I had a real Lemon, It’s Wednesday start to the week, but on Monday. At one point I thought it was time to start making dinner, and I looked at the clock; it was 12:30 pm.
Fortunately this state of affairs didn’t continue for the whole week; in fact, things improved exponentially. For one thing, we finished the puzzle!
Michelle (HI MICHELLE) had asked what I do with puzzles after I’m finished, and I disassemble them and put them back in their box, which in this case feels like an extreme case of non-attachment, like I am a monk making mandalas in the sand.
If you have been in a grocery store lately, or, indeed, alive in this world, then you will be well aware at the shocking price of literally everything. Recently at Costco I picked up a two-litre of olive oil that a mere six months ago cost $18.99; it is now selling for $32.99 which, I think we all can agree, is a startling increase in price. I do believe there is a global olive crop failure, cue the ominous climate music, but also? $32.99. My cooking just got way more expensive.
Olive oil isn’t the only item that has vastly increased in price, of course, because it seems like everything has with the strange exception of almonds and almond butter, which I am not going to question and instead will welcome with open arms. Come to me, almond products. In a non-food-related, but still very shocking topic, my favourite Maybelline mascara is now $14.99, as opposed to being well under ten dollars only a year ago. This is MAYBELLINE MASCARA. It is not by any stretch of the imagination a luxury brand. I go through at least one tube of mascara a month, so my already-unwieldly beauty budget is ever-increasing.
In my recent Ask Me Anything, Engie (HI ENGIE) asked an interesting question that I have been pondering for months now: What do you resent paying for? Because I am pedantic about semantics, I have been stuck on the word resent. I do not like paying such high prices for everyday items such as olive oil and mascara, but I cannot say I resent it.
Something I find mentally exhausting is the action of clicking on a link in a newsletter or a blog post, a link that looks interesting and exciting, only to find that it is behind a paywall. Similarly, I have in the past year subscribed to a number of Substack newsletters written by talented and interesting people, and recently I have noticed that only a paragraph or two will be available in the free subscription of the Substack, the rest reserved for paid subscriptions only.
I don’t resent this. I do believe that creators should be compensated for their work, and to that end, I do have a few subscriptions I pay for via Substack or Patreon, subscriptions that I value and that add to my life. However. I could not possibly afford to pay for every single Substack or Patreon membership for every creator that I enjoy; or, I suppose I could, but that would severely cut into my beauty budget, and I am unwilling to do that. I’m not cutting back on my mascara consumption, is what I am saying, and something has to give.
It’s frustrating, though, to get excited about reading something only to find out that one must pay to read that something, which is the point of a paid subscription, I know. I know how it works! It’s like old-school click bait, but with subscriptions. Creators have to eat too, and that olive oil isn’t going to pay for itself, but I just wanted to know what Val Monroe was going to recommend for undereye bags without having to pay $8 a month to find out.
To be honest, when it comes to undereye bags, the secret is probably to invent a time machine and to get completely new genetics, or to visit a plastic surgeon or dermatologist for some kind of injection or surgical intervention, or to quit the Friday night wine habit and get ten hours of sleep a night. None of these appeal.
Speaking of undereye bags, I made a grave mistake a few weeks ago. I was glancing at my Instagram when a sponsored reel popped up, regarding The Biggest Mistake Older Women Make When It Comes To Makeup, and dear readers, I watched the whole thing. I watched an entire reel on Instagram about the best way to deal with undereye bags and other signs of aging, and now my entire Instagram is flooded, absolutely flooded, with Makeup For Women Of A Certain Age.
It’s only a matter of time until I capitulate. This is how I ended up purchasing many pairs of my dearly beloved Mott and Bow jeans, and we all know that I am not made of stone, particularly when it comes to beauty products. I shall keep you all posted.
After a great deal of thought, I realized that although there is nothing in my life that I currently resent paying for, there is something that I resent having paid for, and that is twenty years of regular, frequent, professional hair colouring. The pandemic forced my hand, as it were, when it comes to boxed, at-home hair colour, and there might not be many things that I am grateful for, back in April 2020, but I absolutely am grateful for my foray into DIY hair colour. When I think about the massive amount of time, money, and energy I expended on getting my hair coloured when I could have been doing it myself, and what I could have been doing with that money instead, I do feel ridiculously resentful. My hair is no more damaged than when I was getting it done in a salon, and while I’m sure it’s not a perfect colour job, it is definitely more than good enough.
