~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May 2022 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[mum]

18 hours ago, MissLemon said:

Philosophical question about how you categorize expenses:

I include everything we buy at the grocery and drug store as "groceries": toothpaste, trashbags, strawberries, etc. I have not been consistent in including pet supplies. Sometimes I stop at Tractor Supply or the pet store, sometimes I just grab them with the groceries. 

Do you split stuff like shampoo and dog food into separate categories? Part of me feels like, if it's an item that everyone benefits from, like laundry soap, then it goes into "groceries". We don't eat the dog food, (ha!), but we obviously all benefit from having well-fed pets. 

But what about DH's diet soda habit? Because that crap adds up and he's the only one that drinks it. I feel like maybe that should be categorized as "personal", and not impact my grocery budget. I could argue that we all benefit from not having DH be crabby because he doesn't have a diet soda.  But if I recategorize sodas, should I then also recategorize dog food or shampoo?

This is all a thought experiment. DH doesn't care what I spend on food or shampoo; I'm the one that gets a kick out of trying to get the grocery bill as low as possible. 

What do you think? Personally, I separate some things out, but I don't want a million categories either. If the soda was sort of one-a-day then I'd keep it in groceries. But if it was more than that, I'd want him to see what that habit adds up to. Just like I wouldn't put a starbuck drink under groceries if it was a daily habit, so I wouldn't put lots of soda drinking under groceries. But I do like to see what percentage of my budget is going to FOOD specifically and what percentage is discretionary (soda).

[Brittany1116]

I definitely cannot put everything I buy at Walmart or Target under "groceries". I wouldn't really truly know if we busted a budget on food or something else. If I bought shoes or air filters or gifts for a niece, it definitely shouldn't count. In fact, I recently went to Walmart with a $100 GC. I planned to buy groceries only but needed a few small, random things. My total was $116 and I immediately knew it was primarily the "others" (gift bag, food storage container set, aluminum foil, ice tray) that put me over.

[saraha]

Ugh, gas went up from $3.89 to $4.15 in one day. Dh got gas in the way to work, then noticed in the way home it had jumped 26 cents in one day.

 

[mommyoffive]

9 minutes ago, saraha said:

Ugh, gas went up from $3.89 to $4.15 in one day. Dh got gas in the way to work, then noticed in the way home it had jumped 26 cents in one day.

 

Yeah it sucks.  We went down to 3.59 at one point.  The lowest I have seen a few days ago was 3.99

[prairiewindmomma]

Gas is $4.90/gallon here.

[prairiewindmomma]

I just finished inventorying the freezer. I haven’t kept super close tabs on it for a while. It had been super organized and then we fell into “buy and shove into any available cranny” mode as we tried to hit sales and stash for later. Then we got busy with garden startup and other things. I came away from inventorying realizing we are not nearly as well stocked as I had hoped. We’ve been drawing on the freezer reserves more heavily than I thought.

The upside is that I have space for berries if there are any to pick in a few weeks or if I bump into a good sale again.
 

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

We have the van fixed and the car is in the shop right now. My AAA membership paid for itself again this year.

We are trying to find a Kia EV6 to test drive as it is on the same platform as the Hyundai Ioniq5. We have ruled out a Tesla and Toyota bz4x electric, and then a number of other short range cars. We don’t drive a ton, but when we do we are often in the mountains and running HVAC so anything with a range under 200 isn’t even making the consideration list. 
 

 

 

[HomeAgain]

For us, grocery is anything we get at the grocery store, package store, or warehouse store. 

This week: eh.

The lawnmower works again!

However, ds put on his hiking shoes and complained that he was curling his toes.  So....off to the store we went.  Everything we did end up buying was on the larger list, but it feels like a lot all at once:

Hiking boots for ds, 2 short sleeve shirts for me: $85 total at the L.L. Bean outlet.

Socks for me, a new candle, and swim shorts for ds - $35

Groceries - $90

 

I am praying his skates still fit through the summer.  New shoes often means new skates, too, and I really don't want to pay that price right now.

[JustEm]

Still struggling to figure out this new budget. Every aspect of spending has gone up in our life and it just is really making things stressful. We're not going into debt but we aren't saving the way I'd like anymore. 

