Well growing up, we never lived high on the hog so these hard times for us are no different then when I was growing up. We've learned to make do with what we have and only buy things when really necessary. In general we avoid junk food and fast food because it's too expensive. When you can feed a family of 6 on a $6.00 piece of roast pork and a few good healthy vegatables, and it costs that per person at Burger King, you can see why we chose the healthier diet. The good side to this is a much healthier way to live because there is less Sodium and Sugar in the real food, and the junk food is loaded up to the kilters with it.

My car is a 2001 Toyota Celica with 120,000 miles on it. It gets nearly 37 mpg and I fill it up once every 9 days. We're lucky in that the supermarket is only a mile away. So for the most part, we could walk if we have to. We're also 3 miles from New Hampshire where there's no sales tax. After I did the calculations, even with the higher gas prices, we go to NH anyway because the difference between the two is a wash, although it is easier to drive to pick-up the groceries than it is to carry the sacks home.

We have a small porch garden at our house. The sunlight is limited to a few hours in the morning until mid-afternoon because we have too many trees and we live on the side of hill. So we end up with a few cucumbers, beans, lettuce, and a handful of tomatos. I think the tomatos wer better last year because it wasn't as humid.

When winter comes, we keep the thermostats down and bundle up under the blankets at night. I have to admit that cats make nice bedwarmers, and are welcome guests during the winter months. For the most part, I kick them out of my bed because they snuggle too tight across my legs.

Like everyone else here, we scrounge the coupons and shop at the seconds-stores. We have Family Dollar and Building 19. Building 19 is close-outs and slightly damaged goods. Who cares if the label was marked incorrectly. They sell just about everything from glassware, clothing, carpets, and even furniture.


John