How are You Fighting Inflation?

[ThistleMae]

With everything costing so much more, what are you doing to make your day to day more affordable? Are you cutting out vacations? Are you car pooling? Are you changing your heating system? In my day to day I find I'm actually looking at sales flyers, which is something I've never done. I will go to three or more stores for their sales. I also go out less, buying more of the things I need in one trip. I'm buying more online. Tell us what you do and what you're likely to do as prices continue to rise. We all have a story to tell.

 

[Disneylover99]

Haven’t travelled in almost 3 years now. Saved a ton!
We’ll travel eventually, but still not worth it yet, IMO.

 

[ThistleMae]

Haven’t travelled in almost 3 years now. Saved a ton!
We’ll travel eventually, but still not worth it yet, IMO.

Good for you! Hope you get a great next vacation! I can't wait. I'm too old for that at this point. I have to get to Disney while I'm still healthy enough to do it. So I bite the bullet on the cost.

 

[kathy884]

So far, I haven't changed any habits at home. I work from home full time now, though, -- change that started with COVID, so I am spending way less money on gas and work clothing than I did before. I've only gone tot the dry cleaners once in the past three years and that was after a wedding. I also no longer do a gym membership. I walk before work every day at home as long as it's between -2 and 102 (much less rushed in the morning, so easy to fit this in). Also, my salary has kept up with inflation, so that helps too.

Where I really noticed spending changes was on our vacation to western Colorado two weeks ago. Usually on vacation, we eat most of our meals out, but we just weren't overly thrilled with lunch burger/sandwich meals for $22 before tax, tip, and drink or the thought of a filet for $50 on a menu for dinner we saw, so we ended up eating more than 1/2 our our vacation meals (and almost all dinners) in. It was pretty easy since we had a condo with full kitchen and a grill outside. We were staying in a tiny town, but there was a little grocery store that was walking distance or a couple minute drive (We mostly drove if were were getting more than a few little things). We made so many trips there that the people at the grocery store got to know us. We did really easy things for food like frozen pizza, frozen pot stickers, frozen orange chicken, frozen veggies, hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers on the grill. And my son did extra in between meal snacks like mac and cheese and ramen noodles. And with doing that OMG, I ended up coming in a good $600 less than what I had budgeted for food for the week. We still did meals out when we were out and about - mostly lunches though -- and all of the lunches lol to me seemed like dinner prices. I had budgeted $50 pp per day, and I would have been over budget for sure if we had done meals out like originally planned based on prices of nearby restaurants posted. Eating in is just sooooo much cheaper. All of us just couldn't stomach paying that much for meals out and equally contributed to super easy meal prep. After busy days too, we were cool mostly chilling out at the condo in the evening.

 

[barkley]

normally in the late summer/early fall i'm stocking up on shelf stable dry and canned goods so i don't have to deal with much shopping during our bad weather/roads of winter. with the way prices keep going up, up, up i've made a project of doing an inventory of my pantries (yup-plural) and searching for off season sales online and in store. i balance the cost of the sale vs. the cost of the gas it takes to go to it but i'm finding some added value in spending some extra time going up and down each aisle b/c it seems as though every store will have one or two very good deal that is not advertised. it's rather like an easter egg hunt and so long as i don't impulse buy stuff it wasn't my intent to get at some point during this project i can reap some additional savings. found one product that normally sells for $4.99 on unadvertised sale for $2.50, one for $1.99 w/a regular price of $2.75.

p.s. as a side note for savings-if you haven't done an inventory of items under bathroom, kitchen and laundry room sinks i highly recommend it. we had some recent reno work that called for me to clear the cabinets out and it was very eye opening as to the products i had on hand that i had forgotten about or someone had moved behind something else causing me to repurchase well before i needed to. in particular i found i have an obscene wealth of shampoo and conditioner and likely do not need to buy any for a couple of years-it's now in a designated plastic container under the bathroom sink where nothing can obscure it from my vision. eliminating that rising cost will be a helpful savings.

 

[MomToOne]

I'm paying more attention to grocery sales again, and stocking up when prices are....lower (can't really say "good"). We are not eating much beef these days - more focused on chicken and I try to do a meatless meal at least once a week, often twice. I am also watching for food waste much more - I don't care if we had something the same/similar a couple of nights ago, if there are left overs or left over ingredients, we are eating it again.

We are not travelling this summer due to crazy airfare and hotel costs. Instead took an Alaskan cruise in April that I got cheap, and I am doing a long weekend in Vegas in November with super cheap airfare and a completely comp'ed room.

