Pointless Analysis 2

My apologies, you've all been very patient and I really have no excuse for not posting a 'Welcome to 2011' message. I'm not too good at this whole blog thing - I'm sure this comes as a surprise to no one.

Anyway, welcome to 2011 and another round of silly analysis regarding grocery spending. Looking at this data indicates two things; food prices are going up and having someone live with you is kinda costly. I made 14 more trips in 2010 than 2009 (82 vs. 68) and the average trip increased from $27.98 to 31.61. I'm sure you've already done the math, but yes that means I spent an extra $690 on groceries in 2010. Savings stayed even at 33% and the best day to save was again Wednesday. Most costly month was September at $310 (compared to May 2009 - $307) and it wasn't close as 2nd place was October at $271. The biggest difference? In 2009 there were only two months in which I spent more than $200 in 2010 there were only three months I didn't (not counting July when I was in Europe for two weeks). And of course, you guessed it, those three months all occured before I had a roommate. Again, sorry it's been so long, I'll try to post more than once every six months in 2011. No promises though, might be busy moving =)

2 (per)cents

So the Phoenix City Council has approved (6-3) a 2% sales tax on grocery items (Story). These are items like milk, bread, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. The council indicates that the tax will be used to prevent layoffs of first responders (police and firefighters) and other city workers AND that the tax will sunset after 5 years. The mayor cites a Census study to say the tax will cost a family of four ~$240/year. Food that is purchased with food stamps will NOT be taxed. The tax goes into effect April 1st (are they joking?), but the Council will be holding 15 public budget hearings over the next month to "gather input".

Obviously my knee-jerk reaction is similar to those in the 'comments' section of the article, if not a little less vitriolic. I understand the need to fund the police and fire departments and that this tax will raise roughly 60 million of the necessary $140 million shortfall the city is facing through FY 2011. So in the end, cuts will still have to be made, just not as severe. If I were to attend any of these hearings I would have one two-part question a.) Obviously you're concerned that fewer police on the streets will have a negative impact on the crime rate, how much of a spike in crime do you expect to see if this tax is not enacted and the police department is forced to make sweeping cuts? b.) How much of a spike in crime do you expect to see if this tax IS enacted and makes it harder for people to buy milk, bread, and eggs?

Judging by the comments section of the article other citizens will bring up some equally relevant points like, "Where the hell did all that money from the photo radar zones go" (I'm betting a significant chunk of that goes to the state). And the ever popular "ZOMG. Tax and spend libera-faci-zis! We's gonna vote yallz out!!1one".

Personally I don't have a problem spending an extra 2% on groceries. I do; however, worry about the number of families that ARE out there living on meager wages and not on food stamps (think illegals). For these people an extra $240/yr might well be 2% of their entire income, and I'm never in favor of making it harder to buy daily essentials like milk and bread (and cheese, yes, it IS essential). It just doesn't feel like the City Council has really thought of all the options available to them before approving this tax - but I suppose that's also why it doesn't go into effect until April 1st (seriously?)

I think the only truly ridiculous part of this is the idea that the tax will "sunset" after 5 years. Yeah. Right. The Council argues that they're trying to reduce the $140M they have to cut by the end of FY 2011 (June 30th, 2011), and if that's the case then the tax should sunset after TWO years, not FIVE. If it were truly meant to be a temporary relief then it should expire once it has served it's purpose, and if it turns out the city is still in dire straights in 2012, then re-up the tax for another year. Five years. HA. Ha. ha.

Pointless Analysis

First of all - Hello and welcome to the new year at TS! We hope you had a great 2009 and are looking forward to all the neat stuff that is sure to happen in 2010; two trips to Denver in February, a trip to Portugal, continuing to learn fun languages like French, Hungarian, Portuguese, and English, and hopefully a new job on a new continent (or at least a new state, with mountains, and skiing, and a bunch of friends that are already there...) Anyway, on with the show!

As promised, be prepared for the most in-depth look at my grocery spending that you never wanted.

A couple notes:
1.) This is my grocery spending only. It does not include restaurants, convenience stores, bars, or the ten bucks the mall charged to let me sit on Santa's lap. Basically this is all the money I spent at Safeway and AJ's in 2009 (Safeway ~95%, AJ's <5%). Yes, I still have all the receipts. No, I'm not going to scan each of the in individually. You are welcome by anytime to peruse them.

2.) Some people have expressed surprise that I spend <$200 a month. Partially, I imagine, due to my reputation to spend that much a week on beer. That might have been true of 2007 or 2008 me, but 2009 me bought beer from the store on perhaps 4 occasions. '09 Me opted for the $7 bottle of Vitali vodka and whatever chaser/mixer might be lying around the apartment (mustard, relish, and mayo qualify as chasers; soy sauce, cottage cheese, and Girl Scout cookies-Thin Mints count as mixers). What can I say, it was a fun year? I finished grad school?

So, onto the numbers and summaries! (raw data here)

On the year I spent $1,902.73 and saved $919.22. May and December were the only months I spent more than $200 (see graph below). Sunday was far and away the busiest day with 20 visits and $530 spent followed by Friday at 11/$331 and Saturday 10/$280. Woah, cue suspenseful music - I do my shopping on the weekend. Something interesting though, the most expensive average trip was Thursday when I spent an average of $32 compared to the cheapest average trip day, Tuesday, which usually cost $18. On the year I made 4 trips on Tuesday and 7 on Thursday. On average I save 33% of the total bill, but on Wednesdays that number jumps to 40% and on Thursdays it falls to 21%. Why? I have NO IDEA. The weekly sales at Safeway roll over on Wednesday, so it would make sense that I would save MORE on Wednesday and Thursday because I'm going for some sweet deals. The only reason I can think of the disparity is that when I shop on Wednesday it's to take advantage of some great deals the first day being offered (and likely stocking up again on Sunday), but shopping on Thursday is necessity shopping, getting items I HAVE to have (milk, flour, crackers, fruits, and veggies) whether they're on sale or not, so the savings takes a hit.

How about a sweet table and sweetier graphs? (*edit - is there a giant gap here? I can't seem to get rid of it...)

# of Shopping Trips	Avg Monthly Spending	Avg Monthly Saving	Avg Spent/trip	Avg Saved/trip
68	$158.56	$70.60	$27.98	$13.52