Inflation, Energy and living on a fixed income.

[Averageman]

With the price of fuel going up everywhere, those burning heating oil are going to have a cold winter.
The Price of food keeps climbing and those on a fixed income are hurting.
I'm guessing a few older folks are going to have a lean dark winter.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Aren’t SS payments going up by a record amount? I have not doubt that it won’t cover the actual increases.

A also saw that we are going to use more coal because NG is too expensive and I assume in tight supply.

It would hilarious if our CO2 emissions went up or stopped their decline, because of Biden’s energy policy and war on natural gas.

[Arik]

My area home heating oil prices are as follows....(this is from one company but they're all competitive so the next company will be in the same ball park)

50-74gal $3.60
75-99gal $3.20
100-149gal $2.95
500+ $2.89

I skipped some in the middle. No reason to write them all, this gives a good idea.

So..... at least around here, most heating oil is in older homes, mostly WW2 era or older and in smaller towns. Large cities have long since converted. Many of those have also long since been converted to whatever but some still around. Having a wood burning stove installed or using the fireplace might not be a bad idea. Around here you can get enough wood for free or dirt cheap to supplement the oil. When trees fall across the road crews just cut it up and toss it in the woods. I see free wood listed on Craigslist all the time from homeowners who had trees chopped down on their property. And there's a few parks where construction companies dump trees that were cleared to make room for developments. Of course this does require one to do some leg work.

When it comes to food and fixed budget I would seriously recommend buying a scale and paying attention to servings as well as shopping carefully, buying better food. Cut out garbage like sodas and cookies. Look at sale items. My supermarket puts meat on 30-50% off when it's coming up to expiration dates. It's still perfectly fine to store and eat. Shop at multiple places if possible. Weigh your meals. You'd be surprised how much we over eat. Check out how much 4-6oz of red meat is.....it's not that big but it's calorie dense. Look at the serving sizes on labels. One tuna can is usually 2.5 - 3 servings. Buy in bulk when possible even if it means skipping on something none essential.

Add more vegetables. They're healthy and they fill you up.

This was some of my purchases this month

Pork butt $1.59/lb










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[FromMyColdDeadHand]

We eat a crap load of pork. Tenderloin x4 on the grill makes for a great dinner and lunches for 3 days for a few people. Pork Loin in a slow coooker for 8 hours with potatoes and carrots- meal for 4 people under $20. LGS will do BOGO on roasts from time to time. Grill vegetables on skewers- oil and season- so good.

I make 10-12 pounds of meat balls at a time and portion them out in freezer bags for quick meals later.

Early pandemic I had the kids better trained to clear their plates, and for my wife to not over cook- especially on sides like pasta.

What are the economics on bread- buy versus bake? I got into it as a supply/reduce-trips during the pandemic. Stopped it as I tried to cut back on carbs earlier this year.

[Arik]

I'm not big on carbs, never was so I wouldn't know what bread or pasta costs. At most I'll buy a few of potatoes here and there throughout the year. I price out meat/seafood, vegetables and fruits. But making your own will probably be cheaper in the long run if you constantly consume bread. Same with a pasta maker. And speaking of making your own .....ground beef is cheaper when you do it yourself!

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[HKGuns]

I'm guessing those same folks probably won't regret voting for Chiden either. So much for the deomcRAT policies being good for the working man. This is a DIRECT result of having the lunatics back in charge of the country.

I swear people are getting stupider.

[AndyLate]

A cynical person would say that all the retirees who camp out to buy up all the ammo can sell it for what they paid and eat like kings for a while.

A more compassionate person would say that a 6.x% social security increase will not go far with heating, gas, and food costs climbing.


Andy

[Adrenaline_6]

I buy 3 - 20lb bags of rice at a time and try to have at least 40lbs on hand. Rice keeps a long time. As far as carbs go, I don't buy into the current trend. It has been the staple food for most of Asia and they don't really have a weight problem, so I am calling bs. I can eat rice 3x times a day and eat a lot of it. I don't really have a weight problem. You just can't eat 2lbs of meat and gravy with it.

[jsbhike]

I buy 3 - 20lb bags of rice at a time and try to have at least 40lbs on hand. Rice keeps a long time. As far as carbs go, I don't buy into the current trend. It has been the staple food for most of Asia and they don't really have a weight problem, so I am calling bs. I can eat rice 3x times a day and eat a lot of it. I don't really have a weight problem. You just can't eat 2lbs of meat and gravy with it.

You undoubtedly have a more varied diet, but rice as the primary food can lead to thiamine deficiency(beriberi).

Used to be very common in SE Asia for that reason and seems to still have a lot of cases.

[Adrenaline_6]

You undoubtedly have a more varied diet, but rice as the primary food can lead to thiamine deficiency(beriberi).

Used to be very common in SE Asia for that reason and seems to still have a lot of cases.

You are correct. I never meant primary, just a staple. The new trend currently is anti-carb - until it isn't a new trend and something else takes its place. I call bs on it because it is a staple in a lot of countries that don't have real obesity problems.

Theory is cool and all, but the proof is in the pudding and looking at a lot of countries, it is rice pudding.