Inflation: How Much Did You Spend? Food? Gas/petrol? Diesel?

[Sue (Ayt)]

Today I paid $3.47 a gallon at the pump (regular).

Has me wondering if the prices in California are still so high, and if there is a difference in general between the blue vs. red states gas prices in the US?

[Ravenlocke]

It’s $4.76 a gallon (regular) in Southern Oregon. Premium is over $5

[Sue (Ayt)]

Posted by Sue (Ayt) (here)
Today I paid $3.47 a gallon at the pump (regular).

Has me wondering if the prices in California are still so high, and if there is a difference in general between the blue vs. red states gas prices in the US?

Well, ai answered my question, so yeah...

Gasoline is generally cheaper in Republican-led states due to lower state-level fuel taxes, closer proximity to oil refineries, and fewer environmental regulations that add cost to fuel production. These states, often in the South and Midwest, minimize transportation costs and avoid the higher taxes used by Democratic states to fund infrastructure and green initiatives.
Reddit
+4
Key Reasons for Lower Gas Prices in Republican States:
Lower Taxes: Republican-led states tend to impose lower gasoline taxes, with residents often paying around
29.2 cents per gallon in taxes compared to
37.1 cents in Democratic-led states,.

Proximity to Refineries: Many of these states are located near Gulf Coast oil production and refining resources, reducing the cost of transportation, according to 1.

Regulatory Environment: Fewer, or less stringent, state-specific environmental regulations (like specialized fuel blends) reduce production costs and retail prices.
Lower Cost of Living: Generally lower operating costs for gas stations in these regions often contribute to a lower cost of living and, by extension, lower fuel prices.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Meanwhile, in Ecuador, gasoline/petrol is now $3.02 per gallon, with dlesel $2.96. This is still super-cheap compared to most other countries, but a few days ago it crept up again by a second increment of 10 cents..

In my North Texas town, gas is about $3.00 to $3.30 per gallon.

[shaberon]

Posted by Sue (Ayt) (here)
Gasoline is generally cheaper in Republican-led states due to lower state-level fuel taxes, closer proximity to oil refineries, and fewer environmental regulations that add cost to fuel production. These states, often in the South and Midwest, minimize transportation costs and avoid the higher taxes used by Democratic states to fund infrastructure and green initiatives.
Reddit
+4
Key Reasons for Lower Gas Prices in Republican States:
Lower Taxes: Republican-led states tend to impose lower gasoline taxes, with residents often paying around
29.2 cents per gallon in taxes compared to
37.1 cents in Democratic-led states,.

Hard to say exactly what this means. I would generally be considered to be in a Republican State, federally and/or Congress, but usually are led by a Democratic Governor, at 40.1 cents.

State taxation issues are their own business.

Proximity to Refineries: Many of these states are located near Gulf Coast oil production and refining resources, reducing the cost of transportation, according to 1.

That's just the cost, not the taxes. Try looking at Hawaii as a representative state of anything. Shipping costs are around triple of anything on the mainland.

Regulatory Environment: Fewer, or less stringent, state-specific environmental regulations (like specialized fuel blends) reduce production costs and retail prices.
Lower Cost of Living: Generally lower operating costs for gas stations in these regions often contribute to a lower cost of living and, by extension, lower fuel prices.

The use of Ethanol is from the federal corn subsidy, and it is not good for engines.

The idea is to lower the cost of living. In this sense, you are better off being close to the refineries. Northerners have been coming here for ages just because it's cheaper.


As of right now our gas dropped about a nickel or so. Still at an outrageous level for the wrong reason.

[shaberon]

Although they sowed this with the East India Company, now they reap thanks to the rebel colonies:

A recent survey reveals that UK retailers have experienced the sharpest year-on-year decline in sales in more than four decades, driven by the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, which has heightened inflation fears among shoppers.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conducted the survey based on responses from 61 retail chains, collected between March 26 and April 14.

The CBI’s monthly retail sales volume balance plunged to -68 in April, down from -52 in March — its lowest reading since the series began in 1983.

Expectations for May have also worsened, falling to -60 from -49, marking the gloomiest outlook since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021.

The employers’ organization has already urged the British government to avoid new employee rights legislation that would excessively raise employers’ costs, while calling for reductions in business rates (property taxes) and electricity bills.

“Some retailers reported that weak consumer confidence was weighing on spending in April,” the CBI stated.

Martin Sartorius, a CBI economist, said firms are looking to the government to address the ongoing financial pressures.

“With the economic impact of the Iran conflict becoming clearer, firms will be looking to government to recognize that easing cost-of-living pressures depends on tackling the cost of doing business,” Sartorius said.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to chair a meeting on Tuesday to assess the impact of the US-Israeli war against Iran on the UK economy.

