One of the most discouraging things for me is how high everything is. The rising cost of gas has trickled down to where it's affecting the price of everything. I go through about 5 gallons of milk a week between my child care and my teenage son. I used to be able to get those 5 gallons for about $10 (on sale) to around $12.50. Now those same 5 gallons of milk are closer to $20. Same with hamburger meat. I used to find it on special for 99 cents a pound quite frequently, now I feel lucky to find it for $1.50 a pound. And gas! Geesh! It used to take about $30-35 to fill my van, now it's between $50-$60! Unfortunately, my rates haven't increased enough to keep up and Tom's wages certainly haven't (although he is being blessed with some overtime right now).
So what's a person to do to save money, especially on groceries? Basically, I just have to be even more diligent in my grocery shopping. I watch for clearance and sale items and if I find a good deal, I stock up on it. I network with people who also love bargains and we try to keep each other informed. Just a couple of weeks ago, one of my friends calls me at 10:30 at night to tell me that she had found turkeys on clearance for 25 cents a pound at Wal-Mart. She picked me up a couple of 12 pound turkeys that came to about $3 each. That will make several good meals for my family and the child care. I shop at Aldi's for a lot of my staples. I watch the other grocery stores for good specials and pick them up.
Another thing I should be doing more consistently is planning meals ahead of time for my family. That is going to be another goal for me to work towards.
1. I will work up a menu for this weekend today (and get all the food set out to thaw in the fridge).
2. By Monday, I will have a plan for evening meals next week.
On my goals that I posted yesterday, I called the bank this morning and they are mailing out the information on the Christmas Club account. When I get it, I will get it filled out and returned. Assuming I get it soon enough, my goal is to have it turned back in by next Friday. I haven't got the pre-authorized checking withdrawals set up yet. I added $70 to the baby EF, so it is at $170, only $830 more to go!
TGIF everyone and thanks for all the kind words and support you've already been giving me!
3 comments:
I know what you mean. it doesn't affect me as much as people like you with several kids at home, but I can feel your "pain". Everything we sell here at NAPA has went up several times in the last year or so. Between the petroleum prices (oil, antifreeze, etc.) and metal & lead prices, it seems like I am changing price labels and cost sheets all the time. The look on people's faces when they see the price on antifreeze still bothers me. It has went up over $4.00 a gallon since August! Anyway, keep up the good work.
I save lots of money at Jumbo. One day I got their ads in the paper and checked off things that I needed. Everything I bought that day was an ad item, and I saved 37% on my bill.
When I fill up my gas tank and it's over $50, I feel sick to my stomach.
Di-it just mind-boggling how much everything has gone up, isn't it?
Linda, I do some of my shopping at Jumbo's. For the stuff I buy for the child care menus, I've found the best prices are usually at Aldi's.
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