Drought-Proof Your Grocery Budget

I receive a newsletter from the Frugal Living site at About.com and today it was on a timely topic that I thought I would share. I know that a lot of people are worried about what the nationwide drought will do to their food budget. I am not that worried, but thought that this information is interesting and can be helpful to anyone that is worried, or has a tight budget.

(Shared from Erin Huffstetler at About.com Drought-Proof Your Grocery Budget)

You can't watch the news right now without hearing about the drought, and there's good reason for that. Check out these statistics from the USDA and the United States Drought Monitor:

• 55% of the continental U.S. is now under drought conditions
• 1,297 counties have been declared national disaster areas        
• 88% of the corn crop is located in areas impacted by the drought        
• 87% of the soybean crop is located in areas impacted by the drought
• There hasn't been a worse drought in the U.S. since the 1950's

All of that adds up to bad news for farmers and consumers. Analysts say to expect higher prices at the grocery store in the coming months, and the list of impacted foods is staggering.

Basics like flour and dried pasta will go up because of the failing wheat crop. Cheese, butter and milk will go up because of a decline in milk production. Meat prices will go up because of increasing feed costs, and fruit and vegetable prices will go up because of smaller than normal harvests (caused by both the drought and the extreme heat). In short, it seems there aren't many foods that won't be impacted.

So, what can you do to keep all of these increases from taking a big bite out of your grocery budget? Start stockpiling now. While dairy and meat prices will start climbing within the next couple months, many of the other increases won't reach stores until next year (when we start relying on the 2012 harvest). That gives you plenty of time to stock up on food at this year's prices.

Here are some places to start:

• Load up on fresh produce when you find a good deal. Then, freeze or can the extra to enjoy later
• Stock up on cheese and butter when it goes on sale. It freezes beautifully
• Meat prices are experiencing a temporary dip. Fill your freezer before the prices start to go up
• Build up your supply of flour. Wheat flour can be frozen to extend its shelf life
• Stock up on canned and frozen fruits and veggies. The canned and frozen foods that are in stores now came from the 2011 harvest, so they're still cheap
• Combine sales and coupons to build a reserve of cereal, oatmeal, dried pasta and other non-perishables

For a complete list of foods that you should consider stockpiling now, check out: What To Stockpile Due To The Drought

You are NOT sexy!

This is just a message to all those women that think they are dressing sexy by wearing the smallest, tightest thing they can squeeze their fat bodies into.

Hubby and I went out to lunch yesterday. Chinese buffet. Yummy! As I have mentioned in the past, Hubby can eat for a LONG time at a buffet. (And never gains weight, the rat.) So, I always have time to people watch after I am done and he continues to eat. LOL!

Now, I am not the fashion police. But if I were, I would have been handing out tickets right and left yesterday. I do not understand why women, of every age mind you, think it is sexy to squeeze themselves into clothes that are too small. If you have a gigantic gut, I would think you would want to camoflage it. But no! I saw so many that had that gut emphasized with their tight shirts. Not tight enough to suck in it, just tight enough to show it off. And in some cases, to just let it hang out there.

And let's not forget the ginormous asses emphasized in tight, low cut pants and sequins.

Not a pretty sight, especially when you are eating.

Oh, and if you have ginormous boobs, keep those babies in. I don't now want to have to worry that you are going to have a "wardrobe malfunction" any second.

What made these people think this looks good???? I just don't get it.

I even asked Hubby if he thought it was sexy. His response, "Ugh. No!"

If you dress like this and read this and are offended, I apologize. But I am offended, too.

My Purex Giveaway winners!

I won! I won! LOL!

I left one comment responding to Sluggy and Random.org picke my number first. But, I disqualified myself. LOL!

The real winners are:

janetfaye
Wendy Rozema
Marilyn's Money

Congrats to the winners! I will email tonight to get your mailing information. If you just can't wait, you can send your mailing address to me at fperkins2000 @ gmail.com.

Thanks to all who entered!

One more day to enter my Purex giveaway!

Don't forget to go here and enter to win a coupon for a FREE bottle of Purex. Lots of ways to enter through midnight on 7/18.

Low entries.

Go enter!

Purex Let's Be Honest Review and Giveaway.

Whether it’s paying too much for “premium” detergent or uncovering the truth about skinny jeans, Purex is shedding some light on everyday absurdities. Check back often for new videos where comedian Molly Erdman talks about every day absurdities.  Check back often for new videos.


Plus, enter for a chance to win free Purex for a year.

I have to say that "Morning Person" is probably my favorite. I really hate mornings.

I know you are all waiting to hear what I am giving away. Well, Purex, of course! As a Purex Insider, I received 3 coupons for a FREE bottle of Purex Triple Action detergent. And I am going to give them all away.......to 3 of my readers.

"How do I enter?" you ask. Well, it is easy! Check out www.purex.com/lets-be-honest and tell me what your favorite video is. Come back and tell me which it is and you are entered to win.

Here are some more ways you can enter:

• You can "Like" any or all videos. You can leave a comment once for each video you Like.
• You can Share any or all videos. You can leave a comment once for each video you Share.
• You can Tweet any or all videos. You can leave a comment once for each video you Tweet about.

