Sacrifices you are making in this economy FWP

That sucks!  I know you were looking forward to getting out of there.

Dd and I stopped horse riding lessons but she will start back up in September. She needs it as it is one of her therapies but not covered.

Stocking up when items are on sale.

Making larger meals 3x a week and turning left overs into another meal so we don't have the urge to grab something at the store for a quick meal or at In and Out for a meal.

Planning outings to do several one day to save on gas.

Basic hair cuts at Super Cuts. No color or salon haircuts for dd and I.

Trying to get Zoom appointments for medical at far away hospitals to save on travel/gas expenses. Since kids are stable that is easy.

Fill up gas tank more frequently because the total is less when I just buy 1/2 tank at a time.

Looking at all the personal services related to my appearance, and I could truthfully do it ALL myself. Just haven't pulled the trigger on any of them yet.

Staying home is probably the biggest $ saver. I am very lucky that my staying home in the summer is what a lot of people do for their vacations - a small home on a little northern lake. A tank of gas on the pontoon lasts a long time. We're not doing any significant travel this summer. We're visiting some family members. We are great about combining our errands. We are using up our groceries better and are shopping at Aldi more often. We are lucky to be a small family and not needing to buy a lot of food.

I plan to retire from teaching after this year. I'm actively trying to save up as much $ in advance. I have most of my xmas shopping done already because I have been taking advantage of sales. We've decided that our adult children are just going to get a set amount of $ for their birthdays. Their birthdays are around xmas time and it is just so much spending - especially since it is at a time when I am also paying car insurance and my license tabs.

We've had fewer takeaways and meals out over the last year and both are 'off the menu' for us for the foreseeable.

I've calculated how much protein my son and I need and only serve that amount ( protein usually being the most expensive part of a meal ) . I menu plan and only buy what's intgr list, and try to buy in season to save money.

We've all cut back on a lot of extras we used to buy, I have low everyday bulbs everywhere and everything is turned off at the wall when not in use. Using the car less, washing mainly in cold water and everything being dried outside on the rotary airer, or airer and dehumidifier if the weather is bad.

I’m pretty low maintenance to begin with, so there isn’t much to cut there. I’ve really needed a haircut for probably three months already and just haven’t gone in since around January so I probably will do that soon. 

We haven’t really changed our grocery shopping or eating habits because we had been eating at home for the most part anyway since Covid. DH bought himself a new smoker pellet grill so he’s been experimenting with that.

I actually have been spending more at the fabric store lately because my Vera Bradley / Disney purse is wearing out around the corners and I didn’t want to drop $80 on a new one. I bought some inexpensive fabric for that project but ended up using up some other remnants of two previous projects instead, cobbled together an altered pattern based off of a YouTube tutorial and gave it a whirl. I really liked the results so I bought more supplies to make another one that will be better suited for fall and winter since the one I just made is more spring/summer colors. I also bought myself a new iPad and Apple Pencil and bought the materials to make a carrying case for that and made it. Plus I bought the fabric I needed for the dog tote I’ve been meaning to make for about three years. My little dog is spoiled and likes to be carried around, so this will help save my neck and back LOL. I got it all cut out and the fusible pieces adhered but I’ll have to finish it next week.

We have a lake place an hour from our house so that’s what we do for the most part instead of expensive vacations. It works for us because it’s close by. We spent some money on plants for our butterfly/rain garden, put our tax return money into the upper cabinets we’d been holding off on for our kitchen there and got that done. We have one last big project to do there (putting the faux stone on our fireplace) and all the materials for that were already paid for over a year ago so it’s just a matter of taking the time to do it. Building materials have gotten CRAZY expensive since the power grid shut Texas down and they haven’t come back down since.

I’ve always been the type to combine errands into fewer trips, more for the time savings than the gas savings, but saving money on gas works for me too. 

In Canada, the quality quilt fabric is between $19.95- $21.95/metre.  THAT is expensive.

I have been a low maintenance person, so not too much right now.  I've lived under my means for a very long time and have a bit of savings.  I have ridden thru the past high inflation in the 1980's and learned many things during that time.  Slow and steady and learning not to waste money on frivolous stuff has helped me keep money in my wallet much longer.

We haven't been eating out nearly as much as we used to. It was once a week for dinner and two or three times a week for lunch. Now maybe once every two weeks for lunch and once a month for dinner.
I haven't had a massage in since before the pandemic and I was on a once a month schedule.

Our last non-camping vacation was in 2019.

I’m paying much more attention to food prices and not automatically getting whatever I want. We’re also choosing to grill rather than eat out this vacation. Those are the main changes.
I still buy watercolour supplies but I definitely look for sales.

Not eating out nearly as much. Not running back to town just because. Planning meals around what’s on sale for the week at the store.

We have been more conscientious when grocery shopping and food waste. I am a teacher so I’m off for the summer and I had knee replacement surgery 3 weeks ago so we didn’t plan a vacation and I’m not going anywhere but PT so that’s saved. I had stopped Ipsy and have been using what I have for face products/makeup and for crafting. When my DH moved in 6 years ago we never really found a home for all our stuff. I’ve been slowly going the things and getting rid of stuff. I feel overwhelmed by what we have so I have not felt a need for shopping for anything.

Sort of related but I stopped buying my regular soda because of the price increases. Some stores make you buy 3 to get the discounted price. I don't want three. I also often get home with Uber and don't want to lug three. So I stopped. It wasn't good for me anyway.

Don't ask me to give up milk though. I drink a lot!

Not really sacrificing yet, but we are shopping around and using store brands more than before. For example, the international foods store has produce, meats, and Asian and Latin influenced ingredients at a much lower cost than regular super markets. Until recently we never really shopped there, even with it literally within walking distance of home.

Blackberries and raspberries- $1.99 vs. $4.99 or 3 bundles of scallions - $1, Ground chicken - $2.75/lb vs $6.29/lb, Flank Steak - $4.99/lb vs $10.99/lb, Bananas - $.29/lb vs $.49/lb

They even have full time working butchers in sight, we we are buying everything we can there before hitting the supermarket.
Then we simply fill in what we couldn’t find at the international market. By doing this, our grocery bill has dropped $50-75/week, depending on what we need to add to the pantry. I meal plan 5 meals/week. We also have a much larger variety of produce, meats, and tofu through the week.

We have been cutting back on the amount of flavored seltzer we use each week because it has gone up almost 100% over the past few months. If we have to, we’ll give it up, but we get tired of tap water all the time.