What's wrong with PBJ? Very healthy sandwich (healthy fats & carbs) and economical too!

Did anyone else notice that a woman quoted in the article said she was buying more peanut butter and jelly for her kids and driving a Suburban? That's a gas-guzzling, luxury car (a truck, really). Maybe she should sell the car and then she could afford to buy her kids some meat for lunch.

This article may contain the answers to many questions:

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Food Price Rise Could Last Another 2 Years
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
provided by CNN

You may have to get used to paying more for your groceries for another two years or more.

Experts say an increase in global food consumption combined with increasing use of crops such as corn and soybeans for alternative fuel production are partly to blame.

Agricultural economists who've studied food price fluctuations cite historical trends that show run-ups in farm commodity prices typically happen in five-year cycles.

More from CNNMoney.com:

• The High Price of Going 'Organic'

• Rebate Checks: How to Spend 'Em

• Recession-Proof Job: Personal Financial Adviser

Prices flare up in the first two to three years of the cycle and then start to moderate by the fourth or fifth year, said Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue University .

If 2007 was the first year of this latest cycle, Hurt said farm supply could start catching up to demand by 2010, helping to push down milk, bread, cereal and other grocery prices.

Until then, "Americans will be moving backward in their [food] lifestyle." By that he means that more families will trade down to cheaper food alternatives, or eat out less often, in order to adjust their budgets to both higher food and fuel costs.

Wal-Mart, the No. 1 discounter and supermarket chain, said Tuesday that spending patterns in its stores already support the trend. The retailer said shoppers are buying more white meat and less red meat, stocking up on larger package sizes and buying more boxed frozen meals as eating at home replaces going out.

"This is the first price boom we've seen since the 1970s," said Bill Knudson, professor of agricultural economics at Michigan State University, agreed. "There's an old industry saying that high prices cure high prices. My personal opinion is that food prices will remain high for another two or three more years."

The good news, however, is that "there's no grave concern" of a pending food shortage in the United States, Hurt said.

Why Is Food More Expensive Now?

Experts point to four main global trends for the rise in food prices.

First, growing incomes in developing countries such as China, India, Malaysia mean citizens in these countries are eating better and more frequently, thereby putting more demand on the global food supply.

More from Yahoo! Finance:

• 6 Ways You Can Eat Better for Less

• Rising Food Costs: Solutions Amid the Squeeze

• Stock Up on Food for Rich Returns

"People are consuming more quantity and higher-quality foods," said Hurt. "They are eating more meats, eggs, grains and [drinking] milk."

Second, adverse weather patterns over the past four years have harmed crop production in Australia, southern Europe, Ukraine and even parts of the United States.

American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) economist Jim Sartwelle said a prolonged drought in Australia - a major wheat and dairy producer - has led to big drops in world exports of wheat and milk.

Third, the United States is normally a big food surplus nation but, "with a weak dollar, there's been a run on our pantry of food supplies," Sartwelle said. "A lot of our excess production is going overseas and this is pushing up domestic prices."

Fourth, burgeoning demand in the European Union and the United States for ethanol and other biofuels has sparked a price surge in corn, soybeans, sugarcane and other commodities used to produce those alternative fuels.

It's not only consumers feeling the price pain, Sartwelle said.

He said that "even with higher retail prices, farmers and grocers get very little increase in their profit margin," because it's being offset by higher packaging costs, energy cost to produce and stock food and fuel to transport products.

Bill Ferriera, president of the Apricot Producers of California, also sees a bump-up in the costs of farming.

"Fertilizer costs have doubled from last year and farm labor availability is a big problem," he said. "Many farmers are choosing not to grow produce that is labor intensive."

Despite these food price hikes, Americans still spend only about 10% of their disposable income on food and beverage purchases per year, according to the Department of Agriculture.

That's below the 15% share of disposable income that Europeans spend on food and drinks, and the whopping 70% that citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh budget for consumables, said Hurt.

So even with a 4.5% expected rise in overall food prices, Americans, per person, will only spend an extra $87 this year on groceries, according to the Economic Research Service of the Department of Agriculture.

But that's little consolation for consumers whose budgets are already stretched amid the the worst food price inflation in 17 years, according to government reports.

The latest nationwide quarterly survey from the AFBF, which tracks supermarket prices for 16 basic grocery items, showed the total cost of its basket of goods rose to $45.03 in the first quarter of 2008, up 8% from the prior quarter.

