Less for More

It wasn't a very Lucky experience when I went grocery shopping yesterday.

<-What's wrong here->

What the heck is going on here? Hormel Chili "without beans" is $1 more expensive than the same size can of Hormel Chili "with beans." That's a huge difference for maybe two servings of chili. You've got wonder what the reasoning is here. How can it cost more to make chili with less ingredients? Do they make only one batch of chili (with beans) and then pick out the beans? Is that $1 worth the convenience of not having pick out the beans yourself?

What other products am I paying more for less? Is my 2% milk more than whole milk? Is skim milk even more expensive that 2%? Is my Folgers Half Caff more expensive than regular? Is fully decaffeinated even more costly? At least with these products, there could be some reasonable rationale. It's not like anyone can take home whole milk and take out some of the fat or buy regular coffee and decaffeinate it themselves. There is a cost to the additional processing it takes to produce this different product. Would you pay extra at a fast food joint for a burger without onions? Heck no. If they tried that stunt you'd pay for the regular burger and pick the onions off yourself.

I never paid that close attention at the grocery store in the past. Beans or no beans I would have just grabbed what I wanted. Now that I have the pleasure of paying $4.1299 for a gallon of "cheap" gas and forking over an extra $100 per month rent starting in June every penny means more. That means spending more time in the aisles comparing prices, buying generic store brands, and buying the higher fat content ground beef because it's cheaper. Looks like I'll be buying the regular chili and eating my way around the beans thank you very much.