How many of you shop at small businesses for everyday needs?

[green427]

When all of you single, young people without children finally get married and have children, come back in 10 years and see if you are still preaching the same thing. All of us have been there before.

Figure out your 'operating expenses'....rent/mortgage, food, utilities, loans, etc, etc, and compare it to what you bring home each month. When the numbers are either single digits or in the negative territory, the last thing on your mind is paying $4 for a freaking tomato.

Today, going out to a typical dinner costs you, what, $15 in the 'burbs? Try paying for 4 adult-sized meals plus tip....and your typical dinner is around $50-$60.

Want organic? Multiply that number by about 1.5%-2.5%.

Clothes for your children? It is cheaper to get the crap at Walmart than it is to go in a Goodwill store.

If you know what you want, and do your homework, you can find out which stores have what you want at the right price. As long as the big stores make it easy, convenient, and cheap for us, we are not going to think twice about where to go.

There is a reason most parents look stressed out all the time.

 

[green427]

Right, if you want to buy a car made in America buy a Kia, there's a plant in Georgia. I think Honda has plants here as well, not positive. When I bought my dodge I was checking out the new charger in display. It's motor and parts were built in Mexico and it's assembled in Canada. Yup they shipped it all right through America to be built in Canada.

Guess which car has the most US-made parts content? The Honda Accord at 75%.

My Ford Focus is made in Detroit, but only 35% of it is US made components.

What many people don't realize is, the main reason Kia & Hyundai have factories here is to avoid paying importation fees. They can make all parts in Korea, and it is still cheaper to ship all these parts over here, have robots and a few people put it together, pay wages & benefits, and still make a nice profit....all while dodging the tariffs.

Money makes the world go 'round and 'round....

 

[ambrosia]

Ahhhhhhhhhh

 

[whatdidyousay!]

I have been to Walmart. There are a few things I buy there. Auto products are the right price. Oil, filters, and the like. The clothing is mostly garbage except the long sleeve t-shirts and cotton socks, and boxer briefs. The food sucks. It is overpriced often refrigerated items will have thawed and refrozen or rerefrigerated giving a huge bacteria bonus. Milk is higher there than anywhere but a gas station. The produce is mostly overpriced garbage produce from Guatemala and Mexico.
I buy a few electronic items there.
Their guns and ammo are overpriced. We have better priced guns at all the other grocery stores.
Costco and Sams Club they have some good deals but really much of it is ripoff pricing as well.
I watch for bargains at smaller stores and avoid the big boxes whenever I can. Often you can make your own bargains at the mom and pop places.
They do not stay in business by being stupid. Still I end up in big boxes as part of the overall plan to get good deals. I am just careful about it, they are not a good deal at all if you do everything there.

I when to Wal Mart to buy some dog food for my last dog and the bags of dog food had food moths flying all over them ! GROSS! So I never brought and food from Wal Mart , my ex husband and when to their Sam's club and I hated it, we got some frozen food and it was freezer burn so we had to throw it out , we lost money . We did not save $$$.

 

[SBirn]

Guess which car has the most US-made parts content? The Honda Accord at 75%.

My Ford Focus is made in Detroit, but only 35% of it is US made components.

What many people don't realize is, the main reason Kia & Hyundai have factories here is to avoid paying importation fees. They can make all parts in Korea, and it is still cheaper to ship all these parts over here, have robots and a few people put it together, pay wages & benefits, and still make a nice profit....all while dodging the tariffs.

Money makes the world go 'round and 'round....

Cheap labor makes the world go round. In 1982, I bought a Dodge Charger. But before I bought it, I popped the hood (I still do ) and the engine was Mitsubishi.

I remember a cute guy with whom I worked telling me about a new venture between Chevrolet and Toyota - it was called the Chevy Nova. (Uh ... probably @1976-77.) It morphed into the Geo Prizm (I bought it) and it was horrible. I just goofed. My mom was embarrassed about my car and told me to get a new one. I had 161k miles on it - it was the Dodge Challenger . I listened and bought what I could afford.

A nobel-winning economist sent a nice note to us about my dad when dad died. They sort of grew up together in the world of economics. The problem I had was "Bobby" was in China looking for American investments (cheap labor) and that's why he couldn't attend the service. He's not my dad but I was angry that he was out there displacing us. I let him know as tactfully as I could. I'm not name dropping. This is a guy who's out there leaving us in the dust. So, yeah, money makes the rich go round and is making us have less and less. And, it's supported by a lot of the rich.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

When all of you single, young people without children finally get married and have children, come back in 10 years and see if you are still preaching the same thing. All of us have been there before.