Dh had his first interview for the job he's going for yesterday. He thinks it went well. They're looking to have the person actively in the new role by the end of the month so we'll know by early next week if they're doing a second interview, if they want him, or if someone else got picked. Fingers crossed

[prairiewindmomma]

Crossing my fingers and toes for you, hjffkj

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

For us, grocery is anything we get at the grocery store, package store, or warehouse store. 

This week: eh.

The lawnmower works again!

However, ds put on his hiking shoes and complained that he was curling his toes.  So....off to the store we went.  Everything we did end up buying was on the larger list, but it feels like a lot all at once:

Hiking boots for ds, 2 short sleeve shirts for me: $85 total at the L.L. Bean outlet.

Socks for me, a new candle, and swim shorts for ds - $35

Groceries - $90

 

I am praying his skates still fit through the summer.  New shoes often means new skates, too, and I really don't want to pay that price right now.

What kind of skating does your ds do?   I think that was a good deal at the outlet.  Is your ds in adult sizes?  

[HomeAgain]

28 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

What kind of skating does your ds do?   I think that was a good deal at the outlet.  Is your ds in adult sizes?  

He plays hockey.  A pair for his age (junior, about a size 4) is about $200-300 and then baked to fit more exactly.  The older they get, the more expensive, so some of his friends are spending about $400-700/pair. 

Right now, though, there's a skate shortage.  Not only would we have to find some in his size, but also pray that they're the one brand that fits his foot.  I'm hoping if we make it through summer skills, we can buy the next size up off the rack and then bake them when he starts practicing again in the fall.

 

I think I got a good deal, too. 🙂  His shoes were 40% and both the shirts were 30% off. The best part was that they have appropriate coverage.  I hate it when shirts are so thin you have to wear 2 or 3 layers to feel like you're not naked.  I'll probably end up wearing them until they fall apart.

 

[mommyoffive]

6 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

He plays hockey.  A pair for his age (junior, about a size 4) is about $200-300 and then baked to fit more exactly.  The older they get, the more expensive, so some of his friends are spending about $400-700/pair. 

Right now, though, there's a skate shortage.  Not only would we have to find some in his size, but also pray that they're the one brand that fits his foot.  I'm hoping if we make it through summer skills, we can buy the next size up off the rack and then bake them when he starts practicing again in the fall.

 

I think I got a good deal, too. 🙂  His shoes were 40% and both the shirts were 30% off. The best part was that they have appropriate coverage.  I hate it when shirts are so thin you have to wear 2 or 3 layers to feel like you're not naked.  I'll probably end up wearing them until they fall apart.

 

Oh wow, those are expensive.  And the way kids feet grow ugh.  I wish I would have known all these things before starting.  I only currently have one girl on pointe, but pointe shoes are stupid expensive.  

 

Back to gas

Today the lowest price was 4.06 and highest was 4.29.    When are prices going to go down??  And when are they going to stop being higher everyday you go out?   It just stresses me out.

[prairiewindmomma]

We’re about to go to summer blends, so I don’t think it’s getting cheaper. There’s no supply increase happening in the short term so….hybrid was a really good choice for you. Are you having to buy much gasoline personally at this point? 

[Shoeless]

On 5/5/2022 at 9:45 PM, Brittany1116 said:

I definitely cannot put everything I buy at Walmart or Target under "groceries". I wouldn't really truly know if we busted a budget on food or something else. If I bought shoes or air filters or gifts for a niece, it definitely shouldn't count. In fact, I recently went to Walmart with a $100 GC. I planned to buy groceries only but needed a few small, random things. My total was $116 and I immediately knew it was primarily the "others" (gift bag, food storage container set, aluminum foil, ice tray) that put me over.

Good point. I looked over our spending, and we generally only buy groceries from Walmart. Sometimes I buy packing tape for things I sell on ebay, but shopping there tends to be almost 100% groceries. We tend to be store-specific for our purchases.  If I see a Target charge, I know it's clothes for DS and not groceries, (our nearest Target is 20-ish miles away, so I never buy groceries there).  

