How are you handling rising food and energy costs?

[Immadismom]

Historically I’ve not had to worry too much about price increases. However, DH is currently on disability from work, which reduces his pay by 40% and we’re at the period in between short-term and long term disability where there is a gap in checks until they approve and retro pay him. Add to that the significant increase in prices and we’re starting to feel the crunch. I used to always go to my regular grocery store where prices are slightly higher, but I can get everything in one trip and it’s much less crowded than Walmart. The past several weeks I’ve gone out early in the morning to hit both Walmart and Aldi so I can stretch the budget as far as possible. I was able to finish up this week‘s groceries for about $95 for two of us. Not too bad, but I also didn’t buy every single thing I’d normally buy. I tried to keep in mind what I already had at home and what we’d actually consume through the week vs. just buying what “looks good” in the moment.

 

[DLgal]

Eggs at Trader Joe's were $2.99/dozen today. Limit one dozen per customer.

 

[dvcgirl67]

In CA, the big strawberries have arrived. They are currently $5/lb but totally worth it. I only buy them once a week for Sunday breakfast unless they go on sale.

I will never forget the first time I tasted the "big strawberries in California". I'd never had them until we lived in California in the late 90s. I was working as a nurse at Kaiser in Santa Clara and one of the nurse brought a whole flat of them to work. I thought..."what's the big deal....they're just strawberries." But...omg, they were incredible.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I started shopping mostly at
1. Sam’s Club misc, bacon, chuck roast, frozen chicken breast
2. Walmart misc, no meat
3. Costco misc, bacon packs, chuck roast
4. Grocery store for misc and beef

I’ve been buying less beef and only buy when needed. 2023 I will be going through everything I already have. I watch the grocery ads for deals on meat.
I need to go through my pantry and start making a menu list.

I’m making more money due to raises and was offered more hours. I went from part time to fulltime. Even though, I’m making more money , I’m more into saving money lol!

 

[HeatherC]

So I went to Walmart today to stock up on things like rice, canned goods, beans, seasonings etc. Another lady and myself were both looking for bags of rice at the same time and almost fell over because they wanted $8.00 a bag for white rice! I think it was like a couple lbs but we both gasped at the same time.. Luckily, we both found cheaper options by going for Jasmine rice instead.

They also raised their pasta from .92 cents a box to .98.

Seriously though, I know many many people must be struggling a ton to feed their families. Every single time I go the prices keep going up.

 

[RF536]

I've started going to a couple of local butchers. They have been the cheapest option by far. I stock up whatever is on sale and build meals around it.

 

[mrodgers]

And 40ish years ago most stores couldn’t sell many chicken wings even at 29 cents per pound. They were suitable only for making broth or to use as crab bait. IMO that’s still all they’re good for.

You don't eat chicken wings to eat chicken. You eat chicken wings to eat the sauce. More surface area on a dozen wings (which society has set now that 6 wings is a dozen) to hold the sauce compared to a single chicken breast or even a 2 combination of thy and leg. It's all about the sauce!

 

[mrodgers]

and to think i use strawberry plants as inexpensive ground cover in my ornamental planter beds-i should be charging the birds and chipmunks big$$$ for all they consume each year.

Ha! There's nothing easier to grow in a garden than strawberries. It kills me they are so expensive. They multiply every year and make... more strawberries!

I am going to try to line the front of my place with strawberries, asparagus (never grew that) and tomatoes and hope the property owner doesn't complain. Previous owner didn't allow us to have a garden or anything and was strict about the landscaping.

 

[RedAngie]

You don't eat chicken wings to eat chicken. You eat chicken wings to eat the sauce. More surface area on a dozen wings (which society has set now that 6 wings is a dozen) to hold the sauce compared to a single chicken breast or even a 2 combination of thy and leg. It's all about the sauce!

Just guzzle the sauce and forget about the trashy overpriced wings.

 

[pigletto]

This months natural gas bill ( how we heat our home and hot water tank ) was $191. The bill for the same time period last year was $134. The difference was I used 17% LESS gas this year.

We dropped our indoor temps to 19c (66.2) during the day and 17c (62.6) at night this year prior to this billing period. I can’t comfortably go any lower and not be miserable so it is what it is.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This months natural gas bill ( how we hear our home and hot water tank ) was $191. The bill for the same time period last year was $134. The difference was I used 17% LESS gas this year.

We dropped our indoor temps to 19c (66.2) during the day and 17c (62.6) at night this year prior to this billing period. I can’t comfortably go any lower and not be miserable so it is what it is.

62.6 - that’s low. We were all freezing here the other night at 65.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

You don't eat chicken wings to eat chicken. You eat chicken wings to eat the sauce. More surface area on a dozen wings (which society has set now that 6 wings is a dozen) to hold the sauce compared to a single chicken breast or even a 2 combination of thy and leg. It's all about the sauce!