Figure out your 'operating expenses'....rent/mortgage, food, utilities, loans, etc, etc, and compare it to what you bring home each month. When the numbers are either single digits or in the negative territory, the last thing on your mind is paying $4 for a freaking tomato.

Today, going out to a typical dinner costs you, what, $15 in the 'burbs? Try paying for 4 adult-sized meals plus tip....and your typical dinner is around $50-$60.

Want organic? Multiply that number by about 1.5%-2.5%.

Clothes for your children? It is cheaper to get the crap at Walmart than it is to go in a Goodwill store.

If you know what you want, and do your homework, you can find out which stores have what you want at the right price. As long as the big stores make it easy, convenient, and cheap for us, we are not going to think twice about where to go.

There is a reason most parents look stressed out all the time.

organic food is a waste of money to me. With all the air and water pollution
we have nothing is really 'organic' anymore.

 

[SBirn]

When all of you single, young people without children finally get married and have children, come back in 10 years and see if you are still preaching the same thing. All of us have been there before.

Figure out your 'operating expenses'....rent/mortgage, food, utilities, loans, etc, etc, and compare it to what you bring home each month. When the numbers are either single digits or in the negative territory, the last thing on your mind is paying $4 for a freaking tomato.

Today, going out to a typical dinner costs you, what, $15 in the 'burbs? Try paying for 4 adult-sized meals plus tip....and your typical dinner is around $50-$60.

Want organic? Multiply that number by about 1.5%-2.5%.

Clothes for your children? It is cheaper to get the crap at Walmart than it is to go in a Goodwill store.

If you know what you want, and do your homework, you can find out which stores have what you want at the right price. As long as the big stores make it easy, convenient, and cheap for us, we are not going to think twice about where to go.

There is a reason most parents look stressed out all the time.

Parents made that very important decision. Don't lay it on going out to dinner and the cost - buy Groupons. MacD's is expensive. I keep prices and weights in my head. I also don't eat the same way I used to. I can't afford (or won't pay) all organic but I will buy some products. In the end, I'm just trying to reduce the amount of poisons in my body. But since I pay less to buy non-organic, non-gmo maybe I won't be as ill as some people get when they're a little older than I am. But with the Hot Tamale and Good n' Plenty garbage candy I buy on sale, it may be a wash .

I've always watched my weight and can still wear very old clothes. I have workman's boots from HS. I finally started using them to mow our hilly lawn. Other HS clothes still fit and I'm trying to toss the rattier stuff or use it for dirty work. I don't want to pay more for moving up in size. My family was on the more slender side, though, and I have to work at it!

I stopped buying a number of things I used to eat and swapped them out for other items. Items that are affordable on sale only for a family at health food stores. The catch is that Asheville is a mecca for this kinda stuff, so there's competition and the prices for local organic foods is a bit lower than elsewhere. In NY/NJ, I didn't touch the stuff and I made a heck of a lot more $$. I did it by thinking and making economic-based choices. Here, some organics from local farms are a lot cheaper and this stuff didn't exist in NY/NJ.

To your comment to come back with kids in ten years, we've supported our share of cats and dogs with healthier foods. I made two decisions with two different people over the years about kids. a) With my ex-husband, I said I wouldn't have kids when I was over 32/34 years old. I didn't trust he'd be there to support me because he was not helping in other ways. I looked ahead. b) With my partner, we made a conscious decision to not have kids due to the expense and the fights we'd have against vaccinations. We wanted the $$ for us. Having kids was dreadfully expensive and we both worked. We knew it would get worse. I deal with homeowners who have 4-5 kids. They owe yearly dues. Well, if I knew it would be expensive 20 years ago, where's their thinking? You moved into an owners assoc. and you opted to have kids. Move out if you can't afford it. You have kids, they cost $$ and McDonald's is expensive. We lived in an upper-class area(s) but I remember the Hamburger Helper and cheaper brands of stuff.

 

[green427]

organic food is a waste of money to me. With all the air and water pollution
we have nothing is really 'organic' anymore.

Yeah, that is true. That's why I want to move to another planet and live under a rock. Venus is incompatible....can't live on Mars yet, but I am sure Uranus has plenty of room.

 

[Jiro]

Wondering why you're using "y'all" and "your"........when I was talking about the large amount of people that work for these big box stores being the only place they can afford to shop.

because I'm talking to ya'all

There's a very small percentage of people that can avoid big business completely. Especially when it comes to clothes, and even more especially for people with children. While it would be nice I could afford $100-600 for me and my 2 kids that ain't happening. Most Americans don't have that kind if disposable income. I get the bulk if clothes from Aeropostale because they always have good sales. It's wishful thinking that as long as people continue to shop small business the prices will come down. There is no "continue" because the majority if Americans can't even afford to start shopping exclusively small business.

wishful thinking? disposable income? affordability? LOL oh dear oh dear... brainwashed by big box stores...

