The Frugal Lifestyle

[Stacy]

Originally Posted by SelfMadeMan

<---- doesn't like being overly frugal - jus sayin

This...I know

[Bit]

Thank you both! I've done several more caddies of various sizes but I confess that they don't always get finished before they're loaded down with stuff and I'm on to the next one, lol.... hey, I have two cracker boxes empty right now, woohoo! lol!

Gryph brings home chipboard and cardboard from work, usually packaging from boxes of clothing. Lately he's been bringing home picture frame shaped corrugated cardboard, and now he's having fun experimenting with it. He's got one in progress that is covered not with paper, but aluminum foil, and he's using old leather dye to antique it. Can't wait to see how it comes out!

I buy and cook ahead, also, and I have also discovered that store brands are sometimes incredibly good---better than the name brands, even---and sometimes they're lousy. The only way to find out is to try them.

The same goes for buying from other stores. We have Aldi's here and yes, they are cheaper than any other store... but the quality is inconsistent.

Gryph absolutely HATES wallyworld, so I try not to shop there... but yanno, that Great Value Brand really is good, and very consistent from product to product. The Kroger brands are not consistent, but still more consistent than Aldi's.

Oh, and yes, I also think frozen veggies are way better quality than canned!
~~~~~~~~

Pajara, seven years is a long time! My sympathies on your roommate's moving out.

[atomiczombie]

I am not frugal enough, I admit it. And living on the pittance I get from SSI disability, I should be.

[violaine]

i will be frugal whenever purchasing a lot of items- because name brand on dry beans usually does not matter. the store does, however. marsh sells fava beans for 8$ a package! international market 2$. big difference. produce is very important to me, being a vegan. local tomatoes/farm stands during the summer. aldi is good, but i always check closely the packages underneath for the perishable berries, especially. frozen is not bad, but i never eat store canned. one item i absolutely cannot do the GV brand is coffee! kroger is ohk- but second choice.

[Bit]

I stock up... sometimes it causes temporary budget problems, but oh my, the worry-free months after that! I bought four big canisters of Folgers coffee when it went on sale for $6 several months ago. Tis the kind Gryph prefers and it's cheaper than generic. We still had three canisters left from the last time, giving me seven plus the open one. I have five more months of coffee to go before I will have to pay full price... and I'm always watching to see if they put it on sale like that again. They seem to do so twice a year.

When they changed the size of the veggies at Kroger, I was really upset; they downsized their frozen veggies from 16 oz to 12 oz, but they left the price the same. I bought thirty pounds of the leftover pound bags. We're almost out now, so I'll have to pay the higher price, but in the meantime I discovered that Aldi's sells decent fresh produce at an affordable price--and I discovered I can get there, lol--so I'm not as dependent on the Kroger frozen veggies anymore. here's hoping that next summer I can grow my own and be even more independent!

[SuperFemme]

[Medusa]

I wear my "cheap ass" badge proudly

Since moving to Arkansas, our monthly financial output is significantly lower. Not just because we don't have a mortgage payment but we also chose to pay off our truck as well.

The biggest difference since coming here is that we RARELY eat out anymore. In Los Angeles, it was nothing for us to eat out 2 - 3 times a week. Being in the sticks like we are here, we can't just run down to the nearest Outback Steakhouse and drop $60 on a meal. Nope. It's more like I buy groceries once a week and we eat at home every night....AND we eat much better.

I have my favorite "cheap ass" discussion every night with Jack over dinner (I dont know how she tolerates me). It goes like this:

Me: "Honey, you will never guess how cheap this dinner is!"
Jack: "I'm sure you're gonna tell me!"
Me: "Well, this piece of roast is HALF of the roast we ate last week that I froze, so that part is $2! The potatoes and carrots are another $2! The onion and gravy MIGHT come out to $1! And the rolls come out to .25 each! So that means that for $6, we are going to get TWO meals EACH. WEEEEEEEEEEE - BABE! THAT COMES OUT TO $1.50 PER MEAL!"

And really, when you think about easily spending $6 for a sack of crap from McDonalds or Wendys -its fabulous!

[blugrass]

The Dollar Store - great place for deals.

My local Safeway grocery store has a "clearance" section in the meat department. It's usually last sale date stuff but the deals can be amazing. Once I got $6/lb bacon for 99 cents. I bought all they had and froze it!

