I KNOW. Groceries are so expensive. I remember not too many years ago when a hundred bucks could buy the biggest most overflowing cartload of groceries. I guess those days are long gone!

Oh your poor dog — here’s hopeing he feels better soon! I am old enough to remember when 159.00 would buy our family two weeks worth of groceries *and* that included pop, beer, and smokes (when I smoked so many years ago). And that was about 12 bags of groceries, and not those little half paper bags, that was those really really deep heavy duty paper bags.

Oooooooh, bummer! The vet sucks. I don’t take my pets to the vet except for basic immunizations and parasite shots and all that jazz. Sorry, but I don’t see why any dog should ever be given surgery. That’s why they’re free. (free = very fucking expensive) I don’t even take my own sorry ass to the doctor. I haven’t been in a good eight years, except for one car accident and some stiches from this time I got assaulted in a gas station. Damn gangs and shit, makin me go see a doctor. Thanks for nothing Scruff McGruff.

Only now I’ve got this job with (everyone sitting and braced?) benefits! I wasn’t going to use them, but my feminine counterpart is insisting. And by insisting I mean nagging, for my own good of course. Unfortunately she was pre-med back in college, and now she thinks she’s practicly a doctor. Not to mention she found this webMD.com site. (aka hypochondriac-wet-dream.com) According to the infallable internet I have chemical pneomonia or some such rediculous thing. I’d almost rather die a slow and painful death than go sit in a waiting room to have some a-hole overcharge me for a quick molestation followed by bad news.

Whatever. At least Dog is alive and well to protect you from … the CREEPIEST FUCKING DOLL I’VE EVER SEEN!!!! I mean really, who designed that freaky shit? A witch doctor? Satan? Hitlers evil twin? Don’t people realize those things are intended for children, not serial killers?

Good luck with the crazy ass expensive cost of living. My plan as a child was to win the lottery. Unfortunately now that NC actually has the lottery I see it is not so much a way to get rich easy as it is a way to tax people for being trashy ignorant pain-in-the-ass types. It’s sort of a fun game to play at the gas station. I call it which stanky illiterate jagoff will delay my simple $10.00 gas purchase with fourty one dollar scratch offs they have to select one at a time. It’s a good time waster, but it’s not a very challenging pass time. For instance the guy in the suit buying the fitness water probably isn’t going for the lucky fives. On the other hand the corn rowed, no neck monstrosity with the three screaming bastards in tow, who is the probable source of the tear jerking stench of cocoa butter you taste in the air, they just might axe da man bout duh seven sevens an uh black an mahld. No whuhm sayin?

Groceries have gone up heaps here too, in OZ, it’s bloody disgusting! XXX

Poor Dog! Our dog had a similar mole-type thing that the vet snipped off when she had her teeth cleaned. I find it necessary to multi-task when it comes to pet surgeries! Here’s to a speedy recovery!

You know? Groceries were crazy there for a while (cuz that’s what I spend my money on; I may be wearing an outfit that cost a total of $14 head to toe off the Old Navy clearance rack, but god dammit, I will not settle for anything less than the top shelf brie to go along with every meal), but ever since I stopped shopping at big chain super markets in favor of smaller markets, my bill dropped tremendously. I’m not talking some one-off mom and pop store, I’m talking Trader Joe’s and our local version of Wild Oats and Whole Foods. I swear, the cheese at Trader Joe’s is AT LEAST half of what it costs at the regular super market. And now I’m fully stocked with local produce and organic meats and cheeses and at better prices to boot.

I didn’t start shopping there for any socio-economic reasons (I still love the Walmart), but mostly because Albertson’s and Ralphs et al have the shittiest service and constantly run out of basic items like garlic and tomatoes. GARLIC AND TOMATOES. I banned those places immediately and just happened to stumble upon better prices at the local places.

Give Dog a kiss for me. Poor baby.

Aww, poor Dog! *lots of hugs*

Dog would totally match my Cat right now, who just had a chunk of skin SLICED RIGHT THE EFF OFF her face and whose wound I am supposed to keep open and weeping for a couple days lest the abscess grow back. Oh and the fun that is the antibiotics! But WE LOVE HER…or so I’m reminded.