Representatives from the Bank of England and the government’s emergency response committee (COBRA) are expected to attend.

“Tomorrow I’m chairing a meeting of COBRA on the impact [of the war], bringing in people from the Bank of England, so that you can be sure we will stand by working people in this crisis,” Starmer told trade union members on Monday.

“I have to level with you about Iran, because the truth is, the economic consequences could still be with us for some time,” he added, citing rising fuel prices as a clear example.

These developments follow the US-Israeli aggression, which has disrupted global markets, triggered sharp increases in fuel prices, and fueled food inflation worldwide.

The war continues to expose the vulnerabilities of Western economies to the consequences of their own aggressive policies in the West Asia region.

[Dilettante]

Midgrade gas in my neck of the woods in Colorado is about $4.89. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Looking at the crude oil futures (priced by the barrel), we've doubled in price this year!

[Ewan]

I don't know what is going on at the moment, but the price of diesel has been falling for at least a month now and is currently only about 10c above the pre-Iran prices.

Thought we were running out, is it a surprise!

[shaberon]

Reporting back on how we break you in two stages.

First we reduce it. A sandwich which typically (and forever as far as I know) contains 4 oz. of meat is now only 3 oz., and the cheese is about as negligible as it could be made.

Then, as of a few days ago, we raise the price by a dollar, ~12%.

Knock it down by a quarter, and add an eighth to the original price...the item was inflated about 40%.

That makes a $9 sandwich, no chips, no pickle, and if you can taste the trim on it, you could be called a "groundbreaking researcher."


Gasoline took a visible dip, and then rebounded about a dime or so. It's not consistent; some stations appear to go with a cutting-edge financial price, and others look based on their physical supply and seem to change a couple days later. Not sure how that works, because distributors are not the same as stores, in terms of either food or gas.

I wouldn't know where a good value lies. Too many experts have removed it.

[shaberon]

Skimming over a few notes, the financial future is contradictory:

"We are obviously in the AI transition. We are definitely in the midst of the green transition."

"Again, for the AI transition, the secular forces of AI transition and green transition are leading to more attention to those kinds of commodities."

FTSE Russell estimates the five largest U.S. hyperscalers will spend more than $600 billion on AI infrastructure this year, with annual investment expected to exceed $900 billion by 2028. That spending continues to support demand for semiconductors, electrical equipment, data centers, and the industrial metals needed to build them.

AI must be the most un-green thing I've ever heard of.


At the exact moment, it has slumped:

Stock indexes retreated on Monday and settled lower as a sell-off in South Korean chipmakers weighed on technology stocks and crude oil prices surged amid renewed US-Iran hostilities. South Korea’s Kospi Index closed down more than -8% on Monday after SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics plunged more than -10% on concerns that the artificial intelligence boom has become overextended.

AI spending is expected to account for most of earnings, with AI infrastructure stocks set to contribute nearly 60% of the S&P 500's earnings-per-share growth in Q2.

Chipmakers and AI-infrastructure stocks are falling today...

Theoretically, it boosts industrial metals rather than gold, but this is at least the second Korean dive on its behalf.


The one agricultural product that may have been profitable is now worth less, cattle:

Fundamentally, a wobbly U.S. stock market and a rise in crude oil (CBU26) (CLQ26) prices recently are negatives for the cattle futures market, as consumer confidence has down-ticked, which could mean less demand for beef at the meat counter — especially with retail beef prices at historically high levels.

...live cattle futures that prices are in a fledging downtrend and on Friday hit a three-week low.

None of that sounds like a society, it sounds like a way for the rich to scamper around and squeeze blood from a stone, while everyone else can just deal with it.

[JackMcThorn]

Posted by shaberon (here)
AI must be the most un-green thing I've ever heard of.

AI does some things that are interesting but I keep thinking about just a regular old human brain, and how efficient, it can be. But there is variance in human brains. I recall the old man commenting when I was in my youth about say a cashier not being able to count change at the register and how they should 'use their brains'. [Also in parochial school they mentioned a percentage of use of the average human brain was quite low and I tried to endeavor to use as much brains as I could upon immediately hearing this dreadful statistic.] This was around 4o years ago. But in every effort for green-ness it seems AI just gets a free pass. They really do not want people to think - at all. I find it more sad than anything. I feel like I try to think so hard, it might be illegal. But the brains do not need excess resources and cooling in order to operate.

It kind of reminds me of a little story in India about a man that walks a long distance from home into town [and back] to do running around errands. Everyone is in a GD hurry all the time. That is part of the problem. Zero patience with everything. Its not a good look for the future. The societies that are not in a hurry are long lasting. I'm sure you noticed.

