Grocery Challenge

[Mother]

MT3T,  I am finding the same thing.  I’m taking tips from you and am trying to come up with menus that stick to a budget.  I put a few items in my Amazon and my local grocery carts and each time I go to put another in one or more of the first ones have gone up in price.  So I’ve had to revise my budget to include for that.  I need to speed up my ordering to take advantage of the lower prices….  

[Littlesister]

OOTO, you are right about government interference. I didn't mean government regulation. Guess I really didn't explain that well. I am thinking more of the stores seeing where they can cut cost to help lower the price of food. There are ways to do that.  Both Aldi's and Lidle's do it and I think in NC most stores are doing this.  They don't furnish bags for groceries; you bring your own bags to use. That will cut the cost of stores buying bags also bag your own groceries and you won't need to pay baggers to do that for you. Right now, the cashiers here for the most part ring you up and bag your groceries. But things like this are some ways the stores can reduce prices by saving money in other ways that reduce the cost of running the store and that cost could be passed on to the consumer. I don't think they would be able to reduce the price on everything but at least on enough items that it would help us to lower our grocery bill a bit.  It would also help if we didn't have to pay taxes on food. 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Food in my state isn't taxed unless it is snack/junk food or things like pop (soda).   We also don't have a tax on clothing here.   Everything else--Pennsylvania will tax your last dime. 

 

Baggers make less than the cashiers, so having baggers usually is the less expensive option for busy stores as they are paying the cashier to do one job, not the cashier's job and a bagger's job.   I hope that makes sense.

 

Stores aren't going to change things to cut costs for the consumers unless they are losing business to stores who are doing those things.  It is the free market.    People vote with their dollars.   

 

Same with Made in USA vs. Made in China.  People say more stuff should be manufactured in the USA.   Manufacturing in the  USA is much more expensive...people are paid wages, benefits, ect;  business taxes and regulations; environmental regulations....all is passed on in the cost of a product.   Again, people vote with their dollars. 

 

Edited January 26 by out_of_the_ordinary

[euphrasyne]

I was a cashier back in the day for Walmart.  DH bagged groceries at Food Lion.  Both jobs paid the same minimum wage for the time and area they were in (Me in MS and him in VA.)  It is still situation around here.  Of course, this as almost 30 years back, but DD has been looking around since she turns 16 soon.  It is the same at almost all the shops.  

[Littlesister]

OOTO, we are taxed for everything around here. Even our cars. We pay taxes on them when we buy them and then also pay a personal property tax yearly on them for as long as we have that car, boat, truck or whatever it may be. 

I know on each trip the tax might be a small amount or depending on how much you spend it could be a good amount of tax, but that little bit of taxes will help if we didn't have to pay it. It is one of a few reasons I want to move out of VA. 

 

Right now, my grocery challenge is to use up what I already have in both pantry and freezers. With it being just me and only my GS on his days off. That challenge is slow going as I can't use up that food that fast. So, I only go to store for bread, (which I can make at home) but I don't eat much bread anymore. eggs, and milk. That is about every couple of weeks now. My GS likes French fries. It is cheaper for me to buy a 5lb bag of potatoes and make my own fries. So, a savings there compared to the price of frozen fries. I find doing things like this saves me money in the long run. That little bit of doing it yourself instead of buying already made products is a huge savings.  I don't buy things readymade. I make my own salads as those readymade salads are huge in price, also, making my own chicken, egg and tuna salad is much cheaper, and better than store bought. These are some of the ways I save at the store. For what I buy now if I stick to just the eggs, milk, bread and coffee creamer, I only spend about $15.00 every two weeks. The coffee creamer I only buy when on sell. Otherwise, it is powered coffee creamer that I have for a standby when I run out. 