Wishing Dog a speedy recovery. Give her a kiss on top of her Retriever flat head!

Frankenkitty (aka Jelly) sends her love to Frankendog- we just had her sliced open Thursday to pop out a tumor in her leg. It was $500, and pointless because the cancer is going to kill her anyway, but… eh. I just couldn’t leave it in, not when I had that $500. I feel the same way about how much we spend on ourselves.

And yeah, groceries- I was ruthless and chopped our grocery budget to $60 a week. I’m tired of food going bad in the fridge, and since it’s just the two of us, we usually only eat a couple meals a week anyway. The rest of the time we exist on cereal, cookies, and toast. Yum.

I’m always doing that, too: comparing the cost of one thing with the cost of something I buy routinely. OH MY GOD THE KIDS DENTAL CHECK-UPS WERE $250!!! Well, it’s only the same as one of our monthly utility bills, which I write out a check for almost without thinking about it. OH MY GOD $10 FOR A FIELD TRIP??? Well, it’s the same as I spent going through the drive-thru for me and three kids, and I didn’t even flinch, and that food is GONE whereas (switch to fairy voice) the memories of the field trip are lasting and precious (/fairy voice).

Poor dog!

You think that kewpee doll is scary, you should see the GIANT one that’s on top of a building where I live. There is a hamburger chain that started here that’s called Kewpee. Here’s a little website about it if you’re interested in that sort of thing: http://www.kewpee.com/history.php. Anyway, jst be glad you don’t have to see the giant doll when you drive through town!

(This is the restaurant where Dave Thomas got the ideas for Wendy’s.)

Oh, poor dog!!! Of course you had to have it removed – dogs ARE the best – they just love and love, and they count on us to make sure their basic needs are met (and they really only do have basic needs, love ’em!). And yes, groceries. Kills me. I agree with the Trader Joe’s poster when it comes to cheese – way cheaper there than grocery stores. What I hate is buying a lot of produce and then not getting through it all and throwing it away.
I look forward to the immediate future, in which we will have a new baby, unpaid maternity leave, followed by a layoff in a crappy area with no jobs. Oh, and daycare! I hope our doggy stays healthy!
Take care of dog – she’s such a sweetheart!

Poor Dog! I hope she feels better soon. We’ve got our BRD (Big Red Dog) scheduled for a cyst removal soon and that’s not going to be fun. The hardest thing about pet surgery is that you can’t *explain* it to them. On the other hand, the BRD has a couple of completely harmless skin tags on his tummy that gross my husband the f out — one day they will fall off, and we’re convinced (and I’m secretly hoping that I will be there with a camera) that they will fall off while my husband is giving a belly rub, because he will scream like a little girl. And I will laugh, because I am evil. Anyway, hugs to Dog.

I am so sorry to hear about the dog, Dog. I hope he gets well soon.

I am amazed when I hear about the cost of living on the west coast! How you do it, I do not know. I love living in the Midwest for just reason. It is so much cheaper. I mean I think I have spent a lot when I hit $100 and I only buy organic and high end things for the most part. I am big believer in buying local so we do hit the Farmer’s Market and the local co-op more so then the larger stores and even if I had it I would refuse to buy from Whole Foods/Wild Oats (which did you know that WF now owns and runs WO??!!) At any rate, I grew up in San Jose CA and the cost of living is unimaginable to me now. I was thinking the other day how do ordinary people even manage to make it there. My family all moved to the Seattle area and it seems to be the same way. The thing that kicks my butt is putting gas in the car and seeing the end result of filling up the tank on our little old Camry. I mean how do people afford food who drive an SUV?!??!

Ah, the good old days when one could fill up on gas and buy food in the same day! HA!

Oh, Dog! Poor, poor Dog. I’m sure she’ll be back to herself in just a few days and then she’ll be shuffling around on the hardwood floors again at high-speed.

I hear you on the groceries. Its hard to go into the supermarket for just a couple of things without cracking $50. It SUCKS.

