How are you dealing with inflation?

[Teacher Terry]

JP, I forgot that you guys were in a condo. Of course there’s both advancements and disadvantages to be on central systems. I never have to worry about replacing a furnace, ac unit or water heater. The downside is those systems are really expensive to replace and people are more disconnected from their usage relative to hoa fees versus getting a bill every month.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Gas almost doubled in a month, usage is not out of line, and I don't even heat with gas, this is just cooking and water heating. I have an induction burner and a toaster oven and plan to use them (but the burner requires induction compatible pots - slowly acquiring. Most pots are induction compatible just not the ones I own. The water heater is probably more energy, but I'm experimenting with induction anyway, so 100% inflation is just more incentive). Meanwhile now the apartment wants to charge for shared bills that I have no control over as well. Bah.

[Tradd]

I live in a condo but have my own furnace and water heater (both gas) and ac unit. My stove and clothes dryer are electric. Gas bill has been about $60 a month. My heat stays at 61. I go take a lot of long hot baths. Furnace is new. Electric bill had been about $26 this winter per month.

Electric bill is more in the summer since I run the ac a lot (can’t stand being hot then add in hot flashes).

I could get gas bill down some by taking fewer and shorter baths, but they are my stress relief.

[Yppej]

Working on getting a free box of checks from my bank.

[Teacher Terry]

I decided that I needed to adjust my budget to reflect the reality of inflation. I no longer can eat what I want and only spend 200/month on groceries. My new budget is 300. Most months I spend that much but occasionally it’s lower. At this age I am going to eat what I want and I am definitely not going to eat unhealthily to save money because that’s shortsighted. When you are aging health is everything.