During this very trying time with more and more outside influences coming our way, we need to have a plan on what we are going to do to keep not only costs down, but how we are going to make sure any savings we have for our retirements are safe.
I got my bill for February's electrical costs and it was down by about $20.00 from the month before. Not a great deal, but it does show that using small appliances can save you a bit of money. What I really need to work on is getting Harvey to make sure the back light in the basement if off. He seems to have a slight problem with this. Another way I can safe a bit on electrical costs is to perhaps start paying attention to phantom electrical users and shut those off as well. The bad thing about that is then my mini computer attached to the television has a bit of a problem reconnecting, the same can be said for the regular TV box. There are some other ways of saving on electric that I will be practicing over the next few months.
On to our natural gas usage. Winters are tough up here and so that bill usually is pretty large during winter months and not so bad at all during spring, summer and fall. I prefer to be comfortable and so things will stay as normal on this area. It would be lovely to have a fireplace, but the cost of putting one in and the wood to keep it going might be a bit high. I would definitely purchase a place that actually had a woodburning fireplace, but I rather doubt any condos have this feature.
Water bills are the next item on the list. We did go down this month which is good, but things are still fairly high. Most are items that the city charges like sewage pipe replacement fees (good because at one point when the city replaced their lines you were responsible for the cost in front of your home), and a few other costs as well. We will never get rid of the garbage pick up fee or the recycle pick up fee, so we may as well get used to that.
Property taxes will be going up this year, we just don't know by how much and that is pretty scary. Still this is lower than many places in Saskatchewan and we will just have to manage.
We got a letter yesterday about our extra medical insurance. That is going up once again as well. Harvey turns 75 this year and I turn 70 so of course the cost is going up. Bad thing is as costs for this rise, less and less is covered.
Groceries are going up and as we all know shopping sales, and using everything up is pretty much the only way to control this in our budgets.
We can also make our own dressings, spice mixes, baking mixes. Save our bones from roasts, chickens, hams and make our own broths for soup.
Dried beans, peas and lentils are great sources of protein so having a few more meatless meals a month save us some money as well.
Leftovers can be made into another wonderful meal or used as is for lunches.
Cans of tuna and salmon are great in the pantry, they can be made into sandwich fillings, casseroles, patties, or main dish salads with the addition of a few vegetables and pasta.
If something you purchase starts getting a bit soft, cut it up and freeze or dehydrate it. Those can be used in stews and stir-fry's. Nothing should go to waste if at all possible.
Plant a garden and learn how to can, freeze and dehydrate, forage for berries if possible. Put the word out for fruit like apples, here so many have more apples and such than they can use and if you are willing to pick they are more than happy for you to come and take.
I have started to make some of my own salves from the herbs I grow or the "weeds" I forage. I have also made my own lip balm which is awesome and so very easy to make.
Clothing is mended or refashioned in this house. Some of my clothing is probably 20 years old and still in excellent shape. I purchased classic styles and if I do sew anything for myself I do the same classic style.
Now the only thing I really worry about right now is our retirement savings. Most of my deposits are in those areas that get a certain amount of interest every year. I do not take big chances with my money. Harvey on the other hand sometimes takes a bit of a risk with his larger deposits. Sometimes this works very well, but with the up and down (mostly down lately) of the stock market things could get a bit touchy. I am working on him to get things put into safer investments. We shall see what happens.
What ways are you going to fight the rising costs and possible losses to your retirement savings?
Everybody have a wonderful evening.
God bless.
