Like sands through the hour glass, so are the pays of our lives..

Just made a run to the local grocery store for a few odds and ends. I spent $90 on six bags of stuff and some milk. It's getting down right depressing going to the store. Most everything has been downsized while keeping the same price or higher. For instance, most bacon is now sold in 12 oz packages instead of 16 oz. Coffee's the same way, and many, many other items. Couple all that with $3.89/ gal gas and ever shrinking paychecks and I don't know how long I will be able to sustain this. Boy if hyperinflation ever hits the fan, we are all acrewed! Thank you Federal Reserve! Rant over......

I saw bay scallops going for $18.99/ lb the other day and I made a scene in front of the deli counter... "$18.99/lb?? What's that, $3 per scallop? I hope no one buys these and they end up rotting for a major loss."

The gas is ridiculous, utility bills are ridiculous, and everything is from China practically.
Our grocery shopping expenses increased by 20% in the past few months, during those Winter months of high costs of heating.

Good times for all.

reply to post by imawlinn


I grow almost all our own vegetables and fruit. I hunt every year and produce about 90% of our meat.
About the only things I buy at the grocery store now is coffee, sugar, salt, spices & soda..
This year I am going to start growing tobacco & stevia so I have my own sweetener and I started growing Garlic last fall.
I typically spend about $75 - $100 a month for stuff from the grocery store and those are things I can do without if I need to.

I preached to people about getting more self sufficient years ago. Sadly most wouldn't listen.

Now things are getting tougher and more and more people are getting it.

I understand that if you live in an apartment in London or New York it is almost impossible to do this but that is part of the challenge.

You have to live in a place that makes it possible to care for yourself, not just a place that's convenient to get to work, school, shopping or close to the night life.

Life is about choices and where to live is one that is going to more and more important in the future. People who choose wrongly will have a much harder if not impossible time surviving "if" we have a economic collapse or even if it gets much worse.

reply to post by mwood

I hunt every year and produce about 90% of our meat.

Not all of us can gut a deer or rabbit, remove the fur and organs, and store that meat for later use. It would be nice to be that independent, but I personally could not do that to an animal. I'd rather chew on tree bark and eat GMO grass.

Fishing on the other hand, no problem, but we're not paying $35+ per person for fishing licenses every year... so we take the kids fishing and let them catch the fish, children don't need a license here.

reply to post by mwood


Wow outstanding! I'm gonna have to put a garden in this year if I can find the time. Two jobs and three kids don't leave much free time, or sleep for that matter. I appluad you self sustainability!

reply to post by mwood


Hey there

i recently started my own crops, and so far have planted herbs, garlic, onions, brocolli, cauliflower , potatoes and carrots, my question to you is - have you any tips on things you have naturally learned yourself? or could you do a post with your crops and some tips to help people out - just a thought, you sound like you know what you are doing and would be great to share your knowledge.



OP! I totally understand where you are coming from, its stupid that things are downsized yet priced up!

i was ranting the other day how toilet paper is stupidly priced for something that ..well... wipes your bottom! £2.45 for 4 rolls? same with black bin bags , i went to buy some the other day (and while i recycle- so dont use that many) 10 bags for nealry £3 is ridculous! and i dont live in london where i imagine prices are higher!
i always look out for offers and buy things when on offer!

I realized early last year when I saw the commodity prices skyrocketing that this year would be rough, so I started buying extra food each time I went to the store. I wanted to make sure I had at least 3 months of food available if something were to happen. The commodity prices of sugar, wheat, coffee and cocoa were high enough that I bought a bunch of those items, which saves me a lot at the store now.

For those who can't grow those items (and really, who CAN grow sugar, coffee and cocoa in the northern hemisphere? How many people grow their own wheat and grind it into flour?), I would suggest buying a little extra each time you go to the store. After a while, it really adds up.

I also grew a garden last year, which started off beautifully but was then attacked by insects. Trying to keep it organic by spraying soapy water on the plants and whatnot only seemed to increase their numbers, and I lost a lot of my garden (especially the corn). However, out here, my onions, broccoli, bell peppers and jalepenos grew well. We have 5 acres out here, but the bugs and the prairie critters are hard to deal with. If the rabbits and deer weren't eating my strawberries, the moles were burrowing underneath and eating the roots, killing the plants. Too many bugs on a dry, drought-stricken prairie. They're hungry, thirsty, and the garden is their oasis.

I think my only option is to build some kind of a green house.

Bottom line: Buy a little extra each time you go to the store. Buy staples, and learn to cook. It's cheaper and healthier. Try to grow your own food if you can. It was such a pleasure to go out back and cut some fresh broccoli for free. If anybody has any tips on how to keep an outdoor garden free of pests without drowning it in pesticide, please let me know!

Yesterday I bought ingredients for Nachos and Cesar salad. 49 bucks.

I'm with you brother.

I feel ya brother! The price of meat also went through the roof.

My Mom told me the other day, that the price of pork shoulders (could be beef shoulder meat) went from $0.98+ per pound to like $2.30+ per pound in the markets. Or something like that. I could be wrong with the numbers but I know it's somewhere like a 100% increase in price on certain products.

So I was quite shocked at hearing that. I went on to ask her when this price jump happen, she told me that she's been seeing these fluctuations steadily climbing in the markets since early 2010 all the way till now. So it could have been $1 or less per pound around 2010 and now it's like $2.30+ per pound.

She laughed at me for being surprised at this then starts to nag about how little I shop and how little I help my wife with house chores... Well.. I can't defend myself on this.. I'm a guy who really doesn't do much around the house, other than heavy liftin' duties.

In any case, this may be a bit off topic but I kind of think the real rant should be that why is the cost of living in Southern California so unbearable?

Not sure where you live but here in SoCal, our current gasoline price as of 3/13/2012 is $4.351/gallon. This is average price, I have already seen $4.50+/gallon stations.

To fill a mere 15 gallon tank in most economy vehicles, it cost us $65.27 per tank.

The average cost of living in Southern California is 50% above National level. Housing in SoCal is .. 157% above National level.

To rent a single room, single bath, single parking #ty ass apartment here in Los Angeles county... You're looking at minimum $900 ~ $1,100/month. MINIMUM!!!! You're also not to be expecting to live with high class, highly educated folks. You'll be living with immigrants, semi-criminals and mostly just folks who can't speak English if their lives depends on it.

So I guess I'm kind of turning this into a little rant of my own.

Also, if you look at the California's minimum wage, $8/hour, then consider working 176 hours a month.. You make $1,408 ... before tax. If you're a young adult, with no asset, no children, you're likely on the 22% ~ 25% tax bracket. If you take 22% off of your minimum wage monthly salary.. you're netting about $1098 a month.

The conclusion is that you simply cannot survive in Southern California on minimum wage. You can't even afford a roof over your head, technically.

What's funny is that a lot of companies, I'm talking about small to mid size corporations here in SoCal, still have the audacity to hire white collars at $10/hour.

I am a single mum trying to get by on a government salary and I am getting killed.

I will have 20 bucks for food and that may get me two or three items.Gas is 3.89.

I had to resort to eating my mre stash this week.