Despite all the tweaking I have done to our budget, I’m still not able to pay my bills. It’s not much but I’m at least $60 to $100 short each month. When it’s $60 that’s easy for me to cover. I just cut something out. But when it is $100 and more, well, that’s another story. It gets to be a bit hard when you’re $100 short. That’s too much to cut.
I’ve cut everything extra out of my expense budget. We are only spending money on necessities like food, gas, energy, emergencies (i.e. our doggie needed Tick Medication fast! she already had one bout with Lyme disease and after spending hundreds of dollars on meds to cure her, yes! buying tick medication right now, in spring time, is an emergency. it can’t wait.)
It was hubby’s birthday a while ago and our daughter sent him a $100 gift card. “Don’t spend it” I said. “save it for an emergency, like when we can’t afford food or meds or something.” Can you imagine thinking like that? It was hubby’s personal birthday present and I was saving it for general use. Not personal use. He did use the gift card for one personal gift, however. He wanted to go to our local diner for his birthday meal. The local diner was a favorite of ours. We used to go there quite frequently before the pandemic hit. They had a senior menu that for only $10.99 you got a full course dinner which also included soup or salad (in additional to the entree) coffee or tea, rice pudding or apple pie for dessert. Entrees included such old favorites as meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. Other choices were a broiled fish dish, a roasted chicken dish or a beef stew over noodles like grandma used to make on those cold winter nights. Well, you get the picture.
We went to our old fave diner for the first time, this past week, in over two years. The first thing I asked for when being seated was a copy of the senior menu. The young hostess excused herself to ask management. She came back to tell us that the diner didn’t offer that anymore. Apparently the young waitress never even heard that her employer once offered such a thing. After being seated in a booth, we looked at the ‘limited menu’ our server told us about beforehand (as a way, I suppose, to prepare us for the sticker shock).
The waiter was correct. The prices at this once-affordable diner were too high for us. I scanned the menu and tried to find something inexpensive. Such as a hamburger, but even that was high priced at $14. My old fave of a half rack of baby back ribs went from $14 to $29. You’re right. That’s a shocker. Hubby wanted a souvlaki. I wanted to hide under the covers. I looked for a bowl of soup but knew that it would come from a can. It wouldn’t be fresh. So I decided to look at the sandwiches. True, I didn’t want a sandwich for dinner but I also didn’t want to blow the gift card. We still stuck to our budget. I always felt safe in the sandwich category section, anyway.
I found a fish sandwich for only $8.99. Cole slaw, pickel, lettuce and tomato as well as a home-baked bun included along side, what I thought would be a piece of fried fish no bigger than the palm of my hand.
This is what I (unexpectantly, but happily) got: a whole fish fillet side!
I saved the bun for later (which I had, toasted, for breakfast). The sandwich was a meal IMHO all by itself. Hubby’s choice came to $12.99 but I felt good knowing I didn’t break any budget. Nonetheless, nothing about my monthly expenses has been solved. Despite all eliminations of unnecessary spending and all fine tuning of our passive income, inflation and the rise in gas and energy costs still are causing me to be short each month.
It’s a conundrum, for sure, that one can only hope will get better in the long run. In the meantime, I will continue to rob from Peter to pay Paul and dream of a life that used to be, but will never more. This is my new reality and I have to deal with it somehow. Someway.
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Ciphers From Cindi 
Hi Cindi, Are you still having a garage sale? Are you going to have it soon? Cindi I think you may be able to make changes and get your budget down more. I went on a major offensive to cut cost and I reversed the increases in my budget. I did a major cut back on my heating cost by using my daughters old bedroom which I call my sunroom as my office, TV room, art studio and to sleep. Yesterday the room temperature range from 68 to 81 degrees. No need to have my heat on except an hour in the morning if the house is too cold. Anticipating using a third less then last March. I am working outside and walking in the afternoons the last three days with the nicer weather. I will have my yard cleanup done either this afternoon or tomorrow ($75-$150 saved) and spread my own lime and fertilizers ($250 saved) which I got last year for half price. Got my seeds for free and Seed starter ( 66% off)and have an unopened Miracle Gro from last year. This will be my cheapest gardening season yet. And since I am sticking around home more and driving using my cruise control I bought 35% less gas in February and first two weeks of March. With the price hikes it only amounted to $50 saved. I will be roasting one of the turkeys from my freezer and then packaged in smaller portions for meals all month. Will Fill my oven with roasted vegetables and potatoes, corn bread, baked apples, brown rice, pumpkin custard with walnut crust, and chocolate cake. No shopping needed for the rest of the month. So my $150 food budget was reduced to zero by $113 budgeted saved on not grocery shopping plus no gas And $37 spent with free gift card. And finally I did a short term investment in a 14% dividend stock to pay off my zero interest appliances loan. Sincerely, Lara
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Yes, I am still having a garage sale. I’m getting the stuff together now. As soon as the wether on the weekend improves, I’m having the sale.
