costs going up

There has been a spike in the cost of groceries here just in the last week. Most things have increased in cost (from the supermarket) by at least 10-20%...meat has gone up 30%.

In the GTA here, gas is up around $1.34-$1.38. May have even reach $1.40 if i remember correctly. Just since Monday. Keep watching, it's not over

Unleaded fuel here is currently at $1.50au per litre, diesel is more. I only use the car when I need to do long trips, otherwise I walk. Moral: it doesn't matter where you live, it's happening everywhere!

Here are some ways that I have saved money over the years. Number one rule of thumb being try and cut out the retail middle man if possible on any purchase.

Food - Buy produce at farmers markets or go for a drive one day in farm country and look for signs or stands at the end of driveways. You can find just about anything close to the city like eggs, milk, cheese, produce etc. Get to know the farmer and if you like their products make them your regular supplier. If you know someone who owns a restaurant ask them if you can get in on some of their discount ordering.

Buy in bulk on not just food. Get a Costco membership or ask a friend who does to take you along when they go. Costco is a preppers paradise and you can get just about anything there. Bulk Barn is also a pretty good place to go. For more specific items I contact and try and buy from the manufacturers or distributors directly whenever possible. You would be surprised how many of them sell direct to consumers.

Shop at ethnic/independent grocery stores if you live in the city. They are always less expensive on many items than the big chains like Sobey's, Metro or Loblaws. Check out Starsky's on Dundas in Mississauga if you need a good example. Even the East Indian and Asian super markets are dirt cheap on many items. Amish/Mennonite farmers are great and are happy to sell organic food at a good price. There are a bunch in St Jacobs near Kitchener and in Bruce County.

This year I am going in on a side of organic beef direct from a farmer with a couple guys for the first time. I'll have around 100 pounds of beef and all cuts except ground beef will keep frozen for 9-12 months. Should save a bunch on meat bills and will definitely have a few big BBQ's with friends and neighbors this summer.

Hunting and fishing is a great way to acquire protein however it is not practical for most. Just one large deer or moose can feed a family for a long time.

A home food garden is a must. Doable even in an apartment. Nuff said.

Everyday and specialty goods - Eliminate the retail middle man and buy second hand whenever possible. These day's you can find just about anything on Kijiji, craigslist, Ebay etc. If I need to buy new I buy online but only after looking at my own personal showroom a.k.a chain retail stores. Another thing I discovered is that just because it is a big chain store doesn't mean the prices are better than the mom and pop shops. I just bought a couple heavy duty padlocks at the local independently owned lock shop that where a few dollars cheaper each than at the mega size Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Winners is one of the only chain stores I hit these days and I don't lack for quality duds at huge markdowns. Always shop around. Both my vehicles and my current boat and motor were bought used. I saved a ton off the top and was able to pay cash for them so I avoided having to get dinged on payments. It pays to know a mechanic personally when buying used machinery as I have had no problems. Try to buy garage stored vehicles with maintenance records whenever possible. My latest SUV for example was a 2 year old dealer demo with warranty and it had hardly any mileage on it but I saved a bunch off the sticker price. Auctions are awesome. Stay to the end when many vendors let stuff they didn't sell go for next to nothing.

Services - Need a plumber, electrician or service contractor? Get several quotes before choosing. I had to replace a bunch of knob and tube in an old house I bought and renovated and I got competing quotes from licensed electricians that were thousands of dollars apart. I also try and do as much around the properties myself as possible. For example, painting my own house last year saved me about $5000 easy. I have always moved homes myself. Rent a truck and round up some family and friends to help. My last move cost me around $400 instead of $4000 estimated cost from a mover.

Entertainment- We cancelled our cable TV over a year ago. With 2 boxes and a fat cable package I was paying $120 a month + pay per views. Since I mostly only watch movies I got a Netflix membership for $8 a month. It isn't high def to the max but it doesn't matter I don't watch TV that much anyways and don't really care.

Phone - Got rid of my landline and my monthly long distance plan and got a MagicJack. Now I make all the free local and long distance calls I want and I can take it anywhere. I also use Skype. I called up my rip-off cellphone provider last year and told them that unless they could give me a better deal I was leaving. They refused and I bought out of the last 7 months of my contract for only $10 a month. Now I am with another company and my bill went from $100+ to $45 dollars a month for the same service. If you do this make sure that your phone company knows that their high prices are why you are leaving.

Electricity - Unplug everything that you aren't using or don't need to plug in and when you go away for the weekend turn off the breakers to non-essential parts of the house. We also switched all our exterior, lamp bulbs and track lighting from the power hogging bulbs to LED. Burns much more efficient and lasts longer than even compact fluorescent. Also, heat your home with firewood if possible and set your furnace low or keep it off when you aren't home. Programmable thermostats are worth it. Also turn down your hot water heater and even your fridge just a little. It makes a difference. We line dry our clothes outdoors weather permitting or right in the laundry room in the winter or if its raining. Then we just fluff for a few minutes in the dryer if needed. Wash machine on cold, short cycles unless its for heavy duty or really dirty items. Cook with propane on BBQ and side burner in the city as much as possible. Way less expensive than using electric.

