I saw the inflation rate came out today at 9.1%, highest in 40 years for the US. For the rest of the world, the inflation rate is slightly higher, at 9.6% on average. No politics please.

I am interested to hear how you are managing? Approaches, tricks, sacrifices. I see everything going up but the paycheck, it makes it very challenging. I'd like to know I'm not alone in the struggle.

I also don't eat out much, but truth be told, I never did like eating out. I thought the "buy at garage sale, sell on ebay" business model was a myth. I do love the idea of taking the kids with. We always love a good garage sale or flea market. I have the Rose Bowl Flea market here every month, but I think they tend to be professionals and you don't see deals much.

My phone's an iphone6. Still going strong, knock on wood. I never like to pay for the bleeding edge. I have streaming services, I don't think I've used cable for viewing for a long time (just need the internet).

Am I glad to hear there is hope even during this time! My wife also has a business that is taking off, but not yet solid enough to count as reliable. Day jobs for us both at the moment.

Not having a family certainly makes a big difference. My car usage is low, but I have to fly alot, which hurts.

I find shopping at Trader Joes (if you have one) is consistently cheaper than grocery stores.

Costco if you have the room.

USAA insurance is great for the military AND family - my dad served in Korea, and could have taken advantage of this. And if he had, I would be able to as well. Be aware you can get the best rates if it's an option for you.

I did not know that. Thanks. I guess I don't feel as left out then.

There's a great discussion about this over at the "who hates EVs" thread. If you are interested. I think wanting to be energy-independent is a goal we all share. Hopefully when inflation goes down I can afford to do the EV route and drive right by the gas stations. Can dream, right?

Actually, that's not true. At least, according to the historical information for prior min wage increases. But I'm thinking we are getting too far off the path here. Some of us definitely need a raise to keep up.

Well, I can give a lot of data and evidence to back my statements up, but this just isn't the forum for it. I do hope we see inflation comes down soon, though for that, I won't hold my breadth. Too many factors around the world in play.

Isn't this both a good thing and the private market forces at work? When you consider today's minimum wage is 40% LOWER than minimum wage in 1970 (adjusted dollars).

That's what happens, the economy is boosted. I feel I should mention a good number of those jobs are held by older adults just scraping by. Makes me sorry for cities without good public transport.

Ouch. I know it's so much better than some, but I find costs keep my pinball restoration efforts to work with as much as I can, instead of ordering new right off the bat.

How is it not? There are no further gov assistance payments, haven't been for awhile.

Just gotta say, that makes me feel better during this time. Great attitude.

I made the mistake of going to a regular grocery store last week - ouch. Ran back to Trader Joe’s. We also use Costco

Try their chocolate ice cream, better than Breyers. Also Dark chocolate peanut butter cups

I can remember a time when the first stated goals of a company's charter was "1) be an asset to the community, 2) make money." Yes, ancient history. I don't pretend to have solutions. But it's clear the system as it is, is broken.

Getting back on topic, several posters here who have their act together have inspired me to take a more proactive stance to our finances. Thank you for the inspiration!

If it were just me, I'd be living just like this. But my wife is not on that page, blessing that she is.

Having to support three households and now hearing my (in Hawaii, no friends, no assets) mother-in-law's dementia has reached a tipping point, it's important to keep things in perspective. This thread helps, thanks.

I enjoy archery, so I know the enjoyment of visiting the target range. As long as I don't loose an arrow at the outdoor ranges.

Don't remember, but such a premise is just silly to use for any sort of teaching moment. Speaking of, I really' really wish we taught high school classes on real world handling of money, finances, etc.. I only had one class on accounting, and it was to learn how to balance a checkbook. (ATMs were not even a thought at that point). Nothing on managing money. Or investments, etc..

Now we're talking. I use a compound bow, 70lb draw, with carbon fiber fletched arrows, but no sight. I live really close to a free, outdoor set of archery stands with nice target bales. I have a friend who was taught the traditional Japanese recurve archery. They take it very seriously.

Our friends overseas are going to be scratching their heads on that reference. But it is important to be thankful!

My question is, is this a sign of the fact we don't make enough? It used to be that only one parent had to work at a job to buy a house and raise a family. How many are forced to borrow? I'd be curious that breakdown, I've never seen it.

I don't know. When you realize minimum wage now is 40% lower (adjusted dollars) than it was in 1970, there's that. Maybe you are right. Those one-earner yesteryears weren't poverty families though, but families that had nice things, owned their own home, did much better than say, the Great Depression families recovering in the 30s. Again, I just don't know enough to know. I cannot argue consumerism isn't shoved down our throats all day long.

Goodwill is where I found a high-end laserdisc player. I love looking for possibilities there. There was a Goodwill in Hollywood I'd go to, and I think there must have been a person who'd come in and steal the knobs. I remember items one day that had missing knobs the next, not sure what that was about.

Anyway, good on you! Fun

I admit my wife and I used to watch HGTV regularly. She's an interior designer, so there's that. No, no one needs high end cabinets, but they should have cabinets that work, have handles, and match. They should have clean carpets that don't have stains, smells, and that aren't older than the kids. There's plenty of ways to upgrade that don't require huge remodels. Clean, bright and sunny, always.

I am SO glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. It's like, they are 22 and can afford 500K? As a starter home? WTF? Or, "now I know it looks like a run down dump, but since the bank will give you 300K, and it's only 200K, you have 100K to update it." Does that really happen? Doesn't the bank say, no, you cannot borrow more than the house is CURRENTLY appraised for? Am I missing some golden nugget of truth here?

Maybe you can lease her out as a subwoofer.

Women don't fart. At least, I grew up believing this.

I could use my words to reply, but.... The moderators here wouldn't be able to remove my post fast enough if I used them. Glad our country is still a democratic republic. Yay, us.

Somebody doesn't know what "no politics please" means. Which explains something else, but it would be impolite to point it out.

If I post political, it's removed within a minute of my posting. Yet there that turd sits, reported and still steaming....

Seems to be a universal issue - wings are stupid expensive. Same with the drumettes.

Yes, I know, I had to look it up before I posted to make certain I was referring to the right part. The drumette is the upper part of the wing, and the lower part is what we typically call a "wing". I see them sold separately.

Don't understand the hate. It's clear in the video the character was trying to do a no-hands hug.

One thing I do to save money is play board games - another thread reminded me. It's fun, and costs nothing once you buy it. nice group activity, too. The new, modern board games - not the old Monopoly type of crud.

Yeah, that's not a game I'd want to play. But there's one for every attention span! This crowd is exploding kittens and cards against humanity.

Current favorites.

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Nemesis is pretty much like Alien / Aliens. There are a lot of tutorials and playthroughs online. To be honest, it'll look complicated until you play through it once. I generally like to teach new people how to play, I try to step through as they need to know.

I hadn't seen that offer. I also have Verizon? I do have too many CCs, don't use them but they have balances that never go down. After this group I've made a goal - a plan to pay them off. I have never found a card that gives anything back in benefits worth mentioning. As far as PS5, my company gave me one. It's what we do, so it's a little perk.

Yeah, they didn't have that at all. Well, I don't have an issue staying with my current phone. Shame.

I have the game, and three expansions. I have yet to play it once. Go figure.

Obvious as a Russian invasion and a COVID epidemic. We are dealing with the falloff from both, but at least it's every country, not just the U.S.

If you don’t like facts, then go somewhere else. I can suggest a few places

Nope. We saw nothing, which is right, the poor were targeted and those who lost their jobs

I hate that some Americans are that uninformed (I won’t say stupid, just not willing to look at the facts)