I need to relearn being frugal

[lmrich]

Aldi can save you lots of money. Shop there first and then at your regular store. 

I used to meal plan a month in advance with a pretty solid rotation - Sunday - soup and sandwich night; Monday - Chinese or Asian influence meals; Tuesday - Mexican style, Wednesday - Italian, Thursday - leftovers or breakfast food; Friday - homemade pizza or frozen pizza and Satuday - grill out. 

 

I would plan lunches a well. 

 

It really helps. 

[Zinnia]

When I am in a frugal funk, I reread The Tightwad Gazette. A lot of the ideas are dates now, but the overall message is to choose frugality, in 90% of the things, so that you can live the life you want and splurge on the 10% of things that matter to you. For many of us here, it's having the flexibility to mostly stay home and homeschool. That's my luxury, and the cuts I make in other spots enable that.

 

The mindset is key for me, and it really helps.

[abacus2]

Meal planning around what you already have is powerful. I like google calendar for meal planning. I can easily move my plans around as things change. Meal Planning can be really simple, like some meals might be sandwiches or cereal. It also helps keep me from overbuying. Looking at the calendar when planning helps me be honest with myself about which days I will actually have time to cook or plan for simple meals or eating out when needed. I've also started getting Terra's Kitchen meals for a couple days a week. It's nice to start the plan partially filled in. 

 

ETA: Use a cash envelope for your grocery budget.

Edited November 19, 2017 by abacus2

[guilfordlake]

I am not seeing  a lot of fruit/veg in your posts.  They are full of fiber, and thus are the building blocks of really satisfying meals.  Add some apple slices to a lunch plate, or some salad to a dinner plate, to help everyone feel full.

 

At one point I resolved that our grocery budget was there to nourish our bodies, and anything that didn't work towards that goal needed to be cut.  I cut soda (in favor of tap water), juices (in favor of whole fruit), most prepared food (in favor of cooking from scratch or doing without), most "kids" foods (because it is usually either processed, full of food coloring, and/or overpriced), most "white" foods (like white bread or white rice, because the "brown" versions are both healthier and more filling).  Notice that in some cases the replacement items are more costly at first glance, like with brown vs. white rice, but they save money in the big picture because they are filling and nourishing.

 

I also shop places like Trader Joes where I can get healthier items cheaper than my grocery store (like brown rice, or whole wheat pasta).

 

I have a standard grocery checklist on my phone for each of my regular stores - grocery store, Trader Joe's, BJ's, and our local produce outlet.  Everything I usually buy at a store is on the list for that store.  (Some, like milk, is on multiple lists, as it costs about the same at more than one store.)  That way  I can be sure to get everything I need each time I go to a particular store, especially BJ's and TJ's.   For example, the list for TJs reminds me to think about whether we need brown rice or ww pasta.  That way I minimize trips, and get shelf-stable basics for good prices.  Because I have the lists, I only shop BJs about once every 3-4 months, and TJs about once a month.  This way, I'm less tempted by "extras" at both stores, and I minimize shopping time.

 

Love the bolded! I'm going to have to write that down.

[Garga]

People who are good at being frugal overall see it as a game: just how frugal can I be? How much money can I save? It's fun!

 

People who are not good at being frugal overall see it as a failure or deprivation: I can't provide my family with the newest gaming system! I'm a failure!

 

You can go from being not good at being frugal to being good at being frugal if you can change your mindset. Think of being frugal as being a game or a fun challenge.

 

And remember that lots of things still work, even if they're worn down. I had some towels that had a couple of holes in them. But they still got us dry even with the little holes on the edge. My mother saw them and was puzzled: Why do you have towels with holes in them? I was puzzled by her question: they still get us dry, even with a couple of holes. I had a couple of nice hand towels for guests to use, but I didn't need to throw away the towels that got us dry for new ones that also got us dry. I kept the ones with holes in them, until it was time to have rags for other uses (cleaning up big spills or something), and then got some new towels. It's the whole, "use it up" idea.

Edited November 19, 2017 by Garga

[Epicurean]

Free grocery pickup at Walmart has really helped me. I order everything on my phone, have DH pick it up, and don't order again until I'm supposed to. So if we blow through our groceries too soon, I'm forced to raid the pantry and freezer for something to make up the difference (usually breakfast for dinner, soup and grilled cheese, or pasta).

 

This keeps me from making impulse purchases, and helps me to plan realistically and make do instead of running to the store again when we run out of food prematurely.

[Alessandra]

On the subject of cooking from scratch, here's a bread recipe that I like:

 

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-crusty-white-bread-recipe

 

It only has four ingredients -- water, flour, salt, and yeast. You make a big batch, no kneading, store dough in the refrigerator, and pull off some dough to bake a loaf when you need it. Buy yeast in tubs, not little packets.

 

One thing I have done is to get supermarket loyalty cards for kids. It may not always work, but *if* you can do a lot of pre-holiday stocking up, you may qualify for two free turkeys, hams, etc, by putting extra spending on another card.

[Carrie12345]

I was just thinking about regional differences that play little parts that add up.

