Okay, so Chris has made some changes to the blog, and I’m not sure I know what I’m doing. I hope this goes out without any issues, in any case.
There’s a lot of people right now who are complaining about rising costs. Now, some of those complaints do have a basis in reality. Right now, the cost of beef is up. Gas is still almost $4 a gallon near me, and probably a lot higher everywhere else in the country. Taxes are insane. Prices are still up from the previous administration, and while they are coming down, they’re doing so very slowly. So yes, there are some things to whine about.
But here’s the thing… Complaining about it really doesn’t get you anywhere.
I’ve taken on a few challenges in the past few weeks, stuff like how to cook within a budget and what can you make with only what you have on hand (ie no store trips). I always “win” these, partly because I already cook within a budget, partly because I spent a number of years being truly poor (not unhoused, but damn close), and partly because I cook with real food and very little in the way of convenience stuff. Also, I stock up on food when it’s cheap.
When I mention that it’s important to buy and preserve foods when they’re least expensive (for instance, freezing or canning tomatoes now, while they’re pennies to the bushel, instead of dollars per tomato later in the winter), I’m told that people just don’t have time for that. Which confuses me, because when I was working full time, caring for my family full time, volunteering a few hours a week with MS patients near end of life, and running a small religious group as well, I still managed to make food for my family. And it had to be “real” food because DoorDash hadn’t been invented yet, and most of the convenience foods hadn’t hit the market at that time. Real food was what we got. I couldn’t afford convenience foods, what little there was. “Convenience” food meant I got canned or frozen instead of fresh.
“But Ally, you don’t UNDERSTAND. It’s HARD. We can’t afford-”
I don’t really care, honey. I really don’t. Right now, I have a very pleasant budget. I just got back from dropping $300 on a big shop, because we decided to have beef this week (woo! big treat for us) AND salmon (not as bad as beef, but still pricey at $9/lb). We got a lot of staples we were down on, including beans and rice and canned tomatoes and such. I made a trip to a local “bump and dent” store on Thursday, where I got bags of legumes for a buck, cans of stuff for a quarter, and some fun dessert type things for $1.80 a can. That was a fun trip. Today’s grocery trip was nice, too. I came home with a lot of fresh veg (onions, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.), some canned goods, some fresh meat (flank steak), and some canned meat (generic spam).
We have some really nice meals this week. I’m doing a “harvest bowl” which is basically chicken cooked with honey and cider, steamed butternut squash, cold arugula and other veg, served over hot rice. Very easy to leave out things people can’t have (me with the havarti cheese that’s supposed to go in it), or add in extra things to make it fit our diet better. We’re having flank steak with potatoes and mushrooms. We’ll have tacos one night, because it’s Tuesday (is there a better reason?). Good stuff, healthy, quick.
I’ve been putting up videos about easy and quick meals. I make them “the long way” myself, because I can, but I talk about how my made-from-scratch bone broth can be subbed out for a tetrapack or can of broth (or even ramen packet broth, I’ve done that plenty of times). I go over how to do it completely from scratch, and then I talk about quick substitutions so you can enjoy it in a half hour. I made chicken and dumpling soup for one. Last night it was ham and potato casserole with fried zucchini on the side. Easy peasy stuff. Mostly using leftovers. Less than $5 for each meal, and that’s enough food to feed 5 to 8 people (4 to 5 if you’re fat and like food, like we do).
What today’s young folks can’t afford, is to sit on their laurels and whine. What they need to do is learn to pinch pennies, make freezer scraping soup, and make do. Weren’t they just whinging on about “reduce, reuse, recycle” a few short years ago? This is the ultimate version of that game. I win.
I accept no cop-outs (well, not quite true… there have been a couple of folks who’ve been whining on social media, got schooled, and then turned themselves around and learned…. they get a pass, because they actually tried fixing it, so not really a cop-out). This is real life, and if you want to survive it (not win at it, mind… just survive it) then you need to listen up and learn.
If you are poor, you need:
- to know how to cook at least basics
- to know how to count calories, so you know if you and your family are getting enough of them
- a working knowledge of how the stove works, as well as the oven
- to be truly organized, because if not, you will sink
These are not options. Just as folks living through the depression had no choice about their lives, kids today (and adults) have to deal with the life they’ve got. You are living Here And Now, and therefore, you have to know enough to make it through the day. Yes, that means you have to go shopping. Yes, that means you have to plan meals. Yes, that means you have to know how to cook beans from dry, because $0.50/lb for beans is less than $1.50 for a can (and it takes 8 cans to make up that one bag, btw).
I can sometimes sympathize with people struggling, especially when I can see they ARE doing all the right things. Those ones get help from me/us. We often put our money where our mouth is. Our door is always open to friends and family, even those distant, and there’s always food here. It might be plain and cheap (or it might not), but it’ll be filling and nutritious, and that’s what counts. No one goes hungry at my house unless they actively made the choice to do so.
