Generally I avoid politics in my blog because I’m not especially political. This blog though, will contain political views, which are solely my own. Not Fred’s, not my Mom’s not my children’s. These are my political views and it’s okay to disagree, that’s the beauty of America.
Articles:
Banking giant warns US economy in recession
White House mulls economic measures as recession fears mount.
I am fascinated by recessions and depressions. I think they happen when countries get too big for their britches and it’s like a giant spanking behind the woodshed. America, as much as I love her, has gotten too big for her britches and it seems like she almost deserves a good spanking.
I think we’re in a recession and I think it will go down in history as officially beginning in January of 2008. I don’t think it started in January. I think it started in November, becasue that’s when the price of eggs skyrocketed, at least in my local markets. I seem to remember some stock market problems back in November too, which is probably a more official way to determine if we’re in a recession or not.
I was always stumped by the way economists decide to use the official Recession Label. I know unemployment has to rise, fewer jobs have to be created and lots of stock market investors have to worry enough to sell off their stock and then the market goes down, a lot. There are other factors too, like inflation, sales figures and other things I don’t understand. When it all comes together officials look at the numbers and say “Oops, Recession”.
Right now stock markets all over the world, from Beijing to Australia to Great Britian are falling because of speculation that America might be in a recession. The problems with irresponsible borrowing and outrageous mortgage payments adds fuel to the fire and the rising level of unemployment confirms it.
I believe we are in a recession and I think it’s going to get worse. A lot worse. Since so many of our jobs have gone overseas the job market in America stinks. Our foreign relations policies have fractured our military. We have troops stationed in way more countries than I can count, pretending that we, America, are the police to the world. The arrogance in that just burns my tushie. The number of young people over in Iraq getting killed every day, and then the outrageous practice of sending them back again for 2, 3 and 4 tours of duty! Good heavens! I’m angry that these boys and girls, men and women are dying and losing their limbs. I don’t want to have a permanent base in Iraq and I’m angry that the government is heading down that route.
The rising cost of oil, which is mixed up with the Iraqi war in a way that I don’t exactly understand, is causing increased inflation. I’ve heard suggestions of $5 a gallon for gas. I hope it doesn’t go that high, but I don’t think it would surprise me. All of this misbehavior on the part of our government is catching up with them. And it’s affecting my bottom line, all of America’s bottom line.
I see somthing stronger and longer than a recession looming on the horizon. My cash is worth about half what it was a decade ago. Prices on many grocery store items and regular household goods have doubled. I admit to having only a rudimentary understanding of world economics and politics. I know an awful lot about running a household though, and if I ran my household the way the Government is running it’s household, then we’d be bankrupt within the week. I think this recession is a way of kicking the Government in the pants and telling them to shape up, cause until they take control of this situation, economically and politically, it’s going to go from bad to worse.
It’s like the Government is living on credit cards, using one card to pay off another, trying to consolidate them on a low interest card, but just fooling themselves and putting off the inevitable crash until it gets so big that there’s no avoiding it.
When I think about how many families are affected by circumstances like this, ugh, it turns my stomach into knots.
Well I’m done now, I’ve ranted and raged and now I’m content to go back to my happy little world of sewing, cooking, cleaning and child-rearing . When I take too much time looking at the big world it clouds my little world. And for the most part my little world is a really nice place to be. A way better place to be.
BTW, how much do eggs cost, per dozen, in your neck of the woods. The best price I can get for them is $1.69 dozen. A full dollar more than I was paying last year. Grrr! Arrgh! That spells recession to me.
Frugal Abundance 
Here in town it is $1.99 and that is common out of town too. Aldi’s was $1.69 two weeks ago.
Thanks Stephanir, $1.69 is our Walmart price, similar to Aldi’s. I’ll check the price at Walmart again tonight and see if it’s gone up. At most of the stores near me they’re $2.19 a dozen and advertising their low price! Ouch!
I can get medium eggs on sale for $1.89 a dozen. Large eggs are $1.99. Sometimes I will see them on sale for $1.00 a dozen, and I stock up. I have to agree with you about recession. I have been saying it for quite a while. Groceries and gas are really going up in price, forclosures are rampant here in Phoenix, and people are having a hard time finding work. Seems like a recession to me. I told my husband that we have to get completely out of debt, now! I really am feeling the urgency of it lately.
Hello,
I loved hillbillyhousewife.com and I am enjoying frugal abundance. Thank you…..
eggs in my neck of the woods @ the local mennonite farmstand are $1.95 a dozen….His prices are about the same as Aldi’s and wallmart…..YIKES
Large Brown Eggs (store brand!) are $2.19 here in Oklahoma. No joke! I’m looking around for a local chicken raiser to see if I can get better quality for the same/less. The fancy organic eggs are almost the same price now as store brand…funky!
~Anna
Hey Melinda, Fred and I are feeling that urgency too. We don’t have much debt, mostly our house and my car, but our savings is not what it should be. I feel like I want to do things to protect myself and my family. I think that’s a normal response to economic trouble.
