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| Saturday, April 26, 2008 |
| Are you on a Recession Diet? |
 The New York Times reports: Recession Diet Just One Way to Tighten Belt Burt Flickinger, a longtime retail consultant, said the last time he saw such significant changes in consumer buying patterns was the late 1970s, when runaway inflation prompted Americans to “switch from red meat to pork to poultry to pasta — then to peanut butter and jelly.”
“It hasn’t gotten to human food mixed with pet food yet,” he said, “but it is certainly headed in that direction.”
Retail sales figures and consumer surveys confirm that Americans are strategically cutting corners, whether it is at the coffee house or the airport. (In: brewing coffee at home and flying coach. Out: Starbucks and first class.)
In March, Americans spent less on women’s clothing (down 4.9 percent), furniture (3.1 percent), luxury goods (1.3 percent) and airline tickets (1.1 percent) compared with a year ago, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, a service of the credit card company that measures spending on 300 million of its cards and estimates purchases with other cards, cash and checks.
Wal-Mart Stores reports stronger-than-usual sales of peanut butter and spaghetti, while restaurants like Domino’s Pizza and Ruby Tuesday have suffered a falloff in orders, suggesting that many Americans are sticking to low-cost home-cooked meals.
I am far from mixing dog food into my human food to stretch out a meal, but I am planning on supplementing my produce purchases with my garden output this summer.Labels: Recession Obsession |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 5:50 PM *
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| 6 Comments: |
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If store revenues are declining we could probably expect the stores to start offering incentives to get the customers in. This could end up being a buying opportunity. I know a few hotels are discounting their prices but with high airfare it negates any savings.
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Happily, I have to think hard to see if I'm tightening my belt, and the only thing I come up with is reducing my driving to some degree - taking my bike or walking on those short trips. I'm also planning on using craigslist to get someone to share a ride on one or both legs of a 150 mile round-trip day-trip I'll be making in June to the shore. I read or heard something recently that made me think to offer it. Maybe it was on Marketplace on NPR. If not for high gas prices, I wouldn't even have thought of it even though it's a great idea any time.
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I recently read of a program, in Boston, called Keep Your Own Cow in prospect of a milk shortage. The same for chickens because of high egg prices. Permits would be needed from the Health Dept. This appeared in a Pittsfiled MA newspaper dated March 10, 1943. I wonder if it could happen today??
I seem to remember people in Detroit raising/selling rabbits for meat during a period of massive layoffs. My husband and I fished and crabbed in Florida in the 70s to help with the food budget.
Currently, we participate in the SHARE program for our monthly meat/fish/poultry paying about 1/3 less than grocery prices and grow some veggies and sprouts to supplement. We've also cut out purchased snacks and use non-microwave popcorn instead.
Bellen
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After quite the hiatus I've reintroduced beans into my diet. I've also upped the amount of tofu I consume. If I do buy meat it's chicken or ground turkey, I haven't bought beef in ages.
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When I was a kid, my mom made a baked lentil dish that we called "dog food." It just looked so .. brown. And lumpy. But with enough ketchup, it was edible. And there was no actual dog food in it.
Beans can be more than edible. They can be delicious, scrumptious, and affordable! Just find the right recipe...
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Really? Domino's Pizza sales are down?? I would have expected the opposite - people stopped going to more expensive sit-down restaurants, but pizza is still really cheap, esp Domino's as compared to Papa John's. I just think that realistically so many people don't know how to cook... just 2 years ago I would not have known how to make tuna casserole. I know! Pasta + tuna + mayo --> eat. I don't think I'm all that unusual of a case at all - now that I cook, people (my age at least) think I'm an oddball!
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If store revenues are declining we could probably expect the stores to start offering incentives to get the customers in. This could end up being a buying opportunity. I know a few hotels are discounting their prices but with high airfare it negates any savings.