[Mother]

So this is what I’ve found so far…. I have been finding it difficult to figure out the cost of food each week.  If I use the receipt totals it figure out about $75 a week for the two of us but that total also includes non grocery items as well as stock up items that may have been on sale. Then there is the food items I use from our pantry that I no longer have the price for so don’t have an amount.  Even things like baking soda or salt or other condiments come from our pantry.  We live our preps and buy mostly to replenish them as they are used.  I hesitate to try to lower that cost as it would be at the expense of our preps.  
 

Like others, we have also been trying to use the older supplies, especially those in the freezers and extra refrigerator I use to store grain and flour.  I have not been replacing those as I hope to shut down at least one of the three freezers and one or two of the four refrigerators. Way too many for just the two of us now.  
 

I try to follow an AIP (Autoimmune Protocol or Autoimmune Paleo) diet and that calls for quite a bit of fresh and frozen produce. I buy what is on sale and use one extra refrigerator to store those.  Because of this challenge though I have found that sometimes it’s cheaper to buy frozen, on sale, and it’s also easier. The problem I have with that is fresh or frozen, either one, they are not good candidates for long term or disaster storage.  The diet plays havoc with my prepping.  Canned, even home canned which I no longer am able to do, doesn’t always work with this diet but I do store them.  An AIP certified coach is trying to find the scientific data on using dehydrated foods with the diet.  That might be one option.  

[euphrasyne]

Some people prep for hurricanes.  Some prep for nuclear disasters.  Some prep for the zombie apocalypse.   I prep for economic hardships as much as anything else.   There is a time and place to use your preps, and when Eggs were $5dzn, that was time.   Now Bell peppers are !.25 each and that is time.  I have plenty of dehydrated and I USE THEM NOW.   If I refuse to use the resources at hand, then I'll never make it to a 'worse' resource needed time.  That is my philosophy.  30 years from now, I have time an energy to replace the bell peppers I'm using today.  I'll appreciate them more today than cleaning out the pantry in 30 years.  

[Necie]

1 hour ago, euphrasyne said:

I prep for economic hardships as much as anything else. 

This is what I do also. Yearly though. My income comes in the summer. Of course, I do put back money for the winter, but it is minimal. I stock food and supplies during the summer and use during the winter. That’s why I’m finding this challenge *challenging* at this time of year. With just me and DH, I don’t even spend $40/week on groceries. Maybe in the summer I could keep track of how much I spend on what we actually eat... occasionally. But I’m not sure I could even make sense of it for a month. And summer is so busy, I really don’t need one more thing to keep track of. 😉😂

[Midnightmom]

2 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

Now Bell peppers are !.25 each

Is that $1.25 each???

That is the price around here for stores such as Safeway, Raley's, and Holiday Market.

Winco has them(green bell) for 68c each; however the price of red bells hovers between 98c & $1+ each. 

Winco is my "go to" store for most of my shopping because their prices are good and their shelves are always well stocked - even during the era of "social distancing" their shelves were never empty.

 

 

@Littlesister

Winco keeps their costs down in several ways:

• This one pertains to all stores in CA - Bring your own bag, or pay 10c/bag at the store when shopping. Cal-Fresh (food stamps) purchases get free bags.
• No baggers/bag your own groceries. Each lane has two sides and the cashier puts purchases down one conveyer belt or the other, so they can be ringing up another purchase while you are still in your lane bagging your items
• Winco does not accept credit cards - Cash, debit, or "food stamps" only. Not having to pay the "discount fee" for accepting CC helps to keep the costs down.
• They do not advertise. You can check their website for digital coupons, but they do not print a circular to be mailed or even to have available in-store.
• They have a "Wall of Values" which is the first aisle you go down once you enter the store. Most of their "sale" items are located here. (Sale = temporary price reduction), although you will still find marked down items throughout the store.
• They have a "bulk" section where you can purchase just what you need of an item instead of commercially pre-packaged varieties that come in sizes that you don't want or need. This is especially helpful if you want to try a "new" (to you) spice or other ingredient.
• You can purchase some of the bulk items they carry by the larger unit they come in (which are used to fill the bulk area dispensors).
• There are generally no limits on how much of a single item you can purchase; although sometime the first 2 items are the "sale" price but any additional items are sold at the normal price. This has been mostly true for the eggs. However, there are ways to get around that too. You can purchase 2 doz eggs for the sale price and also purchase two 18 count eggs also at the sale price!`
• You can shop for "reduced" priced meats as they get marked down due to close dating/expiration dates.