That isn't sauce. It's engine part degreaser.

 

[pigletto]

62.6 - that’s low. We were all freezing here the other night at 65.

It is, but it’s only after we are in bed and the heat comes on before we get up. We really don’t notice it.

 

[anniemae]

It is, but it’s only after we are in bed and the heat comes on before we get up. We really don’t notice it.

we do this too. Low heat at night, extra blankets, then heat goes on before we get up.

 

[Princesca]

Life has for sure gotten expensive lately. And our state government just threw a tax on some new things like mechanic labor, so that makes an already painful repair bill even more fun. We are definitely making stricter use of online and paper coupons (which was more of a 'when we had the time' thing before). We've also cut out most meat from our diet, and we're doing intermittent fasting, for health reasons, so that saves us the cost of breakfast. We've quit going to Starbucks like we did and are making coffee at home now. While still an expense, it does save us quite a bit.

That said, we have never been super spendy people. I get free clothes through work, and we mostly wear those because clothes serve a functional purpose for us, and that's about it. I bought the only purse I carry at Target like 3 years ago for $15, and color over the parts where the black has flaked off with a sharpie. No one knows the difference but me. We DO spend on vacations and experiences, but we penny pinch everywhere else to be able to afford that. We dropped to one income back in 2020 so we wouldn't have to put our son in daycare during COVID, and we are managing to get by, but it's getting tough as our house/cars continue to age and need repairs but my salary has been more or less stagnant against cost of living.

So I've started to look for side work and have reached out to a contact I have at a temp agency. Due to conflict of interest, I can't do my actual career work on the side (I wish I could, the consulting pay is astronomical for what I do but I can't stomach the risk of not having a guaranteed income stream) but at this point if I could do anything, even some data entry, that would help take a bit of pressure off the valves, so to speak. We feel we've made all the cuts in our budget that we comfortably can, so our only recourse is to bring in more income. I'm also prodding my wife to do some freelance art - she's really talented, but like a lot of artists, doesn't really see it in herself.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

state government just threw a tax on some new things like mechanic labor

What do you mean by this?

 

[RedAngie]

What do you mean by this?

I’m guessing she means that for say, an auto mechanic, the labor charge wasn’t subject to sales tax before, just the parts. And now labor charges are taxed too.

 

[Princesca]

What do you mean by this?

Starting January 1, 2023, our state sales and use tax began applying to 30+ additional service categories. Businesses that provide these services will be required to collect 6% sales tax from their customers in the new year.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

For those of you familiar with Christmas Tree Shops (a hugely popular and largely seasonal retailer in the northeast for those unfamiliar with it; a store that mostly women LOVE to shop at), I was a little alarmed walking through there recently. They had aisles and aisles of unsold merchandise going back to fall and including Christmas. I mean, usually they have a small section of leftover seasonal items that go pretty quickly, but this was way different. It was pretty obvious much of the merchandise hadn’t sold. I worry about what that means for the future of the company (and more broadly, other companies) if people aren’t shopping (due to the rise of utilities and other critical expenses). I also noticed that their generally affordable prices had greatly increased on a large percentage of their items. It’s the type of place you go in for one thing but come out with a cart full. Well now, a cart full has probably doubled and after going through the register like that, most will be more careful next time. I feel like this is going to be happening in lots of stores, restaurants and maybe even coffee shops, like the aforementioned Starbucks.

 

[TwoMisfits]

For those of you familiar with Christmas Tree Shops (a hugely popular and largely seasonal retailer in the northeast for those unfamiliar with it; a store that mostly women LOVE to shop at), I was a little alarmed walking through there recently. They had aisles and aisles of unsold merchandise going back to fall and including Christmas. I mean, usually they have a small section of leftover seasonal items that go pretty quickly, but this was way different. It was pretty obvious much of the merchandise hadn’t sold. I worry about what that means for the future of the company (and more broadly, other companies) if people aren’t shopping (due to the rise of utilities and other critical expenses). I also noticed that their generally affordable prices had greatly increased on a large percentage of their items. It’s the type of place you go in for one thing but come out with a cart full. Well now, a cart full has probably doubled and after going through the register like that, most will be more careful next time. I feel like this is going to be happening in lots of stores, restaurants and maybe even coffee shops, like the aforementioned Starbucks.

Target never sold a lot of its Christmas merchandise for clearance. It sent back all its trees, most of its lights and decorations, and its outdoor decorations after the holiday vs selling it. Pretty much anything they could keep without degradation, they did not sell the customers.

Foods, wrapping paper, and miscellaneous "fad" items (aka, identified by the year or the hollywood trend) did get sold in clearance...