[Cowboi]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I wear my "cheap ass" badge proudly

Since moving to Arkansas, our monthly financial output is significantly lower. Not just because we don't have a mortgage payment but we also chose to pay off our truck as well.

The biggest difference since coming here is that we RARELY eat out anymore. In Los Angeles, it was nothing for us to eat out 2 - 3 times a week. Being in the sticks like we are here, we can't just run down to the nearest Outback Steakhouse and drop $60 on a meal. Nope. It's more like I buy groceries once a week and we eat at home every night....AND we eat much better.

I have my favorite "cheap ass" discussion every night with Jack over dinner (I dont know how she tolerates me). It goes like this:

Me: "Honey, you will never guess how cheap this dinner is!"
Jack: "I'm sure you're gonna tell me!"
Me: "Well, this piece of roast is HALF of the roast we ate last week that I froze, so that part is $2! The potatoes and carrots are another $2! The onion and gravy MIGHT come out to $1! And the rolls come out to .25 each! So that means that for $6, we are going to get TWO meals EACH. WEEEEEEEEEEE - BABE! THAT COMES OUT TO $1.50 PER MEAL!"

And really, when you think about easily spending $6 for a sack of crap from McDonalds or Wendys -its fabulous!

I miss having home cooked meals!... When I was growing up I used to think how kool it would be to eat out all the time. Ummmm... Now I wish I had my Moms home cooked meals!

[MizzSabra]

Originally Posted by SuperFemme

I prefer the term ~ Bargainista.

[Lynn]

We use freecycle, a lot, mostly to pare down all of our stuff. I love giving usable and useful things to others who can really use them.

I have a great partner who clips coupons, reads circulars, and takes advantage of store savings. She does the grocery shopping and saves us lots every week.

[tmbyfem]

Speaking as somebody who invariably seems to choose the most expensive items without knowing (what can I say, I have an eye for quality) I've long been used to squeezing my champagne tastes into a beer budget.

But this summer has been extra challenging what with my hours at work being erratic. Being underemployed sucks but during that time period I learned to live without my weekly Starbucks (I had already cut back from 2-3x/week), going out to lunch or dinner, Sunday papers etc. Small things to be sure but they added up.

Instead I learned to love my slow-cooker again, freezing the extras for later on. I also threw out shocking amounts of fresh food doing a weekly shop so learned to shop Euro style, buying only the fresh things I needed for the next day or so. It really made a difference in reducing food waste.

Being frugal on many things still allows me the occasional splurge and has made me appreciate it that much more when I do.

[Bit]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I have my favorite "cheap ass" discussion every night with Jack over dinner (I dont know how she tolerates me).

*laughing* I dunno how Gryph tolerates me, either.

Have you noticed that after a while of cooking at home, you can't tolerate most fast food? Or is that just me? What a distressing surprise that was! I just cannot handle the grease anymore.

Which is pretty funny when you consider that I am NOT a diet cook and I'm all verklempt cuz I didn't realize that I ran out of butter, lol.... but there's such a difference in how my system tolerates what I cook, and most fast food.

I suppose it's just as well, since cooking at home is so much cheaper, eh?

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I wear my "cheap ass" badge proudly

Since moving to Arkansas, our monthly financial output is significantly lower. Not just because we don't have a mortgage payment but we also chose to pay off our truck as well.

The biggest difference since coming here is that we RARELY eat out anymore. In Los Angeles, it was nothing for us to eat out 2 - 3 times a week. Being in the sticks like we are here, we can't just run down to the nearest Outback Steakhouse and drop $60 on a meal. Nope. It's more like I buy groceries once a week and we eat at home every night....AND we eat much better.

I have my favorite "cheap ass" discussion every night with Jack over dinner (I dont know how she tolerates me). It goes like this:

Me: "Honey, you will never guess how cheap this dinner is!"
Jack: "I'm sure you're gonna tell me!"
Me: "Well, this piece of roast is HALF of the roast we ate last week that I froze, so that part is $2! The potatoes and carrots are another $2! The onion and gravy MIGHT come out to $1! And the rolls come out to .25 each! So that means that for $6, we are going to get TWO meals EACH. WEEEEEEEEEEE - BABE! THAT COMES OUT TO $1.50 PER MEAL!"

