Lately with prices rising in both food and gas, many families are beginning to struggle. Most households are only earning at a minimum wage and that is not nearly enough for today's rising prices.Yet, it's not just low income families who are suffering. Middle class families are being effected by the price rises as well.
I know here we are paying $3.55 a gallon for gas! Since my husband drives an old pickup truck, we tend to spend around $60 a week or more for gas. One way we help to make our dollar stretch is by limiting our driving. We drive to and from work (he drops me off and I walk home or have a friend pick me up) and plan a once a week trip to our local supermarket.We also try to plan any other trips on that same day.
Even though food prices are rising, cutting back on food is not something we will be doing. However, we're not opposed to trying off brands in both gorcheries and household goods, to save some money.
One of my favorite areas to shop is the day old bread rack. It's usually the first place I hit when we got to the store. Day old breads can be frozen and will last at least a week, sometimes a bit longer.
To save money on milk, we will stop by braums ice cream store, since their milk is a dollar cheaper than our local supermarket. Plus Braum's milk is much better in taste and free of hormones.
Another way we are able to save money is by browsing the local yard sales for clothing, household goods, books, toys, etc. Despite what some people think, you can find very good gently used clothing at fantasitc rates.
A few weekends ago, we stopped at one yard sale where I was able to find some great clothes at a dime each! Many of the clothes were brand new! The lady who was holding the sale just wanted to get rid of the clothing. I was able to buy a brand new daskin jacket for a dime! My best bargain yet!!
Last weekend my husband was able to find peices to one of his favorite games (Heroscape) for fifty cents! We also found a gently used leap pad that came with educational games that all of our kids can enjoy.
The above are just a few ways we are able to make a dollars stretch during these insane times.
What are some ways you save money? I would love to hear some ideas and I am sure others would love to hear them as well!
One of the most effective ways we've found to save money is to shop on-line, that way you don't have the same pressure to impulse buy. We've been doing it for years. Now a trip to a supermarket is a novelty and all I need is a hand basket rather than a cart.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to compare your gas price with ours because we buy in litres. It is $1.29.9 per litre here.
ReplyDeleteI am saving money by incorporating 3 vegetarian meals a week. Better for our health and way cheaper that meat. I have a whole selection of bean and grains now and a new book on how to cook them. I figure I can save $1000 a year.
nice article
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