Soaring Costs
Posted by bizemomm - 07/02/08, 08:07 pmGas this holiday weekend will cost upwards of $4.00 per gallon. The cost of staples like eggs, milk and cereal is outrageous! I am sure each of us has our own small ways that we try to conserve and save wherever we can. Personally, I now map out my trips and try to group them in a small mile radius so I can save on gasoline. I am cutting coupons and actually using them, not just letting them sit and expire. I am going to the movies and cashing in on matinees where you get rock bottom prices. I am purchasing meat and poultry in bulk when it goes on sale. For instance sirloin steak was $7.99 a pound last week and this week for 3 days is $3.49 a pound. I am making less trips to the grocery store to cut down on impulse purchases. I am trying to waste less and conserve more...except when it comes to the AC. I won't skimp on my comfort. Please share what extravagances you treat yourself to and where you find yourself able to more cut. It isn't easy for any of us to have to live on less, because our dollar seems to keep shrinking, so the sharing of ideas costs us nothing and may just make our dollar grow! Welcome, ((hugs))marcia
Am doing the same thing.....watching the sales and buying in bulk, and NO, will use the AC as it is FAR too hot not to........the heat is miserable and it's just July.....there are too many months ahead that will be hot.....
I am also trying not to throw away so much food!! God, I throw away a lot of food.....it's horrible and terrible.....am trying not to buy in bulk with fresh foods.....
BamaFlash
Good ideas but you're lucky you dont live in England where the cheapest fuel is now £1.16 per litre!!!
strugglingwithlife
Where I live we have some things that affect the prices even over what the economy is doing. We only have two grocery stores in town. One of which is an all organic store and the other is Hy-Vee. They are both quite a bit higher than stores that are 25 miles from here. We go to a store called Fareway in one of those 25 mile away towns. We bought a small freezer and buy meat bundles. We get a months worth at a time so we only make that trip once a month thus not adding a large amount of gas cost to our food. We also buy any vegetables in cans that are on special. As for fresh produce well we are a bit pressed for that. We go to the local farmer's market for some things but since the college in our town is vegetarian even the farmers market is higher than most around. We hear that there will be a new Hy-Vee built soon and also rumors of a super wal-mart. I would rather have something to compete with the stores instead of them just building a bigger ripping off station. I do have to go to these stores from time to time to get things like milk and bread etc. It seems like I can't get away from there for less than 50 bucks and I don't buy much. We do not travel much anymore. We use to go to a town 60 miles away just to walk around the mall but we've stopped that. We stay at home and watch TV way too much but it's too expensive to go very much of any place. This has come on so fast that we haven't been able to figure out just how to lower our bills that we had when this started. I mean the morgage, car loans, etc. We burn wood pellets in the winter in a pellet stove to keep our heating cost down. We buy a truck load in early fall when the prices are lower. My husband has taken to driving a motorcycle to work. He works 25 miles away. He also has a Ford full size pickup for his vehicle. So gas was getting to be over 400 a month for him to go to work. My brother gave him an older model motorcycle and it is helping. With the rain however it sometimes isn't possible to ride the bike. I have a Honda Element which gets reasonable mileage but not as good as one might think since it is all wheel drive. When and if I ever get able to trade it in I will find one with the four wheel drive that is engageable for winter and leave it off during the summer.
Cwill
Don't know if it is available where you are located, but I recently found out about something called Angel Food Ministries. It is a sort of co-op through area churches that provides food at reduced prices to help families spend less. It doesn't ave any requirements as far as income or applications to fill out. It is available to everyone. There is a web site to check and see if it is in your area. It is www.angelfoodministries.com. Last month my family and I purchased one box to checl it out and we were pleased. This month I was able to stock my freezer with meat for two months plus I got a lot of staples and veggies, eggs, cheeses, summer sausage, and milk all for $136.00. The meats included steaks, ribs, pork chops, boneless skinless chicken breast, chicken tenders, sausages, burger, ground turkey, etc. I had some of the steaks tonight and they were flavorful and tender. I have really been impressed.
gynniemom