Inflation Report Archives - The Pickled Prepper Blog

We Shop 7 Gun Stores Seeking Better Prices

I’ve heard ammo prices are dropping and the shortage is over, but is that true? I stop by gun stores during a road trip to check it out.

I have been watching YouTube videos and reading articles online saying that the ammunition shortage is abating and gun supplies are back. I decided to check this out myself, so I made a list of the following items I wanted to buy:

Premium .22LR rounds, preferably in nickel cases. I would look for Federal Punch, CCI MiniMags or CCI Stinger rounds.
Any good 9mm FMJ under $16 for a box of 50 rounds and/or a box of Critical Defense 115 grain bullets.
.300 Blackout rounds, preferably 110 to 120 grain or 220 grain subsonic. I don’t want the 150 grain bullets.
A takedown Ruger 10/22
A lever action .357 carbine, preferably with the tactical set up, meaning black furniture, a rail for an optic, and a rail at the front. Henry makes a model like this, as do several other companies.
AA1680 and H110 powders

List in hand, I set out to go shopping.

Prepper Shopping Basket Inflation Report Shows Surprising Results

The CPI is up, headlines are blaring about inflation, Wall Street is worried, yet when we compare prices for prepper pantry staples now and in January, inflation seems to be missing.

Despite the hue and cry about food inflation, preppers looking to stock their pantry with staple items that have a good shelf life can do so without spending more than they would have in January. A summary of our results comparing the prices today with those we recorded 22 weeks ago on January 24 follows:

Prepper shopping basket inflation report results

Clearly, Amazon is an outlier here, with prices well above the others. If we remove Amazon from the equation, we get the following:

Note: full details on our methodology are at the bottom of this article.

What is Hyperinflation and How to Survive it

Are you prepared for runaway inflation? Is anyone? We discuss what hyperinflation looks like and tactics to survive it.

The Bank of America recently warned of “transient hyperinflation.” That sounds bad, but how bad depends on how you define hyperinflation.

The definition of hyperinflation is “inflation at a high rate,” as “uncontrollable inflation,” or “when prices raise uncontrollably,” all of which are not very precise.

What is hyperinflation? Is it double digit inflation? If so, does it start at 11 percent, or closer to 50 percent? Does 100 percent annual inflation count as hyperinflation? Or do you have to reach absurd levels of annual inflation, like 7,000 percent?

Hyperinflation appears to be like art: Economists know it when they see it. And so will you and I, because with runaway inflation, we won’t be able to afford anything.

Double Digit Inflation Causes Pain in my Wallet

Its pretty shocking when things I bought in March and April cost more just two or three months later. Inflation is here, and its far more than 4 or 5 percent.

Maybe you haven’t been keeping track, but inflation is all around us. Here are some examples or rising prices from my life:

Bee Supplies, Up 17.5 Percent

My beehives are doing well enough that I decided I should purchase a few more deep hive boxes in case I need to split the hives in late summer or early next year. I logged into my favorite supplier’s website and found that the prices were noticeably higher than when I made my last purchase in April. Here are some examples:

Unassembled deep hive bodies increased 17 percent.
Unassembled frames increased 37 percent.
Foundation, which is plastic and does not use wood, was up only 3 percent.
Telescoping lids went up 14 percent.
Inner lids were up 20 percent.
Bottom boards were up 14 percent

Average those figures together and you get an average price increase of 17.5 percent. That’s some serious inflation in just two months.

An Unintended Consequence of Green Policies is Higher Prices

if you have ever focused on one outcome so intently you missed the obvious, then you have experienced the problem with the Green New Deal and our politicians.

Over the past few years, production of more and more natural gas allowed prices to fall, saving consumers money on their heat and light bills and allowing multiple electric facilities to convert from coal to cleaner-burning gas. That era of inexpensive natural gas has come to an end.

Thanks in a large part to the Biden administration’s policies that promote green energy at the expense of oil and gas production, natural gas prices are up 96 percent from a year ago, and further increases are expected. Just another example of how the Democrats are hitting middle class and lower income Americans in their pocketbooks.

Because of rising gas prices, coal is gaining market share on the international market, which will cause even more greenhouse gas production. It just goes to show you that green policies often have unintended side effects.

Is Inflation Transitory? Some, Yes, but Most is Not

The government and the Fed keep telling us that inflation is transitory. Don’t believe them. Some inflation is transitory, but too much of it is not and that will keep prices rising.

