"So far this week, husband and I have stocked up on 40 folders, 10 packs of erasers, 8 rulers and 5 protractors all for a grand total of 63 cents"

And the cost to the environment? Did you walk or bike to the store? How much did you spend on gas?

"what are you willing to spend full price for?"

Birth control.

I have only a few homemaking tips but I am sure that Donna has plenty!

There comes a point at which you need to be a SAHM to live like the people profiled, since chasing down those kinds of savings is a full time job. I think it's GREAT if it means the difference between being able to stay at home and having to work. Because my husband and I make roughly the same salary, neither of us can stay home. It's easier to make happen if the salary split is $80,000/$20,000 vs. $50,000/$50,000.

So, working FT, I truly don't have that kind of time, and the time I do have I try to spend with my family doing FUN stuff. I'm also opposed to driving from store to store, since gas is so expensive and I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint.

That said, my husband is going to stay at home part time when I have baby #2, so we're already trying to live on the budget we'll have when that happens. The biggest thing we're doing is called envelope budgeting. (We didn't even know it was a technique with a name until we mentioned it to my SIL.) Into envelopes goes a monthly cash allowance for the spending categories that are easily controlled, like groceries, clothes and grooming, baby, and entertainment. We have budgets for house and car repairs, medical, gas, electric, etc, but because those fluctuate, we don't take out cash. I've done great so far on $100/week groceries. The hardest thing has been cutting back on small impulse purchases, like baby books and coffees and snacks.

7:22 Please name your posts and take ownership of your words. As for environmental cost, I'm lucky. Office Depot's at the bottom of the Post Web site's building.

My husband does most of the grocery shopping. He also grew up in a family of five and had a mother who uses all the above shopping tips (and more), so he tends to follow them. We save lots of money that way, and our food bill is fairly low. The problem is, coupons are generally for prepared, packaged things full of bad for you things (trans fats, HFCS, etc). I would much rather spend a bit more on food and get high quality food rather than get cheap, poor quality food. The other problem is he tends to buy things just because they are on sale, for example cereal no one likes. We eat it, but beg for that to be the last of it.

For Thrift Tips, I'd recommend reading the Tighwad Gazette books. They are getting a bit out of date, and she is totally over the top with saving money. But they are a good motivation tool, take the idead you like (keeping a price book for groceries) and ignore those you don't (powdered milk - yuck!).

Someone is probably going to jump all over me for complaining about the shopping someone else does, but remember, this is just a snapshot of our lives. I take care of most of the non-grocery store shopping. And I, too, and guilty of the "on sale" fallacy. I brought home the wrong brand of undershirts one day, because they were on sale. LOL

I have a hard time with coupons, since often they're for things we don't usually buy, anyway. When I do find coupons for things we use, I save them until our local store offers triple coupons. Doing that, I haven't paid for toothpaste in two years.

We also tend to try to buy things used, especially big-ticket toys for DD. She doesn't care if her things aren't brand new, and I feel better not buying new hunks of plastic that will last forever in some landfill. Our area also has tons of consignment sales where I buy DD many of her clothes.

the thing that coupon clippers don't count is time. how much is their time worth? if it takes me 4 hours to go through the papers plus another hour to check on-line.

add to that the fact that there are certain brands i don't buy usually because the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.
so if i've spent an hour getting 2 for 1 on an el cheap-o brand of something is that really a savings? sometimes you have to think quality of food not price.

As far as actually saving at the grocery store, my #1 thing is that my husband is not allowed to shop and can't come with me. If he's there, the bill increases by a minimum of 25%! I do 1 of 2 things to save, depending on the week. I either only buy what's on the list based on a weekly menu or I buy mostly what's on sale and figure out meals accordingly. I almost always get store brand. I don't buy any of that packaged garbage since it ends up costing more and tasting bad, not to mention the ubiquitous presence our friend high fructose corn syrup.

Hand-me-downs! My husband and I are both the youngest. I couldn't possible use all the hand-me-downs we've gotten, so we very rarely have to buy anything for baby.

Freecycle! I've gotten a bag of maternity clothes and a box of baby books. I've given away stuff, too. I love it.

I agree with RT, that most coupns tend to be for prepackaged foods that are unhealthy and my kids won't eat. Being a family of 7 we buy a lot in bulk and stock up when things we do like are on sale, but I would rather eat well and save money on other things. Our local grocery stores offer 10cents off per gallon of gas at their stations for every $50 you spend in groceries. It certainly helps when yesterday I paid $2.51 instead of $4.11 a gallon to fill the minivan! We also have a local farm subscription which saves a ton on produce. $475 gets us all we need from June-November. We get a weekly basket straight from the farm.

I love the penny sales at office depot, too. Our schools provide 100% of the supplies the kids need in class, but I do stock up on pencils, pens, paper and crayons for the house.

I'm with atb. It would drive me insane to track down weekly specials, coupons, organize everything, etc. I would NOT be good at it. I have scaled back on meat purchases and we eat more simply, but as someone who loves to cook, I will admit to spending $14 on a certain gruyere for a souffle, or $12/lb for Callebaut chocolate when I want to make pots de creme.

Love Craigslist and have bought and sold much on it, eBay as well. I joined FreeCycle but was plagued by emails and digests and so un-joined. Costco sees us weekly for gas and certain staples. I still go to Whole Foods as I'm unwilling (so far) to forego the organic dairy. We'll see though, that time may be coming.

The hardest thing has been cutting back on small impulse purchases, like baby books and coffees and snacks.

Posted by: atb | July 16, 2008 8:16 AM

Freecycle! I've gotten a bag of maternity clothes and a box of baby books.

Posted by: atb | July 16, 2008 8:31 AM

Wat are "baby baby" Can you borrow them from the public library (the biggest bang for your buck)?

I use coupons but careful to check the prices vs the house brands...mix house brands with name brands...never buy name brand cereal anymore...just too expensive..the house brand milk is a big savings..2 dollars per gallon...just say no alot of times and cut out extras...I leaned most of my shopping tips from watching my mom shop...

confused- We do go to the library, but we're a book family. I want to be surrounded by books. I also want her to be able to handle the books. I'm always concerned she's going to tear up the library books. She's only 18 months and has gorilla paws at this point.

Momof5- Where are you? What store does that gas thing? That's AWESOME.

How much is Costco gas compared to Exxon, etc?

Wat are "baby baby"
Huh?

Can you borrow them from the public library (the biggest bang for your buck)?

For older kids, yes, the library is great. But for younger babies, they not only become attached to certain books (our tattered copy of Guess How Much I Love You is evidence!) but they also tend to play with and chew on the edges of the board books - that is why they are made of board instead of paper - so, I would rather have my own that I can keep clean.

I agree with the other posters that coupons are overrated. I very, very rarely find one for something that I would actually buy. They don't give coupons for fresh veggies and we also do not buy pre-made, packaged goods very often. We do shop sales for veggies and meats. We also bought a small deep freezer and purchased a quarter of a locally raised and butchered cow - that's a lot of beef and lasts a long, long time since we don't eat meat that often and has the added bonus of not being shipped hundreds of miles.
Consignment sales or shops for toys and clothes for all of us. I can't recall the last time I bought an article of clothing brand new (excepting undergarments :)).
Our biggest spending problems are probably due to the constant on-going repairs and improvements on our old house, but that is really unavoidable unless we want to move into the barn and then that would need more repair.
Oh and paying off our student loans is a major expenditure, and while our educations were/are important, I would caution anyone to think twice and consider alternatives before taking on so much student loan debt.

I'm totally into this, so I apologize for all the posts!

I've been thinking about getting a deep freeze for when chicken breasts, etc go on sale, but how do you package the meat so it doesn't get freezer burn?

How much of the farm shares goes to waste? I'm afraid of getting too much at once and having to eat swiss chard for a week straight lest it go bad.

atb - I had the same question about farm shares. As for freezing meat, wrap it in foil, them put in a freezer bag. Won't keep indefinitely, but for a good long time. Plus, you can reuse the bags.

I've always looked for deals, so I can't say I'm doing anything differently now. I do coupons for things we normally buy; I'm not organized, so I just throw them all in a ziploc, and go through them when I'm making my list. I buy based on the unit pricing, because sometimes the coupon isn't the best deal, and sometimes the mega-pack is actually more expensive per serving than a smaller version. When coupons coincide with store sales, I stock up. And I will change my meal plan if there's a great deal at the store.

