54% of young Americans say food costs are the biggest strain on their finances
Over half of young Americans say that rising food prices are the most noticeable effect of inflation.
As they're living with their parents because they can't afford an apartment of their own.
This is a serious point. I couldn’t afford a place until I was in a relationship. And that was a long time ago. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be with today’s rent.
For one city in Germany there was an article reporting that moving in together became the new marriage, because giving up your previous accommodation means to be stuck together in the same place for six months or longer after a breakup.
Having a roommate turned an apartment from unaffordable luxury to merely 25% of my paycheck.
I honestly think having roommates is fun, particularly if you're old friends anyway. But its crazy that a spot at the ass end of town was eating so much of my take home pay even after we cut the bill in half.
Yup. Rent and then food right now.
Let me rephrase it.
54% of young Americans struggle to buy food.
Would help if they learned to cook.
Vast majority of my under 40 peers, do not cook. Almost everything they eat is prepared meals or meal substitutes.
The number of young people with no money, but constant deliveries from Ubereats, Deliveroo, etc, astounds me.
Like, my brother in Christ, you are sending most of your food budget to Silicon Valley billionaires. No generation has ever survived entirely on delivered takeaways.
Don't worry though we solved inflation. We just removed it from our calculations. If we don't count it: it's not there!
Investment funds stocking up on US farmland in safe-haven bet
Investment funds have become voracious buyers of U.S. farmland, amassing over a million acres as they seek a hedge against inflation and aim to benefit from the growing global demand for food, according to data reviewed by Reuters and interviews with fund executives.
The trend worries some U.S. lawmakers who fear corporate interest will make agricultural land unaffordable for the next generation of farmers. Those lawmakers are floating a bill in Congress that would impose restrictions on the industry’s purchases.
Though their acreage is a small slice of the nearly 900 million acres of U.S. farmland, the pace of acquisitions by investment firms like Manulife Investment Management and Nuveen has quickened since the 2008 global financial crisis drove firms to seek new investment vehicles, according to Reuters interviews with fund managers and an analysis of data from the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF).
The number of properties owned by such firms increased 231% between 2008 and the second quarter of 2023, and the value of those holdings rose more than 800% to around $16.2 billion, according to NCREIF's quarterly farmland index, which tracks the holdings of the seven largest firms in farmland investment.
Farmland offers steady returns even in periods of high inflation, and firms hope crop demand will remain steady as the United Nations predicts the world will need 60% more food by 2050 due to population growth.
You don't want to confuse "inflation" with "economic growth". One makes prices go up because the evil bad salaries are increasing. But the other makes profits go up because of the smart efficient business net revenues are increasing.
A prosperous nation needs big new investments in the future. And that means speculating in our domestic breadbasket, so we can maximize the price of inelastic commodities in an effort to optimize consumption habits. You don't like waste, do you? Optimizing price reduces waste. Its all right here in the book Basic Economics by totally non-problematic and very smart guy Thomas Sowell.
hey rich people, ever heard the stories of what happens when the mass working class gets hungry?
In the US? I think they just die?
They eat cake? /s
They vote for the very people that aim to make them poorer?
Rephrased: 54% of young Americans live with their parents or in large communal housing and still struggle to afford food.
42% are in school or are unemployed. 28% are working part time.
Yeah, food is the only real expense when you're at home or in a dorm and not paying those student loans yet.
To follow up with this... they have a stupid video on their page where they break down expenditure of a girl in Houston who makes 65k. Insurance and rent takes half. Food is minimal at $271
It has been a long time since people only lived at home because they didn't have real jobs or are in school. Many are also likely to need cars so they can get to work (because most places in America you need a car), there is a decent chance they are paying for some amount of healthcare out of pocket as well. Rent is unaffordable as hell.
I was a bit surprised rent wasn't higher, but I wonder how many of the respondents haven't moved and have rent control, so they aren't affected by rent hikes.
Rent and health insurance definitely for me unfortunately
That's why revolution starts with the bread
Especially burger buns, because they are round.
Shit's bad in Canada, and our grocery store megacorps are taking us for all we've got. Five boneless skinless chicken breasts for $28 is insanity. Yet here we are.
I went to get chicken for some meal prep a couple of days ago (Missouri, US) and a 1lb container of just chicken breast tenders costs $13, I figured it was a "labor" cost for cutting the tenders off before the customer buys it, like how a container of diced onion costs an order of magnitude higher than just buying a whole onion, but nope, the pack of 2 breasts right next to it cost basically the same, maybe only 50 cents cheaper, and I wasn't in anything expensive like a whole foods, just a generic lowcost midwest regional store. It's absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention 2 orange or red bell peppers costs $5....
Five boneless skinless chicken breasts for $28 is insanity. Yet here we are.
The fuck.
Here in the Netherlands we apparently have the opposite problem. Lots of complaints that meat is too cheap, mainly by animal rights organizations who oppose the conditions under which the animals for this cheap meat are held.
Monopolies are a hell of a drug.
Tyson announced several months ago that they were cutting back supply, just so that they could charge more. They're one of, if not the largest chicken supplier (and they are fully vertically integrated) in NA, so them raising prices affects prices across the board.
