Cozy Cottage

Coping With Rising Prices

The rising price of gas and food is causing our family to have to make more changes to our budget. When an unexpected cost came our way, I used to be able to cut the food budget to come up with the extra money.  Well those days are no longer. In fact, we are having to increase our budget to cover food and gas.  So..here are a few things we are doing to stretch our money and make things work. Please feel free to comment on what you all are doing to account for the increase in prices.

1)  We are trying to stretch the time between filling gas to two weeks if possible. This is tough. It means combining trips at all times and making good lists so we don't have repeat trips. 

2) We don't usually go to movies or spend money on entertainment. We don't have cable and network television is not fit for watching so we joined Netflix. The movies come to our door so we save on gas that way too. We rent old TV shows like Leave It To Beaver that have 6 episodes on one CD and types of good old shows like that.  For a total of $16 a month we can watch decent stuff and enjoy each others company at home as a family.  You can spend as little as $4.99 a month but since we don't have cable we got the 3-out-at-a-time plan.

3) We really try not to buy pre-packaged or processed food as much as possible. That type of food is usually more expensive and loaded with preservatives, chemicals, and dyes that can cause cancer. We make food from scratch.

4) We do not drink soda at all. Maybe for special occasions we will induldge in a few 2 liters or make lemonade but other than that we drink water. In the summer we make good ol' decaf sun tea.  Occasionally we will buy juice but it's usually just loaded with sugar and calories. It's best to eat your fruit anyway rather than drink it. I'm thankful that my kids grew up getting used to just drinking water so they don't ask for any thing else.

5) With the ever increasing prices of meat, we are trying to eat more vegetarian meals. One day a week, we put a pot of beans in the crockpot with taco seasoning and make Taco Bowls out of them. Add a little lettuce, cheese, homemade guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and a few corn chips and you end up with a cheap, healthy, filling meal.  We also have stuffed baked potatoes with steamed brocolli, rice, and cheese sauce on another day. It does our bodies good to skip meat once in a while. We've also had tacos made with lentils and taco seasoning. They are great!

6) Going to the cash envelope system really helps keep us on a budget. It's not always convenient to go to the bank and get cash, but everytime we do, I can really stick to the budget a whole lot easier. I have looked into the online systems that use virtual envelopes....Mvelopes but it is a monthly cost that I can't justify at this time. One could easily set up a system like that on Excel to keep track of how much money is left to spend in each category. You would just have to be disciplined and keep a tally in your purse of how much you have left to spend.

There are many more things we are doing to save money and I'm learning more tips from others weekly! What kinds of things are you doing to save in these changing times?

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8:25, Saturday, May 31, 2008 .. Posted by Kitty

You pretty much have things covered in my opinion. I think things will get a whole lot worse before they get better, we are in for a bumpy ride.........Kitty

Hi

8:31, Saturday, May 31, 2008 .. Posted by TheGoodLife

You need a budget has a good budgeting system - a one off payment not monthly. I use this system to track bill account & use microsoft money to track spending. - I like bits out of both systems hence why I use two.

Love Leanne

wow

9:32, Sunday, June 1, 2008 .. Posted by safords

You inspire me...

My friend and I were commiserating on the prices of food and how our refridgerators are empty. I looked in her fridge - empty. Her boys are complaining that she is "starving" them. She said I went to the store yesterday and spent $75 and my fridge is still empty. We decided we are going to order huge bags of beans and such... Our families are vegetarian - mostly vegan. BUT whew! The cost of produce and such is unreal.

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2:22, Tuesday, July 1, 2008 .. Posted by Anonymous

It certainly is a challenge, but thank God our hope is in Him, not the world.

Candy