In 2008 I could buy a 20 lb. bag of cat food. Then the economy went into the shitter. Eventually, the cat food went to a 16 lb bag but the price stayed the same. Running the math showed the resizing amounted to a 30% price increase.

Here we go again.

https://www.kake.com/story/46651364/no-youre-not-imagining-it-package-sizes-are-shrinking

" No, you’re not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking"

" Dworsky said shrinkflation appeals to manufacturers because they know customers will notice price increases but won’t keep track of net weights or small details, like the number of sheets on a roll of toilet paper. "

Pretty sneaky the way you get bent over.

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No so.

They used to be 2 x 4s when I was a kid in the 50s. Then they moved to 1 3/4 x 3 3/4 and then on down to 1.5 x 3.5. These were finished 2 x 4s.

About 6 years ago, some 1940s/1950s triplexes one block from me were being torn down. I stopped for closer look, asked the dismantler if I could have a couple of real 2 x 4s. They are on my back porch somewhere.

Nowadays, it is difficult to buy a sheet of 1/2" plywood. They now measure 7/16". 3/4" measures less than 3/4"

500g = 16 0z. = 1 lb.

12 oz packages of bacon have been available around here for several years. But we have options. The 16 oz. is still available.

Although I have not seen a 16 oz. sack of potato chips since forever. They went to 12 oz. then down to 10 oz. I think the last I was was 9 oz.

You mean the fine print . I guess I am going to have to start bringing a magnifying glass to help with my shopping

Geez. I am sorry. I did not mean to offend you. Maybe I should turn this into a For Sale post?

https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/fattdirk/forum/topics

Forget the Payday. Go buy a sack of candy corn and some peanuts. Same thing. This will at least be a cost savings on a comparative basis.

Well, the Payday filler is a little more gooey. Other than that......

Oh yeah, I forgot: To get around the calorie count and other BS per serving, cereals now label the boxes as a full serving is only 3/4 cup instead of one cup. Same crap, smaller portions, but you will still fill up your cereal bowl. So no difference in what you are eating.

I noticed when gallons of ice cream turned into 3 quarts, a la Braum's.

16-18 years ago I bought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was served to me in 2 buckets. The last time I bought a bucket of KFC, the order did not even fill one bucket. Now, I just buy a pot pie and call it a day.

LOL.

I mentioned this earlier. Thanks for the back up.

You got it.

In the early 70s we had the first gasoline shortage crisis thanks to Saudi Arabia. And for the rest of the 70s the economy spent a lot of time swimming in the toilet with high prices. Community gardens started to become that latest craze; After awhile, life moved on and the community gardens sort of faded away.

I tried a garden 1980 after I moved into my house. The weather was hotter than hell that year and what I planted burned up. That ended my gardening efforts.

I have crappy soil that I am trying to improve and look to try my hand at gardening again next year.

I also have found out that I can grow a bing cherry tree in my growing zone. And supposedly I can also grow an Asian Pear tree ( Before the pandemic I could buy Asian pears for $1.00 each. I thought a dollar was too much but then I realized they were always sweet and always crunchy so I started loading up).

After the pandemic had mostly past, Kroger brought some Asian Pears back. They were priced at $3.00 each and were undersized. I passed. I think everybody else also decided they cost too much, too. I have not seen any since. So, I am looking at trying to plant an Asian Pear tree.

My cousin who lives a few miles from me and has well water and plants a good size garden. The radishes from his garden put the ones in the stores to shame. His radishes have that "bite" that lights up your mouth when you bite into them; The ones on the store are bland, tasteless orbs that offer some crunch---with no flavor.

Also, several months I ago I started eating an Asian style diet. The carrots I can buy in the Asian stores are fat, juicy, and sweet tasting. The carrots you buy from the grocery stores are just more tasteless crunch. If you like good tasting carrots, go to the Asian stores, if you have the option.

Agreed. But I find myself wondering how stiff pin prices will be in an era of rising interest rates?