Prepare for more pain as bird flu seems to be spreading in US cattle populations.
$3/lb for boneless antibiotic free chicken breasts here in Massachusetts. https://www.shopmarketbasket.com/sites/default/files/weekly-flyer/pdfs/2024-05/mb-flyer-May5-May11-2024_web.pdf
Man, I don't know what I'd do without Aldi. Ironic that the best grocery chain in America is European, when the American Grocery Store used to be such a symbol of U.S. prosperity.
Lidl too
Same here. Aldi is the only place with affordable healthy food in my area. If it closed, then I’ll have to shop at garbage Walmart…
This fucking god awful economy is literally built out of strains on millennials finances.
Yeah no shit
Not really surprising.
yep. to anyone who is paying attention. and lives in a HCOL area.
but a lot of people aren't/don't.
I make way more than I did in my 30s (53 now) but I feel way poorer. Of course my mortgage payment is more than 3x what it was back then … that might be a reason.
The fact you can afford mortgage and a home blows my mind and I'm 40. I have no hope in hell of ever owning and I make decent money
If I lived in someplace like Silicon Valley California and making what I make I’d be homeless. Someplaces are better than others. But the system is definitely rigged for sure.
High COL area?
Considering only 30% of the people in this survey from ages 18-34 are working full time, i'm going to go ahead and say this isn't an accurate representation of independent young adults.
26% are in school and 16% are unemployed for a total of 42% not really making money / are using loans for housing or are living at home.
28% are working part time and are unlikely to be living on their own - it's rare to find a part time gig that can afford housing.
So 22% think housing is the highest cost issue... and only 30% are employed full time... sounds about right to me! I'm guessing it's not 30% because those 8% got mortgages during the 4% or lower interest rate era.
What do you mean by independent young adult. Is that even possible to be any more? Without being born wealthy or making a huge gamble in health and safey or finances or both?
What do you mean by independent young adult. Is that even possible to be any more?
Yes
I was born into a poor family, single mom with mental illness. I never had air conditioning, we spent many years without a hot water heater lugging water boiled on the stove into a bath tub to wash up. My family drove beaters. Moved out at 14. Dropped out of high school. Spent a few years figuring out my shit. Got an associates at 25 at a community college. Got a job in IT support making 50k... ten years later at 100kish.
Today the same thing can happen but entry level pay is 10-15k higher. Renting just a room is still doable on that entry level pay. Community college costs are still effectively 0 if you have 0 expected family contribution. I did work retail while I was in community college part time, offsetting cost of living expenses only. Avoid education loans at all costs imo, you can't declare bankruptcy and dump them if the worst case scenario happens and a degree is not a guaranteed job.
I never gambled health, safety or finances. I didn't do drugs or get involved in something that could fuck my life too hard. I never spent a dollar I didn't have in the bank unless it was absolutely necessary and still live that way because I grew up knowing how valuable money is, and how much it sucks when you don't have it.
Nowadays even around Boston on public transit lines (no car expense) you can find a studio apartment for 1500/mo with nothing included. Once you're making 60k you can squeak by living alone. You can instead save probably 1k by having roommates/a girlfriend and splitting bills. After five years and two job changes you're gonna be able to bank a lot more money than you'd think.
People want it to be easy to live a high quality lifestyle but it just doesn't work that way. Most people had parents struggling when they were growing up but they still managed to make it. If you get a bachelors degree in a higher quality major like analytics you can make way more money than I do.
One big mistake early and you're fucked though. Babies, major health accidents, lack of dental maintenance all can hose you for a huge portion of your life. If you choose to live near family far away from jobs and opportunities you're fucked. I have a ton of friends with child support payments that eat most of their take home pay.
Sure, get a job working in a construction trade, IT, sales (if you are good) and you are easily making 90-110k a year not long after. Independence isn't difficult with 100k/year and not many obligations.
No need for bread lines if you can't afford bread.
Sounds about right.
They should boycott.
I wish stores like Grocery Outlet had more attention. I've saved so much money there
shocked pikachu
While I like gardening, unironically advising people to grow their own food to cut costs is just bonkers.
It takes months to grow anything, and given the limited space, you can't grow much anyway. You'll be lucky to grow 20€ worth of food on your balcony while spending hours doing the gardening. That's not cost effective.
If your balcony could support the load you could grow quite densely with hydroponic towers, but you won't ever recoup the costs. That method is also very little work beyond the initial compared to soil.
Yeah, sorry, no. Even if I had the space, when I get home from work at 1900 the last thing I want to do is more work. It's not like you can just plop some seeds into soil and do nothing until the harvest is ripe—I know, we had a decent family garden when I was a wee lad. Took a lot of work to keep it going.
If I worked 4 or even 6 hours a day—sure, I could add some homework to my day. But not when working 8 hours+commuting. And many people are working even longer days.
Gardening has its own associated costs with supplies and requires space
It's the cost of supplies and garden maintenance and see requirement vs the cost of food at the supermarket
It needs to cost less than the growable food you can buy at the store
You can get away with very little supplies, actually. Basically just a small shovel, the rest be salvaged.