Also, the only taxes on food in CA are for soda, and liquor or prepared/ready to eat foods like "fast food," fountain drinks, and restaurant meals. Plus there is a "recycling" fee added to most beverages sold in plastic bottles or cans.

Garden seeds (food items only) are tax free and can be purchased with food stamps. But, if I remember correctly, if you purcase plant "starts" you pay a tax (perhaps because of them being potted (dirt + container). 

[euphrasyne]

Yep Each for GREEN bell peppers from Kroger.  its crazy.   I just tossed in a handful of dehydrated instead.  Aldis was completely out and It was also 1.25 at lidl last week.  I did pick up a small bag of mini colored peppers for 3.99 from Lidl

 

I'm in southeast VA, we don't have Winco and I've never seen one anywhere between here and MS.  My options here are

Kroger (often)

Harris Teeter (never)

Food Lion (sometimes)

Walmart (oh heck no)

Aldi (often)

Lidl (often)

Whole Foods (never)

Sams (nope)

BJs (a few times a year, but BIG trips)

Costco (nope)

Asian Market (a few times  a year in big trips)

Royal Bazar (Indian) (few times a year big trips)

We may have a few others in VA Beach, but I'm not driving that far through the toll tunnels unless it is for the Asian Market or Indian.  

 

 

Further South we also had Sack n Save, Piggly Wiggly, but not here.  

Edited January 27 by euphrasyne

[mommato3boys]

4 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

Some people prep for hurricanes.  Some prep for nuclear disasters.  Some prep for the zombie apocalypse.   I prep for economic hardships as much as anything else.   There is a time and place to use your preps, and when Eggs were $5dzn, that was time.   Now Bell peppers are !.25 each and that is time.  I have plenty of dehydrated and I USE THEM NOW.   If I refuse to use the resources at hand, then I'll never make it to a 'worse' resource needed time.  That is my philosophy.  30 years from now, I have time an energy to replace the bell peppers I'm using today.  I'll appreciate them more today than cleaning out the pantry in 30 years.  

EXACTLY Euphrasyne

 

My "prep pantry" is our normal pantry that we eat out of year round - you know store what you eat and eat what you store. Basically I prep for economic hardships which we have had an abundance of lately and winter weather where we do not want to get out and drive because #1 - it is to freaking cold and #2 - snow/ice. When winter sets in I am like a squirrel, I am in my little nest all snug and warm with my stash of acrons. 

 

I buy stuff that we use when it is on sale and put it in the pantry. I will not stock a pantry for 30 years down the road only to struggle now. I only do 5 year plans now, I am old anything after 5 years I maybe pushing up daisies. My ultimate goal is to have a well stocked pantry that will last two years allowing me to get through hard times replacing things as we use them and have the resources.  

 

Now that is not to say I do not have "long term storage items" like corn and wheat, etc. I stock whole grains because I do not want a bunch of chemicals in my flour and meal. 

 

I was raised by depression era parents. You raise a garden and store the abundace to get through to the next harvest. You buy reduced meat and meat when it is on sale or raise your own. You make do and repair or do without. Left overs are not tossed but put in a bucket in the freezer for winter soups. Cornbread is not tossed either, it goes in the freezer to make dressing, that is if it is not eaten as a snack or dinner with milk. Biscuits are froze and thawed later for breakfast or served at dinner with hamburger gravy and potatoes.  