I am watching the air conditioning like a hawk. I try not to run it between 5 and 8pm, when electricity costs the most. I make sure other electric-intensive tasks like laundry are done on the weekend, when electricity is cheapest.

I am not shopping a whole lot for other miscellaneous stuff and/or look for alternatives to buying. For example, I was contemplating buying new kitchen knives (mine are good, but 25+ years old) but then I realized all I really needed to do was get them sharpened professionally - just got back from having that done, they are like new. Saved me hundreds.

I have started prepping DD22 that Christmas will be cut back even more this year. I've been ramping it down for years, but this year that trend will be even more noticeable. We also used to travel at Christmas but didn't the last 2 years due to Covid - and I've decided to keep with that this year too. It was a crazy money burner, and I've decided I just don't like some members of my family enough to spend that sort of money doing it anymore I see the members of my family I actually care to see at other times..

We do take out every Friday night, but I've been watching that cost more and we only very rarely eat out otherwise.

I found our local Sara Lee factory store again (one in the area I used to go to had closed, and I hadn't bothered to look up other locations until the other day - they are usually attached to one of their bakeries). I can get bread for about 30-50% of the price at the grocery store, and there are often specials that are even better deals. They had Boboli pizza crusts the other day for $1/pack - I bought a bunch and froze them. Much better than the nearly $5 they want for them at the grocery store!

 

[G719]

normally in the late summer/early fall i'm stocking up on shelf stable dry and canned goods so i don't have to deal with much shopping during our bad weather/roads of winter. with the way prices keep going up, up, up i've made a project of doing an inventory of my pantries (yup-plural) and searching for off season sales online and in store. i balance the cost of the sale vs. the cost of the gas it takes to go to it but i'm finding some added value in spending some extra time going up and down each aisle b/c it seems as though every store will have one or two very good deal that is not advertised. it's rather like an easter egg hunt and so long as i don't impulse buy stuff it wasn't my intent to get at some point during this project i can reap some additional savings. found one product that normally sells for $4.99 on unadvertised sale for $2.50, one for $1.99 w/a regular price of $2.75.

p.s. as a side note for savings-if you haven't done an inventory of items under bathroom, kitchen and laundry room sinks i highly recommend it. we had some recent reno work that called for me to clear the cabinets out and it was very eye opening as to the products i had on hand that i had forgotten about or someone had moved behind something else causing me to repurchase well before i needed to. in particular i found i have an obscene wealth of shampoo and conditioner and likely do not need to buy any for a couple of years-it's now in a designated plastic container under the bathroom sink where nothing can obscure it from my vision. eliminating that rising cost will be a helpful savings.

I've been doing the same. I've been making an effort to use what I already have and not buy stuff that I already have 2 or 3 bottles of! Also I've been trying to go to aldis when I can. It's further away so I only go if I need to go out that way for something else too. I've heard rumors we might get one closer so I'm hoping that's true!

 

[tvguy]

I can't really think of anything. We retired last year and won't start taking social security for another 18 months so we were on kind of a tight budget anyway.
We did take out our wood fireplace insert last week after 35 years and put in an electric one. So that was a big purchase, $2,600 installed. Wood prices haven't been affordable for 20 years , and plus we have no burn days here, so the wood burning insert had outlived it's usefulness.

 

[Genie+]

Grocery trips have inflated. What used to be cheaper shampoos are now on sale 2 for $12?! Deoderant $6 to $8. Burger meat over $6/lb. Pint of 1/2 & 1/2 over $2. Corn/Veg Oil costing similar to Olive Oil. Frozen Veggies no longer having good sales. Bread- pfft - are they serious. ETC.

I’m trying to keep my budget the same. Stock up on sales of stuff we know we like. Stop buying stuff just to ‘try it’. Get in the habit to always split and freeze meat packs. Use it soon. Look at the stuff that ends up wasted and don’t repeat. Use up things that might soon go to waste. I splurge on good cold cuts because it’s an easy meal that reduces the urge to eat out.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Got a free membership to SAM's club from one of those coupon mailers. I get gas from SAM's whenever I'm in the area. I try to shop at Aldi's as much as possible and to stock up on Buy 1-Get 1 Free offers at our grocery store. I've switched to mostly store brands cereal (I usually by store brand for most items but cereal was one of my last hold-outs). Only buying items when they are on sale and stocking up on sale items. I try to do all of my errands in one trip to save gas. We're eating out less. Cancelled a few subscription TV channels. We're buying clothes at thrift stores (my teen daughter had been into upcycling). I actually got 3 Lily Pulitzer shirts from a thrift store the other day for $1 each! We're even trying to embrace more frozen vegetables and make our meat purchases last longer. I used to buy whatever I saw in the grocery store that looked good (especially in the bakery section). Now I look at the prices and usually put the items back. I'm not paying $6 for some okay-tasting chocolate chip cookies.

