Products shrinking, but NOT in price.

[Andrew Joiner]

I was inspired by this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=119525 about the shrinking thickness of plywood.

Woodworkers seem to be aware of exactly what they get for their money. I think more than the average person. After all we buy raw materials and make products from them.

I have become a total buyer beware type. I try to buy everything by it's raw material content. Brands and marketing slogans mean nothing to me.

A classic example is ice cream. It's sold by volume not weight so whipping in air is legal and gives consumers less product. Look at the labels on ice cream. Some of the "premium" brands (and you MUST use your imagination to define premium here) have more skim milk than cream!

I would call it Ice Skim Milk to be correct. Oh, and with lots of added whipped air to reduce calories. By the way we must charge more because it's healthy and air is natural and ORGANIC!

Anyone care to rant? Any other products shrinking that you buy?

[Dan Friedrichs]

Andrew, since reading that same thread you linked to, I've been trying to think of a way to ask exactly what you asked in this thread - you beat me to it!

In the other thread, I really liked where one poster said he buys 40lb bags of coffee once a year. It saves time, is probably better quality, and lets him avoid the whole "consumer mentality" of buying whatever *bucks "coffee" is in the shiniest bag (I like to imagine he gets it in a big burlap sack :)

I haven't noticed anything "shrinking", but the "buyer beware" mentality is sneaking up very hard on me, too, as I start to see how badly we're getting taken advantage of on certain things. One example: Windex. I stopped buying Windex and started making my own - 1/8cu ammonia, 1/2cu alcohol, 2 drops of dish soap, blue food coloring (if you want), and enough water to fill a re-used spray bottle. It takes me about 30 seconds to mix up a bottle of it, costs me less than $0.10/bottle (compared to $3.50 for the "real" stuff), and you cannot tell the difference.

Another thing I do is nearly refuse to buy meat at the grocery stores. I've found a small meat locker in a very, very rural location that has just about the same prices, but the quality is absolutely unbelievable. Grass-fed, humanely-treated animals, coming from people I trust, who are more concerned about doing the job right than sqeezing that last penny out of my hands.

Next year, I'm starting a garden. I shall never again pay $3.99 for a single shriveled red pepper at the grocery store...


Does anyone else have examples of how they're avoiding the "consumer culture" mentality, or how they're getting more/better product at less price?

[Paul Atkins]

We've been making our own window cleaner for years (more or less the same formula) and we can tell the difference -ours works better. We have a friend that raises lambs, chickens and turkeys and we will never buy grocery store meat again..or eggs.

[Richard Magbanua]

Have you had a Jr. hamburger from Wendy's lately? I did. I thought I was at White Castles!

[Greg Peterson]

How many slices of bread are in a loaf of bread?

I'm counting fifteen. I don't know if the loaf has shrunk, but last time I made a sandwiche, I used an even number of slices.

Minor? Depends on perspective. I'm sure the bakery doesn't think it's minor.

[Phil Thien]

I just wish my waistline would shrink at the same rate the ice cream cartons seem to.

[Darius Ferlas]

We buy eggs from a local farmer. We pay half the price and get almost twice the size. The yellows are actually yellow.

We make our own cottage cheese, our own pierogi and a whole lot of things we used to buy. We stopped buying pastry. We can bake and it tastes much better. Cooking at home not only saves money but affords quality time for the family.

Whenever we can (seasonal) we buy fruit from local farmers (pick your own), and we have a vegetable garden that has eliminated the need to buy any veggies (and some small fruit) during the growing season. Some of it can be stored through the Winter, some preserved in jars.

We stopped watching TV and gave up the cable service. Public radio and news headlines on the net are sufficient. We may get an antenna to get free broadcast but somehow we're not in a hurry to do that. Perhaps next year or a year after that. We haven't missed TV one bit since February this year.

Oh, and I build my own furniture :)

A real short story of about 20 years ago:

One Saturday while shopping in a supermarket I tossed a package of ham in the shopping cart and then I noticed the label was on top on another label. The top one said that the ham was packaged on Monday the following week - two days into the future! I peeled the top label and the other label had a packaging date of two weeks prior.

Btw. skinless chicken is usually very old. First they try to sell it with the skin. When the meat doesn't sell the skin gets kinda green so they remove it, up the price and sell the meat as skinless.

[Robert Parrish]

Darius, eggs are not sold by size but by weight.

[Dave Johnson29]

Have you had a Jr. hamburger from Wendy's lately?

My dog loves 4 of them for lunch when I have a "Double." Yum. :D

[Dave Johnson29]

Just last night noticed Steinlager (New Zealand) beer bottles are no longer 12-oz, they are now 11.15-oz. :( Might have been like it for a while though as I am not that observant. :)

[Dan Mages]

Darius, eggs are not sold by size but by weight.

