Isn’t this a recession? Aren’t there supposed to be bargains out there? I need a new vacuum, I’ve been pricing fencing and gutters and drapes and curtains, and christ, why is everything so damned expensive? A solid mixer for the kitchen is several hundred damned dollars.
Also, I have no idea if they have to replace these every couple of years anyway, but one thing that really pisses me off is every gubernatorial election, they replace the welcome to West Virginia road signs to include the new governor’s name. That just honks me off.
morzer
John Cole, in the 4th (?) post after supposedly hitting the road….
And there are bargains, but probably not so many in relatively big-ticket household items.
John Cole
I’m not going anywhere until next Tuesday.
WereBear
John is right. What we have now is really cheap crap, OR really expensive good stuff. The middle ground is completely gone.
eric k
I seem to recall reading somewhere that the typical road sign needed to be repainted every 10 years, so if they are putting the governor’s name on yours, yeah that is a waste of money
Cris
There’s no incentive to sell goods or provide services at a lower rate, because that would increase sales, which would risk putting the vendor into a higher marginal tax rate.
JGabriel
Yes, sir, Mr. Cranky Uncle. We’ll get off your lawn just as soon as we find that baseball that got knocked over this way.
.
John Bird
The secret is to build your house each inauguration day out of ex-governor signs and the sturdy bones of the coal miner
morzer
@John Cole:
So I have to wait until then to hear Angry Black Lady and Thomas Levenson? Damn it, sir, you and your aqua Buddha will pay for this!
Also too: recessions produce bargains because stores are trying to draw in customers, which means lowering prices on lower end items, because the people who could afford the bigger ticket stuff probably still can. Thus: pasta, soup etc get discounted to draw in customers with relatively little money, Himalayan rock-salt, wood chippers, drapes, gold-plated bathroom fixtures – not so much. Them’s the breaks.
jrg
@WereBear: Depends on the item. When I was shopping for dish washers, the middle ground items were just the higher end items with some features disabled (like a 24 hour dish wash delay clock).
TaMara (BHF)
On vacuum cleaners – I had a very expensive, Consumer Reports rated one…it lost power after 3 years, replaced it at 5 – when it absolutely stopped picking up hair (even after being serviced fairly regularly). Now I have the cheapest one Consumer Reports rates excellent and it works great. If I have to replace it in 3 years, hey, I’m only out 60 bucks.
Jager
A friend of mine in the car business told me last week used car prices are up over 10% nationally and in some regions over 12%. I noticed a big jump in beef prices at Costco last Saturday, the 6 pack of filet we normally buy for 22-23 bucks was 29, the hamburger was up a couple of dollars, too.
David Brooks (not that one)
What they need to install is the sort of once-for-all electronic road signs that are popping up all around my region. Then you could just have:
Welcome to West Virginia!
Governor TEST MESSAGE
Lt Governor ERROR CODE 47
beltane
Clothing seems to be a little cheaper these days but that’s about it. Does anyone know why butter has almost doubled in price lately while milk has not?
OT, but Crooked Timber has the definitive smack-down (is that too violenet?) of McMeggles. In it she is nicely seasoned and roasted, consumed with great delicacy, thoroughly digested, and finally excreted. Here is my favorite quote:
dmsilev
If you can find a good mixer (which can be a challenge; a lot of the good brands also sell cheaply-made low and mid-range models), it can last for a couple of decades. Worth the upfront investment if it’s something that you’re going to use.
dms
John Bird
“John Cole weighs in on the inflation debate — contra Paul Krugman”
JGabriel
@morzer:
If they still appear. Who knows whether they’ll want to be associated with us anymore now that Radley Balko has deemed Balloon Juice: stupid.
.
Cris
You could go right to their own sites. If they have them. I’m not sure, this is the only one I ever visit.
Southern Beale
Ha!
We remodeled our kitchen & den last year. We had been working on the project — research, architects, etc — for literally 2 years. Then the bottom fell out of everything just as we were interviewing contractors in late 2008. We thought, well, there will be bargains out there and the contractors and subs will all be looking for work since Nashville’s real estate bubble has finally burst. WRONG! Same ol’ shit. People still acting like they didn’t need the work (and maybe they didn’t) and everything costs the same as ever.