Products with the steepest retail price jumps were a 5-pound bag of flour, up 69 cents to $2.39; cheddar cheese, up 61 cents to $4.71 a pound; corn oil, up 58 cents to $3.01 a 32-ounce bottle; and dozen large eggs, up 55 cents to $2.16.

But higher prices aren't here to stay, Hurt said. He's confident that producers will allocate more land to production over the next two to three years. "I expect greater use of technology to increase crop yields and better use of genetics to create drought-tolerant crops," he said.

Knudson said the United States this year is expected to dedicate 2 million acres of land from its federal Conservation Reserve Program to farming in order to increase production during lean times.

"In Canada more land will also be committed to farming this year," he said. "All this should help to eventually increase food supplies through the [price] boom cycle."

Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.

Hey Joe, thanks for the tip. I usually just hit the 5th ave market because it's nice to walk to on a nice day, but always looking for new ideas! Thanks!

FNC reporting this am that gas should hit $5 a gallon in June base on the current market price for oil.

Anything that moves on wheels will be going up again.

Saluki

Wagner Farms is another awesome place for inexpensive fresh produce. They open in July and are located on Rt. 59, between 95th and 103rd on the east side of Rt 59.

Yes, we looked into COD, and although my son works in DuPage County and COD says that anyone that works in district pays in district fees, but actually getting them to do that is different. Because the job is an "internship", it didn't qualify, and they would not offer in district tuition. Kind of a huge run-around. 108.00 per hour in district, 296.00 per hour out of district. at 12 hours per semester, that's a difference of 4500.00 per year. I hope gas doesn't go high enough to make that a fair trade.

I give kudos to all our young people starting out on their own. I feel the pinch, but my older son and daughter, both summa cum laude graduates, are feeling it harder. It seems to be harder for them to pay living expenses than it was when I was starting out on my own.

Okay, so the good news to all looking for inexpensive fruit and veg, LOCAL fruit and veg, Naperville has a Farmer's Market @ 5th Ave station every weekend in the summer starting in June through the beginning of October.

You can buy more "locally grown" (not all of it) in-season fruits and veg at a reasonable price. And you can barter a bit for it. Not all of it, but some. Esp when it's a bit later in the day. Don't be afraid to haggle, what do you have to lose?

Some of the stuff is just over-priced-gourmet-like nic-nacky food, but if you are serious about keeping fresh foods in your house at a low cost, this is a great alternative to the grocery store.

And it's a great way to battle the energy crisis a bit when your peas and lettuce and carrots and asparagus aren't flown in from another part of the world.

Buying local really does help everyone.

I want to second the motion of Diane G. and Maryann.

Let us have a thread on real estate taxes.

Mine were up over $1300 this year.

It is impossible to plan for 1300 hundred dollars in taxes, an extra 2500 in gas and an extra 2500 in food costs all hitting at the same time. Plus everything else is up as a result including tuition for the kids in college!

My corporation reduced raises from the normal 3-5% range to the 1% to 3% range this year. They blamed terrible economic conditions and escalating energy costs.

With average raises of 2% for corporate america, government america has to do what it can to cut costs down not increase them in these dire economic conditions.

City of Naperivlle can not allow 15.5% increases to take place as just happened.

If they are so stubborn in their solutions, they should at least try to see if 22 cops can do what 33 cops have been doing at the Last Fling and Rib Fest. But doing nothing makes no sense! Of course I prefer private security provided by out of town police but I will take a reduction in Naperville OT police over nothing!

If City Officials want a town of empty homes, they will get one if they don't buckle up like the rest of us are buckling up.

There are many ways for government to save in pressing times. The City of Naperville is not even attempting. Reducing 5% of Police OT was window dressing for Public Relations. Give me a break! Do they think taxpayers are stupid and gullible!

At one time our corporations paid our health insurance. We now pay it on our own through deductions from our bi weekly payroll checks!

Are city employees helping pay for their health insurance? I doubt it! Are city police paying a larger share into their pesnions instead of taxpayers subsidizing it almost fully? I doubt it!

Tough time are here and are getting worse. City Officials really need to smell the coffee.

The US. Government is. I am getting a check back for 1200 from President Bush and unfortunately Dupage County and the City of Naperville are taking it entirely away...plus another 100 dollars. Is this fair!