So no, I don’t accept someone is poor when they have an iPhone in one hand, Starbucks in the other, and a nice new car. We drive an old truck and an old Jeep. We rarely go out to eat, and we never waste calories or dollars on “coffee desserts.” We do have nice phones, but that’s a choice we’ve made because we can. I had the Nokia “never destroyed” version for a long time, as my first cell phone, because we could afford it and it did the job. Now, I have a nice Android, but it is my office and replaces a lot of computer stuff. I made the choice. Oh, and MY phone? My “nice” Android? It was the free one when one of the kids got their own nice phone. Heh…
Sure, you can complain about how the world is today. But do so with purpose. If veg is too expensive to buy, grow it. Don’t know how? Ask; I’ll teach you for free, and you can do it in a pail or a pot if need be. If you can’t afford 2 cars, figure out a way to do with one (we did, and we survived). If you can’t afford things, save up… even if it takes a long time.
And if you can’t afford basics (food, shelter, transportation, communication), then do NOT be out there buying crap that eats up your funds. No Starbucks. No convenience food. No booze or pot. No tattoos. No new clothes that aren’t absolutely necessary (sometimes work clothes are required, and that’s obviously a necessity). No hair coloring (unless you do it at home). All these things come AFTER basics. If you can’t afford to eat, you simply cannot do those other things. And yes, it sucks. I know; it was my life for many years. But that’s just What You Do.
You don’t have to like it. You do have to do it. And you know what else? I don’t have to listen to you bitch about it.
Personal gripe here… I hate hearing people complain about the cost of beef. Raising cattle is not like growing corn, or other produce. Even chickens and pigs are different than beef. It takes years for beef to mature enough for harvesting, and one year of drought, or too much rain, or a disease will take years to recover from. No… Trump’s tariffs did not cause the price of beef to skyrocket little Mr. TDS Sufferer. Now, other foodstuffs, yes, that is something to gripe about. (not a criticism of your post, Ally, you just touched on one of my pet peeves…)
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Now, in reality, when people say “this takes too much time…” I always hear “I am too lazy” or “I want to do other more exciting things now. Like scroll through facebook.” Too many people just want stuff to show up with zero effort. Why do you think DoorDash and UberEats are so big these days?
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And, to be frank about it, I blame the baby boomers and Gen X for it all. I am a GenXer, but was born close enough to boomer time to have a lot of those traits, and my Dad used to say “I do not want you to have to work as hard as I did.” It was a similar message most of my peers got as well, however, too many of them stopped listening after the word work.
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Net result, we have a generations of “precious snowflakes” raising their own “precious snowflakes” with an attitude that everything should be done for them. The “deserve” it. And, now we see entire generations of people not earning what they want, but instead demanding it be delivered at their convenience. Going without? Abhorrent to them.
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When I wanted something (aside from food, clothing, and shelter) as a kid, my parents (both products of Depression era upbringing) told me “go earn it.” And, as a result, I have learned to go without, or find an alternative, or improvise. The problem with easy times is they breed weak people.
I get what you are saying about the cost. Chickens can replace themselves in about 12 to 14 weeks, quite frankly. I know; I’ve raised them. Rabbits, you can have two litters going at the same time, for heaven’s sake. I couldn’t speak about goat, lamb, or mutton… but I know I wish we HAD mutton and not just lamb here in America. But beef has its own category.
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As to the “lazy” thing, absolutely. I’ve started doing a bunch of TikToks where I take people through how to cook a meal. I did my first “live” today, which was more fun than I thought. When I’m doing them, I talk about doing them my way and doing them the quick way. You can do them the quick way, but it won’t be as cheap (though it can still be cheap in the grand scheme of things). Or you can do it the long way and save bucket loads of cash. Today I am making chicken shawarma… And I cheated and used chicken breast, because I forgot to defrost my legs yesterday. Usually, I take all the meat off the chicken legs and thighs and freeze those… make soup from the bones… and then render the skins for their fat for cooking with (and sometimes I crisp up the skins as snacks or salad toppings). I can get chicken legs and thighs with backs attached for $0.99 a pound right now at Hannaford’s. That’s cheaper than everything except turkey the day after Thanksgiving. Far from the $3.99 a pound we paid for the breasts. I can make the “sheet pan shawarma” for about $5 for four people, and it really is generous portions. No one walks away hungry, by any means. Tonight’s version, with the breasts, is closer to $8 for four people. Still cheap, but almost twice the cost. And I talk about that. How you can do home cooking but with a few store bought cheats (boxes of broth, cans of beans, etc) and still save money. I’m finding more and more people are interested.
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I’m GenX as well. And I agree with you. Too many of us built on our parents’ neglect by giving our precious snowflakes everything. I didn’t do that, but my parenting has never been “with the pack” as it were. I’ve always told the kids they have to be responsible (at age appropriate levels, of course… I’m not expecting 6 year olds to make dinner, but they can snap beans, that kind of thing). My kids grew up doing chicken slaughters, dealing with the results of hunting, picking veg in the garden, canning, freezing, dehydrating, putting up, saving, and even a little bit of sewing their own clothing. Not a lot, but a bit. I dunno… it ain’t me, promise. 😉
Whenever I see someone using the latest-gen smartphone to post about how expensive it is order Door Dash/Uber Eats/whatever for every major meal of the week, I wish dearly that I was gifted with the isekai-protag-kun cheat skill of being able to literally punch people through my computer screen.