Rising Prices

The other day I was at Wal-mart shopping for the office, and I was approached by a worker there. He started the conversation with "Do you do food storage?" I said "Yeah, a little." He then proceeded to tell me that wheat prices are going up. I had already heard this on the radio. I think it has been rather hush-hush. I heard it on a grocery talk show I listen to every now and then. I haven't heard it on the news at all. I get most of my news from Fox, or from our local talk radio station. Granted, I don't watch Fox every night, but I catch it every few nights. And I listen to the news station every week day. So when I heard this the first time, I was a little alarmed. If you google it, mostly you come up with articles about how pizza will be more expensive. Now, according to MSN, all grains are going up. Great, just what we need right?
Then, the man at Wal-mart told me that all paper products are going up 2-4 dollars a package- toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, etc.
So the point of the story is, if you are on a budget like me, you should think about stocking up on grains and paper products, if you have the room to store them. If you buy bread, the prices will be going up. Gone are the days of $1.00 for a loaf.
We have plenty of wheat. We bought a 50 lb bucket last fall. It should last us well into next year. But this problem isnt going to get fixed anytime soon- not within the next few growing seasons anyway. I am toying with the idea of buying more. Macey's is doing their case-lot sale, and they put the wheat buckets on sale too. I know it will last. I just don't know if I can store it. Maybe I should buy more rice, or all-purpose flour. I rarely buy that, but sometimes I need it. And paper products- we try to buy on sale and stock up, but maybe they wont be on sale anymore. Between the price of gas and food, it's enough to make a girl want to sell the house and car and go live in the woods somewhere. At least the tent is paid for. But it also underlines the importance of the garden to me. If we can save money on groceries because I am growing produce, then we can afford to drive the car. Also, if I can save on groceries by stocking up when things are cheap, then we can afford to garden.
I can see I am going to have to be more diligent in listening for economy news. This stuff affects us directly. When I told Alann about wheat prices, he suggested I try to grow some wheat in the garden. I dont think we have quite enough room for that, but thanks for the suggestion honey!