BR
Don’t worry about that. The deflation that’s coming over the next two years will drop prices by a ton.
Though purchasing power will drop faster than prices, so I guess unless you have a safe full of cash it won’t help…
dr. luba
And don’t forget that we don’t make stuff any more, so the value of the dollar affects the prices we pay for consumer goods. And the dollar is low……….. Which is good for exporting (just ask China), if only we still did that.
Rainy Day
Just wait until you want a simple outdoor lounge chair.
I see Walmart-looking pieces of poo that are priced at SIX HUNDRED dollars!!!
Patio furniture has definitely become a lot more expensive.
Violet
I bought my Dyson vacuum cleaner at Bed, Bath & Beyond using a 20% off coupon. It wasn’t all that expensive and has been great. I can take the whole thing apart to clean it. I’d recommend it. A friend who has a bunch of pets bought the Pet Hair model of Dyson and swears by it.
JGabriel
@Cris: I know Levenson has a blog, because I visit it once or twice a week.
morzer
@Cris:
I require posters with the Tunch pawmark of approval. Even if they say exactly the same thing elsewhere, it just isn’t as good. All for one brand, and one brand for all.. or do I mean one brand to rule them all, one brand to find them?
beltane
@dr. luba: Isn’t one of our main exports waste cardboard? Recently, I was surprised to learn that we not only have a trade deficit with China but with the EU as well. There’s no way we’ll get out of this hole under these circumstances.
HumboldtBlue
OK, that settles it. Cole you need some Humboldt lettuce. What’s next, a long post about the dearth of workhouses? A dissertation on the many problems caused by kids running on your damn lawn? A photo series on the evils of modern “rock” music and the evil inherent in that genre? A vlogging piece on the sad state of insulting comments left at various poli-blogs across the full spectrum of the intertrons?
Here, motherfucker, take it, it’s my bong. The glass it’s made of is recycled locally and blown in the shop on the plaza. There is no shotgun, just pull the bowl out when you’ve had your hit. Then have a goddamned single-malt and sit down in the comfy chair.
Cris
@David Brooks (not that one): Or they could economize and use a reader board. Hopefully no vandals would rearrange the letters.
morzer
@David Brooks (not that one):
That, sir, is simply superb! Much kudos to you!
fourlegsgood
@John Cole: I found my KitchenAid stand mixer on Amazon, on sale for $189.00 (normally they go for around $300 or more.
So ya gotta look out for sales. But yes, things are expensive. Anyway, why are you buying shit? don’t you know that the teabagger’s ascension to congress is going to trigger the rapture?
Mark S.
@TaMara (BHF):
What is with vacuums? My mom had the same vacuum for like thirty years, and I’ve been through 4 of them in the last ten years. That’s why I refuse to buy one of those $500 ones.
Cris
Left behind
Maude
Things aren’t cheap. I got my vac for $3 at a yard sale. It works well.
Curtains are expensive. Get washable ones.
Also the heavy duty mixer, yard sale, $2.
Food costs are rising.
Heard on Bloomberg radio that the luxury items are selling and the regular stuff like food and other needed items are selling less well.
They don’t count food and energy in inflation which never made sense to me. That is so screwed up.
We have Chritie NJ signs in extra large.
The idiot said no to the tunnel. That’s $300 million back to the feds.
He’s cost the state $700 million and floating around like Tinkerbell in other states trying to make a name for himself.
Midnight Marauder
You sound poor.
BGinCHI
@beltane: That is so full of win it makes me want to put on the gloves and punch my life-sized Jim Treacher action figure.
Bonus: When you pull the string it says “No, Tucker, not again! Go to your happy place…go to your happy place….”
BR
@HumboldtBlue:
You know, I often think that if only teatards -smoked- cooked-into-treats weed they’d be able to recognize the common humanity of their fellow citizens and be a bit less “I got mine” about everything.
morzer
@Cris:
Does this mean Tim LaHaye is going to stay behind in a bunker and get rich selling my household appliances after I get snatched up to meet Jeebus?
steve
The governor’s name is JUST on the “Welcome to West Virginia” signs? Lucky you. When Rod Blagojevich was governor of Illinois, he put his name on anything and everything (often in HUGE letters that were probably visible from space). That was all promptly removed once he was impeached, but I shudder to think what it cost.
