INflation

By now, you should have been aware that things around you are getting more expensive. Our inflation rate is at a all time high. Rising cost of meals in food courts, rising food prices such as rice, milk, cereals are a common topic. This has also result in food crisis in parts of our world.

Today, oil prices hit record high of US$126 per barrel! Nowadays I need to fork out $80+ for a full tank of Esso Synergy 5000 petrol! Soon it will reach the $100 mark! The rise in oil prices also means a rise in the cost of fertilizer because of its main component, nitrogen which is made from natural gas. This lead to the demand for more biofuel meaning more crops such as corn are diverted into production of biofuel. As a result, operation cost for farmers increase, this pushes up the prices of our food staples such as egg, rice, meat etc.

Everything seem to be on the rise and on a much faster pace than our salary!
Heres an interesting extract from ABC Guide to Beating Inflation in Singapore and Elsewhere, Part 1.

"If you are a middle-class person, congratulations, you are part of the most rapidly disappearing section of the population. If you carry on with life as per normal, then as inflation takes its toll, your lifestyle will be no longer be what it used to be. You will find that things are getting more and more expensive, while your income does not seem to be able to catch up. You will find yourself falling further and further behind. Little luxuries that you used to be able to afford, like, say, dining out regularly at restaurants, or going for a family tour every now and then, will start to slip out of your grasp. You will start to cut back on your expenses, only to find that even that is not enough. You will find that things you need, whether it is food, transport, education, or healthcare, will take up a bigger and bigger chunk of your monthly budget, squeezing out everything else until, it seems, you no longer have room to breathe. This is what inflation can, and will, do to you."

Found this pamphlet in our mailbox. Sometimes discounts come at the time!