The Born Loser by Art and Chip Sansom for April 23, 2023

And it’s becoming a global problem in the Western world. They call them “working poors”

They used to call it having champagne taste and a beer budget.

I hear you, Brutus. If I need to buy something, as soon as I walk in the store or area I immediately zero in on the most expensive one in the place. Appliances, clothes, furniture, etc. Expensive tastes on a budget pocketbook.

I have switched to generic sodas. They aren’t as bad as I expected, but half the price of the big brands.

The only way you can eat canned CBH is to smother it in ketchup, stir it in real good too

buy the good stuff but only eat it half as frequently

“settle” for eggs & pancakes on the other days

Next she’ll be feeding him Van Camp’s tamales.

It’s annoying how much this is happening. Sometimes my husband can’t find our usual brand of something and we have to settle for something different. And it’s usually priced higher too.

Amen

That’s the story of my life too Brutus, but there are some less expensive house brands of products that are also very good.

Thorny, love the punchline. Great variation of the old saying She has Champagne tastes on a beer budget.

Story of my life Brutus, story of my life and it is looking like I may have to move away from the generic brands to the weird off brand labels…

sadly, our food is going up in price too, sigh…

Food prices rising on everything, gas rising, utilities rising. Those living on fixed incomes really feeling the hurt. And still suffering paying income tax to County, State and Feds. Give me strength Lord.

There are some things you can’t scrimp on and that’s canned corned beef hash. I ate one stores brand, but never again. The name brand, though costly, is the best.

Best funny of the day ! Me and my Gladys were talking about store brand versus name brand chili just yesterday so this cracked me up.

Don’t we all during this time. However, we should all splurge on some things just to retain a semblance of normalcy….

Especially now Brutus….especially now!

On the bright side, Brutus, like most (but not all) Americans has plenty to eat. Many of your neighbors don’t so I urge all TBL readers to support your local food pantry.

reminds me of an ex-girlfriend. Her go-to statement was, “If I can’t have the best I can do without it”

I made my own with leftovers after StPats. Real easy, real cheep, (Corned Beef is a fairly inexpensive cut.) And really good!

I wonder if grocery stores that have raised the price so high on any items that no one will buy them??? I’ll do with out if I think it has gone to high for me…

The probably I have is the stuff that taste good is always out of stock or they don’t make it any more.

Since the pandemic started, I’ve known just about everything in the stores has gone to cheaper ingredients, and some have less in the same size packaging. I’d name names but I’d get bleeped.

My dad always said, “I have Cadillac taste, but a bicycle pocketbook.”

I never had corned beef hash, just regular beef. I don’t eat it out of a can. I cook beef, keep enough leftovers for hash. I am not big on canned foods. Lots of sodium. In order: fresh, frozen, canned. It’s easier to use a crock pot than to drag home heavy cans. I am actually a pretty lazy cook, but I can do much better when I want to.

Wow. Today’s topic really hits close to home. I can still remember Robin Leach of ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ circa 1985, saying Who among us doesn’t have “champagne wishes and caviar dreams” but have to live on macaroni and cheese budgets!?

In my experience, store brands are comparable to name-brands. Depends on the particular item, of course.

With canned veggies, it seems that they are all the same – just the labels get switched.

Spot on. I am a Born Loser, too.

Well, thinks Brutus “I have the solution, but Gladys isn’t going to like going out to get a job”…

Brutus reflects, “I had a brand name taste in wives and I got Gladys; then I had a brand name taste in sons and I got Wilberforce and Amazon tossed my resume”…

I was stunned reading today’s comic Chip, too close to home, left me speechless, but the kicker was good…

We all have expensive tastes now days. CBH has already been eaten by someone else oe it is dog food. Feed it to Calvin.

Some store brands are actually better than name brand.

Brands also have different tastes. Coke did that a while back. Tasted like flat sugar water. Pepsi continues to taste like someone spilled the sugar supply into the pot. Neither one nor the other has been turned away from. Can’t suit all tastes.

I had a boss who called it Champaign on a beer budget.