Pet Peeve of a Curmudgeon

[tacops]

When I feel like I am getting ripped off my inner curmudgeon raises his ugly head.  After tonight's trip to the grocery I once again am suffering from curmudgeon overflow.  On the bright side, my wife will probably not hit me up to go with her again for a while.  Anyway, I refer to the following as examples of how we as consumers are being ripped off:

• Cardboard sleeves inside toilet paper and paper towel rolls are bigger around reducing amount of sheets per roll.
• 1/2 Gallon of ice cream is now 1.75 or 1.5 quarts
• Coffee containers of any brand continue to shrink and price goes up (All containers for that matter)
• Five pounds of sugar is no more, now 4 pounds or less
• We all remember how big a Baby Ruth, or any candy bar used to be
• Re-configured containers with indention's as handholds or visual appeal which reduces content
• When was the last time you saw a 50 pound bag of dog food?

These are just a few examples and what started this rant was I love Claussen Kosher dills pickles.  I picked up a jar tonight and realized that the pickle spears were "floating around" in the jar with about a half inch of juice in the bottom where the spears did not even reach the bottom. They used to be packed from lid to bottom and packed so tight you had to pull the first one out with a fork and had friction between the spears to do so.  It appeared that there were at least 4 to 5 spears missing from the jar.  I looked at all the jars and they were all that way.  I put them back.  Sorry to bother you all with my rant, but my wife was tired of hearing it.  

[Pete123]

I'm with you.  They have a lot of very smart people working at those companies figuring stuff like this out.

 

You know the delivery fee charged for pizza delivery by the chains?  None of that goes to the driver.

[Ugly]

The economy has rebounded, you must be mistaken! Smh
This will be a sad part of our society because packaging will never return to what it used to be. Less for more, the liberal effect! Thanks libs!

[btq96r]

The economy has rebounded, you must be mistaken! Smh
This will be a sad part of our society because packaging will never return to what it used to be. Less for more, the liberal effect! Thanks libs!

 

I was just thinking someone would come in here and try to tie this to liberal policies.  Like Pete eluded to, this is just companies putting smart people to the task of turning $1 into $1.10.

[Ugly]

This is an effect of companies trying to survive in one of the worst economic times this country has ever seen. Yes, liberal policies of the last 7 years. 100%!

[btq96r]

This is an effect of companies trying to survive in one of the worst economic times this country has ever seen. Yes, liberal policies of the last 7 years. 100%!

 

Or the aftereffects of Reaganomics which made companies focus on quarterly returns and short term stock prices instead of long term customer satisfaction through a quality product.

[Ugly]

[quote name="btq96r" post="1362073" timestamp="1456629399"]

Or the aftereffects of Reaganomics which made companies focus on quarterly returns and short term stock prices instead of long term customer satisfaction through a quality product.[/quote

Dear lord man, you skipped both bushes and went right to Reagan. The damage caused by the organizer is going to make the carter years look like a cake walk! Stand by!

[tacops]

I was just thinking someone would come in here and try to tie this to liberal policies.  Like Pete eluded to, this is just companies putting smart people to the task of turning $1 into $1.10.

I think you are correct in that the companies are simply trying to make more money, yet to me it seems to be through trickery.  I find myself changing brands more frequently or simply deciding I don't want the item after all.  Yeah, some might say I am stubborn.  Maybe so, but I just get aggravated when I notice that I am paying the same or more for less product.  Just look at the size of a "Family Size" bar of soap.  All of them are not much bigger than hotel size bars now.  We are told there is no inflation, bull.  I think it very odd that the price of groceries are not included in government inflation determination calculations.

Edited February 28, 2016 by tacops

[tacops]

While I am on a roll here, a couple more examples:

• 6oz. cans of tuna are now 4 oz
• 15 oz cans of Soup went to 12 oz. and are now 10.5 oz
• 16oz can vegetables are now 15 oz. or 14.5 oz.

The list goes on and on and applies to about everything we buy.  I picked up a box of Cheerios tonight and it was so thin, not to mention shorter, that I was surprised it would stand up without falling over.  It couldn't have had more than three small bowls in it, and that was the family size.   Then of course the fine print includes "contents may settle during shipment" really, half a box of air worth of settlement?

Edited February 28, 2016 by tacops

[btq96r]

Dear lord man, you skipped both bushes and went right to Reagan. The damage caused by the organizer is going to make the carter years look like a cake walk! Stand by!

 

Because it was the Reagan administration where Wall Street took off as a % of GDP higher than in normally stable years, and now we're living in the world where the investment banks are driving the economy, and have to post higher and higher profits just to survive since steady isn't sexy anymore.  That was the real effect of "we're going to turn the bull loose."

