My Favorite Addiction

[Wendel]

Coffee has gone up $2.00 a bag over here.  The thought of not being able to afford my favorite vice anymore is making me a little cranky.  And I'm sure the crankiness will increase as my level of caffeination decreases.  

Are the rising prices making you rethink any of your buying practices yet?

[Wendel]

Priorities.  I hear you.

[Bob Stepp]

I'm keepin' a close eye on the chocolate speculators.

[Wendel]

I'm toast if I can't afford either.  Or have to choose between coffee and chocolate!

[Wendel]

I'm pretty frugal too, I'm just on a tight budget right now.  And I agree, the cost of seafood is awful right now.

[d's girl]

Yes, Wendel, I have made adjustments to accommodate the kind of food & coffee that I choose to buy. I buy as much organic produce as is available & affordable to me, as well as 'clean,' minimally processed meat. As I shifted into 'most' of my shopping purchases being based on this, rather than just 'here & there,' my grocery bill skyrocketed. My solution: I rarely eat out. I went from eating out about once or twice a week to eating out once a month or less. The savings balanced out my increased grocery bills.

Coffee: Last year or year before last, when I first began living on a very restricted budget, I decided I could no longer afford my $11/lb coffee habit. So I started trying lesser expensive grocery store brands. I went through most, if not all, of them. They suck. I hate them. I'd just as soon not drink coffee. So then I had a brilliant idea: I'd buy the best coffee I could find that was on sale, stock up on it, and then mix it half & half w/my $11/lb coffee. 

All that did was ruin my $11/lb coffee. 

My current solution: I cut my coffee bill by 1/3 by making 1/3 less coffee than I used to. That's the best solution I've come up with. I'm very open to other suggestions.

[Bob Stepp]

Eat more chocolate and grits.........though not at the same time...

[Wendel]

Grits?  As a substitute for coffee?  Are you mad????

[Bob Stepp]

No, i don't think so. Did somebody piss me off??

[Wendel]

Mad as in crazy, Bob.  Grits for coffee......does not compute

[Bob Stepp]

Did it cross your mind that I might be pullin' her leg???   ;=)

[Wendel]

I don't think I could afford to eat organic.  And I'm a little leery of things that claim they are organic.  What does it entail?  Is organic food regulated so that we know it really is organic?  I guess I should do some research on the subject.

[Quinn]

Unlike Miss Spendthrift up there, my coffee is $8.00 a bag. I won't compromise. I'll cut something else out before I give up my coffee.

 

Aside from coffee, I have changed my buying habits.

There is an Aldi Supermarket in my town. It a “no-brand-name” store. It isn’t that far from me, but it isn’t the closest grocer to me either. It also doesn’t have everything I want or need so, I didn’t shop there.

Now, I do. Not for everything…some of their things aren’t very good—canned soup, tomato sauce…

But, milk is milk, eggs are eggs,…

The stores don’t have a lot of refrigeration so the produce is fresh daily. As is the meat. I probably buy 50% of my groceries from there now and my cost is easily half of what I would pay at a big grocery chain.