I buy shampoo at Costco, too. I was there today and there was no line at self-checkout. Multiple stations were open. Don't go on the weekend. Bought a $5 rotisserie chicken there. I'm gonna try making a breakfast hash with rotisserie chicken meat, potatoes, and an egg (or something like that)
Honestly, this is something that should always be part of the equation if costs are becoming a problem.
Any service that popped up in the 2010s should be viewed with distrust. They all used free investor money to prop up a dumping scheme to disrupt but now interest rates are back to normal they've jacked up the prices because the business model was never sound in the first place. Grocery deliver, food deliver, ride sharing, etc. Send them all back to the App Store Abyss!
This is true to a point. If you get free premium services like Uber One or DashPass (I get them via credit card benefits) it can sometimes be cheaper to order from those places than to order the food directly from the restaurant itself. Of course that biz model will crash and burn but for now enjoy venture capital trying to squeeze out competition by running huge deficits.
@cheke64 Not all the books, but I'd say I find somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the books I want I can get either as an eBook or an audiobook on Libby. I tend to read/listen to a series of books which can get pricey if I like the first book. Also, I tend to check out the audiobook and eBook at the same time which allows me to read or listen depending on what is going on around me.
I turn off both AC units off at around 6am and run fans all day until about 1 or 2. Gives my AC (and electric bill) a nice 7 hour break every day. This only works if your house is well insulated. Don't run your dryer unless it's 100% full. Besides your AC, your dryer uses the most power of anything in your house. I came home to see my wife running the dryer with one shirt in it yesterday and I almost had a stroke. Houston water is expensive. Take shorter showers. Turn the water off while you lather up, then back on again to rinse off. If you're eating out, split an entrée instead of always buying one for each person. If Mexican, fill up on those free chips and salsa! Get a large margarita and make it last the whole meal by drinking water too. Always take home leftovers! When you drive, try to cruise as much as possible instead of constantly gunning it and hard braking. If your car has an "econ" option, always drive on that. Buy an attic door insulator on Amazon. Only 25$ and my entire upstairs is so much cooler since I got one.
What if I just stopped spending money? Because right now everything is smaller and more expensive. Somehow $20 is the new $5 and $100 is the new $20. But I still get paid the same as I did in 2019.
That looks like the same Brown Bag Deli that started inside the loop ~20 years ago. They were really good quality, didn't skimp on the ingredients, and very affordable back then. That was a favorite spot to pick up sammiches and meet the gf at work and picnic outside. $18 is ****ing ridiculous unless they're building 8" tall sammiches like at a Jewish deli.
Let me know if you come across a "gnarly male feet" fetish group...you know, during your regular internet travels.
This isn't a tip per se, but more just relaying information. There was a reporter covering inflation costs for food, reporter was on an quarterly Earnings call of one of the big food/soft drink companies... The gist was when the county was hit by the supply chain issue, and they had to raise prices, but once the issue went away, they didn't feel the need to lower it. Turns out food (a basic good) is not that elastic. Their sales didn't drop as much even with the super hikes. Since many manufacturers all raised their prices, gouging people worked. People have to eat. While there is inflation in the economy and the cost is being passed to the customers, their food price increase is waaaaayyy higher than inflation rate. ... it's a bit maddening (and sad) tbh. They're gouging you and they know it. Basically admitted it to their stakeholders. Best way is doing what you guys are saying and finding better prices as far as general groceries. Food is a basic good, brand loyalty doesn't have to be. Boycott some of the name brands; where you feel the prices are unreasonable.
This is 100% true. The major grocery chains had a role in it as well. Iirc, "profit inflation" is the term. There's a bunch of articles about it, here's one: https://www.forbes.com/sites/errols...-groceries-so-damn-expensive/?sh=581f64bb2eb9 Also, there were a myriad of factors that contributed to it: https://www.gao.gov/blog/sticker-sh...ation-wasnt-only-reason-food-prices-increased
Does anybody know the best internet service provider nowadays? I'm tired of being gouged by AT&T, they've raised my bill by 12 dollars over the last 5 months.
It just depends on who services your address. The more ISPs, the better rates you'll get. Nowadays, it's either cable (Spectrum/Xfinity) or fiber (AT&T/Google). Cable providers usually offer good promo rates for new customers, but it'll dramatically increase after that period. Download speeds are good but upload is usually much lower. Reliability is not as good from my experience, likely because it's older tech. Not that I've had significant blackouts, but maybe lose it occasionally for a few hours twice a year from significant weather events. Fiber speeds are more symmetrical with equal download/upload speed. Higher upload speeds is more useful for WFH folks. I was with AT&T 1Gb fiber for a while, started at $70/mo but has increased about $5/mo each year. Google Fiber recently expanded to my area and now Spectrum offers a much better rate. We switched from AT&T Fiber at $85/mo for 1Gb to Spectrum's 500Mb at $40/mo. So far, it's been a good move for us. Wife/kids are streaming content fine. My gaming pings are maybe 20-30 ms higher.
