Dollar Tree has Sarah Lee 100% Whole Wheat for $1.00 a loaf and it's not stale.

I stretch a cube of butter (yes, butter, not margarine) by softening it and then beating with a handheld mixer while adding 3/4 cup canola oil. Then I put in containers and it hardens to spreadable when cold.

Bananas don't seem that outrageously expensive to me even though they have gone up in price -- they are still the cheapest fruit, in our area anyway. Plus, nutrition-wise they are better than a vitamin pill!

Even with the higher cost of food/gas, our monthly expenses have *only* gone up by about $200 and that was with a four day vacation thrown in. I think that it shows that our cutting back in different areas is paying off.

I'm so thankful that we don't have to live on a shoestring. I sure feel for people that do have to!