Before:
After:
All that wasted money! Well. I have not yet invented a time machine to go back and start colouring my hair at home at the beginning of the millennium, nor to change my DNA so as to not have undereye bags. One must leave the past in the past; we learn from history, lest it repeat itself.
Weekly Reading
Speaking of history!
The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party. This is not typically the kind of book I reach for, but Engie (HI ENGIE) mentioned it with enthusiasm and it did sound fascinating: the author is distantly related to Sarah Graves, who with her family and brand new husband leave Illinois for the promised land – initially Oregon, but, fatefully, they decide to take a “short cut” and across the Sierra Nevada to California, joining up with the Donner Party. What a decision that was. The throughline for the book is “The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party” and “harrowing” feels like a real understatement. Something I have thought of a lot, after rereading the Little House books as an adult, is that there has to be something of hubris, plus the incredibly offensive “manifest destiny,” to just pack up your family and travel thousands of miles, destination unknown, really. Also, how bad are things at home that one must feel the need to do this? I guess it’s just the search for a better life, which is something we all want. Anyway, these people were all extremely ill-prepared for what was to come, although if they knew what was to come they’d probably have stayed home. First of all, they go against the recorded recommendation to never start their journey later than May 1, instead they left over three weeks later. They start running out of provisions as they trudge across the salt deserts of Utah, with no water and their oxen (the poor oxen, I felt for the animals in this book) just collapsing and dying. Animal lovers: there are some really difficult parts to read THE POOR OXEN, THEY DID NOT CHOOSE THIS LIFE. Truly, no one would have chosen what they did, particularly the poor children. And probably the women. Let’s face it, the men were making the decisions here.
Anyway, the party starts dropping their possessions – once considered necessities – to lighten the load for the dying oxen. Then they get stuck in the “shortcut” through the Sierra Nevada, getting snowed in, everyone starving to psychosis and, often, death. A small party – including Sarah – makes a break for it to get help, and of course they have no idea where they’re going or how to get there, and it’s honestly kind of a miracle they didn’t all die right there. They were essentially shoeless and naked, in the winter and deep snow, with no food, eating people as they died, which is also what was happening back at the base camp. Of the 87 people, 47 died, including Sarah’s husband, and most of them, um, get eaten by everyone else in order to survive.
Another thing I’ve thought of often due to my Little House consumption, and now this book, is how terrible it would be to be a widow in those times. A widow would be extremely vulnerable, with no way to earn money really, and she would be kind of a sitting duck for anyone who wanted to take a shot at her, so to speak. Anyway, this is a GRIM book but absolutely fascinating, and the story is told in a really compelling way, and despite the shockingly horrifying, one might even say HARROWING, subject matter, I really enjoyed reading it. What’s wrong with me?
The Rachel Incident. Listen, I know that a while ago I swore off books about twentysomething hot messes who drink too much and make bad choices BUT something compelled me to pick this up. The author is a podcaster who I enjoy very much and this book – about an Irish woman and her closeted best friend and housemate – is one of the most intensely satisfying books I have ever read in my life. It takes place in Cork in the height of the 2008-2010 recession, and I was emotionally invested in the characters from page one. It’s so well written and there is just so much in terms of layers and nuance, it’s fantastic.
It’s been an interesting and, ultimately, good week. I hosted a Galentine’s night on Saturday with some wonderful girlfriends; I will never cease to be grateful for the incredible women in my life, and this group has welcomed me into their circle with open arms. If you’re reading this, know that I am grateful for you too! Have a beautiful week, friends. xo
I did snag the olive oil at 18.99, Nicole–the jump to 32 is indeed steep. I wonder if some of the geopolitical mess in the olive-growing regions of the world contributed to that.
I’m glad you happy Galentines’ party! I’m sure your baked treats were phenomenal!
Both of your books this week sound dazzling. I’m putting the second one on my TBR; thank you!
