Beating the price rises

Filling the car up with fuel these days is an expensive practice. Fuel costs are spiraling upwards, and everyone grumbles that there seems to be no end to the price rises. Groceries too are becoming increasingly costly. Listen carefully on your next trip to the supermarket and it's not hard to overhear people complaining about price rises.
The cost of living is outstripping most peoples budgets and we are all feeling the squeeze.


Well I have some news for you that you may like, and you certainly won't think it's positive.


The situation is going to get worse. Much worse.


But the good news is that we here at Positive Paradise have ways of dealing with it. If we come up against a problem challenge, we find a way around it. We don't hit our heads against a brick wall, we go around it, above it, beyond it.


Let's take fuel first. Never mind looking at petrol prices at different garages, it's a total waste of time.
You will save very, very little. Unless you are covering thousands of miles a week the difference is infinitesimal.
And if you find fuel cheaper at a supermarket, the chances are it is cheap for a reason. Supermarket fuel is notorious for lacking lubricity additives that reduce wear on engine parts, particularly in diesel engines. So your cheap fuel may prove expensive in the long run. It is far better to just use the car less. Try and shop locally, and walk if possible. The fresh air and exercise will do you good, and if you program it into your day properly, it won't take you any extra time. Sooner or later you're going to have to do this because running a car wont just be expensive, it will be ruinously expensive, so get into the habit now! Develop new habits and they will soon become normal.


Drive your car differently. Make it a game to try and get as many miles per gallon as possible from each trip, remember that your car engine is working against aerodynamic drag as well as a lot of other factors, and aerodynamic drag rises at the square of the speed. Simple example. If your drive at 50mph, then accelerate to 100 mph, you don't need twice the power to do 100mph, you need 4 times the power! More then 60% of the power of your engine at the legal speed limit is spent overcoming drag. So slow down! Power=fuel=money!


My advice is to use a bike as much as possible. If it's cold, wrap up. If it's wet, get mudguards. If you're afraid of theft, get a good lock. Can't carry much? get a rack and panniers. No excuse!


Next we move onto groceries. Supermarkets are clever. They are not your friend, and they are not trying to save you money. If they do say they're trying to save you money, it's so you go there more! They want you to spend as much money as possible. Every single time.
If you go into a supermarket with your debit or credit card, then you will spend exactly what they want you to spend. Go with cash, and with a budget. look at the lower shelves where the lower priced items are. (eyes down for a bargain). Buy two-for one, use coupons, plan your meals. Try every little trick in the book. If it seems like hard work, then fine, go back and start moaning again! your choice!


Do you really need that extra bottle of wine because "I've had a stressful day?" or that cigarette? cut down, and watch the money grow, and your health improve. Ask your grandparents about cheap nutritious meals. I'm sure they will know a few, make use of them. Old quite often equals wise!


Food, fuel and other essentials are going to get rapidly more expensive over the next few years. Sooner or later you are going to have to be doing these things. There will be no choice. The world is changing. Be smart and ahead of the game and start developing new habits now. Be doing it, before you have to do it! Don't let it stress you. Think, use your imagination, and start being solution orientated.


This is an abundant world. And you deserve abundance. It will come to you but you need to change. We are in a period of great change, and out of this will come a new type of person. Technologically savvy, thrifty, wiser, less trusting of corporations, big business, and the established order. They will adapt more easily to changing circumstances, be more independent, self reliant, and more ready to use their own initiative to solve problems. You are that person. This is your time, and the time is now.


Yes, I could agree times are hard. I fill my car up, I buy my groceries, I pay my energy bills. But don't you know in your heart of hearts it had to change? We built our futures on easy credit, saw a house as an investment, not a home. We rode the bubble and seemed shocked when it burst and we fell. I fell off that bubble with a lot of other people. But those of us with new wisdom have learned our lesson. For us there are exiting times ahead, and we are ready to face them with enthusiasm. Free of debt and with a new intelligence we are moving forward.


This isn't a credit crunch. It isn't a financial crisis. Or a recession, a depression, or a catastrophe.
It is our chance to shine!!