Violet
Black Friday is just around the corner. Things like mixers will be on sale around then. Keep an eye on the sales.
morzer
@steve:
At least the people who make the letter J were happy for once….
BGinCHI
@Mark S.: Planned obsolescence. Just like Cubs pitching.
Cris
@BR: Sadly, even Teatards can be cannabis fans. You know the old saying: libertarians are republicans who smoke dope.
fourlegsgood
@morzer: No, it means that I’m gonna get some rich wanker’s house. Tim LeHaye will immediately get eaten by that beast thing that’s supposed to fly out of the ground.
Omnes Omnibus
Jesus, you are only 40. This post makes me sad. Good god.
brendancalling
you’re confusing “recession” with “deflation”. everything’s as expensive as always.
Maude
@beltane:
The speculators are starting to speculate on milk , watch out. And I don’t know why butter went up.
morzer
@fourlegsgood:
Just stand well out of range for when the poor creature up-chucks in food-poisoned agony…
General Stuck
I”ve got a trusty Kenmore vacuum for the past ten years and it still runs like a scalded dog. Though it looks like it could have belonged to Fred Flintstone.
Everything just seems more expensive because Obama is president. He is why we can’t have nice cheap things anymore.
Pretty soon though everything will be Orange Marmalade, for ever.
fourlegsgood
@efgoldman: The other thing to do is to look out for that stuff used.
That said, I do love my stand mixer, even though I don’t use it that often.
John Bird
@Cris:
One of my proudest moments was figuring out all by myself during the 2008 election that “BEVERLY PERDUE” easily became “PURVEY BLEEDER”. I could have taken it to the media and we’d have a Republican governor right now.
BR
@Cris:
Ok, so maybe I’ve made a poor assumption regarding what I thought was a universally mind-opening / love-one-another sort of experience.
Or maybe they just don’t get the same quality stuff and add some alcohol in the mix.
morzer
@Maude:
Guns or butter?
Omnes Omnibus
@Cris: If you are left behind, you can take the stuff the raptured people had.
Cris
Don’t forget to look for stuff on ebay. Where nothing is cheap anymore. Buy it now!
WereBear
We sucked it up and bought an $80 coffee maker because I was tired of getting $25 ones which lasted six months. It lasted eight years.
Feeling happy about my math, we looked for that same coffee maker again, and now it costs $40. My skepticism was confirmed when it lasted 2 months.
Now we have a $60 electric kettle and a $20 French press. We’ll see how it goes.
beltane
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve seen the broken Wal_Mart crap these people sell at their yard sales. Trust me, the Raptured Ones do not have anything you’d want.
Cris
@WereBear: That mentality will have you buying Macs soon
MikeJ
@morzer: Didn’t we already have a GoF thread?
General Stuck
Well, shit. I already rented the bongos and punk band for the blog immolation this weekend.
Roger Moore
@dmsilev:
Just get a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and be done with it. Even their less expensive models are very well made, though some of the accessories could be higher quality. They’re even made right here in the USA.
Cris
@General Stuck: I don’t remember giving permission for a party, Joel.
jl
In my book, only swells buy them mechanical mixers. Fancy people in fancy houses with fancy kitchens, that have ‘food prep islands’ which are ultra expensive tables built into the floor.
I got me a some whisks and wooden spoons of different sizes, and tatter masher. Most expensive thing I have which I use in an off label sort of way to mix and puree stuff is a old potato ricer, which is I do not want to think how old it is. It is antient.
You dang kids today. I used to mix my scone mix with whisks, walking to school barefoot both ways, in the snow. Get off my lawn and go play someplace else.
Note to Cole: if you are going to be a 40 year old geezer, you need to put more crazed choler and grump into it.
morzer
@MikeJ:
Actually, I was dialling up Bismarck. Otto von.. not the place in North Dakota.
“Do you want guns or butter?”
sven
@JGabriel: Levenson has one of those blogs which posts things I would never encounter otherwise.
I also really enjoyed his book.
Levenson has another book called ‘Measure for Measure’ (which won’t link due to moderation terror) about the how the history of music and science connect. I haven’t read it but it looks really interesting.
WereBear
@Cris: We do!
For the most fun for the fewest bucks I know of, check out American Science and Surplus.
