I just wrote up a well thought out post regarding the economy, and my computer ate it!!
So, here's the abridged version:
I went grocery shopping today and really paid attention to the cost of foods I regularly buy. Everything has gone up by as little as a few cents to a dollar or more! Gas is up over $3 here, and I know some of you are way higher.
What I want to know is are you doing anything differently now? Are you driving less, shopping differently or just ignoring it and hoping it will go away?
Personally, I'm driving less. Luckily I only have to drive about 60 miles weekly right now. It looks like I'll have to drive more this summer (I'll have to go to school 4x weekly instead of 2). I'm trying to save as much money as I can. We've cut way back on eating out, and I haven't bought any new clothes in a long time. We're working hard to eliminate our debt, and build up our savings accounts.
I do think that the media sort of gets us fired up too. Hopefully things aren't as bad as the media would have us believe.
Height: Tall enough for my feet to reach the ground
Before you read my rant I want you to know it is NOT directed at you. I was trying to agree and went crazy with thoughts, sorry. I have also traded my car for a better gas mileage one, and I drive less, and we eat out way less, and I have been staying home and not going out for "drinks with the girls" almost ever in the past 6 months. The economy is CRAZY and I for one hope it settles down soon!
NOW MY RANT!!! AGAIN, SORRY
You know we farm and I absolutely hate it when the news gets fired up about the high grain markets right now, they had a lady on the news here last week complaining that her grocery bill got higher.
Well guess what so did the farmers grocery bill! We (Farmers) are not getting all that money they keep saying we get! I know markets/grain prices are at an all time high, but you know the cost to put the grain in the ground, grow it, harvest it and sell it has more than doubled in the past 3 years!
I dont like the extreme cost that is associated with groceries either. But I also do not know of any other industry where the general public complains without knowing even a fraction of the story behind it. We (Farmers) actually have to borrow money from the bank to live/work. And guess what, if we have a bad year.......we cant pay back the bank and go further into debt.
The only thing I'm doing differently is not donating to charity.I just read that our local food pantry is nearly bare, and I only can only buy about $20 worth of food for them, whereas I usually spend $50. I feel guilty because in the past couple of weeks, I bought a lot of new clothes for Spring. I didn't know our pantry was in such need. I also stopped donating at grocery stores and at Target. I usually try to give a few dollars everytime, but I haven't been doing it lately. I feel selfish for letting donations be the first casualty of rising costs, because there's A LOT of things I do and buy that I could live without.
Oh, I know you're not making the big profit off of all this! We live in a ranching community and it's rough out here. And the media is amazingly bad at telling the whole story!
We'll get through this mess. It's not the first time the economy has tanked, and it's not the last.
For the last few years, I've been pretty conscious about my spending.
I only shop sales for clothes and really have an upper limit of $20 for any piece of clothing (although sometimes there are minor exceptions).
I do shop in the grocery store price wise. I'll compare produce to see what I'll buy. I also am more likely to buy something that is on sale if it is a decent price. I buy lots of produce and prices wouldn't deter me too much because what else am I going to eat?
I drive minimally anyway so that really hasn't change.
I really expect the economy to suck for the next few years but it is largely related to the housing market and that may take many many years to correct itself.
I do give to charities and may up the amount of money I've been giving in the past.
We have an account at a brokerage and were informed that we are unable to access our money (or at least a portion of it). Apparently the stock funds in which our broker invested aren't turning over--no one wants to buy them like they used to. So the bad news is, our money is being held hostage. The good news is that we're making awesome interest on it (about 5.5%). The brokerage will "loan" us up to 50% of the money in our account should we need it (it's for our retirement, so we don't plan on touching it) but it's really eerie to think we can't really access it....scary in fact.
I've always consolidated my errands. I even bagged going to the library today because I'll be much closer tomorrow. Little things like this add up. Oh, and getting your kids to kick in for gas money doesn't hurt either.
I've been doing our taxes this week and just checked what we spent on gas this time last year. Turns out it is about $15 less a week than what we are spending now. And we drive a ton for work. I'm just not going to lose a lot of sleep over $15 even though the media would like me too. Obviously the price of fuel is reflected in other ways as well, but from the stories on the evening news, the media would have you believe that people are changing their lives over it and I'm just not buying it.
The only thing I've changed due to the economy is that I don't check my 401k all the time like I used to when the market was going up every day. It's not nearly as fun anymore.
I can't say I am doing things any differently, but then I have always been quite careful. I guess the only difference is that I do more cooking as opposed to buying lunches or ready-made stuff. However, it is not only entirely because of the economy - I had to buy a new car (i.e. a new "used" car) sooner than I thought, so the car payments were not quite in the budget. Then I decided to lose weight, and that was another reason to up my cooking (then I know what's in it, how much salt and fat, etc.). I do see that I spend a lot less on food now.
I still drive to work but then I where I live, the municipal transport is limited to buses only and the network is not very dense. It would take me about an hour to get to work plus another hour to get home (2 transfers each time) and that to me is not worth it.
I decided to have only two dogs (I used to have three - gosh, please don't think that I got rid of one) because last winter, I spent over $4,000 at the vet's (and really for quite minor stuff). I just can't afford the vet bills.
Since January, I really stopped shopping for "stuff" and I am very careful with what I spend the money on. I live alone and I pay a mortgage plus car payments - not fun from a single salary. Plus, the house needs some windows, etc. ..... there is always something to fix or replace if you have a house.
I am determined not to buy any new clothes until I lose weight .... I find it very hard to buy anything that fits me. Good thing that we are a "geek" company so a dress-code is non-existent. I wear jeans every day.
The economy