My check was meant to stimulate the economy....not to give it to the City of Naperville due to their complete incompetence in running our city or knowing how to save a dollar here or there in tough times.

Let us have that real estate tax thread, Moderator Jim! Thank you much. I hope we can get some articles in the print edition of the Naperville Sun that can enable our City Officials to understand our plight, agony and frustrations!

City Officials either don't read this Blog Site or are completely insensitive to the residents in this town. Do you have any clue Moderator Jim, which it may be?

Maybe you have to be a Dupage resident to attend COD...or at least to get the reduced fees! I believe Oswego might be in Kane Country or another county but surely not in Dupage. If you look at your real estate tax bill, Dupage Residents subsidize COD. I doubt we are going to let out of county students attend our schools that we are subsidizing on our tax bills.

I could be wrong and we could be a generous county who allows anyone to come to our County Subsidized College. Maybe someone else could shed some light.

It is amazing all the questions that are raised on these blogs with so few answers ever coming!

We may need a bunch of bloggers to join us who have all the answers since Sun Officials seemed to be very short handed and hard working.

-----------------------

Community colleges will let someone from outside their district pay in district fees if their own CC does not have the program they are interested in. Which may be a reason why he is not at COD. WCC has it so therefore he would not get in district tuition at COD.

Anonymous: If the student in question works within the COD school district, they are eligible to recieve in-district tuition. At any rate, it's not free, he still has to pay for his classes.

With the increase in the price of food, gasoline, real estate taxes, train fares, medical insurance, ad infinitum, I, like many others, shop the sales, at Aldi, etc. My daughter and I also go without meat for dinner during the week and only have it on the weekends. Between paydays our freezer and cupboards now get really bare. I received a $100 bill from my mom for my late April birthday and half of that went to groceries. There seems to be no relief in sight.

As for shopping, I have done some research on sales tax rates for the places I like to shop: Target in Warrenville, some stores across 59 in Aurora, Target in Naperville. It really does make a difference where you go -- sales tax rates on items vary greatly.

I also second Maryann's motion that a blog on real estate taxes is an excellent idea.

It's only going to get worse folks. If the price of gas continues to go up reports are saying that it could go as high as $7 a gallon. One way to solve this is start drilling right here on our own land and not sharing a drop of it with the rest of the world. Why in the world I we putting our economy in the tank when the middle east is laughing at what they are charging us. Start drilling in the good old USA and stick it to them.

And lets not forget how much $ the money big cahunas at the oild companies are making these days. You wonder how some of these execs can sleep at night.

Maybe you have to be a Dupage resident to attend COD...or at least to get the reduced fees! I believe Oswego might be in Kane Country or another county but surely not in Dupage. If you look at your real estate tax bill, Dupage Residents subsidize COD. I doubt we are going to let out of county students attend our schools that we are subsidizing on our tax bills.

I could be wrong and we could be a generous county who allows anyone to come to our County Subsidized College. Maybe someone else could shed some light.

It is amazing all the questions that are raised on these blogs with so few answers ever coming!

We may need a bunch of bloggers to join us who have all the answers since Sun Officials seemed to be very short handed and hard working.

Anonymous @ 5/7 10:27p, why doesn't your son attend COD? It's just down the road from Wheaton College. Might save him some money, fuel, and mileage on his car. Just a thought.

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear about price inflation. Maybe people live in a bubble. Food prices are up for a variety of reasons including price pressure due to a failed energy policy. Our country has squandered opportunities for the last 2 decades to get a proper energy policy in place. It is a shame that many on fixed incomes and the less economically advantaged will take the biggest hit. My wife informs me that I should not be angry when the monster trucks hog 2 parking spaces, I inform her that these jack as-es are contributing to the problem at hand. No matter what people think about conservation, if we as a community don't take action quickly this problem will only become worse.
With dollars saved via conservation measures,there are many opportunities to donate at food pantries--the need has never been greater.

Gas prices--for adults it's bad enough. I am just over the border in Oswego, Waubonsee Community College district. My son drives 40 miles round trip everyday to get to his HVAC internship at Wheaton College at 8.00 per hour. He then drives 35 miles round trip in the opposite direction to get to his night classes at Waubonsee in Sugar Grove, to finish his HVAC certificate so that he can go into commercial chiller training with TRANE. That young man goes to work everyday and is spending every cent he makes on gas and a small car payment for his Honda Civic, as he needed a reliable car with the miles he must drive everyday. We have stepped in to take over his car insurance and repairs, have already been paying his tuition and of course room and board.