Here in northern Indiana I pay $1 a dozen for brown ones! But I must say that I buy them from a friend of my daughters so he gives me a good deal. I told him that as long as he can give me eggs at that price I will CERTAINLY buy from him only.
Blessings,
Miki
here in the Portland, OR metro area, I’m paying $2.69 for large cage-free eggs. I can’t remember how much the regular ones are, I quit buying them a few months ago because the cage-free ones are fresher.
I think a lot of your opinions are spot on, by the way!
well miss maggie,
i agree with everything you say. i want to add that i didnt like our last priminister as he blindly follow gwb like a love sick teenager. glad our new pm has some guts.
eggs over here in australia were6 months ago, $3.00. now they have jumped to $5.00 a doz.
looking into getting own chooks
I never claimed to be the smartest woman in America, I am just a wife, mother, grandmother, and small business owner. I can tell you that you are RIGHT on Miss Maggie. I have never been a fan of the current president. I am in Texas and saw what he did as our governor. Let me say that what he has done as president has not been a big surprise to me. I think that we are going to be in for years and years of problems because of the past 8 years. I think that the next president is able to turn this country around. Bring the people in uniform home. Stop being the World’s police. I think there is plenty here to keep us busy for years and years to come.
Eggs in my area, central Texas were $3.29 for 18 last Saturday at H.E.B. grocery.
Miss Maggie, rant away! This is YOUR space.
Regarding eggs: I don’t know the going rate around here but I’m sure it’s relatively high, par for the course in New York City. General egg info, for those who might not know: Kept in the coldest part of your refrigerator, eggs keep well past the date on the carton, several weeks. The white gets runnier as they age, but that will not interfere with cooking, safety, or nutrition. In fact, older eggs peel easier after hard-boiling. Additionally, if you find a good deal, you can certainly crack them and freeze them, and you can do this with the whites and yolks separated too. If you happen to be making a meringue, let your whites come to room temperature and they will foam up and stiffen much more easily. Not exactly on topic, just my two cents.
Just echoing Gilana’s wisdom: Eggs have a ridiculously short pull date. They will go on much longer than that. I hard boiled up some eggs about a month ago, that were 6 weeks past their pull date. Every one of them was a pain to shuck, because they were still so fresh!!.
If you drop an egg in a glass of water, a spoiled one will float. As long as they stay down, they are fine. Learning this little trick saves a good many perfectly fine eggs.
At present, it is actually cheaper to buy eggs from a farmer, than to buy them in the stores; how wild is that? $1.50 for fresh brown farm eggs, versus $1.99 to $$2.29 for large eggs at the market.
I agree with all that you have said. Since this past November, I have been trying to cut corners and tighten the belts some. Its hard to do with a growing family and prices skyrocketing. Seems more and more houses are going on the market every day.
Once in a blue moon I can find a dozen large eggs for 99 cents on sale. The regular price at the cheapest place in town is about $1.79 for mediums and $1.99 for large, but it fluctuates all over the place. Sometimes, Eggland’s Best are the cheapest to buy!!! Other times, not. The most expensive market in town has eggs for $4.00 a dozen sometimes. It’s insane.
I agree with you that our country is in recession, so I’ve been working to increase my family’s stockpile of food, just in case. My husband’s job is one that is not normally affected by recession but his pay certainly does not cover major inflation at the market & the pumps. Now is the time to be frugal for later. =)
You’re right, Miss Maggie! We’re definitely beginning our latest recession, and I’m SO glad we’re beginning a new presidential term! 🙂
Eggs here in NW Washington State really vary in price. Most commonly, the best price for 18-ct large store-brand white eggs are buy-one-get-one-free, @ $3.89. That’s not too bad, actually. But When I see that price, I do stock up, as I know it can easily be up & down $1-$1.50 per dozen from week to week. Fresh eggs abound in my area as well – organic large white & brown free-range local eggs average about $2.25 per dozen.
By the way, another egg-storage tip – if you lay the carton on it’s side in your fridge, it will make the best devilled eggs – it makes the yolk move to the middle of the white, so you don’t end up with a paper-thin white at the top or bottom. Makes you devilled-egg platter look, well, ‘Martha-worthy’! 🙂
If I can convince DH, we’ll have our own chicks (just 6-8 hens) this Spring.
Prices in Central PA are about $1.71 a dozen. We started tightening the belt in early December we aren’t exactly crunched yet but we feel it coming. I equate the recession as a big spanking too. It is also along the equivalency of the mindset that “this ship is unsinkable”. Well let’s just say that this housewife went to see the ants in proverbs and we are going make sure the storehouses are full.
God Bless and thanks for your ministry
Belinda
I’m here in Oregon, too. A few months ago I used to be able to get 18 count eggs for $1.89 at Winco, one time it was even 99 cents! Now, even Winco is high. Safeway was ridiculous at almost $6.00 for an 18 count.
