How are You Fighting Inflation?

[TwoMisfits]

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.

This was the same in downtown Columbus 2 weeks ago - restaurant prices were nuts, so we ended up eating 1 meal out in the city and doing the hotel for breakfast/dinner (it was included) and doing grocery lunches/desserts. We have never eaten out so little on vacation.

As for other changes, we used to eat out 1x/week...now, we eat out 1x/ 2 weeks or twice a month, for the same reason from the vacation.

I also now have mental prices for proteins for grocery shopping and dinners. We're eating fresh swai tonight vs fresh salmon b/c we normally try to have fresh fish for Sunday dinner. I have a mental price of $5 for swai and $10 for salmon. The salmon was $12.99/lb and the swai was on sale for $4.99/lb, so swai it is. The kids don't like it as much, but they like it more than having chicken for dinner, so it's still "treat enough"...

 

[tvguy]

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

LOL. No pension for my wife or I. Well, I had a choice of a $28 a month pension or cashing it in for $5,600, so I cashed it in. 40 years of 401k savings are what we are living on.

 

[Genie+]

I also now have mental prices for proteins for grocery shopping and dinners.

I know exactly what you mean lol

 

[shh]

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.

Not just price increases, but in my area, lots of erratic out of stocks. Something's gone 1-2 weeks, then back. So learned to not get too attached to anything in particular anymore. Eggs $1/carton more? Store brand cereal then. Salmon out again? Ground turkey instead.

Sadly, can't do much about soaring energy bills: using same KW hours as last year, but paying way more. Already keep air at 78-80. It's brutal in Florida.

Wine & AC - not cutting back on either - I've sacrificed enough! lol. Luckily, I think I can manage both as long as it's 3 Buck Chuck from my fridge vs $15/glass at a restaurant.

 

[MomToOne]

Target has a Circle offer for a $15 giftcard with a $50 purchase of household items (paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc) this week.

I also had a Target Circle offer for a $10 reward with 2-$40 purchases (YMMV on this one).

I placed 2 orders just a few pennies over $50 each, paying with gift cards I had from 10-15% cash reward offers on various credit cards previously. So I ended up getting $100 of paper towels and cleaning products for around 45% off. Looks like the Circle offer applied twice without any issue (so it's not limited to just one order).

This sale is a popular one for Target, so if you want to take advantage of it, place your orders early. Stock runs out quickly.

 

[wabbott]

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.

This. And driving habits are a big help. Watch the engine tachometer more than the speedometer, and try not to get above 2000 rpm. Time red lights, absolutely no jackrabbit starts, etc.

 

[barkley]

Target has a Circle offer for a $15 giftcard with a $50 purchase of household items (paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc) this week.

I also had a Target Circle offer for a $10 reward with 2-$40 purchases (YMMV on this one).

I placed 2 orders just a few pennies over $50 each, paying with gift cards I had from 10-15% cash reward offers on various credit cards previously. So I ended up getting $100 of paper towels and cleaning products for around 45% off. Looks like the Circle offer applied twice without any issue (so it's not limited to just one order).

This sale is a popular one for Target, so if you want to take advantage of it, place your orders early. Stock runs out quickly.

that sale used to be my go-to for paper goods and cleaning products until they restricted it to eliminate shipped orders. it's a great deal but it ends up costing me $10-$15 for a round trip to the nearest target (and they don't do deliveries here) so unless one of us has a preexisting errand near target we no longer take advantage of it.

 

[JBRB828]

I'm cutting back on our grocery shopping. We still buy what we love, but not as often. I always used pasteurized eggs, but now they're 7.99 a dozen or more. Last week they were on sale at ShopRite for 5.99, so that was a bargain! It just seems everything is sky high and will never come back to their lower prices. I've been through 2 recessions, just waiting for this one to be announced. Like we don't know it's happening right now.

 

[Halle]

I just cancelled Instacart and DH husband is cancelling our Sirius radio accounts.

