Frugal Living - how are you managing?

Packerjohn said:
Americans, Canadians and the rest of 'em that are deep in debt are not going to get any sympathy from me. They are the cause of their own misery and have only themselves to blame. They were "sockers" for the advertisers and they were too weak to resist so now they have to pay the price. To bad but as the bible says, "you rip what you sow."
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That's not always the case. There can be situations that are beyond a person's control.
 

It can sometimes be the little, incidental things unseen, not budgeted

My lady and I have shown each other 'better ways' over the 53 years

Heh
When we first met, she'd apply toothpaste like the commercials would show
toothpaste.jpg

Told her she could just put a drop on the brush with the same results

Keeps that tube from costing 5 times as much
 
Gary O' said:
It can sometimes be the little, incidental things unseen, not budgeted

My lady and I have shown each other 'better ways' over the 53 years

Heh
When we first met, she'd apply toothpaste like the commercials would show
View attachment 237106

Told her she could just put a drop on the brush with the same results

Keeps that tube from costing 5 times as much
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Your toothpaste example brings up a good point.

Living frugal isn't necessarily about instant savings, it's more of a long term goal. Skipping that $5 cup of coffee on the way to work could be a month's mortgage or rent, or pay for everyone's Christmas gifts! 260 yearly work days (260 x $5) =$1,300! Using less toothpaste? Pays for new toothbrushes every few months!

It's a dozen things you do every day to save a bit that over the years adds up. I never think of it as denying myself but as a reward a bit further down the road.
 
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I also stock groceries when they're on sale, often use dried beans instead of canned, make most foods from scratch, batch cook food and freeze, etc. For instance, I cook 3 cups of rice at a time (yielding 6 cups cooked). Cool it, then portion it into sandwich bags that I load into a one gallon zip bag and freeze. When I take some out I put the empty sandwich bag back in the one gallon bag to reuse the next time I make rice.

Another tip - I buy a pound of peeled garlic when it goes on sale (if my supply is low). I mince it in my mini food processor with olive oil. When it's finely minced I put it in a quart freezer bags, press out the air and freeze flat. When I need garlic for a recipe I break off a little piece and carry on. I've always got garlic at the ready.

We don't eat meat, which is a huge savings in and of itself. DH eats some dairy, I eat very little (more during the holidays).

We rarely go to restaurants anymore. Less than once a month. Been there, done that, literally thousands of times each. When working in downtown LA, I went out for lunch virtually every day with co-workers or vendors. Same for him. It was customary in our industry during the 70s and 80s. We'll occasionally meet up with one of our kids or some friends at a restaurant and enjoy a meal together, but otherwise dining out holds little allure.

I never developed the Starbucks or other coffee house habit. When I want coffee out, I deliberately avoid Starbucks because their pretentious "in" language irks me. If I ask for a large black coffee, the precious "barista" (aka coffee pourer) feigns confusion and starts rattling off Starbucks-speak menu items. Pfffttt... You know what I want. Please stop pretending that when you learned "Starbucks" you unlearned English. Your company was started in freaking Seattle, for Pete's sake, and you're working a coffee counter. Pour me the big coffee, don't put anything in it, and get over yourself. Tip jar? After that nonsense? Spare me.
Rant over. Sorry I digressed.

Needless to say, I generally bring my own travel cup of coffee with me when running morning errands. Saves money and aggravation.

During summer we run fans until it's too hot, then turn on the AC. I can't sleep when it's warmer than 77. During winter, nighttime heat is at 66. DH can't sleep when it's colder than that. We can tolerate slightly hotter and colder temps during the day but aren't willing to be ridiculously uncomfortable. We can afford to turn on the heat and AC and would give up other creature comforts in favor of temperature comfort. Today's forecast high is a beastly 109°.
 
DebraMae said:
Remember when the shampoo makers came up with "lather, rinse, repeat"? There is no need to "repeat". They effectively doubled their sales by convincing people there was.
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It’s much the same with best by dates on many products.

Instead of relying on our common sense we follow the manufacturers recommendation and replace the product.

“Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.” - Warren Buffett
 
RadishRose said:
If people wouldn't hoard, there would be enough.

I've seen some of these stay at home moms on YouTube with several or many kids, hoarding so badly a few of them have mini-marts in their basements.

The TP hysteria was mostly due to hoarding and over-buying to sell at high prices!
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I;ve seen those basements.. like mini-marts... they usually call themselves Preppers ..
 
RadishRose said:
If people wouldn't hoard, there would be enough.
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Around here hoarding is a religious thing. The Mormon Church has long advocated storing substantial food.