I think I'm mostly just salty about the expensive sodas, lol. I wish he'd give them up. 

[HomeAgain]

9 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh wow, those are expensive.  And the way kids feet grow ugh.  I wish I would have known all these things before starting.  I only currently have one girl on pointe, but pointe shoes are stupid expensive.  

 

Ugh.  Girl, as much as I hate paying for skates I would hate it more to pay for pointe shoes!  Those get worn out a lot quicker!

I have one rule with hockey: protect as much as possible.  It's a rough sport, but ds will never lack appropriate and well fitting gear. Helmet and skates are bought new, the rest can be used/secondhand.

[historically accurate]

10 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh wow, those are expensive.  And the way kids feet grow ugh.  I wish I would have known all these things before starting.  I only currently have one girl on pointe, but pointe shoes are stupid expensive.  

 

Back to gas

Today the lowest price was 4.06 and highest was 4.29.    When are prices going to go down??  And when are they going to stop being higher everyday you go out?   It just stresses me out.

As to the first: I used to say when the girls were little "You can try XX activity." and then under my breath, "but you can't be good or love it because I can't afford for you to go further." Youngest was a fantastic gymnast - I had to fight the gym every year to not mention team to her because I could only afford the homeschool 1x per week class. 

As to the last: does it help to know our gas is $4.31 - $4.59 here?

Edited May 7, 2022 by historically accurate

[HomeAgain]

On gas: it's actually been nearly 3 weeks since I have gassed up and my dash says I'm getting 35.6mpg.  While I hate the prices, paying more attention to how I'm accelerating has helped with conservation.  Plus, we really cut down our drives.  It used to be that we'd grocery shop at least 2-3 times a week and end up going other places along the way.  Now we're down to shopping weekly, most activities have stopped until summer, and we're culling rather than adding to the things in the house. Everything except the candle was absolutely necessary in our trip this week.

DS23, though....LOL He's slowly finding out the same thing.  He was going to go watch the new Marvel movie with coworkers.  They all got tickets to the preshowing/first run, but after he realized after that it at a theater an hour away.  He noped out, given the price of gas to get there.  He ended up seeing it at our theater around the corner - one he used to manage and gives him a very hefty "employee discount" still. Not quite the same as an experience outside of work with friends, but he won't be left out of the conversations this week.

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

DH has a diesel truck. It’s over $6 a gallon here right now.  I’ve never seen him cry but he came close when he filled it yesterday.  

[historically accurate]

7 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

DH has a diesel truck. It’s over $6 a gallon here right now.  I’ve never seen him cry but he came close when he filled it yesterday.  

One of the libraries I work at just bought a bookmobile a few months ago. They're already busting the diesel gas budget (It's about $5.60 here)...

[mommyoffive]

10 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We’re about to go to summer blends, so I don’t think it’s getting cheaper. There’s no supply increase happening in the short term so….hybrid was a really good choice for you. Are you having to buy much gasoline personally at this point? 

Yes, buying so much gas.  Our life is stupid.  I am the first to admit that.  I never thought our life would be like this.  We live in a small town and while dh never has worked in this town it gives him a lot of flexibility to work east, west, or south.  When the kids were little everything (except homeschool coop) was in our little town.  And the prices of rec things in our town is crazy crazy cheap.  Like 6 weeks of Tae Kwon Do twice a week for $30.  Cheap.  We did lots of sports in our town and the commute was never more than 5 mins.  Then we found out about a better dance program at a rec place in a town 15 or 20 mins away.  Then the kids did a Nutcracker with a professional company and our good life was over.  My older 2 feel for dance and wanted to really study it.  There are a few options for us but each of them are 1 hour each one way from us.  One is a bit close at 45 mins.  At first it was only once or twice a week.  But in 2019 it was 6-7 days a week.  That commute was killing me in in 2020 we were leaning to moving closer to the ballet school.  Then Covid happened.  We switched ballet schools because they wanted better training.  And again this commute sucks and I am leaning towards moving.  But of course Covid, inflation, crazy market, rising rates.  All that.   Also dh works an hour plus one way away.  I hate it.  I swore I would never be a nutty parent that would do this.  But here we are.   Our life is stupid.