 

[barkley]

another 'easter egg hunt' suggestion-the dollar store (or as we now call it 'the buck and a quarter store'). now, i won't buy any of their frozen foods but their shelf stable has always been just fine so i've always been in the habit of looking over their shelves to see if they have anything i might need, now it's more of 'what can i save BIG TIME ON'. recently i found 5 oz bottles of a-1 sauce for $1.25. sure, it's half the size of a standard bottle but a standard bottle is selling (on sale) around us for $5.49 so i can get multiples of the 5 oz bottles at over a 50% savings (the bogo prices for a1 are always higher so even when the big stores run those i'm still better off at the dollar store), pickle relish (vlasic)-on sale this weekend for $1.79/same stuff at dollar store for $1.25.

i also buy some toiletries there-i found that the identical brand of stick deodorant the men folk in my house use is sold there for close to half off what i would pay elsewhere. i need to price out the brand name tooth paste next time i go b/c with the price increases in the stores i think they are running cheaper as well (smaller tubes yes but if the per oz. price is better we can use smaller tubes).

 

[DisneyHardin]

This. And driving habits are a big help. Watch the engine tachometer more than the speedometer, and try not to get above 2000 rpm. Time red lights, absolutely no jackrabbit starts, etc.

I watch that too. Our van even has an indicator light for the rpms - it's green when you are in an efficient range, yellow when you get a little out and red if you are driving very inefficiently. I try to always stay in green, but sometimes do go into yellow if I'm speeding up to merge or something like that.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We sold the big house with 5.5 acres almost 7 years ago and downsized to a smaller house on 1/4 acre with a one car garage. We have no mortgage. I just had that feeling it was the right thing to do and after convincing DH we did it. It is liberating!

Each year I try to find an expense to cut without affecting our lives...a challenge and almost a game. Now it is more serious. Thankfully, we put a new roof on the house and redid the interior including bathrooms when we moved in, so other than a few small projects we're good there.

Last year we cut the cable and went from $225 to $100 (internet and landline) and spend about $15 month streaming. We bought a Samsung smart tv and had it installed. We spent about $800 which was paid for in less than 7 months and now we are saving $125 month.

DH only commutes 10 miles a day and I don't drive that much so our gas usage isn't extreme. Our oil bill nearly doubled from $1200 to $2000 (I pay once a year). I know our food bill has gone up 30% (I don't buy the "8.6% inflation rate" BS) and I am paying more attention, especially to meat prices. DH rearranged the garage yesterday so we have room for a small freezer. Thankfully, I always keep at least 6 months of laundry detergent, TP, PT, soaps and cleaners on hand but will eventually have to replace those. We turned our central a/c back to 74 from 73. Spring and fall I turn the HVAC system off completely when I can. Electricity has gone up about 15% this year so I need to pay more attention to the dryer cycle. I bought an old fashioned kitchen time and set it for 30 minutes so I can take out dry and almost dry items. The laundry then dries faster (I set the alarm again for 10 minutes so I don't forget).

We maintain our cars, HVAC systems and pay attention to our home as it is cheaper to keep them in good shape than pay for emergency repairs.

Vacations are still in play as we own lots of DVC and have AP's (freeloaders as far as Disney goes) but spend lots when we are there! SWA credit cards earn free flights. Rental cars are a serious expense right now. We've worked hard to get to where we are so we are still doing two weeks/twice a year.

The scary part is we can handle and absorb this 20% (more realistic) inflation rate for a year, but what happens if it continues for years? I think we are all sunk except the 1% who don't care what they drive, fly or number of houses they own...as long as we peasants sacrifice our meager savings for the greater good... Sorry I hope I haven't offended anyone with my rant!!

 

[jo-jo]

We are doing what we've always done. Buy the sales, not waste food, use stuff until it falls apart.

