In the 40's this morning, with light rain. It's been lovely all weekend and Monday, and today was pretty nice, even with the few showers scattered about.
Most people who receive a monthly check, at least around here, get them on the first of the month, with a few other benefit checks coming in on the 3rd. But for us, today is Check Day, the day our Social Security checks hit the bank. Which means it's also go-to-town day.
We lump our shopping needs into as few days as possible, especially now with the price of gasoline getting higher all the time. Just driving anywhere is a big consideration now, and to get anywhere that has stores means about a 40-50 mile round trip, depending on where we need to go. Figuring that the federal mileage rate of about 50 cents a mile, that means each time we go out, there goes 20-25.00. Over a month, that's no small hit on our little budget.
So today it was a stop at a couple thrifts to drop off stuff and to shop of course, because why miss the chance to find some cool things? Then a stop at the antique mall to set up a yard windmill to sell. It new, not old, but we sell them regularly as they're not easily available here. Then to a friend's house for a short visit, the feed store, Wal-Mart for planting soil to get my lettuce started, the grocery store, and finally home. The van was unloaded and then loaded again. The poor thing never gets a rest.
We tend to avoid the first of the month if we can, since the stores are crowded with people who get welfare, disability and other government assistance checks. There are also the veterans who get their checks on the first too, and other retirees who have that same payday. The stores are jammed, restrooms are a mess, and stock is well picked over, and it's probably the most likely time of the month to catch any roving virus.
I wonder, is it like that everywhere on the first, or just here? I don't remember how it was when I lived in Virginia, since our paydays were weekly back then so shopping was a Friday night outing.
It's a relief to be home, with everything carted in and most of it put away. We have to be out again tomorrow, unfortunately, to pick up some things we're buying from a picker, and probably also again on Friday to take more things to our booths. I keep an unhappy eye on the gas gauge, I can tell you, but one of the downsides of living in an isolated place is that travel is required. We've made good use of online shopping, especially since the pandemic, and that has certainly cut down on our travel, as otherwise there are many things we need that would have required even longer trips to the big towns 50 miles or so away.
Tonight my feet will be up, and I'll be diving into one of the ten-cent books picked up at the thrifts. A good plan, I think.
That's a lot of miles to travel to shop. We take the bus and it takes us to the next big town which is 20 minutes away. They have an Aldi and Lidl basically beside each other. the bus up us and then we are home in minutes. The whole process takes a few hours. We like it but it can be a pain every now and then. We usually go on a Tuesday when the bus is less crowded The bus is free for people over 65.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your week.
It takes us about 20 minutes to get to a store, Bill, so it's not bad as far as time. I wish we had an Aldi--the closest one is 45 minutes away, and we'd probably eat up any savings by the time we drove there. One day maybe we'll get one here. No bus service out here--the US is terrible about mass transit, probably because of the miles involved in these rural areas. And we are so used to our cars here. Even those who could take the buses won't, as a rule.
DeleteRural life has it's drawbacks, but I still prefer it over city life. As you said, it's a small price to pay for peace and serenity.
ReplyDeleteI do too, Judy--although I wouldn't say it's a small cost, LOL. Sure adds up, esp when you consider that we have to have tractors, maintain our roads, mow fairly large areas usually, pay for our well and septic systems and have to maintain those too. A lot of expense over the years.
DeleteIn the UK most people are paid monthly these days and it can be on any day of the month depending on who you work for. I was always paid on the 23rd of each month. Even so it's amazing how many people retain the habit of Friday night shopping, even though it's always crowded in the supermarkets. State pensions are paid out every four weeks rather than by calendar months.
ReplyDeleteThat's true--even here, Friday evenings are not a good time to go to the store because they're packed. Here, the SS checks arrive on different weeks depending on the first initial of your last name. But many retirement checks and veteran's checks still arrive on the first, so the first few days of the month it's a free-for-all.
DeleteI understand rural driving. I don't have to drive as far as you do & I drive small used cars with very good gas mileage so that helps a great deal.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the federal gas mileage though? Isn't that what the IRS allows you to write off in mileage for a business? We aren't paying .50 to drive one mile? At least not in my car...goodness that would keep me home. I figure if gas is $4 a gallon I pay around.16 to go one mile but gas isn't $4 here & my car gets between 25 & 30mpg.
I try to avoid the stores on check day as well if I can. I do mostly grocery pick up anymore. I'll have to be careful that I don't become a hermit!
I am jealous of your small car! For years I drove a Nissan Sentra and got 35-39mpg. Now with the van, it's 18-19mpg. But we could not do the hauling we have to do for our booths with a little car. Actually, the federal mileage rate for last year was 56 cents per mile. That's the average amount the feds estimate it costs to operate a vehicle today. This amount includes fuel, depreciation, repairs and upkeep, insurance, tax and license fees, etc. I think it is sobering to realize what our love/need for mobility actually costs us. So yes, even you Jenny, that's about what it costs you too, although of course your cost might be more like 40 cents a miles because of your car's great gas mileage, but it's still more than you probably think. We tend to think of the cost of our travel as just the cost of gas, but the reality is that it's a lot more than that.
DeleteI tried the grocery pickup and ws underwhelmed. They left outmost of my stuff and made odd substitutions for things they said they didn't have. I walked right in the store and found every single thing on my list. And the Walmart pickup? We waited 45 minutes to pick up there. Not worth it to me, but I am sure my experience is not the usual. It just made me not want to bother with curb pickup anymore, though.
Right now I drive a Toyota Camry so it isn't so small but not like driving a SUV or a pick up. I'm still not sure we would pay that much though because we rarely have a car repair. My husband is just good at picking cars, we've always bought used, & he's good at maintaining them. In 35 yrs together we've bought 3 used cars so insurance is usually pretty low because we buy used & drive them for such a long time. It would be interesting to figure that out.
DeleteSo sad you don't have a good Walmart near you. I'm 30 miles from Walmart headquarters so maybe they do better close to home? I have had some grocery pick up horror stories as well & I've gone inside & found stocked what I wanted. I do a pick up once a week & have learned the best time of day to pick up. Did you know that you don't have to pick up in the time slot you ask for? They'll hold your order for 24 hrs. So I schedule my pick up for 8AM to make sure it's ready by the time I finish other errands.