Gas hits 4.00 a Gal & a rice shortage..

[Marcie Mac]

Too bad that stimilus money is so little, cause at this point, the only thing I would like to purchase is a bike and a farm..

Shopping has become depressing. We use a lot of rice, and when I went down the "starch" isle, was surprised to find hardly any rice where normally there are absolute sacks of all kinds. The rice shortage has been a big thing in the news every day. And I noticed that the store, which is usually packed, was pretty empty on a Sunday afternoon. There was also a distinct lack of fresh veggies I just looked around and kept saying "I am sooo not paying that much for....whatever" I had been extremely spoiled and threw whatever in the cart - those days are gone..my life now revolves around how creative I can be with whole frozen chickens..

Almost 100.00 to fill up the truck SO's little side job of taking photo's for insurance purposes may have to come to an end because of the gas prices. easy child whose plans come August to quit one of his two jobs and go back to school, well, all of his extra money he was putting aside is going towards gas just getting back and forth to work cause they are on opposite ends of town.

My little bit of retirement funds in my 401 K is pretty much tanking daily - plans of paying off the house and retiring at 62 has gone right out the window..

What a mess the economy is in right now

Marcie

 

[WhymeMom?]

Thinking SO may want to invest in a moped or scooter, much better gas mileage. Better yet a bicycle, but perhaps that's not possible....
Our gas is up to $3.65, but don't doubt it will hit the $4.00 mark by summer.......agh!

 

[witzend]

It's even worse in the rest of the world, Marcie. There's a worldwide shortage of rice, with fighting in the streets in Somalia, India is stopping all export of rice, other countries are rationing. It's an ugly world economy.

 

[Marcie Mac]

WMM, unfortunately SO is mostly in a wheelchair - he can walk a little but doesn't drive so no moped or bicycle for him. This little job is important to him, and I take him around now to do his photo's. It doesn't bring in a lot of money, just enough for him to get more gas but he feels he is contributing to the household with it. Not to mention in So Ca you can't get really anywhere without having to use a freeway..

I try and NOT watch the news Witz LOL - I am depressed enough I know its getting ugly out there...sigh..

Marcie

 

[happymomof2]

Our least expensive gas station right now is 3.49 and I have to get some this afternoon.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and it's not the first time I have noticed this but things are going up - not by just a 2 or 3 cent.

I shop at Wal Mart because I can't afford any other grocery store around here, but even wal mart brands are getting crazy.

2 weeks ago the juice I buy for the kids was 1.50 it's now 2.00. The cookies were 1.50 now they are 1.88. When you add 30 to 50 cent to every item you usually purchase it makes a pretty big difference at check out.

This summer I have already forewarned the kids. One day a week I will grocery shop and one day a week we can go to my sisters (which is about 10 minutes away) to swim in the creek. Other than that we have the youth meeting at church on Wed. night and Church on Sunday. If we want to take a beach trip which is about an hour and 1/2 away we will have to save our money up and budget for it.

Hold on to your hats - gotta feeling all this is gonna get a lot worse before it gets better!

 

[KTMom91]

I went to the grocery store yesterday, for just a few things, since we went to Costco last month ($400 trip...I nearly passed out). $50 fit in one bag. Gas is at $3.78 here. Miss KT is trying to find a more stable job than helping at church...not many places are hiring. I haven't worked since I fell last week, and so far nothing's been offered for the rest of the week. Dinners have been very heavy on pasta creations. And to top it off, #2 is getting married in three weeks.

 

[Star*]

I just keep thinking -

ONE WAY or ANOTHER - this country is going to loose weight -

If we have limited food, and limited gas - we'll have to stop eating and ride bikes -

Then we're going to be a nation of thin, angry, strong people.

It's all a conspiracy - The gov't messed it all up and now this is their solution - no food = thinner people. no gas=people riding bikes and getting thinner. Thinner people using muscles for bike riding will be stronger - stronger people can fight in the war. and it all starts over again.

(okay now I'm laughing at myself)

 

[Mom2oddson]

I didn't know that there was a rice shortage. Maybe I can trade the 25lb bag of rice I have for a tank of gas?

 

[witzend]

I just keep thinking -

ONE WAY or ANOTHER - this country is going to loose weight -

If we have limited food, and limited gas - we'll have to stop eating and ride bikes -

Then we're going to be a nation of thin, angry, strong people.

It's all a conspiracy - The gov't messed it all up and now this is their solution - no food = thinner people. no gas=people riding bikes and getting thinner. Thinner people using muscles for bike riding will be stronger - stronger people can fight in the war. and it all starts over again.

(okay now I'm laughing at myself)

It's a better way to lose weight than an intestinal bug, I promise you.

