Since so many mention the cost of food; here’s a nationwide list of Farmer’s Markets. http://farmersmarket.com/ Cut down on the middle-man, stop paying for transportation and packaging costs, eat healthier for less, and Farmer’s Markets are fun….lots of interesting people. Here’s a blog on collective gardening…http://seemoregreen.wordpress.com/ Another wonderful service….boxes of organic produce delivered weekly right to your door, often recipes including online. Here’s one link as an example, to find something near you do a Google search for boxed produced delivered, or some such until you find what you need. http://www.shareorganics.bc.ca/about.htm And buy Whole Foods 365 brands on sale, and bagged fruit. They’re good, healthy and affordable. Make soup! Drink lots of water instead of sodas…very unhealthy/no nutrition/expensive, bad for the environment. Sheesh….I sound like my mother…

Folks, the situation we are in right now has been years/decades in the making. this is not something that happened ‘overnight’. i look at the period of time that my parents were born & raised (1920s) and the tough times they weathered. we have NO IDEA what tough times are like. What we are living now is nothing compared to what they experienced. We have been living way above our means for years … buying with credit, thinking that we or our kids have to have the latest & greatest, keeping up with the Jones’s. we have more gadgets & gizmos that i think have made life more complicated. And the folks who are buying into the $800-$1200 shoes/purses, the high-end cars, the McMansions … they have helped fueled this overindulgent, shallow, flip society. i was raised on a farm. i was never dirty, never lived in a dirty house, never went hungry. birthday and Christmas gifts consisted of socks, underwear, clothes & maybe something i had longingly looked at in the ol’ Wishbook. we never went out to eat (unless we went to ‘the city’), it was extremely rare to go to a ‘picture show’ but boy howdy, when we did, it was a TREAT. we had lots of get-togethers with family, neighbors, church functions. i look back & even tho i had a conservative, frugal upbringing, it’s made me who i am today. i have always been a careful shopper of groceries, clothing, services. i use coupons, watch sales. i am a voracious reader … therefore i am a library junkie. My husband & i do go out to eat, but never fast food (THAT has gotten outrageously expensive) … we’ll spend a little extra & have a nice dinner with friends. we used to be big movie goers, but that has gotten too expensive & too much of a crap shoot anymore … too many pathetic movies with over-indulged, self-absorbed ‘movie stars’. ugh. even tho everything has gone up, things will get better. this is a great learning experience for the “gotta have it NOOOOWWWWWWWWW” gneration. this is a reality check.

and by the way … i’m in my 40s.

Most things in the supermarket are higher and the packaging is getting smaller. I look at unit prices and only buy what’s on sale. Luckily, I know how to stretch food and make it taste good. So glad my children are grown - I couldn’t imagine feeding my son in today’s economy. I’m recycling, reusing, and doing without non-essential. Movie matinees, free entertainment, and going to the library more than buying books. Necessity is the mother of inventiona and this mother is creating her behind off. Crisis touch everyone although joy and abundance does not.

Vet bills have become so high over the past few years. Every visit is at least $250 for a regular check up or a minor emergency. Special diet food, meds, major medical problems…as much as I love animals I don’t think it will be possible to ever own another pet after our aging Westie is gone. Insurance of all kinds, medical, auto, home just continues to increase. We just moved our insurances to AARP’s suggested Prudential program, only to be told we didn’t get the very best rate because of a credit problem—-not due to late payments or anything like that. We actually have perfect credit, but what we didn’t have was a 40 YEAR CREDIT HISTORY (only 38 years….)

EVERYTHING!!!

Gas is horrible, but the price of milk and eggs!!!!! I love to cook and bake, well guess that slows me down a bit. We (husband) and me are trying to get everything ready this year for retirement next year, yuk with the prices its getting harder and harder to buy things to button up the house with improvements so we dont have much to do in later years.

I’m right up there with Marlo Thomas - my peace of mind is feeling the pinch along with everything that’s actually costing me more money. Insurance, both property and medical. Food. Gas. Utility bills. Since I’m the sole breadwinner supporting a family of six, I worry ALL THE TIME. I read with interest the question here on the site on being fired - I’ve only been fired once that I recall, and it was over 20 years ago when I was trying to decide between continuing school and working. It became a moot point when my dad moved away after remarrying, and I decided to stay here in CT - I pretty much had to work, although of course back then it was only myself I had to worry about. Now the stakes are much higher, and it’s not helping that the cost of every little thing is rising faster than my salary.

There was a ” funny” article in our local paper, “The Palm Beach Post,” “Tightening The Alligator Belt.” The jist of the article was that people were buying the same services but they were shopping for better prices: haircuts for $20 less, a new dry cleaners that pressed shirts for less, a housekeeper that was less, manicures for less: you get the idea. To me this is the way to shoot the legs out from under the economy. I am not going to give up my faithful housekeeper for a few bucks less. But then again, maybe we have too many manicurists and licensed massage therapists and this is the way of the market correcting itself. For awhile there, it seemed that every person I knew who came out of addiction treatment was getting a “real” job and getting trained to be a licensed massage therapist., printing business cards and lo and behold, they were in business for themselves. This service is not a “need” but a “want.” and is dispensable. As are facials, 3x a week manicures and weekly pedicures or polish changes. I went to Neiman-Marcus on the Island (Palm Beach) the other day for some Wolford opaque tights to replenish my supply for the season. Last time I picked them up they were $42.00/pr. They didn’t have any so they shipped them to me from another store. $56.00/pr. now! In one week’s time! I brought it back to Lingerie thinking it to be a mistake only to be told, “It’s the Euro!” I returned them. I am finding another way to meet that need. That is just too expensive. Jo Malone candles? Now $65.00. Forget it! I’ll find another brand. There are plenty of other great smelling candles that aren’t that costly.Personally, I like Archipelago Havana (My husband is Cuban). We don’t have to give in to this Euro robbery! Make wise choices! The internet makes it so easy! Try www.deallocker.com for extra savings especially on shipping. For what it’s worth… Your newest fan, AJT

Everything is more expensive. Food, gas … everything. I’m basically retired without the benefit of a pension, too young for SS, but I get by. I live in a small, rural town in WNY where we are at the mercy of the local super?market. Because they’re small, independent, their prices are terribly high. However, a trip to town to shop at the larger stores takes a gallon of gas, so add $3.45 to the cost of the purchases and I rethink the need to make the journey. Thankfully, I’ve been a good shopper my entire life and have a very well-stocked pantry which keeps me fed. The cost of gas has kept me from my monthly visit with my very elderly mom, 750 miles round-trip. But at least the low cost of phone calls keeps me in touch with her on a daily basis. Not the same as a visit, but the calls keep her going. Health insurance is out of the question. $450/mo for minimal coverage. I’ll take my chances. The good thing is most of my neighbors are in the same boat and we gather together to help out folks who need help. Fund raisers are a common thing. Recently we put together an event to help a neighbor who is facing breast cancer surgery and was close to losing her home to back taxes. In 3 hours we raised $2000 to get the tax-man off her back. I guess I’m really not so bad off after all.

Food, gasoline, my cable bill, prescriptions …. you name it, it is going up! I just received a letter our telephone company yesterday and it said the monthly bill for our home phone is going up — again! The one thing that is going down is my bank account!

I whole heartedly agree with Marlo - from her keyboard to God’s inbox!!!

In Realtiy everything is increased in price ….except for employment, salaries, stocks, interest on our money, our homes values, and our hopes and we are paying dearly for this mis management of govenment…. sorry to say!