Economizing

[GotGarlic]

I have seen hand cranked washers they look like a cement mixer but not really big you just turn the crank on the side and it rolls around the clothes. It could be handy for smaller and lighter items and then you could wash at laundry the heavier things like jeans

I've seen one of those, too - in my great-grandmother's basement, 30 years ago Haven't seen one lately, though.

 

[PanchoHambre]

And, yes, my shopping days are long and tiring. I usually leave the house at 9 a.m. and am home by 6 p.m. or so. Thank heavens Buck cooks dinner on my shopping days.

Wow you guys have a lot to think about when you go shopping.....

of course This Police officer shot after bank robbery | AP | 05/03/2008
happened at my supermarket this weekend..... oddly enough I was almost there at that time for one seemingly inconsequental decision. unnerving...


sorry back to topic....

While I dont have the trip y'all have I do have to drive to do any serious grocery shopping.
When I lived in Queens NY I could just pick up dinner groceries on the way home on foot so I did not budget a week or month just spent as I went and was cheap or indulgent depending how my budget was going. Now I am cooking and shopping for 3 not 1 and have to do the bulk of shopping weekly or bi-weekly and so I am dealing with a much larger bill and more planning.

My savior is this place Reading Terminal Market › Home which I can go to on lunch and fill in the gaps and indulge a bit when the budget allows

 

[GotGarlic]

You have some great tips in there Katie. The ones I think I might try are:

Getting more flyers and coupons. I search for coupons online but it is a little tedious.Any ideas for finding coupons?

I don't know if it's the same in Canada, but in the U.S., coupon booklets are distributed in Sunday's newspaper, along with the sale flyers. You can subscribe to just the one day, here at least. It would more than pay for itself in coupon savings.

Do you also buy for price rather than quality? Sometimes I am hesitant to go down a notch from a brand name to a lesser brand if I don't know the quality of the lesser brand. Also, I often compare nutritional tables and pick the best one, keeping price in mind but also willing to sacrifice a little bit.

There's only one way to find out - try them Others may disagree, but I think things like sugar and flour and many canned goods are interchangeable.

 

[GB]

There's only one way to find out - try them Others may disagree, but I think things like sugar and flour and many canned goods are interchangeable.

Not only do I agree, but I will take it one step further. Many store brand or generic brand things in the supermarket are actually the brand name things just without the brand name label. Yes the exact same thing. Made in the same factory or plant from the same ingredients.

 

[suziquzie]

Do you also buy for price rather than quality? Sometimes I am hesitant to go down a notch from a brand name to a lesser brand if I don't know the quality of the lesser brand. Also, I often compare nutritional tables and pick the best one, keeping price in mind but also willing to sacrifice a little bit.

I used to do that to, when I was first on my own. Would not buy generic for any reason.
Well guess what. I now have 3 kids, little money. They have no clue, nor do they care if I buy store brand or Creamette pasta.
There are a few things that yes, are not as good in the generic brand. But most things are pretty safe!

 

[mikki]

Well my grocery spending hasn't really changed, hubby and I have always been on tight budget, 18 years ago when we first married and had our children I spent about 100$ a month on groceries. Now I spend about 150$ a month, by the end of the month its slim pickens in the pantry,but I figure if anyone is hungry enough they will eat whats there.
As for driving, hubby and I argue all the time about this. I go to all my DD athletic games, I am car pooling to the away games, but still going. Hubby says its too much extra gas money. I look at it this way. We each have X amount of $ for the week, if I use my money for gas to go to the games and dont buy the extra stuff like he does(goes out for lunch, buys cigars) what does it matter. My DD is only going to be around 2 more years and I'm going to be as involved with her as I can be. So instead of going thru a drive thru while shopping or buying all the extra junk food or that cute little blouse I saw, I put my money in the gas tank to watch me DD.

 

[GotGarlic]

Forgot to mention, I've been baking bread lately. DH likes cinnamon-raisin bread for breakfast, so I make that in the bread machine. I've also made NYT artisan bread, pizza dough and focaccia. I'll never get to where Katie E is, making all my own bread, rolls, etc., but I can make these breads for, what, 50 cents a loaf, as opposed to several dollars in the grocery store or bakery?

