I got a $22.00 a month increase on my social security check in January. In September I will have an $18.00 a month increase in my rent. This leaves $4.00 a month to allow for increases in just about everything in the grocery store. Don't know how to solve the problem of inflation. Any suggestions???

Grocery outlet stores are much more than just cut price and close dated food. Between them and dollar stores you will find a full range of detergents, cleaners, personal hygiene and toiletries, animal supplies, dairy/citrus/eggs/meats and even gifts and electronic items as well as vitamins, supplements and even beer and fine alcoholic beverages...I even built a 35,000 btu twin-burner gas grille with 2 1/2 racks from a $70 kit a few years ago that I purchased at one!

With proper knowledge you can repair some simple appliances...belts and elements on your eletric dryer, the timer possibly.I don't know about the situation in your area but our local auction sells off nice appliances at reasonable prices as long as you aren't after a fairly new side by side freezer/refrigerator with water and ice.

Microwaves are a good used buy if you know the problems to look for and avoid. Pitting around the doorframe, corrosion--especially near the magnetron cover is a no-no and hinge or seal troubles also. KENMORE washers and dryers from the last 10-15 years can be a really good find and here they tend to go cheaply at 10-30 dollars. The nice thing about then is they are mostly Whirlpool as I understand, well built and easier to repair. Many are in great shape when they arrive. If you see an item listed as guaranteed by the owner or consignee you gave a few days to return it for a full refund if it fails to perform correctly. Learning the psychology of an auctioneer and his crowd is a MUST and Dollar Bill is your beat friend : )

Maintenance is GOLD. At one point in it;s life however repair will always become impractical and too expensive but learn to tune up, adjust and repair all you can.

Devices you can fix to some degree:

CD/DVD--a simple CD shaped cleaning disk is inexpensive and can even be found in dollar stores from time to time! These are a standard CD with imbedded brushes placed at the spot where you are told to advance the track number to and feature complete audio assistance and instructions. When the disk is done, normally the lens has been restored to full operation. Sometimes the player will not load properly and those are moderate to somewhat skilled repairs. A disc that spins yet doesn't register may be dirty or broken at the inside where the track information is stored to tell the player how to go from track to track, times and error correction codes, If that track is damaged the disc won't play. Discs can be 'resurfaced' to minimize the scratches' detrimental effects to playback and there are computer programs to retrieve data and music files from bad discs on you computer, that takes more savvy. Older CD players may have bad laser pickups (get a new one, it's brain surgery to align one) or the servo/belts may be bad (not quite brain surgery but takes skills to take things apart and reassemble them).

DVD players that give error messages that don't go away after cleaning more than once, even with a brand-new COMMERCIAL disc (DVD-R and RW may not all work due to the player's design specs) are cannon fodder in my experience Don't spemd more than $30 or so as you should consider them "disposable", even the big name brands (Panasonics a few years ago had a few complaints about the spindle assemblies, the dreaded C-13 error and the laser chips in DVD players are different and so the read quality and drives wear more quickly) The players donated or sold are often as old as c.2000 and they tend to be bombs not much longer. I'd get a new deck as many record now or use your DVD-ROM drive in your computer the playback software and a TV out type video card such as one by ATI or others. If you want to post to You Tube and other video sharing sites that is a must. Learning to fix your tower i not rocket science either even if it might be complicted a little and finding parts on Craiglisr or a used parts store like Computer Renaissance or repair shops is one of the most gratifying things to learn.

I repair speakers and build new speaker systems for old cabinets and parts and repair my sets as much as I can, learning for the future. Get the DTV conveter even if you DO have cable. They will display the 14:9 widescreen as well as the full 16:9 HDTV picture in a letterboxed form but even on a 19"-up set it looks pretty good. These things work on cable too. A 46" and larger bigscreen will make it look very impressive and with the government coupon tend to end up around 20 dollars for the lower priced boxes. DON'T cover the tops on these boxes as they get WARM like Gramdma's ancient '64 Zenith!

Not going to draw this out, VCRs are so much cheap plastic of late but belts can be replaced DIY often. Weatherstripping,cover the windows with plastic for winter, microwaving uses far less power that the stove top and oven.

On 6-700 dollars a month cars are nott affordable. Get a great bike to go wherever you can, help your landlord if you can and watch for bargains like a hawk.

Having your wits and comm sense about you is still PRICELESS.