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Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

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Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#31

Post by jvanderbot »

t1234s wrote: post #18

In the US insurance (of all types: car, house, health) is a major expense and only getting worse.

I'm a fairly well to do/employable person, and so is my wife. Together, we should be all kinds of financially stable.

But the two largest costs to our finances are ridiculously outsized: Child Care and Health Care. We pay more for our children and health insurance / care, than our house + cars (+student loans) combined.

These seem like two areas where intervention is not only possible but likely to help just about everyone. And, if those are solved, I wonder if this "fertility crisis" I keep hearing about goes away too.

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#32

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

N_Lens wrote: post #25

The current financial system and various corporations see the majority of consumers like livestock - a kind of resource to be exploited. It's better to be free range organic though, in my humble opinion, but the majority seem to be trending towards battery/cage chickens.

> It's better to be free range organic though, in my humble opinion, but the majority seem to be trending towards battery/cage chickens.

This is assuming the majority of chickens have a choice.

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#33

Post by aprilthird2021 »

whatamidoingyo wrote: post #4

Protip: look for an Asian market in your area for food. I get an entire shopping cart full of food for $60-100 and that lasts for ~2 weeks. When I go to Publix (or any other grocery store), I get like 2-3 bags for $60... Discovering the Asian market has been one of the best financial things to happen to me. Although I'm not really sure how their prices are so low. If someone could answer, that would be awesome!

They make the money on the imported goods which are harder for their core audience to find and more expected to have a markup.

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#34

Post by siliconc0w »

Our health system is so amazingly bad. Even if you have insurance, you roll the dice getting even basic care.

Very easy to end up with hundreds or thousands of dollars in bills if your provider codes something wrong or your insurance denies payment.

Much less an actual medical issue that requires repeated trips to a specialist, an expensive medication (even generic), or hospitalizations.

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#36

Post by nine_zeros »

aeblyve wrote: post #16
whatamidoingyo wrote: post #4

Protip: look for an Asian market in your area for food. I get an entire shopping cart full of food for $60-100 and that lasts for ~2 weeks. When I go to Publix (or any other grocery store), I get like 2-3 bags for $60... Discovering the Asian market has been one of the best financial things to happen to me. Although I'm not really sure how their prices are so low. If someone could answer, that would be awesome!

I would love to learn more about the unit economics of groceries. How is it that a small grocery store can sometimes provide things (much) more cheaply than a megacorporation? [0] If the latter was functioning well in a competitive market, I would expect their play to be on lower margins but higher volume. [0] Mostly I'm referring to offal TBF, which I think most firms are happy to make any money on at all.

> How is it that a small grocery store can sometimes provide things (much) more cheaply than a megacorporation?

Mega corporations need to increase their returns to shareholders year after year. Mom and pops don't have anyone else to please but themselves - they're often ok with retaining same returns as last year

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#37

Post by kwertyoowiyop »

Zaheer wrote: post #10
whatamidoingyo wrote: post #4

Protip: look for an Asian market in your area for food. I get an entire shopping cart full of food for $60-100 and that lasts for ~2 weeks. When I go to Publix (or any other grocery store), I get like 2-3 bags for $60... Discovering the Asian market has been one of the best financial things to happen to me. Although I'm not really sure how their prices are so low. If someone could answer, that would be awesome!

I find the produce prices often to be absurdly lower. These items are cheaper to begin with but if you're making fresh food consistently then it probably adds up. The biggest difference I've observed is that the asian grocery stores buy tier 2/3 produce rather than the big supermarkets that have perfect looking produce.

Exactly! The big supermarkets have tomatoes that look perfect, but taste like wax. The Asian groceries have lumpy odd-colored tomatoes that actually taste good.

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#38

Post by fullshark »

epgui wrote: post #13

I find it interesting that people worry much more about how much things cost than how much money they make. I would think these two numbers would be much closer together.

You directly control what you buy, not how much money you make.

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#39

Post by bix6 »

N_Lens wrote: post #25

The current financial system and various corporations see the majority of consumers like livestock - a kind of resource to be exploited. It's better to be free range organic though, in my humble opinion, but the majority seem to be trending towards battery/cage chickens.

What does free range organic mean in this context?

To be free range you need significant wealth for the free range.

To be organic you need significant wealth for farmers market type food.

So in both cases you must be wealthy to avoid the cage or am I missing something?

Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people

#40

Post by mathiaspoint »

siliconc0w wrote: post #34

Our health system is so amazingly bad. Even if you have insurance, you roll the dice getting even basic care. Very easy to end up with hundreds or thousands of dollars in bills if your provider codes something wrong or your insurance denies payment. Much less an actual medical issue that requires repeated trips to a specialist, an expensive medication (even generic), or hospitalizations.

God forbid we touch Obamacare though.
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