Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
i just put the costco maple syrup and ketchup in my will . i will likely have it that long .
i don't want my family going "mathjak's dead , who gets the maple syrup and ketchup ????? /
Lol! Last week I bought pancakes. I did not buy syrup because I had two bottles in the cupboard. When I was about to eat my pancakes, I decided to check the expiration date of the syrup. One expired in 2015 and the other expired 1/16. I had to go to the corner store and pay an exorbitant price for syrup. Buying in bulk is not for me. Hopefully, I will have pancakes a couple more times because December. Lol!
My husband and I are the definition of frugal. I think we only spend over $100 to $150 a month for food for 2. We don't buy organic and we bring lunch to work everyday. We buy family packs of chicken (thighs and breasts only) and pork, prepackaged fish for about $60 a month at Shop Rite. We stricly buy our meats there and nothing else - no ice cream, chips, nothing. We go to our local fruit vegetable stand for $25, we stock up on apples, pears, bananas, kale, green peppers, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, and etc. We do this twice a month and I will eat almost everything in my fridge before I go buy more fruits and vegetables. So, 1x a month on meats and 2x a month on fruits/veggies.
We bring our breakfast and lunch each day and I like to meal plan for the week to know what I am making for lunch or dinner. On Sundays, I typically make a whole tray of my family pack chicken and I toss the roasted chicken with rice and veggies or quinoa and veggies. Basically, I shred the chicken and keep it in a container and I put it in salads, pasta, soups, and etc. It works like a charm.
On top of that, we keep track of our finances daily. We have spreadsheets of how much we spent or saved each month. We save more than 50% of our income since we rarely eat out. We never buy take out but we do buy a Costco pizza pie every once in a while. Oh yeah, we love going to Costco and we always buy cheddar cheese, milk, butter there maybe once a month. I love to bake, so I make fresh bread with bulk flour that I got at Costco and I make our breakfast items like banana bread and muffins.
We realized we like saving money more than going out to dinner-which we still do once in a while to celebrate a milestone. However, the reason we are saving is because we are in the process of buying our 1st home and we are setting aside money for renovations as well.
Saving money requires a lot of time and dedication, but the results make it all worthwhile.
That is fantastic! I am working towards becoming frugal. I have budgeted $250 for the month but the goal is $200. I am trying to keep my weekly grocery bill below $40. I succeeded today but it was challenging. I had to put stuff back. I bought a large pack of chicken thighs. I am going to make chicken stir fry and barbecue chicken. I allocated $40 for take out. I am not sure if I will need that much. I guess I will see how it goes.
It is funny but my desire to buy a home is what prompted me to make these changes. When do you plan to start looking? I hope to buy something in 2019. Good luck to you!
I could never get down to $300 per month to feed the two of us, not even if every meal was cooked at home.
goodlife, I recommend that instead of setting goals in advance, that you just free-wheel for a couple months to determine what you actually spend, rather than what you'd LIKE to spend. And then, if the numbers come out higher than you like, you can see where you can trim the fat.
Wow! I have come along way since that post. I have to set goals. It is the only way I will succeed. I think I am doing pretty well.
I just need to figure out how to keep things fresh and interesting. Lol!
i cancelled our memberships . it was silly after a while . we spent a fortune . i am an impulsive shopper . i can't be in any store without adult supervision .
instead of buying a box of something i would end up with a case .
we would just end up with so much extra crap we saved nothing .
best thing we ever did to save money was stop going and we do our shopping on line with pea pod and fresh direct . they deliver to us .
the fact i am not in a store buying crap i like has cut our food bills a lot
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-11-2017 at 01:51 PM..
Lol! Last week I bought pancakes. I did not buy syrup because I had two bottles in the cupboard. When I was about to eat my pancakes, I decided to check the expiration date of the syrup. One expired in 2015 and the other expired 1/16. I had to go to the corner store and pay an exorbitant price for syrup. Buying in bulk is not for me. Hopefully, I will have pancakes a couple more times because December. Lol!
I thought maple syrup never spoils. Or is that honey?
i cancelled our memberships . it was silly after a while . we spent a fortune . i am an impulsive shopper . i can't be in any store without adult supervision .
instead of buying a box of something i would end up with a case .
we would just end up with so much extra crap we saved nothing .
best thing we ever did to save money was stop going and we do our shopping on line with pea pod and fresh direct . they deliver to us .
the fact i am not in a store buying crap i like has cut our food bills a lot
I am not convinced buying in bulk saves you money in the long run. The store I shop at has Haagen Dazs for 2 for $7.00 and one for $4.59. Last week one was $3.59. I do not understand that. They had the small ones for 5 for $5.00. I ended up getting three.
Orange juice is normally $4.29. Today they had a sale for two for $6.00. I cannot afford that so I asked the guy how much is one. He said it is $3.00 but if you spend $25 and have a coupon, it will cost $1.88. I felt really good about that. That is a sale. You really have to be careful about sale items. It is possible they may jack up the price and say two for x to get you to spend more. I actually used a coupon today. I am learning. Lol!
That is fantastic! I am working towards becoming frugal. I have budgeted $250 for the month but the goal is $200. I am trying to keep my weekly grocery bill below $40. I succeeded today but it was challenging. I had to put stuff back. I bought a large pack of chicken thighs. I am going to make chicken stir fry and barbecue chicken. I allocated $40 for take out. I am not sure if I will need that much. I guess I will see how it goes.
It is funny but my desire to buy a home is what prompted me to make these changes. When do you plan to start looking? I hope to buy something in 2019. Good luck to you!
I am new to this website so I hope I am replying to this correctly... In any case, I suggest with the money you save - put it in your new home savings fund. Deposits for a home are usually 20% down and the prices in NYC are very pricey. We have been looking for about 3 years ago either to rent or own, but owning made more sense in terms of an monetary investment and tax purposes.
What I do immediately if I have extra money saved - I move the money to a savings account and I don't touch it. You can take out your grocery money in cash and put the rest of your income into a savings account. I can assure you that if you diligently set aside money for a month or more, your savings will grow over time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
/
I am working towards becoming frugal. I have budgeted $250 for the month but the goal is $200. I am trying to keep my weekly grocery bill below $40. I succeeded today but it was challenging. I had to put stuff back. I bought a large pack of chicken thighs. I am going to make chicken stir fry and barbecue chicken. I allocated $40 for take out. I am not sure if I will need that much. I guess I will see how it goes.