Hubby has a landscaper do our property work. The two of them work together. No money is exchanged. They barter.
I can barely keep my little veggie garden in decent shape but I’m going to give it another try this year.
I already have all my seeds BUT I’d like to get more dirt and compost.
Hubby is back at work. It’s only 2 days a week, at an increased rate BUT all that money goes into a special savings account. It has to cover our property taxes and Florida winters. I’m no longer negotiable on Florida winters. We’re going this year, dead or alive, I will be there this winter!! Period.
I’m paying off one of my zero interest loans this month. But guess what? After 21 years, hubby needs a new John Deere. He has to cut the grass on 3.5 acres!! He’s trying his darnedest to find the machine priced at $2,000 or less. I think we’re down to $1,800. One of the distributors will give us an 8 to 5 year loan at zero percent (depending on the final purchase price). In other words, we’ll be exchanging one zero interest loan for another.
Hubby is the only one driving here mostly (to go to work). There are, however, so many nice places around where we live (for hiking, shopping, observing or just plain relaxing) that I’m not that concerned about gas anymore. We get around 36 to 39 MPG on our fuel efficient car. The pick up truck sits idle. If we don’t go to Florida RVing anymore, I am going to sell the whole kit and caboodle (RV, pick up truck and fuel efficient vehicle) and trade it all in for a fantastic EV or hybrid. Not sure which model yet. Hubby likes the Teslas. It won’t cost us a penny since we have so much equity in our vehicles. This will mean, however, my months in Florida (unless I rent with my girlfriends) will be over. I’ll have to settle for 2-3 weeks at my sisters (I don’t think I can impose on her for any more length of time).
Oh well.
Tesla is also making a truck. If it can tow (which the other EV models can not) then it may be a game changer. A different, lighter RV may be in our future.
I’m seeing opportunities lately. Not doom and gloom.
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I saw in your instagram that the lawn mower stating “ this is the one” has a sticker price of $2599 instead of $1800? So Did you get a better price or just a longer zero interest loan?
I set a goal this month to invest in dividend paying stocks at 11- 14% to pay my monthly zero interest loans payments but in a week they rose 5% so I sold 75% of one and 50% of the other. I am paying off my appliances with the proceeds. Bye, Bye Home Depot payment going forward. Next I will attack the other one for my flooring with my dividend checks. Sincerely, Lara
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Lara, last year the price was $1850. This year the price is $2599. Hubby got it for $100 less at another store PLUS he had a discount coupon for $200 off. So, for the final price of $2299 we finally bought a brand new riding lawn mower. Our old 21 year old mower is up for sale, so whatever we get for it will offset the new cost. PS: we should have bought it last year at the end of the season. Inflation raised the prices big time!!!
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So did you write this blog post before DH got the job? I was wondering if you were postponing the lawn mower purchase. I hope he gets what he wants at the price you can afford. The first one lasted a long time, Sincerely, Lara
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Lara, it’s the same job that DH has been waiting over 2 years for the parts. They are finally in and guess what? They’re wrong BUT they are going to work around the error. Right now, it’s 2 days a week but then off for a few weeks till mid-April and then back on the 2 days a week. I want to save this money and not depend on it for daily living. Wish me luck!! LOL…………I decided not to go to Job Lot anymore for discounted snacks. We’ll do without them for now. 😦 That’ll be a savings of $19 to $40 a month.
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Got my Snacks -three bags of Easter Candy and three pack organic microwave popcorn for $1.02 using my CVS $10 CarePass, ExtraCare coupons, and sales with free shipping. A candy bar at Aldi’s is .99. My Next month’s treats are super cheap and no gas needed super bonus.
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I’m not much of a candy eater. I did buy last week, one pack of those marshmallow chicks for $1.25 at the new Dollar and Twenty Five Cents Store. LOL! If we do buy Easter candy it will be Monday morning after Easter when everything is 75% off.
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The regular retail now on Hershey’s bags is $4.99 so $1.25 at 75% off if you can find them. We do an Easter Egg hunt with the Grandkids so needed them cheap before Easter. I do 3 mini loaf pans and three cupcakes for their heads out of a cake mix and the grandkids make little bunnies with them. Sincerely, Lara
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Good luck
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