 

[Hound dog]

The current economy is scaring the daylights out of me.

husband and I were just ever so barely squeaking by before. Now we're surviving on a hope and a prayer. He is seriously considering trading in his KIA for something smaller and more fuel effiecient. Gas alone is killing us. He has to drive an hour and a half to work each day, then back home again. Then with my toting 2 kids to and from work and going to school myself each day.......

Grocery shopping is depressing. No luxuries. husband has been told I see a soda in his hands he's dead meat. Milk is not a beverage in our home, except for Aubrey. It's only used for cooking. I've found myself reverting back to the "poor man" meals my mother used to make. No snack foods.

I'm planting a garden this year because we can't afford not to.

At this rate, It looks like school may have to be put on the back burner so I can get a job.

I've cut back everywhere I can, and still it doesn't seem enough.

 

[Hound dog]

The current economy is scaring the daylights out of me.

husband and I were just ever so barely squeaking by before. Now we're surviving on a hope and a prayer. He is seriously considering trading in his KIA for something smaller and more fuel effiecient. Gas alone is killing us. He has to drive an hour and a half to work each day, then back home again. Then with my toting 2 kids to and from work and going to school myself each day.......

Grocery shopping is depressing. No luxuries. husband has been told I see a soda in his hands he's dead meat. Milk is not a beverage in our home, except for Aubrey. It's only used for cooking. I've found myself reverting back to the "poor man" meals my mother used to make. No snack foods.

I'm planting a garden this year because we can't afford not to.

I've cut back everywhere I can, and still it doesn't seem enough.

 

[Big Bad Kitty]

This post makes me cry.

I have programmed myself to live in the here and now. One day at a time, one minute at a time if necessary. But when things are this scary, it is very hard not to project into the future and catastrophize. Will this ever get better? Or will it get way worse, and then when it gets back to this, we will be relatively content? Are we just too friggin spoiled to start with?

 

[Mattsmom277]

I have watched our grocery prices go so high on some items i won't touch them in the store. Produce is a hit or miss. If on sale I go with whatever that fruit/veggie is. I find myself flyer shopping. If there is a certain meat item on for super cheap, I buy multiple and package to family size portions. I no longer decide what we'd like for the week for meals and shop for those items. Now I buy what is a good price and then I decide daily what to make based on what is in the house. A year ago at No Frills (our cheaper grocery store) their store brand bread was .89 a loaf. It is now $2.09 and if on sale $1.89
A large brick of cheese is now regular price of $7.99 NO WAY. I wait until they go on sale. We are used to always have multiple types of cheese in the house.
We have dollar sales quarterly at a couple of local supermarkets. I stock up then on so many things. I am grateful I have a huge walk in pantry to store all of this stuff. Sometimes it's the only way I can get by.
I have never had a car and every time I feel I want one because I need the ability to get around I put it right out of my head. It is still cheaper to take taxi's when I need to than to pay car payments, maintenance, insurance and then the rising pump prices of gas. People always think I'm nuts for all the taxis I take. I compared to a friend with a low cost vehicle that is gas efficient. She spends more than $300 a month above what I do, so I'll just stick to my favorite taxi company.

 

[donna723]

The higher the gas prices go, the higher everything else becomes.

The prices in our cheapest gas station in town have gone up 20 cents per gallon in just five days!

 

[WhymeMom?]

Guess the Amish have the right idea, back to the horse and buggy and growing your own food ......(but they still use cell phones!).

 

[Mom2oddson]

My Mom and I used to laugh at the stories of my Grandma washing and reusing plastic storage bags. It's not so funny anymore. At the price of ziploc bags - I'm actually thinking washing them out is a good idea.

Maybe I need to call my grandma and get pointers from days gone by.

 

[SRL]

Shoot. One of the only "real" dinner foods that difficult child eats is rice.

I've been cooking a lot more by what's on sale as well. Where I need to seriously improve is not letting stuff go to waste. I've really become slack there.

 

[JJJ]

I'm very worried about the next year. husband and I are trying to learn how to live in a budget. Credit cards have been our downfall, over and over. Our hope is that we can get all of our non-mortgage debt paid off before the economy slips into a depression. We are planting a garden this year for food and I will be riding my bike to the grocery store and all other local errands. Except for one week in July, I doubt that I will leave our little town this summer.

 

[DammitJanet]

Things are rough here too. I watched our gas prices rise from 3.18 to 3.54 in less than a week. One day I saw them rise from morning to night! My gas bill for just my car is about 50 or so bucks a week and I cant cut back on my driving...we dont have public transportation here.

Food is horrible too. We pay almost 150 a week for food and the amount of stuff we get is getting thinner. I really think I may go buy one of those sacks of rice...lol. I am going to plant a few tomatoes and some peppers this summer but Im not able to tend a real garden.

 

[KTMom91]

Mom2oddson gave me an idea. I think I'll go look for my Nana's Depression-era cookbook. There must be some good meal ideas in there.