Voices of MainStreet: Lisa Rae Rosenberg

Waiting for the Hikes

Feb. 22, 2011

I’ve read the economists' warnings about rising costs on the way but I haven’t noticed a change in my own spending yet. Perhaps because costs for goods and services in Southern California are generally higher than many parts of the country, I’m used to encountering $200 hair cuts and $750,000 “starter homes.” I can’t afford either of these, but they are a regular part of the Los Angeles landscape.

To offset the projected price hikes I have considered stocking up on nonperishables. I follow some coupon mom blogs. These bloggers document their adventures in shopping by taking photos of tables full of groceries and then revealing the astonishing low prices they paid using coupons. These amazing women have figured out how to work the system to feed a family of six for $40 a week. While I am fascinated by this coupon porn, on closer inspection I find that these folks are often buying things we just don’t use at our house. After pet food and toilet paper most everything we use is fresh.

So far, we’ve been fortunate that my husband’s annual pay raise has been enough to offset any rise in the bills. Then we were at the gas station recently and it cost $61 to fill up my tank. That got my attention. I usually get by on one tank of gas for the month but as prices continue to go up I may try to stretch that out further by combining my errands to make fewer trips. I’m afraid many of those errands will involve buying palettes of toilet paper to fill the garage.

—Lisa is a former comedy writer for television. She now writes about her funny family at her blog Smacksy.com.