Grocery "deals". . . .

I'm trying to be better about checking the weekly supermarket ads for good deals (those things coupon experts are always calling "loss leaders"), before shopping.

Yesterday I saw a deal at a local store (QFC, I believe) for 10 cans of Nalley chili (which I love, especially with cheddar cheese) for $10! "What a great deal", I thought to myself, "but do I really need ten cans of chili"? There were several other advertisements at the same store of the 'buy ten, pay $10' variety, so I'm sure I could have mixed and matched.

I always start my grocery shopping at the least expensive stores, and work my way up to average or high priced stores, in the hope that most of my groceries will already have been purchased at a lower cost store by the time I get to, say, Safeway.

Today, at the second store I visited (which does NO advertising), my eye was caught by a giant display of stacked cans of Nalley chili-----at .73 per can. Luckily, I hadn't made it to store number three for the "great deal" at $1 a can! I took home five cans, for $3.65, or $1.35 less than I would have paid at QFC!

Note to self: those "great deals" may not be as great if I take the time to do a little research and keep my eyeballs peeled for even BETTER deals. . . . .

Are you keeping up with inflation?

I’ve been reading the newspapers voraciously during my commute to work, and have been stunned by the inflation numbers I’m seeing. When food and energy costs included, consumers saw a whopping increase of 4.1% in 2007, compared to a 2.5% increase in 2006. No wonder I’ve been eating beans and rice so regularly and keeping the thermostat at a chilly 58 degrees!

Since I’ve not had a raise in a year and a half (and to be honest, took a hefty pay cut when I moved to Oregon from California in 2006 anyway), I started wondering whether my income has kept up with inflation at all since I finished my master’s degree in 1998.

I recently found an inflation calculator on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, which tells me that from the time I took my first post-graduate school job until now, I’m making about $500 more than I was ten years ago, when inflation is taken into account! Of course, this doesn’t include the money I bring in from my second job, which will increase my gross income by about $6,000 this year. I left that out because I don’t think citizens should have to take a second job make up for the effects of inflation.

By the way, The Baglady has a great post about the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and how it does (or doesn't) relate to our everyday costs.

However, you feel about the CPI, try out the calculator here; you may be pleasantly surprised! Or, like me, you may end up questioning the employment choices you’ve made over the years. . . . . .

The Middle Years. . . .

Click here for my post on the Early Years. . . .

I returned to sunny California from graduate school on the East Coast in 1998, still blissfully ignorant about the true state of my finances. I decided to try my hand at a marketing position at one of the new internet start-ups that dotted the Bay Area. Living with family in Marin County (that was nice!) while attempting to find a ‘room’ (aka closet) to rent in San Francisco on my $25,000 a year salary (not so nice!), I could have used this rent-free period of about three months to save some money. Did I do this? Of course not! I bought a car! Isn’t that what every new graduate with $50,000 in debt does?

In my defense, it was not a new car, by any means, and it wasn’t sexy or fast (it was a tiny Honda Civic, over five years old at the time). As humble as it was, I still had to finance it and make a monthly payment. In addition to my credit card payments, and the soon-to-be $600 a month student loan payments. Did I mention I consolidated my student loans at the low, low rate of 8.25%?

As it became clear that I wasn’t going to find a room to rent in San Francisco without some major cash in hand, an office at the university I attended for my undergraduate degree called---they had a job opening, and it was actually related to my graduate degree!

In desperation I returned to my hometown, and took the university job. Slightly better pay and excellent benefits (including an actual pension) made me feel like my ship had come in. Why, with all the extra money I’d be making, I felt comfortable enough to sign a lease on an expensive apartment, and bought some new furniture and clothing. Somehow forgetting about the car payment, the credit card payments, and the looming student loan payments. . . .

I’m amazed when I read blogs by people in their 20’s, who actually GET the fact that saving is a good thing. That contributing to a 401K (in my case, a 403b) is a GREAT thing. That paying off credit card debt is a guaranteed investment. None of these concepts even entered my mind.

I kick myself for not starting earlier, for not being ‘smarter’. Then I remember that at least I get it NOW. Yes, it’s 20 years later than I would have preferred (I’m 38 now). Yes, I could probably retire in a few years had I started saving when I was 18. But I didn’t. I’m grateful that the stars finally aligned at the right time in exactly the right configuration for the light bulb to go on over my head.

Tomorrow, I’ll write about where I am now, financially, and more importantly, where I’m headed!