 

[ThistleMae]

So far, I haven't changed any habits at home. I work from home full time now, though, -- change that started with COVID, so I am spending way less money on gas and work clothing than I did before. I've only gone tot the dry cleaners once in the past three years and that was after a wedding. I also no longer do a gym membership. I walk before work every day at home as long as it's between -2 and 102 (much less rushed in the morning, so easy to fit this in). Also, my salary has kept up with inflation, so that helps too.

Where I really noticed spending changes was on our vacation to western Colorado two weeks ago. Usually on vacation, we eat most of our meals out, but we just weren't overly thrilled with lunch burger/sandwich meals for $22 before tax, tip, and drink or the thought of a filet for $50 on a menu for dinner we saw, so we ended up eating more than 1/2 our our vacation meals (and almost all dinners) in. It was pretty easy since we had a condo with full kitchen and a grill outside. We were staying in a tiny town, but there was a little grocery store that was walking distance or a couple minute drive (We mostly drove if were were getting more than a few little things). We made so many trips there that the people at the grocery store got to know us. We did really easy things for food like frozen pizza, frozen pot stickers, frozen orange chicken, frozen veggies, hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers on the grill. And my son did extra in between meal snacks like mac and cheese and ramen noodles. And with doing that OMG, I ended up coming in a good $600 less than what I had budgeted for food for the week. We still did meals out when we were out and about - mostly lunches though -- and all of the lunches lol to me seemed like dinner prices. I had budgeted $50 pp per day, and I would have been over budget for sure if we had done meals out like originally planned based on prices of nearby restaurants posted. Eating in is just sooooo much cheaper. All of us just couldn't stomach paying that much for meals out and equally contributed to super easy meal prep. After busy days too, we were cool mostly chilling out at the condo in the evening.

I hear you for sure. For our upcoming Disney trip we are doing all counter service and bringing snack items like granola bars. It will help with the costs for sure!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm watching my driving. I live in a big city and never thought twice about driving all the way across the city for an errand. I think more carefully about where I need to go and don't just dart here and there anymore.

I have also been very conscious of grocery prices and we have modified the kinds of things we eat for dinner lately to match up with what has been on sale.

 

[ThistleMae]

normally in the late summer/early fall i'm stocking up on shelf stable dry and canned goods so i don't have to deal with much shopping during our bad weather/roads of winter. with the way prices keep going up, up, up i've made a project of doing an inventory of my pantries (yup-plural) and searching for off season sales online and in store. i balance the cost of the sale vs. the cost of the gas it takes to go to it but i'm finding some added value in spending some extra time going up and down each aisle b/c it seems as though every store will have one or two very good deal that is not advertised. it's rather like an easter egg hunt and so long as i don't impulse buy stuff it wasn't my intent to get at some point during this project i can reap some additional savings. found one product that normally sells for $4.99 on unadvertised sale for $2.50, one for $1.99 w/a regular price of $2.75.

p.s. as a side note for savings-if you haven't done an inventory of items under bathroom, kitchen and laundry room sinks i highly recommend it. we had some recent reno work that called for me to clear the cabinets out and it was very eye opening as to the products i had on hand that i had forgotten about or someone had moved behind something else causing me to repurchase well before i needed to. in particular i found i have an obscene wealth of shampoo and conditioner and likely do not need to buy any for a couple of years-it's now in a designated plastic container under the bathroom sink where nothing can obscure it from my vision. eliminating that rising cost will be a helpful savings.

My daughter has discovered the same thing, buying new stuff when she hasn't looked to see what she already has. Stocking up on sales items for sure as well. I like what you said about shopping like you're on an Easter Egg hunt, going down every isle. It takes more time to shop this way, but you do save.

 

[ThistleMae]

I can't really think of anything. We retired last year and won't start taking social security for another 18 months so we were on kind of a tight budget anyway.
We did take out our wood fireplace insert last week after 35 years and put in an electric one. So that was a big purchase, $2,600 installed. Wood prices haven't been affordable for 20 years , and plus we have no burn days here, so the wood burning insert had outlived it's usefulness.

I've been retired for seven years now and waiting another year and a half to collect my ss. I know folks say it's a waste to wait and you'll never recoup what you lost during those years, but with the high cost of everything, I'm glad I'm waiting because if I hadn't, I'd be penny pinching to the max the rest of my life!

