I know this is something a lot of people have been talking about, but I still have to write about it!!!

Pampers just went up 10% this past week ($2/box). Half and half went up 10%. Those are the two I can think of right off the top of my head. When I get done writing the check at the store and look at what I get for my money I can hardly believe it any longer. I do shop the loss leaders, we don’t buy a lot of junk, etc. On the other hand, we do eat well. Many of the things that are good for you cost money. That is one thing I am always suspicious of when I see people say they can feed a family of four for $50 a week or something. How much fresh produce are they eating? How much fish? How much organic? How many things like nuts and such that are really good for you but are definitely not cheap? I know we could eat a lot cheaper, but at the expense of good health? I would rather sacrifice elsewhere else in our budgeting than eat poorly just to save a few bucks at the store.

At the same time, everything I’m reading says that grocery prices are going to continue to go up, up, up this year. If you haven’t started keeping a pantry, now would be a really good time. Think about it. If I had bought five boxes of diapers two weeks ago, I would have reaped a $10 return on my investment almost immediately. Where can you get a 10% return on any investment nowadays? If you factor that out over hundreds of items you will buy over the next ten months… The savings could be substantial.

Something to think about.

Today we got our health insurance renewal rates. Because we have our own business we purchase our own outrageously priced health insurance.

In order to keep the EXACT SAME COVERAGE for the next year (which already includes a hefty deductible and out-of-pocket charges, copays, partial prescription coverage, etc.) our monthly premium is going up 21%.

YES, I SAID TWENTY-ONE PERCENT.

THAT’S A 2 IN FRONT OF A 1.

21%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How many businesses do you know that are increasing their profits by even 10% a year? How about a measly 5%?

This means our monthly insurance premium will be more than our mortgage payment, property taxes, home insurance, and phone/DSL bills combined.

I truly do not see how the American Dream is even possible for most people any longer. You can, of course, argue whether the American Dream is an appropriate goal for a Christian, but that’s not my point.

Do you think the American Dream is still a possibility for most people? Let’s define the American Dream as the ability to get an education of some kind (military, college or trade), work hard, and achieve what your parents achieved or better when it comes to financial return, advancement and security.

I am really starting to believe that the American Dream is not a possibility for a growing segment of the population. How about you?

There is one area in my life where I do not wish to practice simplifying and downsizing. It is Christmas.

I can tell you all the reasons why it is good to do a simple Christmas, why giving less gifts is good, why Christmas isn’t about the gifts, blah, blah, blah. But the fact of the matter is that I love a good blowout of gift giving at Christmas.

Now blowout is a relative term. I’m not talking thousands of dollars and I’m not talking about debt. I’m just talking about piles and piles of gifts under the tree that are carefully selected, gorgeously wrapped, under the tree for at least two or three weeks, and paid for in full.

One of my primary love languages is gifts – both the giving and the receiving. And nothing disappoints me like not being able to give gifts when I want to either because I can’t afford it or the person has indicated they no longer desire to exchange gifts.

We’ve had a couple of much leaner Christmases the past two years and frankly it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Call me shallow if you want, but I found it took a lot of joy out of the season to not be able to give freely as I have in the past.

Right now we are discussing how much to spend on Caroline and what kind of gifts to buy her. I’ve heard all sorts of theories about Christmas gifts. I remember someone writing that they never give their children “necessities” for Christmas like underwear, books, etc. because they should provide those things for their children anyway. They felt that Christmas gifts should be about special things that the children normally wouldn’t receive.

I remember someone else suggesting giving five gifts and they were something like A Gift of Faith, A Gift of Love, A Gift of Warmth, A Gift of Joy, etc. So the gift of joy was something the person really wanted, the gift of faith was something related to faith, etc. I thought that was a neat idea although I’m not sure I would want to be bound to the same five topics each year.

So how do you “do” Christmas gifts in your family?

And please take a minute to vote in the poll: On average, how much do you spend per person for Christmas in your immediate family?

Amie wanted to know of any good coupon sites online. She didn’t specify if she was looking for anything in particular so I’m sure she would enjoy hearing about any and all you would care to share.

So please leave a comment and share your favorite places to find your finds!

Thanks!

Lately I really resent having to play the frugal game. I resent having to waste valuable time clipping coupons, looking at ads, etc. I know I don’t HAVE to do it. It is something that I choose to do. But I resent the fact that if I don’t do it, I’m penalized.

Penalized, you say?

Yes, penalized. Let’s face it. Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers didn’t have to waste time stopping at two or three stores, Walgreens, CVS, etc. to pick up the loss leaders, watch the ads, and go to blogs or paid online services to find out the best place to combine this coupon with that special this week. They went to the store and bought what they wanted and what they could afford at the prices marked. Am I the only one who finds all of this hoop jumping just a little ridiculous when you really think about it?

If I don’t do those things, I am penalized. When people go to Walgreens and do some fantastic transaction that involves ringing up multiple items with coupons, rebates, earned dollar credit things and who knows what else, who do you think is paying for it? The corporation? I don’t think so. The corporation isn’t going to cut their profits because some mom in Michigan is making out like a bandit. Those savings come out of the pockets of everyone who doesn’t play the game and pays full price.

I know it is asking a lot, but wouldn’t it be easier if we all just got a fair price for the item in the first place? Should we really need to waste our precious life energy on things so stupid as couponing and rebating and whatever else is involved? Doesn’t anyone else resent this stupid system to we have to deal with?

I know why people play these games. It helps them stay home with their kids, it gives them money for other things, etc. I’m not saying they are bad people for playing the game and playing it very well in some cases. I’m just saying that I resent the fact that if I don’t play the game, I’m subsidizing someone else’s game playing.

On the other hand, when I do play the game, someone else is subsidizing me. And that bothers me, too.

Is it a Christ-like thing to do this? Would Christ buy ten tubes of toothpaste at once in five transactions so he could get ten dollars back in rebates and a five dollar gift card for some future purchase?

Does any of what I’m saying make sense to anyone else?

Yahoo! had an article today entitled Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder. I’ve seen the rising prices at the grocery store, especially over the past six months or so. They are definitely going up more quickly than people’s pay.

I’m thinking this is not going to be a very good Christmas for a lot of families. When stamps went up to 42 cents this fall I thought – It is going to cost me almost A DOLLAR to mail out TWO Christmas cards this fall. I love sending out cards and a letter, but this has got me doing some serious thinking about what we are going to do about our card sending.

Thankfully most of the things I love best about Christmas aren’t going to cost us anything. We have a church to attend. We have a tree and decorations. We have lots of Christmas music and movies to enjoy. We can make some special treats. We have Christmas books to enjoy. Caroline is so small that the number of gifts is irrelevant to her and she’ll enjoy receiving just a few things.

I know it probably seems kind of early to be talking about Christmas, but it has been on my mind as I think about how the economy is slowly tanking and is probably going to drop a lot further before it improves. Should be interesting times ahead…

I recently posted a taco seasoning recipe that I found in The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I purchased my copy in 1999 (it says so on the flyleaf) and it is well used. It is yellowed and has flags coming out the top and side, bookmarks, etc.

I’ve decided I am going to start going through it again because I haven’t been through it since we had Caroline. Now that we have a child, I am sure there will be a number of things that catch my attention that didn’t the prior times through.

Parts of the book are too extreme for me, but I love going through this book because it helps me get back into the thrifty mindset.

So how about you?