He couldn't take public transportation to either of these destinations, both pretty much required for the education he needs. His transportation needs are also not addressed as necessary for his education, as far as federal education grant standards are concerned. I can understand this if he could hop a bus or train, but we all know that won't happen for Waubonsee, although it's a "community" college. He has goals and is working hard and doing well, but I don't know how someone with less support could do it.

Moderator Jim,

WSJ ran an article today in the Personal Finance sections stating that double digit increases for electricity are on the way, 23% was the quoted number.

This is being driven by the rise in the cost of coal. Coal is mined using diesel and transported on trains. Just in time for AC season.

Does this effect Naperville, or does our contract protect us, if yes for how long. Did the PBJ just loose the jelly?

The byline on the article might have been Ben Dover. I have been reading a lot of his articles lately:-)

You might be pleasantly surprised by how inexpensive Aldi is for groceries. Quality is every bit as good as Jewel and Dominicks but A LOT cheaper. I used to think Aldi was closeouts and such but it is fresh and great quality. I just have to readjust my thinking by paying the 25 cent deposit for the cart and bagging my own groceries.

Isn't anybody going to tie this to the subprime mortgage mess? The Fed has lowered interest rates and auctioned off more cash than in any other time in our history in order to keep the banks from going under. The value of the dollar has dropped over 12% against foreign currencies. That allows foreign countries to buy our farmed products at basically a 12% discount which encourages them to buy more and drying up the domestic supply for the rest of us. Supply aand demand drives up the

Since oil is bought in US dollars and not local oil currencies, this has caused a big jump in oil prices. Higher fuel costs lead to higher food costs.

If you think inflation is bad now, just wait until the goods you buy with the made in China stickers hit the store shelves reflecting a 15% to 20% increase because of the de-valued dollar. Thank you big banks. Thank you Federal Reserve Bank.

One thing we stopped doing was shopping at Jewel and Dominick's for green groceries, meat or dairy. They're just way to expensive. We've been going to no name markets, like Brookhaven or Nature's Best Food. Why can they sell fruit and vegetables for so cheap?

Moderator Jim,

One has to ask, with gas prices where they are, how has the City of Naperville adjusted it transportation plans?

What gas number are the plans based on? $1.50 gal, $3.00 gal, $8.00 gal?

Transportation planners would like for everyone to ride the bus, but it never happens.

Should we re-evaluate the amount of parking City Residents need at both train stations instead of selling off all of the prime location property to familiar developers for condos?

I would hate to see the people that want to ride the train in S. Napeville get shafted for 10 years while the Star line drama plays out.

Where is the giant multi-story-parking deck with 7 x 24 security at the RT 59 train station? This is one deck that can pay its own way!

As pointed out before, energy cost is a significant driver on the entire budget inc. food.

Well, with all of you cutting back on driving and going out to dinner, the rich people will be able to find better tables at the now, not so crowded, swanky eateries after a more enjoyable ride on roads not congested with those nasty sub compact and affordable cars. There is nothing more the wealthy hate than having to eat a place like Morton's or Sullivan's with the riff raff or drive on highways crowded with cars that cost less than $50,000. Pretty soon your homes will all be up for auction at the tax sale so that the developers can buy them at a really cheap price so as to be able to build more mega mansions.

And those of you on fixed incomes? If your income can't support you, then it isn't fixed, it's broken.

Maybe Naperville will repeal their ordinance forbidding the hanging of laundry out to dry.

Go green... why waste natural gas / electricity...

Nothing to do with food, but it's related to the price of energy which is a catalyst in the rising food costs.

Moderator Jim,

Goldman (AP) just speculated that oil may be headed for $200 a barrel this year, which would mean gas at $7 to $8 a gallon.

Does the Sun know if local farmers are planning on growing more vegetables locally this year given the increasing cost of moving veggies from the plantations in California and Arizona?

At some point, will we be allowed to keep a few egg laying hens in the back yard?

We could position this as eco friendly bug control and free nitrogen fertilizer.