You're single. It's not realistic to think the average family can do all their food shopping at a health food store. Buying all their clothes at boutiques.

I've posted in some of the same threads that you have and I have posted I eat almost exclusively meat and veggies, and that I don't eat corn..........you can avoid gmos shopping at a regular grocery store.

my family has been doing this for a long time. we just know where is cheap to buy and when is a good time to buy.

farmer's market is pretty cheap too.

 

[Jiro]

I wish I can afford to buy the more expensive stuff but my salary is dwindling away so I am stuck.

I don't buy expensive stuff otherwise I'd go broke!

 

[Jiro]

When all of you single, young people without children finally get married and have children, come back in 10 years and see if you are still preaching the same thing. All of us have been there before.

Figure out your 'operating expenses'....rent/mortgage, food, utilities, loans, etc, etc, and compare it to what you bring home each month. When the numbers are either single digits or in the negative territory, the last thing on your mind is paying $4 for a freaking tomato.

Today, going out to a typical dinner costs you, what, $15 in the 'burbs? Try paying for 4 adult-sized meals plus tip....and your typical dinner is around $50-$60.

Want organic? Multiply that number by about 1.5%-2.5%.

Clothes for your children? It is cheaper to get the crap at Walmart than it is to go in a Goodwill store.

If you know what you want, and do your homework, you can find out which stores have what you want at the right price. As long as the big stores make it easy, convenient, and cheap for us, we are not going to think twice about where to go.

There is a reason most parents look stressed out all the time.

we don't buy everything organic. that's just silly and expensive. we just know where to buy good food for good price and it's not even that hard. we just know how to cook well. that same principle applies to me and that's how I'm living a comfortable healthy life.... and it's not even that expensive. I rarely eat out at McD and I rarely pig out on cheap food.... that's why I have nearly no medical bills. my parents same. I see many many people at our age already sick and riddled with cancers, diseases, etc.... mainly due to poor life choices.

you can talk about all the food costs you want and you're forgetting about medical bills you'll incur later on because of "cheap food" and cheap lifestyle. if the living expense is just too much... then perhaps you should consider to moving to somewhere cheaper. life's about making a hard right choice and many people don't want to do that.... so they'll just get poorer and poorer.

$4 tomato.... LOL I wouldn't even buy that.

 

[ChicagoBlue2]

I don't buy expensive stuff. I'd go broke!

I don't either-- for the most part, anyways. I only buy what's necessary, and leave the unnecessary out. If I want something cool or fancy, I must save up for it, and that's what I'll be doing soon.

 

[ambrosia]

Darling I'll be 39 and my only medical "problems" are my ears, but going deaf won't kill me. Try again. Go have a few kids and come back and talk to me about being "brain washed" by big box companies.

 

[ChicagoBlue2]

Parents made that very important decision. Don't lay it on going out to dinner and the cost - buy Groupons. MacD's is expensive. I keep prices and weights in my head. I also don't eat the same way I used to. I can't afford (or won't pay) all organic but I will buy some products. In the end, I'm just trying to reduce the amount of poisons in my body. But since I pay less to buy non-organic, non-gmo maybe I won't be as ill as some people get when they're a little older than I am. But with the Hot Tamale and Good n' Plenty garbage candy I buy on sale, it may be a wash .

I've always watched my weight and can still wear very old clothes. I have workman's boots from HS. I finally started using them to mow our hilly lawn. Other HS clothes still fit and I'm trying to toss the rattier stuff or use it for dirty work. I don't want to pay more for moving up in size. My family was on the more slender side, though, and I have to work at it!

I stopped buying a number of things I used to eat and swapped them out for other items. Items that are affordable on sale only for a family at health food stores. The catch is that Asheville is a mecca for this kinda stuff, so there's competition and the prices for local organic foods is a bit lower than elsewhere. In NY/NJ, I didn't touch the stuff and I made a heck of a lot more $$. I did it by thinking and making economic-based choices. Here, some organics from local farms are a lot cheaper and this stuff didn't exist in NY/NJ.