I love browsing through there, and you can go nuts with twenty bucks and fill a kid’s heart with glee. Like, they have glass candy. Go look.
Roger Moore
@Violet:
That’s interesting, because my coupons always have exceptions for expensive brands- including Dyson- in the fine print. Maybe that’s supposed to be taken care of at the register and the poorly paid checkers haven’t bothered to read the fine print.
MikeJ
@morzer: I know, but you have to take advantage of opportunities to link to Gang of Four when they come along.
Delia
If you want to buy a Dyson vacuum, go to ebay and look at the factory reconditioned ones that the seller vacuumwarehouse is offering. This is ABC Vacuum in Austin and they’re a very reliable vendor with a license from Dyson to sell the reconditioned ones. I bought the one with a ball last year for about $160 off the retail price and it was like new. It’s wonderful if you have pets.
Roger Moore
@WereBear:
The first thing is you’ll get much better coffee than you got with your drip coffee maker. I used to use a Mr. Coffee, but I won’t touch the thing now that I have a Chemex at home and a French Press at work.
lamh32
OT, not to stump all over your “Abe Simpson” routine, but I just wanted to post a link to the diary I just posted over at DKOS, discussing what I commented on yesterday all over BJ. the DNC/OFA/President Obama and allies efforts to GOTV geared towards African Americans. President Obama GOTV Efforts on “Urban” Radio… A Short Timeline\
BGinCHI
@Cris: Cycle by that house (in the movie) once in a while.
Nope, no Rebecca de Mornay out front. Probably a waste to even bring a condom on the ride.
suzanne
@Violet:
Yes yes yes. Love mine. Of course, I shed more than the animals, but the vacuum is excellent.
I bought mine at Target with a 20% off “registry completer” coupon (it was also on sale that weekend for 15% off so I got both discounts). You could set up a wedding registry with a friend, then get the coupon and buy one of your big purchases.
I wonder if Target would allow a gay wedding registry. If so, then I want to set up loads of registries with all my friends. Hmmm…
lamh32
Also, President Obama called in this morning. for an interview with the Rickey Smiley Morning Show today. The RSMS is based here in Dallas, but it is also nationally syndicated. Its listeners are heavily populated in the Southern states though. If you want to reach younger people in GA, AL, SC, TX, etc, then the RSMS is the way to go. Here is write-up in the Dallas Morning News: Obama on Dallas Radio
Of all the shows President Obama does, it’s the Ricky Smiley Morning Show that is usually heard on the majority of the “hip-hop” stations which of course means they are geared towards the younger urban population, which includes not only Blacks, but some younger Hispanics as well. Here is the audio from RSMS today President Obama on the Rickey Smiley Show (Audio) (Added bonus, 6:38 the President discusses his new love of Neo-Soul and his continued love of Hip Hop): President Obama on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show
Here’s the write-up at the Dallas Morning News:
Obama, on Dallas radio…
John Cole
@Roger Moore: I’m really not sold on Dyson. All the floor models I have seen seem really rickety. Just a lot of plastic fantastic that doesn’t look like it will hold up.
Sloegin
With just-in-time delivery and low inventories, there
haven’t been *that* many bargains for people with a lot of spare cash and a job on their hands.
Manufacturers, importers, and vendors sack their staff and go into hibernation waiting for demand to roll around again.
Ditto with banks and foreclosed properties; their strategy is to hold onto as many properties as possible for as long as possible rather than put them out on the market for whatever the market can currently bear (which ain’t much).
But, we should see things turn around in… about 7 years (if things stay favorable).
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore: I broke the carafe on our Krups coffee maker while washing it almost a year ago, and, since then, we have been making coffee “Romanian style.” Heat water almost to boiling, add one heaping tablespoon of coffee per cup of water. Let it come to a boil and remove it from the heat three times. Then let the grounds settle, pour, and consume. It works well. If I can ever find a new carafe for the Krups, I’ll get it, but the stovetop method makes damn good coffee.
Arclite
@ John Cole
For that mixer, wait until Costco puts it on sale. There was a Kitchenaid one on sale there for $120 a few months ago.
Martin
Whaaaa!