[Littlesister]

I also prepare in order to keep ahead of inflation but that is getting a bit harder to do. Hurricanes where food is concerned not so much. I have plenty. But will fill my car with gas if a hurricane is coming. You never know. 

Right now, the reason my pantry is so full of store bought can goods is because of our Church having to close its doors during 2020 and part of 2021. I have been slowly taking food to the Church now that we have started the Church pantry back up again. DH and I near the end of 2019 and early January of 2020 about 3 months before he got sick, we had bought 4 cases each of corn, peas, green beans, butter beans, etc. There were other things as well. So that has filled my pantry on one side to the brim. I mostly eat from the other side which is my home canned foods. But have used some of the foods we bought for the church. GS eats some things from there. Will be taking more food again tomorrow morning when I go to church. 

I still have a lot of frozen green peppers so haven't checked the prices of them. $1.25 for a green pepper is crazy, even for wintertime. 

The stores I use are:

Food Lion (the most)

Aldi sometimes when I am down in that area.

Lidle's (maybe once a month

Harris Teeter only when I need to pick up an RX.

I never do Walmart.

BJ's maybe 4 or 5 times a year but more so in spring for garden items and other things. Not doing food there now. 

Sam's club I still haven't been there to renew my membership and just being me now. Not sure if I will. 

Kroger a couple of times a year.

 

We are about to get a Publix store. They have opened the one now that is past Obici Hospital. But I have not been there. Waiting for the one they are building in Carrollton. Then I will check it out, though I have heard people say they are very expensive. If that is the case it will be go check it out and not buy anything. 

 

[Midnightmom]

When a store has an advertised sale item that is not in stock, don't forget to ask for a "Rain Check!"

Safeway's are good for 90 days past the sale date, CVS's are good forever.

If I am in a store on the first or second day of a sale and they either didn't get in the item, or it is already sold out, I will get a Rain Check and also go back to that store during the "Sale" period so I can get the item I want at the sale price and also hang on to that Rain Check for "future" use. If they still don't have the item, I will ask for another Rain Check!

 

Unfortunately, Winco does not issue them. Maybe that is just another way they keep costs down?

[Momo]

I looked up the new BJ's.  They have a 55$ membership with a 40$ rebate right now. I wish it wasn't so far away.  I just don't get out that much with DH being dead and me being handicapped.  I would love to see it.

 

I have been craving an old fashioned chuck pot roast.  I looked at the price and it was $6.99 a pound!!!!!!!!!!!!   Geez. I haven't seen any on sale in ages either.

[mommato3boys]

The End Is Near!!!

 

So this is the last week of the challenge, we just have to make it through Saturday. I am going to have to get creative . Today was cowboy casserole. Tomorrow's big meal is chicken pot pie and then taco spaghetti Friday. I think Saturday will be pot luck in other words clean the refrigerator out and eat any the leftovers. I had to give in and buy a half of gallon of milk today. The fresh milk was gone and hubby finished off the boxed milk today. He refuses to use powdered milk, well he will take it in his coffee but not over cereal no matter how I doctor it up.

 

What I have learned from this? Well we won't starve on $40 a week, but we won't be eating high on the hog either. It forced me back to making our bread and other goodies from scratch. Hubby really likes the sourdough pizza crust. However, I am tired of pasta, rice and beans. Those have been the fillers for the past month. I now know what is meant by food fatigue. Last night I couldn't take it any more and used the last two chicken thighs and made fried chicken. The the last two potatoes were pitful looking but I peeled them and we had fries to go with our chicken. To tell you how much I was ready to throw it all out the window and go out and eat...we don't eat fried foods EVER! Nope, not even our fries are fried. Everything is baked or cooked in the airfryer. But last night I pulled out the dutch oven and oil and we had good ole fashion greasy fried chicken and fries. It was good, but I paid big time for all the grease. The indigestion was horrible. It gave me something to think about, especially since we didn't have anything for indigestion in the house, we haven't needed it in a LONG time and I didn't realize we were out. What would happen if our diet changed drastically without warning, how would it affect our body? Reality Check!

