Now It's Gonna Get Tough

For over a year, Robin and I have worked really hard to keep to a fairly strict budget. We've paid off two credit cards and are three quarters of the way through the last card. Once that's done, we're on to the car loan/Home Equity Loan. I hate that we owe, but it's our reality. We got ourselves into this situation and we'll get ourselves out.

My stress right now is that with food and fuel prices rising, we're going to feel the pinch more than we already do. So far, I can feed my family of five for under $100 per week. I know I can because I've done it for over a year. My weekly grocery budget hasn't risen and we always have fresh produce, milk, eggs and meats. I stock up when I see things we use a lot and store them in my pantry or freezer. I've taken to making bread, pancakes/waffles, cakes, cookies, desserts etc. I cook every single night of the week. If we eat out it's once or twice a month depending on what's going on. We've been really frugal and we've eaten well and healthfully over the past year. I refuse to eat garbage because it's "cheaper".

I'm already seeing how much less I can get for my dollar, though. I coupon as much as I can. I shop the loss leaders. We eat leftovers. We don't buy lunch. But, I'm feeling it at the register. I refuse to buy corn when it's 4 for $4. Are you kidding? A dollar a cob? For real? Ridiculous. Yes, I know it's because of the ethanol. I know that there are places in the world where the poorest of the poor suffer much more than I ever will. It's a disgrace we can't feed the world and it's an embarassment that we can't keep prices in this country reasonable for the average American. It's often cheaper to buy that prepared "stuff" than fruits and vegetables. Where's the logic in that? Ugh!

Then add in the price of gas in a month has gone up sixty cent/gallon if not more and you've got more penny pinching going on. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the fuel prices are going to slow down or go down any time soon. It's scarey. Robin has no choice but to commute to his job. There is no public transportation that goes from our home to work that wouldn't take him over three hours commute. There aren't any jobs in his field closer to home. Moving closer to his work isn't logical because we can't afford anything in that area. We're in a catch-22. I have to drive to work as well. No public transportation will get me to school at a reasonable hour especially since I need to drop Maddy at school and the boys at daycare and they're all in different directions from each other.

Our electric bill has gone through the roof even though we're actually using LESS wattage now as we were this time last year! Oh, and we even replaced the thermostat and I thank God we did. I can't even imagine what we'd be paying if we hadn't. Our old one didn't give an accurate reading. I've unplugged all small appliances we don't use all the time and plug them back in when I actually need them. I turn off the lights when we're not in the room using them. I avoid turning on the lights until it's too dark to do so. I have also been slowly changing out our bulbs for the more energy efficient ones. We've keep the house cool in the winter and a little warmer in the summer than we've been used to...We're doing all the right things, and yet our bills continue to climb.

So, at this weekend's budget meeting we're going to have to figure out where else we can cut our spending. I'm pulling for having a bare minimum of features on our home phone (no caller id, etc.) and the basic cable package. I don't watch a lot of t.v. and the only thing Robin really loves is his sports. As long as we have a package that includes ESPN, I think I might be able to convince him. After that, I have no idea where to cut. We don't use the dry cleaners, we rarely go out on a date, we don't have a Netflix account and haven't rented a movie in forever. We use the library for our book fixes, I dye my own hair and have someone who cuts it for $20-- a far cry from the $100 I used to pay plus tip. Plus, I've even gone longer between cuts to save. We buy the kids' clothes on sale and not at the pricey kid stores, either. I don't buy Starbucks in the morning and neither one of us has fancy clothes or expensive hobbies. In fact, I haven't made any scrapbooking purchases over $15 in a loooong time.

I get really scared when recessions hit. My dad worked on the Assembly Line at Ford when I was a kid. Layoffs were a part of life. I remember the stress and strain and even though both of us have good jobs and some job security, it's never far from my thoughts how quickly jobs can vanish. I worry.