It does take more work to live a frugal lifestyle. Anyone who says differently would be selling you something. But is it worth the work? Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. The secret is finding out what works for you.
You can spend hours perusing money saving strategies, but they often involve more time or more work. Sometimes you just don't have the time and the money saving goes out the window. I have so been there.
But with careful planning and organization (not my strong suit) you can learn to work at frugality and have it become part of your routine or your life style. Such as setting the coffee pot the night before so you wake up to good coffee rather than stopping at Starbucks on the way to work. Making sure you have breakfast options that are readily available so you are not eating at the doughnut cart. ( Did someone mention doughnuts?)
So much of a frugal life style is about planning. For instance I know my husband is going to want lunch and dinner. I personally could survive on chocolate , diet coke, cheese and crackers and popcorn. I have to remember to take meat out in the morning so it is thawed by dinner time. I usually double cook so Hubs can have the leftovers the next day for lunch. We cook at home which saves money, and we eat all our leftovers which saves waste. Cooking more than we need for one meal saves me time and the cost of utilities cooking again.
Coming up with a menu plan for the week or the month (whether you stick to it or not) takes time and planning. You need to go through cupboards and freezers. You may have to look up different recipes. Nothing is more frustrating than planning a meal and then finding out a key ingredient is missing and then you are running to the store, wasting time, gas, and you usually never leave the store with just that one item right?
This is where having a stockpile of food stuffs that you regularly use on hand. For instance I use canned chilies, making enchiladas. We probably have those once a month and I also will cook these for others when called upon to take in a meal. I have found in the past I have no chilies. So aggravating. Now I keep at least 4 cans as back up in the storage. When I use a can or cans I will put that on my grocery list. Never less than 4 cans. I do this with several different one of a kind items. When I use something up it is replaced. I just replaced a jar of mayo as I used one up and I had a coupon for $1.00 off. The new jar was placed behind the 3 that are in storage.
Baking supplies are really only bought at Christmas. Buying baking supplies is part of the Christmas budget. This is the most frugal time to buy these products. Yes I have 25 lbs of brown sugar (making pancake syrup)and powder sugar. I will not run out all year. I can bake almost anything, anytime and not worry about not having an ingredient.
You have to spend time reading the grocery adds to find the best prices. Going to the store and just buying a can of tomatoes without comparison shopping is wasteful. Lil sis just shops and never compares prices and it drives me crazy. She thinks I am cheap and I think she is wasteful. But we both learn from each other.
It does not always pay to buy the generic or the cheapest. I learned this in a very painful way with hemorrhoid meds. (TMI) I was taking a low dose chemo that caused sores throughout my entire digestive system, from my gums right on through (more TMI) I suffered and was in terrible pain for about 3 weeks. The sores healed from my gums on out. In other words first in last out. I bought the generic meds, they were so much cheaper. I read the labels and ingredients were the same. But the amount of the ingredients was different. The ingredient that brought relief was way down on the generic meds. ( it was way down in other ways again with the TMI) I suffered much longer than I had to. It did not save me any money. I ended up spending way more as I prolonged the agony.
Growing a garden is very time consuming and can also be expensive if it is not cared for properly. It also is a learning experience and very satisfying. I love the fact that I never have to buy tomato products other than catsup. I can my own tomatoes, it pays to do this. However I don't can green beans, as I can usually buy them 3/1 if I watch for sales and it costs more to buy the seals and the energy.
Learning to cook quick simple meals, takes time and is certainly not as east as take out, but the cost savings and the health benefits are no comparison. I loves me an oreo (well actually I loves me about 8 oreos, but who was counting?) For that small $4.00 bag of oreos you can make 6 dozen cookies for about $1.25 and they will be larger than oreos.....
Dang now I want cookies. What things do you do that take time that also pay for themselves in frugal terms? Have you ever done something to save money and it turned out to not go well? Are there some areas of your life where you are very frugal and other areas where you are not? Let me know in the comments.
Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.
Kim
Once I discovered the $0.92 bag of brownie mix, I never looked back. Now, I can bake wonderful brownies. But, standing long enough to gather the ingredients and mix the brownies is more than I can stand. However, I know how to buy brownies at Publix. The mix is $3 cheaper than the store brownies. People can tell me how cheap the ingredients are that I have at home. I know that. I go for the cheapest and easiest way to eat brownies. I have enough brownie mixes to last for a year, maybe more. I never buy the expensive boxes of brownies. And, I ration myself to one mix a month. I would prefer to bake brownies several times a week, but don't. Okay, just one example of many tonight.
ReplyDeleteI have always said a cake mix on sale is less expensive than scratch. Same with brownies. I think if you want to make spaghetti sauce it is cheaper to by already made sauce unless you can your own tomatoes.
DeleteYour blog has been so helpful and inspiring for me. Thank you! Could you do a post on how you store extra meals in the freezer and then cook them later? I would be very grateful to know any tricks or tips you have to make sure frozen meals don't come out soggy or freezer burned.
ReplyDeleteI put freezer meals in 2 serving containers and refrigerate. Once they are cold, then into the freezer. Eat within a month for best freshness. I'm not one to vacuum seal for 3 months keeping-I try to keep my use of plastic down.
DeleteI will do that. I freeze, lasagna, stuffed shells, enchiladas,and some casseroles, soups.