[shaberon]

Posted by JackMcThorn (here)
The societies that are not in a hurry are long lasting. I'm sure you noticed.

I agree with that on a very fundamental level.

It's like random drill attacks to the brain.

Being in a hurry is the virtual opposite of concentration, which is the factor going extinct.

I have noticed the "other side" -- meaning China and Iran specifically -- while of course pursuing AI technology, both do so in a way that still preserves and cherishes critical thinking. The machine is merely a tool, to be put away at certain times so the human remains human.


That perhaps summarizes financial capitalism as well. Before computers, it was numbers on paper. It was not human, in the sense it doesn't belong to anyone, wasn't owned or controlled by a particular person, and serves only itself, by increasing the numbers. That's to say a corporation serves its own bottom line, regardless of owners, employees, or other humans. Its only function is numerical. I have a severe dislike of rummaging articles about the stock market in order to pluck the 10% minority that may echo the real economy. I want to have nothing to do with that kind of world. I just want to understand enough about it to be able to clarify any kind of alternative system.

Other current headwinds are that Treasury sales are down, although yields are up, and it is seen as a perhaps inevitably short time before the Fed does something to interest rates.

As the most general speculation, it appears well-geared for us to enter a period of noticeable inflation followed by depression, as if to say my sandwich price will go 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 22, and then a sandwich will be $1 combined with mass unemployment. I just saw another dime back onto gas at 3.71 somewhere.

That seems the most benign result, if we don't cause an artificial armageddon with data centers, war, or both, or more.

[Sue (Ayt)]

Food is where I am most noticing the squeeze happening now. Not so much on gas prices.

The highest raises I notice are on real, wholesome food. Milk, eggs, produce, and real meat. The prices for these are outrageous, and I shudder to think how hard it must be to provide these things to a young, growing family.
The boxed and frozen junk foods are still fairly affordable, sadly, so I imagine many have turned to them by necessity.

One thing this may have resulted in is that people may have become a lot more selective about what they buy, and about not wasting anything - ie using leftovers, freezing meals, and avoiding throwing food out.

The restaurants around here seem to be hurting too, as more people are cooking at home, and restaurants have had to choose between raising their prices exorbitantly, or lowering their quality to YUK.

[David_K]

Location: Australia - Hervey Bay, Queensland. Fri, 17 July 2026Prices in $AU Conversion [Mid-market exchange rate A$1 AUD = 0.6993 USD]Fuel @ Local Stations:E10 = $1.70 - $1.80 per litre x 3.78 = $6.42 AUD to $6.80 AUD [per gal]Conversion ...................................... $4.49 USD to $4.76 USD [per gal] Premium = $1.80 - $2.00 per litre x 3.78 = $6.80 AUD to $7.56 AUD [per gal]Conversion ...................................... $4.76 USD to $5.29 USD [per gal]

At the end of the day, once you account for the fact that Australia imports 90% of its fuel and relies on ports and road transportation over vast distances rather than a dedicated pipeline, I'd say our prices even out with the US. Most people don't account for varying taxes and logistics, but it’s always interesting to read the perspective of those who do. To put it in perspective, the highest fuel prices in Outback Australia are absolutely greater than $7 USD per gallon (AU $2.50/L) today, with remote areas frequently seeing diesel and premium fuel spike well past $8 USD per gallon (AU $3.00/L), unless I am missing something here.

In any case, no matter where you live, I suspect fossil fuel prices are going to stay high. Much like everything else after COVID-19, the country never truly reverted to how it used to be. Instead, we have just normalised the shift, not only within the market itself, but also across new mandates, laws, and societal rules. Prices will cycle and they may go down, but the trend will be exploited and normalised.

Personally, I am all for walking, but even then trepidatiously.

Most areas today lack the proper facilities, and those that do are seeing all kinds of chaos with electric skateboards, e-bikes, and scooters running into each other.

We just had another local death involving a 37-year-old and a 30-year-old when an e-scooter met an overclocked e-skateboard in low light at 7 PM.

Even the prices of those gadgets have escalated for anyone game enough to ride them. It is a costly gamble, too, as my own run-in cost me $12,000 AUD for a major shoulder reconstruction. 🤕

My fault, I thought I was 20 again but in my 50s. More power to those whizzing around, but please do many of us a favour and SLOW DOWN ✌️
_____________

100% what Sue said.

One Big Mac from McDonald's costs in excess of 12 Australian dollars — $8.39 USD.