A Kitchenaid stand mixer costs precisely the same amount today as it did when my wife and I bought one for our first apartment almost 20 years ago. 0% inflation. I use it constantly from making dough to grinding meat. I make brioche regularly – 30 minutes constant mixing. 2 decades in it’s still good as new. How often does a car still work flawlessly after 2 decades of regular use?
Lumber is expensive because we’ve gutted our forests and now we’re having to manage them. Welcome to peak lumber.
And Dyson vacuums are wicked expensive in no small part because they’re 5 fucking times more effective than any vacuum sold pre-Dyson, so yeah, they’re going to cost 5x as much.
Tell us about when there used to be bees on nickels, you old coot.
Violet
@Roger Moore:
I double checked my coupon before I went to the store and it didn’t have Dyson as an exception. And they allowed me to use it. I figure they don’t count on the checkers catching the exceptions and they have the items entered into their system with a “no coupon allowed” tag.
Maybe I got it before they added Dyson as an exclusion or something.
Walker
The middle market of everything died in the late 90s; Wal-Mart killed it. I cannot find the links right now, but go look at some articles on the decline of RubberMaid due to its dealings with Wal-Mart.
The area where the lack of a middle market really irks me the most is shoes. This is true for all shoes, but hiking boots are a particularly bad example. In the 90s, Merrill and Vasque were solid middle-tier lines. Now, everything they produce is crap that falls apart in moderately rough hiking conditions. In fact, there are no good mass-market hiking boots available for purchase anywhere in the US; everything for sale at the chain stores is mold-injected garbage. If you want a decent pair of leather hiking boots, you have to go to Limmer Boots, which is a custom boot maker in North Conway, NH.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Maude:
What Maude said, yard sales, thrift stores, and if that doesn’t work e-bay. Especially kitchen appliances people buy them with lofty intentions of using them and then the lazy gene kicks in and they don’t. I have not paid more than $5.00 for a breadmaker for the past 15 years. If mine breaks due to over use (I think they are constructed for once yearly use as opposed to my twice or three times weekly use) I know I can find one in my local thrift store tomorrow (in fact I have two spares in the garage which I picked up “just in case”) I picked up a Euro steam cleaner at my local thrift store for $25.00 which still had the original $300.00 invoice in the box. Ditto vacuum cleaners. My local thrift store has a nest of them there fancy expresso machines which people have bought with the intention of making their own fancy coffees but they just realized that it was easier to pay Starbucks the price of a small country for a cup of coffee, so they give it to the Thrift Store.
Apart from anything else when you visit Thrift Stores and buy your stuff from them (or from e-bay) you are doing the ultimate in green buying because you are keeping stuff out of the landfills and not contributing to the new stuff being made. Reuse, repurpose, recycle.
Linda Featheringill
No, no, no. You are all wrong!
Things are not more expensive. For two years in a row there has been/will be no COLA increase in Social Security benefits. Because there has been no inflation.
You got that? No inflation.
Now hush!
Eric S
I don’t know what the half life of a road sign is but the “Welcome To Chicago. Richard M. Daley, Mayor,” signs have looked the same for 20 some years now.
Though, come to think of it, this is Chicago. Some pal of a neighbor of Daley’s cousin probably has a contract to replace those things every month. Never mind.
Stacy
@JGabriel:
I really don’t understand the point of putting up a post calling Balloon Juice stupid and then decrying the “general ad hominem bullshit” tactics of Balloon Juice in the comment section.
Apparently the frustration with Reason has nothing to do with their full-hearted embrace of the Teabaggers (no matter what they do). No, it’s because of the hatred of leather jackets. Which is totally *not* an ad hominem accusation, apparently.
You know, I love me some Balko, but once his feelings are hurt (STOP PICKING ON REASON), he can get kind of weird.
Omnes Omnibus
@Stacy:
No, I have a leather jacket (not a Fonzie of Freedom one, a nice black bomber jacket in soft leather. It is very nice, thank you.). I still don’t like that magazine.
Calouste
@John Cole:
We’ve had 2 issues with our Dyson due to design flaws and in both cases the replacement parts arrived at no charge within a week after we called them.
Sasha
@John Cole:
The Shark brand of vacuums are surprisingly good.
BGinCHI
I want to get one of those Roomba things, but Mrs. BG suspects (rightly) that I just want it for entertainment.
Is that so wrong?
