Inflation, gas, food...how will it impact your budget?

[leadfootlevi]

If prices of gas, food, and, in general, everything continue to go up, how will it affect you? I've been looking at ways we can trim the budget to maintain our savings level, and there isn't much to cut. We can buy less-expensive dog food, take DS out of private school (BOO), lower our car insurance coverage, cut netflix, cable, and cell phone plans, and reduce our offerings at church. If I did all of these, we would be able to save ~$320/month (but we would have a dog no one could stand to be around due to his smell, DS would be going to a less-than desirable public school, we wouldn't have full coverage on our vehicles, we wouldn't have any entertainment (netflix), and we wouldn't be donating to our church).

I feel like we already budget pretty well for food - we don't eat a lot of processed foods, but if it came down to it we could probably save money by eating less quality foods. We don't eat organic, but I refuse to feed my family frozen dinners. We could get a deep freezer and buy bulk meats which would help us save (but we don't have the room for a freezer!).

I'm sure I can get more creative, but it seems we're already living so lean that keeping our savings level at it's current high is likely to be unachievable given the rising costs of everything. At least we're not living pay-check-to-pay-check for now...

How about you and your budget?

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Higher gas prices are going to be hard for us to live with. We don't do a lot of driving (to and from school, the grocery store, the commuter train), but when we fill up I've noticed the price creeping up and up and up. A fill-up on our van used to cost $43.XX, then $45.xx, $48.xx and now it's up to $53XX.

Higher clothing prices don't really impact us too much because we usually buy clothes on clearance and/or garage sales and thrift stores. Of course, eventually it will all trickle down, but I'm not worried about it short term.

Higher food prices will definitely hurt us. We try not to buy too much processed and/or frozen food, and mostly cook from scratch, so if prices on everything go up, there will be that much less to go around.

 

[Planogirl]

Food prices have become more of a problem for us and I've already omitted or at least cut back on some foods. I just bought a new cookbook, hoping that it will motivate me to make more items from scratch. I think that it usually cost less to do so.

 

[akenneson]

I get a little twinge of panic everytime I see even the slightest increase at the gas pumps. My husband drives all over the state 3 out of the 5 days of the week for work. He fills up at least twice a week at $48 a pop. I drive an older large SUV to take my daughter to school and the local grocery store. I try not to drive it much because it is a gas hog. I hardly ever fill it because I will have a heart attack. To fill it is usually around $75.
I noticed the bread that I normally buy at our local store went up 29cents a couple weeks ago and I was not impressed. 29cents isn't huge but if they continue increasing prices on everything over a period of time it really adds up. I am definitely trying to stick to shopping better sales, stocking up on good deals, using up what is in the freezer, and making sure my DH is taking lunches to work instead of eating out.

 

[gracie1]

Between the price of groceries and gas rising is ridiculous! Basically the more these things rise, the less likely it will be for me to vacation.

 

[DawnM]

Well, for us, it may mean fewer Disney vacations and more vacations closer to home, or even day trips.

There are a lot of things we could cut from our budget if we had to.....cable TV, eating out, that sort of thing.

We would like to sell our house and downsize, but that may not happen and we need to be prepared for that.

Dawn

 

[SunnieRN]

What bothers me the most is the continual rise in food prices. Where I live, (a military community), there is not a lot of choice or competition in where to shop. I notice the commissary seems to carry all name brands, so even though the savings are good, compared to a chain grocery store, they are not priced very well on fruits, veggies, dairy, bread products, etc.

Other then the commissary, which is 15 miles from where we live, we only have HEB and super Walmart. So, some decent sales at all of them at times, but no real competition, like Safeway, publix, Trader Joes, Winn Dixie, etc etc etc.

So, every penny that food rises, I not only notice, but cringe about. It seems as if that is the one variable that will make or break our budget, even more then gas.

Also, don't you wish salaries went up according to inflation?

 

[princessnoelly]

We're in the same boat!

We already traded our car in (saved $330 per month- gas, insurance, car payment), cut back to eating out 1x every 10 days, turned the heat down, use coupons everywhere, cut the cleaning lady, etc, etc, etc! We also lost the cost of daycare this past May- $700 per month! That was a huge cut!

My concern is what's next? The price to maintain our home (gas, electricity, water, etc) has gone up too.

