How are retirees on fixed incomes coping with the surge in food and energy prices? (vacation, friends)

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Mikala43

I lived on wine.

I’m sorry. Hugs.

My mom did that though, actually martinis. I learned not to do that. In fact, I stopped drinking entirely. I did it very rarely, but doing it alone felt really really wrong. Kind of triggering.

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Might be time to plan more 'Grow-your-own', or join a local gleaner network. https://nationalgleaningproject.org/gleaning-map/
Our freezer is full, but mostly berries and salmon, tho 1/2 beef comes in January.
I was only able to get (2) free turkeys this yr, so I will need to find a few more of those.

Perhaps leaving a few berries for the bears and more salmon to reach Idaho's Snake river and upper Columbia?
I sure do miss the fresh seafood at mom's beach house. Clamming tide this weekend at 1900hr. I give the clams a running start and I take additional handicaps. We grew blackberries on the farm- I always left enough for the wildlife which created new blackberry vines in 3 years

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

This is the worst inflation I've seen in 40 years dating back to 1982 or so. A BBQ whole chicken that I could buy ready to eat for $5 last year in Von's has now doubled to $10.

That isn't inflation. That is the doubling of the price of one item. Inflation is an increase in the general price level.

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

Seniors were already struggling to feed themselves before this inflation hit....

Uh, no.

Seniors are the wealthiest of all age cohorts. Seniors are much better off than middle-aged who in turn are better off than younger workers.

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

I like 5 Guys' burger but damn, it's $9.99 for a cheeseburger!

It's probably more like $2 for the cheeseburger, and $7.99 to pay for the $18/hour order takers, burger flippers & table wipers who mostly stand around and watch TikTok videos on their $1,000 iPhones.

[Mikala43]

Originally Posted by moguldreamer

It's probably more like $2 for the cheeseburger, and $7.99 to pay for the $18/hour order takers, burger flippers & table wipers who mostly stand around and watch TikTok videos on their $1,000 iPhones.

And there is a reasonable solution for this.

Make your own darn burger at home.

I've never seen workers in a restaurant standing around watching their phones.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by ansible90

That's why you have to check other insurance companies every few years. You might be surprised at how much you can save by switching.

I have checked often over the years especially after the recent increases due to our state banning discounts for good credit score. We found that being with the same company since 1975, with 2-3 cars, life and homeowner insurance (and business for 16 years) we get discounts that keep it lower than anyone else can beat. At the moment we pay a total of about $1,600/year for the 2017 F150, 2020 Outback and 2017 25' Travel Trailer, all with $250 deductible collision, comprehensive, and uninsured motorist. I'm more concerned with the homeowner insurance cost which spiked due to the cost of lumber and other materials, and labor shortage. It went from $1,900-2,300 for our 3,000 sf house. Construction cost here is now $450/sf if you can even find a contractor with availability.

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

Better: elderly gentleman requires some to cook for him---for free if possible.

Will you provide the uniform?

[moguldreamer]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

I generally try to eat pretty healthy, but those chickens are a good value for what they are.

Look at breakfast this morning. I could go through McDonald's and get 2/$2 sausage biscuits. Unhealthy as can be.

What did I eat? Three Morningstar farms hot and spicy vegetarian sausage patties. They're $4.39 bag for six patties at Kroger, so about $2.20 for the "healthy meat" alone. I can get real sausage a lot cheaper than that.

Two Van's multigrain waffles. 6 for $3, so $1 there.

Probably about $2 in fresh raspberries. 12 oz. at Sam's for $7.

I also made a homemade smoothie - frozen dragonfruit ($5 for 12 oz. at Kroger), some orange juice, frozen raspberries/blackberries/blueberries. Maybe $2 there?

My breakfast was probably $6-$8. It's not cheap to eat healthy. The fresh berries are expensive.

Sitting right next to the fresh raspberries at Sam's were 20 oz of fresh blueberries (from Peru) for less than half that. Remember, it is only the beginning of summer south of the equator.

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I just stopped and got two breakfast taquitos and a medium drink from DQ and it was nearly $9! Sorry, but that's crazy.

My breakfast:



1/4 cup of dry steel cut oats (about 40 grams) is about 20 cents. Add in 20 cents of fresh blueberries.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

For one thing they're probably not buying the frivolous convenience foods you folks keep mentioning in this thread! Most likely they're paring down budgets, stocking up via sales, cooking simpler meals from scratch at home, being more efficient with car trips, being mindful about lights, electronics, and other power consumers, conserving water, etc. This stuff isn't new, especially for someone who's been around long enough to be labeled a senior!

FWIW, one of my pet peeves is the "fixed income" whine. Unless you work for yourself (you decide what you earn at a given time) or on some sort of commission basis, most people, "senior" or otherwise ARE on fixed incomes.

Wow, I bet you are a barrel of laughs at parties.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by katharsis

First, I think that "fixed incomes" refers to those who cannot work overtime for extra money or are able to take on another part-time job or do odd jobs for more money. Of course, that might be incorrect, but it is what I think when I hear the term.

Now to answer the question in the thread title:

We are saving money by mass buying food when it goes on sale. (We bought an extra freezer for storage of meat and frozen vegies that is connected to a generator in case of power outage.) We also have limited our wine buying (about 97% of our alcoholic beverage purchases) both in quantity and quality. Where we used to spend close to $20 a bottle on average, we now spend about $12, and we have gone from about 3-4 bottles per week down to 2-3.

And, btw, we only go out to eat once a month and probably 90-95% of our meals are made from scratch using fresh ingredients.

Oh, and another biggie -- when we were told that our senior dog needed a special kidney-related diet at $10 a day ($300 a month!!!), I found a homemade recipe for dogs with kidney problems that costs about $50.00 a month. (And, btw, although our vet was doubtful, he was greatly surprised to find a "marked improvement" in her bloodwork results a month after we started the diet.)

Also, just btw, if one lives in a rural environment and is retired and has a large supply of clothes, one can do without buying any new clothes (or even make-up) for a very long time. We also have a very large DVD collection and only one $35 a month "senior phone" and NO cable.

Other things: We live in "Vacationland", so we don't take vacations, and our preferred entertainments are board games, reading, being on the computer, taking walks, and watching a DVD in the evening -- all of which are either free or cost VERY little money.

P.S. And as we no longer work, we only travel about 500 miles per month on average. (But although we can cope with increased gas prices, I am nervous about possible increases in heating and electricity costs.)