About a year ago, there was a thread about left overs. I couldn't believe the number of people who either tossed leftovers right away or the next day. We just finish up our third meal of london broil , cooked in instant pot with onions and green peppers,served over rice. and corn on the cob. So three dinners for a total of $11 for two adults. The pre cooked meat weight was almost 3 pounds at $1.99 a pound.

 

[AnnaS]

We are also doing what we've always done. Buy sale items (extras), do not waste food.

What we are trying to do more of now is trying to consolidate trips. Unless I need something, I will wait to pick up certain things until I am in the area that has everything we might want besides our local supermarket. (Target, Christmas Tree Store, Home Depot, Michaels, etc. etc.).

 

[robinb]

I'm not doing anything differently. We have an electric hybrid car so we don't use a lot of gas. We stock up at Costco and I have a freezer. I meal plan so I don't buy a lot of things I don't need. I shop the local farmers markets for fresh, usually organic, produce.

 

[RamblingMad]

My go to hobbies are hiking and camping. They cost very little. The gear lasts a very long time.

I have no control over gas prices. But I choose to work from home two days a week to save some money here.

I have no control over food prices. But I'm adapting a Med Diet, which has more veggies. This is saving me money indirectly. Cooking stuff such as knives and pans are still expensive. But they last.

I keep my home at 78 degrees. I've bought new ceiling fans that do a much better job of keeping the ambient temperature down.

My biggest challenge now is finding certain food items. I couldn't find any blue berries this weekend. The more healthy I eat the less I'll spend on medical, so that should work out in the long term.

I'll stock up on certain items that have long shelf lives as I expect costs to only go up.

I'm avoiding big purchases as I expect costs to come down. Auto sales are off 20% QoQ, so when it becomes time to buy a vehicle, I should have better options. I'll probably buy in cash.

 

[disneyseniors]

There is alot of very good advice on this thread!
We are retired and we love to eat out, at least 3 times a week. However, we have cut that down to once a week. After 53 years of marriage, it is difficult to find something to eat that is different, but I am trying new recipes just to save on costs.
We used to go to wDW once or twice a year, and out to Az once every couple of years. Now disney is out of the picture for us. We took one trip post covid to Tn. and enjoyed that a lot. No more travel set up except for a trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior to our favorite spot way up north and off the beaten path. It is so beautiful, pristine, and not crowded. A trip like that heals the soul and renews the spirit, so we won't stop that one

I buy meat when it's on sale, and there are some pretty good weekly specials which I stock up on. I am cooking more at home. Groceries are crazy, but we do save shopping at Walmart.

We are consolidating our car trips to town and doing more things at once. We used to just hop into the car and run to town whenever we wanted something, usually 3 or 4 times a week. It's 6 to 10 miles each way each trip, so that helps with gas savings. We also keep the foot off the gas pedal and no nascar starts. I've noticed a lot of people are slowing down driving where we live out in the country, which saves gas.

I used to go shopping once a week for fun - finding good buys and indulging my love of shoes, clothes. I have put a stop to new clothes or shoes for a while as I really don't need them.

It's all about rethinking how you do things and adjusting to keep the costs down, at least for us.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Somewhat counterintuitive to spend money ahead, however I buy my clothes, some of DH's clothes and coats from LandEnd. I buy offseason and get 60-70% or more off free ship no minimum. With no minimum I can order the best deals (classic styles) and stash for the next season when items I want are at the lowest price even if it just 2 or 3 items for $25. We *shop* from our closet for all but dressy events and always have fresh clothing for travel. It works for us.

 

[tvguy]

I just cancelled Instacart and DH husband is cancelling our Sirius radio accounts.

LOL. We're spending more time at home listening to our Sirius XM rather than going out and burning gasoline. Although we are listening to it in the car when we ARE out burning gasoline.

 

[ThistleMae]

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.

Yes, I'm always talking to family and friends on what changes they are making. I enjoy reading all the replies!