What are you going to cut back on?

cinder

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I notice it everywhere I go now. Prices are going up, and not by just a small percentage. There are some things I just don't buy anymore at the grocery store. As the price goes up on perishable items, I wonder how much worse the problem becomes when produce spoils, over ripens, etc, because people can't afford it.

Some things I buy now only on sale. Mostly things like grapes, melons, oranges and apples. Fortunately around here there are still many family owned fruit stands where you can still buy some things at a decent price. DH used to give me a hard time about growing corn because you could buy 12 for $1 just about anywhere. Now it's 3 for $1, so next year I'll probably be back to growing my own.


We've talked about giving up our landline phone and just having cells, but the service out here isn't always the best. Some things I'd miss, others don't really matter. Maybe now's a good time to share some ideas about saving money....cause pricewise, I really think it's about to hit the fan. For example, I ordered some merchandise the other day. The cost of the items was $173. The shipping was $109.
You've GOT TO BE KIDDING, said I. Nope...fuel surcharge. Sigh... And it's only going to get worse.
 

stacyd1987

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We only have cells too because it's just easier. My family, when I was a kid and everyone was together, used to grow our own veggies in a garden. It was nice to have fresh tomatoes, carrots, melons, corn... we even had beets. Bleh! I wish we could grow our own stuff but living in an apartment makes that hard. They have a section where we can grown things but I've heard that kids and other people like to trample and steal from it.
 

tickytat

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Wow what did you order?!? Shipping charges are OUTRAGEOUS no matter what you're sending. For the service you get, it's not worth it. But that won't keep me from shopping online!


I'm definitely cutting back on groceries. In the spring I'm selling my motorcycle
because of gas prices and I could use the money.

Don't you wish you didn't have to pay for food?!

I bought a Brita pitcher to filter my tap water that I'm paying for anyway instead of buying case after case of bottled water. I know the filters are expensive but I think it will still save me money in the end.

I want to be rich!!!!
 
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cinder

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Originally Posted by TickyTat

Wow what did you order?!? Shipping charges are OUTRAGEOUS no matter what you're sending. For the service you get, it's not worth it. But that won't keep me from shopping online!
It was mostly framed stuff and on sale, with a discount for buying multiple items. It was actual shipping & HANDLING, which means they probably tacked on enough to make up for the discount on the merchandise. Think I got stroked.


I wish we could grow our own stuff but living in an apartment makes that hard. They have a section where we can grown things but I've heard that kids and other people like to trample and steal from it.
Deer are worse than kids, trust me.


Our DISH bill is astronomical, but DH refuses to drop any of the premium channels because there is always ONE lousy show he wants to watch.

I don't smoke, but my brother quit in February and figures it'll save him about $1200-$1300 per year, which is a nice chunk of change.
 

capt_jordi

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I'm a poor college kid, my cabinets are full of canned pasta and ramen noodles. I have like 1 or 2 decent meals a week... its no fun! We called to cancel our phone, premium channels and drop our internet back down to 3meg because our 1 year price ran out. But they called and gave us the cable boxes and phone service back for the same price as before! So that made me happy! We are also keeping the house at like 67 degrees and wearing more clothing... its not fun. And making sure lights are off... I hate budgeting!
 

stacyd1987

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Originally Posted by TickyTat

I want to be rich!!!!
Same here! By the way we got a Brita pitcher too at the base exchange because I've noticed that our water had 'mysterious particles' in it.
I don't think I want to know what they are... The filter gets them out though and thankfully we can get the replacements from the BX cheap. We get a lot of our stuff from the BX and commissary because of the prices.


And, I don't think we have deer around here. We're right outside of DC in a metro area, so deer wouldn't be able to walk through without getting noticed or worse, hit.
 

lunasmom

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I'm going to start doing the budget plan with the gas company and also I found out I can do one with the electric!!! So that will help average things out.

I don't know what food wise I'll save though.
 

sharky

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I am trying to get mom to save on cable internet and get digi phone for 99 a month... currently we spend 140-160... I have cut back on meat ... i eat lots of hamburger and rice which is what my dog eat s
 
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cinder

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Originally Posted by StacyD1987

And, I don't think we have deer around here. We're right outside of DC in a metro area, so deer wouldn't be able to walk through without getting noticed or worse, hit.
I knew that.
I meant here. We have LOTS of deer. Bambi everywhere and they love to eat gardens.