And… CONGRATS on finishing that puzzle! Do you give away the puzzles or save them?
I didn’t think of geopolitics – the kind I get is Italian, and I’m not sure if something is happening there? I don’t think so? But the global price in olives could be high because of geopolitics! I didn’t even think of that, I figured it was climate change/ crop failure.
I save most of my puzzles but also give some away – some I will never do again, some I might!
The puzzle looks great! And so challenging. My husband is the puzzler in our family (I don’t have the patience) and he likes to admire a finished puzzle for… awhile, after it’s done. I am the main catalyst for dismantling a finished puzzle. He keeps some of them, to presumably do again (although he has only ever remade one puzzle, since I’ve known him) and we give the rest away to my parents, who complete them and then pass them on to their neighbor.
The increase in the prices of some things is STAGGERING. I haven’t bought mascara in awhile, mainly because I tend to go all “OOH SHINY” about new ones and buy them even if I don’t end up using them for months, so I’m a little nervous about what will happen when I need a new tube. Tortilla chips, I think, have really experienced a jump in price. I don’t buy them often (because I eat them), but I bought a couple of bags for the Super Bowl and their on-sale price was something in the $4.50 range. I am pretty sure it used to be $2.50 when they were on sale. Further reason to buy them only infrequently, I guess.
The Rachel Incident has been on my to-read list for a long time! So glad it was a hit for you!
And your Galentine’s comment made me feel so happy for you. You have landed in such a good place, Nicole. Or, rather, you are so very good at blooming where you’re planted.
Everyone’s talking about tortilla chips AND NOW I HAVE TO GO AND LOOK. I can’t imagine it’s cheaper here.
I keep most of the puzzles, and we have done a few more than once, but there was a Little Free Puzzle Library in my old neighbourhood that I’d often donate them to.
Our library has a puzzle shelf. You can take and give to your heart’s desire. I don’t do puzzles but my husband loves them.
Oh the library! I didn’t even think of that!
Nice job on the puzzle.
I didn’t know olive oil prices had shot up like that. (Beth’s the main shopper). We go through a lot of it, too. Speaking of money, our financial advisor asked us to categorize all our spending for a year so we can talk about when Beth can retire and it’s been an unsurprisingly time-consuming and surprisingly difficult project. We had to invent some categories for things that wouldn’t fit into the categories he gave us.
Steph, we also have done that and you’re right – it’s so time-consuming! Also there is so much month-to-month variance. Ah well, it’s important stuff I guess.
I too find it surprisingly mentally exhausting to click a link and find a paywall. While totally agreeing that people should be paid fairly for the fruits of their labor, I ALSO think the transaction should be clear up-front. I don’t want to approach a person holding out a tray in a supermarket, reach for a sample, and be told “Oh, we’ll need a dollar for that.” There is a certain established model for understanding what is being offered for free and what is being sold, and I think the mental exhaustion comes from encountering situations where someone has deliberately thwarted that model in order to trick people. I am not then sympathetic when someone cries “OH so you want farmers and grocers WORK FOR FREE”/”OH so you want journalists to WORK FOR FREE!!!” No, no. What I want is not to be baited and then switched.
Swistle, YES. Especially since so many of these newsletters just changed their format after a year of being newsy, with “extras” for the paid subscriptions. Now the whole thing, except for a couple of paragraphs, is for paid subscriptions. I should probably just unsubscribe.
I destroy my puzzles and box them up, usually within hours of finishing them. What else could you do?
The books sound interesting, but I could not read about the Donner party. Goodness. I’d be the first to be gone; I don’t have the grit for cold, hunger, too much discomfort.
I’ve not noticed an upswing in olive oil; but damn, that will hurt us all.
Lololol you and me both, Suz! I often think if I was one of the European settlers, I would probably have either died on the boat over, or just never have left in the first place.
Yes, these price increases are getting ridiculous. I get that there’s inflation, but when things have increased 50-100%, that’s not inflation. And I don’t believe there’s a worldwide shortage of bagels or shampoo. My response has been to buy less of things (turns out I CAN wash my hair twice a week instead of three times!) but that doesn’t work for everything. Grr.