 

I get why he did it, US manufacturing wasn't keeping the dollar strong (just like it isn't today), and every President after him has been beholden to it, with the free trade agenda making the problem even worse.  But now we're in a drug addict like cycle of needing high profits out of the financial sector, where the numbers are as much fantasy as reality, same as an addict needs higher amounts of drugs to get their next high.

 

 

We are told there is no inflation, bull.  I think it very odd that the price of groceries are not included in government inflation determination calculations.

 

Makes me think of this cartoon.

Edited February 28, 2016 by btq96r

[Jeb48]

Toilet paper rolls are not as wide either, they actually down sized the width at least twice over the last 5 years. Didn't check paper towels. We had a TP dispenser that was real tight fit width wise one day I noticed we had space so I kept the old cardboard tube on the shelf and compared them for awhile and saw the reduction, at one point I had 3 size lined up. Stopped check then and we have moved so I lost my reference.

[tacops]

Toilet paper rolls are not as wide either, they actually down sized the width at least twice over the last 5 years. Didn't check paper towels. We had a TP dispenser that was real tight fit width wise one day I noticed we had space so I kept the old cardboard tube on the shelf and compared them for awhile and saw the reduction, at one point I had 3 size lined up. Stopped check then and we have moved so I lost my reference.

I feel better now knowing there are kindred spirits out there that notice such things.  I am not alone in this world!  You are right, I remember when TP rolls actually rubbed the arms of the bracket and I recently had a paper towel roll that kept falling out of the dispenser because it was too short.  Sorry to bother you folks with my rant but my wife gets tired of hearing it.

[FUJIMO]

I feel better now knowing there are kindred spirits out there that notice such things. I am not alone in this world! You are right, I remember when TP rolls actually rubbed the arms of the bracket and I recently had a paper towel roll that kept falling out of the dispenser because it was too short. Sorry to bother you folks with my rant but my wife gets tired of hearing it.

If all the above bothers you then I suggest you NOT investigate into what's in your food, lmao. That will send you over the edge :)

[A.J. Holst]

I do most of the grocery shopping and taught my wife to look at the unit price.

Yes that box of cheerios may be the family size or on sale, but look at your cost per cheerio...or oz/lbs/etc.

[NextExit]

• Coffee containers of any brand continue to shrink and price goes up (All containers for that matter)

 

Of course coffee is expensive.... "hand picked by Juan Valdez" don't ya know.  He has a business to run:

[Sam1]

While I am on a roll here, a couple more examples:

• 6oz. cans of tuna are now 4 oz
• 15 oz cans of Soup went to 12 oz. and are now 10.5 oz
• 16oz can vegetables are now 15 oz. or 14.5 oz.

 

And that interferes with those of us who use old family recipes, because things were measured in cans and not specifics 20 years ago and beyond.

[Ugly]

When was the last time you saw hot wings by the dozen? Perhaps this is part of the libs plan to adopt the metric system, more likely it is just pathetic leadership (from the Reagan years) (hahahahaha)

[BrasilNuts]

Hitler did the same thing in 1930s Germany.

[DaveTN]

My wife doesn’t want me to go to the store; I buy what I want.
All she does now is ask that I carry the groceries in from the truck. I like it that way.

[FUJIMO]

I do most of the grocery shopping and taught my wife to look at the unit price.

Yes that box of cheerios may be the family size or on sale, but look at your cost per cheerio...or oz/lbs/etc.

Been doing this for years. Not foolproof but you get closer to getting your money's worth.

[Sam1]

When was the last time you saw hot wings by the dozen? Perhaps this is part of the libs plan to adopt the metric system, more likely it is just pathetic leadership (from the Reagan years) (hahahahaha)

 

Just the libs plan?  We NEED the metric system.  Metric system is so much better than ours.

[Ugly]

Just the libs plan? We NEED the metric system. Metric system is so much better than ours.

Sure, mathematically it makes sense but our forefathers had a reason to not adopt it.
Why do we need it? So we can be homogenous with the rest of the socialist world? Because nearly everything here is made in China or Japan? Or because or education system has taken out any pride of America out of school?

[Sam1]

Sure, mathematically it makes sense but our forefathers had a reason to not adopt it.
Why do we need it? So we can be homogenous with the rest of the socialist world? Because nearly everything here is made in China or Japan? Or because or education system has taken out any pride of America out of school?

 

You answered your own question with the first five words.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Sam1

[Ugly]

You answered your own question with the first five words.

Not worth throwing our countries independence away in my opinion.

[btq96r]

...our forefathers had a reason to not adopt it.

 

What, pray tell, was that reason?