Would the lawn chemical companies allow it?

Like other people have said, it all pretty much comes down to the price of gas trickling down to everything else. Money my family used to spend on healthy food now goes directly in to our gas tanks. Instead of fresh meats and produce we eat more canned food and pasta products than I did when I was in college! The most depressing thing is there is no end in sight, gas is just going to keep getting more and more expensive, bringing everything else along with it.

When gas is $5+ a gallon, we'll go from eating Spaghetti to eating Ramen Noodles... and where do you go from there when gas gets even MORE expensive?! A soup kitchen!

Bubo,

Good post. The net effect for a lot of the country is that there is a systematic elimination of the middle class.

Those who can afford to wade it out, will.. those who can't will ratchet downward on the economic scale especially if they have to start buying groceries and/or fuel on a credit card just to get by.

We don't even have to talk medical costs to see the bad effect this is having on the country and will continue to have.

From reading the above posts, I’m not sure the discussion can take place in a sterile environment. If you can’t afford the higher food prices, the question is why not. Food increases are not taking place in a vacuum and the causes for in-ability to absorb the increases are not beyond our control.

A contemplative question would be: How did we get here?

FACTORS DRIVING THE COST OF FOOD:

- Weather

- $120 a barrel oil, $4 diesel

- All fresh food travels on trucks and all food travels on trains, farmers drive diesel tractors.

- Burlington Northern is either the largest or second largest purchaser of diesel in the USA. BN transports a lot of food.

- The USA government creating more subsidies to increase production of ethanol made out of corn. Corn is distorted into being more valuable for fuel instead of food.

FACTORS PINCHING THE HOUSEHOLD DISPOSABLE INCOME:

- $4 a gallon gas

- 100% tax increases in Naperville for schools and local government.

- Credit card financing of the deficit by the federal government

- Higher energy costs for electricity and natural gas

- 60-100% inflation in the cost of houses with the current bubble.

- Essentially no growth in family incomes under the current administration.

WHO IS BENEFITING FROM THE CURRENT CONDITIONS?

- Giant food monopolies like ADM and Cargill

- Companies and individuals that are getting the ethanol subsidies from the Fed. I'm sure there are no politics here.

- Russia, Venezuela, Iran etc etc etc...

- Farmers that can now sell their corn for higher prices due to the subsidies.

- Whoever gets the import licenses for the Brazilian ethanol?

While our family lives well below our means, we have seen our disposable income shrink significantly for the reasons stated above. Between new taxes and the higher cost of fuel our disposable income has dropped by approx. $15,000 a year. That is a lot of peanut butter.

So far, we are eating as we always have, I hope I can say the same a year from now.

Riddle me this Batman! What is the link between the rants concerning Naperville taxes and the cost of food. Is the rising cost of food due to some perceived evil at City Hall? AHow are the City Council and the Mayor also somehow responsible for the continuing escalation of fuel prices? Has the End of Days arrived for Naperville - or has Chicken Little reminded us once again the sky is falling? Was there a 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll? Did he escape in the black helicopters that hover over all of our cities waiting to swoop down and abuse government power? Do you all have your shiny aluminum foil hats ready to wear when the sinister powers in Naperville begin broadcasting the mind control rays from the new parking decks being built?

Moderator Jim,

I wanted to thank you for posting my long post. I did not think you would post it. I was pleasantly surprised.

I think it explains my point of view.

Again, I hope we can all find a way to reduce food, gas, and taxes so we can get to where we were 2 years ago and life seemed to be affordable.

Baird and Warner shows a huge amount of 1 million dollar plus homes on the market compared to last year. A very large amount even in the over 2 million range. Last year, I recall checking the site and only seeing a few homes in that range for sale. I can not afford homes like that but I look for curiosity. It is nice to dream sometimes.

But this indicates to me that gas, food, taxes and mortgages are even effecting the very wealthy in Naperville and not only in California and Florida. They just seem to be ahead of us in foreclosures but I suspect we are going to follow shortly.

For those who may not know a 4 million dollar home pays roughly $80,000 in taxes. Ouch! I suddenly like my small 2638 s.f. cozy home! Since I can barely afford $9100 dollar in real estate taxes it does blow my mind that some people can afford $80,000 in real estate taxes. that is more than my husband and I make in a full year!

