Earlier this week, I filled up my car with a tank of
gas. At $3.47 a gallon for 15.2 gallons of gas, I spent
about $52. That is outrageous! What is even more
outrageous is what happened at the pump.
I
pulled up to the gas station. I got out and put my debit
card in the card reader to activate the pump. The card
was approved (I have problems with my real estate, but
not my credit cards), and I had to then select the grade
of gasoline. I picked the lowest grade gasoline
available (the one at $3.47 a gallon) and started
pumping the gas into my tank. While I was doing this,
the gas station attendant was changing the prices on the
marquee nearby. She was changing the price from $3.47 to
$3.60 a galloon! Lucky for me that once you start
pumping gas, that is the price that is used ($3.47).
Also, the attendant said that she had to change the
prices on the marquee before she could change the price
per gallon on the pumps. That was great and made good
sense. What was most outrageous though was that the
price of gas went up by about thirteen cents (13¢)
in a single day!
Gasoline is surely just one example of how prices are
rising and hitting Americans hard. Sam's and Costco
announced limits on bulk purchases of rice due to high
demand and supply constraints. In the grocery store, the
price of nearly everything has risen. Check your local
prices on milk and eggs and flour and sodas. They are
probably all up from a week or two ago.
While there is little hope that Washington will do
anything to help the average consumer (a lot of the
country has gotten their $300 stimulus checks, that only
helps so much), we all know that we will have to find
ways to handle this ourselves. For instance, I make sure
that I make as few trips in my car as possible. Plus,
every trip I make is planned ahead so that I am not
adding unnecessary miles to the trip and so that I can
make the most efficient use of each trip.
I also find that I am
trying to eat at home more often. While this definitely
hurts the local restaurants and bars, it definitely
helps my pocket. For those people who were already
eating less at restaurants and bars, they might find
themselves buying less name brand products and using
more coupons. Clipping coupons, while it might not seem
very important, could save you a great deal of money.
You can find product coupons in newspapers, magazines,
various print publications and even online (you actually
print these instead of clip them). The important thing
is to save money wherever you can save money.
Take a good look at your
monthly bank and credit card statements. Review where
you are spending all of your money, and think about any
possible way of saving money by curtailing those
expenses - maybe it is by not buying those things or
finding cheaper ways to buy those things. Think about
your car insurance - are there better car insurance
companies (Compare & Save on Auto Insurance!)?
Think about your home insurance - are there better home
insurance companies (Save up to 20% on Home Insurance, Get Free Quotes! )?Think about your checking accounts - are
there better banks (The Perfect Alternative to a Checking Account!)? Think about your credit cards - are
there better credit cards available (Instant Approval Debit MasterCard!)? Think about
everything on your statements - how can you cut down
those expenses?
Face
it: You have either got to make more money or spend less
money. Think about your options and make wise decisions.
Ask for help if you need advice, but do not just ignore
the problem hoping that it will go away or that the
government will step in and save the day (I'd bet that
ain't gonna happen).
