The High Cost of Living, How is it affecting you ?

The cost of living has really become very expensive for the past few years and has skyrocketed for the past few months. It has not only affected the poor but the rich too. Of course the impact is greater on the poor people. There have been several sacrifices I had to make. One is travelling. While I love to travel, I had to minimize my expenses associated with travelling to give way to more important things.

I'm sure this will sound silly....I stopped getting my nails done. The amount I save per month will fill my car up one time and since I am driving a whole lot less, I now only need to fill up twice per month.

the good thing about the high cost of living is that it makes me aware of the value of my hard-earned money. before any expenses are affordable, but now, any expenses are considered and evaluated for usefulness and necessity. the basic questions of today, is this necessary? can i live without it? can i do it differently? these questions are hovering over me as i experience the soaring cost of living. one example is that i have never bought a paper edition of newspapers for the last 3 months. i read online newspapers now.

My hubby and i live a simple life anyway before oil hit $139. i can't be anymore frugal than i am now and i'm definitely feeling some effect already... our weekly grocery bill that used to be £70 for 2 people went up to £90 and that does not include meat because i go to our local butcher for that. i can't cut down on our food allowance because that is our only luxury in this life... my hubby is a health buff, he is into organic and free range stuff so it's bound to be expensive. £20 petrol a year ago would be more than 21 litres but now it's down to 16 litres. And don't even get me started on our gas bill... i give a collegue a lift to work because she lives near me, and sometimes she gives me a lift in return. i'm dreading this quarter's electric bill. i don't think i miss anything yet because it's only early days, but there is definitely some sacrifices to be made... we still go out as a family but we are becoming more creative now, it doesn't have to be expensive, the main thing is, the 3 of us are together having fun... instead of going to europe on holiday we're thinking of ireland, edinburgh or blackpool this year... originally we're thinking of going to ireland this summer and edinburgh in october for my hubby's and my baby's bday but now we need to chose just 1.

I try to sacrifice driving around since gas prices are sky high right now. I only drive my car if I have to and usually I plan my days so I do all my errands in one day, rather than doing a couple today, and a couple tomorrow or a couple the next day. So I stay home a lot more now. For food, I don't buy to much foods that have preservatives, I try to buy more natural ingredients like fresh vegetables and fruits and not the canned/boxed stuff - it's healthier and it's cheaper.