I know this is off subject a little bit, but it makes me wonder with all the new homes costing over 2 million added to our tax base, why haven't our average taxes gone lower since so many expensive mansions entered our tax base and are contributing heavily to the tax base.

These very wealthy people moving into Naperville only cost the city, county and schood district the same as us average people for services. So how come that $70,900 that multi-millionaire is paying in excess of what I am paying, is not reducing all of our taxes by a bit instead of increasing them???

There are thousands of houses in Naperville assessed for over a million dollars. Many, if not most, came on in the last 5-7 years. All the taxes these homes pay are somehow swallowed by our government. It just seems to me they should have an effect in reducing average taxes since these homes contribute so heavily to the tax base.

To my knowledge there is no thread discussing home real estate taxes so I felt it would be appropriate blogging here.

Since we all just got our real estate tax bills in the mail, maybe the Moderator could consider having a thread about how we feel about our latest Dupage or Will County Tax Bills. I think that would be a very busy thread with everyone seeming to be boiling over at the moment and give us a better chance to stay on topic if we want to discuss our real estate tax bills instead of discussing it on a food thread.

Again thanks for posting my letter. I do think we should be able to deviate off a thread topic at times as it is a way to communicate to you the possibility of needing a new thread.

If we are not allowed to do that, the only way to do that is call you or write directly to your e-mail....which method do you prefer, Moderator Jim?

Sincerely,
Maryann

One thing that really bothers me in terms of economic mass mentality is that when we start to come out of this recession, we will all be happy to have slightly lower gas, milk, meat, etc. prices. And although our incomes rose slightly, they will have not come close to keeping up and we just feel our standard of living slipping- like MaryAnn not being able to take a vacation, or the rest of us skipping that live theater performance and dinner downtown or whatever we all will give up. But we will be happy to pay less at the grocery store...kind of depressing.

Well, Mark F., I guess you got your answer. Hate to see how long Maryann's response would have been if Jim had not limited her.

Back on topic, we have 5 kids and just have to do as others have said.
We shop around for better prices on certain products, and look closer at the sales fliers and coupons. We also try to do a few meatless nights to help hold the grocery bill in check. Not much else you can do.

When the cost of energy goes up, everything goes up.

All the food you buy uses that higher priced fuel in one form or another to get to you. Trickle down economics...

Same thing applies to non-food items.. they cost more to ship too. Everyone along the supply chain still wants their profit, so they pass the cost on to you, the consumer.

We have noticed price increases across the board, As Joe said, milk is still available under $3 per gallon, it just depends on which store has it on sale each week. If you look at the sale papers, there are still bargains out there, you just have to look for them and plan a little better which stores to shop at. Fortunately busy season at work is here, so all the weekly OT more than covers the difference.

Moderator Jim,
I never mentioned Napergate and never had any intention to. I think everything is simply adding up for a killing on my household budget. Gas prices are also very high.

It just seems like it all hit at once. Food, gas, and taxes. That is why I mentioned taxes.

It seems like since food went up, it results in more sales tax because of the higher price of food. But now a lot of this food especially prepared food is being taxed at the higher rate of 7.25%/8.25% instead of 6.75%. It just all adds up. It is almost like a double tax on food. One because it went up and two because the rate is higher now since April 1, 2008.

Same thing with going to a restaurant downtown. Between this extra half a percent, the cultural 1%, and the 1.5% for parking decks suddenly we have another 3% increase on eating out in the form of a sales tax. I have never been hit at one time so badly. There is a relation between higher food prices and higher sales tax since the more the food costs the more the tax is. But we had a double whammy on April 1 with the increased rate.

Like most Napervillians, I am on a fixed salary. Yes, I did get a 3.5% raise this year, but how can that keep up with gas doubling since a year or two ago, from milk doubling from a year or two ago where I could find it for a 1.99 everywhere, eggs doubling and it goes on.

So my point was it is adding up to a bit too much. Yes, my ulterior intention but not my main intention, was to let the City understand that maybe it is the combination of everything that is making us complain a little louder this year than other years.

