I am also only making Xmas presents this year for others or buying via Etsy . Supporting handmade goods.
I can usually get Xmas done for $100 for 7 kids. (everyone gets the same thing and they’ll like it )
Is anyone else having trouble with the price of food, from a psychological angle? See, I have a mental idea of what something SHOULD cost, and what a sale price for it SHOULD be – and with the prices rising so fast, I can’t seem to adjust yet.
For example, the brand of crushed tomatoes I buy cost about 89 cents per can, and they go on sale at least every other month for 2 for a dollar.
This week they were in the sales circular on sale for $1. (Actually, 10 for $10 – why the hell they have to put it that way, beats me, but never mind that.)Anyway, I read the ad and mentally snorted. That’s not a sales price, that’s not even their regular price – they’re trying to put something over on shoppers who don’t know their prices!
So I refused to stock up at this ‘sale’, won’t catch me…
Except, of course, it now IS a reasonable sales price, since the regular price is now about $1.30. 
I’m starting to remind myself of my grandmother, who would give us kids a quarter “to buy an ice cream cone”, but the smallest cones cost over a buck.
Getting older by the minute.
On Friday I noticed that milk was $2.80 a litre across the road at Valu-Mart. Wasn’t it just $2.49?
I’m doing the Dave Ramsey food-money envelope thing as well. I took out $200 on payday and stuck it in an envelope and am buying all my food for the two weeks from the envelope. (I’ve also bought bus tickets from it, so I may have to readjust things, but that’s another issue.)
One unanticipated side-effect of this is that I’ve already saved about $10 in ABM ‘convenience’ charges! Just taking the money out all at once instead of returning to the ABM again and again (and especially the ones not owned by my bank) makes the difference.
I get unlimited ABM withdrawls at my bank’s machines. Each month, my bank refunds its service charges for three ABM withdrawls through another bank’s machines, and ones after that are $1.50. I still have to pay the other bank’s ATM service charges in that case. Without the refund, one withdrawl through a third-party machine can attract two service charges and can cost $3! It’s worth going out of my way to find an own-bank machine.
Oh, and NinetyWt? I meant just a regular peanut-butter sandwich alongside the chicken. 
Bingo. I went shopping last night, bought a handful of things, and it rang up at over $50. And worse, that $50+ was a surprise at the cash register. I had thought I had maybe $30 worth of stuff, and even that seemed like a lot for what I was getting.
And while I haven’t really cut back yet, that got me to thinking that I more or less have to. After all, grocery prices can’t double and gas can’t treble without it forcing you to take some fat from elsewhere in your budget. The most obvious step for me is to start shopping at a cheaper supermarket. I think I can save a third off my food bill right there.
I’m naturally frugal, so I’m already doing all I can without affecting my husband.
I’ve been tracking my spending for a few months with an eye to making up a budget for myself, but frankly I don’t have any wasteful habits. I’m looking into vegetarian meals to see if there’s any I could slip past the family, and my husband is cutting back on his smoking, so that’s about it.
We’re still not getting a dog…
Thank heavens!! I was afraid I was gonna have to rush you some real food up there.
“Real” food? You mean, like, mashed potatoes? That’s my default comfort food.
Gas here is running at $7.55 at today’s exchange rate, or £1.10 a litre. I drive 32 miles per working day and my car does 9 miles per litre, so that’s nearly £20 in transport costs a week. Not counting what I get up to at the weekend.
We’re a lot poorer than you guys!
To add to these woes, due to unfortunate life circumstances I’m now paying rent and a mortgage on my old house.
To economise, I am doing the following:
No land line.
No cable or satellite TV - I have 4 terrestrial channels, that’s all.
Squat on someone else’s broadband (with permission, for £5 a week).
Don’t buy any pre-made food - I make everything from scratch wherever possible.
Buy basics at Lidl.
Haven’t gone to a restaurant in months.