If you have time for it, coupons can save a bunch of money on your grocery bill. It takes more time to shop, but I've cut my total at the cash register in half on a good week. The more inexpensive roasts or whole chickens are a good alternative to hamburger if you are in the habit of using a crock pot. (I LOVE my crock pot)
It seems that mostly the convenience of having food ready quickly is what costs a lot.

Oh...and we changed all our light bulbs to those spirally ones.
 

starryeyedtiger

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Humm i'm really not sure yet- we don't have cable, we don't have home phones, we don't go out often at all- i cook just about everything we eat at home so that saves money. We take our thermos' with us to work so we don't buy drinks and spend money on that. We buy things in bulk to save money and portion them out ourselves. We recycle as much as possible- (including furniture, dishes, etc- a little paint goes a long ways!). We use energy efficient bulbs around the house- we don't leave lights on when we're not in a room- we make sure the house is well insulated to keep out drafts,etc. / Instead of going to Starbucks or having a fancy dessert- we make our own at home (which tastes better imo
) We shop at antique/ second hand places sometimes and he builds a lot of stuff around the house/ fixes things himself. We carpool together when possible to save gas. I buy a lot of healthy store brands that i can find....we really don't live extravagant.

We spend money on the basics - PYF (pay yourself first- savings) , mortgage, utilities, gas (and we try to carpool as much as possible to cut down on it), insurance, cell plans, internet (a necessity for us), pet needs, food (i use cupons, buy in bulk, try to buy fresh fruits/etc in season, buy healthy- i don't mind spending a few extra bucks on good quality groceries that are healthy for us rather than buying junk- because the better we take care of our bodies- the less we're going to have to pay in medical bills down the road- so eating healthy, i won't sacraice- i just try to budget well.) My biggest expense are my medications- they're pricy- but i can't go without them- so that's where the majority of my money goes


I only go shopping when i set money aside specifically for a little retail therapy- i'm pretty good about sticking to my budget- but it takes discipline.

With our upcomming wedding soon too- i really don't know what else to "cut out" we're doing everything on a shoe string budget as is....so there's not much i can cut out to make room for the added expense of gas...my goal is just to save as much as i can.
 

pat

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I'm reversing some new bad habits...back to cooking more from scratch and buying more of our groceries from Costco and Winco.

We already keep it cool (and part of the house is heated with a wood stove) and use energy efficient bulbs. With the new roof and triple pane windows we put in about 2 years ago, it's also helped and we pay our energy/water bill on the budget plan which is helpful.

I will be paying more attention to sales for the cat food I feed. Not much more that I can do, we already bundle our internet/cable/phone (voip) and have a good deal for that, and a decent cell phone plan.

Tonight, after dh did a major grocery shop, he remarked that prices have really gone up
and unfortunately, our state just passed a referendum that many feel will now simply jack up insurance costs, and I already am "expensive". sigh.
 

mechanicalman

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You mentioned apples and produce; I should maybe stop buying Honeycrisps. They are so damn expensive, and the Washington apples that are being sold in my area aren't even that impressive. I should probably just buy Fuji. But the limited availability of Honeycrisp makes me feel like I need to take advantage while I can. I like having annual treats to look forward to like Honeycrisp apples and Louisburg apple cider.
 

fwan

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Everything here has gone up too, every week we get junk mail, which is just magazines about supermarkets that have things on sale, so far i have only bought foods ect that have been on sale. I also have been working a lot so there has been no time to shop for anything! Although because Trav has got a good job, and knows his first pay cheque is alot we have been splurging on clothes and jackets. After January we will have to cut back though!
 

kitytize

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Things I can cut back on are eating out, satelite, online gaming, and cat shows.
 

jellybella

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I'm hoping that the $$ I have from my soon to be paid off car loan will offset some of this...ugh, Christmas is coming...better start looking for free shipping.
 

gailc

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We live fairly simply already.

We got a 24 month chart from power company tracking our electricity use-it comes to approx $3/day. Their average was $2.49/day but our home is heated with electric heat (no A/C) so that's not actually bad at all!! We heat mainly with wood that we harvest from our own land up north.
We dine out very infrequently the way it is and I make the vast majority of my food form scratch. I watch food specials at the 2 grocery stores I rotate shopping at and stock up heavy on items I will use. For example in about a week or 10 days chicken broth will go on sale-I've been lucky and wait for 50cents/can (swanson's) I then buy a case of chicken broth and another case of veggie and beef broth mixed. It lasts for about a year!
I have a chest freezer full of food and since I have a large veg garden preserve lots of my own stuff.
We don't have cable/satellite and only dial up internet so no additional savings to be had.
Our major expense is gas-when I run errands I do several at once as any major shopping areas are about 15-20 miles away.
I've been going to library to check out books vs buying them (ok I bought a paperback on Tuesday.)
 

littleraven7726

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With everything going up I'm probably going to stick with cheapo cat litter, and dust more often.
I try to buy their cat food on sale (thank goodness Nutro Max, Friskies and FF go on sale regularly).