Both those books sound great. I don’t know about the Donner one for me though- I’m insanely oversensitive to bad things happening to animals. That’s quite a review of the The Rachel Incident- it sounds GREAT.
Glad you had a nice week and a fun Galentine’s Day!
Jenny, I don’t think you should read it. I was teary, reading about these poor oxen who were literally worked to death – and then slaughtered and eaten. The whole thing is fairly graphic, and I had to skip over that part. I think it would just destroy you, so take a pass.
Yes! Th rachel incident was one of my top reads of 2023 I loved it! And I also love Caroline o’donoghue’s podcast! You are probably aware but during covid times she did a series on the podcast going through sex the city (the original
Show) with dolly alderton and it brought me so much joy.
Leneigh, that is exactly how I discovered her podcast! I loved that “Sentimental in the City!” It was so good, and I enjoy her take on things.
I kind of held my breath a bit when I saw that you read The Rachel Incident because I also loved that book! It probably should have made my best of list for 2023! I am looking forward to whatever she reads next. I did not know the author had a podcast, though! She must be Irish? I would listen to it just to hear her accent!
I am totally out of touch with what things cost since Phil does all of our grocery shopping. But I am surprised he hasn’t said anything to me. Last week was a weird week as Aldi didn’t have his wheat bread and no stores had bananas! Eventually he did find a store that had extremely extremely green bananas… We eat A LOT of bananas since 3 of us eat them daily. So we did not have reserves to carry us through the ripening of those extremely green bananas.
Lisa, she is Irish and her podcast is called Sentimental Garbage. I really enjoy it! It’s all about sort of silly pop culture things that aren’t considered “serious.”
Yikes on the bananas – do you use the paper bag trick to ripen them? It can still take a couple of days though, depending.
Yes we tried the brown paper bag trick but man these were so green that didn’t even help much!!
I have also been shocked by the rise in olive oil prices, along with everything else. My husband loves his multigrain scoops Tostitos. Pre-pandemic, you could get them on sale for like $2 a bag. Now, the regular price is $6-7. FOR A BAG OF CHIPS! I’ve also noticed that all of my Amazon subscription foods are raising in prices, almost on a monthly basis and it no longer makes sense to even have the subscriptions because it’s now higher than my grocery store.
I’ve heard a lot of people say that once they started coloring their own hair during the pandemic, they have not gone back to the salon for it. I’ve always just used a root touch up product because it produces the most natural look for my hair color. It is so cheap! Around $8 a box and I stretch it to last two applications. Wow on the mascara. I think a tube lasts me 6-12 months (which I know they say NOT to do, but I’ve never had issues).
Hope you have a great week!
I’m impressed you can make your mascara last so long/ I’m wondering why I wear SO much mascara. Ah well, we all have our things, I guess.
$6-7 for a bag of chips – I haven’t noticed this but I’m sure it’s probably the same here, so I am going to TAKE NOTE this week! I will report back!
Happy Monday!
I don’t really track prices on food because I don’t want to know. We’ve got teenagers therefore we spend boatloads on food. The only price that I really took note of was during the egg shortage the highest I remember paying was $6.66 for a dozen eggs and it has since simmered down to the $2-$3 range. I would say that I get irritated at how much we spend from time to time, but there isn’t much that we can do about it.
Puzzles – same as you, after I’m done they go right back in the box!
I definitely want to read Indifferent Stars – Engie already had me sold but you’ve cemented it. I shied away from The Rachel Incident because Sarah’s Bookshelves was all hot about it but I hadn’t heard of any “civilians” who liked it – now that it’s got your endorsement I’m interested. I’ve been binge reading mysteries lately, and not that there’s anything wrong with that but it’s time for a more solid read.
Wow, I am stunned, because eggs are like $7 a dozen here now and have been for so long! $2-3 seems so inexpensive! I keep track of my spending, although I don’t really scrutinize every single price, because, like you, I find it exhausting and I don’t really want to know. I mean, I am still going to buy food. So I guess we are stuck.
I don’t know if The Rachel Incident is a “solid” read but I was SO incredibly invested right from the get-go. It’s a really, really good book.