Water - Stick a standard size brick in the tank of your toilets. You will still get more than enough water to flush anything down. Water plants and garden with captured rainwater. I don't do it but flushing toilets with rainwater will save you on water bills.

Cars - Keep your tires properly inflated. I check mine once a week. It makes a difference on fuel costs.

And always remember when buying anything especially second hand: CASH IS KING 😉

That's all I can think off of the top of my head right now but if anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear them.

Great post there, PrepNow.

Thank you Susannah.

I almost forgot one of the most important easy money savers. The coffee factor. Many people buy 1-2 coffees a day for anywhere from $1.50-$5. At say $2 a coffee once a day 5 times a week, times that over a month and you can save yourself $50 or so just by making coffee at home and bringing it with you in a good thermos. Think about how nice it would be to have an extra $500-$600 in your pocket every year.

Besides most of the popular coffee shop's coffee is pretty bad anyways.

Excellent suggestions for everyone, PrepNow! I utilize most of them anyway already....
In Fact, my electrical bill is 1/3 of what it used to be simply by using Compact Florencent Lightbulbs everywhere, getting rid of the garage Freezer and Fridge, and using power bars (to turn off ANYTHING not in use).
I stopped buying ANY lottery tickets or scratch tickets and figure I could have spent $500.....enough to buy a major item on my 'wish' list. Thanks for the great post!

I don't think people realize this means gas will go up 5 cents a litre instead of 1 cent a litre when they stop using the penny.

CAUTION at buying from COSTCO or any bulk buying stores, their prices are not always cheaper. If your buying bulk from them, be sure to bring along the local shopping flyers (3-4) to ensure that your getting a deal. And only buy what you, or your co-buy group are going to use in the life span of that produce. I use to get mad at my ex for buying large jars of apple sauce because they were on sale, and yet we ended throwing half of it out because it went bad from not using.

CAUTION at buying from COSTCO or any bulk buying stores, their prices are not always cheaper. If your buying bulk from them, be sure to bring along the local shopping flyers (3-4) to ensure that your getting a deal. And only buy what you, or your co-buy group are going to use in the life span of that produce. I use to get mad at my ex for buying large jars of apple sauce because they were on sale, and yet we ended throwing half of it out because it went bad from not using.

Good point. I agree 100%. That is why shopping around is a must. Costco has some fantastic deals on stuff but not on everything.

CAUTION at buying from COSTCO or any bulk buying stores, their prices are not always cheaper. If your buying bulk from them, be sure to bring along the local shopping flyers (3-4) to ensure that your getting a deal. And only buy what you, or your co-buy group are going to use in the life span of that produce. I use to get mad at my ex for buying large jars of apple sauce because they were on sale, and yet we ended throwing half of it out because it went bad from not using.

I keep a price sheet of the most recent sale prices (say over the past 3-6 months and date them, and make note of any holidays that may be the impetus for the sale eg: turkey/cranberries/canned pumpkin at Thanksgiving, cream cheese/baking supplies at Xmas/Easter) then compare the unit prices at Costco and Wholesale Club etc. Easier than carrying flyers and you can also pinpoint the sale cycles of what you use and only buy on sale and keep enough on hand to get you through to the next cycle for that item.

Also...keep an eye out for other cultural holidays... our Metros have flyer inserts for Hindu/Muslim/Chinese holidays and I can get ghee,tahini, chickpeas, lentils, rice, Indian/Middle Eastern/Chinese ingredients, seasonings,and snack foods at substantial savings

CAUTION at buying from COSTCO or any bulk buying stores, their prices are not always cheaper. If your buying bulk from them, be sure to bring along the local shopping flyers (3-4) to ensure that your getting a deal. And only buy what you, or your co-buy group are going to use in the life span of that produce. I use to get mad at my ex for buying large jars of apple sauce because they were on sale, and yet we ended throwing half of it out because it went bad from not using.

i'm from a smaller city and we have a privately owned bulk food store. it's much cheaper then any costco's i've every been too on 95% of things and there is no membership fee! somethings aren't cheaper then the local stores, but NOTHING is more then buying local. heck, i've rarely found deals when going to any of the near by costcos (2 hours at least away) that would justify the membership. that's before you add in the travel time.

i'm not a fan of costcos for living where i do, but i know i'm also paying a lot less at stores then the bigger cities do.

COSTS GOING UP <---- and no one has mentioned how gas has gone up since midnight?...I was up driving around at that time, saw it flip to $1.40. I was told it was going up so we filled our truck, i know it was only a .5 differance but still....im still keeping my eyes peeeeld. It might be going up higher, the gas station I went to, soon as it hit $1.40, when I passed back by it last night, had a sign on its door saying "I don't opend for strangers, the door is locked and remotely opened. I guess you go, pump ur gas, n then he'll let you in. No stopping for snacks or drinks unless he knows you, which I had to do, cuz I needed smokes, and thats how I saw the notice, was pretty freaky. He knows me though 😛 so I didnt get sent away, but non-the-less, is this an obvious warning that they expect ppl to freak out, and possibly the gas may keep going up??????...........

I don't think people realize this means gas will go up 5 cents a litre instead of 1 cent a litre when they stop using the penny.

Freedom - I mentioned it 🙁