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U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

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Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#641
post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Build wind, solar and grid batteries, then. Nothing magically hard about it. The grid itself will need updates too.

> EVs are excellent grid batteries, with the incentives.

Excellent point, although I haven't seen this actually be done in practice either at grid scale or household scale. Do current EV's charging electronics support this use case?

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#642
post #410

Great. All I know is I'm trading a lot more time for money this year. Way less takeout, avoiding toll roads unless it saves at least 30 minutes, fewer streaming services (will renew on a show-by-show basis), and food is getting so crazy I might start going to multiple stores to try and save money instead of my one consolidated trip to Wegmans. I'm also stuffing my freezer with meat and have a year's supply of non-per…

Buying extra meat when it's on sale and storing it in a chest freezer is probably the best "investment" that most families can make. It usually has a higher ROI than buying stocks or whatever. Even during inflationary times, retailers occasionally end up with excess supplies of some cuts of meat or advertise loss leaders to boost store traffic so you can buy a lot if you have freezer space to store it. Just be carefu…

Putting it in a cool room with good insulation helps. Makes the freezer work less hard.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#645
post #572
post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I do is buy meat in bulk from costco and marinate and preseason then cut it up and vacuum seal it with a $30 vacuum sealer and sousivide bags from amazon. I can then stuff my freezer with ready to cook chicken, steak, fish, etc. I just take it out the night before to thaw in the fridge.

You probably know this, but sous vide will cook fine from frozen too. You just have to give it an extra hour or so. Heat baths are cool!

I do that sometimes but I started going for thinner cuts of meat and just grill them in 12-15 mins. Sousvide is nice but sometimes takes too long and you still gotta sear.

For nicer cuts of meat, sure, but for flank steak and such, I find it much easier to just let the meat marinate for 24-48 hours and then grill it.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#646

Great. All I know is I'm trading a lot more time for money this year. Way less takeout, avoiding toll roads unless it saves at least 30 minutes, fewer streaming services (will renew on a show-by-show basis), and food is getting so crazy I might start going to multiple stores to try and save money instead of my one consolidated trip to Wegmans. I'm also stuffing my freezer with meat and have a year's supply of non-per…

So I know I can make 65 an hour with side jobs. I've got a few side gigs where I can set my own schedule and work those hours at any time. I could probably push higher if I wanted (75-100 an hour). When I need to pad my savings I cut some costs but mostly I just work extra hours in side gigs. I couldnt imagine its worth going to multiple grocery stores to compare prices. Shop at 1 store, pay more for some items, work…

I've gone shopping at Grocery Outlet (discount West Coast chain) since I was in grad school and couldn't afford anything else. I could use higher quality stores now, but it's kind of fun to work recipes around their ever-changing (and incomplete) stock, so I tend to make one stop there and then drop by another store on the way home to fill in the gaps (usually just grapefruit juice and fresh bread). It only adds ~15 min. to the trip if I know what I'm missing before I walk in.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#647
post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a pretty small apartment in Manhattan (albeit with an abnormally large kitchen). I can always get the value of my Costco membership in my first trip there, even without a car. Basic goods like Advil, laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent are miles cheaper than other options in Manhattan.

We find it difficult to use the Costco OTC drugs like Advil among two people before the expiration date.

i have literally used 20yr expired medicines before and been fine

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#648

No freaking way! My rent just went up 15% (and last year too, which forced me to move out and look for a cheaper apartment), all groceries are up 30% across the board compared to last year, I know because mobile apps show my previous receipts. These are the times I feel dumb for not being a homeowner (despite technically being able to afford it, just didn't want to get locked down in an area for 8+ years to make the…

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Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#650

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should also have a high-rated chest cooler ("marine coolers" are great for this) in case of power outages. Move the freezer contents to the cooler, pack with dry ice, place in a cool shaded area, do not touch. It will stay frozen for close to a week.

Or pull your generator out and power your cooler and other essentials. Much easier than trying to get and find dry ice in an emergency.

A standard residential generator typically holds a gallon of fuel and will burn through that in about 8-12 hours, which is not the ideal way to run a refrigerator. If you run the generator constantly, you'll burn through substantial amounts of fuel, and if you run it only occasionally, you're going to get the kind of temperature fluctuations we're trying to avoid here.

I have a 1kW power station with solar charging, which won't fare a whole lot better; it'll run a fridge for maybe 2-3 days if it's sunny outside.

Low-tech solutions win in power outages of more than a day or two.

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