Remember the tale of Gulliver’s Travels? It was written back in 1726. Since the 1900′s it has been the subject matter of several movies, television shows and a cartoons. Most recently a movie staring Jack Black.
That I thought so interesting how the character Gulliver would go from being the larger than life to smaller than life. In the process he learns to survive.
There has been a few times I have notice a grocery store have new shopping carts. These shopping carts were smaller then the old ones from the week before. Not a real big difference just a small enough to where not to may people would notice.
I remember the first time I went into Costco. One of the first things I noticed was how big there shopping carts were. In my most recent visit the shopping cart was big by not as big as what I once remember.
I know prices has went up due to the cost of oil and other inflationary factors. It takes more money to buy a weeks worth of groceries. In some ways this is not all bad. They have been telling us for sometime, that we are eating to much.
The shrinking shopping cart is not just happening here in the United States. It is also happening in England. The BBC News recently published an article titled, “The incredible shrinking shopping baskets“.
In the article were listed items like soap and chocolate that have shrunk. The soap went from 125 grams to 100 grams in weight. The Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars went from 140 grams to 120 grams. These and other products where shrunk while maintaining the same retail price.
Is this a conspiracy theory? We as a human race do less physical activity than any other time in human history. A great portion of us sit behind computers or cars a large portion of our day. We have to go to the gym two to three times per week to maintain some sort of physical health.
We could blame it all on the Arabs for raising oil prices so much that we are having to raise the cost of everything else. We could blame it on the corporate executives who have homes the size of hospitals. Or we could just shop in a ways that says we want the best value for our dollar.
How do we shop to get the best value for our dollar?
- The first thing we could do that would gives us best value for our dollar is reduce the factors that cause us to buy impulsively.
- Compare apples to apples and oranges with oranges. I find the best way for me to do this is take my calculator and break brand comparisons into cost per ounce.
- When going shopping factor in cost of travel. Sure a loaf of bread is cheaper at one store that is 5 miles away. When you factor in the cost to drive that fives miles makes the loaf of bread at the corner Stop and Go much cheaper.
Bottom-line: It all boils down to awareness. Aware of the cost of items and the size of the packaging.
