Oh No I Didn't

Day 242 in my "Year In My Life Through Pictures" blog series

For anyone that knows me, they know what my beverage of choice is - Diet Coke. Seldom have I ever swayed from that in the past 28 years, since I was 14ish. I just like it and a lot of other beverages agree with my pallet. But, something is going terribly wacky with prices recently. Actually over the past 18 months or so the price of diet coke has been very high at retail. I would once pay $2.00 - $2.50 on sale per 12 pack, with regular price in the $3.00 range. Now the "sale" price is $3.00 - $3.50 and regular price up in the $4.50 - $5.00 range. Outrageous and I will not pay that much, even though I have been a devoted customer for almost 3 decades.

I have begun to buy whatever is on sale for less than $3.00/ 12 pack. If neither Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi are below my self imposed limit I will not buy either. Ice Tea is going t be making a big comeback in my beverage consumption. Also, I have not purchased a 20 oz. bottle in a while either, seeing how they are $1.49 +, which is higher than a 2 liter. That should tell you something, if you can buy a bottle containing almost 70 oz. cheaper than you can buy the smaller 20 oz. offering. Something is wrong with pricing, either the 2 liter is way under priced or the 20 oz. is way over priced. I'll say the later.

I am loyal to a fault sometimes. I use the same deodorant brand and scent that I have for about 15 years, use the same dental floss, drink the same beverage, eat at the same restaurants, buy gas from the same station and on and on. Diet Coke was one of those things that I was loyal to, to a fault. But not any longer. My brand loyalty has given way to better spending habits and I refuse to pay that much for a soda. I'm not completely boycotting them, but I am boycotting them when they have high prices. I also will not get desensitized to the higher prices, like most people have with gas prices. They pushed prices so high that the $2.99/ gallon a week ago seems like a bargain. Not so, gas is expensive and the gas industry are nothing but money hungry entities. This is proven by the drop in oil price, but the increase of gas prices. Why? Because they can.

While things like rising prices get to me a little, I know that they are just temporal things and I need to watch out how they affect me. I know God is in control and that He can male the gas prices go whatever way He wants them to. I also know that the money that He allows my and my family to have is truly His and I need to be a better steward of that gift. During my false convert time I amassed a lot of credit card debt. Now we feel the consequences of that by paying large monthly payments to a few cards. But, we are paying them off and we are trying to get debt free in about 2 years, including vehicles, excluding our house payment. We are both converted now and know the importance of being good stewards of God's money, and also know that we are reaping consequences from irresponsible spending now that we charged years ago. Just like sin, you reap what you sow, there are always consequences for your actions. God will forgive those sins, but that doesn't mean that you still will not feel the effects of your sinful actions.

Praise God that He made a Way for our sins to be washed from us. Jesus Christ is the only way and I praise Him for loving me and forgiving me of my sins. By His blood I stand righteous before God. Nothing will change that, ever.