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Happiness is Positive Cash Flow

J
JeepChick

A lot of us have taken hits to the pocket over the past year.  Job loss.  Restructuring.  Gas prices.  Mortgage rates.


Luckily, I bounced back from my job loss pretty quickly.  My mortagage is a fixed rate.  I don't have a long commute to eat up gas.  So I was wondering when this would start to hit my pocket.


Bojangles.  My Combo went up $0.80.  Explanation?  Chicken is more expensive. 


Groceries.  I buy the same crap every two weeks.  Went up almost 30 dollars.   Milk.  Orange Juice.  Prepacked Juice Boxes.  Oatmeal.  Bananas.  Almost everything on my normal shopping list has gone up.


FedEx: Fuel surcharges.  I buy/sell on Ebay pretty often.  Shipping charges have recently swung up due to gas.


My point?  Not much of one.  Just a realization that even though the country's financial state hadn't hit me directly, it is hitting me now.  In small ways, subtle ways.  We all notice when the price of gas at the corner shop goes up.  But a nickle here for Chicken.  Another 20 cents for milk, bread.  Those are the small charges we can sometimes miss.


So check your bills.  I know I am budgeting additional money for food expenses now.  And don't spend that Governement Bonus Check all in one place.  You might actually need it.

Comments (12)

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SoupNazzi·
Good advice. I notice my grocery bill go up about $30 as well.
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codemonkey·
Yep, as a video game retail store we've got similar issues. When prices go up in general people seem to hesitate or shop elsewhere for closer online stores because the shipping plays into the chances they'll buy.\r \r Many of our orders make it to the shipping estimation page and then they leave which tells me the cost is too high. Not much we can do about it, we can't take a loss on an already low margined product. We sell our video games for roughly 5 to 7 dollars less then a walk-in store, but if you buy them on the Net with the cost of shippings it's roughly the same price...but with 2-3 day delays.\r \r People want instant gratification so they probably just go to a local store, or find a \"better deal\" (or cheaper shipping) elsewhere.\r \r So far we're negative cash flow in all regards, lost $12k last year, and I don't think I'll get any money from this tax return situation because my company was bought and I owe 8k+ in taxes.\r \r Unfortunately they decide to give us back money the year we owe the most. So, if anything, we'll owe less but still won't be getting anything back.\r \r Also had an expensive two months with car repairs upwards of a grand which doesn't help with savings :)
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wilderz·
Yeah, \r \r My wife was commenting the other day about how much our grocery bill had gone up. We've chosen to buy stuff that we can have left-overs with for a few days to minimize our bill as much as we can.
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elbe121·
Same here with the groceries. I'm a single guy so my bills rarely fluctuate, but my grocery bill has gone up almost 10 dollars every two weeks. Oh yeah, I like the new picture!
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KamaniKoa·
isnt that the truth, its getting so as the middle class wont be so much in the middle anymore. yes nice picture.
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OldManRiver48·
Thanks for the heads up, realitycheck77! lol ;-)
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purguy·
My bonus will go to pay off my new laptop for gaming...Damm you expensive hobby! Should I change now and stick to NDS games?
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Flying_Saffa·
Similar things happening over here in the UK. Fuel (Gas) prices are extortionate now and I don't have that far to travel. Next month I go over to a new job and my commute is 3 times further.....hmmm, best find those uber leftovers recipes. Having 2 youngs sons, as much as I love them, doesn't help the situ either...
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Mandingo·
You guys are missing the point....Bojangles mmmmm. I yearn for the days when I can move back down south and slowly kill myself with a diet of 3 piece combos and sweet tea.
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Jmarps·
Commodities prices are up across the board...you can attribute that to a growing global middle class that wants to eat better (see BRIC -- Brazil, Russia, India and China). Add on the fact that the Iowa Caucus is the first primary in the country and the fact that they produce a shit-ton of corn, and now you have more corn going to ethanol production. And we all know how efficient ethanol is right? Additionally more farmers are planting more corn and less of the other grains. Tack on skyrocketing oil prices and a falling dollar (due to interest rate easing to bail out the subprime lenders/borrowers) and yes, the prices at Bojangles, and just about everywhere else are gonna go up. God help you if you have fluctuating debt right now...seriously, good luck.
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pearly_54·
And gas prices! Seriously! Hope this doesn't interfere with my road trip next month. My grocery bill and stuff has gone up, as well. And, vacations......only one this year, i think.
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Timber·
Yeah i agree, I drive 380 miles a week for a remodel i am doing upstate, gone away from home for a week go home on weekends, Hotel is paid by the company, but i have to upfront gas,and food, so right there its like over 150 a week, i do get it all back + mileage but it can take up to a month for the first travel to get back to you, so i have been here 2 months and and just recieved my first check for travel.....at least now they will come everyweek......But yeah tring to buget really sucks.........Wife hates it,,,,,,and to think I have till June