How are you coping with the rise in gas and grocery prices?

Isn't it awful!!!! What we did is start a garden, I'm putting up vegetables every other day. Also, we have chickens for eggs, and we're going to start raising rabbits. We'll butcher chickens too. What they want for a frier is unreal. We'll have to buy feed for the rabbits and chickens, but the chicken will get a lot of garden scraps and so will the rabbit. I'm like you, I know longer make unnecessary trips into town (I live in the country) I wait and do everything at once. I don't know what we're going to do if something doesn't happen. I guess we'll have to call on the Lord, he said he would feed and clothe us.

I've been trying to cut down on the driving if I can. I told my client that if she needs me to shop I'll do it on my way to her place. This both allows me to both save on gas and avoid the worse of the heat. We are also trying to do things like shop on the way home from the roomie's job. One thing that we are doing is putting money on a gift card at walmart and then getting our gas with it. It saves 3 cents a gallon as well. Since it took 70 bucks to fill up the car on Sunday, you can understand why I feel that way.

We are combining everything we can into one or two trips for shopping a week, or I will walk to the store myself when hubby is at work if I forget something. We moved closer to the job so hubby now only drives 4 miles round trip vs. 28 miles. We are cutting every corner that we can, sometimes more than once. We didn't go out much before this started but I'm not taking the kids that many places unless we can get there by bus and I make it into an errand run when we do. I can honestly say that 95% of the extras are out.

I could just cry because of the rising costs of everything. We have a pretty strict budget, but we've always managed to have some fun and stuff-- now we are penny pinching to make ends meet. We are robbing Peter to pay Paul ALOT. We are a one income family, and I have considered going back to work-- but I'm so torn. My son has a trach and a g-tube and many medical issues. I would have to put him in an expensive medical day care for me to work, and then I'm not sure with the cost of the daycare and gas that it would even benefit us. I just don't understand why gas has to be so high! It's the same gas from 10 years ago, so why?? In our area more stations are opening up--- WHAT FOR? Gas is so high that people can't pay for it and I don't understand why the need for more gas stations! It makes me so angry.

We absolutely do not go to town unless we can't get out of it and even then if we have a drs. appt. coming up we try to put it off until all can be done at the same time. My husband works about an hours drive from where we live so that pretty much eats up gas money, movie money, fishing money and anything else that is not just necessary.

if u ask me the best way is to go for solar power and wind power tis will be the best way for an employee and employer to save money

Hi thebeaddoodler, thanks for coming with this topic. It's a hot and spicy matter to all of us I guess. hehe. this oil price really burnt our pocket badly. Well, on the gas usage, we could make some plan on our trip. I also make sure my tank won't be that empty to be less than half. When it less than half that's mean more empty area in tank and the depression will be higher. So when we use the car in this way, the oil will be run faster. For the grocery prices, I'm taking the different way by gardening. We couldn't plant the wheat in our garden of course.LOLOL. but we plant some potatoes, onion, carrot, cabbage, and some other herbs. there was one time before, all these plants were ready to be harvest, it was too load. We couldn't finish it by our own and we gave to our neighbor and to my friend's house. These plant really cut the expenses for the basic groceries. Try for it

My family has started a garden to help with the food costs, and I'm trying to work to help us out now. I'm the oldest teen of the house, and sometimes my money's the only reason we have milk or my parents have gas to go to work. I'm raising bonsai's this year to sell. I dug up some of the maple sproutlings that grew from the seeds that fell in our garden and I'm waiting for my roses to get big enough to take cuttings and turn them into bonsais now, since the roses will grow much quicker than the Maples will. I'm also considering maybe taking some cuttings from my mimosa flamoyant (which I bought last year for five bucks at a flea market) and bonsai-ing them as well. Since bonsai's sell for hundreds of dollars, it seemed like something I could do to earn more money, especially since I need to save up for a mode of transportation (not a car, Goddess knows that dream was dashed. I'd never be able to afford to drive the car, even if I somehow got the money to buy one. I'm planning on buying a scooter. The one I've my eye on gets 75 MPG, which means I could afford to drive it)., in order to be able to go job hunting. I may ask some of the local farms if they could use a cheap farm hand, since I'll take whatever I can get...and being a farm girl at heart anyway it'd suit me fine. My family has cut back on groceries. We've never been people to buy more than we needed 'cause we've never been very well off, but we'd usually try to get one non-necessity for each of us, a treat, since life's often stressful enough to warrant a treat on occasion, we figure. But now that's cut out, we shop for enough food for fourteen days, if we don't have enough money for that then we go to the food banks. Though I'm not sure how much longer that might last, because I hear that food, clothing banks...charities, the salvation army, etc, are having a hard time now. There's more people than they can often affort to feed. But I'm sure that if I can hurry and earn more money, and maybe if Mom gets a second job, then we'll do fine. Currently, we're working out a trade for our farm property (which we're currently not living on 'cause of the housefires, we're renting a house in the suburbs right now) for a country esque house which would mean we wouldn't have to worry about rent anymore if this goes through. Which would free us up alot. I know this doesn't sound very reassuring ^_^' but strangely I've more hope for my family and myself these days than I ever have. We've lived through tough circumstances when the economy was okay, but maybe now we'll finally get some solid footing, and be able to face this together. I'm hoping, that we'll be able to do fine enough to be able to try to help others out too, since practically everyone's struggling these days.

wow, good for you! if you can take the bus instead of driving, that helps as well. do you visit the library as well? we do a lot of stuff like that as a family (hubby and i have 2 daughters) and we go outside just to play catch or soccer as well. it doesnt always cost money to have fun!

to begn with I have quit moaning about rising prices and started 'being more positive, have cut down eating out, buy my groceries'on line as I am handicapped and they deliver to my apartment, read more, mylot a lot and quit talking about' the &*&*&* prices,as it gives me heartburn. is yaking for hours on the rise of things going to change anything? no then talk to me about something good, something positive.

Well my Town was out of Petrol for two days so I havent been shopping, when I did go I noticed that the price of 3litre Sunflower oil had gone from £1.97 to £3.49 I was astounded every thing had gone up I couldnt believe it.Prices are still rising my money stays the same, that never goes up.

Thankfully, I only live a mile away from my job. My husband does not work. We have cut out some church activities. choir rehearsal is two days a week, 8 days in a month, we only go 4 days now. I go to Costco's to buy food. I can get it in bulk and it last longer. I was in a convenience store near me one day, and picked up a small canister of coffee, they wanted 5.99 for it. I can get a 3 lb canister for 7.00. I do not drink coffee, my husband does, so it last a long time.