 

If it had not been for well stocked staples like flour, sugar, and seasonings this challenge probably would not have been easy as it has been, not saying it was easy. I am just saying if I had to buy staples $40 a week would have gone out the window. To be honest it was a struggle at times. There were many times we wanted to run to the store for fresh fruit, something extra or just snack food. Or even better, just go out and eat, but we prevailed and I have to give it to hubby he has been a champ through all of this. I have started a shopping list of stuff I need to restock. When I opened the pantry door we both chuckled and said it is a good thing I accepted the contract job with HHS. We are going to need it to fill the pantry again. Yep it will probably take three carts to restock the pantry LOL. Four weeks of no grocery shopping has put a major dent in the pantry. The sad part is none of the grocery stores have good sales this week. Hopefully next week will be a good sales week.

 

Now to come up with some meals for the next few weeks that do not include pasta, rice or beans.  I foresee lots of salads, fresh fruits and veggies on our plates for the next couple of weeks. 

 

Oh and lunch Sunday is sushi bowls, avocado, cucumbers, shrimp, and cauliflower rice maybe even egg rolls. 

 

 

 

 

[Littlesister]

I haven't done to bad. Did buy eggs last week and a couple of other things I needed but all was under $15.  Haven't been to the store this week and at this point no need of going. I have everything I need right now. 

the week before I did buy 2 Boston butts and bought those home and canned. Couldn't pass up the manager special. They had 4 more but I passed. 

 

The good thing about doing these challenges is it will empty out the pantry. That is a good thing as you are using up the older things in there and it cleans it out enough to reorganize and then restock.  On the bad end of this is to restock is going to cost more.  I try to keep foods ahead by 2 to 3 years. Though my kids are no longer shopping from my pantry so needing to slow it down now. 

[Jeepers]

It wouldn't have done me any good to take the challenge as I was living in a hotel for the past 13 months. My pantry was 2 small shelves.  One on either side of the microwave. Plus cooking and stocking up for one is a lot different from maintaining a family. In other words. I'm not a very good candidate.  Or rather a good judge of how it can be done. My $40 would have gone to microwave dinners and sandwich stuff. Your new job is going to come in very handy.

 

Nearly all of my food supply got ruined when my house flooded and I had to throw it all away. So I'll be starting with a pretty bare pantry too. But one good thing for you and me is all of the stuff we add now will all be brand new with new expiration dates. 

[mommato3boys]

7 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

My $40 would have gone to microwave dinners and sandwich stuff.

 

That's $40 for two people. You would only have $20 a week. 

[Jeepers]

It's always the fine print...always the fine print. I saw $40 someplace and went with it.  

 

I'm gonna starve. What did you say your new address was. Asking for a friend.  

[Mother]

MT3B, do you have an estimate of the cost per week if you include the staples you used?   And what about the raise in price for those staples since you bought them?   Besides learning about food fatigue do you have a dollar figure for the real cost of food for the two of you each week? 
 

Your challenge made me think about our own costs.  I’m having difficulties separating the food costs from the other supply costs to figure out strictly what it costs us to eat.  We get venison from the GS and the occasional rabbit, squirrel, and etc and have no idea how to price those. Also some of the veggies and fruit in the freezer were from our garden or land or were sprouts and microgreens we grew inside.  Replacement of staples is also difficult to figure the cost. 
 

 

[mommato3boys]

3 minutes ago, Mother said:

MT3B, do you have an estimate of the cost per week if you include the staples you used?   And what about the raise in price for those staples since you bought them?   Besides learning about food fatigue do you have a dollar figure for the real cost of food for the two of you each week? 
 

