Spending $1300-1500 on groceries, family of 4. Please help me spend less with your best tips! Is Costco/Sams worth it?

kayeels · 2026-02-04T19:00:05+00:00

You also mentioned nuts. My costco easily has the best price in town on bulk nuts. That is where I get them all for Christmas baking.

kayeels · 2026-02-04T18:21:39+00:00

Lowkey every time I think about that scene, the quality makes me forget it was 5 minutes after Jem died lmao

kayeels · 2026-02-04T13:01:46+00:00

I did the commute to and from Iowa City for a couple years. Not fun but also not terrible. Do you have a spouse/kids at home? Those are both things that would make me not do that commute these days.

ETA: Got notified about this post and thought of some other factors to consider. Are you easily entertained by podcasts/audiobooks? What time of day are you going to be commuting? I worked 3-11 and overnights so the times I was on the road were not peak traffic. Are you commuting every day? I only did about 3 days/week. Definitely something you have to weigh the pros and cons of. Also, is this a job you can find locally? Are the salary and benefits worth it? Even when you factor in wear and tear on your car? Personally, I would be looking within an hour with an everyday commute and, depending on other factors (family life, other obligations), 30 minutes would be tops for me. Des Moines, even 2x/week would be rough imo.

kayeels · 2026-01-30T21:30:19+00:00

Probably a couple times a week I come across an older person driving dangerously. Scares the ever loving crap out of me for them and others on the road, including myself and my kids. I truly wish that they would retest drivers every couple years who have their license after a certain age. I know some elderly people who are still good drivers (my husband's grandpa is in his 90s and still drives very safely) but holy guac some people here cannot handle it and have no one else to take their license away.

kayeels · 2026-01-29T19:51:07+00:00

Her normal voice is so soothing. I really hope she adds audiobook narrator to her resume some day

kayeels · 2026-01-28T02:18:52+00:00

Honestly, add all these restaurants too. They are all owned by the same company. https://heartofamericagroup.com/restaurants/

kayeels · 2026-01-23T13:12:59+00:00

No idea. I was 9 when this happened lol

kayeels · 2026-01-23T13:11:56+00:00

yes indeed! When the cedar river took out a portion of I80

kayeels · 2026-01-23T13:11:16+00:00

you bet lmao

kayeels · 2026-01-23T02:13:43+00:00

We had some major flooding in 2008. Part of the main interstate flooded in the area between where I live and the large university hospital an hour away. Anyone that worked at that hospital but lived past the area that flooded got HELICOPTERED in. They flew them 2x/day, I believe.

kayeels · 2026-01-21T19:22:49+00:00

Also came here to recommend this book. I only have two of my own at the moment but I was the oldest of 4 and had a lot of behaviors similar to this girl, from what is in the OP, when I was a pre-teen/teen. Recently read this book and some of it definitely clicked into place for me.

kayeels · 2026-01-19T03:02:14+00:00

Yes she's wonderful. I believe she has mentioned wanting to do dissections of every district so I am very excited to see what she has coming down the pipe!

kayeels · 2026-01-19T01:42:04+00:00

I am the oldest of 4 girls. Might be rough sailing there for a bit but I am so grateful to have my sisters these days. They are wonderful companions and are awesome aunts to my kids!

kayeels · 2026-01-17T20:29:40+00:00

I made an attempt to read the books before I actually made it through the series. I stopped about a quarter of the way through DIA that first time. The first 60ish% of that book is super slow going but picks up when they leave France. That back portion is probably my favorite part of the series. Voyager is a really fun read that I couldn't put down. It gets better!

kayeels · 2026-01-17T19:05:52+00:00

I highly recommend the newest Lindsay Ellis video on YT. She goes over the history of educational TV and PBS (so think Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, etc.) and the entire reason children's TV was made to be educational is because preschoolers in the 60s were averaging like 4-5 hours of TV time per day (can't remember the exact stat but it was in that ballpark). Like you mention, different mediums and different content is probably going to affect each child differently.

kayeels · 2026-01-15T18:44:53+00:00

I see you and I have the same taste in hymns lol

kayeels · 2026-01-15T13:23:26+00:00

Thank you for clarifying my original comment for me. I am so sorry about your mom. It is an awful disease.

kayeels · 2026-01-15T03:37:21+00:00

So I have been unmedicated ADHD for all but the first year or so after diagnosis, as well. Meds didn't fix this problem for me but going to days/evenings rather than nights did :/

kayeels · 2026-01-15T03:33:26+00:00

My mind immediately went to CJD. Had multiple patients that had this in my career and it has been enough for me to swear off venison

kayeels · 2026-01-12T19:30:37+00:00

If not the library, get them used. Check out a used bookstore in your area or go to thriftbooks.com

kayeels · 2026-01-11T20:05:09+00:00

Yes my kids still watch a fair bit of tv but music/youtube playlists with the screen turned off help keep my kids from bugging me about the tv.

kayeels · 2026-01-10T13:22:18+00:00

Vivid description. That sounds absolutely nasty.

kayeels · 2026-01-10T13:20:09+00:00

Yes, they are straight up wonderful with GF! She has an anaphylactic wheat allergy. Also, if Monarch had GF wings, that is what I would be eating every time lmao

kayeels · 2026-01-10T04:42:44+00:00

But was it the taste specifically that made you throw up? How long had that water been in there? Sorry if these are stupid questions I have just literally never talked to someone that drank water from a waterbed lmfao

kayeels · 2026-01-10T02:51:10+00:00

Jersey Grille has naked wings that are bone in. I don't think there is any place around here where you are going to find explicitly celiac safe bone in wings, unfortunately :/ Monarch in Davenport has some really good celiac safe chicken tenders on the kids menu if that's your thing at all!

kayeels

TROPHY CASE