We have been watching the food prices rise, but have yet to change our meal planning, sigh. I do feel a little extra oof when I add more olive oil to a pan or lose track of something in the cabinets… Part of me has been thinking about going back to dyeing my hair at home! Now that getting my hair done is a regular expense, I’d almost rather just pay for my trims to keep the curls in line and take care of the roots as needed…
Lindsay, I know. I haven’t changed my food consumption at all, but I have definitely noticed the rise in prices. My goodness, it’s crazy.
One of my favorite things in the world is when I’m reading a blog post and it’s so meaty that I keep thinking I need to comment about this and then I need to comment about that, but I want to keep reading and so I end up jotting down notes on a piece of paper as reminders of what I need to comment on. Here are the take homes from my jottings.
I recently paid almost $16 for Maybelline mascara (that it turns out I do not love, but now must deal with for another six months)! $16!!! What the what? I am going to go back to buying three-packs of mini-mascaras which costs $28. Ugh. Also, I recently contemplated buying a bag of Ruffles potato chips, but I would have had had to take out a second mortgage on our house, so I did not do so. No more chips for me ever again – I can no longer afford them. Unless I’m in Canada. Then I’m going to buy all the All Dressed chips and smuggle them across the border.
I also put puzzles away right away, but I do Future Puzzle Doers a favor by putting all the edge pieces in a Ziploc bag separated from the regular pieces. You are welcome to this tip.
The poor animals on that Donner trip. All of them. When I think about the dogs frolicking along the Mississippi River and then what happened to them…ugh. I can’t bear it. I think that book will torment me for many months/years to come.
Oh, I love that you jot down notes!!!
I haven’t noticed the price of chips lately but I’m going to note it when I shop this week, because what the what, have they really gone up that much in price? I will check! I love that you love All Dressed chips – me too, but my favourite are ketchup. I love a ketchup chip! Old Dutch all the way (very Western Canadian!)
A ZIPLOC BAG FOR THE EDGE PIECES. That is NEXT LEVEL!!
The animal fates made me so sad, the dogs, yes, but the oxen who just essentially were worked to death – ahhhhh.
Nicole, I think you are SO amazing to just put your puzzles back in the box when you’re done! At least you took a picture! I guess the enjoyment of puzzles comes from the process.
I’m also in shock over prices. Everything is so expensive! Now I’m dreading when I need olive oil again.
Your red hair is glorious! How fun that you discovered you could color it yourself. The pandemic was when I started trimming my own hair and discovered that it pretty much looks the same. Plus, it doesn’t hurt when I trim it myself. I’ve always dreaded haircuts because I’m super sensitive, and hairdressers kill me pulling out hair and gouging my scalp with their fingernails!
I’m going to add The Rachel Incident to my list, but I’ll probably pass on the other one!
Michelle, I know what you mean. I need a stylist who is gentle with brushing and combing out my hair – I hate the feeling of having my hair pulled and since my actual hair is so delicate, I worry about breakage. I don’t think I could cut my own hair, because I don’t have the best hand-eye coordination, I always admire people who can do that!
OK, on a related note, can we talk about Pa in the Little House books for a minute? “Oh, dernit,” he says, “I can hear someone else’s axe in my forest, so I must move my family to the middle of nowhere (where, as I will learn a year later, we’re not actually allowed to live). Goodbye, extended family, don’t know if we’ll ever see you again.” “Hey,” he says, “we can totally ford this swollen river by ourselves except — whoops — I drowned the dog, also big girls don’t cry, Laura.” “I know,” he says later on, “I shall now make a unilateral decision to mortgage our future, because of course my crops won’t fail!” What was he thinking? Wasn’t Ma just crushingly lonely? It’s weird from an adult perspective, seeing how much Laura continued to look up to him despite all those bad decisions. I adored those books as a kid, but now they just make me want to stuff Pa up a chimney and drive the rest of the family to civilization.
Sometimes the line between courage and folly is hard to see, but it shifts for me when there are kids in the picture.
Jamie, you have articulated my Pa feelings perfectly. That’s exactly how I feel! “Let’s live in a literal hole in the ground while I build a house that mortgages our future because everyone is selling the land cheap for some reason.” I read a book about how the actual settlers tearing out the grassland was the reason for all the subsequent droughts, grasshopper infestations, etc., not that they would know that at the time, because “manifest destiny,” but whoa. I always felt sad for Ma, just wanting to live where other people were, presumably never seeing her family ever again, just wanting the girls to go to school, and constantly having to fight against Pa’s desire to just move constantly.
