I’m noticing a lot of items going on sale at crazy low prices. What I suspect will happen is we are going to see a lot more packages getting smaller and by clearing out the old larger packages the stores don’t want people seeing the new smaller packaging at the same or higher prices as inflation starts making itself felt everyday. A week ago I bought some coffee at $2.99 a can and the shelves were cleaned out very quickly at that price. I suspect we will see that the cans of coffee have shrunk again but the price will be back to the normal price of $5.00-$6.00 per can of coffee.
You can’t do much about inflation except by getting those cheap items as they go on sale and sort of ease your way into paying higher prices at a slower rate.
I have been buying up basic clothing items like sweats, t-shirts, shorts. Nothing fancy just some basic functional clothing that can be worn year round when puttering around the house and yard. I recently noticed some of my socks are getting a little worn out so I picked up a dozen socks on sale for $10.00. I added a few new undies this spring but adding I just started adding bras to my clothing replacement list. I want to have enough undies and basic clothing items that I could go at least 2 weeks without washing clothes but have clean clothes to wear everyday. Clean clothes are much more hygienic than wearing the same clothing several days in a row. Plus with the supply chains so wonky you might not be able to buy new clothes you like to wear. Second hand stores can be great for higher end lightly used clothing but I don’t feel right buying or wearing second hand undies or shoes.
It seems to be a good time to stock up on those basic clothing items while you can get some good sale prices on the Summer stuff as well as some of the back to school/ fall clothing items that are on sale.
I’m feeling pretty good about my winter heating plan. I have been surprised by how much wood I can turn into usable firewood since I have started cutting up all of the oversized chunks of wood. While the tree trimming my neighbor did this last spring was not cutting down trees for firewood. Those large limbs and branches could fill a wood rack for a at least a week or two, once cut to wood stove length chunks. Mom is going to take a couple of wheel barrows worth of the wood once it is cut to size. I figure it will equal about 1/4th of a cord of wood but it is all hardwood that will add a nice mix to the softwood she is getting delivered this month.
I have about a cord of mixed hardwood that is seasoned but needs to be cut to fit my wood stove. I have bought mostly fir for my wood stove. Adding in some long burning hardwoods like apple, cherry, a little bit of elm, white oak and maple will really help making a fire that burns overnight. I have a few more chunks of wood to cut down to size in the yard and then I can move the saw buck and start cutting the older seasoned wood for the wood stove.
I need to get a bit more proactive filling up the kindling box. The weather is much cooler so it will be easier to start filling up the box. I haven’t been totally lazy as I gave Mom a couple of boxes of kindling and split fir for her winter firewood starter pack. I have learned it is much easier and more comfortable to cut kindling in August and September compared to cutting kindling in January.
This has been a bit of a rambling post because there is so much a person wants to get down this time of year. If you had a successful garden you need to harvest, use and preserve that harvest. If your garden was less than stellar you have to find other folks that sell produce you can buy and preserve. Prepping for winter and hope you guess correctly about what you need on hand. It can make anyone just a little bit nutty.
Stretch out your arms and turn in a circle. That is what you can control at best in this world. I can’t save the world at best I can replace a toilet seat and then replace the flush arm on a toilet that has rusted out. It will not fixed will not fix the city waste water. It will cost me more money on my water bill. The new toilet seat is nice. LOL
My Adventures in selfreliance 
I was at two thrift shops this week and both were full to overstocked with good merchandize. Clothing and household items were plentiful and good quality. I guess people are still decluttering. I’ve gone up a size so since Spring I’ve been trying to put together a new wardrobe in the larger size. I’ve also ordered a new pair of shoes (odd size no one carries) and purchased undies. I still need winter boots but this will be third year of trying to find any that fit so I’m not very hopeful. Instead of buying new sweats I’ve been sewing comfy pants in fleece with Simplicity S9132 which is a very simple pattern.
Anna, Not sure where you are located and your Boot Size issue. I have a large foot and can wear a 10 Woman size or a Men’s size of 7-8 and varying widths of B-D wide. D&B Farm store usually has a good selection of boots of both male and female shoe sizes.
You might check out Boot shops that cater to Winter sports. Snowmobile boots that have felt booties inside a waterproof/water resistant Shell of a boot can be very warm and you can dry out the felt booty.
I have also used oversized Goulashes and a booty shaped slippers to make a warm boot if not a tough boot for working around animals or possible dropping hazards to your toes.
I’ve been doing the same here, buying tomorrow with today’s dollars. Seems like things are going up every couple of days, and once people become accepting of the gouging on things like meat, coffee, and gas, they won’t bat an eye when your undies go up by 40%. Panic now. Beat the rush…
Tom,
He who panics first panics best!
I want to add a 90 pound beef package in September and I’m hoping I get the same price as this months price.