Roger Moore
@John Cole:
You might want to consider a Roomba. I got the 550/551 from Costco, and I love it. Of course, I’m the kind of person who won’t vacuum more than once in a blue moon if I can’t get a robot to do it for me. More fastidious types might find the Roomba inadequate.
BGinCHI
@Roger Moore: OK, that was creepy.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: @Roger Moore: A roomba in a house full of pets? Is this a good idea?
David Fud
The rent is too damn high.
Just sayin’.
bemused
@TaMara (BHF):
Was it a Miele vacuum? I’ve had my eye on one that is supposedly good for pet hair. Someone tell me that it’s not what it’s cracked up to be for the price so I can forget about it and just get a cheaper one.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Entertainment value?
Priceless.
And yes, the rent is too damn high.
Nylund
One could argue that during a recession people switch from out-of-home goods and services to in-home alternatives (ie, cooking instead of going to a restaurant). Thus, during a recession demand for household items goes up.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI:
Oddly, given the location of my place, the amenities, and the included underground parking for our car, the rent is rather reasonable. Also too, the offices of the Onion are across the street.
WereBear
I got the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser and like it so far. We have 3 1/4 kitties and need something along the lines of a Sherman Tank of vacuum cleaners. So far, so good.
Jim, Once
@lamh32:
Great diary. It gave me hope – although I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: You live in the People’s Republic of Madison?
At least you can get New Glarus whenever you want.
Lucky dog.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: I can get it from my kitchen right now.
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
Haven’t you seen the video of a cat riding on a Roomba? Judging by the comments on their web site, and their claims that their pet models are among their most popular, it sounds as though owners of multiple pets are the Roomba’s core market. You can run a Roomba every day to pick up shed pet hair, while most people don’t want to vacuum every day. And Roombas are pretty quiet, so I bet they disturb pets less than conventional vacuums do.
WereBear
@Roger Moore: My dreeeeeam!
Though I adore my Litter Robot, and I finally got that invented, and then acquired. So I can wait a little while longer for a Roomba.
2th&nayle
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yeap, that method works just fine. When I was a kid my Grandfather and I made a camping trip from Texas up to Saskatchewan one summer and forgot to take a coffee pot. Grandpa said, “Guess we’ll just have to make ‘hobo’ coffee. We emptied the coffee grounds out of the can into a paper sack and used the can to boil coffee on the campfire. Worked like a champ. We were gone for a month and never did buy a coffee pot. I still make “hobo coffee” once in awhile in honor of Grandpa’s memory. Good times.
Jay C
John: Does West Virginia replace the whole “Welcome” sign every time the governorship changes hands, or just the “nameplate” at the bottom (“[Joseph Q. Blow], Governor”)??
If the former, I’m guessing that somebody’s nephew/cousin/in-law owned/owns a sign-fabrication business instate somewhere – if the latter, then it’s more in line with a lot of states – at least here in the East.
(Though not New York, for some odd reason: after Eliot Spitzer got the boot, they left the “Governor” slot empty – a commentary, I think, on David Paterson that was all too prescient)
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
You should try Turkish* coffee sometime. It’s also boiled, but it’s made with a lot of very finely ground coffee. It uses the finest grind on your grinder- equivalent to pulverizing it thoroughly with a mortar and pestle- and use about 1:4 coffee:water. You don’t let the grounds settle before pouring, so you get a layer of sludge at the bottom of your shot-glass sized cup. The sludge is the best part.
*Around here, I should be careful to call it Armenian coffee, rather than Turkish. They’re essentially the same, but the Armenians get very angry about anything that gives Turkey good press.
SiubhanDuinne
OK John, I’m getting off your lawn NOW.
Cris
@Roger Moore: And in Greece, they refer to it as “Greek coffee.”. I think if it as their own “freedom fries” moment.
fcc
My KitchenAid mixer is 25 years old, still going strong, and parts are still available and cheap.
Parts for my 15 year old Cuisinart are still available.
Parts for my 25 year old Milwaulkee saw, still available.
I often wish the definition of durable goods actually meant the damn thing was durable.
But some things are; they’re expensive, and they are worth the price.
mclaren
You people are crazy. Haven’t you ever heard of thrift stores?
Kitchen mixer: eight bucks. Crock pot: ten bucks. Outdoor lounge chair: twelve bucks.
