My husband and I were talking today about the rising cost of living. It just seems to be getting more and more difficult to make ends meet. I was keenly aware of that fact today as I filled up my car for $63, and had to trade it later with Travis because I wanted him to drive it so he could try and determine why it is shaking. That left me with his truck which was on empty when we made the swap - so I filled it up, to the tune of $75. It is just overwhelming.
It is getting more and more expensive to buy groceries every week, causing me to have to be more and more creative with what I'm feeding my family which takes more time. Travis said he heard that economist are predicting a large jump on the price of food, oh goodie! The worst thing is that our income is unchanging. It seems the only thing that is static while everything else is fluctuating.
Then I got an email from my friend pointing me to this link. I have actually seen the book it references before called What the World Eats / Hungry Planet because it is by one of my favorite photojournalists, Peter Menzel who did two life-changing books called Material World and Women of the Material World. It helps me remember how blessed I am even when it seems difficult. It reminds me that people the world over are so joyful with so much less - and that maybe it is because they have so much less. I am going to choose to be thankful for this day, this bread, this moment, this smile, this conversation, this warm breeze. God is all over every one of these things. He may be doing the most wonderful thing in the midst of all that seems so discouraging. Sometimes I just need a good bonk on the head!
Thank you Father!
I have seen this before and thought it was such a cool project. Made me think twice! My hubby and I were having the same discussion tonight about tightening our spending due to rising costs.
ReplyDeleteI think we just need to stop eating...
ReplyDeleteI totally get it, food costs way too much.
Tightening spending doesn't help the economy, people who have money should spend money.
It's those of us that don't have any but still have to face the rising costs when the paycheck isn't rising with it that struggle.
I was just telling Danielle that is so disheartening that even though we make more money now we are no better off. It cost me $66 last time I filled up the van. Typically I was filling up twice a week, I am working hard at getting it down to once by consolidating all trips and even at lunch at work just taking walks rather than using the car to run errands as I used to. And this summer I will be dropping another day of work, and plan on just staying home. Not just for gas, although it was in the back of my mind that I will probably save almost as much as I am giving up! As you well know, this lovely place we live is not a walk friendly place - in that I can not just get up and walk to town, to work or anywhere.
ReplyDeleteFood has jumped too - a few weeks ago I noticed that the candy bars at W-mart checkout wer .64. Big deal right? Except they were .44 not too long ago. That is a 45 % increase in price. Obviously nobody needs a candy bar, and even still, .64 is nothing really, but if that went up so significantly no wonder my grocery bill each week keeps climbing higher and higher, even with less people in the house to feed.
That was a cool link - I don't know if I saw all the pics because of the ads that kept popping up. Were you surprised at how much soda the family in Mexico and the family in Sicily had in the background? I was!
It's kinda scary - especially when it is effecting things we have to have. Food and gas. I've thought about growing a vegetable garden to help save in grocery costs, but I have a brown thumb. I'm unable to walk to work or I'd do that. I feel stuck. I have been noticing that if I make a grocery list with a planned out menu - I do save tremendously. Last week I only spent $73 which for our family of 4 is great. It takes more effort, but, to me, the savings are worth it.
ReplyDeleteThose books are so wonderful. We've gotten them time and time again from the library to browse.
ReplyDeleteIt is getting really hard. We never eat out, unless it is birthdays. I cook from scratch most of the time. But I just can't bring myself to skimp on quality. I want us to eat healthy.
Wow, Julie! That "What the World Eats" link was fantastic! Amazing how drastic a family's staple diet alters from country to country! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete