Seriously, is there ever any way to get ahead?

[justbugged]

Quote:
Same here. I still think that we consumed more when I shopped at Costco. I watch what the lost leaders are a the local grocery store, and work from there. I also buy the discounted or day old meat. If it isn't use that day I just freeze it for later use. The biggest thing is to stay out of the middle of the grocery store. That is where all manufacture food is anyway. Now if i could just get DH to give up the beer.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
3.78 X 1.14 = $4.30 a gallon here

(3.78 metric liters per 1 imperial gallon)

someone correct my math if I am wrong... (I aint so good in math)...

and dont get me started on the cost of transit... right Deb...LOL




@ chickychicky baby..

I have dog towels.. and dog blankets.. and tea towels for dogs too.... (they get used for paws or to clean up pee accidents cause its to darn cold here and the puppies dont like to go out in the cold)

Yes we had the transit conversation already and I use your link ALL THE TIME to show people they really are better off using OUR transit system. It works wonders!!!!

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Same here. I still think that we consumed more when I shopped at Costco. I watch what the lost leaders are a the local grocery store, and work from there. I also buy the discounted or day old meat. If it isn't use that day I just freeze it for later use. The biggest thing is to stay out of the middle of the grocery store. That is where all manufacture food is anyway. Now if i could just get DH to give up the beer.

Another thing I do: when london broil is on sale for $1.59/lb I buy and HUGE slab of it and have them grind it up for me and put it in 1 lb packs in the freezer at home. London broil is very low in fat so it goes further.

I really am not a complete idiot about saving money, it just seems that our household runs so tight every month. And I see no need for a new car in the near future either. I have a 10 year old Corolla with 150K miles on it. I have a LONG way to go with that car.

 

[zippitydooda]

Quote:
Yeah and here I am with 2 grown kids at home, make less that $40 k a year and have to pay the fed 2 grand. Where does that makes sense?

40K? I would LOVE 40K. We live on 23K. Barely.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Even though we are both employed with quite stable jobs we still try to save where we can. We live in the country and I try to shoot my limit of deer each year. Our limit is 5 deer and I do all my own butchering and sausage making. Even though vacuum packing the meat cost a bit more We don't waste any to freezer burn at all. We have a raised bed veggie garden and freeze or can a lot of it. We do put up a lot of veggies each year, but some years are better than others. We eat what is in season all summer and fall fresh. Vehicles are paid off and I work on them as much as possible. I can fix most anything out here that breaks down. In the winter I have a garage do the work on the vehicles since our garage is unheated and I'm not going to work outside in -10 temps. Just getting too old for that, but I have memories of pulling a tranny on my old ford truck in poring rain to change out the clutch plate at night so that I could make it to work the next morning. Have had enough of that. Just dropped all my saving on an intank fuel pump fix. Why did they start putting the fuel pump in the tank??? So you couldn't do it easily at home is the only answer I can come up with. We save money by buying in bulk when we can, use coupons when we can (but most coupons are for junk food now a days and we don't eat much of those). We have a wood stove and use it as much as we can especially with the current fuel oil prices. Right now it's toasty warm in here due to the wood stove and the furnace has not kicked on all night. I am far from a survivalist, but my friends look at the way we do some things like we are crazy. They ask if we are getting ready for the grid to go down. I say "no, but if it does we just may make it, but your screwed."

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Yeah and here I am with 2 grown kids at home, make less that $40 k a year and have to pay the fed 2 grand. Where does that makes sense?

40K? I would LOVE 40K. We live on 23K. Barely.

23k in Ohio is pretty close to 40K in SoCal. Our prices here are SOOOO inflated I find it irritating. Why is it someone in the midwest can buy a home for $55K and all ours, even in this slump, sit right around $150K??

ETA: We also have 5 people in this house. And a child with a bottomless pit for a stomach.

 

[annaraven]

Quote:
40K? I would LOVE 40K. We live on 23K. Barely.

23k in Ohio is pretty close to 40K in SoCal. Our prices here are SOOOO inflated I find it irritating. Why is it someone in the midwest can buy a home for $55K and all ours, even in this slump, sit right around $150K??

ETA: We also have 5 people in this house. And a child with a bottomless pit for a stomach.

Do you have Trader Joes near you? If so, they sell pizza dough. (Or you could make your own). You can turn it into calzones for the kid.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
3.78 X 1.14 = $4.30 a gallon here

(3.78 metric liters per 1 imperial gallon)

someone correct my math if I am wrong... (I aint so good in math)...

I was going to say that you forgot to compare the exchange rate, but I just looked and it is pretty much dead even nowadays.

 

[zippitydooda]

Quote:
Good point.... I lived in CA and moved back to Ohio because I wanted to buy a house & couldn't afford one in CA. Prices are ridiculous. But, our house was way more than $55K. But there are homes for that here. Your cost of gasoline is always higher... I can't figure out how it costs more in one state than another, except I was told maybe half of the price was due to taxes attached.

We are a family of 4, and it is hard no matter how much $$ you have. You are doing it right though by using cash only. You will never regret it.

Heck, we buy pot pies with change sometimes just to have a hot meal with meat & taters LOL. But, things haven't been that tight for a while (knock on wood).

Use coupons, buy only what you need. Shut off every possible electric thing when not in use, even unplug them. Turn your water heater down. I'm currently going through the house & listing items on eBay instead of having a garage sale. The buyer pays for shipping, so I'm only out my time and a fee if the item sells.

Hang in there. It won't always be like this. Remember that God always provides (and so do our hens!)

 

[Carols Clucks]

You really have to take in to account the price of housing when commenting on incomes.


For example, with a 20k annual income, you would not be able to afford a studio apartment in this area($1000).

With a 40k income, you would be able to afford a studio, but due to the number of people, no one will rent.

On the other hand, our heating bill is low and this close to the coast, we don't do AC either.


Guessing I am with in a few hours from Debiraymond, but it is all about location location location