But that's about it. I don't have time, energy, or desire to go from store to store, so I don't. I also buy only certain brands where one of us has a strong preference (I went through six varieties of OJ trying to convince my husband that a cheaper version is fine, but he could always tell the difference). My mom's (in)famous line is "it's just as good" -- applied to everything from the off-brand cereal we discovered her pouring into the Cheerios box, to the tabletop pool table with the big dip in the middle. Well, sometimes it's not. So I buy the cheap stuff where I can't tell the difference or it doesn't matter, but spend the money when it does make a difference to one of us.

You can attack most any problem from 2 sides.

I, personally, make enough money so I don't have to worry about economizing at the grocery.

atb,
I have a food saver. It is a vacuum sealer. I can buy food in bulk and separate it into packs we will use then freeze it. I also use a label maker to mark what the item is and the date I froze it. Just last night I used a ground turkey/beef combo from Dec 06 and it was perfect. I do fresh berries, green beans, cheese and meats. I have found that breads don't do well.
I basically only use coupons for the non-food items like dishwasher soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.
Instead of using disposable plastic baggies I use mostly plastic containers that can be washed.

The verdict is in!

People do want they want to when it comes to spending habits!

Wow! What a shocker!!!!

Donna

"Instead of using disposable plastic baggies I use mostly plastic containers that can be washed. "

I HATE washing those stupid containers.

I agree - birth control is the best savings! Stocking up on the less efficient items the stores puts on sale is bad for the planet. My stores never put the green choices on sale so I can see that as the economy tanks we're going to see fewer purchases of tp made of recycled paper or improved detergents, etc. We're moving backward people - coupons are not the answer. Fewer people are the answer.

There is a smaller grocery store chain near my house that is a LOT cheaper than the big name chains, and that also has really cheap prices on in-season produce, so I try to shop there. They carry less products so I'm also less tempted to buy stuff that's not on my list. I've also started going to the library more - much as I love having books around, there's a lot to be said for the "free bookstore" and then I can just buy the books I know I will re-read.

I hate washing the containers too. I rinse them out and put them on the top rack of the dishwasher. They do just fine.

"And the cost to the environment? Did you walk or bike to the store? How much did you spend on gas?"

There is nothing more dull than these self important nitwits who say "but what about the environment" every time someone scratchs their rear end. Go live in an aborigine hut if your are oh so concerned with the environment, dull dog.

Another tip for freezing is to wrap individual portions (pork chops, fish fillet, steaks, burgers, etc) in wax paper or plastic wrap, freeze flat on a cookie sheet, then place frozen items in a freezer bag. This helps keep them from sticking to each other, and makes it easier to take what you need.

When we were in a CSA and there was more than we could eat of a certain item (think cabbage), some things we found froze better if we cooked them first.

I barter. I come from a family of seamstresses. I know how to sew, so I fix my neighbor's kids things when they get frayed and clean them when they seem to be beyond repair (I can get ANY stain out....except mold...and I can get mold out if the item is mostly white....but I digress). I can also make custom window draperies, so I am really popular with the girls in my neighborhood. We get alot of free meals, hardly used furniture and stuff that way. We also barter labor....hubby will help mend the fence if you help us paint, etc. We grow a vegestable garden and share the fruits of our labor and a neighbor will trade us some meats they purchased in bulk for their family. I also made a mini pet sitting co-op with people who visit the nearby dog park. If they need a pet sitter, they can come to our house and if we need one, we have someone avail to return the favor. We live close to our parents, so free childcare is usually in the cards, which we are grateful to them for.

My neighbor purchased a steam cleaner, and they are gracious enough to let us borrow it from time to time.

That way, we make friends, support our neighbors like family, and help everyone in the long run save money! We're a family of introverts and I know alot of people live insular lives nowadays, but we need to come together as a community and reach out to our extended families if we are going to weather the hard times ahead.

I hate clipping coupons and rarely find ones that we use or are worth the effort (besides coupons for diapers). If things get really tight, I make the drive to shop at the commissary, which is also inconvenient since they do not carry ALL of the brands I like to use, but it is a necessary evil.

Bottom line....saving money takes alot of time and is a group effort. Deal wid it.

Things not worth scrimping on:
Housecleaning service. My husband has ADD and it is worth every penny to have someone come by every two weeks to help me straigten up after him and two small kids after working full time while he trudges around and makes a mess and "forgets" where everythings goes.....

9:02: I, personally, make enough money so I don't have to worry about economizing at the grocery.

Good for you. Maybe we can all be like you and not think about our impact.

What are your thrifty tips?:
Freecycle...craigslist...freecycle...craigslist...consigment sales...yard sales....
Harris Teeter on-line "coupons" (as a VIC member you can sign up for the in-store sales newsletter and plan your shopping)

Willing to spend full price for organic, local, natural...unprocessed food for baby and family. e.g., Farmers Markets, Harris Teeter.

and did I say Freecycle....

As several people have said before, coupons and sales are great for certain items. You are never going to find coupons for spinach and cucumbers or mangoes and strawberries in the newspaper. So if you want your family to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, you just need to buy them. If you have the time, you can see which store has which fruit/veg on sale each week. My daughters wanted honeydew melon this week, but since they are not on sale and pretty expensive, I got a canteloupe instead and said we'd get the honeydew next time.

Coupons and 2 for 1 sales are great for items you buy all the time. If your favorite brand of spaghetti sauce or tuna fish is one sale, buy as many as you can and store them. Stuff like that lasts for over a year in your pantry and if it's your favorite, chances are, you'll eat it soon! My whole family loves "Life" and "Honey Bunches of Oats". Cereal is super expensive these days so when it is buy 1 get 1 free or whatever at the store, I buy at least 2 boxes. I know we'll eat it! If your family eats yogurt a lot, stock up when it's on sale- just be sure to get the latest dates they have. Same goes for shredded cheese and cream cheese. It's actually amazing how long some items will last unopened in your fridge or freezer

I agree with Susie - coupons are not the answer!
The percentage of our income that is spent on food is really small compared to other expenses that are fixed (mortgage) or have been steadily increasing lately (uitlities, gas, etc.).

How I manage food is I look at the flyers for the three stores closest to us (all reasonable in general), pick the store that has the most on sale that suits us, and make a meal plan based on those sales. Certain things I stock up on at sales too.

For other savings, we use freecycle and garage sales (especially for toys and books), and shop for clothing second hand as well as availing ourself of hand me downs.

My biggest saving tip however is: don't shop recreationally. We go to the smallest store that offers what we want, get in and get it, and get out. We don't hang out at the mall much. I don't spent a huge amount of time looking for deals. When I was doing that my cost per item might've been a bit lower, but I ended up buying more because it was "a great deal" even if I didn't actually completely need the extra pair of shoes or whatever.

Talisha Rosen of Fairfax

"That way, we make friends, support our neighbors like family, and help everyone in the long run save money! "

I have no interest in being the neighborhood drudge. DH hates kids & gossip.

"We're a family of introverts"

We're not. But we do mind our own business. For a family of introverts, you seem to be up in your neighbors'
business a lot.

"and I know a lot of people live insular lives nowadays, "

For good reason.

"but we need to come together as a community and reach out to our extended families if we are going to weather the hard times ahead."

Don't see any "hard times ahead" for my family that the neighbors could fix.....

Actually, Susie, the cheapest cleaning products are the most green. Think vinegar, baking soda, peroxide, and cheap vodka. Not to mention that phosphate-free Palmolive dishwasher detergent is almost the cheapest there is. As far a coupons, you're right , except during April, when Safeway had a huge pack of green coupons celebrating Earth Day.

Fewer people is not an option in our family. They're here, and I'm not taking them out.

Have the zero population growth people proposed a giant suicide pact yet? Surely that's next. At the very least they should be into offing old people and the handicapped, since they take up so many resources.

"9:02: I, personally, make enough money so I don't have to worry about economizing at the grocery."

"Good for you. Maybe we can all be like you and not think about our impact"

That would be those want the tree hugger kooks to "give it a rest".

Do Not Use CouponMom.com. I signed up and was inundated with emails, 40 or 50 at a time. I ended up having to close the email account. Fortunately it was one I didn't use often.

Maria: "The percentage of our income that is spent on food is really small compared to other expenses that are fixed (mortgage) or have been steadily increasing lately (uitlities, gas, etc.)."

That's fine for you; for us it's the opposite. We have four kids, three of whom are teenagers. Our food bill is enormous. We try to shop intelligently - it helps that I put myself through college working in a grocery store (among other jobs) and learned the marketing tricks, like how to tell what's really a bargain. Buy the stuff we want to buy, but stock up when it's on sale. Buy lots of good quality meat when it's on sale; freeze it. Fresh fruit/produce we just deal with, but try to be smart about what we pick.

