Monday, June 13, 2022

Monday, The phone won't quit ringing


 Okay change that to diet coke.  This is my mantra right now.  I am a little sunbeam.  The phone won't quit ringing.

It is cold and rainy here and I had to put the heater back on.  But I guess if it was a normal June (is there such a thing as anormal June?) we would have the air conditioner on, so it is a break even.

Schmills has picked up my fascination with coins and is playing hard with a change jar.  He has so much change in his pockets that his pants are falling down.  But hey it keeps him occupied.

The phone will not quit ringing, and work is coming in at a pace way faster than I can do it.  Take a deep breath Kim.

Hubs and I actually went grocery shopping on Saturday, something we have not done for a couple of months. I have budgeted $70.00 a week for groceries, up from $50.00 a week last year.  Now I have not had to spend that, as I have only been buying what I need.  Like I ran out of Sesame oil so replaced that.  Plus, only buying the loss leaders. But we actually were low on carrots, onions, and salad fixings. I found strawberries for $1.28 a lb and bought 3 pounds.  If I had time I would go back and buy more to make jam. But that is not in the works for the week.

I have plenty of pasta, but I am out of shells as I make that shrimp salad so often.  We found a pasta on sale for .88 at Winco and Hubs had me buy several to stock up. So, we spent $68.00 but most of it was storage except the fresh things.  But it was interesting and scary to peruse the prices. 

I have to teach a class on surviving a recession, in a couple of weeks.  What topics do you think I should cover?  I plan on doing handouts, there is just too much info to cover.  But what do you guys think should be the main topic(s)?

I know how to save on groceries will be one, then how to save on gas, I think the necessary consumables are important.  But is there anything else you think could or should be covered? Having survived a really bad recession in my young married days, and then several smaller ones throughout the years, I learned a lot. Not that I survived that well as we had terrible debt and now have PTSD from it.

Anyway, I must get to work So much to do!


Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim

 

37 comments:

  1. Happy Monday!! I would think tips to saving on groceries and providing simple recipes for basic meals would be beneficial especially for those that do not cook much.

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    1. Great Lori, one of my sheets will just be learn to cook! It is not hard. Fast, easy nutritious meals. Thanks!

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  2. I would say "attitude" is a god place to start, getting wants and needs understood. However, I'm not so tone deaf to know some people are barely getting needs met right now. I agree with Lori on simple meals, stretching other costs even farther ( line drying, cloth napkins, dusting, diapers), sharing bulk purchases with family and friends...

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    1. Good ideas SAM just getting people to cook is a big deal!

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  3. Helpful advice might well be paying down debt, particularly anything with a variable interest rate or ridiculously high credit card debt. We think it’s a great deal if we can get 20% off groceries, but at the same time pay an extra 20% on everything we’ve already charged on a credit card. You can tell I have debt PTSD as well!

    Ginger

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    1. That is a great idea, even for me. I need to pay off this house and the rate goes up every week.

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  4. Lists are probably most important, like in inventory, meals, shopping. I hear too many people, even read a government document to help people shop wisely that said to make a list and never vary. Of course, that is nonsense advice. Sales are good. Loss leaders are good. So, using lists seems like a great beginning.
    Plus, I heard someone say they would buy groceries for a person but no sweets. Well, a packet of kool aid or cookies won't hurt anyone with kids. Baking from scratch is wonderful but not always possible. A little bit of fun goes a long way.
    Also, shopping at only one store is very bad advice these days unless you cannot do better.
    A garden can be one plant if it helps feed a person.

    You are a force of nature when it comes to gardening, baking bread, freezing and such. I hope they won't get discouraged because you have got this covered and seeming never suffer fatigue....lol. Well, not for long.
    I doubt you will be so rigid as to espouse some ideas.

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    1. You are so right. But I do have to be careful not to overwhelm.

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  5. If you bank online, it is really easy to set up an auto-debit timed to your paycheck to pull out 10% of your pay and put it in a TFSA (Tax-free savings account - we have these in Canada) or into a separate savings account that you can't access immediately (sometimes these have 6 months or a year before you can access them). I always pay myself a set amount of "fun money" every pay period, because when you start depriving yourself of those little fun things, that's when you'll backlash and go on a spending splurge. When the fun money is out, you can't spend any more. All of our budgets have always included both of these types of savings.

    I also agree with aggressively paying down any high-interest credit cards and consolidate your debt (sometimes your bank can help with this) onto one lower-interest card. Any extra money: pay off debt! My husband and I paid off our mortgage 10+ years ago, and neither of us carry any debt on credit cards...and I paid $6.99 for a pint of strawberries a few days ago! :-O

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    1. That is so important. I feel that right now many young families are going deeper into debt just to get by.

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  6. Similar to what others have said, I'd start with the basics: knowing your budget, tracking your spending, fitting all of your expenses into a budget that your income can afford. Understanding the difference between needs & wants, and making more tradeoffs during a period of inflation. Menu planning, avoiding food waste, understanding how to reduce your grocery budget, leveraging free/discounted sources for things you need.

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    1. Great idea! You have to know what is coming in and going out. Then form the plan.