Your challenge made me think about our own costs.  I’m having difficulties separating the food costs from the other supply costs to figure out strictly what it costs us to eat.  We get venison from the GS and the occasional rabbit, squirrel, and etc and have no idea how to price those. Also some of the veggies and fruit in the freezer were from our garden or land or were sprouts and microgreens we grew inside.  Replacement of staples is also difficult to figure the cost. 
 

 

 

I went over a little I think the final cost after the milk today was like $193.54 which is $48.38 a week. My actual budget was $175, I gave my self $15 cushion because of the price increase happening weekly, but I am pretty sure that the $193 will be as close as I can get it to an actual cost while using my pantry supplies. The added cost was for fruit and veggies last week and of course the milk this week. This week I will not be buying anything other than the half gallon of milk today since we only have 3 days left. 

 

The way I worked it was I used cash. Normally I just swipe my debit card, but I put $175 in an envelope and that was our food money. I only used it for food no other house hold items. The cashier was understanding when I asked her to ring up the food separate from the household items.  

 

As for counting cost I factored in a box of WM brand pancake mix for $1.98. I knew it would not cost that since the 5# of flour I buy is $2.43 but it gave me a starting point. Plus the pancake mix was just add water so that covered all the needed ingredients. As for counting the cost of the black beans I just divided the $1.25 by 4 since I used the black beans 4 times, it come out to like 31 cents each. I bought my black beans at Dollar Tree since their bags of beans is still 16 oz and the ones at WM are only 12 oz. When I made taco spaghetti the second week I counted the cost of a pack of taco seasoning even though I made my own. I found the cheapest store brand it was like 48 cents and that is price I used. When I make the taco spaghetti Friday I will not count the cost for any of it except the noodles since I will be using the leftover sauce from when we had it before. It helped that I did the bulk of my shopping at one time. I bought all the meat, frozen items and shelf stable stuff on week one. I only bought milk, eggs and fresh fruit and veggies on week 3. Well and the milk today only because we actually used a whole gallon of milk over two weeks. Hubby has been on a cereal kick since snacks have been limited and will only use fresh milk on his cereal. 

 

I am sorry I am not much help when it comes to figuring out cost of vension, rabbit and squirrel. I would say if you paid to have it processed then count the processing fee but if he field dressed it you probably could still count how much it would cost per pound if processed at a slaughter house.

[Littlesister]

When I went through all my recipes last night, I went through what I had bought.  I also separated what little bit of nonfood items from the food items.  So, counting in the weeks I didn't buy food. I added up all the food items and it averaged up to just over $11 a week. I don't buy groceries on a weekly basis anymore. So, I did well. It is just me as GS doesn't eat here other than dinner on his 2 days off. He uses his food stamps at work and lives on junk food.  His doctor told him he needs to gain weight. So, junk food will do it. He has gone from 118lbs. to 130lbs. He best slow the junk food down.  So, I am trying to use down the pantry. Only things like eggs, milk and coffee creamer have been the bulk of my groceries this past month. Plus, the 2 Boston butts I bought to can. I did buy some butter on sale also. 

[euphrasyne]

If you want a to the penny how much does life cost me estimate, start an excel sheet.  List the prices of everything (with fees and taxes) that you purchase.  Each day list how much of what you use and link the amount to the side cell.  Run an adding total per day.   I can set this up a blank if anyone needs.   Then factor in weekly (eating out, car gas, random purchases), monthly (house, car, gas, electric, etc.), Semi--annual (water, pest control), and annual (taxes on cars, houses) expenses.  Add in expenses where needed and set your formula based on daily/weekly/monthly/yearly.  I have a budget that runs from 20 years ago till I'm 100 (probably dead before then.)   I don't usually factor in my per item costs, but rather prefer to set a budget that I occasionally go over and I can see how it impacts me.   But it would be easy (if time consuming) to track individual purchases.  

