Are we in the 30's?
I don't know about you, but the prices of food going up has really affected my bill. I am thankful for the harvest I was able to put up this summer, but it wasn't a tremendous amount. I am so glad canning and preserving the harvest is a passion of mine. One that I've had since I was a little girl. A passion I think every wife should have. :)
Sometimes I feel like we are living back in the dirty 30's when the depression was in full force. I know "they" say we are not in a depression, but it sure feels like it at the grocery store. All the good for you foods have jumped up in price. It stings a little this time of year when my husband is laid off for the winter. He won't go back until mid March or so. So what's a girl to do?
We try to be good stewards of our money. I am pretty frugal and I don't squander my husband's hard earned money. I am very thorough at the grocery store and make sure I get the best price for each item purchased. We also shop at thrift shops for clothes when we can. There are times when they simply don't have the right size we need. I make a menu out for the entire month and just buy ingredients for those meals. Of course, we do buy milk (we have no cow), some meat, and fruit. We butcher our own deer and make summer sausage, breakfast sausage, brats, jerky, etc. That helps a lot. I have some chickens that are going to be ready for butchering come next fall...they are about done laying. I still have some that are laying and we'll keep them around a while longer. ;) Heating our house with a woodstove is a blessing. It feels so wonderful in the winters and cuts our electric bill down drastically. We work as a family to gather the wood and stack it. We also make our Christmas gifts, not only to save money, but it's a passion of mine to make things from scratch and give things that my hands have made. :)
What are some ways you are cushioning the blow in these rough economic times?
Well, we heat with wood in the winter, cook almost everything from scratch, I stock up at tax time on groceries that will last us a good 6 months (minus eggs, milk and so on). I have a budget worked out to have us out of debt in 2-3 years, that is if work holds out. I am trying to lower our water bill (rates went up and our water, sewer and trash are $100 a month), so I save rinse water and use to flush as often as I can, I also have a wringer washer that I am getting ready to start using in hopes of lowering our bill. I switched our phone to a lower package to lower our bill. I don't know of other things I can do but I am up for suggestions.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are doing a lot of great things. :) Let me know how you like your wringer washer. I like hanging my wash in the summer outside. We used to dry them by the woodstove in the winter, but they dried too stiff for me. ;) So our dryer in the winter is our biggest energy sucker. I like the idea of stocking up when you get taxes...may have to think on that for next year. (already allotted it for this year)
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. We do a lot of the same things as you. I wish we were lucky enough to have a woodstove. Since we don't, we run the heat as little as possible. The house has to get below 58 degrees before it will kick on. We layer our clothing and utilize lots of blankets. We bought our high-efficiency washer and dryer last year and they have made a significant difference in our power bill. Cooking from scratch is key for us both for savings and health benefits. We also use some tax money to help stock up the freezer until the summer harvest comes in.
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