Oil cost at $108.85/barrel yesterday. The nationwide average for gasoline is $3.33/gallon and for diesel fuel $3.96/gallon. So, why am I opening this post with these statistics? The simple answer is that as fuel costs go higher, goods that are transported will also tend to cost more.

This time of year, I’m looking forward to fresher produce and am among the first in line when the local farmer’s market opens. Fuel costs are hitting farmers too. Some of the cold weather crops in the market last weekend were noticeably higher than last year.

Growing up we always had a family garden. In today’s fast-paced society having a garden is difficult. However with my penchant for fresh vegetables, I decided the best solution was to grow my own.

There are many great books available for you at your local library or you can buy one of my favorites, The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible, from the Sensible Life Bookstore. Home Depot, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart all carry seeds, shovels, rakes, and other “implements of destruction.”

This year I’m planting peas (they’ve already sprouted), tomatoes, onions, cilantro, basil, and several types of lettuce. As the book recommends, I’m doing raised bed gardening with organic compost.

If you do your homework, you’ll have the satisfaction of growing something healthy for you and your family. Plus, you’ll be saving money!

Note: Gracie has been busy lately, so I’m stepping in to guest author some blog posts for her. She’ll return shortly; I promise! –Jyll Heiden

Do you pay full price for groceries? Sometimes if I’m in a hurry I do. Lately, I’ve been trying to plan my trips with coupons in hand. I used to keep my coupons together in one giant binder clip. Soon I found out how cumbersome that truly was when standing in the aisle at Kroger. I ordered a coupon organizer from Amazon and it’s great! It has hook-and-loop fasteners to wrap around the cart handle.

Another money-saving tip is to buy and cook larger portions. That makes it easier to take leftovers to work the next day as well as to vacuum-freeze for another day. I bought a Foodsaver Vacuum system last year and it’s really paid off with being able to preserve foods longer.

What other Sensible tips have you developed to keep ahead? How do you pinch pennies at the grocery store? The Sensible Life staff would love to know!

Note: Gracie has been busy lately, so I’m stepping in to guest author some blog posts for her. She’ll return shortly; I promise! –Jyll Heiden

Every six months we get the bordatella immunization (to prevent an illness called kennel cough) for our two Great Danes. Our fawn Dane, Diva, was not due for hers yet, but our harlequine Dane, Moxie, was. Now, even though Moxie is pretty independent and a bit sassy, two things unnerve her -severe thunderstorms and immunizations administered by spraying it into her nose. With Diva along for moral support, we arrived at the vet. A few minutes later, Moxie was trying to climb in my lap -all 136 pounds of her. Diva was quite concerned, as you can imagine, and she was trying to come to Moxie’s aid, thus making Moxie try even harder to climb into my lap. Finally, the vet was able to successfully give the vaccine, and it should only take a few days of bed rest and ice packs for me to recover…

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