[Mother]

I have used a couple different apps to track our finances. Years ago I used Money. My online banking gives me the ability to go through and give my spending different categories.  I use them all for a while, long enough to set a reasonable budget if I factor in price raises but they do get time consuming.  My monthly household supply budget includes food and supplies from the grocery stores, what household supplies and foods I get from Amazon and a few other online places I order.  I try to exclude home furnishings, repairs, and other one time buys as they go into a different category of spending.  This does, however contain any daily, weekly, or monthly items we use on an ongoing basis so includes replenishing our preps.  I roughly add those things up each month, three months, six months, and a year.  As our income comes in monthly I make the budget for that.  
 

When I raised a large percentage of our own food the ‘daily life’ budget was very low.  It was easy to see the budget raise as I was able to do less and less.  I compensated somewhat by producing more easily grown foods like microgreens and sprouts. Before the pandemic I was able to keep our daily life budget less than $350. That included paper products, cleaning supplies, office supplies,, seeds and garden supplies, and etc. as well as food. During the pandemic that cost raised to closer to $500 but that price also included the money for gas I gave to DD for shopping for us.  During that time both DH and myself became more disabled and unable to drive or do many of the things we used to and had to hire others to do things we no longer could but I put that cost in a separate classification too.  Now, with the higher cost of almost everything from medications to insurance premiums and especially food, we are using our pantry, freezer, and other foods at an alarming rate and feel the need to replace them.  Most of what we get now comes shipped or delivered and I’m finding it difficult to shop the local sales, which I always did in the past.  Being unable to grow and can foods and not having access to bulk foods as I used to, I’m trying to find ways to save on the budget every where I can.  
 

This month I started to tabulate the costs of food separately from the other supplies.  I’ve also been taking a close look at what we do eat and assessing them individually for ways I CAN save on them.  I actually have been able to save through frugality and our overall daily life budget has been staying under $400 a month but there are many things not being replaced that should be.  I know because of my allergies and restricted diet it won’t be easy but there must be a way, even for a wheelchair bound disabled senior citizen and a cognitively and physically impaired senior citizen husband.  I like a challenge but I find I am constantly having to do a reality check on our abilities.  
 

MT3B, thanks for posting this challenge. It has given me the impetus to challenge myself and your assessment helps me to be cautious in my own solutions. 

[Littlesister]

I am working on a new way to keep track of my spending. The first of each month I go to bank and take out the amount of money I need for the month. Plus, a bit extra to put back for emergencies. 

I have special envelopes that I put the money in. One for groceries and nonfood items, one for gas, one for church ties for the month and one for paying the yard man.  I keep a running tab on the amount I spend on each when I use that cash. I have just started doing that so not sure yet how I am going to like it. I try not to do any online shopping but if I need to do any, I will use my Amazon card as that is the only card I will use online. Then when that bill comes in, I just pay it off. I started doing this as there have been a lot of issues at the gas pumps. Seems they are using scanners in Suffolk, Smithfield and other places as well. So now I pay with cash instead of using a card. They are saying that if you don't have those cards in a protective wallet or something, there are people hanging around gas stations with a card reader. They don't need to be near you to use it. Just walk by and they have that info off of your card. I saw where a lady's bank account got wiped out. So don't ever use your debit card to get gas. Now I just go inside to pay. It's a bit of a pain but saves a lot of frustration later down the line. 

I don't use the excel sheets or anything online because then I forget to post in them. And I just don't like doing any type of banking or anything online either. I either mail my bills or I will call on my house phone and make a payment over the phone for the ones that don't charge a fee to do that. Yep, I found out there are some places that charge you to make a payment by phone. My GS tried to do that with his car payment, and they wanted $15.00 fee to do it. He gave me the money and I wrote a check for him to mail it. It was at the time that something happened to his bank account, and he switched banks because of it. He hasn't had any more issues since then. He does online banking. But whatever happened at that time he was unable to get his car payment through. He did call the loan company where his payment was and explained everything to them so now it is fixed.