Jalna Pot Set Lactose Free Greek Style Yoghurt 1kg = $9.20 AUD = $6.43 USD

If you want water with your meal but did not bring your own:
A 500ml bottle usually costs between $3.50 and $5.00 AUD.
Conversion ...................................... $2.45 USD to $3.50 USD

By comparison, a Large Coke gives you more drink for less money, costing around $4.45 AUD for a much larger 650ml cup.

The cheapest option on the menu via the drive-through is a Small Frozen Coke for just $1.00 AUD for a 300ml cup, which packs roughly 30 grams of sugar.

Conversion ...................................... $0.70 USD per cup

You can buy 2 of these Frozen Cokes for $2.00 AUD ($1.40 USD) and still come in at under half the price of a single 500ml bottle of water, while getting 100ml more liquid.

Alternatively, you can buy 4 Frozen Cokes for $4.00 AUD ($2.80 USD) and still pay less than the price of one water, netting you a whopping 1.2 litres of drink loaded with 120 grams of sugar.
________________

RENT
The median rent in our local is higher than Google states.

REAL WORLD STATS from the people like myself:

Well over a year ago (18 months) my wife, grandson and I almost went homeless unable to afford:

$600AUD p/w to $650AUD p/w for 3 bedroom house. [nothing else avaialbe re- housing crisis on the rise despite goverment promises]

Todays average price for the above $680AUD p/w
That's $2,062 USD per month

$800AUD p/w for 4 Bedroom.


Single Room Prices/Share house ... from $300AUD to $350AUD p/w
$910 USD per month to $1,062 USD per month
_________________________

We have more tents and communty rangers popping up with constant social media tensions and stigma reaching boiling point. Were concerns were once about following America, Australia has just about mimic the said byproduct along with all the Junk food and other ellements of cancer.

Which brings me to healthcare. It is not at all what it's made out to be. A truth easily ignored by anyone who has never had to 'live' in a tent on public display or confront these harsh inevitabilities.

Having utilized many community services in the past and pioneered some successful ventures ourselves (my wife and I), what my wife and I have seen is the industrialization of human service (I often replace services for beings). Starting in 2016 and exponential by 2019, the NDIS and centralized national policies have stripped regional areas of their local community hubs. Employment, disability, and correctional services have all been consolidated into one massive, automated machine. Face-to-face human interaction has been replaced by an indifferent digital framework. One that reduces real human suffering to mere digital profiling and automated administration.

Long tmerm unemployment and the MH landscape now a precurser to being boxed into any of the above catogories liken to the growing number of community rangers used to sweep the local parks and streets.

It goes even deeper, but possbiley more importnat than the rising prices or those still living under rubble.

To be sure those once in the middle are slowly slipping into the cracks where an increase in simple or bulk carbs will are becomming the main stay just as more trips to those wondourous medical centers and all they have to provide. More so a slipery slide for those lower on the rungs.

I no longer do doctor's appointments, even when sick, because I am in a position that is not so favourable in all of the above. I only reserve such reliance for last-second emergencies, and even then, I tell my wife, 'Do not call an ambulance!' Thankfully, we have more than just a roof over our heads, and if we do need to call an ambulance, they very well might save my life despite my reluctance. I'd just prefer to spend more if I can, eat less, and put one foot in front of the other to better meet whatever comes. All good.

Have you heard of the 'Dirty Dozen'? Not the one with Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, or Donald Sutherland, but the guide to less toxic fruits and veggies? That's the mindset I use to get by in such a toxic world. For those of us who can't afford X, Y, and Z, I highly recommend it.

Electricity in Australia. I am sure Nikola is rolling in his grave! hehe ... There is some positive things taking place in the background though.

China's advances in fusion are looking very promising. The ripple effect from that alone has also seen many breakthroughs in Microreactors and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), directly benefiting from the advanced shielding, high-powered magnets, and extreme material science originally spawned to crack the fusion riddle.

The 11,000 active satellites put up over the last seven years [A proposal for 1,000,000 has now been submitted to the FCC as Starship proves operational and prepped for mass production] by one corporation have more competition than they bargained for.

It's disappointing that many of us will likely not see the benefits of those nations now providing for their people. Homeownership in China is massively higher than Western nations, sitting at an extraordinary 90% to 96%—facts sourced from Gemini of all AIs. While those closest to me face the possibility of winding up in a tent, I am all for China’s progress regardless of old, outdated narratives.

Who's for a couple of slices of white bread and fried devon? Anybody?

Yet with rising costs, you can be sure even those in tents can still afford a wireless connection. [Smiles]

I know I should have gotten AI to give me all the answers, but I am not used to it relaying positive information about China, and it actually gets a lot of things wrong. But given Gemini's response on housing in China... there might be hope on the horizon, at least for some.