesn’t balance out livings costs if wages are rising 5-6% and inflation is at 8% and from what I’ve read that’s where we are overall.
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For social security, the COLA is 8.7%. Starting wages have gone up more than 5-6% in many places too. The high schoolers I was talking with in our area are making $16-17/hr for what used to be $7.25/hour jobs. That’s over a 100% increase.
Again, overall inflation is not a helpful number when weighing the impact on your own household.
If you have a fixed rate mortgage, your payments didn’t go up when interest rates did. If you commute via bike and train (as I noted previously) gas prices don’t immediately impact you (ultimately they might). If you installed solar panels three years ago when states were giving out tax breaks, your utility bills are likely smaller than they used to be.
Etc. My actual costs are still down, even with inflation, mainly because I am 100% working from home. I drive 30 miles a week (on average, and a few of those errands I could walk to although when I’m in a hurry I don’t), I don’t buy a train pass, my lunches at home are last night’s leftovers and not a deli salad for $12. Some food items are more expensive, but some are less (I bought a ginormous side of salmon last week for an insane price- cut it into portions and stuck it in the freezer. Haven’t seen salmon that cheap in years). Romaine was expensive but arugula and cabbage were cheap so it’s cole slaw and whatever I can make out of the argula.
Upper middle class people have choices (I could plop $40 down on a huge salmon, I know that’s something folks on a fixed income can’t do). But “inflation up 8%”, when a high percentage of that market basket comes from prescription drugs (thankfully I don’t need), gas, and rent-- you have to understand where the numbers come from…
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Agreed. But clearly a large majority of the country is stating inflation is a concern for them so while individual situations vary, 8.7% inflation isn’t helping many as far as their financial situations. If high inflation gave an overall benefit to the public the fed wouldn’t be raising interest rates to reduce it.
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Someone who has fixed rate debt gains a medium to long term benefit from inflation due effective shrinking of the principal.
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That’s good news for them but those wage increases also help cement higher inflation because those costs have to be paid for somehow.
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Inflation will have different impact on different people. Those who spend a large portion of their incomes on food, gas and other necessities, and those retirees on fixed incomes are the most negatively impacted. However, few (i.e. those who primarily own hard assets that appreciate faster than inflation) will come out ahead in an inflationary environment, because wage increases will generally lag and your savings and assets will likely devalue when adjusted for inflation.
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