My family stopped using a phone landline three years ago. And we are part of a growing market if you read Jess Milcetich's story on the reasons you either keep or ditch your landline. We did it too to save money. But the story made me revisit our cell-phone plan.
Another holiday weekend is upon us so before you head off to the beach or your backyard barbecues, here's a quick run down of what you might have missed this week.
Incomes drop a whole bunch.
Local grocery store closing.
Direct bus service to New York canceled.
Blame it on Gustav.
And of course you'll want to check out this week's podcast from the business staff. What can you expect to hear? All about shiny things and dumb people.
After I read Brent Burkey's local story on how York's smaller coffee shops were still buzzing in this economy, I remembered my trips to the local java places in downtown York.
Whether it was a caffeine fix or an excuse to get out the office and take a walk on George Street in York, there's something about local shops -- and not only coffee shops -- that make you feel more connected to the community.
Story in the Times this morning about a contract becoming official for the Chinese to start developing an Iraqi oil field. It's based on a contract originally signed with Saddam.
So with oil prices going up again and our troops freeing up that oil from despotism, U.N. sanctions against the regime and whatnot, do you think we should get that oil ... and get it at a discount?
Or is it only fair that the free market play out?
My dad told me at a young age to go to college for the same reasons I imagine a whole lot of York County tells their kids:
Get a better, more stable job than working in the factory ... and financial security.
From the bottom of the labor pyramid that supports this country, where I'm proud to say my father is, the view is that if you can get through college, you'll be on easy street.
Well, yes and no. College degrees might on average earn someone more over a lifetime, but it's far from easy street. Especially for those who took huge loans because mom and dad couldn't pay for college.
Some of those horror stories appeared in today's New York Times.
So a question for those York County parents sending their kids back to college this year: Are you worried about repaying the loans you and your children have to pay for college? And do you still think a college degree is worth the cost in today's economy?
The start of school is upon us which means retailers are offering their back-to-school specials.
Those savings aren't just for those of us with children. Everyone can take advantage of some of the discounts.
Happy Friday afternoon, York! Here's the news that you may have missed this week.
Sellers react to E-bay rule changes.
Restaurant goes smoke free early.
Businesses take steps to reduce energy costs.
Russia, Georgia situation still tense.
And of course you don't want to miss this week's edition of Money Talk. Check it out below.
Joe, one of our readers, left this comment about where he saw cheap gas in the area:
On 8/20: $3.31 @ Citgo on Rt 30 and Fairlane. 30 cents cheaper than the Citgo at RT 30 and Sherman. The one on Fairlane is a gem. Hands down cheapest, always as of late.
Thanks for the tip, Joe!
If you've spotted stations selling gas a few cents cheaper than the norm feel free to share in the comments section.
This is the kind of story that rules the "most viewed" portion of the Daily Record site for weeks when it happens around here, so I figured I'd share it.
Apparently drug dealers are charging more for their weed.
So one Texas man allegedly decided to start growing his own, just like a lot of York County is apparently growing its own tomatoes and string beans and whatnot because they've gone up in price.
And since the entire country now knows about it, you can guess how the alleged farming operation ended.
Yesterday we said that Hershey was increasing prices for its candy because supplies and energy costs for them went up.
Today, the Labor Department said a whole lot more than chocolate is going up in price. Inflation is double what was expected, and inflation basically is a measure of how much EVERYTHING is going up in price.
So if you are in the habit of looking at the gas signs along the road to figure out when this economy is going to turn around, I wouldn't recommend it. Gas is probably the only thing going down in price with an inflation rate of 1.2 percent.
And no, that's not small. That means that for all intends and purposes, for every $100 you have in the bank, you have lost $1.20 in buying power. Have $10,000 to your name? Well, sorry about your luck, you just lost $120 worth of buying power.
The company's costs have gone up, so its prices it charges consumers and others are going up, too. Price increases were effective Friday.
To be honest, I don't know how much more expensive that will make the candy bars I like to eat.
I don't mean to sound like the proverbial detached presidential candidate who doesn't know the price of milk, but my candy purchases are haphazard at best, and usually happen at the last second in the checkout line.