We didn't take a vacation last year and it might just get the point of a vacation every other year.

We just finished our taxes and made 10% less in 2010. 2009 was down 15% from 2008. 2007 to 2008 was flat. Why can't the gas company charge less? But, we still have our jobs and have managed to make it through several cut backs!

 

[gracie1]

We're in the same boat!

We already traded our car in (saved $330 per month- gas, insurance, car payment), cut back to eating out 1x every 10 days, turned the heat down, use coupons everywhere, cut the cleaning lady, etc, etc, etc! We also lost the cost of daycare this past May- $700 per month! That was a huge cut!

My concern is what's next? The price to maintain our home (gas, electricity, water, etc) has gone up too.

We didn't take a vacation last year and it might just get the point of a vacation every other year.

We just finished our taxes and made 10% less in 2010. 2009 was down 15% from 2008. 2007 to 2008 was flat. Why can't the gas company charge less? But, we still have our jobs and have managed to make it through several cut backs!

We didn't vacation last year (did Disney the year before) and were only doing a weekend away in April (within driving distance). Maybe a weekend in the fall if we can swing it!

 

[disneychrista]

I am currently looking to cut $500 out of spending, so increases in necessities will make it just that much harder.

 

[EKW]

It's scary right now...due to having lost my job last spring and the unexpected costs of moving for a new one, we are living month-to-month. Add to that the news that I'll probably lose my job again in May...and the rising cost of everything...I just don't know what we'll do.

I already do sub in cheapie processed foods a couple of nights a week. Not sure where I'll go from here!

I've already cut as far back on clothing as I can. Right now I have two pairs of dress pants and four dresses for work. I get my boys' clothing at the 80 and 90% sales at Kohls.

If I lose my job, DirectTV will go. I feel like we need internet/phone for safety, school, and job search purposes.

I remember when I used to be in the middle class...sigh.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We were going to to a budget road trip this summer, driving to New York. Not with these gas prices. Those plans are cancelled. I feel guilty for even mentioning that though, knowing that people are struggling to put food on the table. It's a sad time for a lot of people right now.

I just cannot believe how quickly prices are sky-rocketing! I just read last week that clothing prices will be up 10-20% this spring too. I just see how the economy will improve at this rate.

 

[sydneysmom]

I have to say, I've become pretty good at couponing. At first, it was a real project to remember to even use them. Now I've basically trained myself to stock up when things are on sale and use a coupon then.
We've got a "stock up shelf" in the laundry room for canned goods / paper goods, and toiletries.
Alot of where I have been doing really great is CVS. When you look at their sales w/ extra care bucks and partner it w/ coupons, you can get alot of stuff basically for free. This weekend I got 8 boxes of Fiber Plus Bars ....free. They were on sale for $ 1.99 and I had coupons for $2.00 / box. now THAT is a score.

I started reading the Hip2Save website and The Krazy Coupon Lady. It's taught me SOOOOO much about how to save at the grocery store and how to match up with coupons. It becomes a game after a while to see how much you can save.

My DH and I are lucky in the gas dept....we both work together so we can commute. Our only major gas expense is when we get my step daughter every other weekend. for both round trips it's about $ 100. So that's a bit of a hit. But there's not much to be done there. The gas thing scares me though.... I don't think we've even come close to the worst.

I also called Comcast the other day to ask how I could lower our cable bill and they did lower our bill by $20.00. It doesn't hurt to call. However, we haven't gotten the new bill yet, so I'll believe it when I actually see it. Comcast isn't exactly known for their follow through.

The other thing I've tried to do is buy clothes off season for the next year. If you subscribe to Lands End emails, they're constantly sending "30% off plus free shipping" or something like that. Then you shop the "overstock" section which is basically the out of season stuff. You can score some pretty big bargains.

We have also decided to postpone big vacations. We were going to go to Disney next year, but decided to put it off till 2013. (and when the new expansion is done). It will give us time to save more so it won't be one big hit. This year and next, we're flying to my parents in Cape Cod for a week , so we'll only really have to pay airfare and going out to eat. ( and you can't beat a week in Cape Cod!!)

But like everyone else, we're cutting corners everywhere we can to stay afloat. One thing to consider, increase your pre-tax deductions like 401K and Flex-Med.....that will help lower your taxable income at tax time.