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Savings and Spending

January 2nd, 2023 at 09:52 pm

We recently received our power bill and it was the most we've ever spent! It wasn't unexpected, but it still was painful. And this next month's will probably be more since we had that Polar Vortex with Winter Storm Elliott and it seemed like the furnace was running an awful lot.

In the bill was a flyer with suggestions on how to cut energy costs. I almost had to chuckle. The suggestions were things we've done for years such as turn the heat down when we leave for any extended time, make sure windows and doors are closed, and unplug any appliances you aren't using. I wondered who put together that list. I guess I was disappointed in not finding better information. Then again, those of us at SA are probably ahead of the game. 

One of my friends gave me a gift card for a meat market. I'm looking forward to using it. Last week I did our weekly grocery shopping and spent over $130 and wondered what the heck was so expensive since I only bought one package of chicken. And it was a small package! But prices keep rising and just buying basics and fresh fruit is getting more and more expensive.

We had some turkey left over from a meal last week. Actually we've had two meals from the turkey breast and there still was some left. I made turkey and wild rice soup for lunch today and there's enough to make a casserole for tomorrow night's supper. Plus, there is a little soup left which we will be having for lunch tomorrow. I don't want to waste anything! 

We used to buy a lot of crackers because we are big soup eaters. But I have been baking fresh bread and we have a slice of that instead. I did a sourdough starter a few months ago and use it and the "discard" or "excess" as well. The nice thing about using the excess sourdough starter is it adds moisture to what you are baking and  you use less eggs. And we know how expensive eggs have become.

As much as I enjoyed the holidays, I am looking forward to spending less. I did a lot of baking for Christmas, some as gifts and some for our church bazaar. I'm wondering if I will need to cut back on baking for next Christmas because I don't see prices dropping. One can hope, right? 

Posted in Food / Groceries, Saving Money | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Savings and Spending”

  1. Wink Says:
    January 2nd, 2023 at 11:03 pm 1672700582
    1672700582

    I am also expecting a high (for me) utility bill. My utility company sends me these weekly updates on my energy usage and what my "expected" upcoming bill will be. I knew it would be higher because rates went up (like everything else) and we also had that really cold snap, but it's still painful.

  2. VS_ozgirl Says:
    January 3rd, 2023 at 10:48 pm 1672786097
    1672786097

    It’s definitely worthwhile looking into other options for buying meat.. we have been getting meat packs from a butcher shop for the last year and it great value compared to the meat from the supermarket. We pay $140 for 7 items of whatever we choose and it lasts around a month. It works out to $20 per item, so to give you an idea we pay $20 for 2kg of minced meat and at the supermarket it is $7 for 500g, so there are definite savings.

  3. CB in the City Says:
    January 4th, 2023 at 09:17 pm 1672867021
    1672867021

    Was it a ComEd bill? I received an email saying that some customers were overcharged in a billing error. My bill was very high and I'm hoping that an adjustment will be made but I haven't heard anything since then.

  4. rob62521 Says:
    January 7th, 2023 at 12:35 am 1673051738
    1673051738

    CB, no downstate where we live it is Ameren.

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