It’s so expensive being a grownup

Everything is so much more expensive these days. Well, everything except gas. All I’ve been hearing about is how people are filling up their tanks like it’s water coming out of the pumps — which is funny because if you buy individual bottles of water from a vending machine, gas is cheaper.

But everyday staples like milk (almost the same price as gas per litre — depending on where you live, I guess) are kind of expensive. People in certain industries always justify price increases when there is outrage but rarely do we get an explanation why we can suddenly see instant savings on something that had previously skyrocketed in price. Supply and demand? I sometimes wonder.

For instance: a week after Black Friday there were signs saying “Black Friday continues” and I wonder how these door-crashing prices are sustainable for such a long period of time. I understand some item prices are hiked up while stores lose money so it balances out but why not even it out across the board and have reasonable prices on everything every day?

I can’t be a hypocrite since I have products in retail stores and my books sell directly to the public through our website. Would I prefer making 60 cents per book or $10 per book? That’s an easy one.

But I do recognize when an inflated price isn’t justifiable. For that I, like many people, refuse to pay or buy then. Or I will shop around and find it cheaper just so I am not taken advantage of on a higher price.

True, the time, effort and hassle might only save me a few dollars but if we all started to take a stand and show companies that there are often competitors who would appreciate our business, maybe there can be some uniformity when we shop these days.

For as much as everyone complains about the big-box retailers — like your Walmarts, your Best Buys — if the price is right, people will flock there. Quality seems to go out the window when people’s main focus is how difficult it will be to pay the mortgage, maintain the car, feed the kids and all those other luxuries in life.

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