The closing of the Hostess Brands bakeries, the makers of Twinkies, has affected thousands. In my town, the closing of a bakery outlet, resulting from the demise of Twinkie confections, is devastating, particularly to senior citizens. The savings realized on a loaf of bread could buy a gallon of oil – that’s as basic as you can get.

Now those thrifty shoppers who saved a couple of dollars or more on quality bread will have to rethink their budgets – again.

Perhaps it will occur to those planning for the future that thrift stores, including ones for baked goods, are a vital part of many seniors’ lives. The money we save on bread helps pay for our medicines or fuel. Younger entrepreneurs in doing their market research for future retail development should realize that the percentage of seniors is growing, but their income is not. If they’re not in the work force, they’ll be looking for outlets, thrift stores or other places to save.

Medicare, meanwhile, has announced more changes for seniors.

According to the Medicare Rights Center, half of all people with Medicare live on annual incomes of less than $22,000 and they average 15 percent of that income for health care. This compares with 5 percent among non-Medicare households. The average person with Medicare spends $4,500 for health care per year.

Seniors will see their monthly premium for Medicare Part B increase by $5, to $104.90 per month in 2013. This is lower than earlier estimates by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to Marilyn Travenner, acting CMS administrator.

The other most notable change in Medicare costs for 2013 is an increase in the deductible for Part B to $147 from $140 this year.

The Social Security Administration has already announced a cost of living adjustment of 1.7 percent for 2013, but as usual, this will be eaten up easily by the real cost of living.

Food prices continue to escalate with little fanfare in the press. It’s a mystery as to why the price of eggs is so extreme and apparently not going down. Chickens have made all the headlines during the past year as a new kind of pet, and local ordinances enacted to cover everything from waste disposal to noise (no roosters, please) but we’ve heard little about what started it all – eggs.

It’s difficult for me to think of poultry as anything except a food source. During my childhood, chickens were synonymous with Sunday dinner, and eggs (product of chickens) were needed to cook with. On the other hand, we didn’t know such things as Twinkies existed. Guess we were deprived.

I won’t miss the Twinkies, but will miss Devil Dogs, even though they’ve diminished in size over the years and really should be called Devil Pups!

Kay Soldier welcomes reader ideas for column topics of interest to seniors. She can be reached by email at kso48@aol.com, or write to 114 Tandberg Trail, Windham, ME 04062.

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