I admit I am a cheapie ! Not that I have to be but its how I was raised ! I love shopping the mark downs at the grocery store ! I just can`t see paying more for the same things that are marked down to half price or less ! So what do you do ? I am curious !
I am very frugal...some might call it cheapskateism. Having said that, I try to never buy the very cheapest, nor the most expensive. When it comes to groceries, I always like a deal. My Bride refuses to ever buy washing soap or softener unless it is on sale. It may be a cultural dna thing.
Mart, we are soul sisters! My husband says that I toss nickels around like man-hole covers. I buy on sale, in bulk items at the grocery, and stock up on "after the holidays" things like gift bags, ribbons and cards. By being frugal we can get more of what we want and share more with those who may need a bit more. Sojerd, that is not "cheapskateism." It is simply buying well, and not throwing money around!
loud and proud cheapskate here. so cheap I have reused the peppers to make stuffed peppers more than once. I don't like the texture of the peppers and neither do the children so after they have dumped out the contents of their peppers they go back into the dish to be frozen and made into stuffed peppers again later. but I do have to admit there are times I am not looking for a deal just get it and get out of the store. I normally shop a thrift store before going shopping for anything. foodwise we eat "clean" so I don't have much in the way of boxed mixes of anything. off to the surplus store for coffee and sometimes rice... whatever I use if they have it. I just cut my celery tonight to dry for use later. cant let that go to waste. yeah. I am cheap. no I mean frugal.
I'm of an age where fortunately, I don't need to be thrifty. If we want something (within reason) We just buy it. I'd been playing with the same golf equipment for the last fifteen years, but earlier this year I bought myself a complete new set of woods, irons, putter, bag and electric golf trolley, so no change out of £2,000. I'd have felt guilty twenty years ago. But not now. I'm 80 and you can't take it with you.
We are extremely lucky to have the retirement/income we do ! No,, we do not have to be thrifty but,,old habits are hard to break ! My family was in construction when I grew up and back then it was feast or famine ! It rained and no payday ! We learned to eat well on a small budget ! And now,, I just love a good deal ! To me its a source of pride to keep the grocery budget within reason and still eat very well ! I also go to thrift stores for two reasons,, I hate breaking in new jeans and shoes ! Prefer to buy after someone else has done the hard work ! Hubby needed a new golf cart so we bought a gas powered one ! They run forever on a tank of gas ! Well almost ! He doesn`t play golf its just to run around in the pasture and between acreage which is farther down the road !
Carolyn,, Hubby likes the filling but doesn`t care for the pepper so I get both his and mine ! I love them ! I don`t used pre boxed anything much except that orange mac and cheese ! I love it and have for years !
We should start a club--Savers Anonymous! Pre-made, boxed foods? Not here! I break out laughing when I see the bags of preseasoned stuffing mix. I have a bag of leftover bread in the freezer and I grow my own seasoning, thank you! And don't get me started on that goopy, over-sauced frozen lasagna in a box. We had it once at the in-laws. She couldn't or wouldn't cook, and he had no palate after years of take-out and frozen dinners. Thrift stores are like Christmas--you never know what you'll get, but it will be something useful or wonderful. Most of my vases came from a local thrift, and the same with baskets. Yes, we could all be charter members of the above mentioned club!
I'm still careful with money, in that I have rolling Open Office spreadsheets that mirror my bank account and credit card account. Even that is listed in "categories." I always set budgets at the beginning of the year. As long as I stick to the quite genrous budget, I can tell on 1st of January, all things going to plan, how my financies will look on December 31st. Ihad to compile and submit budgets when I was working, so I'm used to working with them. The diifference is, unlike work budgets which were set in stone, (my bonus depended on achieving them), if now we decide to splash out on something not anticipated, I can alter the budget! As is usual, despite having splashed out on a couple of big items recently with a commenserate yanking up of the budget on my spread sheet, there will have been more money coming in than going out again this year.
I do not have a budget except what I want it to be ! It just irks me to pay more than I have to ! Hubby said a few days ago that we need to spend some money,, don`t you need a new car ?? Well no,, mine is only 2 years old and less than 20,000 miles ! Barely broke in,, what do I need a new one for ? Just getting to know the one I bought ! We may live simply,, but I am not stupid ! We can afford anything we want,, we just do not want anything now ! Only credit card we use is for gas in the cars ! Cash for everything else !
We should start a club--Savers Anonymous! I am the first charter member ! Can`t stand waste of any kind ! I even make my own TV dinners ! Its what I cook so I know its good ! I can probably eat for a month and never turn the stove or oven on ! Except for breakfast ! Its better fresh,,although hubby likes Jimmy Deans sausage egg cheese biscuits ! I just likemy own eggs and toast with a bit of Kimche!
Tell me how you do this, Mart. Do you; for instance, save the original trays that tv dinners come in? Or do you divide up portions into like Tupperware containers to save the components in? We make huge batches of chilli, spag. sauce, or Indonesian dishes...eat one and freeze-in the rest. We boil Basmati rice and freeze-in portions of that for later. I am not sure that what we are doing is what you are. If your technique is different, we would like to hear precisely how you do what you do.
My wife has a big drawer full of Lock & Lock containers which are often in constant use. The biggest problem for me is matching the lids to the multitude of sizes there are.
I probably could weather not going to the store for the next 3 months. Maybe even longer except for milk, half and half for our coffee and at some point... Toilet paper.
