Yesterday, I was walking out of the local grocery store, the headline of the local newspaper jumped out at me. It read, “The Great Recession Is Over.” My first thought was that it was a cruel trick.
Then I started asking myself, “Is The Great Recession really over?” Jobs are still tight. Milk and other staples have gone up in the past month. Big box store are worried that this Christmas’ sale will be at record lows.
Friday the stock market dropped almost 250 in both the New York and Dow Jones stock exchanges. This is in spite of good financial news for the week.
Prices have been creeping up. A can of tuna fish has been 48 cents for almost a year, now it is 69 cent. The same local Winco sold a gallon milk for $2.49. At the start of October a gallon of milk was $1.99.
Health care and the way we will have to pay for it will be much different by this time next year. The requirement for buying a house are changing. Paying for those impulsive purchases will cost more because of new credit card reform.
The middle American lifestyle is changing. Instead of fighting it, we might be better off stepping back to a much simpler time. Take pride in doing the basics of life. Oh, say making a cake, and not buying it.
If you go to your favorite bakery, it will cost you $7 to $20 for a nice cake.
Name brand box cake mix will cost $1.48. Box frosting will be under $1. Energy to cook the cake will be less than a $1. That makes the cost of a basic chocolate cake less than $3.48.
Say I want to make a fancy white pineapple coconut cake it will cost 98 cents for Dole crushed pineapple cake. $1.62 for coconut flakes. Then my cake will cost $6.08.
There is something about a homemade cake or anything, that gives it added value. Call it love. Call it the difference in quality just because it is homemade. There is the real treat.