Aww, poor Dog. I like to pretend I am pragmatic and hard-hearted when I hear about people giving their pets thousand-dollar surgeries – I say “my dog would get the needle!” – but I know I am a big fat liar and if I found out some experimental $24,000 drug trial/surgery might give my dog another six months of life, I would probably take out a second mortgage to get it done. Because sometimes, my dog is my only real friend.

And groceries – word. I was just thinking about this yesterday when I looked at my debit card and saw that I had been to the grocery store THREE TIMES in a week for “a couple things” and every time, it cost me $40. And I am a single person with no children. That ain’t right.

Awww, poor Dog. Hope all is well soon.

Having three dogs, two of which having had various expensive medical issues (one involving an eye as well) – I think the hesitation is natural. If it’s any consolation, my oldest child broke his arm when I had no insurance and I hesitated (for just a second) on a surgery they doctor STRONGLY recommended but that wasn’t entirely necessary.

Also – My family – 2 grownups, 2 kids, 3 dogs and two cats spend between $700-$800 a month on groceries. It hurts.

Everything is expensive- it’s crazy. There are just two of us in our household, and I spend at least $300 a month on groceries, and that doesn’t count any money we spend on going out to eat. And you are absolutely right- every time you go to the grocery there’s always at least a few things that you forgot and have to turn around and go get in the next day or so!

I’ve been making a concerted effort to keep an eye on sales and the generic products, and the last time I went shopping I spent just $89… the last time I went it was $109. Usually our weekly grocery bills are $150-$160….
You should get diapers & wipes at a wholesale club, like Sam’s or Costco. Y ou can get 160 Costco-brand diapers for .216 apiece – $35. Much cheaper.

My best wishes to poor dog. My parent’s dog once had a wart on her head that kept getting bigger and bigger…. when they finally took it to the vet, turns out it was an engorged tick!!! It never fell off though, just kept suckin’. Gross.

Poor Dog…give her a belly rub for me! I know that seems to perk our Dog up right away! And they know how to turn on the misty doe eyes in a flash don’t they?????

As for groceries….AMEN SISTA…it is ridiculous…I live in the Midwest and GOOD LUCK finding decent produce…for crying out loud last week TWO grocery stores (not even the same chain) ran out of TOMATOES…WTF??????? Like isn’t the purpose of the grocery store to have stuff when I RUN OUT…not the other way around????? It so makes me miss my wonderful Wegman’s (my FAVORITE GROCERY STORE EVER!!!!) They NEVER ran out of stuff.

I swear to GOD that groceries have doubled in price over the last six years. My rate of pay has not, however, enjoyed such growth. Hrmph.

And poor, poor Dog. I once shelled out $800 to have my 8 month old kitten have surgery on a diaphragmatic hernia. Dude. I was a waitress at the time. Oh the suckage. But worth it.

Life is freakin’ expensive, isn’t it? We have a family of 6 (plus several animals) — groceries is a large chunk of our budget. But, I watch the sale ads weekly and buy almost all items on sale. That helps tremendously.

Ditto on the Costco suggestion for diapers. I just recently discovered how much of a bargain they are. My local store carries Huggies (they used to have Pampers but don’t anymore), as well as their store brand. The Huggies are about half of what they cost at Target, and the savings more than makes up for the $40 annual membership fee. Plus they have Orbit gum by the boxful! Fruity and minty-fresh!

But, even with these savings, our grocery bills for a family of four are nightmarish. I should be more vigilant about what I spend, but dammit, I just can’t resist those Dora crackers for my kid. Oh, and I also buy organic milk, which is out-the-roof expensive.

it’s amazing how many animals have to get medically treated. crazy! just reading all the stories kind of makes me scared to own a pet. good thing we cant at the moment!

as for groceries, i agree with some of the above. buy staples in bulk, diapers, wipes, paper towels, tp, tampons, shampoo, razors even milk. try and weed out some of the wants/needs, even if it may bite. my bf and i buy paper prodects in bulk for sure & alcohol wholesale and don’t run out for months. make lists so that when you go in you stick to the stuff you need, stock up on sale items that you use, try the generics and allow yourself a treat or two.

it’s hard not to go crazy in the grocery store i know especially when living in nyc and there being a specialty store on every damn corner. create a budget though and see if you can stick to it. the initial wholesale run will kick you in the ass but you’ll reap the rewards for months to come when your not buy that shit at jacked up prices in the market!