The First Presidency recommends that Church members “begin their home storage by storing the basic foods that would be required to keep them alive if they did not have anything else to eat.” After they have a year’s supply of the basics, they may then add other foods they are accustomed to eating regularly.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org...om-sampler/food-storage-for-one-year?lang=eng

I keep a year's supply of Scotch and cigars on hand, in case of emergency. The bishop would be proud!
 
For the second round of hair washing you only need a dab. For the first about the size of a nickel or quarter, for the second barely the size of a dime. The second really lathers and it does come out squeaky clean. I rarely do two washes because it makes it too clean to manage.
 
hollydolly said:
I buy food in bulk... but not to the extent I've seen those folks..

I just wonder how they can get through 100 pounds of rice.. and 200 pounds of sugar.. and 30 packs of laundry soap.. and 200 cans of peaches..and 50 packs of cakes...
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As many here know, I bake a lot during the holidays and buy some dry supplies in bulk, but not the kind of bulk you're describing, Hols.

I buy 25 lb sacks of bread flour and all purpose flour and store it in galvanized cans, and make sure I've always got at least 20 lbs of sugar on hand.

Storing huge amounts of bulk dried goods and keeping them properly rotated so they stay fresh can be a challenge. It's also tough to ensure they remain dry, bug-free and rodent free.
Alligatorob said:
Around here hoarding is a religious thing. The Mormon Church has long advocated storing substantial food.

The First Presidency recommends that Church members “begin their home storage by storing the basic foods that would be required to keep them alive if they did not have anything else to eat.” After they have a year’s supply of the basics, they may then add other foods they are accustomed to eating regularly.
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@Alligatorob, I've seen that list before. DH & I have a far deeper pantry than most, but nowhere near the 800 lbs of grains and 120 lbs of legumes that they recommend for 2 people. (Not to mention 16 lbs of salt, 5 gallons of cooking oil, and 120 lbs of honey.)
 
Gary O' said:
It can sometimes be the little, incidental things unseen, not budgeted

My lady and I have shown each other 'better ways' over the 53 years

Heh
When we first met, she'd apply toothpaste like the commercials would show
View attachment 237106

Told her she could just put a drop on the brush with the same results

Keeps that tube from costing 5 times as much
Click to expand...
True story here...a toothpaste maker ran a contest to get ideas for increasing sales of their toothpaste - entries like "change the color of your toothpaste, make new flavors, etc. poured in. The contest was one by a child in middle school I think, who wrote "just make the hole bigger, then they'll use more!
 
StarSong said:
As many here know, I bake a lot during the holidays and buy some dry supplies in bulk, but not the kind of bulk you're describing, Hols.

I buy 25 lb sacks of bread flour and all purpose flour and store it in galvanized cans, and make sure I've always got at least 20 lbs of sugar on hand.

Storing huge amounts of bulk dried goods and keeping them properly rotated so they stay fresh can be a challenge. It's also tough to ensure they remain dry, bug-free and rodent free.

@Alligatorob, I've seen that list before. DH & I have a far deeper pantry than most, but nowhere near the 800 lbs of grains and 120 lbs of legumes that they recommend for 2 people. (Not to mention 16 lbs of salt, 5 gallons of cooking oil, and 120 lbs of honey.)
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StarSong...that keeping them "bug free" can be a real challenge. When we were in the health food manufacturing biz, we used to get dried organic onions and dried regular onions. The bugs were always in the organic onions and we'd have to ditch the remainder of the batches. So, we called the supplier - who was in California and ask him what he did to his onions that created so many hatching moth eggs. We used the onions in shelf stable mixes.

His response was they were organic and they weren't permitted to do anything to keep the bugs from hatching, so they froze their onions (and probably other dried foodstuffs) until they received the shipping orders. Nice, huh. Pass the bugs on down the line.

Don't talk to me about organics...lol.
 
Alligatorob said:
Around here hoarding is a religious thing. The Mormon Church has long advocated storing substantial food.

The First Presidency recommends that Church members “begin their home storage by storing the basic foods that would be required to keep them alive if they did not have anything else to eat.” After they have a year’s supply of the basics, they may then add other foods they are accustomed to eating regularly.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org...om-sampler/food-storage-for-one-year?lang=eng

I keep a year's supply of Scotch and cigars on hand, in case of emergency. The bishop would be proud!
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Yep, the YouTube moms I mentioned are largely Mormons; most live in Utah. Just a few are open about their church encouraging stockpiling. At first I got kick out of them, but tired of it.
 


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