Home Economics, Without A Lot Of Pesky Numbers.

The Man and I have been relatively lucky.  In this current economic [clusterfuck] climate we have been relatively unaffected. The Man's job includes increased stress during an economic melt-down but not any immediate risk of unemployment (cross your fingers and spit on the ground or whatever you're supposed to do.)  My job has slowed considerably, but considering my [pregnancy-sickness-induced suicidality] *delicate condition,* it's not wholly inconvenient.  We made some decisions during the wicked housing boom (i.e. not giving into the immense temptation to use too much of the OBSCENELY HIGH mortgage for which we "qualified") which leave us, in the main, okay.

Our financial crunch comes mostly from 1) the above-mentioned slow-down in my job, which I am not actively trying to remedy (not taking any new patients at this stage of the pregnancy anyway,) 2) paying cash for a the renovation of the basement and 3) TAXES.  Long and even MORE BORING STORY than this (hard to imagine, I know.)

Anyway.

By FAR my biggest expense (beside renting office space for my practice) is grocery shopping.  I have been following your advice and have been doing the following things (for all of a week and a half, or whatever but it's a START, yo.)

1) Checking the circulars for sales in the two stores I frequent.

2) Planning a menu for the week that includes the fresh produce that was on sale.

3) Buying a large quantity of non-perishable, commonly used items (trust me that buying 10 cans of olives felt pretty ridiculous but we, uh, use olives.)

4) Buying non-organic when possible. (I buy organic for crops with a lot of pesticides, etc. but I don't buy organic for things with peels or for certain crops--check Dr. Weil, if you're so inclined.)

5) When buying non-organic anyway, buy store brand if it's a good deal and good quality (I'm testing.)

6) Make my own sauce and freeze for later use. (We also eat a lot of red sauce.)

7) Make a concerted effort to use all of everything I buy and finish leftovers.

8) Buy some cloth napkins (I MISSED the Swistle Clearinghouse for Cloth Napkins, so anyone with advice about where to get them cheap--I'm listening...)

It would be so, SO good right now, if I was one of those people who kept a strict tally of the money spent, so that I could give you a satisfyingly accurate amount of money saved.  But, alas, I am not (OBV) and thus, I do not.

But.  On the items that I purchased thus far, it appears that I've saved about $70. in two weeks, buying a lot of bonus-card-sale items.  That doesn't include the money saved on, say, making a VAT of sauce and/or buying store brand canned beans.

So far, so good.  But we all know I'm not the most consistent tool in the shed, or, whatever.  I'm liking having the menu so far and I'd forgotten how GOOD and really EASY homemade sauce is.

I'll keep you posted.  (Are you thinking, 'I'm SO. LUCKY.'?)

Comments

[frogmama]

Good for you. We've been trying to save money by not going out. Luckily my husband's kidney stones and our won't-sit-still toddler have been making that goal very easy to meet.

[Clink]

Do you have a Marburn Curtain near you? If not they're in NJ, Hamilton area. Excellent for cloth napkins and such.

Oh and for the fruits and veggies maybe a CSA?

[Bridget]

I always say I'm going to be better at grocery shopping but then I go in there and just start throwing things in my cart. It's like a sickness. I black out. I WILL IMPROVE. I WILL IMPROVE. I WILL SAVE MONEY!

[Gretchen]

Plus, if you stock up on things you will find there are weeks when you don't need to buy anything except things like bread and milk - a few times a year look at what you've got on hand and plan meals around that, use up what's in the freezer. I only feed myself and I'm a poor shopper, but even I can do that once in awhile. Or maybe somebody said that already, I admit I didn't read everything.

[Amanda]

If you don't care what color your napkins are, any of the stores that sell them should have the deep winter colors on clearance if there are any left. If you're close to one, the outlet malls are always good for this stuff too. A lot of the stores at the outlet malls also offer discounts if you stop in at their customer service booth (usually at the food court) first. There's all kinds of flyers and usually a card that's free much like the grocery store cards. Some of the stores will give discounts to AAA members as well. I love the outlets. You can't get The Children's Place jeans for $4.99 anywhere else (when they have sales).

[Swistle]

Yay! And if you save money on groceries, you get to spend it on things that are MORE FUN, like the cloth napkins!

[Amanda]

I always wanted to boil my own beans to save money, but I am afraid that I won't be able to spice it right, and it will lack flavor. We need lotsa spice in our foods. We consistently double the flavoring agents in any recipe (garlic, hot pepper flakes, cayenne etc). Do you have a bean boiling recipe that includes spices, Yazmena?

[Yazmena]

Another thing that saves money, if you are so inclined, is boiling your own beans. Every weekend I make a huge pot and store it in the freezer measured out to be around 2 cans per container. I just pull it out the night before I plan to use it and stick it in the fridge and the next day it's ready. But we eat a lot of beans in our house since it's cheap and that all my 18 month babe will eat. As for cheap cloth napkins I always look at the clearance section of Marshall's, TJMAxx, Homegoods, and Ross. If you're willing to stand and search you are almost always guaranteed a good find. I recently got 8 beautiful cloth napkins for 3 bucks and Homegoods and a matching table runner for 5.