Awww, poor Dog! Belly rubs from me.

Grocery bills do suck. I We’ve joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) – you give a local farm a few hundred dollars & get a box of fresh, local, organic produce every week through the spring & summer. I live in the Midwest, so there are lots of farms to choose from. It’s also fantastic because our health insurance gives us $200 toward a CSA membership! Am loving it! Lots! In case you couldn’t tell from the exclamation points!

Groceries add up some kind of fast! I have two dogs and I know when the vet tells you surgery is needed you just think, “shit, really?” because all you can are just money signs rolling out of your bank account! However, the dogs in my life are so worth it because they bring such joy, so you totally did the right, albeit expensive, thing. :) Have a great week!

Poor Dog!! Hope she feels much better soon.

I hate buying groceries. I cringe every time the total comes up.

Hi — de-lurking for the first time just to say: pet insurance! Seriously, totally worth it.

Oh, baby! Sometimes those pet issues are hard to call, but what are you going to do? I hope Dog is feeling much better soon. That stuff always hits you harder than you think it’s going to, doesn’t it?

Wow, that is expensive. I did two separate shopping trips yesterday (because I hate Walmart yet have to shop there for certain items because they aren’t available anywhere else in town). I didn’t count the bags I filled but I’m willing to bet if I bought the same items here it would be half of what you paid. HOWEVER…gas here is $2.84/gal for regular and I’m about to shit myself over it. Looks like I’ll be riding my bike after all.

I can’t believe I’m posting again, but I’m all riled up at the cost of just ‘living’! I am also from San Jose (like another poster) and now live in the Midwest. I can’t say I find it any cheaper here though (cost of housing aside). But just ‘life’ is expensive. So we’re about to have a baby – I know that’s expensive – but daycare? Oh my. And then there’s things that I never even considered before like life insurance. I’m supposed to be an adult now?! I’ve always been a huge saver, but that doesn’t mean I want to USE the savings – I like to see it grow! I try to track my grocery spending by keeping all the receipts, but I never do it. I have tried, recently, however to make dinner out of things that are already in our house – it may not be what I’m craving that night, but it does sort of make sense.

Give dog a big hug from me!

This is a little scary, but sometimes my son gets this mischievous look on his face and he looks EXACTLY like that kewpie doll. It’s not quite so demonic when it’s an actual kid, but still… Actually, it’s really f-ing cute, but I may just be biased, you know?

Hope Dog feels better soon!

groceries are set to get more expensive–the cost of beef and corn are rising steadily. boooooo. i’ts ridiculous!!! i try to cut coupons and shop sales… one time i saved $40… but when i think things are expensive (i’m also a midwesterner…nothing beats summertime produce here, but winter sucks) i remember my trip to maui, where a gallon of milk was $9 at a nicer grocery store. $9. jeez.

Not to hop on the “Good Freaking Christ Groceries Are Expensive!” bandwagon, but, well, …*hop*.

Went shopping with my measly $40/wk budget yesterday and am beginning to question why leaving a real estate job (with a salary! and benefits! and normal hours!) to attend EMT school was worth it. *sigh*. Anyway! Right! Groceries!

Sarah: fantastic site for you, darlin’, http://www.allrecipes.com (I would totally make that a live linkfor you, too, but no. freaking. clue. how to do that. *hangs head in techie shame*.)
They have an ingredient search where you enter what you have on hand and it pops back a delicious recipe. So much easier than having to, you know, create.

You TOTALLY did the right thing in getting that skin tag removed. Can I just tell you the sickest story about my dog? She had this skin tag on her leg that kept getting bigger and bigger and she kept licking it and licking it. Finally it was the size of a large grape so we saw the vet about getting it removed. He said sure, it will be several hundred dollars. Or, you can just tie a little piece of string around it and it will eventually fall off. Won’t hurt her at all. So great! String! We love it! And that’s what we did. And it took about 4 weeks for the thing to fall off. And when it did? It was nowhere to be found. Because she ATE it. !!!!!