For us, we are majorly consolidating shopping trips and other errands. This summer we bought a brand new-more fuel efficient car, so that helps. We only have one car, and I will probably be getting a bus pass. The city we are moving to has a good bus system.

Foodwise, there's not much I can do there. I am cutting back on Christmas spending. And other frivolous spending. But there's not much else I can do.


ETA: I am also going to change to all CFL bulbs for lights to save money.
 

starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by MechanicalMan

You mentioned apples and produce; I should maybe stop buying Honeycrisps. They are so damn expensive, and the Washington apples that are being sold in my area aren't even that impressive. I should probably just buy Fuji. But the limited availability of Honeycrisp makes me feel like I need to take advantage while I can. I like having annual treats to look forward to like Honeycrisp apples and Louisburg apple cider.
Oh man am i glad to see another Honey crisp fan!!!!!
Those are my FAVORITE apples!
They are only sold in 1-2 stores around here for a very limited amount of time as they have a short season- so i don't mind shelling out a few extra cents for them vs. the ones you can find any other time. If you do want one that's the most similar- try Fuji - they're the closest i can find in taste to a honey crisp- but they're not as good imo. Good thing for me, honey crips are only sold for a limited amount of time around here
BUT the good thing about fruit- is it's good for you! So you don't have to feel too guilty for eating healthy because healthy eating habits will save you medical bills down the road -so sometimes it's worth ti to spend a little extra in some areas (like healthy groceries- and to cut back in others).

One little side note some may consider- If anyone has an Aldi grocery store near them- definitely consider shopping there! http://www.aldifoods.com/index_ENU_HTML.htm

We make 3 grocery lists every month- one for Aldi, one for Costco (to buy in bulk and save $), and one for the regular grocery store.

I like shopping at aldi- because they have much less expensive prices on things you can find day to day in a regular store- they don't use fancy packaging or labels and as a result- the cost cutting goes directly to the consumers. They also encourage people to bring their own bags to put their groceries in - which encourages recycling and in turn saves everyone money! The list goes on- they also carry healthy stuff to- whole wheat pastas/etc at good prices
The last time i went there i spent $40 and it was enough to last us for a month for a lot of things we use day to day!

When i shop at Aldi first- i get the things i would normally pay much more at a regular grocery store- for a lot less- and then it saves me soo much $. I buy in bulk at Costco for things like flour, sugar, EVOO, stuff like that- and it saves me gas money 1# because i don't have to make frequent trips to the regular store for everyday things, and 2 because buying in bulk for most things saves money if you read the amount in the packaging/etc. That saves me quite a bit. I also carpool every two weeks with my sister to get groceries/etc most of the time- so we save gas money when we do that
There's ways to cut costs, but i'm just trying to figure out what else i can cut!
 

gingersmom

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I already did the lightbulb changeover. I'm downgrading the cat litter that I buy to the cheaper stuff. I'm actually going to have to switch Penny off the $1 per tub Sheba and onto the less expensive MM wet (don't know how she'll take that, and will have to wait until she is more accustomed to Max in the house.)

I spent the money (worth it!) for a set of Cashmina micro-plush sheets from Domestications and will be keeping my thermostat at 60-65 degrees (I'm freezing unless it's at least 71 degrees in the house!)

As it is, I do very little food shopping, and for the cats I buy in bulk when things are on sale, so although I pay more up front, I save over time.

I'm eating more and more popcorn as a snack instead of other things, and ordered a Whirly-Pop stovetop popper to save $ over microwave popcorn costs.

Honeycrisp apples, OMG - I just tried one for the very first time this fall, and oooo boy are they YUMMY!!!


I have cut back a GREAT deal on my charitable giving - even not having much I know there are others that have less, so over the last decade, I've given as much as I could as often as I could to certain charities, but this year...I just can't donate anything.


I told my family & friends: do NOT expect gifts from me, and do NOT worry about buying me anything this year. I know who loves me and they don't need to buy me anything to prove it.

I did not join in the SS for the same reason, can't swing it.

I just hope I can get through the heating season.
 
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