Jeez. What do you people do, light cigars with hundred-dollar bills?
tmr
Some few things are simple, inexpensive and good.
The $12 pyrex and plastic Melitta cone filter system that you can buy at any Safeway is pretty durable and makes great coffee.
We drank boiled coffee on canoe trips when I was young, but the dregs are sometimes a bit chewy. Now I take the smallest Melitta cone and make coffee into my cup.
mslarry
folks are broke and are having fire sales on craigslist. that is the first place i go when i need to replace or buy something. i live in la and recently purchased a “gently used” apt. washer/dryer combo for $175.00. In fact, i’m washing my gym clothes as I write… just sayin’.
cmorenc
The rent’s too damn high!
Fifi
Answer : Bargains are not there on durable goods because the recession has been extremely uneven in its impact, or more exactly, strongly inelastic and non-linear.
For prime consumers, the current recession is largely a declassment crisis. People who had significant disposable income before the recession (say the top 30% earners) either still have their job and more or less the same disposable income or lost it, and with it, lost the near-totality of their disposable income.
The net effect for retailers is that there is no point lowering their prices : people who can consume can bear the same price levels as before and won’t radically change their buying patterns on price signals while the people who cannot bear the same price levels as before cannot consume at all, hence are not susceptible to lower price levels either.
slag
113 comments and no consensus on a vacuum recommendation? Crap! What the hell is the internet good for?
Also, I agree. Nothing I want seems to be getting any cheaper to purchase. Just more cheaply made. Clothing especially. I hate paying a ton of money for a pair of pants that seem to be made out of tissue paper. Don’t people actually do stuff in their clothes any more?
Ross Hershberger
I repair vacuum cleaners, among other things, professionally. Good ones cost the earth and cheap to medium priced ones are made like crap. I do not know why there can’t be a decent $300 vacuum, but there isn’t.
At home we use Hoover Wind Tunnel cannisters. They’re versatile and seem to last well.
If you want one to hand down to your grandkids, get a Tennant 3220. They’re the Mercedes Diesel of vacs. Absolute tanks, and I love them.
Craig
Nothing I want seems to be getting any cheaper to purchase. Just more cheaply made. Clothing especially. I hate paying a ton of money for a pair of pants that seem to be made out of tissue paper. Don’t people actually do stuff in their clothes any more?
Want to dress like a lumberjack, or like Humphrey Bogart?
Then http://www.filson.com is the place. Their stuff will last forever.
Ross Hershberger
Clothes:
For work, where I do all kinds of stuff in my clothes, I buy the ‘tactical’ mil-type native garb at the Army/Navy stores. You get lots of pockets, Teflon coating if you want it, rugged fabrics and that manly I Want to be a Soldier look.
Original Lee
Thrift stores rock. Also freecycle and craigslist.
We are also looking at a new vacuum cleaner. The local repair shop has reconditioned ones for 25% of the list price. We have a Simplicity, which works well for us. Changing the bag every couple of weeks is a pain, though. A new one costs $600, which is approximately what our 10-year-old one cost back when we bought it new. Our neighbor has a Rainbow, which costs the earth, but she loves it and has had it for 30 years without a single problem. My mother has a Dyson and loves it.
We inherited a Kitchen Aid stand mixer from my grandmother. It is (I think) 40 years old, but it still works great. You can get a new one on sale easily over the upcoming holiday season. We also have a Kitchen Aid hand mixer that we bought 15 years ago. It, too, is going strong.
However, hot water heaters hit my sore spot. They usually last 10-15 years, but now they do not cost $500, the way they did the last time I bought one – our new one, which we have to save up for, will cost $2500.
Obviously YMMV on this stuff, but I agree that the middle appears to have disappeared from product lines. *Sigh*.
Original Lee
Oh, and WRT clothing – it depends on what I’m trying to do, but for the kinds of things I do when I’m not at work, Cabela’s has a pretty good selection of items – just watch the Bargain Cave. I used to swear by LLBean, but it’s gotten too pricey for the reliable stuff and the quasi-reasonably priced stuff is not too reliable. I still scope out the sale items, though.
I bought some Pendleton washable wool blankets last winter when they were on sale. We have already recouped the cost by the amount we were able to turn down the thermostat with those puppies on the bed.