No wonder I'm always broke!

I really want to go shopping tomorrow with Cristina and our mom, but I can't really afford to do that. I couldn't figure out why I was so broke, until I figured out what it is costing me to feed all my animals. I just about had a heart attack(okay well maybe not that extreme) ;)

But! $850 a month is animal feed. No wonder I have no money. No wonder I can't afford anything I want to do anymore. GEESH! I know half the problem is that prices have gone up so much but wow!

$407 of that is rabbit feed/shavings/hay and treat mix cost. $102 is cows, $110 is chickens and ducks, $125 is cats, $115 is the 4 dogs(and that is only one bag of dog food a month with 4 dogs(3 big and one small) at $75 a bag. But the 2 old dogs aren't eating that well these days, only about a cup each(they have great appetites for people food or canned food mind you(buggers!) so we don't go through near the amount of dog food we used to. Wow.

I will try to figure out a way to cut costs from here. I've been reading Keeps Rabbitry blog on cutting costs.. So far I haven't found a way for the animals. The above doesn't include the cost of hay for the cows- except 2 bales of Orchard Grass a month as a special treat(they have pasture and round bales) the round bale cost our uncle covers since he bales it himself- thankfully! This also doesn't include shavings for the ducks,chickens or cows... I could basically include another $300 every 3 or 4 months when I get a load in.. Just finding a load is proving to be a VERY hard thing. Shavings are a hard thing to find around here these days. We buy bags of shavings for the rabbits. The cows are out on pasture so their barn doesn't need shavings right now, and the chickens/ducks I am using straw for now.

Wow, I can't believe how much I spend!