Historical shop receipts

While cleaning up the hard disk of my computer I have come across a spreadsheet dated 4Q2015 in which I recorded prices of basic goods in shops at that time, to estimate the costs of living after I move out from my parents. Over 7 years later, after a few quarters of rampant inflation, I possess a quaint material for price comparisons. The list is rather modest and contains household goods, food and beverages, so the main stuff which lands in a shopping bag.

A few basic articles whose prices have gone up significantly since 4Q2015:
- lavatory paper – bygone cost PLN 3.59 per 8 rolls, today – around PLN 10 for the same quantity,
- bath sponge – then PLN 0.63, these days PLN 1.29 at Lidl,
- milk (3.2%) – then below PLN 2.00 per litre, today usually above PLN 3.50,
- 10 eggs – then for less than PLN 4.00, today twice as much,
- a loaf of bread – then around PLN 2.00, today usually no less than PLN 3.00 (in a supermarket, in a bakery it is more expensive),
- flour (1 kg) – then around PLN 1.30, today at least two times more,
- sugar (1 kg) – then close to PLN 2.30, today I believe PLN 5.00 (I buy it once in a blue moon).

But to my surprise, I have found goods, whose price has not gone up significantly (if at all) over that time:
- glass cleaner – then PLN 6.00 per litre, today you might find it at such price at bargain sales,
- Domestos (1 litre) – then PLN 7.00, today you can find 750 ml for PLN 6.00,
- instant tea (100 bags) – then PLN 6.00, today no problem to find Earl Grey from Lidl at such price,
- oranges – then for around PLN 4.00 – PLN 5.00 per kg, recently I saw ones for PLN 3.49 in Lidl.

The above are just exceptions which prove the rule. The costs of living have gone up in recent months by more than the official inflation, with prices of nutrients and dwelling upkeep eating up only bigger parts of households’ budgets, which bears out inflation hits the poorest most. In December 2022 the average salary in Poland reached PLN 7,330 before tax, up by 10.3% year-on-year, while the CPI rate stood at 16.6%, which means real wages declined by 5.4% year-on-year. For the first time since many years Poles have been impoverished and the trend is likely to continue at least for a few months.

Personally, albeit I am faring well financially, I am going to set up a spreadsheet of my personal expenses and divide them into a matrix of four categories: essentials and non-essentials, vs. recurring and non-recurring. I will fill it in based on my bank account statements and jotted down cash payments at the end of each month and after 12 months (otherwise one-off expenses will not count up properly) I will find out how much I need to spend monthly to eke out a living and how much I actually spend. I estimate the former is between PLN 2,000 and PLN 2,500 (including car maintenance) and the latter between PLN 4,500 and PLN 5,000. I pledge revert with a summary in early 2024.

Blek srajdej

Why do we, Poles, have to embrace every single idiocy devised by the American capitalism? To quote Leo, for money! There is no better way to induce a slow-witted consumer to spend their money on stuff they (usually) don’t actually need than persuading them they are buying at bargain prices.

Black Friday (hailing from the USA, where it falls right after the Thanksgiving) is rather a novelty in Poland, as a decade ago, or even five years ago if it was celebrated, then by few. In 2018 blek srajdej is all the rage. Upshot: shopping malls chock full of people and online distributors’ websites crashing. I have witnessed stories of people taking a day off to indulge in bargain-hunting shopping and got infuriated by workmates collectively hunting bargains online in the office while I tried to focus on work.

A thrifty consumer with a head screwed-in can easily grow sick of advertisements of countless discounts and sales assaulting them from all angles that make them want to puke, but not make them give in.

The best one can do not to get carried away by the craze is to think what you actually need. I need rest, therefore I had decided to shun shops on Friday. Had done the little shopping in a discount shop on Thursday evening and ate a self-cooked lunch in the office on Friday. On Friday not a single grosz fled my wallet, nor my bank account, nor my credit card. Such was my uncanny way of celebrating the blek srajdej.

To be fair, yesterday I purchased lighting to my flat at bargain prices (and have not found crowds at the shop) and today I am heading to DIY supermarket to buy some kitchen equipment at bargain prices. My excuse is that I need that stuff, not go shopping for kicks.

The trade ban on Sundays has laid bare how badly Poles are addicted to shopping and to what disturbing extent they treat it as pastime activity. While I treat a trip to a shop as a task (go, buy, tick off), most people go there for pleasure to pass time and waste money. This looks like a perfect starting point to a rant on virtues of protestant work ethics whose contradiction is the today’s debt-financed thoughtless consumerism, reaching its peak in pre-Christmas period. Even if indeed it is perfect, I am giving it a rest for a while. Short of time again, but remont moving on – will post some pictures in a week or two.

The first trade-free Sunday

I pledge this post customarily has been scheduled to come out on Sunday, yet on account of other, more interesting plans for today, I wrote it yesterday and could not report here the full picture of the first regular Sunday when shops are closed.

The lawmakers’ primary rationale for bringing in the ban on trade on (around half of) Sundays was to bring this day back to the family, to make people spend more time together, or, alternatively to devoid them of choice, whether to visit a supermarket or a church. Changing people’s habits through legislative acts looms as a domain of totalitarian or authoritarian governments (though I do know this assertion is debatable).

The main argument of the new law’s proponents is that shops in most countries of the Western EU are closed on Sundays. I saw this while venturing abroad and I still am in two minds about this. In January 2017, while flying in to Madrid on Sunday afternoon, knowing the trade is forbidden there, I deliberately did not any snacks to make a supper, my companion and I just ventured into town thinking we would easily find an eatery. Eventually we roamed for around an hour searching for an open restaurant. Prompting eatery-keepers to close them on Sunday means depriving them of sizeable turnover, something I do not hold with.

Imposing such solutions will not work miracles I believe. A new legal act will not make customers go to church or spend more time will relatives. It will only change their shopping habits (maybe I make a huge mistake by thinking people go to trade outpost to purchase stuff as I do, but many just go there to enjoy the weekend).

Although I am not in favour of the ban, since many years I strived not to shop on Sundays. I always believed Saturday was the part of weekend dedicated to mundane duties which could not be handled over the working week, while Sunday was a day of rest, relax, recharging batteries, indulging in hobbies, touching the nature, long walks, cycling. I have rarely contributed to thriving trade on Sundays, but coercing others not to shop just because I do is a step too far. Another aspect of the issue is the fate of employees who until now were forced to work on Sundays. The best solution here is… (yes, indeed) the imposition of higher wages on Sundays which will induce some to sacrifice their free time; another option is a voluntary participation in Sunday shift, yet such concept appears less practicable since if too few volunteers would sign up, shoppers could face the problem of understaffing.

Needless to say, emergence of a new regulation naturally turns on ingenuity of those affected by it. Petrol stations, also those state-owned, might sell washing machines, shopping galleries might be turned into showrooms. Traders come up with several ways of circumventing the new, the lawmakers will struggle to tackle it and crack down on loopholes allowing exceptions to the prohibitions.

My observations from yesterday: denser traffic and crowds in nearby Auchan and adjacent gallery.

My predictions for today: hundreds of nieogarnięci, who, despite numerous reminders, headed to the shops and run across closed doors, nearly empty roads.