I had read a few months ago about an “olive” situation where they predicted a major hike in the price of olive oil. Do I remember what the situation was/is? I do not. But The Husband reminds me daily of the price hikes at the grocery store – this has not stopped him from going to the grocery store even when we don’t “need” anything though.
I’ve been using box dye on my hair for years and it’s fine. The only way I would consider having it done professionally is if I were going for highlights or a lighter color.
But here’s what I DO resent paying for most of the time – shipping. Particularly considering the prices of things these days, you would think the shipping would be built into that price. A nominal shipping price; ok. But when shipping costs as much as the item?! When this recently happened, I actually tracked down the item in-store about 50 miles away and drove to the store to pick it up via curbside just to avoid the shipping cost.
Oh yes, shipping! I hate that too. Sometimes I will buy something from the States and will have to pay for international shipping plus US exchange, and it’s often as much or almost as much as the product itself!
Lancome is running a 2 for $30 deal on their website right now, and their mascaras are the very best. Just saying. We spend a ton on groceries, so I haven’t really noticed an increase because our bill was ludicrous ANYWAY, but I do notice when I run in some place for a few things and end up spending over $75. FOR JUST A FEW THINGS that I was expecting to cost like $40. Ugh. I also loved The Rachel Incident
Atta girl with the Lancome website! The best deals for sure. I discovered the deals there when I couldn’t go to Sephora or Macy’s during COVID lock down. I’m hooked.
Oooh I will check to see if the deal is available in Canada! Thanks for the tip!
I kept smiling when I read this post! things that I resent paying, excellent question that I don’t have answer for now but will think about it. I do get annoyed about links that contains paid-wall articles! I don’t think i pay for any subscription now mainly because I don’t find anyone that worth the $, that contains information that is consistently better than free version. It would be great if you can share yours.
regarding personal care, I spend more now than when I was in the US because the cost is much much lower. Otherwise, i’d probably do my own mani/pedi and get less massage.
Oh, that makes so much sense! I would probably do the exact same thing!
When I think of Little House, I also think of Europeans who came to the Americas in the 15th and 16th century, it’s the same thing, right? People looking for something better, for whatever reason. Being willing to risk everything to attain it. And those who are not willing to risk everything, they stay behind.
We went to Reno once, and the drive home brings you through Donner Pass. In Reno, the weather was warm. In Sacramento, the weather was warm. (Actually, a lot higher than Sacramento, which is basically sea level, was warm.) Donner Pass was snowing. I thought of those poor people, and now those poor animals. So much stupidity.
I’m an omnivore, and one thing I resent paying for is a baked potato and a side vegetable at a steak restaurant. We don’t go to steak houses because it pisses me off no end to pay $40 or $50 for a steak and then they want $7 each for a baked potato and some broccoli. I mean, come on. Truthfully, what I want is the potato and a salad anyway.
I also resent paying ticket fees for concerts and movies. I mean, the movie ones aren’t that much, but they’re stupid. The concert fees are ridiculously exorbitant. I remember when you could go to the venue and get the tickets for face value.
I colored my own hair for years, and it was OK, but now that I get it done professionally it looks SO MUCH BETTER. That’s the thing about blonde, I think, with the bleach and so on, it’s difficult to do at home. Also, my hair color pulls kind of red, which means that my hair can sometimes look a little orange if I do it at home. So yeah, it’s expensive. Stupidly expensive. More expensive than olive oil even. I stretch it out by doing at least 1, sometimes 2, root touch ups in between professional color/haircuts.
I haven’t been to a steak house in many years, so I had no idea that was a thing! That seems so ridiculous!
I do agree that people not willing to take the risks generally stay behind, but women were probably not the ones making the decisions. I feel like they would have to go along, ultimately, with the decisions their husbands/ fathers made, in those days. Maybe they would try to have buy-in but essentially the decisions would not be theirs to make, which is depressing.
Absolutely true, probably for most of history. Depressing indeed.
