Wednesday, February 9

Quote of Note

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.

Herman Melville, novelist and poet (1819-1891)

*****

and speaking of the poor, I don't know how anyone can buy  enough decent food these days.  Every time I go to the grocery, or Sam's, I notice elevated prices since the last visit.  It is most disconcerting to me and so I really feel sorry for those who have little to no income, especially those who have a family to feed.

As you are well aware, gas prices continue to inch up. The news on TV last night said we are "marching toward" our all-time high of over $4 per gallon. Something has to give, folks, or we will all be housebound, not by snow and ice, but because we can't afford to buy gasoline.

What are you doing, if anything, to offset the high prices lately? 

17 comments:

LL Cool Joe said...

Yeah petrol here in the UK is just so expensive now. Well everything is. I'm just trying to do small stuff like not making unnecessary trips in the car. Buying sale items, turning lights off in the house etc.

Then I go and splash out on a new cap and bling chain...

Kay Dennison said...

It's getting outrageous and the worst part is that the bulk of the profits don't go to the farmers and the workers.

What can we do? I buy what I can on special and try not to overeat.

G in Berlin said...

Well, I'm actually in favor of higher gas prices. Although I think that should be a federal tax used to help with subsidizing public transportation systems, not the highways.
Wheat crops are being destroyed by drought in China and by flood in Australia, while real food is supplanted by soy and corn being used to feed the bio-fuel craze (and allow more consumption). Welcome to the end times. But food in the US is cheaper than most places in the world, and less of a paycheck than it was thirty years ago (while housing and education are many times more).

Pat said...

Actually our health imposed simple life style - no travel, little driving is saving money which is swallowed up by extra health expenses.
I do notice the food costs increases, and we both enjoy saving on the bill by judicious shopping.

Celia said...

Oh Judy, this morning I posted this same quote on my facebook account, you and I do seem to travel some of the same roads.

I offset some expenses by having a garden in the summer, herbs (which are hideously expensive in their little store jars), greens, tomatoes, squash. I don't eat much meat any longer not to save $ but because I seem to have lost my taste for it. Living in a rural area I go pick blueberries, peppers, buy bulk Walla Walla sweets and freeze them. I make soups, chili, stew and freeze them in 1 and 2 people size servings.

I've kept my 21 mpg van but I drive less. I keep it in good shape as I don't intend to buy another car if I can help it and it has a 4-star crash rating. People my age need some real metal around them and airbags. I can walk to the grocery store, healthy for me, and uses no gas.

Sparkling Red said...

My step-dad, who reads financial newsletters, has been predicting this overall inflation for a couple of years now. I was hoping the predictions would be wrong.

Travelin'Oma said...

My online time is spent blogging instead of shopping. I know this has saved me a bundle of bucks.

Lynn said...

I realized the other day that I could buy organic oatmeal in bulk and pay half the price of Quaker Oats in the regular grocery store.

I've pretty much stopped eating meat. I buy the big quantity of spring greens and broccoli at Sams and have big salads at home most nights.

Gasoline is a huge expense for me because of my 40 mile round trip commute every day + any running around during the day. And my mother lives five hours away now, so there is that big ticket gasoline expense for that trip. I did give up my SUV a few years ago though, so could be worse. :)

Anonymous said...

Time was when you could buy enough clothes to last a year for what you pay for just one trip to the grocery store nowadays.
Helen

Arkansas Patti said...

I used to travel 90 miles round trip to buy the special pet food my allergy prone animals needed. Now I order it from Amazon, free shipping and only have to drive to the near by post office to pick up.
Also my veggie gardening plans are much more ambitious for the coming year and I might take up fishing.
I find adjustments stimulating and comfortable ruts confining.

Olga said...

A great quote...so apt. We have cut back on portions--more for benefit of the waistline, but that helps with the budget as well. On the whole, though, I am less careful now than when I was feeding a family. The gas situation a couple of years ago got me in the habit of really planning errands and car use. I resolved not to just jump in the car every time I thought of something I needed or wanted to do.

Peter said...

Same story all over the world Judy, with no end in sight!!!!!!

Rick Rockhill said...

We switched to only shop the perimeter of the grocery store (fresh foods, mainly) and no processed or prepared foods.

David Edward said...

for my current project we are using a lot of surplus materials bought at a fraction of retail. Just made a visit to the Habitat ( Re-Store) and picked up tile for 20% of normal cost. That gives my client a lot more $ to spend on (my ) labor.
I am doing design for free, in my head, as we go, and some times at 4am. God is blessing.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to report that everyday costs are very high here in the UK too. Housing is outrageous, food is very high, and their gas prices are super high. Taxes here are unbelievably high also. I've been frequenting Pound World (their version of Dollar Tree), but unfortunately they don't carry as many food items as our dollar stores do.

srp said...

And yet the government tells us we don't have inflation... monetary inflation..perhaps not; but practical every day inflation.. yes.

Grannymar said...

I refuse to starve!