One thing we like is "pick your own" farms. Go pick bushels of fruit/berries; freeze it. Gets the kids out of the house for the day and saves money, too.

atb: "Fewer people is not an option in our family. They're here, and I'm not taking them out. "

BWAAH! Love it, girl, love it! Although I've gotta be honest, there are times when I'm sorely tempted to take one or more of 'em out. :-)

OT: belated congrats to foamgnome! Fantastic news.

Another good source for coupons is SmartSource.com. You don't have to register your email address, you pick the coupons you want and print them out. I've never had a problem using them. As for the first poster, if you plan your trips, you can save gas and time. Though I hated moving out of the city to the 'burbs (closer to work, cheaper housing), I find it is easier to get my errands done in a more efficient manner.

I know this is a little blasphemous, but how about not spending? Do you really NEED what you are purchasing?

And yes, it applies to groceries, too. If you were snowed in or debilitated and couldn't get to the grocery, could you eat what is in the cupboard? I could. I might wind up with peanut butter and crackers and canned pears, rather than my preferred cheese sandwich, but I won't starve -- which is the point of groceries.

Also, think about it: coupons direct your spending toward what manufacturers want you to buy. Do you really want spaghetti this week, or do you have a coupon? Something else could be more desirable and (*gasp*) cheaper! "No, I buy what I want from coupons," I used to tell myself. Then I gave them up and my grocery bill went down.

Not to mention that coupons mostly are for processed/prepared/convenience food. If you buy ingredients and cook from scratch, it's not that much more time consuming and it's even cheaper. "Instant" foods usually aren't.

So, buy less and buy fewer processed foods hawked to me by the manufacturers. Try it for a month. See if it works for you.

atb,
"Think vinegar, baking soda, peroxide, and cheap vodka."

This is a very important question - do you use the vodka for cleaning or drink it and don't care about cleaning?

I generally don't have time to do coupons, but these are the ways that I save money.

I live in a smallish home. We are a little snug, but energy costs are lower than they would be in a bigger house. The mortgage is lower also.

I live close to work, so this saves money in terms of gas and time.

We use our cars until they pretty much die. No trading in every few years.

We shop on Craigs List, Freecycle, and Ebay for some some items that we don't mind getting second hand.

I bring my lunch to work.

I live in Richmond, VA and our local store does the fuelperks! program (save .10/gallon for every $50 you spend). I like the store and shop there anyway, but this program makes me like it more!
http://www.ukrops.com/fuelperks/default.asp

AB

"it helps that I put myself through college working in a grocery store (among other jobs) and learned the marketing tricks, like how to tell what's really a bargain."

Ha, ha! Trust AB to "puff" up a bagging stint into an MBA concentration!

@atb: I have a CSA subscription for the first time this year and yes you do get a lot of greens early on. We pick up on Wednesday and get an email on Tuesday night with the list of items. I try to wash/evaluate what I have by Thursday and be realistic about what I will use and what I can either freeze or share with someone else. The greens can be overwhelming but a huge head of bok choi once washed and blanched shrinks down to almost nothing. Check out the food section of the post - they are running a weekly feature on CSA offering and what author did with her subscription.

Chris @ 10:31: there's a big difference between "surviving" and "eating a nutritious, delicious meal." I'm influenced by spending nine years in New Orleans, where food is life and cooking is living. The point of groceries isn't to prevent starvation; it's to provide you with sustenance. Yes, if stranded in my house by a natural disaster I could make do, but I don't want to and over the long term it's not healthy.

We don't get wrapped up in coupons, but will use them if there's one for something we need or want to buy. It's not "do I really need/want spaghetti this week" because (dried) spaghetti will keep for a long time - if I'll need spaghetti in the next month or so and it's cheaper to buy it this week, it's better to buy it this week.

But I'm wholly in support of your argument for cooking from scratch - not only cheaper and healthier, but more fun, too!

anon @ 10:33 re: the use for the vodka: the Cajun humorist/chef Justin Wilson used to say that every recipe requires a six-pack of beer or a bottle of win. If it's wine, half the bottle goes into the recipe and the other half into the cook; with beer it's three cans into the recipe and three cans into the cook!

I find that coupons are not a very effective way of saving money, store brands are usually priced the same as the name brands when the coupon discount is applied. Coupons tend to encourage you to buy lots of processed goods that you probably don't really need anyway, plus you need to consider the cost of buying extra newpapers which aren't cheap on the weekend.

Buying what's on sale in bulk does save a ton of money. Tracking store sales can be done on your lunch break online. Actually most store sales start on Wednesday, so go to the web page, look at the circular and then make your grocery list on your lunch break and pick the stuff up on your way home from work. My husband drops me off at one grocery store then drives three blocks away to hit the a different grocery store himself. We buy pretty much 80% of what we puchase at the loss leader sale price or on our monthly trip to Sam's club, and save around 40% on our grocery bill doing this. Drug store sales start on Sunday, so a little more convenience there, and these are posted on the web as well.

None of this works if you don't have a pantry or freezer and if you don't know how to cook. You have to buy what's on sale, and cook around that rather than sticking with recipes straight out of Rachel Ray or the five or six standbys meals you know. It requires a little creativity and knowledge (how to substitute things without killing the flavor), but timewise it's not so bad. I spend 30 minutes on my lunch break looking at the circulars and no more time in the grocery store than I did before.

I found the way to maximize coupons is to organize them in a 4 x 6 index card holder by subject area: "cleaners", "paper towels", etc. We bring the card holder along with us when shopping. I know that most of the coupons are not worth it but we manage to save $5-$10 per shopping trip, without buying anything unncessary. I think those that disparage coupon cutting are looking for a quick savings fix and it's just not there. Still $5 or so a week is over $250 a year. You have to look at things over the long term.

Thanks to Stacey and Tania for letting us know about the Office Depot 1 cent specials. My daughter loves shopping for school supplies well in advance of September, and Office Depot is on our way home from the office/school. Like many people I know, I have been bundling my activities, so that I take fewer trips and save on gas costs. As a single parent, I have to be mindful of not making weekends all about catching up on errands, or just chasing sales, so I for one like to hear about where they are.

My main savings these days comes from driving my hybrid car, bought 4 years ago before they were "in"--and having scrimped and saved for a few years after my husband died, driving our old used car pretty much into the ground, so I could pay cash. I also don't use credit cards, just pay cash--that's a big "savings" right there, not overspending b/c my purchases are made with credit, or paying interest charges. What's the point of saving 5% on something, if you are paying 10% interest on it, even for one month?

I, for one, am amazed at the length and tone of some people's posts making fun of others who choose to spend their time clipping coupons, tracking prices, etc. Seems they have time to be snarky on blog posts--different strokes.

One of the easier ways to save money on food is to be realistic about how much you need to buy and how you plan to use what you buy. I used to be guilty of over buying fresh produce and throwing away unused portions. Nothing like thinking I just threw away x dollars... If I only require a small amount I just as likely to purchase from the salad bar.

I totally agree with those who are not into coupons. The meals that mother mentioned in Parade were short on fresh vegetables and unprocessed fruits.

I prefer to make sure that I do not waste what I purchase, which is not as easy as it sounds! If you buy it and don't use it it's a waste.

Saving money is not an end in itself. You save money so you can use your money on things that matter to you.

The mother in Parade mentioned not sending children to Science camp because it was $500. If you feel that's an experience your child will get something out of then it isn't "too expensive."

"As a single parent, I have to be mindful of not making weekends all about catching up on errands, or just chasing sales, so I for one like to hear about where they are. "

Oh, brother! I can't stand martyrs!!

"My main savings these days comes from driving my hybrid car, bought 4 years ago before they were "in"--and having scrimped and saved for a few years after my husband died, driving our old used car pretty much into the ground, so I could pay cash. "

Big deal! Didn't you get life insurance proceeds, Social Security benefits, etc. after your husband's death?

I don't own a car and my employer pays for my bus pass.

Another good way to get coupons is to complain. I complained to Purina about them reducing the size of their dog food and they sent me a bunch of $2.00 off coupons.

I don't understand why it would take so much time to cut coupons. The coupons come in the paper, I go through, cut the ones I need and will use and take the rest to my office for others to use. Five minutes out of my day. That five minutes saved me about $5.00 at Target yesterday.

Considering the time you spend b*tching on this blog, I would think clipping coupons would be a better use of your time.

I don't mean to seem like I'm all over that family in Parade, but something that bothered me was them talking about sneaking snacks into the movies.

I know that movie snacks are overpriced. Often I don't get a coke or popcorn there because I think it's a rip off.

But when you go to a movie they have the right to say - no outside snacks.

I think it's not right to teach your children that they don't have to follow rules because it's too expensive.