Here’s the thing about substacks, and granted not everyone there puts a paywall on their work, but those who do make me feel uneasy. I cannot afford to pay money to follow them and feel like to even pay for one would somehow be insulting, or unfair, to the other ones I enjoy. The writing is good, the layouts are lovely, but the whole model on which that platform works kind of confuses me. Who’s benefitting?
I understand what you’re saying, Ally. I personally just have a little budget that I use for creators who I really value, a couple of writers and podcasters (this I do on Patreon). But it’s true, I can’t afford to pay for every thing I enjoy, so I choose the ones that are most important to me.
I feel the same as Engie; I just kept finding things to comment about, and then I read all of the comments and all I can remember (I did not take notes) is… CHIPS! I actually just bought Tostitos for 1.99 per bag on sale (regular price ~ $5), but you had to buy four, so I did! Then I gave two away so I would not eat them all. Also Costco (our favorite store!) has a 3 pound bag for about $5-$7 depending on the day. Yes, I have bought it and YES I have eaten it all. Don’t judge me.
Also, my favorite Canadian chip so far (I still have more testing to do) is the Ruffles sour cream and bacon. We do not have that flavor, only cheddar and sour cream, but everyone knows that everything is better with bacon.
I can’t believe mascara is that expensive. I only buy it once every couple of years (gross, I know) but I swear that the last time I did it was ~ $7 (?) or maybe it has been longer than I thought (even grosser?) Good olive oil is worth its weight in gold, although maybe at those prices you should start selling futures of it on the commodities market. I did notice that eggs had gone back up, but you can still get them at Costco for about $11 for five dozen.
Kyria, after all these comments about chips, I made note to look at Costco when I went shopping yesterday. And all the chips were around $7.50 a bag – but for the giant Costco ones. I haven’t bought chips from Costco in a long time but I think it used to be “buy two for one” when it came to chips, and so while the actual price was the same, the quantity was not. Now, I’m an unreliable narrator here because I can’t remember. What I can remember is Boom Chicka Pop is around $6.50 for a big bag and that is a good price. I am going to Superstore today because my life is all groceries, so I will make sure to look!
I guess, when I think about it, I resent paying as much as we once did for Catholic school. We switched to public school eventually, and the kids learned more, got more services, and the kids were often nicer. Our kids learn about their faith at home, thru us, and through religious education. We couldn’t afford Catholic school, and yet we believed it was the only way to educate our kids. Oops.
I think it takes me years to use up a single mascara. I don’t use it all that often, and when I do I use it sparingly, because I feel like it sometimes messes with my contact lenses. I am feeling the pinch of how expensive other things are though. It is so difficult.
The book set in Cork sounds like something I’d enjoy. I hadn’t heard of it. I lived in Ireland my junior year of college and I do enjoy reading books set there.
I won’t even pay to rid myself of commercials on Spotify. I cannot justify it. 😉
I really loved our public schools, and I felt like the kids got a good education, so I totally am in agreement!
YEARS to use up a mascara! I layer it on pretty thickly, so I guess that’s how I get through it so fast. I can imagine your large household would REALLY feel the rise in prices! Oh boy, I can’t even imagine your grocery bills.
That increase on olive oil is staggering. The one that really hurts me is my 1 Kg container of feta cheese that I eat every single day on my salad. It has pretty well doubled from $10-11 a couple of years ago to $19. I might say I resent that but I love it so much I still buy it. I am wondering f how you can go through a mascara a month? Mine seem to last forever. (I use what you recommend!). Really enjoyed the Rachel project. It was a different kind of story.
Pat, that’s how I feel about many things – I dislike the price rise, but I still buy them!
Regarding the mascara – I now feel I must wear much more than the average person! What can I say, I’m pretty heavy-handed with the makeup. I guess I’m not one for the natural look!