[historically accurate]

Glorious weather day here today. We spent about $250 and worked in the gardens all day. We'll have some tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, peppers and lettuce soon. I got lots of flowers and some mulch for the flower beds. I need a couple more flowers to fill in though. I did splurge on an outdoor rug for my front patio. 

[mommyoffive]

48 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

Glorious weather day here today. We spent about $250 and worked in the gardens all day. We'll have some tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, peppers and lettuce soon. I got lots of flowers and some mulch for the flower beds. I need a couple more flowers to fill in though. I did splurge on an outdoor rug for my front patio. 

Sounds great.  You got things planted nice and early, so i am sure you are going to get lots of food.

[saraha]

I love bookmobiles! My moms town just got this one!

[historically accurate]

My two youngest visiting the bookmobile (it visits our neighborhood other week now): 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by historically accurate

[mommyoffive]

Aww Historically, they are cuties!

[saraha]

Love it! And they let you take their picture!

[mommyoffive]

Stimulus Update: Millions of Americans Will Qualify for More Stimulus Money in 2022. Are You One of Them? (msn.com)

Posting incase anyone is living in these states and would get one.

[mommyoffive]

TONS of stores at 20-15% cash back TODAY only on Rakuten.

Rakuten: Shop. Get Cash Back. Repeat.

[historically accurate]

My car wouldn't start this morning. We'll have to have it towed to the shop.

So, I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everyone where they need to be, and I haven't even had time to deal with it. (I'm posting this in the 5 minutes I have before I have to run out to take a kid to a doctor's appt, pick up DH from work, run home to cook dinner, and drop kid off at Driver's ed). I'm tired just thinking about it.

[prairiewindmomma]

Fingers crossed for you that the car is a quick and inexpensive fix! Sorry you are having to deal with that.

[mommyoffive]

5 hours ago, historically accurate said:

My car wouldn't start this morning. We'll have to have it towed to the shop.

So, I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everyone where they need to be, and I haven't even had time to deal with it. (I'm posting this in the 5 minutes I have before I have to run out to take a kid to a doctor's appt, pick up DH from work, run home to cook dinner, and drop kid off at Driver's ed). I'm tired just thinking about it.

Oh man that stinks.  I am sorry.  I hope it is a cheap and quick fix and you don't have to run around very long.

[Brittany1116]

$200 in car repairs here now. Womp womp.

[mommyoffive]

Just now, Brittany1116 said:

$200 in car repairs here now. Womp womp.

Booo!!!  I am sorry.

[mommyoffive]

Gas prices today $4.19- $4.40.    Every single day  higher and higher.   I don't think there is an end in sight.   What are you guys seeing?

[Brittany1116]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Gas prices today $4.19- $4.40.    Every single day  higher and higher.   I don't think there is an end in sight.   What are you guys seeing?

Jumped 20c overnight. 4.46-4.49 now.

[prairiewindmomma]

We bumped from $4.90 to $5.00 most places.  Usually the switch to summer fuel is a .30 bump, so I don't think we've hit that yet.

I have a major cross-country trip planned this summer, but compared to plane tickets it's still going to be cheaper for us to pay double the hotel room fees (I've booked--they've doubled) and double the gas we paid last time we visited.  I'm having to up our budget for the trip by $$$$.

[mommyoffive]

Just now, Brittany1116 said:

Jumped 20c overnight. 4.46-4.49 now.

I told dh I wouldn't be surprised to see $10 a gallon.  I mean I know that is nuts, but summer hasn't even started, the war is still going on, and hurricane season is coming.  I honestly feel like vomiting every time I see a gas station.  I can remember when I was in college it was .99 cents.

[HomeAgain]

1 minute ago, Brittany1116 said:

Jumped 20c overnight. 4.46-4.49 now.

We've got the same here.  If this is May, I shudder to think what summer prices will be.

[prairiewindmomma]

I don't think it will be that bad. I think we'll top off $6-6.50 here at peak. Demand just naturally drops off for most people. People will start carpooling, or buy electric vehicles, or move closer to where they need to be.  Where it's going to hurt us a bit is in food transport costs. And, I think given the severe drought and water cutoff to central valley ca and arizona, we should all be growing lettuce. Growers will just choose not to grow it.