Take your kids to the movies and tell them no snacks, they're too expensive, we'll have a treat at home later. But don't tell them "it's OK to break this rule because we are special."

I've been a dumpster diver and curb crawler, though not so often in recent years. I have found furniture, an antique wool rug that is in my living room (after a professional cleaning), and countless other items. I also freecycle on a fairly regular basis, both giving and receiving. I'm giving more often now, to de-clutter my home.

As for coupons, in the past I would buy toothbrushes many at a time with dollar off coupons at a store that would double them. If you use cereal coupons, you will never pay full price, and the bargain is even better if the item is on sale that week.

Or, I shop at a place like Trader Joe's where the mock Cheerios and mock Mini Wheats are already at a very low price.

You can save a ton of money by cutting off cable TV - it's not good for children's brains or their level of physical fitness (see article in today's Post on this).

Turn the thermostat up a few degrees in summer and down a few degrees in winter (throw on a sweater).

I find that if I don't go to the store, I don't spend money. I used to go to Target often, but found I spent less if I went less often but bought more supplies (TP, detergent, etc.) at once. That way, even if I impulse buy something, I am only making 1 impulse buy a month, not 1 per week.

I love this post. I've gotten a lot of tips from you all so far. I shop at the health food store, people tend to look at you funny/surprised when you hand over your coupons to the cashier. last weekend I was buying some staples(milk, bread), there was a lady in line behind me in designer bag. I handed the cashier my coupons, the lady looked at me a moment and then picked up her own coupons book near by and start flipping through it. From milk and bread alone, I save $2.25/each purchase. Times that 4 times/week, that's $9/week,$36/month.That is a very nice saving on just milk and bread if you asked me. When I did the math for my husband he was very proud of me, but he would rather I do it, not him.

TooMuch @ 10:42: still no clue, huh? That's a shame; I hope you get one some day.

It wasn't a "bagging stint" (although I certainly did that), it was assistant manager - pays much better, which is important when you're putting yourself through college.

And it's certainly not an MBA concentration. But it is basic math - just because something's on an end-cap display doesn't mean it's a bargain. You should learn that math sometime.

(I recognize that it's an unfair stereotype, but I really don't think very much of MBAs in general, especially those in marketing. Too much gamesmanship involved in making folks think they want/need that which they don't. Those people should learn to make a contribution to society.)

C'mon, TooMuch - you can do better than that. (Or, maybe not. It's that "clue" thing.)

"I don't mean to seem like I'm all over that family in Parade, but something that bothered me was them talking about sneaking snacks into the movies.

I know that movie snacks are overpriced. Often I don't get a coke or popcorn there because I think it's a rip off.

But when you go to a movie they have the right to say - no outside snacks"

I am all over them, because they are not frugal they are CHEAP! Saving money is fine but when it totally takes over all of your experiences and actions, it is wrong. Money is a great servant but a poor master. Cheap people lose out on the zest of life.

"I've been a dumpster diver and curb crawler, though not so often in recent years. I have found furniture, an antique wool rug that is in my living room (after a professional cleaning), and countless other items. I also freecycle on a fairly regular basis, both giving and receiving. I'm giving more often now, to de-clutter my home. "

PSST, your house looks like a flea market, you may kid yourself, but everyone visiting knows it too.

I have to admit that I also sneak snacks into the movies, and I don't feel even a little guilty about it.

"I've been a dumpster diver and curb crawler, though not so often in recent years. I have found furniture, an antique wool rug that is in my living room (after a professional cleaning), and countless other items."

Yes, I've seen you poking through my trash. DH pees on it before it hits the curb. Have fun!

"How much of the farm shares goes to waste? I'm afraid of getting too much at once and having to eat swiss chard for a week straight lest it go bad."

When we did it the only things that went to waste were herbs - we had more than I could possibly use, so I froze some and gave some away but some also just got chucked. But, you do have to be willing to learn to cook and eat new foods - we got things I had never tried before. Personally, we really enjoyed that. There was rarely so much of any one thing that you were eating it constantly, they did a good job doling stuff out. This was pre-child though, so it was easier for us to find recipes and explore than it would be now, but it was a great deal for us financially and in terms of the quality of our eating. Now we have space for our own garden so we don't do it anymore, but I still kind of miss the variety.

Everything is a competition - WOW. Just WOW. Have you never had anyone close to you die? What an extraordinary lack of compassion or empathy, even for this blog. Sounds to me like RestonMom is doing pretty darn well and isn't trying to be a martyr, just stating the facts. Kudos to her.

Actually FYI, the stuff I get the most compliments on were usually purchased second hand. Designer clothes at the thrift store and yard sales usually run under $5 as opposed to $50 and my salvation army furniture is older, 30 percent the price, and much better constructed than most of the new stuff on the market. I will use the savings for early retirement, college saving, or a nice trip to Europe someday. The happiness that brings me sort of innoculates me from the need to beat up on others to feel good about myself.

For the people talking about expensive cereal - check out the prices at Target. I've found that Target has the cheapest prices on name brand cereal (Sometimes Life is $2.00 a box and not the smallest size box either). Silk Soy Milk, Raisins, and canned soups are my other usual Target buys.

TSR

"You can save a ton of money by cutting off cable TV - it's not good for children's brains or their level of physical fitness (see article in today's Post on this)."

Won't give up my porn. The wife likes it too.

"Turn the thermostat up a few degrees in summer and down a few degrees in winter (throw on a sweater). "

Duh!

"I find that if I don't go to the store, I don't spend money."

Do tell?

We go to Aldi in Alexandria for the basics. The cereals are off brand and taste better than the name brand stuff. Ditto with most of their products. As a result I feed two ravenous tall people for (and yes we figured this out) 50% less than the prices at Giant. We get our produce in season, and rarely organic, and stick to basics like bananas.

Eventually I'm going to trade in my car for a hybrid, but I plan to wait until it is 12 (it is 10 now. God bless Toyota).
Bringing lunch to work has also made a big difference, as has buying clothes only when they are on sale and when they are replacing clothes that don't fit or are worn out. I'm also downgrading on coffee - at the ABP near my office a refill coffee is only $1.30 a day if you bring your own mug. Yay savings.

'Saving money is fine but when it totally takes over all of your experiences and actions, it is wrong."

This is fine to say if money is not an issue in your household. But for some people, money is definitely an issue. I saw an article on how Food Banks are being squeezed because so many people's food money is now being taken up by rising energy costs. So for such people, thriftiness has to become a way of life in order to survive.

The flip side of the coin, of course, is that for certain segments of our population, the upper middle class and wealthy, spending money thoughtlessly can also be a way of life, and this is bad too. I think it is good that people look at their spending habits and find ways to cut down and live more simply. I actually think that being thoughtful about what you spend contributes to your overall well-being and enjoyment of life.

Oops. Make that $1.30 a refill on the coffee...

Ok, for the record, I am a lawyer/banker mom who is extremely busy. I used to say that I was too busy to clip coupons and do the whole bit, until I realized that I was saving REAL money. I don't like to clip coupons so I have my kids do it. They love it and it keeps them busy. I rarely buy misc. things and I'm not brand specific so that helps.

How I save:

I buy most of my coupons from www.couponclippers.com. It's an awesome service. By going through them, I only get coupons on stuff that I need. I only shop at groc stores that double coupons.

I review all weekly specials online. It's much faster.

Deal of the week: Suave shampoo was on sale for $.88. I had a $.50 coupon which was doubled. I got $.12 back. Harris Teeter will actually give you the money back. Rite Aid had Electrosol dishwashing liquid on sale for 2.99. I had a 2.25 coupon and then got a 2.00 rebate. I made .75.

Instead of giving things to goodwill like I used to, I now sell at consignment shops. It's nice to get checks in the mail.

I generally only buy bogo deals and I have spent less than $75 on food this month so far for a family of 4.

My husband and I make well over $350k a year and I still do it. After a while, it becomes a game! I'm not independently wealthy and am still paying off law school loans! Every little bit helps! I have 2 kids to put through college.

"Silk Soy Milk, Raisins, and canned soups are my other usual Target buys."

Good title for a country western song....

From the OB:

"Ever since I got out of college and didn't have to work pumping gas or bagging groceries, I've insisted on - and only accepted - jobs where the criteria is "doing the work and making the customer happy", NOT "putting in X hours".

Posted by: Army Brat | January 30, 2007 10:57 AM

Yikes,
Stalker on the blog. Pretty pathetic.