As a Substack writer (thanks for subscribing to mine) this is a difficult issue to figure out. I think this whole getting paid for content on the internet is a good thing. Not only to be paid for creative work but also to help all of us not be buried in content. I read the amount of content I can afford to read and this stop-gap has been helpful to me. But without giving people a taste of your work, how can you expect them to know if they are interested? I mean how do I convert people from free to paid subscribers if they don’t what’s behind the paywall? (This is written not in argument but a true question.) I do offer free content (a lot) but I am still figuring out the whole paid levels. I think Substack is too. Some of what you are taking issue with is, simply, a problem with the interface we are dealing with and the options we have for offering previews. I will take your (and the commenters) thoughts into consideration as I continue to refine my journey on Substack. Thanks for always asking the hard questions about everything..from Substack to the price of olive oil!
Laura, I am so glad you commented because YES, you are one of my very valued paid subscriptions, and I wanted to explain the reason why (see https://laurakbray.substack.com/ for details!). I think you have hit on a really good combination: you offer regular free content which is excellent and showcases your writing style and the theme of your writing, and you also offer bonus content for paid subscribers, particularly your short stories. This, I think, is key – the regular content followed by bonus. I do think it also cuts down on clutter for me because to be honest, a lot of content is free, but not always is it worthwhile. My current issue is that I had subscribed to a number of newsletters that had a free post every week or two, but now those are gone, and in their place is a preview. There is still some free content, but it’s maybe once a month, and it’s not anything I am interested in reading. So that makes me feel a little salty. We are all trying to figure it out, I guess, and my feeling is that creators who put a lot of work and effort in really do deserve to be paid. Whether or not they are paid by me personally depends on my feeling about the content – but yours is valuable and adds immensely to my life.
You are so sweet! And I completely understand where you are coming from. It seems quite a few Substackers are putting a lot more content behind a paywall. I’m trying to keep a balance of 1 paid, 3 free a month, but always want the content to be my best writing regardless. I’m glad you feel that I’m accomplishing that!
I need to get on Engie and Kyria’s levels and start jotting down notes to respond to things.
I wish I could support all of the substacks I love, but it’s just not possible. I do love when a Substack offers a free version and then extra newsletters for paid. I’m very close to starting a subscription for a substack that offers that, and I get a snippet of the paid newsletter and I’m always so bummed I can’t read more! I really want to! I already support 3 podcasts on Patreon, though, so I have to be careful!
Groceries are stupid these days. And food in general. Would you believe that a regular McDonald’s meal is easily $10? My cousin says it’s a $40+ trip if she takes her whole family. FORTY DOLLARS FOR MCDONALD’S. It’s so bad.
Forty dollars! For McDonalds! Ahhhhh! That’s crazy.
I think it’s a good idea to have a little budget for those pods/ substacks that we love, and choose our favourites. This is why I love my friend Laura’s above (https://laurakbray.substack.com/) because she does offer great free content plus bonuses.
I was at the grocery store a few weeks ago and coconut milk was almost $6/can. I almost fell over in shock. Fortunately, at the Asian market and at Trader Joe’s you can still get it for less than $2/can, but I don’t shop there as much. I’ll just have to stock up when I do.
I do get irrationally annoyed when people blog/write about cool articles they read and don’t post a gift link. Especially when it’s a high traffic influencer type, who I just *know* they must have a subscription and most newspapers have a gift link subscription these days. Just post a gift link!!! I try to make sure I post a gift link when I’m mentioning something from the New York Times, or the Washington Post. I know not all papers have this option, but for sure the Times and the Post do, so to not post one is just… mean, and I have commented on websites when they don’t post gift links.
$6 for coconut milk!!! That’s insane. I remember when the expensive organic kind was like $3.50 a can.
I’m with you – post the gift link!
Everyone I talk to is talking about the prices of things. Groceries especially have completely gotten out of hand. I don’t know how families (with kids!) afford it. I keep a grocery sheet and every week I have to adjust things up. I can also not stop talking about to everyone who will listen. (And when I look at this comment section, it’s on everybody’s mind).
I heard on the news last night that since 2020 the inflation on groceries has been 25% overall (which is hard to swallow to begin with, but even worse when you realize that some products have gone up 50% or even doubled). It’s crazy.
I haven’t been to the hair salon since the pandemic and while I would like the pamper, I think I keep coloring and cutting my own hair because the prices at the salon are also insane.
25% sounds about right – horrifying, but correct. It is SO insane. Every time I shop I notice something different has increased vastly in price!