And really, when you think about easily spending $6 for a sack of crap from McDonalds or Wendys -its fabulous!

hahahahahahahahahaha

My housemate is like that. We're both coupon clippers and really shop the sales, but she also has access to the base shopping which has phenomenal deals, so she's always breaking stuff down like that for us. I'm the only one who tolerates her because, secretly, I want to be able to buy 4 bottles of Garnier shampoo for $1.50 too.

[violaine]

reading about coupons, i saw a woman at the market the other day who was flipping through a binder in her buggy. 4x6 clear photo spaces were used for her coupons. pages could be added to the binder.. her book was full of coupons and pages !

[Bit]

Hey! What a cool idea, violaine!

I'm not using too many coupons these days but Kroger does send me coupons on Kroger products... OH how I love that! So I just have a small coupon holder for those.

Has turkey gone on sale for everyone now? I was telling Gryph last night, you can't get even the cheapest-worst-for-you hot dogs for 39 cents a pound!! (Honest, I don't think I can buy ANYTHING for 39 cents a pound anymore--even rice is 50 cents a pound!) This is when I most wish for a big freezer, and this is the time of year I buy the most food. If I have my druthers, I will buy at least two more turkeys--they're small, just 12 to 15 pounds--and I'm considering buying a big stock of sweet taters, too. They're 49 cents a pound and not likely to get any lower than that anywhere. We're likely to have them baked and topped with cheddar cheese for dinner--carrots and sweet taters both have this affinity for cheese, which I discovered by accident--and then I'll have to make sweet tater casserole too, which is, I think, the equivalent of a spicy sweet tater pie without a crust.

The turkeys (I would love to buy half a dozen!) will make main dishes and sandwiches, plus of course there will be stuffing... and the carcasses make wonderful broth when you leave a little meat on the bones, which is fine with me. I might even go all out and make soup from one this year, although truly the broth is great for making rice or noodles and I consider it an ingredient all on its own. I get a lot of food value for that thirty nine cents!

Now if they will only put the winter squashes on sale also--slow roasted Delicata winter squash makes the best pumpkin bread I have ever had! Plus, yanno.... they're great baked and topped with cheese.

[Medusa]

OMG!
I love this time of year too bit! The cheap turkies and sweet potatoes! The celery for .39 ! The eggs for .69!

I need to figure out how to get a cube-type freezer myself because I have heard they are much lower on energy than other freezers and are on sale at sams right now for $99. Imagine how many turkies could fit in that!

My granny used to cook sweetpotatoes down to a mush and freeze them in plastic containers for breads and such

[apretty]

Originally Posted by Medusa

OMG!
I love this time of year too bit! The cheap turkies and sweet potatoes! The celery for .39 ! The eggs for .69!

I need to figure out how to get a cube-type freezer myself because I have heard they are much lower on energy than other freezers and are on sale at sams right now for $99. Imagine how many turkies could fit in that!

My granny used to cook sweetpotatoes down to a mush and freeze them in plastic containers for breads and such

i've been secretly wanting a little freezer for the garage--i bought a new fridge for the kitchen that's counter-depth (shallow!) and there's really a LOT less room in it and the freezer is tiny, it's been a constant struggle for the 8 months that i've owned it, trying to make everything fit--all year we need ice and when we buy a bag there's little room left for anything else. do you know how much electricity those small freezers take?

[Bit]

Wow, your sale prices are even better than ours, Dusa!

Chest freezers for $99 at Sam's Club? Woohooo! But it would be $145 for me, because I'd have to buy the membership... not that I mind a membership, but I'm having a hard time justifying the outlay right now.

apretty, I'm willing to bet those freezers run between $25 and $35 a year on electricity, if that... the newer ones are truly much more efficient. I've heard that chest freezers are more efficient than upright freezers, also, because when you open an upright freezer, all the cold air sinks down to the ground.

[Gemme]

I picked a chest freezer up at a yard sale this summer for $50. It works great! I share it with my roomies but it still makes it easier to take advantage of sales that I wouldn't have been able to before, which is good because my grocery budget for this week is oh, nil.

Costco memberships start at $60 here, which just goes to prove that EVERYTHING is more expensive in the PNW.