Saving Money My Way

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!

Fast Food. Slow Lines

After a busy day and no time to go home and cook dinner, my husband and I decided to drop by Arby's Fast Food for dinner. After we placed out order, we waited and watched as other customers placed their orders and then waited, just like us.

It took almost 20 minutes for us to get our order. There were maybe a total of 5 families waiting as we did. Yet, Arby's employees were scrambling like mad, responding to orders incorrectly and with missing food, and we noticed... standing around doing nothing. Not every employee, just a select few.

It's also not the first time we've experienced a problem with fast food taking forever. Another favorite, Taco Tico, we tend to avoid, nowadays. The last time we visited the fast food establishment for a quick meal, it took over an hour for us to get our food and.. get this... There were only three customers! One customer was angry enough that he got up and just walked out after paying and about 20 minutes of waiting on no food.

McDonald's is another fast food business that has slowed down on service. At one point the owner even had to come in to correct the employees mistakes.

So I wonder, is it a growing trend or just my imagination that fast food establishments are no longer fast? One theory I have is that employee just don't have the desire to work there. Even teenagers. Most are only paid a minimum wage and even that is not enough in today's insane world.