[prairiewindmomma]

We're pricing out a new roof. I'd rather go to Hawaii. Lol.

[mommyoffive]

9 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I don't think it will be that bad. I think we'll top off $6-6.50 here at peak. Demand just naturally drops off for most people. People will start carpooling, or buy electric vehicles, or move closer to where they need to be.  Where it's going to hurt us a bit is in food transport costs. And, I think given the severe drought and water cutoff to central valley ca and arizona, we should all be growing lettuce. Growers will just choose not to grow it.

I am not thinking it will for sure.  But man I am not putting it off the table.  Depends on what happens in the world and everything.  Even what you think it just so sucky.  I think I will vomit every time I fill up with that.  

[historically accurate]

23 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Gas prices today $4.19- $4.40.    Every single day  higher and higher.   I don't think there is an end in sight.   What are you guys seeing?

It was $4.79 at the station I pass on the way to work this morning. I averted my eyes this afternoon LOL.

[Shoeless]

No one at home is particularly excited about this so I am sharing with you guys: I made bread in my new Dutch oven! And it came out really tasty! I ate 2 slices and now I am super full. Totally makes up for the less-than-exciting dinner I made. 

[Brittany1116]

9 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

No one at home is particularly excited about this so I am sharing with you guys: I made bread in my new Dutch oven! And it came out really tasty! I ate 2 slices and now I am super full. Totally makes up for the less-than-exciting dinner I made. 

Congrats! Did you follow a recipe book or online? There is a spunky lady on Youtube whose video I follow because she is just funny.

[Brittany1116]

Septic has to be pumped. $300 but quotes ranged from that to $500.

[Shoeless]

4 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

Septic has to be pumped. $300 but quotes ranged from that to $500.

This sounds about right, from what I recall. We did ours a few years ago. 

4 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

Congrats! Did you follow a recipe book or online? There is a spunky lady on Youtube whose video I follow because she is just funny.

I followed a recipe, sorta. It seems like bread making is a little bit science, a little bit magic? All the recipes I found were similar, but differered in how long to let it rise, if it should sit in the fridge for awhile, sit on the counter overnight, etc. 

So I went for it and figured if it didn't turn out, I'd feed it to the chickens who aren't picky 🙂

[historically accurate]

7 hours ago, MissLemon said:

No one at home is particularly excited about this so I am sharing with you guys: I made bread in my new Dutch oven! And it came out really tasty! I ate 2 slices and now I am super full. Totally makes up for the less-than-exciting dinner I made. 

My oldest loves, loves, loves to make homemade bread. Now that I'm eating minimal carbs, it's not a great thing LOL.

Car was only a $250 fix, so I'm happy with that. Working through the medical bill list - every week, I try to cross off another little one. Nothing much happening here (which I'm also happy with).

[JustEm]

8 hours ago, MissLemon said:

No one at home is particularly excited about this so I am sharing with you guys: I made bread in my new Dutch oven! And it came out really tasty! I ate 2 slices and now I am super full. Totally makes up for the less-than-exciting dinner I made. 

You should come to my house with your homemade bread. My kids will ALL show you how excited they are about it. Looks yummy.

[HomeAgain]

Dh ordered a large bin for our yard waste.  I do mean, LARGE.  It's $450 but we got at least another 200 square feet of yard cleared of debris and still have half the bin to fill.  It's cheaper than taking it all to the town dump and the associated gas/time with trying to fit it all in the truck.

Family Fun right now is a 2000 piece puzzle sitting in the middle of the living room floor for us all to work on. 

We've stopped buying sweets at the grocery store and went back to the rule I had in my childhood, which was "if you want it, you make it."  Chocolate chip cookies are on this morning's list.  DS wants to take some with him for his dinner box tonight, which will also include grilled chicken skewers, a twice baked potato, strawberries, grapes.

Tutoring had a sweet reward this week that was not monetary. This kid struggles with math, and has started perking up.  He finished an activity and told the room, "I think I'm going to do the best in math and English in high school."  Yay for confidence!!