Hyper Inflation in Food Costs- Is Superinflation a Reality We Will Face in 2011?

One of the most frightening books I have read in a very long time is Aftershock by David Wiedmer, PhD, Robert A. Wiedemer and Cindy Spitzer.

Why is it especially frightening? Well, it has to do with the coming superinflation and global depression that will be upon our country very shortly. If you need evidence that inflation super or otherwise is about to hit us soon, you need look no further than the amount of money the government has printed in the last several years. The result of printing more money is always inflation. Print more money than ever before, superinflation and sometimes devaluation. Listen to the news, we are now just starting to talk about national debt, spending and inflation. While we talk, we are also still running the presses and printing more money than we ever have before. The longer we go on printing it, the worse the problem will be when inflation ultimately hits.

Why should you care? The thought of multi-100% inflation will make it difficult at best for most of us to find a way to feed our families well, not to mention purchasing the many items we consider as totally essential for our way of life. If the currency we use daily becomes not worth much, you can also imagine the difficulty that their other prediction of 50-60% unemployment would cause.

While I consider both to be doomsday predictions, even a very mild version of their predictions could make it difficult for you to protect yourself finacially becuase we still need to eat. Food prices are a large portion of monthly expenses and dramatic increases in price are difficult to avoid. Protecting yourself is critical in infaltionary cycles. The authors of Aftershock give specific expamples of how to do that in most areas of your financial life, but not with food which essential.

What is great about the book? The authors do a good job of explaining what the forces are that will drive a series of interconnected bubbles to burst in our economy, each causing the next bubble to burst. As each bubble bursts, it will place increasing downward pressure on our economy, making it much more difficult for us to recover in both the short and longterm. Finally, someone has given us a solid explanation of how far the government will have to inflate our currency to get us out of the debt we are currently in and continue to prop up our economy. The numbers certainly bear strong consideration on our parts as consumers because they are so grim. There is finally an explanation for what we all suspected, there is a reason why our economy is still a mess. By the way, the links at the bottom of this page also describe the reason why our economy is showing some signs of improvement in the short term and why the next downturn will be much more severe than the first warm up. The authors of both articles, by the way are not the same as the authors of Aftershock.

What is not so great about the book? Well, in my opinion, this is a very negative look at where we are headed in both the short term and longterm financially in our nation. The predictions are so grim, in fact, that when I first read the book I needed to step back, set it down and then reread certain passages because they seemed too far fetched to be possible. As I have researched further,I have began to realize that there is a lot of truth to what the Wiedemer's have predicted. Get past the negativism, fear and visceral reaction to their theories and you will start to see the sequence of events are already begining and we are not yet to the most concerning part of the scenario.

What does this book have to do with saving money on food with supermarket coupons? Everything if you use them correctly! Regular readers of this blog will know that I keep a large pantry and buy ahead to get the best price on everything that I buy. Heavy double coupon use plays a major role in keeping prices as minimal as possible. Using tons of coupons when building your pantry will do the same for you...give you a lot more buying power.

While I am not proposing to buy a years worth of staples, or anything near as aggressive as that for most people, it would be wise to start to think about how you structure your spending to prepare for an inflation when it happens. In one form or another, our nation appears to be in for a bumpy road financially and serious inflation is likely at one point within the next year or so. Watch the news, the Fed chief Mr. Bernake, can not even look in the camera anymore when he speaks every month on the state of the economy. His body langauge speaks volumes.

Why be the bearer of grim news at the holidays? Sorry folks, I don't mean to put a damper on your holiday celebrations, just the opposite. The holidays are the best time of the year to fill up your pantry with really cheap loss-leader food purchased with supermarket coupons. Great sales and low prices make the spending decision easy and very much reasonable. Now is a good time to get started thinking of how you will pace your spending in the new year and beyond.

Do yourself a favor, read the two articles below and see if what they are saying makes sense. Some of the theory presented is the similar, and both offer good advice via solid research. If what is presented is enough to concern you, get Aftershock and read it to learn how to protect yourself. Then, check back here because we will be starting a series of articles on how to put together a pantry of supplies at low prices.

Resources:


1. Hyper-Inflationary Great Depression Is Coming

2. When will Inflation Really Hit Us?

Tis the Season for Savings on Baking and Makings for Your Holiday Feast

So what do holiday food savings and using supermarket coupons have in common?

We are just coming into the best grocery shopping week of the year is the answer.

When I worked as a grocery rep this next two weeks was affectionately called the "eating season." Thanksgiving week means fierce competion for ad space and coupon FSI drops are huge starting now.

How to max your savings?

1. Buy extra newspapers this Sunday.

2. Clip your coupons and be organized.

3. Search for printable coupons online.

4. Buy as many extra items as you can use and fill your pantry.

If you shop well, it is not uncommon to buy everything you need for your Thanksgiving dinner for $30 or less, including the turkey.

Here is an idea for buying a really cheap Thanksgiving Turkey to get yourself on the path to a frugal, yet fulfilling Thanksgiving feast.