coping with rising costs

[user 423]

Good idea. I live really close to a pretty large private university.

That's even better. The students at a private college probably have better stuff than those at state schools!

 

[Carla618]

That's even better. The students at a private college probably have better stuff than those at state schools!

I didn't want to say that, but this particular university is super expensive. My son married someone who graduated from there a couple years ago & I couldn't believe the things her roommates left behind at the end of the year.

 

[savana1957]

Building materials have been notorious during this inflation cycle. I can't remember if there's a housing-specific (or lumber-specific) explanation for this, but I know it's supposed to be pretty bad.

If anyone hasn't topped up their gas tank, and has the $$ to do it, this would be a good time. However bad it looks right now, it's probably gonna look worse tomorrow.

Uncharted territory! We're definitely going to need all our coping skills and probably some new ones. Good luck to us all.

I was thinking I should wait a bit and see if gas prices go down. My tank is half full. Maybe I should rethink that. I don't drive daily. But I feel for those who do.

 

[Morgana]

I don't drive daily either, but I'm guessing I'll use up more than one full tank before this mess clears up. I've been seeing some crazy numbers in the predictions. I don't think this is going to be your granddad's gas crisis.

Now I'm wishing I hadn't moved to a city with a Walk Score of minus-F*U!
^^kidding << sort of

 

[maki2]

They do, but now they make everyone take it to the City maintenance garages. No idea why they switched it.

Doing it that way saves the city A WHOLE LOT of labor cost......

 

[maki2]

Another war time shortage increasing the cost of transportation....
Different war, but the same story

 

[DougH71]

Just checked out the spot my son-in-law told me about. That's a lot of pallets!

I’ll just point out you own a 3/4 ton truck. If there’s any pallet rebuilders in your area, maybe they’d pay for used pallets. I snag all those free ones and try to make a little gas money.

Another place to look for pallets is at retail establishments getting remodeled. Years ago, the white hen by me was converted to a 7/11. The dumpster out front was filled with NEW odd sized pallets. Probably from all the new coolers, etc.

 

[beavergod1]

I got 25 pair of underwear, at a garage sale, from a woman whose husband died for 25 cts/piece. A little bit of bleach and almost good as new...

 

[Morgana]

Here's an article on some of the free online services for comparing gas prices in your area.
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/ways-to-find-cheapest-gas/
The only one I had heard of was GasBuddy, but they say that is the worst of the lot for privacy/data harvesting. The other options looked interesting and pretty easy to use.

 

[Malamute]

With regard to pallets, check the codes on them, some are treated with toxic chemicals. Best not to use them for projects and definitely not to burn them. I believe most or OK, but some are not.

https://www.universalpallets.com/2018/01/ultimate-guide-pallet-markings/

 

[Zurdo]

That is a good point. For those of us just starting out, we need to be realistic about the cost of fuel. Fuel cost me $100 last week and I hoped to buy the topper AND travel to southern Illinois to spend a month with my daughter (until I get my next disability check). I used up the bulk of the fuel just driving to get the topper. It was an eye opener for me. Realized I can't afford to go very far yet. Not while I'm still building out my tiny topper, lol. I think my truck gets a measly 11 MPG.

Edit: why is plywood so expensive? I remember when a sheet was $8.00. This morning my daughter said when she got a new roof put on her house about 4 years ago it was $23.00 a sheet. Now it is $50.00 a sheet. I hoped to buy a couple sheets for my topper project.

$100 fillup was a lifetime first for me as well last week. It would have actually exceeded $100 but the station had a $100 limit on credit card chatges.

That is a good point. For those of us just starting out, we need to be realistic about the cost of fuel. Fuel cost me $100 last week and I hoped to buy the topper AND travel to southern Illinois to spend a month with my daughter (until I get my next disability check). I used up the bulk of the fuel just driving to get the topper. It was an eye opener for me. Realized I can't afford to go very far yet. Not while I'm still building out my tiny topper, lol. I think my truck gets a measly 11 MPG.

Edit: why is plywood so expensive? I remember when a sheet was $8.00. This morning my daughter said when she got a new roof put on her house about 4 years ago it was $23.00 a sheet. Now it is $50.00 a sheet. I hoped to buy a couple sheets for my topper project.

It was also a life-time 1st for me last week to have a $100 fill-up. It would have been more but the pump has a $100 limit on credit card purchases.

Unfortunately, it would be easy to blame the pandemic for the rise in lumber costs but unfortunately this has a lot to do with it as well.
https://www.enr.com/articles/53326-2021-4q-cost-report-tariffs-doubled-on-canadian-lumber-products

 

[Zurdo]

God forbid the prices continue to rise for the next year but I’ve used this as kind of a guideline to tentatively plan my travel next winter. Although gas tax isn’t the only added cost, in general, the states with lower tax rates also have lower gas prices.
https://igentax.com/gas-tax-state/#tableI’ve already made all my spring/summer reservations this week and I’m staying the whole time in New Mexico using an annual state park pass. I mapped it out to use the least amount of gas as possible without having to stay in the same park more than once.
https://newmexicostateparks.reserve...e=common&commonPath=/htm/NM_AnnualPasses.html

 

[scaredycat72]

$100 fillup was a lifetime first for me as well last week. It would have actually exceeded $100 but the station had a $100 limit on credit card chatges.

It was also a life-time 1st for me last week to have a $100 fill-up. It would have been more but the pump has a $100 limit on credit card purchases.

Unfortunately, it would be easy to blame the pandemic for the rise in lumber costs but unfortunately this has a lot to do with it as well.
https://www.enr.com/articles/53326-2021-4q-cost-report-tariffs-doubled-on-canadian-lumber-products

The price increase on lumber has been due to the pandemic. The US decided to increase tariffs in November of last year. That increase probably didn't take effect until this year, assuming it's taken effect at all. The price of lumber skyrocketed way more than a year ago.