Cost of living in the Cayman Islands – 2015

The following is an article that I wrote for the Cayman Net New, but somehow never got published before the paper went belly up.  I believe that the article probably has more relevance today than it did then.  If you wish to publish it on your blog, please do so, no strings attached.    Jack Benz.  [email protected]

As I See It
  Jack Benz

The Incredible Shrinking Everything

Back in 1957 Hollywood released the film, “The Incredible Shrinking Man”, to be followed up in 1981 by “The Incredible Shrinking Woman”, and finally in 1989 by “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”. These were all flights of fancy around the science fiction idea of science gone mad scenario, and I guess they sold a lot of tickets at the box office. 

It's now 2012 and we have a new blockbuster: “The Incredible Shrinking Everything”, but it is not science fiction that is causing everything to shrink, it is reality.  Our system of weights and measures has been rudely distorted by the world of commerce.  Manufacturers openly deceive their customers by selling them less and less while charging them more and more.  It's amazing how subtle this totally open cheating is foisted on the public with not even the least explanation or apology.  Unless you watch very carefully the product information and weights on the package, you will, like many others, have fallen victim to this con game of “The Incredible Shrinking Everything.”

Price increase on everything we use every day has reached the point where we are painfully aware of this phenomenon each time we go to the supermarket, hardware store or the pharmacy.  I am probably more aware than most people of this as I was brought up in the 30's, 40's and 50's when a nickel bought a Hershey Bar, an Ice Cream cone or a Pepsi Cola.  When a sit down lunch  cost $.49 and a piece of pie sold for a dime.  Donuts were three for a dime, a weekly bus pass cost $.50 and a movie ticket for the Saturday matinee was $.20 with a box of popcorn a dime and a box of ju ju bees five cents.  Oh well enough of my reminiscing, as we will never again see “Happy Days”.  I take you on this tour of my youth, only to reinforce what I see today.

Just go to any supermarket and try and buy a pound of coffee.  You can't; 16 oz has now become 12.5 oz.  A half gallon container of orange juice is no longer 64 oz; rather it has subtly been reduced to 59 oz.  A can of cat food or Tuna fish is no longer 6 oz., again it has lost its way to 5 oz.  A gallon jug of Clorox (liquid bleach) has now been reduced from 128 oz (1 gallon) to 96 oz or 3 quarts.  Even a jar of mayonnaise has lost by going from 32 oz to 30 oz.   A loaf of bread has lost 4 to 6 oz's and if you look carefully at the labels of practically everything in the store, have been reduced in size and increased in price.

A few things still hold true, as a pound of butter is still 16 oz, a pound of meat at the butcher's is still a pound, a two liter bottle of soft drink is still 2 liters and a half gallon of milk stays at 64 oz's   These are the exceptions.

Why the subtle reductions in weight?  Well the manufacturer has little alternative with his costs going up constantly.  He can absorb only so many increases before he is faced with either “raising price or reducing quantity”.  Since he is faced with competitive pressures from every quarter he reluctantly takes the path of least resistance and tries to maintain market share by maintaining his prices and sneaking less product in a smaller container (or sometimes the same size container).  This of course goes on until the customer gets used to the new smaller portion.  Sorry to say though his costs keep rising and at some point he can no longer reduce the package size, and therefore has to raise his prices.  This is when we, the consumer, finally feel the pinch, because you and I never noticed the change in quantity, but we sure do notice the increased price. 

Either way we are being cheated not by the supermarket, nor even the manufacturer, but by governments who keep running the printing presses, creating more currency with less and less value and therefore less and less buying power.  They call it “inflation”.  Government of course never admits to this fact as it is far easier to blame the problem on the “Greedy Capitalists” who are gouging the consumer than admit their own culpability, yet whether it is recession or a time of boom, somehow our currency  is worth less and less every year. 

There are a few things you can do to get your expenditures a bit more in line with reality though:

1.    Read carefully the labels on what you need to buy and then purchase the brands that give you the best quality at the lowest price for the greatest quantity.

2.    Try not to buy advertised brands, as this will save you paying for the companies advertising budget. Buy generics (private labels) and products not advertised. Private label branding is always less expensive, and the product is often made by the same company in the same factory as the name brand.

3.    Always try to buy during weekly specials, and if you can buy in quantity and store for future use, do so. 

4.    Check food expiration dates printed on the package.  If you find something close to expiration date, come back a day before that date and you are sure to find it selling for half price or less.  Most $3-$4 bread will sell for $.99

5.    Particularly watch for Managers Specials.  These are usually over stocks or expiry items, and management needs to reduce inventory quickly.  I recently bought organic, free-range, British eggs that sold  six for $7.50 on Managers Special for just $.59.  These deals don't come around every day, but when they do they pay for your entire trip to the market.

6.    In summation, buy thoughtfully, carefully, and intelligently and don't just buy on impulse with out considering all of the above.  If you buy this way, you will reduce your food bill by no less than 40% and possibly a lot more.

We have for the next four or five years entered into a period of hard times, and any cash that you save, may just be the difference between living well, with a reasonable quality of life, or just barely getting by or, at worst, dropping into poverty.

Don't think of shopping this way as just being cheap, think of it as a smart and an intelligent way of spending your hard earned currency.  Buy Value, Buy Quality, Buy the Right Product, at the Right Price, at the Right Time.  The rest is up to you.

Jack Benz
[email protected]