Cost-cutting measures for a 2-working-parent family:

1. If you have a second car, get rid of it. Carpool or use public transportation to fill the gap.
2. Cancel cable TV. Netflix is great, and much cheaper.
3. If both parents have cellphones, cancel the land line.
4. Buy most of your kids' toys and clothes at thrift stores or yard sales, or do swaps with other parents.
5. Take advantage of the local library.
6. Find a few healthy, cheap recipes that you can cook in bulk and make last for two meals (eg black bean soup, chicken casserole)
7. Pack your lunch at least 3 days a week.

Taken together, these measures can save a family of 3 or 4 hundreds of dollars a month.

I have to admit that I also sneak snacks into the movies, and I don't feel even a little guilty about it.

Posted by: Emily | July 16, 2008 12:02 PM

Why does this not surprise anyone......Probably sneaks in frozen spinach too.

The pathetic stalker strikes again.

'Saving money is fine but when it totally takes over all of your experiences and actions, it is wrong."

This is fine to say if money is not an issue in your household. But for some people, money is definitely an issue. I saw an article on how Food Banks are being squeezed because so many people's food money is now being taken up by rising energy costs. So for such people, thriftiness has to become a way of life in order to survive

If you have money to go to the movies I don't think you are struggling to survive. Just an excuse for being cheap, which apparently you are too.

To: say no to cheapness:

You might do better by saying no to stupidity instead. It apparently hampers you more than cheapness ever will.

Some good things in that list, but not all are practical.

Cost-cutting measures for a 2-working-parent family:

1. If you have a second car, get rid of it. Carpool or use public transportation to fill the gap.

Not practical. My wife's job and mine are in opposite directions. Public transportation isn't a viable option. And carpooling makes it very hard if not impossible to work the flexible hours we like and respond to family needs (like pick up a sick kid).

2. Cancel cable TV. Netflix is great, and much cheaper.

Sorry, Netflix doesn't carry live sports. I gotta have my Habs fix. Agree that Netflix is superior to HBO, Showtime, Skin-e-max packages.

3. If both parents have cellphones, cancel the land line.

Good idea, but there is the problem of what to do if the power goes out for extended periods. Then the only phone that's going to work is the old-fashioned landline because it carries its own power.

4. Buy most of your kids' toys and clothes at thrift stores or yard sales, or do swaps with other parents.

Maybe.

5. Take advantage of the local library.

Good.

...

"If you have money to go to the movies I don't think you are struggling to survive"

Perhaps Emily, unlike you, is capable of understanding that other people have different situations and showing some understanding to them. The fact that Emily has money to go to the movies does not mean that there are not a lot of people who are in fact living hand to mouth and for whom saving a few dollars is essential. Bullocks for you that you're not one of them - criticize KVB and people who make tons of money but pinch every penny all you want. But don't pretend there aren't people who have to watch every dime.

To: say no to cheapness:

You might do better by saying no to stupidity instead. It apparently hampers you more than cheapness ever will.

Posted by: Emily | July 16, 2008 12:43 PM

Keep making excuses for yourself and your cheapness. Wonder what other little cheap things you do. Bring food into a restaurant to save money? Throw a can of vegetables on the floor and demand a discount for a dent? Cheap people are like drug addicts, always making excuses and justifications.

And yet another way to save money:
Limit the number of children you have. I had my second child this past year, and that is it for us (for both money and health reasons). But I was telling my husband that if we had a ton of money, I would go for at least one more. Interestingly enough, having a second child made me long for a third. But it would not be prudent, so we are stopping.

One way I mange to keep the grocery budget under control is to make a list and stick to it. I used to make spur of the moment purchases but now I "just say no".
It also helps to have something to eat before I go to the store. I find I tend to buy more if I am hungry.
I don't take the children with me. They sneak things into the cart when I am not looking and if they help put things on the conveyer belt I sometimes miss the extra items.

But when you go to a movie they have the right to say - no outside snacks.

I think it's not right to teach your children that they don't have to follow rules because it's too expensive.

Take your kids to the movies and tell them no snacks, they're too expensive, we'll have a treat at home later. But don't tell them "it's OK to break this rule because we are special."

Posted by: RoseG | July 16, 2008 11:22 AM

I agree, RoseG. Plus, we do our kids a disservice when we make watching movies become a trigger for unnecessary consumption. We have dinner at 6:30, go out to a 7:45 show. Why on earth would we need to consume 1000+ calories of sweets and movie butter in order to enjoy IronMan? We'll have a snack when we get home, if we want one.

I also dislike coupons. They encourage consumption of branded, processed foods. Go to your local farmers market, buy house brands of only what you really need, reuse and recycle sandwich bags and eat better for less.

"Cheap people are like drug addicts, always making excuses and justifications."

What on earth happened to you? Have you ever heard of live and let live? Go ahead and overspend if you wish. No skin off my nose. But really, get a grip. How other people save money does not hurt you a bit.

To ?????? @ 12:35: very good; you show reasonable google skills. But you'll notice that doesn't say that bagging groceries was the only thing I did while working in the grocery store (and I'll add that pumping gas wasn't the only thing I did while working at the gas station).

I'm torn between mildly amused and mildly concerned that you and/or TooMuch recalled enough about that January 2007 blog to go google it at all. To each his/her own, I guess.

RoseG and MN - I know you guys are right. It would just be better to avoid bringing snacks to the movies. But for me, the snacks are part of the experience. I always buy the popcorn. Too hard to sneak that in. But I bring my own canned sodas and chocolate.

To me, seeing the movie and eating popcorn and chocolate are part of the total experience. If I just wanted to see the movie, I would wait a few months and see it at home.

Fortunately, we rarely go to the movies. It's mostly netflix for us.

I'm torn between mildly amused and mildly concerned that you and/or TooMuch recalled enough about that January 2007 blog to go google it at all. To each his/her own, I guess.

Posted by: ArmyBrat | July 16, 2008 1:00 PM

Hey, AB, look at the bright side. At least they are not talking about YOUR hemorrhoids.

I haven't seen anything on this blog that constitute cheapness. Cheapness is buying a roll of 2 ply TP and then separating it to make to 2 rolls of 1-ply TP. Bringing your own snacks to the movie? Not cheap. The theater can ask you not to, but its not like they can search bags. You want to see cheap, wait until Michelle Singletary does her contest, then you'll see some cheap people.

We save on groceries by growing alot of vegetables and hunting and fishing for some of our meat.
We don't go to movies or have a T.V., that stuff is no good for kids, mostly read stories and the Bible and listen to the radio.
We save alot on electricity by going to bed early and getting up early.

Cheapness is reusing paper towels that you have blown your nose on. I actually once met a person who did this. It was a surreal experience. He had a clothes lines draped across his living room where the used paper towels hung to dry. I almost died when this nutso guy took one off the line, blew his nose, and then carefully hung it up again to dry. Now that's EEWWW.

Cheap vs. frugal

Give low cost gift to friend=frugal
Give gift you have used and hope friend does not notice=cheap

breaking rules or lying to save money=cheap
denying yourself something=frugal

Having alot of money in the bank and not tipping or tipping a buck=cheap
leaving 15 percent instead of 20 percent=frugal

never driving others to lunch =cheap
carpooling to lunch=frugal

Many more, just a sampling of people i know both cheap and frugal

Posted by: Laura | July 16, 2008 1:09 PM

Is this LAURA INGALLS? Pa said get off that computer and go to bed.

We save money by only taking a bath once a week. And we recycle the water. First Dad takes a bath, then mom, then the kids. Then we empty out the bathtub.

Crap. I am right with you Emily, I love snacks at the movie. But then, I realize that MN is right, and that's a learned habit thanks to the effective marketing of movie purveyors, and do I really want to pass that on? Argh! Cognitive. Dissonance. Forming. Can't. Think.

Actually, one of my favorite memories when I was a kid was when my mom decided we would skip out on some stupid thing we were supposed to go to, and she got us McDonald's, and we snuck it in to the theater to watch ET. It combines all of the wrongs decried over the last two days, but we had the best time. It was really fun.

Posted by: Laura | July 16, 2008 1:09 PM

Ummm, yeah. Different Laura (Ingalls, perhaps?). Tho I did save probably $40 by making my own blackberry jam this year. :-)

Babycrocs - Your story just reminded me of a story my mom told me about her childhood. She and her sister were invited to a birthday party (in rural 1950s South America). So her mom bought a box of English cookies for them to take as a present. Apparently, these were considered a very nice gift. So my mother and her sister decided to skip the party, take a detour to the local pond, and go swimming and eat the cookies instead. She said it was a fabulous time.

When I was younger, I used to save money by getting standing room only seats at the theater. I remember seeing Les Miserable at the Kennedy Center that way, as well as a few plays at the Folger.