 

Around the holidays, my mom is able to pick up giant blocks of fresh yeast from a local supplier for something nuts like $2/lb.  When we do Thanksgiving together, she brings me a whole bunch.  We're not doing Thanksgiving together this year, so I'm left paying $1.50/oz.  Thank goodness it's something I only do for the holidays!

 

Also, she has access to two buck (now three buck) chuck.  I do not.  My cheapest wine is $6 when it's on sale.  Of course that's a non-essential, but it doesn't always feel like it.  :tongue_smilie:

 

In her area, a cut and color is dirt cheap and a manicure is way overpriced.  It's the reverse by me, which stinks because my hair is a hot mess and I have great nails that I can paint myself.  

 

Snow removal is a big variable for us. I try to look at shoveling as a legitimate workout.  On average, I'd say we pay for someone to plow once a year, which runs $50-80, depending on who's available and how bad a storm was.  Multiple big storms add up!  I've been known to park the cars at the end of the driveway and settle for shoveling a narrow path to the house.  We have paid big bucks during baby years though.  

 

I only buy groceries at Walmart in a pinch because they're more expensive than my locally owned supermarket, which seems counter-intuitive.  I recently hit up a chain supermarket because they ran a fantastic sale on turkeys that I wanted to donate to a local organization.  It required a $25 purchase, so I grabbed some staples that were almost all higher than my usual store.  Know your prices!  They add up fast.  (It was worth it in this particular case.)

[HS Mom in NC]

I got all the recipes of what we eat together in one 3 ring binder. That made meal planning easier.  I meal plan for the week. Left over dinner is lunch the next day or it's frozen for a quick, easy meal later. Meal planning can be prioritized by what needs using up first, what's least expensive next, and favorites last.  Thinking about nutrition really pays off because foods full of high quality nutrition are more satisfying than low nutrient foods. 

If you tend to buy off list consider some strategies: while keeping your budget in mind, allow yourself a certain, predetermined number of off list purchases or allow yourself a certain predetermined maximum amount of money spent off list, that way you're still limiting yourself but you're building in a bit of flexibility.

Start compiling a list of free activities near you.

[mathnerd]

Convenience foods and prepackaged foods are what cost the most in my food budget. So, I usually keep only a little of those things for emergencies. I make most other foods from scratch though I don't bake bread - I buy organic sprouted bread.

 

I tend to calculate how much my time and labor are worth when I cook as well - so, I don't cook labor intensive foods that take up a whole afternoon etc. I cook foods that take me less than 30 minutes of my time. We eat out once or twice a week - I try to eat foods that I don't cook at home at those times.

[eternalsummer]

We only drink water regularly; everything else - tea, juice, lemonade, etc. - is a luxury and rare.  We also don't eat out.  Those are the two frugal things we do.

 

Unfortunately we still spend a small fortune on groceries.

[DawnM]

Do you have a deep freeze?  This helps us as I can buy things when they go on a large sale.  We have Buy 2, get 3 sales on meats at our local grocery store sometimes, and we also have .29/pound chicken thighs and legs sometimes.

 

I stock up when they have them, and freeze.

 

I won't go back to super frugal.  I just can't.  First of all, it took a lot of time to prep, and second of all, I don't need to be that frugal.  

 

I followed the "Feed your family of 4 on $250 a Month" blog and didn't do all of her ideas, but did a whole bunch of them.

 

Will your family eat rice?  That is a huge staple for us.  We have it multiple times per week.

 

We typically do a sauce, meat, starch, and veggie.  The sauce is either a marinade or an actual sauce.  I simmer the meat in the sauce usually.......and the sauce vary and are typically homemade, although I do have some jars from Trader Joe's I buy on occasion.  

 

I make my own spaghetti sauce, curry sauce, taco sauce, etc....

[HomeAgain]

Would you eat alternative grains?

 

We have had success with incorporating barley, and last night I added a pearled farro wheat to collard greens, garlic, carrots, and persimmon.  It created a quite large and pretty tasty side dish.  Other than the persimmon everything else was pretty cheap.

[ktgrok]

I do like Faro. But again, can't be grain heavy due to previous bariatric surgery. 

 

I really think the big things are gong to be menu planning and grocery store lists. So I stop wasting food. And stop impulse purchasing. Those will be the biggest impact I think. So we will start there. 

 

No deep freezer :(  I actually would LOVE a second regular refrigerator/freezer for the garage, but haven't convinced hubby yet. Mainly because it involves finding room, lol. A cheap one from Craigslist just to store some extras and make once a week shopping easier, etc. 

 

I am going to clean out the regular freezer today and make room for hopefully 2 turkeys on sale, plus my mom is cooking thanksgiving, so both of those will be for later, not for thanksgiving. 

[Alessandra]

I remembered something. I read somewhere that Italians often use pork in meatballs. I've been using 2/3 ground beef and 1/3 ground pork in meatballs and meatloaf. It's delicious, and, where we are, ground pork is significantly lower in cost than ground beef.

 

ETA

My favorite tomato sauce is cheap and healthy. A can of crushed or plum tomatoes (no salt added), some olive oil, garlic, and basil. Marcella Hazan has this in one of her Italian cook books.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Alessandra