If it was just gas, we could have survived. If it was just food we could have survived. If it was just taxes we could have survived. But all 3 combined almost becomes unbearable if you are on a fixed income. Napervillians are not exempt from bankruptcy or foreclosures on their homes. Bankruptcy and foreclosures hit Florida and California in recent months pretty hard and you can pick up mansions for one third to one half the price of a year or two ago. It happened in oil rich Houston 20 years ago. Why do we think it can't happen to us if we don't watch our food, gas and tax costs. To some extent we can control all 3 but especially the latter one which is more local than the other 2. Of course I can partially control the other 2 by shopping only sale items and using coupons. While it is very time consuming, I have been using both strategies and it helps immensely.

But you know Moderator Jim, when I was grocery shopping with coupons, I did think if we did not have all this police OT and other waste in government, I would not have to spend every last hour looking for coupons to make ends meet. So I think there is a correlation that should be brought up. I think our City Officials should try to ease the pain in these hard times. Don't you!?! President Bush feels our pain and is sending each and everyone of us a check for 600 to 1200 dollars to help us out shortly. Why can't the City of Naperville feel our pain and reduce taxes so we can afford our grocery and gasoline bills a little better?

Hillary and McCain want to waive the tax on our gasoline this summer so we can afford the gas. So you see tax can be tied to such things as food and gas. It is all related and has nothing to do with Napergate in this one incident where I posted. It was purely economics. I am sorry you and Mark F. read it and interpreted all wrong.

I spoke of taxes because I just found out Saturday morning my real estate tax bill when up from $8400 to $9100 and I live in a relatively small house of 2638 square feet. The tax increase was very upsetting to me and my husband so I mentioned it. It had nothing to do with Napergate.

I think many people are quick to jump on anyone associated with the Napergate Movement even if she or he was just talking about expenses.

As you noticed my post was very short. I made a comment and moved to the thread where I believe my thoughts were heading and belonged.

I am only back here because I feel I was wrongly accused. We do tons of our blogging on the very old Napergate Thread so we can play by the rules. I think I and most Napergatians have been playing by the rules and being overboard.

We posted over 650 times on an archived thread(had 200 when it was live) where we would get much less visibility and have not complained just to be in compliance. Nobody appreciates those 650 posts mostly by Napergatians on an archived thread just to stay within the rules. They complain about my 2 sentence post that did not even say a word about Napergate.

If you study these threads carefully people deviate from posted subjects all the time. The only ones held to an absolute 0 tolerance standard is Napergatians. I don't think that is fair.

Again please review my post. It had nothing to do with Napergate. It was about the expenses of life coming from everywhere including food and taxes. I meant to mention gasoline but I forgot in the speed of trying to get back to the Overtime Thread where I felt my remarks were more appropriate.

I returned there on my at 6:48pm over an hour before you made your remarks at 7:56pm. I did not have to be told to return there. I saw this thread was a little slow and my only intention was giving it a lift...not taking it over or putting a Napergate spin on it.

I would like to remind you before I became a Napergatian or had ever heard of Napergate, I use to go to all your slow threads and try to liven them up. You and Host Ted would come on and chat with me for long periods of time on these slow threads. You would enjoy my company and I would enjoy your company. Just check the Road Warrior Thread where we became better acquainted. The only reason I left that thread was because Joe was very annoying at the time and it had 0 to do with Napergate as I don't think it had surfaced or maybe I just had not seen it yet.

Before the Napergate Era on your own threads Joe was attacking everyone. So it was Joe against anything everyone ever said. Now I guess his hobby and a few others is to attack Napergatians. I was not looking for confrontation then or now. I left the Road Warrior Thread because Joe finally arrived. Again nothing to do with Napergate. Just leaving because I found Joe annoying. If no Napergate surfaced Joe would find another group to attack. It is just his nature. He will not change. As John Q. Public stated Joe is a little too stubborn possibly for his own good.

Now that I have become a Napergatian, I feel like I have been stereotyped and put under the microscope. I can no longer go to a slow thread and try to juice it up with a post without being criticized. Before I was a Napergatians, it was OK to go to a slow thread and try to juice it up regardless of topic spoken. i think it was even appreciated and I appreciated the one on one conversation with the Host and Moderator before these threads really took off to a point where the Host and Moderator no longer have much time to chat. They are just trying to keep up. I appreciate how their thread grew exponentially in one year and they can no longer give us the personal attention we once got. I understand they now have a few thousand bloggers instead of a few dozen when they first started. At least I can take pride that I was one of the first few dozen.

Again my only intention was to liven a slow thread. That was my ONLY intention. I deliberately did not mention Napergate, and I feel I was criticized unjustly.