I don't think I am up for that anymore, though. Too old.

We bring (sneak) snacks into the theater for the kids. We go to matinees to save money since our schedule allows it, usually mid afternoon with a box of Jujubees. I don't think my kids are going to go out and rob a bank because we broke a rule.

Emily

"When I was younger, I used to save money by getting standing room only seats at the theater. I remember seeing Les Miserable at the Kennedy Center that way, as well as a few plays at the Folger.

I don't think I am up for that anymore, though. Too old."

I agree. At a certain age the "cheap", the "bargains", the "deals", and the "free" stuff lost its appeal for me. I went to the "free" day at the zoo - once - never, never, ever again. I can afford to pay full price and that's usually what I do.

I don't believe in skimping to save $0.63, I believe in running a business as a second job. I bid on and won a small IT contract for $4000 this winter and while I'm going to owe an extra $1500 of taxes next year, I have $2500 in the bank that means my family can get name brand cheese instead of processed cheese food. Quite literally, that's $50 extra per week.

You spend 50 dollars a week on cheese?

1. Public schools
Don't want my kid go to private school for 12 years@20000/year only to find him with a public school grad as a roommate in college.
2. Community college/State U
2 years there, and transfer to your dream school on much better terms than as a freshman.
3. Vacations
Camping, visiting relatives (reciprocative), taking kids to business trips and conferences.
4. FSA
Do an estimate of your health related expenses and put some pretax money in it. Did you know that vitamins, antacids, OTC medicines,etc., are FSA eligible also?
5. Library.
We stil buy some books and DVDs we want to keep, but most come from the library.

If you kill the big money suckers, you don't have to clip coupons. However, if you have to, here are a few easy targets:
-- Macy twice a year sale -- up to 90% off
-- after XMas, V-Day sales at CVS and Target, the same
-- Asian stores: freshest and cheapest (and exotic too!)greens, good fish (if you know how to tell what's fresh), and restaurant quality dumplings.

I don't use coupons since they are mostly for junk food or processed foods. If you buy your veggies at farmer's markets and stick to rice, pasta and veggies and not so much meat, your grocery bills won't be too high (nor will your health bills be high).

I always save money just by being prepared. A day out means filling a thermos with water or juice and making PB&J sandwiches. The kids don't care. The younger they are, the less they care, since they don't know any better. Then you can use a bit of money for an ice cream treat.

I really hope the post about sharing tub water was a joke.

"I don't think my kids are going to go out and rob a bank because we broke a rule."

I don't know, siggy, the more I think about it the more I think that night at ET may have planted the seeds for my organized crime ring...

Smart cookie

"Asian stores: freshest and cheapest (and exotic too!)greens, good fish (if you know how to tell what's fresh), and restaurant quality dumplings."

Asian stores: too many Board of Health citations for rodents and rodent droppings. Waay too exotic for me.

You spend 50 dollars a week on cheese?

Posted by: Wow | July 16, 2008 1:47 PM

Right - they save on toilet paper since they are constipated.

"You spend 50 dollars a week on cheese?

Posted by: Wow | July 16, 2008 1:47 PM

Right - they save on toilet paper since they are constipated."

And the bad breath cuts down on the spread of disease in the house, thus cutting down on health care costs - a two-fer!

My spouse won't do any of these steps. My Spouse goes to Whole Foods, buys all organic, buys nothing using a coupon, or a store brand of comparable quality. Doesn't serve left overs but lets them rot. I have to surveil the fridge for leftovers that need eating. Spouse will buy individual milk boxes, pop one open for the kids who will take 2 sips and then they are thrown out (the milk, not the kids). We spend $1000 per moth on groceries for 2 adults and 2 little kids. Coupons? I wish.

3. If both parents have cellphones, cancel the land line.

This is impractical and unsafe at least for our family.

ArmyBrat raised the valid issue of extended power outages.

I'll add to that,

1. our kids need a landline to call 911 if for some reason something happens to one of us. My cellphone is password protected. The password changes every 8 weeks. I don't want my kids to have to sweat this. One emergency is all it takes to make the $19.94 savings look exceedingly foolish.

2. Our coverage stinks at home and we have two different cell service providers. I'm not going to have my 85 year old mother trying to hear me through static and waste half of our call time uttering the famous words, "can you ehar me now?" Life is just too short.

Posted by: rescue me | July 16, 2008 2:07 PM

Call me, Dirty deeds done dirt cheap...

"I don't use coupons since they are mostly for junk food or processed foods."

Yesterday, I saved $2.00 on Advil, $1.00 on hair conditioner and $1.00 on Hanes apparel. No junk food or processed food, these are things I use on a regular basis, 2 of the items were actually on sale. If you're not going to use coupons, fine, but come up with a better excuse.

We bring (sneak) snacks into the theater for the kids. We go to matinees to save money since our schedule allows it, usually mid afternoon with a box of Jujubees. I don't think my kids are going to go out and rob a bank because we broke a rule.

Posted by: Siggy | July 16, 2008 1:36 PM

Just wait and see

"3. If both parents have cellphones, cancel the land line.

This is impractical and unsafe at least for our family.

ArmyBrat raised the valid issue of extended power outages. "

MN - that was m2j5c2, not me. He's actually a friend of mine from Toronto days, but I'm NOT a Habs fan! :-)

Smart cookie

"Asian stores: freshest and cheapest (and exotic too!)greens, good fish (if you know how to tell what's fresh), and restaurant quality dumplings."

Asian stores: too many Board of Health citations for rodents and rodent droppings. Waay too exotic for me.

Posted by: No thanx | July 16, 2008 1:55 PM

Just wash them, dude...

Right - they save on toilet paper since they are constipated."

Right, but in the end, they have to buy Fleet, so it cancels out the toilet paper savings.

Haven't read through it all, but...

1) atb, you are correct - when I was SAHM, I was able to get stuff on sale, or be a better shopper, rather than the 'oh, no, there's a birthday party in an hour and I need a gift' type of things. I could be a better shopper, and be more frugal, being able to get to the dollar store or whatever rather than having to buy stuff wherever I was, and it could be more expensive.

2) having DH shop is WAY cheaper than me shopping. Because he ONLY buys what is on the list. (except for beer). So, when I say: why didn't you get XXX? He'll say: it wasn't on the list. And I'll say: well, i forgot it, but didn't you know we were running low. Well, his answer is: I'm a clueless boy. *sigh*.

3) again - if you have all the time in the world, yes, you can save, but it's a time management, risk/reward kinda thing.

4) even given the above, DH is horrible with clipping coupons, etc. He will NEVER spend a second worrying about what things cost or whatever. Drives me nuts, as I am not a crazy coupon clipper, but do like to keep it in mind (i.e., getting those CVS coupons, or using the entertainment book we have, or publix coupons we get, etc). DH doesn't care at all. Which frees me to not worry so much about it (even though I do sometimes).

"ArmyBrat raised the valid issue of extended power outages. "

Doesn't ArmyBrat's family use smoke signals?

Forgot: avoiding temptation is a big moneysaver for me. I know Wegman's is my weakness. I used to think that I could save so much there, because their prices on regular food and staples are incredible. But I can't resist the other half of the store, with the fantastic deli, the desserts, the homemade breads, the fantastic cheeses, and the high-end meats are. I always rationalized those extras as a "treat" that was ok, since I don't get out there that much. But then I looked at the grocery bills. Those periodic "treats" were adding up to $100+/month -- more than outweighing the savings on the cheap stuff, and not so good on our waistlines, either. So now, I only go once or twice a year, when I know I am specifically looking for special splurges (works great for Christmas shopping).

Same thing with Trader Joe's -- they have good prices on a lot of stuff, but when I go, I find myself buying a lot more snacky stuff than I normally do (again with the good cheeses and homemade breads). So I only let myself go occasionally, and I treat it as a splurge instead of as a normal grocery store run.

For families, think hard before you get rid of the land-line altogether in favor of the double-parent cell phones. awkward when you have elementary school kids. My cousins did that and it's horrible for us. Sometimes we want to call the house and the child (7 year-olds want to play) and NOT disturb whichever parent is out because we guessed wrong. And I really don't want my kids friends calling my cell phone while I'm at work. I suppose with older kids with their own cell phones it would work, but just think about family and social dynamics before you get rid of the family line.
Oh, as for power outages, bad example for us. Our phone is through the cable line and does go off when the power is out, but we have car chargers if the cell phone battery runs low.

I don't think my kids are going to go out and rob a bank because we broke a rule."

I don't know, siggy, the more I think about it the more I think that night at ET may have planted the seeds for my organized crime ring...