I never saw gas pumps that could measure in both liters and gallons. But in the early 70s there was a big push for the U.S. to swap our Imperial system of measurement and move to the Metric system. Both sides of the argument were calling the other side idiots. Eventually, someone asked how much it was going to cost to replace all the speed limit signs and mileage/distance signs and the matter died on the vine.

But not before we had 3 or 4 years worth of some Detroit automobiles with dual measurements on the speedometer. I'm guessing these metric pumps had something to do with the U.S. attempting to move to the metric system.

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Anyway, the U.S. never made the switch but we have a bastardized measuring system to jack with.

For instance,

1) in today's environment, every mechanic has to have a set of Metric wrenches and a set of American Standard wrenches in his toolbox. And also two sets of socket wrenches. Winners: The tool makers such as Snap-On and Mac Tools. And not just for the extra sales of tools. More tools meant that tool boxes had to get bigger. Today's gas station mechanic needs a tool box as big as commercial top load freezer.

2) If I want a set of metric socket wrenches, I need to decide if I want 1/4" drive, 3/8" drive, or 1/2" drive metric sockets. Ah...yeah, I need a 13 mm socket with 1/2" drive.

3) I worked for Beechcraft building airplanes. There were only American Standard nuts and bolts for a product that is exported all over the world.

Since the U.S. never made the hump to metric system, the online authors, who are writing for a wide audience have to quote something in both Metric measurements and Imperial measurements so we can figure out what the size is.

Our Canadian neighbors must be shaking their heads about the idiots south of the border who don't know what a liter is. Although, I do believe they also have to contend with metric socket sets that come in 3/8" drive.

How old are you? Do you know if the dual reading speedometer was around before 1973?

Gasoline pretty much settled in around $1.20 per gallon for a long time. In late 80s and early 90s I drove a Lincoln Mark V with a gas guzzling 460 ci engine. A round trip to see family in Dallas cost me around $100.00 per trip. In 1995, I bought a Honda Civic with its 4 cylinder 1500 CC engine. Now a RT to Dallas was only costing me about $30.00 as I recall. I learned to like small cars with this mileage/cost difference.

$20.00 to fill up a van sounds about right. That Honda was costing only $9.00 to fill up.

And via the magic of creative packaging the smaller 8 oz. container on the right looks larger than the larger one on the left.

You know those candy bars high school bands sell for a dollar? They are still a dollar, but they look like a Hershey bar that has been split 4 ways. Long and flat.

This pic will give you an idea.

Screen Shot 2023-02-18 at 5.58.41 AM (resized).jpg

And then there is the Toblerone chocolate bars.

Toblerone made the move to smaller size a few years ago. But the triangular box did not change. I don't know how it is handling the price/size equation today.

6 years ago.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/08/toblerone-gets-more-gappy-but-its-fans-are-not-happy

Looks like Bargain Hunt is concentrated down in the southeast. I don't know if there is something similar around here.

Screen Shot 2023-02-18 at 9.35.38 AM (resized).jpg

I don't know where you live but around here Amazon is putting the squeeze on many businesses when it started its $15.00 minimum wage. Other employers, including Walmart, have had to raise their wages to match. And they had to jack their menu prices to pay for the wage increase.

Boy, we are gonna miss the cheap labor.

??? One is an 8oz. bottle and the other is 10 oz. If they are same size then the factory is short filling one bottle and changing the labeling is only thing I can think of.

I did see something like this several years ago when the package down-sizing started happening. There were two brands of coffee. Both brands had cans the same size, but one had something like 3 oz. less coffee in the can. I call it potato chip packaging where you are buying a lot of air.

Speaking of potato chips, it has been awhile since I have seen a 16 oz. bag of chips.

In 2008 Braum's ice cream started coming in 3 qt. containers instead of 1 gallon containers.. I have not seen 1 gallon containers since 2008. I forgot all about half gallons.

I wonder how long this will last? I supposed when all the small left overs turn black. This is a stupid corporate move.

That is one of the sneakiest ones I have seen.