Not 100% true. Eggs are sized by their average weight per dozen.

[Eric Larsen]

We have a Russian market here that sells 5-pound bags of whole bean coffee for $25.

That's as much as I care to buy in one shot, in case I get a scorched roast. In my eternal quest for "higher quality/lower price," I'd like to start buying green coffee beans at $2/pound and roasting them myself.

I haven't found a coffee roaster that does it for me yet, though.

[Russ Filtz]

I am POSITIVE McD's Big Macs and esp. the fish sandwich have gotten smaller in the past 30-yrs. I think they used to have two slices of cheese instead of the puny half-slice they get now. They used to be HUGE in my small little hands back then!

[Rod Sheridan]

As many others have posted we've;

1) stopped shopping at Wal Mart or Home Depot/Lowes so that we can buy at Canadian companies

2) We get eggs and beef from Diann's parents farm.

3) we get chickens and lamb from a friend

4) we buy at a butcher shop for the remainder of meat products, no plastic packaging, just plain brown paper

5) we shop locally in the summer at farmer markets, in the off season we try to buy local or at least Canadian. It sure is aggravating to look at California produce in Ontario when we grow it locally.

How about the US, do you guys see foreign produce at the store that could have been sourced locally?

Regards, Rod.

[Dave Lehnert]

Next year, I'm starting a garden. I shall never again pay $3.99 for a single shriveled red pepper at the grocery store...



I'm in the retail garden bizz. Veg plant sales were way up this year.

Upside down tomato planter $12.99. 2cu. ft bag of Miracle Gro potting mix $9.99. Heirloom verity tomato plant $2.49. Hanging Basket hook to hang it all on $21.99.
Made a lot of money from people saving money this year growing their own tomato's. :D

[Mac McQuinn]

Some great ideas here.

My wife and I drink a lot of espresso and I learned a long time ago about how much profit is in coffee. I now order my coffee beans in bulk green form and roast them myself. It's amazing how long 5 lbs of coffee beans @ $27.00 will last. I have a light commercial espresso maker and grinder and can roast in a stainless popcorn popper with thermostat.

We use organic milk due to the health aspects but also because the expiration dates are usually much later than regular milk. I've seen Organic milk with expiration dates 2 months away in store coolers.


Next time you run to the store to pick up a half gallon of ice cream, check the quantity.....1.5 Quarts. They have managed to raise the price plus change the dimensions of container to still appear like 1/2 gallon size.

Mac

[Dennis Peacock]

We grind our own wheat so the flour is always fresh, we grind our own corn meal, we grind our own coffee, we grow a lot of our food. We work with a local farm and get fresh eggs and milk. From that milk we get about 4+ pounds of fresh butter per week, 4 gallons of free fresh milk per week, homemade buttermilk, and when we make ice cream? It's made with fresh cream from the same milk.

If you grow your own food? Make sure you are using heirloom seeds as they will yield seeds that you can plant and harvest from the next planting season.

It's not just about cheaper....it's about healthier as well.

[Russ Filtz]

Some great ideas here.

My wife and I drink a lot of espresso and I learned a long time ago about how much profit is in coffee. I now order my coffee beans in bulk green form and roast them myself. It's amazing how long 5 lbs of coffee beans @ $27.00 will last. I have a light commercial espresso maker and grinder and can roast in a stainless popcorn popper with thermostat.

Mac

Dunkin has deals going right now for 4 lbs at $19 (I get the whole bean). Can't beat that! DD is very good about being green at sourcing their coffee too. It's not espresso roast, but maybe it can be re-roasted? Is that even possible?

[Brian Brown]

Have you had a Jr. hamburger from Wendy's lately? I did. I thought I was at White Castles!

Just finished eating one for lunch. Still licking my fingers. ;) Maybe Wendys should bring back the "Where's the beef commercials", and take a good look at themselves. :D

[Dennis Peacock]

Don't get the LOML started on this topic.!!!! She's complained several times about several products that are the same price or more expensive but smaller in size. Like Clorox in a "gallon" size.

[Aaron Koehl]

Yes, here in VA we have some of the best farm land in the country. Yet, my local grocery store is full of canadian produce.. ;)

[Aaron Koehl]

I'm in the retail garden bizz. Veg plant sales were way up this year.

Upside down tomato planter $12.99. 2cu. ft bag of Miracle Gro potting mix $9.99. Heirloom verity tomato plant $2.49. Hanging Basket hook to hang it all on $21.99.
Made a lot of money from people saving money this year growing their own tomato's. :D


Let's not forget the $30 in quick-disconnect hose fittings, timer, hose, and 12 ft 4x4. Or am I the only one that set up irrigation for my upside down 'matos? :D