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by Everyone feels the pinch of the struggling economy as prices continue to rise, affecting not only the price gas but also staple commodities like food. Global corn prices already skyrocketed as farmers converted crops for ethanol production instead of food. Even rice has become expensive and suppliers are beginning to put caps on bulk purchases. Some of that stockpiling behavior is the result of market analysts warning that food stockpiling is a good idea as meat prices have risen 5%, grains upwards of 13% and even eggs at 30%. Not everyone has the means to afford bulk purchase stockpiling and many Americans have returned to coupon searching, dietary shifts, home-grown/homemade solutions and cutting back on pleasure eating as a mechanism to cope with increasing prices. How is inflation touching your life?
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Almost every year, I've gardened and grown about 30% of the food that my family and I eat. Most of what comes out of my garden is either dried or canned at home and used throughout the year. This year, I will have to double the amount of food that I grow at the very least. It will take a lot of careful work to get the increases that I need out of a 30 x 30 plot. I've invested in some porch containers to also grow food. Instead of the usual flower beds, I've planted berries and vegetables, hoping to stretch my food dollars. In addition, this summer, I will be taking advantage of U-pick farms. The produce there is better quality and about 1/4th of the price of what can be had at the grocery store, all for a little sweat involved in harvesting it myself. Should allow me to dry or can more food.
Many of my friends are telling me that I'm working too hard for my food. However I require a certain amount of financial cushion so that I can weather many storms to come. I call it my self taught survival skills from the 80's. 26 years ago as a kid, my family went from a 6 figure income to bordering on poverty. I didn't want to be another victim, so I taught myself survival skills and when times are rough, I resurrect these skills in order to get by.
Menu changes were made. Two less meat dishes during the weekdays and one meat main dish on Sunday. Four days a week, dinner consists of vegetable protiens. One dish that the family likes is my bean and veggie pasta. Essentially, I cook up pasta and mix cooked beans of some sort, grated parmesean, 1 cut up zucchini, and 2 cut up tomatoes. Desserts are simple home canned fruits. We no longer do the weekly Sunday brunch and the bi weekly family dinner out.
Since last year, I started riding my bicycle to work with my two youngest in a carrier. My other kids cycle along with me as they go off to school as well. I'm amazed at how much savings have resulted from biking 1.5 miles to work.
During the past winter, I've cut heating oil expense by 75%. I did this by buying lumber waste from a local building factory for $10 a ton. Last summer, my husband and I got permits to cut firewood in the local national forest. We cut 5 cords of wood and have been using all 4 of our woodstoves. Best part we've allowed our home to be heated to 73 this winter because of wood heat. When we were buying oil, the thermostate was set to 68.
I'm probably jumping the gun in economizing on my living. I don't feel pinched yet. I've found lower cost alternatives to family fun. Should the economy get a lot worse, then I'll be able to weather it better than others in my income bracket. Simplyfying my living experience has had other advantages besides monetary savings, I'm less stressed out, and getting more exercise than before. I may just keep up this lifestyle even if the economy heals itself.
I'm actually quite irritated that I can't ride my bike to work. When I'm in the Manhattan office, work is only 13 miles away and that ride could easily replace my morning workout saving me time and money. However, as the office is in the heart of Times Square ... they don't have any external (secure) locations to lock bikes nor do the building owners allow bikes inside. So I'm stuck riding the bus - which is, of course, still better than driving in myself.
I used to ride to work in Korea. On my two assignments there one was a 1.5 mile ride through a small town and the other was a 3 mile ride through Seoul. The gas savings were significant for both rides but most notably was the time savings riding through Seoul - that same 3 mile drive home equated to a 45 minute traffic headache. The added bonus was during field exercises, it was annoying to get to and from places without an official vehicle because you were not allowed to take your weapon (M16) in a personal vehicle. There was no rule about not riding a mountain bike with an M16 strapped to your back. :-)
Anyway, NYC ought to take a cue from European cities and get better about secure, protected areas for "parking" bikes. It would certainly cut down on a lot of the urban traffic.
I actually have a much different problem in bicycling to work. Even though it’s only just under 7 miles of pleasant country roads to travel on, it’s a serious climb from 1100 ft above sea level to 1700 ft. One cannot just jump on their bike and do this on a realistic daily basis, especially after a lazy winter. It takes (me) 50 grueling minutes or so to get there and about 15 fun filled minutes to get home once I’m able to make it at all. There is no public transportation that way at all. No reason whatsoever to actually lock the bike up though…
In the summer I sometimes do it once or twice a week, mostly for the exercise, but also it tends to stretch gas buying out just that much more.
On another rant, like many cities and towns, the city I live near has almost no allowance in certain sections for anyone who wants to walk or bike from one place to another unless they take their life in their hands. One section which goes between shopping areas gives you several choices. 1. Drive 2. Walk a busy road along a guardrail with a 2 inch wide lane between yourself and traffic. 3. Walk on the other side of the guardrail with a 1 foot wide dirt path between you and a fairly deep rushing river 10 feet below. People do all 3, but mostly they drive. Or, try crossing a 5 way 2-3 lane intersection with no crosswalks or islands…
Here is an interesting concept to economizing and inflation. I found this on msn, its about becoming a one car family and how others have managed to do it.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/HomeMortgageSavings/CouldYouGetByWithJustOneCar.aspx
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Yanking on the Economic Chain by gnifyus :: NR7 :: on 27 April 2008
Last summer, because I'm cheap, I absolutely refused to pay $3.00 for gas. I had filled my vehicle with $2.99 gas and I rode my bike to work, drove as little as possible and just as I was running on fumes, the price dipped to 2.99 (point 9). It was a meaningless game, I know, but I kidded myself into feeling satisfied about it. I showed them!
This year the game was over before it could even start. All of a sudden this year, from about last October on, I've had to do weird things with transferring money around just to pay the bills; things I never had to do before. I even opted for one of those "0% for 15 months" credit cards to offset some expenses we normally would have had no problem paying off all at once before all this. Suddenly money is the topic of conversation a lot. So what have we done? Not having city trash pickup where we live, we stopped the trash pickup service and now just drive it to the transfer station ourselves saving about $20-$25 a month. (It's not far) We got rid of our cell phones when the contract ran out because neither my wife nor I have a real need for them other than for convenience, there's ~$100 dollars a month. We rarely eat out anymore, and to be honest, I don't miss it much; especially when it probably saves about $200-$250 a month for a family of four. My wife has become real good with coupons at the grocery store which seem to save $50 or so for a big shopping trip. She's a good cook too, so no one's suffering. Oh, and I shut off and drained the hot tub for the winter. Yeah I know -- poor us.
It's actually amazing what you can save when you want to. But notice, most of these cutbacks all affect someone else in the economic chain. Except the hot tub, I guess; the electric companies seem to be O.K. these days.
Velocity of Money by VnutZ :: NR8 :: on 29 April 2008
But notice, most of these cutbacks all affect someone else in the economic chain.
That's a very good point. While the action saves you money in the short run, it's actual impact in the big pictures is slowing the Velocity of Money. An interesting article on Safe Haven describes the influence of Money Velocity on inflation. It's just one of those spiraling factors that unfortunately perpetuate a cycle.
I would suppose that chaos theory could be modeled fantastically upon the financial services industry using the appropriate data.