So really, I don't know if this will affect Hershey's sales, if enough people buy its products like I do. What do you think?
And while I'm asking questions, what are some other things you buy in quick snap decisions, which probably wouldn't be affected by price increases?
Traffic is back. That's something I'm hearing from travelers returning from weekend trips. My wife and I went to go to Baltimore Sunday, and we saw the same thing.
Not like we or anyone else on the roads should be surprised. After all, three of the four members of our biz staff (everyone I talked to so far this morning) said they were traveling long distances recently.
It's almost like people have been waiting to drive here, there and everywhere until gas prices improved, then did it all with the $3.42-ish-for-regular weekend we just had.
So what do you think? Is this where people stop saying "ouch" at the pumps and start getting back to business as usual?
Also, while you're thinking about that, take a look at one of our stories last week about a local share-a-ride service expecting their best month ever this August, despite the month's slow drop in gas prices.
Now, I know I was idealistic coming out of school. Most grads are. But I am amazed that 68 percent of the members of Gen. Y (referring to someone who graduated high school in this millennium) said they would not work for a company that was not "socially responsible."
Scroll down on this story for the talking point, under the "More than just talk" heading. I kid you not, it's that high. I for one was very surprised.
What do you think? Is this the start of a more philanthropic capitalism ruling the world? Or does it mean 68 percent of Gen. Y have hopelessly limited their job prospects?
Growing up and getting my license when gas was 89 cents a gallon - just 10 years ago, mind you - my parents had their version of the "we walked uphill both ways to school" story.
It was called the 1970s, when gasoline was rationed and long lines existed at stations just to fuel up. Battlefields in the Middle East were hot, and America backed the little guy called Israel, and it wasn't the country with the oil.
It's been a crazy busy week for the business staff. What with a bunch of companies releasing earnings reports and Boscov's filing Chapter 11. Yeeesh.
I'm glad it's almost the weekend. And I'm sure you are too.
We're going to mix things up here this week and instead of a list of links for you to check out, I'm going to leave you with our brand-spanking new podcast. Take a listen. (P.S. You have to leave this page open while you listen, but just open another browser window so you can get on with your regularly scheduled Internet surfing.)
Retail stores are really hurting and just about everyone is pointing a finger at the economy.
Even with the government stimulus checks, stores like Steve & Barry's and Boscov's filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and BonTon earnings took a hit.
The last time I went shopping was to buy a dress for my friend's wedding. I can't even remember the last time I shopped for fun and not necessity.
When was the last time you shopped for fun?
It is the No. 1 reason I do not cook as often as I would like.
Spoiled produce. It only takes one unplanned late night at work or other schedule speed bump to throw off my well-laid plans of cooking for a week. And when the plans go awry, the ingredients spoil, so I just give up all hope of cooking the next week because I don't want the food to just go to waste again.
Thankfully, the article offers some tips, especially important as more of us (myself included) try to cook more to save money.
Does anyone else have this problem? Or was this story written just for me?
I usually try to stay away from opinion pieces for blogs, but I thought this one referenced a lot of good information in terms of how people see the very broadly termed group "big business."
It ranks the profit margins (basically, the amount of money companies keep for themselves after they sell stuff to people) that the average company pulls in by industry. Anyone surprised at the leading profit margin-generating industries?
Of course, as with anything marked with the opinion label, take it with a grain of salt, but if you want to educate yourself with some background on this whole "windfall profit" debate going on, I'd recommend this as something to read.
Talked to a friend over lunch today who is planning a party this weekend, and he was going over what a lot of the stuff is going to cost.
Some of the prices he was throwing out sounded really high to me on stuff like shotgun shells and clay pigeons (it's a rural party, of course). But it's in buying stuff like that, which you don't buy too terribly often, that really drives home how much prices have been going up on everything in the last year or so.
It's not like food, which might go up a cent or two between weekly grocery store visits. For stuff you only get once a year, the increases are several dollars to $10 or more between purchases.
Then I came back to work and saw this story. Looks like this might be the only big party for the guys back home for awhile, the way prices are going up.
What are some of the things you don't buy very often (things other than food and gas that have people talking normally) that are really showing you how much prices are increasing?
