Friends, it’s too early to tell, but we may have survived the Great Oil Filter Shortage of 2013.
People laugh at me because of how much I stock up on certain products. But what I buy is only things that I know won’t spoil and that I am going to use.
Oil filters are one such product. I keep a few of each type on hand so that when a vehicle needs an oil change, I can do it at my convenience without being forced into a special shopping trip just to get supplies.
It’s a fluke, but I happened to be at three different Walmart locations in just over a week recently. Each time, I went looking to replace what I need, but two of the model numbers of Fram oil filters were not there.
On the next visit, however, there was one filter #10060 which I snatched up quickly, plus two of the other number I needed. So did I get the last filter after that number was re-stocked, or the last one that hadn’t sold yet?
Is the shortage over, or are they be setting us up for something like the Great Vanilla Wafer Conspiracy of 2009?
(Aside: remember when Subway first started its famous “5 Dollar Footlong” promotion? Do you remember also that most of the sandwiches were $4.60 then? It was advertised as a bargain but really a big price increase.)
Back to wafers. There was a time I used to take a small serving of them as part of my lunch. Unlike Nabisco’s brand-name rip-off at $4-plus a box, Walmart’s Great Value brand of vanilla wafers was just $1.00 a box, and actually tasted better than the high-priced counterparts.
Then suddenly, the price shot up to $1.07, a percentage increase exceeded only by health insurance. Next, Walmart’s vanilla wafers completely disappeared from stores for a couple months, leaving only the brand-name choice (conspiracy!).
When they did come back in a redesigned package, they were $1.27, and the price kept climbing from there. Eventually, I found an alternative off-brand at the grocery store, but it’s not like the good old days of $1 apiece. Now, we’re in the area of $1.68 for a “cheap” box of good wafers.
The only thing worse: a bag of Doritos costs most per pound than a good steak.
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