I spoke to a smart guy in the financial industry whom I have known for more than 20 years, and I asked him, “Do you think inflation is transitory?” His answer: Yes and no. Some of it probably will be transitory, but some of it definitely is not.

Here’s a boiled down version of his explanation:

Examples of Transitory Inflation

When prices rise because plant closures lead to shortages, because shipping costs escalate or for other reasons that we can expect to be cured in the next year to 18 months, then it is fair to call those transitory. For example, when more microchips reach the market, car and truck production will return to their traditional rates or better, and the number of new cars on dealer lots returns to a reasonable number. If supply and demand is the only reason for the increase in care prices, then car prices will stabilize.

Costco Shopping Trip Shows No Sign of Inflation, Yet

I visit two stores known for low prices and I found no signs of inflation. But its there at the gas pump.

As I mentioned yesterday, I came down from my mountain, drove hundreds of miles to visit an elder relative who needed my help, and ended up in a small city. It’s not a bad city, but the drone of the highway and other constant city sounds seemed loud after the quiet of the mountains. The trip was another reminder that about the only benefit of my occasional returns to society is access to shopping that isn’t available in the country.

In other words, I went to Costco for the first time in more than six months.

Other than the store layout in this distant town being sideways compared to what I am used to, it wasn’t much different. I bought Spam, spaghetti sauce, beans and other canned and dried goods for the pantry, bags of sugar for the bees, and paper towels for my wife. Unfortunately, this store did not have canned roast beef, which several bloggers and vloggers have reported on. Too bad; I was planning to buy at least a dozen cans, maybe two dozen.

Transitory Hyperinflation is Here and More Bad News

I head down the mountain to revisit society and the news isn’t good. Gas is more expensive, food is costly, and the word “hyperinflation” is no longer just used to describe other countries,

I am on the road today, and after spending seven hours in the truck, I don’t think I have an original essay in me and I really need to get some sleep. So, instead I am giving links to important stories and adding a few comments.

Hyperinflation

The Bank of America’s new Inflation Meter is pointing to transitory hyperinflation, according to this article in ZeroHedge. I have been writing about inflation or months, but this was still a “WTF” moment for me. If we have already moved from inflation into hyperinflation, transitory or not, things are pretty bad. Read their article and if it freaks you out a little, read these recent posts of ours:

How to Cut Back on Spending and Live Frugally During Inflation

All About Inflation and How to Protect Yourself,

Prices are Rising, but Inflation is Only the Tip of the Iceberg

Another Way to Prepare for Inflation: Buy Now to Save Later

Bread and Circuses Only Work When there’s Enough Bread to go Around

funny how a tactic developed more than a thousand years ago still works today. It must be human nature to be easily distracted at the expense of long-term problems.

The Roman Poet Juvenal coined the phrase “bread and circuses” to complain that the citizenry were distracted by cheap food and entertainment and no longer did their civic duty. Roman Emperors would feed the populace a steady diet of gladiators and other violent entertainment to distract their citizenry from the worsening state of the empire. You could argue that this was a contributing factor in the fall of the Roman Empire.

For years, politicians in the United States have used the same tactic, offering voters freebies so they would vote in their self-interest rather than for the interest of their country. Largely employed by the Democrats to attract under-educated and poorly informed populaces, the results can be seen in Democrat-run cities from Baltimore and Los Angeles with high poverty rates, poorly run inner-city schools, burned out building, high drug use, rampant homelessness, gang problems, and rising murder rates.

How to Cut Back on Spending and Live Frugally During Inflation

When inflation hits, costs outstrip raises and cost-of-living increases, making it difficult to maintain your standard of living. Here are 52 things you can do when inflation hits.

Let’s fast-forward six months or a year and imagine that the country remains in the grips of a wave of inflation. The amount of money you spend weekly to put food on your family’s table has increased 50 percent. Gasoline is $5.39 a gallon. It cost $1,350 to fill your propane tank and you know you usually have to fill it at least three times over the winter. You don’t have to be a budgeting genius to realize you have to do something different or you will run out of money leaving your belly, your gas tank, or the propane tank empty.

What will you do?

First, don’t panic. It accomplishes nothing and leads to despair. There are steps most families can take to reduce their expenditures, and hopefully you only have to do it for a couple years before things stabilize and your financial situation improves.

Second, you must accept the fact that you cannot continue to live like you have been. Some sacrifices will need to be made and the sooner that you accept that and move on, the better. It’s going to be an adjustment, but it’s better to pick where you will sacrifice rather than going hungry when the cupboards are bare.