Posted by: babycrocs | July 16, 2008 1:53 PM

Blame your parents! I'll take the blame if my kids become career criminals due to the "evil snack food sneak," as it is now called. Seriously, don't these small things overcome everything we teach our kids?

Sorry, I'm not perfect or perfectly consistent. When you meet that parent, punch him in the nose so the rest of us don't look so bad.

Asian stores: too many Board of Health citations for rodents and rodent droppings. Waay too exotic for me.

Posted by: No thanx | July 16, 2008 1:55 PM

bigoted, much?

Yesterday, I saved $2.00 on Advil, $1.00 on hair conditioner and $1.00 on Hanes apparel. No junk food or processed food, these are things I use on a regular basis, 2 of the items were actually on sale. If you're not going to use coupons, fine, but come up with a better excuse.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 2:21 PM

The hair conditioner is a name brand and was more expensive than the house brand or competing brands, even with $1 off. Same for the Advil. Competing nonbranded products are less expensive all the time.

Using coupons for these products is akin to bragging about how you got a handbag for 75% off at Neimans. If you're not going to shop wisely, fine, but a little humility when you spend $75 more than the smart shopper is in order.

Pre-reading comments:
The Parade article was interesting in its lack of innovation for me. Those are things I grew up doing and figured it was mostly common sense. I guess for people who've had lots of disposable income until now, it can be a harsh lesson to learn.

Freecycle is of course the best thing since porn and should be used heavily. Co-ops, swaps, chores for special items, and all that can make basic expenses very low.

Most of it is learning HOW to shop well- preparing, recognizing that 20 dollars taken out now means less at the end of the month/year/career, and knowing that the same quality stuff is out there at extremely varying prices if you know where and how to get it.

ArmyBrat, it sounded sensible, so I mis-remembered it as being posted by you, LOL. My apologies to your spot-on friend who has the same point-by-point rebuttal style.

oh my my: "

Asian stores: too many Board of Health citations for rodents and rodent droppings. Waay too exotic for me.

Posted by: No thanx | July 16, 2008 1:55 PM

bigoted, much?"

No, not at all, thanks. See for example
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/09/AR2007080902022.html?referrer=emailarticle
(WaPo, Aug 10 2007)

Comments from that article:

"An Ellicott City supermarket specializing in Asian and other international foods was closed this week for numerous health code violations that have gone unaddressed for months, Howard County officials said yesterday."

"The Lotte supermarket, in the 8800 block of Baltimore National Pike, will not be allowed to reopen until the owners eliminate rodent infestation, repair malfunctioning freezers and correct poor maintenance practices, said Peter Beilenson, the county health officer. Health officials said they closed the supermarket Tuesday evening after determining that conditions had deteriorated."

"It's distressing," said Beilenson, who toured the facility yesterday.

Beilenson said he found widespread evidence of rat infestation, freezers that failed to keep food cold and water leaking into basement areas and damaging unused food containers"

Just the facts. Facts can be your friends. You should check them before you go insinuating that somebody else is a racist/bigot/whatever.

I save money on trash service by waiting until night to dump my trashbags into the neighbors garbage cans.

And I don't have to spend money on internet broadband service. I simply sit outside my neighbors houses and hop onto their wireless LAN.

I also have a siphon that I can use whenever I need gasoline.

And we joined a CSA and we LOVE it. Yes, it took a while to figure out what to do with the food (like I've EATEN cole slaw, but never MADE it). And there are things I've never even seen in the grocery store, let alone eaten. It's great to try new things all the time.

We paid $700 for 20 weeks - which is $35 a week. I really don't know if that's a good deal or not (an extra $8 for fruit - but it's not enough fruit - so I end up buying more, two things of blueberries goes in 20 minutes in my house). But it's a GREAT experience.

"Just the facts. Facts can be your friends. You should check them before you go insinuating that somebody else is a racist/bigot/whatever."

People like this don't care about facts, they just want to throw the racist bomb whenever they can. They should generally be ignored.

Sgt. Friday

"People like this don't care about facts, they just want to throw the racist bomb whenever they can."

And you know this because?

Laura: well, i used to shop in whole foods (til I realized how expensive it was) and I would see the pre cooked stuff and think: oh, that's easy, I can make it myself - I would save so much. So I've learned to expand my repertoire that way...and save money too.

"And you know this because?"

Because "no thanx" responded to a post about Asian groceries and health code violations by saying that the poster was bigoted. There was no support for "no thanx" opinion, no facts (not even a fax :-) - just "you think that so by definition you're a bigot."

Just the facts. Facts can be your friends. You should check them before you go insinuating that somebody else is a racist/bigot/whatever.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 3:10 PM

Facts are my friend, but they are unknown to you. The fact is that you dismiss as "too exotic" an entire subset of supermarkets based on one Korean store in Howard County in 2007, then slander the rest by suggesting that all Asian markets are prone to similar violations.

You are a bigot. That is not an insinuation. It is a fact.

Bob- my partner and I have two coupon boxes. One as you said, separated by type of item, and another for RESTAURANT coupons. There's tons of great ones out there.

RoseG- to me sneaking snacks into a movie theater isn't because "we're special" but because "the rule is stupid and only to make the movie theaters more money"

Now, do I do it? No, unless I want my special candy that they don't stock. But I used to as a kid and find no fault in it.

Speaking of movies- both AMC and Regal have great members clubs that give away coupons and let you collect points over time. I find AMC's totally kicks butt, but Regal has some nice stuff, too.

Also- we often go to matinees in the afternoon or pre-lunch. Skimpier costs, fewer crowds and you aren't just adding calories to the meal you ate.

As a movie buff, it's a priority quality of life issue for me :)

And you know this because?

Posted by: Again with the mindreading | July 16, 2008 3:18 PM

this poster said it well-
"And you know this because?"

Because "no thanx" responded to a post about Asian groceries and health code violations by saying that the poster was bigoted. There was no support for "no thanx" opinion, no facts (not even a fax :-) - just "you think that so by definition you're a bigot."

Posted by: Pep Streebeck | July 16, 2008 3:24 PM

seems pretty obvious to all of us, maybe you should read the posts better

You are a bigot. That is not an insinuation. It is a fact.

Posted by: oh my my | July 16, 2008 3:25 PM

Sigh, some people just don't get it. You probably think terms like blackhole are racist too. What a crashing bore....

I went to chinatown in SF. I counted 1 dead dog outside of a restaurant and I saw 2 rats. I didn't eat down there, if that's racist, so be it. You are welcome to my share of that culinary experience....

Take a Hike, there's a fountain just for you next to the entrance at the back of the store.

"Because "no thanx" responded to a post about Asian groceries and health code violations by saying that the poster was bigoted. There was no support for "no thanx" opinion, no facts (not even a fax :-) - just "you think that so by definition you're a bigot."

Posted by: Pep Streebeck | July 16, 2008 3:24 PM "

Learn how to READ before you fly off with your kneejerk posts!!!!
Go back and check the posters' names....

The hair conditioner is a name brand and was more expensive than the house brand or competing brands, even with $1 off. Same for the Advil. Competing nonbranded products are less expensive all the time.

Using coupons for these products is akin to bragging about how you got a handbag for 75% off at Neimans. If you're not going to shop wisely, fine, but a little humility when you spend $75 more than the smart shopper is in order.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 2:58 PM

The conditioner was name brand, Fructis, its the best thing I have found for my naturally curly hair, some things I will NOT skimp on. The Advil was on sale for less than the store brand, but the best bargain was the Hanes 4 pk womens hipsters, marked down to $2.98.

Could we get back to the coupon conversation?

Take a Hike, there's a fountain just for you next to the entrance at the back of the store.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 3:31 PM

How's that ebonics class coming along?

"If you're not going to shop wisely, fine, but a little humility when you spend $75 more than the smart shopper is in order."

Mind your own business, skank.

no thanx - whoops; mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

it was 'oh my my' who fired off the 'you're a bigot' missile, not 'no thanx'

Gonna be driving that Yugo with Joe for a long time for this one :-(

I save money by wearing my underwear for two days before I wash it. I simply turn it inside out for the second day. Works for me!

I love the article in the AJC (can't find it now) from a few days ago that was trying to show how hard hit people are having it and they're taking any job they can find, an extra job, etc.

So they profile someone who works in a bank or something and she has to get a job in a strip club in the evenings to pay the bills.

Then they refer to her 5 BR house, and she bemoans all sorts of things that the rest of us would think are luxuries.

Restaurant.com has some coupons we've used. Not too shabby.

