A couple of weeks ago I was in Fred Meyer getting groceries. I also needed ink for my printer because I had a show coming up and needed to print more cards. I can get it locally, at least for that printer.

I needed black ink, usually costing between $35 and $45 depending on if it’s on sale or not. It wasn’t, so it was $45. When I got home I realized that I didn’t have an extra color ink like I thought, so I put it on my list for the following week.

The next week I went to get color ink and it (as well as the black) had a “New Low Price” label, $55! I couldn’t believe that in one week it had gone up $10. I don’t know why this is so shocking to me anymore, but I haven’t seen prices for anything jump quite that fast. The last time my husband and I went out to dinner we decided that it would no longer be a once every couple weeks date night option anymore, more like once a month.

In Seminary the woman that team teaches with me was telling the kids she remembers when gas was $0.25 /gallon. I remember $1/gallon. I understand a little bit about economics, and I understand, at least a little, about why the prices go up based upon interest rates and inflation. But for whatever reason it has amazed me how drastically prices have fluctuated recently.

I am grateful for the work my husband has, when he has it. I am grateful over the years that we’ve learned how to budget for when he doesn’t. But I feel for all the people out there living paycheck to paycheck because they can only get so much, and that quantity keeps dwindling.

This gets me thinking back about gardening. Growing our own food is a great way to be food independent, or at least less store dependent. This past summer we extended some of our future lawn area and I am now seriously considering making at least some of it more garden area. We’ll see what happens at any rate.

Some of the things we have done over the years to keep costs down is first, to budget. I have a specific amount of money I spend on groceries every week. Recently I’ve started taking only cash, it’s easier to stay within that amount. I pay a lot better attention to sales and coupons (I never used to use coupons, and I still hate the paper ones, but I do like the digital coupons).

I buy in bulk as much as possible, but you have to pay attention to prices, sometimes the bulk price isn’t better. I make almost everything we eat from scratch. I feel like that makes it a lot healthier besides being cheaper. For non-food items I usually check online as well as locally to see where the better price is and buy it there. Although, if it’s something I need and I can find it really local for a bit more money, I will support the very local businesses. What are some things you have done to reduce costs in your home.