Overspending produces higher prices

Okay, this post may sound like the mad babbling of a weary consumer, but really folks the more we spend the higher prices will go. While I'm not suggesting staying at home not purchasing anything at all to "stick it to the man", I am suggesting becoming extremely protective of your hard earned money. Economist call it "disposable income", and since when did any income become disposable. That's what we have become, the country who produces a small portion of what we consume. We are the worlds largest consumer, yet we have no where near the largest populated country. I had the opportunity to have a great conversation with my dad this morning, and we began to discuss the rise in cost of fast food. Certainly there is a rise in cost of of food, but not so largely a rise that my favorite combination meal at the local taco join has increased from $5.89 to $7.49. I am almost ready to purchase a cooler that stays in the back of my SUV and pull over to slap a sandwich together should I become hungry on the road. Although I may not be old enough for stories of when a loaf of bread was a nickel, I do recall when gas prices climbed up to $1.00. Clinton was in office, and I thought it was extremely crazy that our gas prices had gotten so ridiculous. Here I am today, having to pay a minimum of $3.25/gallon for premium unleaded (the price I pay for owning the vehicle I have) and I actually get excited about only having to spend $50.00 to fill up.

Being a society of locusts and leaches (plug in the word consumer if it makes you feel better, but we are what we are) we become susceptible to misuse and abuse. The last couple of years of Bush Jr.'s reign, people began to cry out for an audit of the major oil companies (as if he was going to do it being that his family is heavily invested in the market). We had reached record highs of fuel cost, in some areas hitting the over $5.00/gallon mark. The governmental explanation for it all was due to the "War on Terrorism." If that is/was the case then why with the changing of presidents did fuel prices drop immediately. I'm not suggesting it's all Bush's fault, but we paid the additional cost and oil companies reported record profits (after taxes) in the billions. Understanding simple supply and demand will help you to understand why the oil companies are making such large profits.  They sell the oil on the NYMEX or other means to the refiners, refiners sell it to distributors and distributors sell it to us. When we demand more, they drive the prices up (because we will pay for it, just as I still paid for my favorite combination meal at the local taco joint all the while complaining). We as consumers have more power than we know.

I have recently stopped shopping at a local hardware chain simply because of their lack of customer service towards women. I walk in looking for something and I look lost...OF COURSE I DO!!! Yet no one will assist me. I tested this theory recently (at the same location) thinking perhaps I was exaggerating my experiences there. When a woman associate walked passed me to the man behind me (even though she made eye contact with me and I spoke). She cut me off and asked if he needed help with anything. I left my basket parked right where it was in the middle of the aisle and walked out. When my 6 year old asked me why we were leaving, I said in her earshot, that I refused to spend my money at an establishment that refused to assist me. Consumers drive the market. When we no longer like something, we don't buy it and we force manufacturers to come up with something else that we will purchase. If we decided tomorrow we were all going to use the public transportation service to save on gas, the demand for gas would go down thus driving the cost down, they would have to develop a better transportation service that would accommodate everyone, and Southern CA would see less smog filled skies and our environment would thank us. I am just as guilty, we like door-to-door travel, we want to go when we feel like it, and we respond to the current problem with public transportation rather than understanding we have the power to change it. So let's stop being gouged. I for one have not been back to one of my favorite taco places, I keep my driving to a minimum and attempt to schedule all appointments and/or errands on the same day. I search for the best printer to print my business materials (that's a whole other gouging issue, since when did business cards go from $35/500 in color to $134/500), and shop various stores for other necessary supplies. Let's continue to become smarter consumers, and not let the world of retail eat up our "disposable income" that can be better invested in other areas.