Pots can be made from old plastic bins/containers, soil/fertilizer can be made from food waste using worms, seeds can be made from surprisingly many fruits/vegetables. Pumpkin seeds are right inside the pumpkin, potatoes and beans can be put right into the soil, even tomatoes can be grown from store bought ones.
And while it's a really cool hobby: you're right regarding the cost effectiveness. Unless you happen to have a significant plot of land, it won't make a dent in your grocery bill.
I remember having to spend $20 a week on groceries 15 years ago. Now I'm spending ~$30. It's disgusting.
Edit: I don't know why I am getting downvoted.this is really about what I spend on groceries.
I may also have some advantages here. I eat almost a vegan diet. I do a large amount of cooking from scratch. I also will look for the discount items at stores and plan accordingly from what I find. The most expensive thing I get is Yogurt because it's where I get my protein besides beans.
This week I was making vegan Bahn Mi sandwiches. (Cilantro, Pickled carrots, Pickled radish, cucumber, green onion, tofu, and Avacado that was bought the previous week, baguette)
$6 Yogurt $12 vegetables/fruits $1 Bread $3 sting cheese Cheese $2 Tofu $5 premade non perishable food items $12 bulk energy drinks, this will last me a while. Found them on discount. $3 pickles
So, we are up to over $40, but because I bought stuff in bulk this week. Next week it will probably be $25 or so.
If anyone is in a bind that wants food ideas, hit me up. I love cooking.
... You're spending $30 a week on groceries? That's it? Are you being facetious, or have you been living on ramen, beans and rice for 15 years?
Not ramen, but rice and beans are definitely a staple. I figured it was a little low, but judging by the comments this is super low.
wish. : /
Honestly, how?
We can buy a few raw ingredients and easily hit $80 unless we only buy SNAP foods.
I don't know why people find this hard to believe. Yeah prices are way up but if you take some simple steps you can keep your food costs relatively low. My partner and I spend about $50 per week but we live in California. We grow a lot of veggies, buy everything in bulk and eat simply - a lot of rice and beans, tofu and whole grains.
One of the key things is to eliminate or minimize processed foods. I.e. extract the value of your labor not add to some company's profit margin. As a slightly extreme example, crackers are very expensive per calorie. We make our own for a tiny fraction of the cost. Or... as soon as you buy meat your costs are way higher. We do but e.g. we'll buy a whole chicken instead of the cut pieces, and then make stock from the carcass (sorry vegans). Or instead of buying orange juice, buy oranges at a discount from road side stands and make your own. You can freeze it. And don't buy things out of season.
Not to be critical, but when I see what people have in their carts I can fully understand why they find food expensive. And then they gotta constantly work more to cover the higher costs. No thanks...
People have nearly lost the ability to prepare a full meal it seems in this thread. I can fill an entire US sized grocery cart to the top and be under $300 and that'll last a couple nearly a month.
You literally just need to buy unprocessed food. Yes it has gone up a bit, but not nearly to the extent processed shit has.
Maybe quit ordering out and having it delivered?
Yesh, and knock ot off with the avacado toast! Amiright?
booooooooooo
Wait, what? If you're hungry, nutritious food (canned beans and such) will cost less than $5 a day. And that's without cooking. If you can boil water, you can save some money and increase the variety of food available to you.
Ah yes, surely the issue must be that people aren't eating enough poverty meals of canned beans and rice. Meat is obviously only for wall street investors
Sardines are a great (and cheap!) source of protein and they're super nutrient dense. Tons of vitamin d, b, fish oils. This has little to do with the topic at hand, I just got turned onto sardines as someone that wrote them off my entire adult life and they're awesome!
On topic though, I love threads like these because we get to see all of the middle/upper middle class nepo-babies come out with their advice on how to manage living with a level of poverty they have clearly never experienced. Always such a special time.
Meat is obviously only for wall street investors
When you need to cut your food budget and still want meat, you watch for meat sales, buy a bunch and freeze it. A vacuum sealer is fantastic for this since it lets you split stuff into single meal portions and seal it. Most grocery store meat departments will also willing to cut roasts and the like into pieces for you if you ask and that doesn't change the price - usually buying a pork loin and asking them to cut it into chops will be cheaper than just buying chops, for example. For quick meals pre-prepping a bunch of taco meat, meatloaves, chili or the like and freezing it is a great time saver.
Around here ground beef and pork loin go on sale pretty often, just a few weeks ago we had pork loin for $1.89/lb and discounted 85/15 ground beef.
When milk of $5+ a gallon in most of the country, the solution isn't as simple as "cook at home" for those of us with a family to feed. Young Americans don't mean just 24 year olds.
Yeah the price of food for one person is easily doubled now. If you are single it's hard enough but if you have a family of 4 it's insane
We buying a neighborhood cow. What are they gonna do about it?
I'm so excited for my new all-canned beans diet.
What if I told you that you don't need the processed foods you've been eating your whole life? Shocking I know.
You "I can't afford food" Them "here's food you can" You "no not like that! I need muh Doritos to be happy like the commercials tell me!!"
Most people in Mongolia eat one thing their entire lives and are fine.
