Small victories.

Yesterday, I complained about the price of groceries.

Today, the theme continues.

Apparently, inflation has inspired a series. How lovely. I would have preferred a vacation.

Fortunately, I can still keep my head above water financially, but with retirement hovering, the concern about having enough for those supposedly golden years is always lurking.

At these prices, the years may have to be gold-plated.

I have been making adjustments.

I now wash my own car. Drive-through car washes are $25 and up, and afterward I still have to wipe down the car and clean the windows.

For $25, I would like to leave without homework.

Breakfast and lunch out have become rare events. Lunch in New York City is an insult served in a disposable container. Even a food truck wants $15 for a salad or sandwich.

You are standing on the sidewalk, holding your lunch, wondering when lunch out became a luxury…missing my treasured expense account from years past.

I also clean my apartment and house myself, saving at least $150 a week. The compensation is excellent. Management remains demanding and frankly, no one cleans better than me. If times get tough I could be a C Suite domestic engineer.

Let’s talk amongst ourselves about coffee.

A tiny cortado now costs approximately $6. Three sips and you are left holding a miniature cup and questioning your judgment.

My Ninja makes excellent coffee at home. I spotted it at Walmart for $55, compared with the roughly $90 I had seen online elsewhere. For the price of a handful of coffee outings, you can have an actual appliance.

Mine has yet to swivel a screen around and ask me for a gratuity.

I buy my gas at Costco, where I recently found regular for $3.83 a gallon in the New York area. Between gas, groceries and paper goods, I can justify the $65 annual membership. Add an incredibly well-priced television when you actually need one, and the membership starts looking like one of the few relationships that gives something back.

In the kitchen, I make my own tomato sauce and soups. I can turn less than $10 worth of ingredients into something delicious that lasts beyond a single lunch.

My Winter White Bean Soup and tomato sauce recipes are listed here and can also be found on my blog.

Winter White Bean Soup…Recipe

Seeing Red…

I still want to go out. I still want to attend theater, dine at new restaurants, purchase clothes and the occasional item that serves absolutely no purpose beyond making me happy.

I just want better value.

Join a theater discount club and look for available Broadway tickets around $60, instead of paying $150 to $250 for a seat from which the actors faces are indiscernible.

Check restaurant happy-hour menus. I am perfectly capable of being happy earlier.

And my latest eyewear crush is the French brand Jimmy Fairly. Fabulous frames, cool styles and prices that have me looking beyond Warby Parker. The same pleasure I get from finding something terrific at Zara, Mango or even Amazon…style without the financial hangover.

None of this erases the larger worry. People should not have to spend their later years wondering whether they can afford the life they worked so hard to build.

There is satisfaction in deciding where my money goes, in keeping the pleasures and questioning the prices.

Besting the system is deeply gratifying.

Now excuse me. My car needs washing.