 

[ThistleMae]

Got a free membership to SAM's club from one of those coupon mailers. I get gas from SAM's whenever I'm in the area. I try to shop at Aldi's as much as possible and to stock up on Buy 1-Get 1 Free offers at our grocery store. I've switched to mostly store brands cereal (I usually by store brand for most items but cereal was one of my last hold-outs). Only buying items when they are on sale and stocking up on sale items. I try to do all of my errands in one trip to save gas. We're eating out less. Cancelled a few subscription TV channels. We're buying clothes at thrift stores (my teen daughter had been into upcycling). I actually got 3 Lily Pulitzer shirts from a thrift store the other day for $1 each! We're even trying to embrace more frozen vegetables and make our meat purchases last longer. I used to buy whatever I saw in the grocery store that looked good (especially in the bakery section). Now I look at the prices and usually put the items back. I'm not paying $6 for some okay-tasting chocolate chip cookies.

Wow, great ideas! I've always been a thrift store shopper but where I live now there aren't any good ones. Looking through my closet is my next idea. I know I have tons of clothes I don't wear but keep just the same. And...I do buy the store brands. But like you say, I'm shopping sales and buying treats at the $ store. I also used to be one of those folks that just threw things in the grocery cart if I saw something different I wanted to try....no more! I'm spending tons on my two cats, which I'm trying to curb. They waste a lot of their canned food. I just switched to a bisque but they still don't eat it all, so today, I gave them each half a pack. The boxes are $ 12.00 for 12 packets, but at two cats they were going through that in three days....ouch! So now I will be using two packets a day and I give them some crunchy treats with that. They seem happy!

 

[tvguy]

I've been retired for seven years now and waiting another year and a half to collect my ss. I know folks say it's a waste to wait and you'll never recoup what you lost during those years, but with the high cost of everything, I'm glad I'm waiting because if I hadn't, I'd be penny pinching to the max the rest of my life!

I want to take it at my full retirement age of 66 1/2, but now my Financial Planner is saying I might consider waiting until 70 based on how my investments have done.

 

[ThistleMae]

I want to take it at my full retirement age of 66 1/2, but now my Financial Planner is saying I might consider waiting until 70 based on how my investments have done.

Exactly this! I've been living on my pension, pretty comfortably. At 70, I'll have double my current income.

 

[peabody58]

Retired since 2015. Basically using cash savings funds vs. taxable stock market funds. Still haven't needed to touch our IRA's. Put off getting a new vehicle. Our 2017 Equinox is doing just fine. Wanted an EV, but not at the prices they want.

Food bill has gone way up. Don't eat out that much. Still holding close to our gas budget. Unexpected medical bills was a bigger hit, but it's part of the long-term budget. Disney vacations about 10-15% more at the moment (on our last AP Voucher). Dividends and Long-Term Gains still doing well to pad the budget. Gave up sniffing glue.

 

[ThistleMae]

Retired since 2015. Basically using cash savings funds vs. taxable stock market funds. Still haven't needed to touch our IRA's. Put off getting a new vehicle. Our 2017 Equinox is doing just fine. Wanted an EV, but not at the prices they want.

Food bill has gone way up. Don't eat out that much. Still holding close to our gas budget. Unexpected medical bills was a bigger hit, but it's part of the long-term budget. Disney vacations about 10-15% more at the moment (on our last AP Voucher). Dividends and Long-Term Gains still doing well to pad the budget. Gave up sniffing glue.

I have a 2012 Toyota Prius partial electric. It's running great! Bought it used. I'm at 93,000 miles. Fingers crossed that it lasts me until the current market makes some more affordable changes for us little guys. I heard Toyota is working on hydrogen power, although it seems controversial and a long way off. I don't know what I'll do to afford my next car. It will be one of the biggest retirement expenses I have. My family does leases. I too gave up sniffing glue!

 

[CrystalClear82]

I was excited to see this thread.... I often ask my peers "How are they doing it?!"

Outside of our regular monthly bills, our biggest expense is groceries.. *fingers crossed* we'll have some produce from our yearly garden here shortly.

At the beginning of the year, I was driving 2 hours a day to work and back, which was costing me about $100/week in gas. Add grabbing b/l/d to that I was spending $200+/week.
-As of May I found a new job, working from home, making more money, and working less hours.

Due to lack of time previously I had some old contracts for our phone and cable. I've called and renegotiated those.
We still vacation, but rarely go out to dinner or do extra curricular activities. We put up a pool during lockdown so we spend a good bit of time there.