Two inflation-fighting strategies (personal story)

[NJCher]

The two strategies are comparison shopping and volume buying.

I buy a particular kind of coffee which is expensive because it is both decaf and low-acid. It can't even be found in a grocery store; it has to be special ordered.

I also buy a tea that tastes like coffee. It is about 3 or 4 times the price of regular tea. I was running out of it, so I intended to order it as well.

When placing my order, I saw the coffee was more expensive. I expected a price increase, but this seemed a little high. I figured the increase from the previous year when I'd placed an order, and saw it was now around 8-9% higher. U.S. inflation was running close to 8%, so I could see this supplier was more than covering the price.

I decided to check another source and by putting my tea order along with the coffee order, I received free shipping (volume buying). In addition, because I hadn't purchased from the site in a while, they gave me 20% off. As a matter of fact, the coffee I ordered came in under the price I paid a year ago.

My second example is a type of seed I purchase for the community gardens I supervise. In this case, it is an unusual item and hard to find, so I again expected a price increase because of no competition. Was I ever wrong!

We have a powdery mildew problem here in NJ and cannot organically grow squash, melons, or cucumbers unless we purchase a particular type of disease-resistant seed. It had increased in price quite dramatically, plus the number of seeds had decreased! I wrote to the owner of the seed company and asked for a discount, based on the fact that we are a non-profit. I received no answer, so I decided to comparison shop. Amazing: I found twice the amount of seed for the same price I paid two years ago from another supplier.

So to sum up:

--comparison shop. Not everyone increased their prices and even if they did, there may be a promotional discount offered.
Also, don't assume conditions are the same as when you originally purchased. There may be new suppliers, adding to the competitive effect on prices.

--volume buy. Buy enough that you won't have to order for a year or so. Saves on shipping and your time.

[spinbaby]

1. Good post

It’s hard to comparison shop for everything, but definitely check prices on products your household uses a lot of and don’t assume that the low-cost retailer has the best price—Whole Foods has the best price on my favorite yogurt.

Something I’m doing now is digging into my savings to buy a couple of big-ticket items before they absolutely need to be replaced because I anticipate their price will go up.