Sticker Shock

I just got home from picking up a pizza from a little country store 2 miles down the road. While I was there, I noticed that I needed to get gas in the van. Normally I would not pay attention to prices of gas and just stick to my 87 unleaded. Normally, I would pay no more than $45 to fill up. The last time I got it was $3.05 a gallon, last week. As I noticed the sign above the store, $3.29 a gallon, I watched as my $ amount soared past $45. I can remember just a few short months ago, getting gas for around $40...Even around Christmas. My husband said as he drove by the store this morning that I should go ahead and get it at $3.09 a gallon. How can it go up $.20 in just a few hours. I was thankful when the pump clicked off at $50.00. When I first got then van about 3 years ago, I remember gas prices being a little over $4 a gallon. We had also had a hurricane and oil spill in the gulf.... I asked the clerk at the counter what she thought and her comment was..."they say its going to be up $5 or more a gallon by summer"....WOW! I recall summers before, they threatened to raise it to $5 but never got more and a little over $4. Still....$4 for a gallon of gas is CRAZY...

How do they expect people to pay for gas...

I guess it is time for people to really budget and get control of their spending...

We have a budget program that we follow. I purchased it at Office Depot several years ago, I... we LOVE IT!!! I try to stick to it as much as I can but there are some weeks we get off a little. Guess I will be sticking to it now! Considering I only get gas once a week, you would think that it would not be a bad bill. $200 a month for one vehicle, that is. My hubby drives a PT Cruiser and gets gas twice a week. It usually takes $33-35 to fill up so I budget about $70 a week for him for a grand total of  $480 a month, rounded to an even $500 for those special trips!

And the food bill......

That's another rant....

Just because gas prices go up, that doesn't mean they can raise the price of milk. I have been purchasing organic milk at Whole Foods, which is the same price as regular milk at Kroger. But, I have noticed that it is going up each week...penny by penny. 

I guess its more menu planning and stretching in my future and I hope yours too! If you have comments on the gas/food prices going up, comment or link up below!!

~Remember to put God first, and everything else will follow~