GM,

I share your low view of the rampant consumer culture that has pervaded much of America for at least the last few decades. My wardrobe has barely changed over the last 10 years, and I hope to get at least ten years out of our cars. Your suggested list of purchases has a lot going for it, though I'm not one to advocate for ammo purchases. God knows that firearms have damaged far too many Americans. I'm not looking to "go Amish", but living beneath one's means (which I proudly do) makes a lot of sense. The older I get, the more I crave simplicity, and that isn't easily achieved. Less is definitely more (except for good music)!

I actually do most of the grocery shopping in the house, but I must confess that I don't really scrutinize the prices as it isn't an issue with respect to our finances. Supermarket pricing notwithstanding, my sense is that pricing of the overall "basket of goods" that we all require, is far from rising steeply. The very low long-term treasury bond is a good gauge of investors' inflation expectations.

Thanks for responding to my queries.

Peter T.