To your comment to come back with kids in ten years, we've supported our share of cats and dogs with healthier foods. I made two decisions with two different people over the years about kids. a) With my ex-husband, I said I wouldn't have kids when I was over 32/34 years old. I didn't trust he'd be there to support me because he was not helping in other ways. I looked ahead. b) With my partner, we made a conscious decision to not have kids due to the expense and the fights we'd have against vaccinations. We wanted the $$ for us. Having kids was dreadfully expensive and we both worked. We knew it would get worse. I deal with homeowners who have 4-5 kids. They owe yearly dues. Well, if I knew it would be expensive 20 years ago, where's their thinking? You moved into an owners assoc. and you opted to have kids. Move out if you can't afford it. You have kids, they cost $$ and McDonald's is expensive. We lived in an upper-class area(s) but I remember the Hamburger Helper and cheaper brands of stuff.

And this is just one reason why kids aren't suitable for me. I know a friend of mine who has a daughter, and she's had some issues with the father, but I don't need to go into details, but I'll just say that it's an ongoing problem for her.

 

[Jiro]

Darling I'll be 39 and my only medical "problems" are my ears, but going deaf won't kill me. Try again. Go have a few kids and come back and talk to me about being "brain washed" by big box companies.

one big difference between you and me is that I work hard and smart enough not to end up in your situation.

I don't smoke or drink like you. I don't have a rebellious streak like you. I don't live a shaky drama life like you. it's extremmmmmeeeeeelllllyyy hard for me to even imagine that I would end up in your position just because of a few kids. I don't expect my married life to be easy and peachy anyway. who ever does?

 

[ambrosia]

one big difference between you and me is that I work hard and smart enough not to end up in your situation. it's extremmmmmeeeeeelllllyyy hard for me to even imagine that I would end up in your position just because of a few kids

Huh? Explain to me my "situation".

 

[Jiro]

Huh? Explain to me my "situation".

see above. I just edit my post.

 

[ambrosia]

see above. I just edit my post.

No that's not going to cut it. Just what exactly do you assume is my "situation" that I've made choice that buying all my food for my family at a health food store and all our clothes at small business isn't in the budget. I quit smoking last year and don't assume how much or often I drink, which rarely.

So seriously what exactly do you assume my situation and my shaky drama life is? That's a pretty damn bold statement explain it.

 

[Jiro]

No that's not going to cut it. Just what exactly do you assume is my "situation" that I've made choice that buying all my food for my family at a health food store and all our clothes at small business isn't in the budget.

Your current situation is the result of your past. Like I said before - buying all the food at "organic health food store" is just a waste of money.... and silly. People who shit and piss money can go ahead and do that but not me.

I only buy organic eggs, milk, and meats. a small price to pay because I certainly do not want dozens of hormones, chemicals, mercury, etc. accumulating up inside my body and end up with thousands of medical bills in my 40's or 50's :Ohno:

I understand that poor people can't simply afford that and they'll just continue to get poorer and sicker... something that's terribly wrong with this big picture and we need to do something about it... such as raising a minimum wage and continuing to support local businesses so that they would employ them instead of illegals. it's a long run but somebody's gotta start and sustain it. maybe not you (and that's ok) but I will try my best along with other people who do care about it and have some financial means to try to make it work. what makes it much harder is more and more people shopping at big stores. oh well.... this will be a long battle...

I quit smoking last year and don't assume how much or often I drink, which rarely.

but you did smoke and drink before... I'm glad you're cleaning up yourself now. It's a step toward to a healthy, affordable lifestyle. It's certainly a paradox that living a cheap dirty life is cheap when in fact it isn't cheap

you're now seeing how living a healthy lifestyle can be cheaper. and easier.

So seriously what exactly do you assume my situation and my shaky drama life is? That's a pretty damn bold statement explain it.

assume? LOL you've told us all about it in AD for the past several months.

 

[ambrosia]

No it's pissing me off that I was talking about the vicious cycle of how the walmarts and the ilk are huge employers of Americans and end up the only places affordable for them shop.

Then you somehow lumped me I with them, I eat crap and you are sooooo much healthier than me, forget about the fact that you don't even know what I eat. You work harder than me. Dude I'd break your freaking arm, I don't work hard my ass. I'm not "poor" I don't eat a crap load of processed food. I have a college education and good job that can support a single mom and two kids with minimal child support. I hit a rough spot, I got laid off a month before the lease on my apartment was up, an apartment I didn't want to stay in. My divorce was final in September and decided I'd rather be near family. It was just me and my kids in myrtle beach.........that's not a "shaky drama" life. I'm moved across the country and am staying with folks, but I should have an apartment for us within a couple months. I may wait til the end of the school year if it looks like the kids would have to change schools, I'm not sure yet. I have what's called priorities for supporting a family. Something you are completely unfamiliar with.......how long have you been living with parents? No kids? Nice cushy spot to make judgements from. I hope you fall off that high horse and it buggers your ass.

Why am I explaining myself to you? I'm not the jackass whisperer.