I think ignoring it would have been the best thing if you felt it was a gray area. Things go away quickly if they are ignored.

And yes, Mark F, I do have a personal agenda. It is too find a way to reduce my food, gas and tax costs and bring life back to affordability where it was 2 years ago. Blogger Diana is not the only one giving up her vacation this year. My family is too. We are not going out of state for the first time in a decade. A combination of high food, gas and taxes killed our vacation plans. So it is all related.

I hope the Moderator and bloggers understand my viewpoint since I went into detail. I was not planning on going into detail but sometimes you get carried away writing to defend yourself.

Thanks and if my post was out of line, I apologize. I am not here to cause any trouble. As you know I left the Greta Blog site to make this my permanent home. I left Greta because every one thought blogging was a joke. I came here because this Blog Site was serious and meant business. I came here because I felt under the leadership of Jim and Ted, we can make a difference. I feel we are making a big difference.

I feel City Officials are reacting to this blog site slowly but surely. I was downtown one recent weekend night and saw no cops stationed on Chicago Ave despite beautiful weather. That would have never happened last year. I never saw less than 6 in May of last year. I saw none, it was peaceful and I was very pleased.

I felt we were having success because of this Sun Site. Maybe they are also responding to the City Council demand for a 5% reduction. I wish the City Council would have asked for a 50% reduction in OT instead of just 5%.

But maybe Chief Dial will surprise us and achieve a 50% reduction. Maybe that will help me cut back on coupon search time for food. Maybe food costs, gas costs and taxes can all come down and we can take our family vacations all over again.

We were scheduled to go to Niagara Falls this year. But we are not going due to these 3 unexpected expenses and the toll they took from our budget.

Let us hope next year is better. But we have to remember every expense we watch will make our life better. 1% times 20 times is 20%. 20% means we can take our vacation next year and hopefully Diana and everyone else who had to sacrifice can also take their vacations next year!!!

I appreciate the use of your thread, Mr. Moderator, and you do not have to worry. I will never take you for granted. Neither, should anyone else!!!

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PS. Just a thought. I noticed all your criticism only comes after someone from this minority group complains. If your criticism came before they complained, I think it would be much more highly respected by all Napergatians. When you complaints seem to come as a response to this very small group, we perceive you as being pressured. If it was not for pressure, why not complain before they complain. Why wait until they complain to complain? That is where the perception of pressure comes from!!!

Everyone does what they have to do. Some opt to still pay under $3 gallon for milk by changing where they shop. Some opt to add more to their food budget by skipping those Chicago Fire games. Others still, just pay the prices and go on with life.

Maryann, Does every single blog have to be about bashing local government and promoting whatever your personal agenda includes? Can we just talk about food prices and the impact on our families! Yes I know your tax bill went up, yes you don't trust the City Council, blah, blah, blah. You have other forums for that and I think the Moderator should make you go back to them.

I for one see our family sticking to the advertised sale items, trying to eat what is already in the freezer and wishing we had a sunny spot in the yard for a garden. I was disappointed to see the cost of the Costco rotisserie chicken go from $4.99 to $6.49. I know that it is still a bargain, but I also have my eye out for the shrinking package sizes. Is it time for coupons?

Yes, food prices are killing me, too.

And it does not help my real estate tax bills just came in showing the City of Naperville increased their portion of my tax bill 15% instead of taking pay cuts for their incompetence.

Food prices are out of control. Recently we had four ears of corn in a package, the price was $3.99. Can you imagine spending a dollar on an ear of corn? I remember in summers past when they'd practically be giving it away. But now all the corn farmers are selling their corn for ethanol and the supply of food corn can't keep up with the demand so we'll see prices continue to climb. And that's just one example - how about beef, eggs etc. etc. It's insane.

My meals have gotten very scaled-down and also, I'm sorry to say, very unhealthy. I used to make home-cooked meals full of fresh vegetables and lean meats and nowadays I am relying on cheap convenience foods like Tuna Helper and meatless spaghetti (just noodles and sauce, no frills) more and more. Our grocery budget has always been very limited, but between the skyrocketing costs of groceries and gas I'm finding that our weekly food budget is now reduced to $30/week. It's not impossible to feed two people on that little, but it's not going to be easy to make balanced nutritious meals, either.