Milk $2.89...gas $2.00 gallon last week!!!

I think the prices of groceries, milk and gas are rediculous. My husband and I have 1 child and the two of us. I have not worked in a long time due to severe back problems that enable me to work. I applied for dissability, but was denied because they said I was too young. I have had back surgery and 2 knee surgeries. Believe me if I could find a desk job or something where I could sit and stand as needed I would take the job, but with desk jobs they want you to have secretarial experience which I have non of....My husband doesn't make much money either, so the prices of everything is rediculous.

Milk here runs about 3.29 a gallon and gas is 2.05 a gallon. with most jobs barely paying 6-7.00 an hour it is hard to live. the health department doesn't help much. My son gets medical, but that is all the help they will give us. My husband " Makes too much money" to get any other assistance. Tell me how can 7.00 an hour be too much for a family of 3?

We mannage though. We go to thrift stores and watch our money very tightly. We very seldom go out to eat and we stay home a lot.That is why we are moving to the country. We can raise alot of our own meat, milk eggs and veggies. It was a lot easier on us when we lived in the country before. WE hate the city life.

I am just luck that Ohio has WIC ( Wemon, Infant and Children) Through them we get milk ( 5 gal a month) , 1 lb. cheese, 2-3 boxes of cereal,4 bottles of juice , 1 jar of peanut butter and 2 doz eggs. That doesn't sound like much but every bit helps.

I think everything is going to cost so much eventually and the wages of working people will probubly not change at all. How are every day people supposed to afford to live?

Education? I have some college as well as my husband, but it doesn't help the pay rate any. I plan on going back to school, and maybe things will become different?

Thank you Melissa for your post- it helps keep some sanity when I read how others are managing. Fortunately my children are teens (though bottomless pits that they are) and I don't worry as much about certain things as when they were little. Who can afford fruits and vegetables at the store? I'm gardening. Milk is $3.59/ gallon for store brand and $4.59 for dairy brand. It is a tribute to modern ingenuity that I drive by half a dozen dairies when I go anywhere but have to budget milk. This is the heart of beef and dairy country in Florida- but now I raise dairy goats so my son can drink milk.
Swine feed has gone up $4/ per 50 lb. sack since this time last year. Gas is $1.96 per gallon. The horse and buggy idea is a goal to work for as far as I'm concerned. I think we're bringing the family farm ideal back to practicality.

__________________
Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

Just thought I'd make a quick note on the milk prices. I just received a check in mail today for the milk I sold for all of the month of April. Price I received for top grade, that's called grade A, with butterfat of 3.51 percent and receiving max. quality premium was $1.37 per gallon. Then deductions for hauling and promotion were taken from that leaving a final price of less than that. We are going to receive a raise in price but it takes much longer to trickle down than it takes for the retail price to go up. My mother buys a half gallon of 2 percent now and then and it had raised .70 . I figured my raise--if it gets here--and was only .26. Someone else got the remainder. FB

I figured the money wasn't trickling down to the dairy farmer. The one nearest us sells meat cattle and grain. Probably affords him enough diversity to keep everything going.

I don't know how anyone one making less than $10 hr. can make it, unless someone is home to farm. Especially if you have children. I took my daughter to the grocery store last night and EVERYTHING with dairy was $3 or more, even the mayo. Fortunately she was able to get food assistance from the state. She only makes $6 an hour and because my grandson is handicapped she can't really work full-time otherwise they penalize her and take away some of the help she gets. I try to help her keep her car running, but we're not rich and sometimes I can't help except with gas. There is a great discount food store here and believe or not she was able to get at least 2-3 weeks or more worth of food for $98 which will leave her enough to make it through the rest of the month.
Thank goodness he gets Medicaid, otherwise she would have no medical assistance either, since the job she has currently has no benefits.
She plans to go to Nursing school starting in the fall, medical jobs are about the only ones at this point where they make good wages and you're not likely to be laid-off very soon.
Gas here is between $1.82-1.92 gal. you have to hunt to find the best deal. I try to get everything done around my work days during the week or if I have to make a trip into town on the weekends I make lists so I can get everything done in that one trip.

Goat milk is smoother and doesn't separate like cow's milk. I like it much better than cows milk and it is healthier too without all the chemicals. As for price, we have traded cloth for goat's milk so far with a friend.

Gas is between $1.85 and $1.89 per gallon with further increases as we come closer to Memorial Day weekend in my tourism based part of Missouri.

There is only one result in my area to rising milk, gas and other product prices: people will buy less because they can afford to buy less. If you earn X number of dollars, but the products go up Y%, and your X per hour remains the same, you have less buying power. If you have less buying power, less product is sold and then the retailers are in a bind.

I am wondering when we have a major fiscal fit in this country because of the spiraling upward course of prices.

__________________
I would challenge anyone here to think of a question upon which we once had a scientific answer, however inadequate, but for which now the best answer is a religious one. – Sam Harris

They are now saying we may see gas at 2.50 a gal on memorial day weekend.
Itis rediculous. When my son was an infant. I quit breastfeeding and he couldn't keep down formula. My friend who raised goats gave me some goat milk and told me to try it. He kept it down and he loved it....

Farmers markets around here are the cheapest way to get vegggies.

yes, the grapes are sprayed with hormones. I cant remember why, is it to make them ripen? Anyway, because of the hybrid grapes, they must be sprayed. I researched this a long time ago, and cant remember the specifics, anyway, we dont buy grapes either
Unfortunatly, if you really research the food you buy, perhaps you wont buy it! lol! Organic, that is the only way to go.

One thing not mentioned is that it takes 2 years or more for a farmer to expand his herd if he does not purchase cows elsewhere. So it takes a whiloe for these cycles. In other words, dairy farmers have had it bad for quite a while now. So many have sold out as mentioned. When the milk price starts "getting good" most farmers cannot quickly add to their herd to take advantage of it. So I expect these prices for quite a while before the dairy numbers can increase to offset the shortage of milk.

Halo, where are you?? We can always use peaches! Our two little trees are just limping along.....