Giving Up The Candy

This trickle down stuff hurts more and more everyday. We all know the high oil prices affect everything, and we all know that the transport cost of products are passed on to the consumers. At my house, we have cut out a few " luxuries " to help us stay within our budget. Things like eating out, McDonald's for lunch, and ordering pizza. It seems now, one of our little pleasure's will be put on that list. The Hersey Co. announced Friday that due to the rising cost of commodities, they will be raising their prices by 11%. This is the second price increase this year.

I did a little investigating on my own today, and bought a Kit Kat bar at a convenience store. It was $0.98 cents plus tax which came to $1.03. This was a regular size bar that sold for $0.69 cents a little over a year ago


After we left the convenience store, we made a stop at the Wall-Mart. While the wife was grabbing a few things, I went to the 10 items or less line and bought some M&Ms. they rung up at $1.09 plus tax which came to $1.14. I remember buying some M&Ms not long ago, same size, same bag, for less than a dollar




The Reese's cups in the same store, same line, was sold to me for $1.14 also. I have done the math, and $0.69 cents to $1.09 does not work up to 11%. I know, 30 or 40 cents is no big deal, but if the little things in life can make a 40% or 50% jump in price without us knowing, What's next? I guess I'll have to buy a bag of the little snack size bars and ration them between my sons and myself. And just for the record, The candy machines that line the exit of the store that had the $0.25 cent gum ball's, all of them were $0.50 cents now. I give up. No more candy for me
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Open minded masses

I am a true sports fan. My preferences lean towards football, but the competition between two teams is truly entertaining. I am only a spectator from the comfort of my own home, and enjoy the TV coverage that comes with the game. It is always great to see a large group of people, each with their own idea of what play to call, who should be quarterback, should they punt the ball, or go for that last yard. A large group for one main goal, which is winning the game, but huddled into their own little groups with a different opinion than that of the group standing four rows behind them. If their team gets the win, then it's all smiles and cheers. If their team looses, then it comes down to the " well if they would have done this " commentary, and " fire the coach" , or " we need a new quarterback ". I wonder if all this can be compared to the DNC ? with the long, drawn out primary, and Hilary stepping down and Obama taking the lead, were there any armchair comments coming from the camps that sounded like the words overheard in the losers parking lot after the game ? I read today that Obama and Bill Clinton have had a conversation recently that stated that Obama has asked for his help in getting elected. What would he do different than what he did for Hilary ? In a speach given by the former president, he said that people were huddled in masses of their own ideas, and were unwilling to accept change. This may be true, but when the primary's started there were many groups huddled around many ideas, and now we are down to two. The Big Game is getting close, and it is time to make as many of these huddled masses as happy as possible. Can we find a solution to the huge increase in gas prices ? Can we bring down inflation and the cost of food ? Can we solve the mortgage crises ? Is there some type of solution to the war ? Are we safe from further attacks on our country ? Will we have an answer to these questions in February 2009 ?