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  7. Ditto for most of the comments above. However, first thing I would ask people to ask themselves, how much do they want to change? Are they willing to do the work? I was, many years ago, interested in doing free debt counseling. But came to understand that most of the people getting debt counseling really just want to make their debt go away so they can buy more. They don’t want to change. So a person has to want to change, otherwise nothing else will happen. Hilogene in Az

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    1. That is so true. It takes time and work to get out of debt. It takes being happy with what you have to get out of debt. If you want to save money on groceries ,you will have to work at it!

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  8. You know I have done several posts about 'surviving' all this gunk lately. Feel free!!
    Big lesson - you can't control prices - but you control your purse and your choices. Live within your means. Never spend more than you make. Do NOT panic. Those are my best vibes.
    Your business is sure feast or famine! You did great at the store.

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    1. Believe me I am going to be pushing your readership and using your info. You are so inspirational!

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  9. I deal with a lot of single parents. I have explained to them how to cook dried beans and to use a bit of baking soda to soften them up. I have explained that dandelions are good for you but make sure they are not sprayed. Folks here do eat a lot of collards, mustard greens, and turnip greens but dandelions are not normally eaten. Maybe giving them pointers on canning and freezing food would also help. Folks here already forage for pecans and blackberries so this is not a stretch. I have a mulberry tree I freeze the mulberries from, as well as a large fig tree at my mom’s place. Summer squash and okra are a popular crop here also and folks are familiar with it because their grandma would cook both. I talked to people about lowering their electric bill because our power company is awful. Those ice things you put in freezer and use in lunch boxes also work if put on you chest in a loose rag. I would keep thermostat on 79 to 80. Water from the tap is an acceptable drink as long as you have good water where you live ( some don’t) and using rice in chicken or hamburger meat stretches it, as well as cooking the chicken bones for broth. Pay yourself first, even if it is 25 dollars a month or less, have that automatically put in a savings account. Schools here provided hot spots and laptops for kids during Covid so I am assuming that is the same everywhere. If you don’t have internet at home, go to the library. Rise with the chickens and go to bed with them ( to cut back on electricity) You can tell my folks were farming people… lol Cindy in the South

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    1. I bet you see a lot in your profession. Also just having a small savings is so important. Thank you

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  10. I had an idea…get a voicemail where you say, I only take new projects on Monday, please call back then …so you can sew Tuesday-Friday….or something along those lines…

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    1. Forgot to sign…hilogene in Az

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    2. That is an idea. Right now, I am telling brides for August not to come in until July. I cannot take the work load and they are very good about it.

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  11. I remember a long time ago you posted about how to cook economically. It was so good that I think something like that printed on a handout would be very helpful. Just talking about it would be hard for people to retain.

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    1. Believe me most will be handouts. This is a huge topic.

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  12. Yes, the tips on saving money on groceries and the recipes to go with them would be wonderful.

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  13. I agree with Hilogene in AZ for accepting orders. I am sure, that can save you tons of time. It is annoying to be interrupted while working. Who will you be teaching that class? Sounds interesting and very helpful. For me, identifying wants and needs, not wasting anything, re-purposing household items, cooking from scratch, inexpensive recipes come to mind. Also, de-cluttering and downsizing are subjects that may be considered. When you have to maintain less, you spend less.

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    1. This is such a huge category. I will be teaching this to women in my church.

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  14. I teach adults and right now their biggest complaint is the gas price but they don't think about altering other things at least temporarily. For example one of the students drives a large truck which takes a lot of gas and stops on the way to school for a coffee. My point to him the other day was that right now maybe it would be better to make the coffee at home and put the cost of it into his gas tank. Maybe some pointers on making better decisions?

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    1. I know that so much of our money savings strategies involve choices. The choices we make to get through a hard time. I will address that.

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  15. Attitude... choosing what is a need over what is a want

    Gas for the car/truck if you have to drive to work. I don't know how many times I preached at Daughter 2 who always had to ask for gas money AFTER she bought groceries. If you don't keep the gas money back you won't have a job.

    Roof over your head

    utilities.

    sources of living Better on less... library/ elders in their families/ internet

    I had all my kids who had their kids read The Prudent Homemaker's article on "How to cut expenses when you think you have nothing left to cut and the one Eat for 40 cents a day and the last one Eat for less"
    Make Do or Do for without, Use it up and wear it out... Talk about buying clothes that will last .

    simple meals (believe me Daughter 4 actually took over teaching a class required when she got food stamps and the teacher said, buy a rotisserie chicken and cut all the meat off after the meal and toss the bones in the trash DUH)

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    1. I love that article. It is very eye opening.

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    2. I really enjoy her blog, although I think she is too cheap especially with her kids. But when you have to cut things you have to cut things and she has a large family. I will pull much from her. I will also use you my freind.

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  16. Kim, I don't know what I could add, but I do know I wish I could attend!

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    1. You could add your sparkling personality and you do some pretty amazing simple pasta meals.

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  17. Google "free fruit maps" to see if there is anything where you are. They might pass on information to their family who do live in a free fruit map area.
    Glean. Or pick up potatoes or such like you did.
    Free food is good. Encourage them to go to food banks if qualified or food giveaways, if you have them, that do not require an income test.
    Twenty years ago, I asked on social media site for somewhere to glean. I got a bite and staggered through rows gleaning green beans. I also went to a business that made pies and asked to glean from their grape arbors. The grapes made good jelly.

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  18. Good idea. Also sharing with each other the bounty of our gardens.

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  19. Good idea, also sharing with each other the bounty of our gardens.

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