Planted a vegetable and herb garden which should start producing in about a month.
Bake my own bread, cookies and cakes.
Drive slower.
Don’t buy any new clothes - sew the old ones up.
I came in about £100 under budget this month, which is gratifying.
That is so cool. Good for you!
I cancelled my second phone line and the netflix account, which totalled to a savings of $34 a month.
Even though I have lost 49 lbs in the last year I am still wearing the same clothes, just stitching them up as needed and safety pinning them so that they fit properly.
I am limiting myself to $30 a week for groceries/toilet paper/cat litter/etc. for 1 person (and 2 cats, though their food is part of a separate section of my budget.) I shop sales and use coupons so this hasn’t been too bad, even though I am living in one of the most expensive cities in the country. I also stopped having my groceries delivered and started carrying them to my apartment myself to save on tipping the delivery guy.
I use the library for book/dvd/audiobook/etc rentals.
My transportation costs are abnormally high for living in the city. It is $86 a month for unlimited subway rides, which is great, but since I work outside of the city it costs me another $187 a month to get to and from work. In July I will start really searching for a job in the city to save on the cost of transportation and reduce my commuting time, but I haven’t been truly searching for a new job since I haven’t been here for a year yet and I don’t want to look like a job hopper on my resume.
I live on 2 acres now. About 25 miles from work. I love it, and just can’t imagine living in town. That would suck. :shrug: It’s my choice, so I try not to bitch about fuel costs.
In any case, to buy a place in town that is similar to my house (less land of course) would cost about 4 times the value of my house. If I’m lucky. It just doesn’t seem to make sense. Monetarily, or enjoyment of my lifestyle.
I’d still need a 4x4, but I suppose I could get by with a Subaru (I’d have to think about that). So gas mileage would be better, but probably not stellar.
Well, we’re eating out less. So far that’s all. But if it gets harder…
I’ll stop buying some luxury foods/drinks (sodas, beer :eek: ), maybe switch to some cheaper brands on stuff where it doesn’t matter. I’m already trying to economize on driving–combining errands, avoiding unnecessary trips, etc. I could cancel NetFlix and cut our satellite programming down some, but TV is my husband’s main entertainment. :dubious: I think I’m done buying plants and bird toys for a while…
I’ve always been fairly frugal, but I started working at a catering kitchen a few months ago, the main reason being the free milk and veggies. Every time I work I take home at least a gallon of milk and several pounds of vegetables or fruit, and sometimes main-dish stuff or leftovers for the dogs. That’s a huge help, because I flatly refuse to pay $3.59 for a gallon milk.
I quit buying red meat, and that’s made a big difference in grocery costs, too.
I did buy a beater car, but only because my other beater car (which only cost $50) is in the shop, and we didn’t have anything to drive. As soon as I get my other beater back, I may sell this one.
I need to quit taking the kids out to eat. We go cheap–not over $20 for the three of us is my rule–but still. And I need to quit buying snacks! But oh, how I love salty crispy fatty crap!
Mashed potatoes we do, yes. I also make a twice-baked garlic cheesy potato casserole which my kids say is their favorite 'tater recipie.
I quit buying beer last year, and not only have I saved money but I’ve lost weight from the reduction in carb intake. This year we quit buying sodas as well.
I drive my Jetta every day instead of mixing in my truck. I eat out much less often. I won’t be planning a Euro-vacation until the dollar is stronger as well.
I don’t pop into Home Depot or Lowes as much.
NinetyWt, recipe please?
Food costs are my main focus. We always shop the sales and use coupons when possible. My wife’s got to have her soda, so I do the my coke rewards thing to get free coupons.