DeleteYou're my kinda girl Kim! I'm all for chocolate (I read that as chocolate cake and now want some...lol), diet coke & cheese/crackers. I agree that it takes quite a bit of time and planning, but it definitely pays off in the end. I actually prefer my own food over take out, because I can cook far better (most are made from scratch & my baking is always from scratch too) and I know the quality of the ingredients that I use.
ReplyDeleteIn many instances I just buy items vs making it myself. I know that many people make their own detergent and many other things. I buy mine because I can get it for pennies on the dollar or free. I'm not against making your own, but sometimes you have to figure in the cost of all the ingredients vs just buying a ready product. Does it cost more or less to make your own? Being self employed means that my time is valuable, so I always figure in the time it would take me to make certain things too. It's all about figuring out what works best for you. What works for one person, might not work for someone else.
I do not make my own detergent. Hubs and the girls were allergic to most detergents and when I found one that worked I stuck to it. Cheaper them meds for the skin rash's. Tried making my own laundry soap and it left a residue on the clothes and they started to look unclean so them washing in hot water to remove residue, just not worth it. You are right time is money.
DeleteAfter so many years of living the frugal lifestyle this just all comes natural to me. I never meal plan - get up and decide this morning - thaw before dinner. Reading ads is just part of reading the paper. Very seldom get the urge to eat out. Have always kept months worth of extras. If I don't have an ingredient I use something different.
ReplyDeleteHave gardened most all my life (learned as a child) - it was just something we did.
Just a way of life - no extra work for me - of course I MAY be old too! LOL
You know I have done this for so long it is not extra work for me either. But for people who stop several times a week for fast food for the family what we do is work. I have a niece that is a stay at home mom and she has 4 boys 3-16 hoe husband stops for food at least 4 times a week. I can't imagine what they spend. The rest of the time it is convenience foods from Costco. Drives me nuts.
DeleteI keep a well stocked pantry and freezer of all the items we routinely use. Unless it is something we are craving or a special event, I only plan what we will eat the day before. I do keep track of our meals so I make sure we are eating a variety. It works for me. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteI am like you. I just keep enough of everything and only really plan if I am having company and even them I can usually scare up a great meal. I love your blog and want to be you when I grow up.
DeleteInteresting Kim. I find frugality to be fairly simple. On money, I've always been a zero-based budgeter: big bills paid including savings, and I can spend what's left. Food: I don't run to the store for an item, I revamp the plan to what's on hand. Most of all, being frugal is less stuff making all parts of our home easy to manage.
ReplyDeleteWe're all different and that makes the world go 'round :-)
I find it interesting that if all people lived like us the economy would crash. It might again but we will be okay. yes?
DeleteI found maybe 80% of frugality to come really naturally. The other 20% is more work, either due to time or inclination. I sometimes make the tradeoff for time vs money, which is fine. It just has to be intentional.
ReplyDeleteOh I do also. There are times when my time is worth more than savings and I do what is easiest. But most of the time I try to be frugal. It just works for me.
DeleteI think I have a lot of natural tendencies. I don't automatically look for the cheapest item but will settle for a less expensive item. I like Aldi because I don't have to think! Occasionally I get a store brand that was a miss, but I'd say that's 5% of the time. As for branded vs. generic or cheaper medications, creams etc. The pharmacist has saved me literal pain and aggravation. They are experts and can steer you to when it makes sense to splurge on the more expensive brand, or when the generic/cheaper version works. I love our local Walgreens pharmacists. They are the reason I have never changed pharmacies even with all the perks offered.
ReplyDeleteWell I learned the hard way and am much more careful to consult my pharmacist.
DeleteI really am not that frugal, but I don't spend unnecessary. I agree about name brand vs generic. There are certain things I refuse to buy generic, and others are okay. What I have found that works for me is meal planning, and with my busy schedule, that is what works best for me. After I graduate, things will definitely change financially.
ReplyDeleteI will not buy generic Parmesan cheese although it is 1/2 the price. I will not buy generic cheese, although I will buy the house brand. Some things are just not worth it.
DeletePepperidge Farm Chessman butter cookies dipped in homemade hot chocolate ( which I just figured out this winter how to make homemade hot chocolate but I digress. I can be very slow on the domestic front.) I also like to make those chocolate, oatmeal, peanut butter, no bake cookies, but that is the limit of my cookie making skill. I can make cake mix cookies, and cake mix cakes. If you want it edible, do not ask me to make it from scratch....lol Now I want cookies with hot chocolate. I am a terrible baker. I only make what passes for bread from that easy recipe, the one with four cups self rising flour, 2 cups water, three tablespoons oil, and a baby whisper of salt. No yeast. I guess it is really a quick bread, but I used it for loaf bread during early days of pandemic when there was zero bread in the stores. That is about all I can manage, baking wise.
ReplyDeleteI did not answer your questions. I guess I am frugal with houses and cars. I think if you take care of those big expenses, it makes everything else easier. I cannot repair cars, nor other things, no matter how many videos I watch. I almost electrocuted myself before. I also managed to mess up my already weak back trying to move stuff. I did not dare tell my sons because I would never have heard the end of it, about why didn't I call them.They live too far away!!!! So I hire folks to repair my house and my car.
DeleteYou are so funny. My mother could not cook but boy could she bake. So My twin and I being the oldest learned to cook and we were forced to learn to bake. But it is okay to not have every skill. I have a tendency to try and do everything myself, Hubs is kind of lazy, but as he ages he gets weaker and more willing, like that solves anything....
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