How are you dealing with inflation?

[Rogar]

My travel and other reductions in expenses due to covid are by far outpacing any inflation effects. The news is actually saying that the increased demand for certain consumables is up for similar reasons and is one of the inflation drivers. I've seen articles predicting a big jump in energy and home heating this winter, but at least my last utility bill didn't show that. I suspect the whole inflation issue is not a partisan politics root cause, one way or the other, but I could find reasons to blame Donald. There is a lot of spendable money in the economy for those who've owned stocks or real estate.

[frugal-one]

Restrict bond investments to the short end.

Avoid variable rate debt.

Keep current on your tax management strategy.

Vote Republican.

Same except for the last. It totally depends on who is running. Never trump.

Not really changing anything other than lack of travel. Like IL... we will do what we want to do. No debt except monthly credit cards paid in full each month.

[bae]

Bae, do you still have the Mini?

Yes, it is a 2011 and notionally belongs to my daughter, who has been away for years unable to use it. I fire it up now and then to keep it happy, and it is the dog’s favorite car to ride in. So far nothing has really needed service on it other than oil changes and tires.

[dado potato]

I grow sprouts in containers indoors. Eating fenugreek sprouts currently.

I make hummus with Besan chickpea flour, and save a lot of money by making my own hummus in the microwave. I enjoy dipping carrots in hummus.

Okinawa spinach and various herbs do well on the sunporch.

I prepare dry legumes, rice or bulgur in "Instapot" pressure cooker.

"Eat like a peasant".

[ToomuchStuff]

The James Gang, for those not from Missouri.

Did you ever see that wonderful movie about Jesse James with Casey Affleck? “ The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford.” It is really good. It is poignant in showing how Robert Ford spent the rest of his life being the depised man who shot Jesse James.

Never saw it.

[rosarugosa]

I did it - opened a Treasury Direct account and invested in I-bonds!

[bae]

I did it - opened a Treasury Direct account and invested in I-bonds!

Weird, nobody suggested "go all-in on Bitcoin!" :-)

[jp1]

Weird, nobody suggested "go all-in on Bitcoin!" :-)

That’s because Tradd’s SIL doesn’t post here. The people that do can read the room…

[NewGig]

We've moved some retirement money into things which are hopefully better about inflation.

I've always bought most of my clothes (except underwear and socks) at thrift shops. When DH fully retires, soonish, it's likely he'll start doing that too.

I'm buying produce in bulk and intend to mostly stop using the CSAs next year. With a bit more planning, I should be able to buy seasonal foods as well as putting aside baseline pantry stuff. We've almost quit using prefab frozen or canned foods. I've been making oat milk every now and then. The long-term plan is to make an almond-oat milk for day to day, as we go through about a gallon of organic cow's milk every 4 days.

This morning I was looking over my mix recipes and trying to decide what I should put together?

We're planning on the veggie garden being the source of much of our day to day, seasonal veggies, the other part of the CSA vegetables. Tomatoes, greens, beans, scallions, peas, and beans, with maybe small squashes thrown in are in the plan. Storage onions, potatoes, peppers, tomatillos, celery, etc. can be bought in bulk.

We're buying and selling things at auction. Housewares are pretty cheap I guess because of the boomers downsizing, etc. That makes the selling not so good, but I've been selling off the "white elephants," the pieces I wasn't sure how to market given our current circumstances: the expensive candle screen, the 2 barn cabinets I had, the 18" decorative tiles, etc. Most of those pieces I either had already tried to sell at the antique shop or knew I couldn't. (The candle screen would have been mangled by people fiddling with it, for example.)

I also found an auction house who sells "collectible" books, so many are going there. Yay!

[pinkytoe]

Just read that the average utility bill here will go up $35 a month. We already keep it very low in winter compared to most people so I guess we'll just have to pay. Also noticed all of our various insurances going up their annual 10%. Looked at other home and auto insurance but couldn't find enough savings to justify the hassle of changing. Now I need to go through various subscriptions - streaming, newspaper, etc and streamline those for best value. And stop buying more groceries than we really need (I love buying groceries)