 

[Saphellae]

I did my first "TUB LOAD" LOL

We have sun here all day except for when it goes behind the building across the street for a couple of hours. The rinsing is what killed my hands, I have carpal tunnel in both hands and it is acting up now after just one load lol

We have a drying stand thing that I bought at walmart when I was living on my own. It's working great and I couldn't give two poops about the carpet, its an apartment and its not mine lol I stuck it in the corner by the open window and sun. Doing good so far! That's 3.50 saved so far today. Yes, thats how much a load is in my building.. ugh.

 

[Andy M.]

Not only do I agree, but I will take it one step further. Many store brand or generic brand things in the supermarket are actually the brand name things just without the brand name label. Yes the exact same thing. Made in the same factory or plant from the same ingredients.

This is true. I have had mixed results with store brands. Some are acceptable substitutes and some just don't measure up.

I also buy a lot of our stuff at Costco. Their prices for staples are regularly below supermarket prices. Flour, butter and sugar are always lower cost in Costco. Meats are as well unless there is a sale going on at the supermarket.

 

[Shani]

I do the same things a lot of you do. I grocery shop once a week from a list and I tend to stick to it, the list is made up from my menu list for that week so I have enough to make what we are eating. I buy 9 litres of milk on shopping day so I don't have to set foot back in the supermarket for another week, I know if I just go in for milk I'll buy other things so I don't go in there. I also buy mostly homebrand (generic) things, milk is milk and comes from cows and I don't see how it can be 'better' by paying an extra dollar for it.
I bake all my own breads and rolls, anything that will work out of the breadmaker, it's been great! I wanted to try jams but I worked out it's cheaper to buy the shop ones.
We don't tend to toss out leftovers, dh takes them for work and if there's enough I have them for lunch myself.
I'm sure there are heaps of other things I do...

 

[Saphellae]

And for the food part...

We dont eat alot of bread.. we are both trying to stay away from the carbs. We have a bagel a few times a week in the morning with light cream cheese and sometimes a sandwich, or toast. We have a hard time going through a loaf every two weeks. Time to start freezing them. For the amount of bread we eat (very little) it wouldn't be worth it to get a bread maker.

I'm going to be making some homemade peanut butter tonight. We bought a big bag of peanuts for $5 the other day. A bit of olive oil and we got a crapload of PB for cheap and we know where it came from.

I'm wondering if I should roast them first. Man my blender is going to be sticky!

Mikki, how do you manage to spend 150 a month on groceries? That's insane.. thats how much we spent a week. I think food prices are lower in the US. Buying my regular meat is usually between 20-40 dollars every two weeks depending on whats on the menu. Maybe we should go vegan.. lol

I haven't been able to buy any new clothes since Oct/Nov 2007. I had a job yes, but I was driving 850 km a weekend to visit Nick after working 45 hours a week. Man I'm glad I moved lol. That was alot of gas money. But now I'm not making any money. Thank God for that 1400$ income tax refund. I was a student for half of last year. Phew.

As for the Sunday Paper, I dont think I can get the paper here. I would have to buy it downstairs at the Depanneur. (convenience store at the base of the building)

Wonder if I can buy coupon books online....

 

[Saphellae]

I agree about some of the name brands VS no name. Some just don't measure up and sometimes you don't want to take the risk depending on what it is.

 

[GotGarlic]

I agree about some of the name brands VS no name. Some just don't measure up and sometimes you don't want to take the risk depending on what it is.

How risky is it really? You try it once, if you don't like it, you don't buy it again. If you do like it, you continue to buy it and save money. At most, you'd lose one purchase.

