RANDOM

Why does everything cost so much money? Seriously! I mean I know I'm "out on my own" for the first time and yes, I'm getting used to paying the rent, the power, the water, the cable, the cell phone, the credit card...AND THE LIST JUST KEEPS GOING! But really, it's all just about to get a tad bit ridiculous on how expensive everything else is. For example, I went grocery shopping last Tuesday night at Kroger (a new favorite of mine, seeing as its on my way home from work and their prices are pretty fair, even in comparison with Wal-Mart, which I used to swear by) and I spent over $100. I almost fell over when I rang up, because although I did do a good "stock up" of a lot of staple items and splurge on a few things (Frozen Potato Skins and a bag of Hershey Bliss) pretty much almost everything I bought was either a) on sale (a gallon of milk for $2.56) or b) I used a coupon and Kroger doubles the value of manufacturer coupons. So I just told myself no more grocery shopping for a minimum until next payday, and I am going to try to stretch it as much as possible. Plus, I told myself I'm going to be really good about not eating out at all since I spent so much on groceries.

Another example, yesterday I spent my entire lunch break in line at the Lee County Courthouse to register my new car and tag and title it. I was expecting about $125-$175 at MOST. After all, to retag my 01 BMW in Elmore County was $131, so I figured it would be somewhere around this amount. WRONG! To register my 08 4 runner was $300!!! And the lady who saw me even did something tricky so she could save me $50. I could NOT believe it. It's the Ad Valorem tax that kills you...seriously, I already paid a pretty penny in sales tax on the car and now your taxing me AGAIN? I mean, really, enough is enough. The sweet lady in the office who was working with me reminded me that I could write it off on my federal taxes next year, but I don't itemize (why would I?) because it is much more valuable for me to simply take the standard deduction, considering I don't have kids or a mortgage to write off.

Any thoughts on this?