I went to the grocery store the other day to get a few things, and I know prices are up - but the price of milk here jumped from 2 half-gallons for $7 to 2 half-gallons for $9.  I just skipped it and figured the kids can eat oatmeal or something else that doesn't require milk for the next week.  Gas here, well at the 1 gas station w/in 20 min. of my house, was $3.29/gal. 2 days ago.  In "town" (further away) it's a little less but still around $3.16.  My electricity bill was $50 higher for January than Dec., and we have less electricity running (the Christmas tree/lights are no longer up!).  The heating fuel bill has so far this winter been over $1400.00 (for two tank fill-ups) and counting...  I think we'll need to put in a wood stove (can that be done in the cold or do we have to wait till summer?).  With such inflation in living costs, but not in wages, it feels more and more like us middle class folk are being pushed right to the edge of having to decide between things like bills, meds, or groceries.  We don't qualify for things like WIC, Medicaid-funded state child healthcare programs, etc., but we're within a couple hundred dollars of it.  I would trade those couple hundred dollars just for the free child healthcare - my DD's meds cost a large bundle and private ins. doesn't always cover.  We manage, I'm not complaining - b/c I know alot of people have it even worse.  But is anyone else feeling the $queeze like this?  What are prices like where you live?

we are feeling it also.  Gas was 3.09 the other night when I got it, but I think the Atlanta area has some of the cheapest gas prices in the country. 
My dh is in the concrete biz and his company is really taking hits.  Our bills are based on 60hr. work weeks for him and he has been doing good to get 40!  Thats why I am again working part time.  Its tight for us, but God has blessed us so much I can't complain.  Just as an example how often is it that you can find a retail job with a flexible schedule? uh never.  Well thats what I have, and its the only way I could have went back to work.  I know some people are a whole lot worse off than us. 
One thing we did that made a difference was my dh started to claim 2 of our kids on his check, that was the only other area that we had not thought of.

You know what I just thought of?  Alaska has so much oil - why should it be usually the highest priced gas in the nation here (or so it's been reported)?  Seems like we should just be able to dig a hole and fill 'er up! 

Nopinkhugs - exactly, alot of people do have it worse so I am thankful that we're OK thus far.  When things get so tight like this though it makes less wiggle room for things to go wrongs, aka emergency expenses, like huge non-insurance-covered medical bills, major components of the house failing and needing replaced (septic), cars going kaput and needing complete overhauls or just replaced, etc.  Throw those things into the mix and then it begins to feel very very tight.  Like panicky, worrisome, trying to decide which thing to put the $ towards, even though all are needed at once. 
I'm thankful too that there is some work here that I could do - I've been thinking about applying for a job at my kids' school as a reading/math tutor and/or recess monitor - each of which has a pretty flexible schedule (well, very part-time and they said they'd allow me to bring my youngest non-school age child w/ me).  I've been thinking in the last week that this is something I'm probably going to have to do.  I need to figure out how to sell stuff on ebay too, lol!  I've got too much junk around and could maybe make a little $ that way. 
Thanks for the tip btw, I'll have to check and see how many dependents we've got claimed on income tax right now too.

Gas in our little area jumped $ 0.20 in 1 day! (Very typical here - never fill up at the mid to end of week, ALWAYS wait for Mon or Tue if possible)   
We are at the $3.19 per gallon today & were just talking about this at our little local store.  Everything is going up except paychecks!

 

Ha!  Ain't that the truth!  Does anyone think that if a huge percentage of Americans started flooding their representative's offices w/ mail about this that it would make any difference?  I mean, the oil comes out of the ground for free.  It's there naturally.  There is a fee for whoever drills it out of there - and either someone on that end is arbitrarily deciding they just want more for it, or someone in the middle is.  These pricing procedures are regulated, aren't they?  There's got to be something we can do.  Around here when people start complaining in letters to the editor in the newspapers, it goes down for a few days, then slowly creeps back up.  I unfortuneatly have little faith left in our system, but if everyone everywhere really put up a stink about it (to the senators/representatives/governors/etc.) and didn't let down until we got some answers, maybe, just maybe something would change, even if just a little. 
You know, some people think that the Vietnam war was stopped because of the huge amount of Americans that protested and opposed it.  Maybe we could do the same thing w/ gas prices, inflation and wages; and don't even get me started on our current war...  I said I wouldn't talk politics online anymore! 

Lol, there are other countries I'd move to before Mexico!  Have you heard about the unfairness in their justice system, and about their prisons?  You could be thrown in jail and end up there for eons just for speeding if you don't know the right people!  Meanwhile, on the other hand, other people could get away with murder, literally, if they have the right connections.  It's really out of whack down there.  People are trying to get out of there to come here for better wages as well...  I don't know if that's the case all over in Mexico, but in Chihuahua and one other little part (forgot which) it is.  I don't think there's really a utopia to run to.  Perhaps Great Britain would be better?  I hear their dental coverage sucks though.  Ce la vi, eh?

RTP, I live in a gas producing area as well.  Low octane gas right now is $3.08/gal.  Gas costs more in my area than anywhere else in the state.  Why?  Well, I'm told that we have to pay the export AND import taxes on the gasoline we produce.     And, of course, since we have no rail transport.....everything comes in by truck....we pay more for everything it seems to help the truckers pay for their fuel.  Crazy. High fuel prices affect every aspect of our lives.  And, I'm not going to get into the political aspects of it either, I'm afraid once I started I would never stop. 

But, $9.00 for a gallon of milk?  Ugh! No way. 

I filled up three days ago because I saw gas stations were going from $3.12 to $3.17.  Yesterday morning they went from $3.17 to $3.19 and while I was out to eat last night (yep - a 4 hour period) they went from $3.19 to $3.24.  Holy Heck!  Thats twelve cents in a few days!  Kind of proud of myself for carpooling TWICE yesterday - once to a nail appointment and later out to dinner.  They said on the news this week that for the first time in forever gas consumption in America  went down for a certain period.  Good!  Lets keep using less of the black gold!