My in-laws have started chickens, it really is too bad that your zoning doesn’t allow it. The chickens are a good experience for the kids, and believe it or not they really do have personalities! Seeing the chickens happy little faces when we drive up each time is sure a blessing, they think everyone is bringing them a treat. 🙂 So I’m not feeling the pinch so hard with the eggs, but milk whether fresh or dry is getting very unreasonable, along with everything else.
I used to get pasta for 3lbs/$1 on sale, regular price about $1.19, now the SALE price is $1.19, potatoes are $7 for 5 lbs, meat is outrageous, I could go on and on. We are all getting tired of beans, even though we have several tried and true recipes we enjoy.
Last summer I enjoyed the bounty of friends and families gardens and canned as much as I could get ahold of. Next month I am going to start peas and beets in milk jug seed starters
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2007-12-01/Garden-with-Cold-Frames.aspx
By April I will be able to purchase tomato starts from an elderly neighbor lady for 50 cents a start. As you can see, my solution to this recession is grow our own food. I see no other choice.
Blessings to all of you!
Eggs are $2.19 one local grocery. Haven’t been to the other one to check. I get them from my neice at -ahem- less than that. 😉
I pay $1.50/doz for beautiful eggs from a local small farm. In the store, XL organic eggs are about .20/each in bulk, and have not increased in price. Organic milk from the local coop is around $6/gallon and has not increased in the past year. This is costly, but it is a very small part of our diet (1 gallon lasts 3 weeks).
I have noticed many price increases, but our overall grocery spending has not yet increased because we buy in bulk, on sale, cook from scratch, and eat vegetarian at least 50% of the time. Non-veg meals also are based on vegetables more than poultry or meat for us. Buying fresh produce in-season is still cost-effective around here.
I’m worried about the families around me that seem to live in blissful ignorance. Yes, they comment about increasing prices, but don’t do anything to save money and get out of debt.
The worsening economy has me looking for new ways to save energy, planning a larger garden and being more creative in the kitchen. It’s more work for me, but it’s my way of creating a hedge of protection around my family’s finances.
Prices for eggs in SW pennsylvania are the same as elsewhere, but my grocery store doubles coupons and I consistantly get .80 to 1.00 off bringing the price to 1.49/doz. That’s for organic large brown.
However, I am really surprised to read some of the political comments. I suppose it’s easy to blame our President because he is the most visible politcal figure (scapegoat). I am not defending him because he has done much that I cannot agree with, but the cost of your eggs has nothing to do with the war, but with a congress who cares more about special interests than about the needs of American families. Until we (government) invest in our own means for supplying oil we will never be financially independent as a nation. And as much as I personally like the idea of wind and solar and other forms of alternative energy, they are just not going to cut it.
Your eggs are high for two reasons:
1) Ethanol–the corn is being experimented with to make fuel thus reducing the amount of available feed for chickens
2) Foreign oil–as the price per barrel rises, so do the transportation costs to get the eggs to the store.
I know I am not saying anything you wonderful ladies don’t already know, but until we reclaim our own resources which China, Cuba, and other countries are doing miles off of our own coasts but our congress tells us we cannot do, we will never turn this economy around. It can be done in an environmentally responsible way and we really have no assurances that those who are drilling now care about protecting our waters. And I’m sorry, but given our choices for the next Presidential term I don’t see any signifcant changes on the horizon. Tighten your belts, do whatever you can to live as frugally and simply as possible, trusting the LORD keep you and provide for your needs, that’s the only recipe for thriving in this corrupted generation. If I were not a Christian I would feel in despair, but because my God is mighty and owns the cattle on ten thousand hills I will consider the lilies and rest in Him. God Bless you all!
About eggs: We are lucky enough to get WIC, so we get 2 doz. eggs a month for free. If we had to pay for them, we would pay about $2 a doz., depending on the store and the eggs.
But, again, we are lucky, because if we take our own carton, we can buy truly eggs-cellent (I couldn’t resist- sorry!) eggs for $1.25 a doz. from friends who raise chickens. They are all the good things- cage and antibiotic free, high in omega 3, eggs-cetera. (OK, I’ll stop now, I promise.)
As for the rest of this post, all I have to say is “Hear, hear!”
Oh, and one more thing: soy flour is the cheapest egg substitute I have found. It’s usually near the fancy boxed flours in Wal*Mart, with the Vital Wheat Gluten and that stuff.
1 heaping Tb. soy flour + 1 Tb. water = 1 egg in baking. I use it in all my mixes. It even works in pancakes. HTH somebody.
So I was reading Yahoo today, and it said that it is official that the recession started in December 2008. So immediately I thought of this blog. Wow, Maggie you really hit the nail on the head.
In another note…..I sure hope all is well with you and yours. Tell Fred to keep his head up, and you all are in our prayers.
God Bless You!