The only time growing up we 'snuck' stuff into the movie theater was during passover, when we couldn't eat any of the stuff they were selling. I *so* remember it - my parents were telling us not to get caught, and that it was a terrible thing to do, but if we wanted snacks, we didn't have any choice but to do it (I know, MN, you don't HAVE to have snacks, but we wanted them...).

oh, and if you've EVER worked at a restaurant, anything you've seen as a non worker would be completely tame in comparison. I have to block it all out or I would never eat out again.

Pep Streebeck

All is forgiven. Come home. Wire for details.

So Thrifty Person do you also do wh*re baths?

I tried to attach the link from urban dictionary, but the bad word police would let me.

www.urbandictionary.com

I laughed at Laura's comment about Wegman's. My Dad lives near one and it's part of my annual family vacation to go there and spend a bundle on great food! I'm lucky it's not close.
I don't have time to be anal about coupons but I plan meals ahead and take advantage of sales when they don't take me out of my way. Happened to be in Boston last weekend and got some wicked good deals on produce at the outdoor Hay Market but can't do that every week!
I'm also slowly replacing big-ticket items with more energy-efficient models. I've been lucky on timing -- relaced 16-year-old car with new Honda Fit last year and replaced faltering 12-year-old fridge with one that's 40 percent more efficient this year. And periodically I check on costs like insurance, phone etc. to see if I can get a better bargain from the companies involved.

yo fattie, carm down!

I'm neither married nor have children but even I've noticed that groceries are more expensive than they used to be. Coupons definitely help a lot and also making sure to wait for a sale to buy something. Buying in bulk only works for certain items such as toilet paper and crackers where I don't have to worry about spoilage. The best deals are when you can combine a coupon with a sale price.

I hate driving all around town to do my shopping since that just wastes both time and gasoline which is the same thing as money nowadays. So, I've found a few stores where I like what they sell and seem to have good prices and stick to them.

At the country club we make fun of all you scrimpers, trying to make yourselves "Nouveau Riche."

Little Red, never, never, ever tell them you don't have children. You're just opening a whole new can of worms for MMs.

I thynk every1 on this blog should follow the example of my second mom, dina lohan. she nows how to save and provid for her famili.

I thynk every1 on this blog should follow the example of my second mom, dina lohan. she nows how to save and provid for her famili.

Posted by: luvlinsey | July 16, 2008 4:14 PM

Pimping out your children isn't exactly the best example of providing for your famiy.

Dina picks up extra money working at Skanx R Us

u guyz r just jelus that dina is a gr8 mom with succesful childrn and carrers. she workd hard and saved and clipt couponz to provid for her famili. this blog shuld write a storee on her.

luvlinsey, why don't you have Dina send in a guest blog for OP? We'd all LUV to read it!

luvlinsey, why don't you have Dina send in a guest blog for OP? We'd all LUV to read it!

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 4:30 PM

do you live in a house made of gingerbread and candy?

Nice to see that luvlinsey has found a new home here with all the MM's.

You all take yourselves WAY too seriously. I agree with Sasquatch - CARM DOWN!

(scampers back to celebritology)

Yes, the OP people, esp. the MM do take themselves rather seriously.

Posted by: Cecilia | July 16, 2008 4:38 PM

luvlinsey'z stil loukin fur 2nd momz.

I thought that Stacey had an excellent topic today and I though I would pick up some good tips. But no, you all have to be so hateful sometimes.

I do appreciate the tips from Donna and Restonmom among others today.

Thank you for taking luvlinsey from us. Now (s)he's your headache, not ours.

You posters on OP are NUTS. All of your kids are going to turn into addicts and "working" women anyway!

I am surprised that none of the MM has yet admitted washing out and reusing certain feminine products.

"Oh, I only used it once on my last day! Surely, I can reuse!"

Posted by: Cecilia | July 16, 2008 4:48 PM

seriously, do you guys reuse feminine products?

NASTY!

Cecilia, even i think thats gross.

You posters on OP are NUTS. All of your kids are going to turn into addicts and "working" women anyway!

Posted by: Dorkus | July 16, 2008 4:46 PM

*********************************

Hi, real Dorkus here, I just want to say that this was not me. I have a deep respect for all women and, while i will admit to mocking some of the goings on here, I assure you I could find something much wittier to put in my post.

You spend 50 dollars a week on cheese?

Posted by: Wow | July 16, 2008 1:47 PM

Right - they save on toilet paper since they are constipated.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 2:00 PM

I think they reuse their toilet paper as well. More Savings!!!!

What do you think women used a century ago before disposable sanitary napkins were invented? They used clean rags (hence the term "on the rag") during those rare *periods* when they didn't get pregnant right away after having their latest baby.

Granny, Jethro, Elly May an' me use the old Sears Roebuck catalog fer toilet paper out in the 2-holer. We call it recicling.

Luna Pads. Google it.

All right! WTF is impersonating me on this blog???? None of the previous "Sasquatch" posts are mine. I've been posting over at Celebritology and have been in "read only" mode on this blog for awhile.

If I find the imposter, that little *hit is gonna be recyling their own used toilet paper.

All right! WTF is impersonating me on this blog???? None of the previous "Sasquatch" posts are mine. I've been posting over at Celebritology and have been in "read only" mode on this blog for awhile.

If I find the imposter, that little *hit is gonna be recyling their own used toilet paper.

Posted by: The Real Sasquatch is NOT amused | July 16, 2008 5:16 PM

Yo Fatty Carm Down!

to anon at 5:17 - I don't think you want to mess with an angry cryptid

Yea. I'll carm right down yer throat.

Paw and Granny hardly ever go to the market. We grow or hunt most of our vittles. I think we could afford to go to a real market but ain't hardly no reason.
We are real conservative too - we use our shirt tails for napkins.

You posters on OP are NUTS. All of your kids are going to turn into addicts and "working" women anyway!

Posted by: Dorkus | July 16, 2008 4:46 PM

this is what passes for civil discussion on the Celebritology blog? Nice.

anon at 5:17, let the wookie win.

"If you're not going to shop wisely, fine, but a little humility when you spend $75 more than the smart shopper is in order."

Mind your own business, skank.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 3:45 PM

Another genteel post.

You posters on OP are NUTS. All of your kids are going to turn into addicts and "working" women anyway!

Posted by: Dorkus | July 16, 2008 4:46 PM

this is what passes for civil discussion on the Celebritology blog? Nice.

Posted by: | July 16, 2008 5:33 PM

_________________

That was not Dorkus - nor was it any of our normal Celbritology folks. You can tell because it just wasn't amusing. We pick on celebrities, not each other.....

Ellie Mae, do you still use corncobs after #2?

Where can I find a coupon for weasel flambe?

Oops. Just back from a meeting. I have to say that the invasion of the Celebritologists is kind of funny.

Naw - we use the Sears and Roebuck catalog. If that is gone we use $100 bills. Paw says that ain't worth poo anyhow.

But are they the REAL celebritologists? Or is this Ge Real's revenge?

As an avid Celebritologist, most of the posts by the so-called celebritologist (Dorkus M. & Sasquatch) were not real. I know their work, they are much funnier. Though you are welcome to keep luvlinsey.

m2j5c2: great note on the landline-electricity connection. However, it works only if the phone doesn't require electricity. Remember to keep a non-electric phone on hand.

A couple of years ago we had a really bad storm, without power for 6 days, of course only had cordless phones. I would have to take my cell phone to work to charge it. Suffice it to say I bought a land line phone after that. Came in handy much sooner than I expected. 5 months later an ice storm, no power for 4 days.

atb- we are in Southwestern Pa, but when we drive to SC there are several stores in MD and VA that also except our gas discounts. The stores are Giant Eagle, the gas is Get Go.

For those of you who are skeptical of using only cell phones, for less than $10 a month we have a Verizon line to the house that excepts all incoming calls. The plan includes 20 local calls and the rate after that is not horrible (we generally don't exceed it though). It is great for our kids friends getting in touch with them.

Accept(s), not except(s), please. I'm sorry but that was just a little painful.

Stroke survivor here with small motor problems -- I can't cut coupons too easily -- i like stores like cvs that just give you a card and you use that for the discount

I couldn't get 20 comments in before the kids started posting potty talk, make this board registration required.

I have come to the conclusion that everything goes on sale every 6-8 weeks or so so i stock up on the things that we regularily use when they go on sale. We buy bulk items at costco when it makes sense, and dry items at wallmart or target since they are usually cheaper than the sale price at the grocery store. I dont buy much processed food, or packaged mixes. When i cook, i cook for 4-6 meals - one for that evening, one for later in the week and the rest for the freezer. i plant a small "salad" garden, green beans, and melons, and we have fruit trees. so i dont have to buy fresh vegetables 5 months out of the year, and frut for 3.