ETA:  To clarify, you can Like, Share and/or Tweet as many videos as you want to. Each Like, Share and/or Tweet can get you another entry if you leave me a comment that you did it.

I think that can give you a lot of entries. And because I know some readers like daily entries, you can also comment once a day leaving an hint to help make laundry easier.

You can enter through midnight on Wednesday, July 18. I will pick 3 winners and announce them on July 19, as well as sending them an email for their mailing information.

Thanks to Purex for providing the coupons for me to give away. Good luck, all! Start entering!

AT&T Non-Tech Support, Sort of a Part 2.

This is the continuation of my Sunday Night at Walmart adventure.

On Monday, Hubby went to the AT&T store to get the modem I wanted. He said he went to Radio Shack first but it was really busy and the one clerk was on the phone, so he decided to hit AT&T instead. He figured they might have more clerks and he was right. He got the modem I wanted, ($75) with no router as we already have one, and went home.

When I got home from work, I was so calm and upbeat. Installing a modem is a breeze.

Or so I thought.

I have installed modems before. Heck, I have even installed internal modems. I know how to do it and I know how to read instructions. But I could not get the darn thing to work. I even left my router out of the equation, wanting to just get an internet signal before reconnecting everything.

After about an hour, I gave up and called tech support. Yep, it was like I had never called before. So I went through the whole thing and finally the guy, I don't even remember his fake name, decides the problem is now in the line. What? I thought my modem was bad? "It was last night. Now it's the line." Yes, that is what he told me. So he said they would send a tech out the next day to check the lines. Whew!

Then an message was left 1/2 hour later, call AT&T or they would assume our issue was corrected. I called BACK....got another tech.....who wanted me to do everything again. I was so mad. I told her I only called to make sure they didn't cancel the tech visit and I didn't need to discuss anything with her. Apparently, I was a little curt as Bob sat listening and laughing.

The tech came the next day and managed to get an internet signal into the house, but called me at work as he could not get it to my computer. I told him as long as he got it TO the modem, I could take care of the rest and he could leave.

To make a longer story short, after I got home, I figured out that the modem, router and ethernet card all apparently went out. I am thinking power surge or lightning. So, I went and got the AT&T modem with a router for $25 more and a wireless adapter for my pc. When I got home, in less than 30 minutes I had everything up and running.

AT&T tech support sucks.

I do not suck.

The end.

Walmart on a Sunday Night.

When we heard on the news about the virus that might block internet access at midnight last night, I immediately check both of our computers to ensure that we didn’t have it. God forbid we lose internet connection. Both machines were clean.

I was watching a movie on Netflix in the afternoon and we were having some pretty odd weather. It was dark and thundering like crazy but not raining. Then there was a giant clap of thunder right overhead that scared the crap out of me. Yes, I jumped and screeched a little. Hubby just laughed. It did sprinkle a bit and a little while later, I lost my internet connection. No big deal. I figured it was from the weather.

So, I went to the computer and reset the modem and the router and nothing. Then I started trying to get a network connection and no luck. After a while, I ended up calling tech support, and spoke to “Francis”. Yeah….I guarantee that was not his real name. I will just say I have never heard that accent come out of a Francis, and leave it at that.

After going through all the steps they require, even though I had already done them before calling. Francis determined that there was an outage at the server and he would report it. He said it should be back on-line in 3 to 4 hours and if it wasn’t, I could call back for the status.

I waited about 4 ½ hours and still had no internet, so called back. This time I got “Patrick”. Yeah, he had the same accent. And guess what? You would think that I had never called in the first time. He made me go through all the same steps I had on the first call. I got a little annoyed. He insisted there was no server outage reported. I told him that “Francis” was going to report it 4 ½ hours ago. Anyway, this guy was annoying, but I still went through all the steps. I asked, “Do you think my modem could have gone bad?” He assured me that it hadn’t. Then for some reason, he decided that I needed to change out my Ethernet cable. Huh??? I had another one, so switched it out. He assured me that would fix the problem. It didn’t.

Then, guess what?! He decided that my modem must have gone out. And it was not under warranty. I said, “No shit, I got it about 10 years ago.” He, of course, offered to send me out a new one for the amazing price of $75. I told him we would find one locally, thanked him for his time and hung up. I am NEVER rude to tech support. I know they get all kinds of calls, but usually, once one realizes that I know a little about my computer, they stop treating me like an imbecile. This one did not and just pissed me off. Hubby thought it was hilarious.

So, since the AT&T store was not open, we headed to WalMart to see if we could find a DSL modem there. I am not waiting to have one shipped. We need our internet! We got to WalMart a little before 7 and it was so NOT crowded. If it were not a Sunday night and I had to go to work the next day and I was not pissed about my encounter with Patrick, it would have been pretty nice. It was the perfect time to go to WalMart.

As luck would have it, our store only carried one brand of DSL modem and it was out of stock. We picked up a few other things, then left. I gave Hubby specific details of what I want and told him to go to Radio Shack today and if they had a modem for $75 or less, to buy it there. If not, he could go to the AT&T store.

I have not heard from him today. I hope he is okay. LOL!

(Oh, and yes, for some reason, I can access Blogger from work. We will see how long that lasts.)