I’ve got 14 acres of land, so I’m putting it to work. I made a galon of maple syrup this spring. I’ve started a huge garden, and I’m going to can/freeze lots of food. So far, I’ve got tomatoes, peppers, and egg plant growing inside, and radishes, carrots, beets, and peas growing outside. I also eat off the land when convenient. I love berry season! I have started an orchard, which should start paying off in a few years. I’m growing apples, cherries, paw paws, plums, mulberries, and hazelnuts. I also have an asparagus patch, some rhubarb, and some strawberries, but the slugs usually get the strawberries. I just got some mushroom plug spawn today, so I’ll have shitake and chicken of the woods mushrooms.
I bought 4 piglets, and it looks like I’ll make some extra cash off of them. I made their pen out of pallets, and got fence posts, insulators, etc. from my parents’ old farm for free, so I’ve got very little cash into it. I think it worked out to about $420, $300 of which was for the pigs. My brother in law is a chef, and provides me with milk + kitchen waste, so it cuts way down on grain cost. I’m building a smokehouse, and making the firebox for it do tripple duty as a grill + hot smoker. I’ll be making my own sausage, hot dogs, pepperoni, ham, and bacon. One hog for our freezer, one for my brother in law, and two to sell. I should come out of it with $500+ in pocket and a freezer full of assorted meats.
I’m also raising 40 meat chickens. I’ve got family helping on slaughtering day, so I’ll end up with around 20 birds at around $3.50 each after all is said and done. It’s not a huge savings, but the birds are bigger, taste better, and have less fat than grocery store birds.
I bake no-knead bread every weekend, and eat less processed food that I used to. I’ve expanded my recipe collection to include good cheap food from some recent threads here.
I already burn wood for heat, so my heating bill last year was $20. This year it’ll be $80, as I bought a new bar + chain for the saw.
Welll… it involves… Velveeta.
You can use Irish, red, or golden potatoes. Peel and chunk them. Parboil in water until they are barely fork-tender. Drain. While the potatoes are draining, cut up about a 1" slice of Velveeta (Kroger Nice’n’Cheesy is a good inexpensive subistitute) into chunks and melt it in the potato-cooking pot. Sprinkle some garlic powder in with the cheese. Return the drained potatoes to the pot and stir until coated. Bake in a casserole dish at 350[sup]o[/sup] until the top is nicely browned.
You can vary the amounts of cheese & garlic to suit your taste and/or the amount of 'taters used.
OMG-that sounds delicious.
I bought a bike last year and I use that as much as I can for errands–the video store and the library type stuff.
I actually spend a lot of time in my house–today I will use the car twice: once to take #2 son to school (so he doesn’t have to lug his cello on the bus) and to pick him up after orchestra practice. Anything else I would use my bike for, but it’s raining, so I stay home.
When I’m home, the lights stay off unless I need it for a task; I never have the TV on for “company” (or the radio really–I listen in my car).
Our grocery bill is insane–5 people and it’s about $220/week. I only will buy one case of pop a week now. If the boys drink it all in 2 days–too bad. They are learning and also turning to sun tea, as I did. I don’t buy potato chips and snack foods, so I am a bit 
as to just where my dollars are going. Then again, one box of tampons here is $8, so there is that sort of thing…
My husband now tries to work one day a week from home, since he spends about $100+/week on gas for his commute. My commute is shorter and my car is not an SUV, so we do better on that end of things. He wants to get a different car, but we can’t really afford a car payment right now (although if it hits $5/gallon, we may not have the choice). The heat is off, even though it’s cold outside–it’s been warm lately, so this is just a cold snap. We do have a fireplace and I may use that later to warm up.
I’m not sure just where we’ll have to conserve, but I do know that I now look at cost much more than I did before. The Husband is still in denial about this to some extent (some days he wants to just buy another car and keep the SUV, for example), but I see some major frugality on the horizon.
I neglected to mention that you should cut down the amount of cheese in that recipie, if you are not making the Mega Size. Probably one should start with a small amount and see how it looks when melted in.
Also for a lazier version: buy a tube of that garlic cheese spread and use it instead. You can also put the chunks of cheese in and pop it in the oven - then stir about twice while cooking.