 

[mikki]

Saph- I buy a lot of mix and match stuff but mostly the same stuff every month, we also have a lot of venison in freezer, so I don't buy much meat. example one different meat for one night a week for a month, might buy 2 pks chcken, one pork , and one pk steaks. mix and matching I don't have to buy the expensive food everytime it depends on what we eat in the month. Hubby gets bored of the same foods, but I told him if he can do the shopping better and stay within budget have at it. He tried once it's now back to me.I tell him when our income goes up then he can have different foods. I'm sure by most peoples standards we don't eat the healthiest, but my girls have never been sick( other then the winter colds) and are extremely active.

 

[expatgirl]

My son who lives in our house and takes care of it while we're gone had, with our permission, more insulation and some special attic "windows" installed. 3 years ago we had to have the roof replaced and had one of those vented roofs installed. Well, after two weeks he checked the energy bill and we had saved 12 dollars. So eventually the extra insulation is going to help. It will especially help when the weather gets excessively hot which is all summer here and during colder weather. He said that he only notices the compressor coming a few times a day and Houston has experienced some temps in the 90's recently and it's not even April yet. My next investment is to get our kitchen windows (and they take up most of the room and face the west) replaced with more efficient and energy efficient ones.

Our Sunday Houston Chronicle is chock full of coupon adds. I'm surprised at the savings at Walgreens and some of the other drug stores. Also the grocery sales always come out on Wednesdays. If one has the time and is careful there are bargains to be had.

Also for you Moms at home with young children think about banding with others and forming babysitting coops instead of trying to hope and pray that you can find a busy teen to babysit for you. Anyway, babysitting coops are great ways to shop, run errands, etc., have your child socializing, and not having to pay. You instead return the favor and babysit for others. Coupons for hours is what we did.

 

[Saphellae]

Mikki - I like to switch it up and I hate having the same meal too close together. I rarely eat leftovers for more than a day after the initial meal, Nick eats the rest for his lunches so no food wasted there. Most of the time when I cook a meal I keep in mind to make just enough for Nick to bring to work the next day.

I'm also trying to stay away from eating a whole meal of spaghetti. I'd much rather have it as a side to a vegetable dish or something similar. That's alot of carbs for one meal.

I know it's super cheap.. but I just can't bring myself to do it, maybe once a month but thats it. Both Nick and I would rather spend the grocery money to be healthy than to buy cheap food. But again, we always keep price in reason. I'm going to start planning meals around flyers and coupons (if I can find them).

 

[GotGarlic]

As for the Sunday Paper, I dont think I can get the paper here. I would have to buy it downstairs at the Depanneur. (convenience store at the base of the building)

Wonder if I can buy coupon books online....

Just curious - you live in Montreal and you can't have a Sunday paper delivered? Why not?

 

[LadyCook61]

We don't go out to eat. We shop on Wednesdays so hubby can use his 5% off seniors card at the supermarket, also buy items on sale. We use a coal stove for heating instead of the electric baseboard heat.

 

[mikki]

Saph- Maybe if I actually planned a meal I could save more, it just seems like noone is home at the same time, For example tonight I planned a meal and as of right now I'm the only one here. Hubby is outside trying to rototill a garden and DD is at practice, if I cook a whole meal DD hates leftovers and will find something else anyway, hubby will eat whatever is put in front of him, but I feel weird eating a regular meal by myself so most of the time it's a smorgusboard in our house.
Oldest DD is comming home from college Thur. so I'm sure the food bill will change, it's amazing how much more you spend with one more mouth to feed.

 

[GotGarlic]

Saph- Maybe if I actually planned a meal I could save more, it just seems like noone is home at the same time, For example tonight I planned a meal and as of right now I'm the only one here. Hubby is outside trying to rototill a garden and DD is at practice, if I cook a whole meal DD hates leftovers and will find something else anyway, hubby will eat whatever is put in front of him, but I feel weird eating a regular meal by myself so most of the time it's a smorgusboard in our house.
Oldest DD is comming home from college Thur. so I'm sure the food bill will change, it's amazing how much more you spend with one more mouth to feed.

That sounds like soups/stews/casseroles to me Or something like tacos, where the meat can stay warm on the stove and people can fill the shells whenever they're ready.

Or you can have a snack now and have dinner later when everyone is hungry