Inflation: Beyond the Numbers - Updated

PixabayPhoto byRyanMcguire

LA is expensive. To visit and especially to live here. The theory of supply and demand swirls around this city with a 600-square-foot one-bedroom home costing more than a six-bedroom house outside of Dallas.

It's the sun and the beaches, the film industry, and getting caught up in the myth that LA is the place to be and be seen.

But after all that glitz and glitter wears off it's all down to paying rent and filling up at the local 76 station and paying more per gallon than 99% of the rest of the USA.

We’ve all been there. It’s late at night, we’re staring at the checkbook balance, then at the list of bills to be paid. Back and forth hoping the numbers will somehow come together and we’ll be okay.

Sometimes it works in our favor, often it doesn’t. So, we cope. We wait for the next check; the next bill and we carry on.

When we hear about Inflation on the news, we know what it means - higher prices. Higher rents. Higher mortgage rates. Fewer opportunities to get into that first house. It affects us where we live. In our confidence and ability to predict. Wherever we go, it’s there before we arrive.

If you live in Los Angeles and some other cities you know about Trader Joe’s Grocery Markets. Good selection, good quality, and consistent pricing. They hold the line on prices so we keep coming back.

Even they seem to be struggling lately to hold that line.

A dozen eggs - $2.49 a year ago, today costs, $3.99. A large can of French Roast coffee, was $12.99 for years, up to $14.99. Black Forest bacon, a package up from $4.99 to $6.49.

Update: That package of bacon is still $6.99 but the eggs have gone down to $3.49. Hey, every little bit helps. But the prices at the local gas station - well there was good news a few months back with some charging under $4 per gallon. But it's almost summer and California being what it is, that special blend is hitting the pumps and the price is back up to $5 per.

One item, one increase, we can cope with that. When the tally across a week’s worth of shopping goes up 25% higher than it was six months ago - the impact is greater. The worry that was waiting at the fringes moves in fully and our sense of prediction lessens.

Inflation affects us all beyond the numbers. In our ability to predict a financial future that is already lost in the clouds most of the time.

One doesn’t normally associate inflation with trauma - we save that connection for car accidents, deaths in the family, and abusive relationships. But the loss of a job, the loss of one’s ability to stay afloat hits us in the same way as the loss of something more meaningful.

We worry. We double and triple-check our work schedule. When and if overtime is possible this month. If that second job is still available. If we can keep the heat on when the price of natural gas is going up - you know, because of inflation.

In California, we add about $1.08 to every gallon of gasoline to cover taxes, fees, and repayment of old bonds from 2006. Then inflation hits and the price per gallon swings between $3.59 and $5.59 and we pull out the old credit cards, we swore we wouldn’t use them again to cover the increase - just for a while until the prices drop. When they drop.

Then we read the local papers and see that the oil companies have had a great winter - record profits. That there were more unplanned maintenance breaks at plants across the states, reducing output, and increasing prices. The same as last year.

And we worry a little more because the math isn’t working out. How does an increase in the cost of oil and natural gas - causing a rise in our bills and a dramatic increase in profits at the same time?

So, we return to the news. The YouTube videos for an explanation. To understand the numbers so we can somehow limit their impact on our lives.

And then back to the checkbooks for a closer look and we wonder when things will go back to the way they were.

Inflation, unlike a shortage of trees or radial tires or a bad coffee season in Brazil, is often subjective.

Mortgage rates go up because access to money becomes more expensive, which might make the cost of a home go up, but not if sales are down and sellers are lowering their prices to bring prospects in.

And if corporations, eager to please their shareholders, see an opportunity to increase profits, then the cost of bacon increases or a six-pack of Vitamin Water goes from $5.99 to $7.49 over a two-week period at Kroger’s. And the shelves remain stocked.

Recently bottled water in LA has gone up and in some cases off the shelves. LA water is fine, it's safe to drink, it's just not champagne in a glass. So, the alternatives do a bang-up business here. Including local firms that sell the stuff in large 2 1/2 gallon plastic jugs. Not the greatest thing for the environment, admittedly, but it's been there for years but recently not so much. Ralphs has been in short supply with the traditional larger jugs of drinking water being limited to the one-gallon variety. Why, no answers yet. Von has them, other stores, not so much.

Like with any trauma, getting to the root cause of it helps bring about relief. Lessens the stress and negative impact that trauma might have on our lives.

Only Inflation isn’t the same thing as a loss, is it?

And if it is, will it help if we just talk about it?

We live in a layered society. We may turn on the tap to get water but we’re not involved in how it gets there or where it comes from. When we turn on the lights we can see clearly but we have little say in how much it costs for the TV or washer to go on.

These layers tend to push us further and further away from being in charge of our lives. That’s the way it appears but it’s not the way it has to be.

We’ll always take care of what we can. Leave the lights off, and turn the heater down to 64. Water the lawns only once a week. We got that part of it covered.

But as with any trauma that affects us, it’s best to share the problem and engage with others. Show up at city council meetings. Write letters to state senators and representatives. Use this link to help with that.

And if you’re feeling proactive, boycott a store or gas station that is always high. Shop elsewhere. Sometimes doing something, anything helps relieve the stress. Start there.

Spread the word.