Naw, that Kewpie is small time. THIS: http://tinyurl.com/22qul3 is much scarier. It’ll stab you, burn you and THEN eat your entire family in the time it takes to yell, “911!”

I think one of the most “adult” feelings in the world is the feeling you get when you have a sick pet, and are facing a big vet bill. It’s the weirdest mix – sadness for the dog, sadness for yourself, feeling ashamed for caring about money, but also knowing that money is important……it just sucks.

Poor Dog! I hope she feels better soon!

The grocery thing makes me feel a bit better about being pathetically single. $50 feeds me for a long time!

So, just to chime in on the diaper thing: We don’t have a Costco membership, but I do get all my daughter’s diapers and wipes at http://www.1800diapers.com. (They carry formula and other odds and ends too.) It’s nice, because if you order enough at once (which isn’t hard), the shipping is free, and everything is delivered right to your door. I’m not too sure how the prices compare to Costco, but I know it’s way cheaper than Target, etc. They sell cases of Pampers size 3 Cruisers for $38. That’s 160 diapers, which nets out to about 24 cents each. Plus, did I mention that big, bulky case just shows up right on your doorstep? Something that saves me money and effort? They seriously have my undying devotion.

As for the rest of the grocery madness, I’m in the same ridiculous mess as everyone else. I try to get to Trader Joe’s when I can, because AMEN! on the prices, but they are not very close to where I live. Sadly, what is right nearby is a Metropolitan Market, which, while not quite in the realm of Whole Foods, is pretty darn swank, and just convenient enough to get us into serious trouble. I often find myself wishing I had a big enough yard to grow my own fruits and veggies, because I’m beginning to wonder how much ramen we can eat before rickets or scurvy or something set in. Sigh…

Get well soon, Dog!!!

We took our 12 yr old lab in to be put to sleep last week. We agonized over it- I lost a weeks sleep after I made the appt. We got there, the vet said, “Let’s try this new drug” and we jumped at it. The old girl is still hanging in there and the drugs are helping. It was $250 at the vets but I think I would have paid twice that. She just wants to make us happy.

Well over the years we have shelled out thousands of dollars in vet bills for our pets – we’ve had four cats and one money sucking dog over the course of 10 years and I swear to god, if it wasn’t one thing it was the other. Of course every time we went to the vet it was like “sigh, here, take my whole wallet, what ELSE are we going to do?” At one point my husband said something like “$500 for surgery? What are we gonna do?” And my response was “bitch about it and then pay it, like we always do.” This is even after having a child, we are just that way about animals, so I feel your pain.

As for groceries, I won’t even go there. Our grocery bills tend to be in the 40-50 dollar range, but that’s only because we seem to be completely incapable of going to various grocery stores less than 2-3 times a week. Sigh.

“paper toweling”…whaaa?

Hope Dog is feeling better soon. Give her a few exrea doggie treats. How old is she?

Poor Dog. There’s nothing better than a vet bill with a side of guilt, is there?

I don’t think the grocery bill is too bad… I’m pretty sure mine are worse than that every week, and I don’t have a kid or a dog. How the hell DO I spend that much money, now that I think about it?

Jesus. How much gum did you BUY!

I dread the increase in grocery bills when we have to start buying diapers and wipes in a few weeks. Or is it weird that I am including that stuff as grocery costs?

Good for you for taking care of dog. I wanted to cry in the vet’s waiting room when a guy brought in a sick dog and was haggling over whether he should have to pay for a visit because the dog wasn’t made better by the last visit. It was clear this guy had no money, but the poor dog needed care. Some people don’t grasp the responsibilty that comes with having a pet. They just want the companionship and don’t expect to have to do much in return, I guess.

The cost of groceries and gas are freaking us out right now too. We are just trying to simplify. If you are a member, I highly recommend the Costco wipes–better quality than the major brands and a very good price. Occassionally Amazon runs a good deal on Huggies or Pampers, and they ship free.