After reading this news story that half of Americans are skipping meals because of affordability and a bad economy, I have to ask how are you all doing out there?
I heard from a real estate agent friend of mine that REOs, i.e. bank foreclosures on home mortgages, are going up like crazy, which is a sign of bad times, like the recession of 2007-08.
I have heard from others about rents not being paid, lack of jobs, etc.
Every day, there’s more news of corporate layoffs, moreso than usual.
I live in the economic bubble of the SF Bay Area, where tech wealth more-or-less insulates me and mine from the most serious consequences of a bad economy, but how are things elsewhere?
Those food prices sound interesting. In the UK its the reverse. Farmers markets cost a fortune but Aldi costs fuck all.
We are not being overly frugal with food and it still usually costs under £30/week for 2 of us. If we wanted to be frugal I would probably cut out the meat and cheese to replace with grains which would half our spending.
As an example this weekend: Farmers market organic apples(Braeburn and Honeycrisp), single farm, guy who sold me the apples oversaw their picking this week. $3.50 / pound.
Superstore, US grown Galas, been in a box for 6 months, $3 / pound.
We’re around 60-70 / week for me and my partner four usual food, but that also includes some steak and pork once and a while.