Sorry folks! I just can't take it anymore. Yes gas is up; though not as high as it got under our last administration. Inflation is up 4.2%. It got up to over 9% under our last administration. I'm not going to say that somehow inflation under a republican president is better than under a Democrat president. Inflation is inflation. What I am going to say is that Mainstream media was silent about it under our last administration. Now you see nothing but news segments on how people are struggling under the weight of higher prices. News flash news guys; folks have been dealing with higher prices since the Covid years. Technically the U.S has been dealing with higher prices since we went off the gold standard in 1971, but that's another vent for another day. I have to be careful and not go off into a tangent while getting to the point of this post.
You can be a victim of inflation, or you can win over it. You can at least live with it. If we ever become like Venezuela it will be a problem, until then: I move on. Let me throw in this caveat; I've also been stunned and dismayed by the price increases; especially beef. However, I feel better able to cope with it because of how I manage my kitchen.
"But I can't have chickens or a garden where I live". I totally understand that. We didn't always have these things; especially not at the level we have now. So while raising chickens or growing a big garden is helpful; it doesn't have to mean you're helpless. Plus, we still have to buy feed for these chickens. That's an expense someone without chickens doesn't have.
Many of those individuals covered by news stories are your everyday citizens that have no idea how to shop, cook, bake, plan. Their shopping trips have always been just put what they normally buy in the buggy, and see what the total is when they ring it up. I can imagine it's a bit of sticker shock to see the end total going up. The skills of basic home economics have been lost for the most part. Not completely, thankfully, but it's not in the majority as it was " Back in the day". Home economics was taught in school when I was a student, as well as something you learned at home. Kitchens are now statement pieces more than an actual working kitchen. I say all those people talking about how it's cheaper to eat out than cook at home are WRONG! So wrong. I heard one fellow say he could eat out for $30 a day, and that was better than cooking at home. THAT"S $900 a month for one person! That's more than we pay for everything; groceries, pets, chickens, toiletries, paper goods.
My kitchen stays crazy. Why? I don't consider myself a slob. No my kitchen is a place of projects. I may have loaded the dishwasher, but I have sourdough starter on the counter. I'm in the middle of making yogurt. I'm making bread, cookies, ice cream bars, etc. There's always something going on in my kitchen. It's quiet at night, well except if I've just finished canning something or the dehydrator is running. You don't have to have a canner or dehydrator. My point is your kitchen needs to become a working kitchen. You don't have to make the same things I do. Make what your family loves, but make it yourself! Make what you can. It's healthier and way cheaper! Store bought convenience food needs to go the way of the DODO. My microwave reheats my coffee. That's it, just about. I use boxes of pasta. That's it. No other boxes come into this house. I make our convenience foods. That comes in the form of making a double batch of something and freezing half. I have recipes on my recipes page for some of these things for interested readers. I need to update it! My point is; make your kitchen work!
Okay, so even I have things I have to buy at the store. My garden, and chickens only cover so much, and let me say the following is how I have always shopped and saved. I did use coupons extensively for a while, but found what I was buying could be made at home cheaper and wasn't really a healthy option. For the things I have to get at the store I do two things: Shop sales, and know my best price for items not usually on sale. There's a young woman I met through our area's Nextdoor site. She's come over for strawberry plants among other things. Her daughter crochet a chicken for me. It sits in my greenhouse. She contacted me out of the blue the other day and told me she was getting ready to get groceries, and could hear my voice saying CHECK THE SALES! She said that advice has saved her HUNDREDS of dollars over that last few months. I love to hear that. BTW her strawberries are doing well and she is growing Brussel Sprouts which I've been unable to do. Kudos to her!
Stocking up when items are on sale is vitally important. Sales run in seasons and in a rotation. Stocking up for about 6 weeks seems to be the sweet spot. Within that sweet spot is seasonal produce, and holidays. For example; The 4th of July just passed( HAPPY 250TH), and with it are sales on things like: Condiments, MEAT, cheese, etc. Things Barbeque related. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring on things that are baking and cooking related. During these sales whether rotational or seasonal, stock up for at least 6 weeks. If you have the money, put extra back in case of tight funds during a month. If you get in the habit of shopping sales, you will never pay full price again. Yes, sale prices have increased too, but I'm still paying less than what I would have normally. Within this tip, know your prices and who has the best price on something. If you're aware of what something costs; you're better able to judge a sale on whether it's good or not. Plus you'll know who has the best price on items that don't usually go on sale.
Stocking up when an items is the low bar when it comes to winning at the grocery shopping game, but I will add this: stocking up a pantry for at least 6 months for your family needs to be the end goal. This is not a prepper pantry of rice and beans. This is a pantry of items your family eats anyway. I understand these things can't be done with fresh fruits and veggies, but if you have the other things stocked, you can use what grocery funds are available for fresh produce in an emergency. I don't care what income level you live at; this statement holds true. Unless you're Elon Musk of Jeff Bezos; plan for 6 months. Back in the beginning of May I tightened the grocery belt to save as much as possible in order to pay the man that was finishing the She Shed. So we got him paid the end of May. Then hubby had an ER visit. He had a bad respiratory infection, and nothing else was open, and he needed help. His ER Bill ended up being around $2200. This was self pay. If we had filed insurance; our bill would have been closer to $6000( per the statement). When we had insurance, our deductible was $4000 or $ 6000 (Can't remember exactly). Then they would pay 80%. So it could have been the same or more. It wasn't less for sure, but we would have paid premiums that month for the privilege of paying what we did. Insurance is another vent, but I digress. Now we have this ER Payment, and we're trying to rebuild our savings after the She Shed project. Both May and June; I cut our grocery bill down to what we absolutely had to buy. I've been seriously stringent. The garden coming in helped some, but we've only now started to get things like tomatoes and peppers. Used the very last potatoes last night. Thankful for the volunteers who came up in spring and produced these wonderful red potatoes. So I'm off to the grocery store to use up the last of my grocery budget for July $178. Potatoes are on the list! My point is; the pantry saw us through very tight times over the last 2 months. It's seen us through my husband being out of work after back surgery, and prior to his surgery when he was only able to work part time. It saw us through him not able to work full time hours due to Covid restrictions. It's provided food for our daughter and her family as well as boxes for people in need. My point is a pantry is vital.
So grocery update. I came home with $16.90 left in grocery money for the month of July. We were blessed with some great deals: Chicken wings for $1.25 lb, Split chicken breast for .99 lb, Chicken thighs for $1.15 lb, and ground beef for $3.86 lb. They were markdowns! I had my list and stuck to it, adjusting only for the markdown meats. I knew the prices of what was on my list ahead of time, including what was on sale. I didn't stock up on anything this go around. I will have to do some of that next month, but we're good for the rest of the month, and even longer if needed.
