Happiness is Positive Cash Flow

A lot of us have taken hits to the pocket over the past year.  Job loss.  Restructuring.  Gas prices.  Mortgage rates.

Luckily, I bounced back from my job loss pretty quickly.  My mortagage is a fixed rate.  I don't have a long commute to eat up gas.  So I was wondering when this would start to hit my pocket.

Bojangles.  My Combo went up $0.80.  Explanation?  Chicken is more expensive. 

Groceries.  I buy the same crap every two weeks.  Went up almost 30 dollars.   Milk.  Orange Juice.  Prepacked Juice Boxes.  Oatmeal.  Bananas.  Almost everything on my normal shopping list has gone up.

FedEx: Fuel surcharges.  I buy/sell on Ebay pretty often.  Shipping charges have recently swung up due to gas.

My point?  Not much of one.  Just a realization that even though the country's financial state hadn't hit me directly, it is hitting me now.  In small ways, subtle ways.  We all notice when the price of gas at the corner shop goes up.  But a nickle here for Chicken.  Another 20 cents for milk, bread.  Those are the small charges we can sometimes miss.

So check your bills.  I know I am budgeting additional money for food expenses now.  And don't spend that Governement Bonus Check all in one place.  You might actually need it.