There’s a true story I once read about concerning the aftermath in Germany when World War Two ended. Once the allies entered Germany and freed the Jews who were still alive in the Nazi Concentration Camps, the soldiers went around the area questioning the locals. The soldiers wanted to know if the locals knew what was going on in their towns? Did they know that people were being annihilated right in their own backyard? The locals response was that they knew nothing. It was none of their business. They were afraid of retaliation from the German soldiers. In other words, they did nothing despite the stench of burning human flesh infiltrating that fine German air.

It is because of this one fact that I have always paid attention to the news. I have found it to be primo important for me to always know what was going on in my country. Unfortunately today, the news isn’t always honest. There’s a ton of fear mongering going on just so the news media can sell papers. People today are so disgusted with the news that they have decided it best to turn off the news and not listen to it for their own sanity. That’s a very big mistake. I understand that the enormity of the continual negative news is enough to destroy whatever courage or strength we may have left. So, we think by not listening to the news we are preserving our sanity. What we don’t realize is that ‘they’ want us to turn off the news. In this way ‘they’ can get their agendas passed and we, The American Public, will know nothing until it is to late.

Don’t do it. Keep the news on but only for a short time each day. Get the logistics. Understand the policies. Then turn it off and get on with your life.

FaceBook has already proven, in their recent bout with Congress, that negativity sells. People will keep coming back and back to read the bad news. It’s human nature. Now that we know, let’s not fall for it. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. See if you can get confirmation that whatever it is you are listening to (or reading) is real. Look at the source of where it is coming from. Is it reliable?

I had the unfortunate experience this past weekend of actually believing a piece of fear mongering I heard online. I will not go in to detail BUT I was so convinced the end was near that I ran to the supermarket just to see for myself if there really was a food shortage, supply crisis or whatever else this person was hawking. I always shop at Aldi and that’s where I ran to on a Saturday mid-morning. I never food shop on a weekend but there I was, huffing and puffing convinced I would see mayhem and empty shelves. I saw none of the above.

The store was indeed crowded. I bumped into a cart or two but everyone was fine, cool, collected, wearing their masks and shopping in peace and comfort. I was able to purchase every single thing on my list. There were no shortages. No empty shelves. Of course, product wasn’t stocked up to the ceiling BUT there was enough there for everyone. Kudos to the management at Aldi. I was so relieved I went home and wrote them a thank you letter. They’re doing a great job and you know what? So is everybody else. Everyone is doing the best that they can. And we need to thank them for that.

I wasn’t scheduled to go food shopping till Wednesday. I was supposed to follow my new budget limitations and only spend $70. But in my haste, I went to the grocery store ahead of schedule and I spent $154 needlessly. I went $84 over budget and I’m not too happy with myself. Shrug it up to a lesson learned. I’ll just cut back next month to make up the difference. In any event, the sky isn’t falling.

Aldi may have raised their prices a bit but in comparison to some Big Store Outlets, Aldi is still 50% cheaper than anyone else. I’m very grateful for that. Beef is still unaffordable for us right now but thankfully chicken prices have remained low. Aldi must have hired a different supplier for their chicken products because everything is beautifully packaged in see-thru hard plastic containers as well as being freezer ready. One new chicken item they are now selling is whole chickens. Packed two to an order at .99 cents a pound (we paid $11.88 for two chickens) DH and I decided to give it a try. We weren’t disappointed. We roasted one of the chickens for our Sunday dinner (with mashed potatoes and gravy on the side) and it was delicious. We were able to get 2 dinners out of it, 2 lunches (4 sandwiches) and the remaining carcass made a great chicken soup in our crock pot.

We have a lot of extra expenses coming up in November. Hubby may be getting cataract surgery. I am getting my eyes examined because lately I’ve been getting horrible headaches when I read or do computer work. The muscles in my eyes hurt. Our doggie is also scheduled to go to the vet, so that’ll be another expense. Also, we have to place an order to have propane delivered. We won’t be needing or using what we did last year BUT we want to start this upcoming winter off with a full tank. Ka-ching! (maybe it’ll be a good thing after all that I overbought groceries this month. they might come in handy next month!) We also don’t have to be concerned about Thanksgiving because our eldest daughter will be hosting the holiday meal this year. She made it a point to tell all of us that we don’t need to bring anything. They have it all locked down!

Lastly, I’m not worried about Christmas because we haven’t bought each other presents in 10 years. The only people who we do get gifts for are the two grandkids. I’ve asked their mothers to let me know what they want early otherwise they’ll just have to be happy with whatever Santa can muster up. We have a beautiful, fake Christmas tree, tons of holiday bulbs, lights and knick-knacks to decorate plentifully and without cost.

Is it financially bad out there? Yes, it is but let’s keep our perspectives. Will there be shortages? Yes, but this too will pass. It’s apparent to me that no one really cares about the lower and middle classes. We have to worry about ourselves. We have to learn to prioritize and eliminate whatever is not urgent or necessary. We need to stock up but we also need not to panic. There will be enough stuff to go around for everybody. Don’t let ‘them’ fear monger us into despair.

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