Taking Advantage of Local Sales When You Aren't a Local

 We are currently camping in New York.  As we often do,we checked out the local grocery store.  We found some good deals that we will be taking home with us.  Sometimes it pays to shop like a local even when you are not.

Potatoes  were 99 cents for ten pounds.  We Bought twenty pounds.

Grated carrots, which I never buy, were half price.  I bought four bags for stir fry, carrot cake and carrot salad.  They are great in the RV.

Breakfast sausage links were six pounds for $4.99.  We bought six pounds.

Sugar was four pounds for $1.99.  We bought sixteen pounds.  I have jelly to make.

Frozen salmon was $3 /pound in a two pound pack.  We bought one pack.

European Carrot Cake

Carrots are plentiful and frugal.

  Hide some in a yummy dessert.  Since this recipe also contains pineapple and coconut you can almost convince yourself it is healthy.  :)  My husband has.  Lol!

2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 c sugar
1 c oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 can crushed pineapples, drained well
2 c grated carrots
1 c coconut
 1 c chopped nuts

 Bake at 350 for 45 minutes in a 9x12 pan.

 VERY moist.  Freezable.

2020Household and Personal Care Expenses: July

Personal Care:

Toothpaste  $1  Dollar Tree
curling iron  $10.99  Salvage
Razors $0.89  Salvage

Household:

dishwasher detergent  (3)  $5.97  Salvage
Bleach    $2.49Price Rite
Ammonia $1.49 Price Rite
gallon storage bags (4)  $3.56  salvage
Sandwich bags  0.79  Salvage
Aluminum foil  $$0.99  Salvage
quart storagebags (2)  $1.38
Roastin pans (2)  $2.12  Dollar Tree
Fling wrap $1.06  Dollar Tree

Total Personal Care:  $12.88
Total Household:  $19.85

Both are within budget.

The Cost of Convenience

 Convenience foods can save some time (although maybe not as much as you might first think) but they can also cost you a lot of money.  If you're trying to reduce your food costs, take a look at the convenience foods you buy.

Friday or Saturday night pizza is a given for many of us.  I can either make one at home, or I can buy one.  I have a super easy crust recipe.  I use spaghetti sauce for the base.  Vegetables predominate , although pepperoni and sausage do appear.  My large pizza costs only 20% of the one I could purchase.  The time difference isn't all that much either.  Do that three of four times a month and the money saved is noticeable.

Homemade bread, again I use an easy recipe, saves me 33%-66% per loaf.

Soda to go with that pizza, if bought in liter bottles and not six packs, can save you 50%.

Homemade hot cocoa in the winter is only about 33% of the cost of those convenient packets.

Homemade French fries rather than frozen fries:  frozen can cost 4 to 5 times more.  Cutting a potato is fast and easy.  

Potato chips can cost ten times the cost of the raw potatoes used.  Save money and make popcorn.  Stove popped popcorn vs microwaved?  Microwave is twelve times more expensive when you compare equal quantities.

Salad kits vs Romaine lettuce; chopped vegetables vs whole vegetables; prepared fruit salad vs fresh fruit; potatoes ready to bake vs ones you have to wash and wrap yourself; prepare cupcakes and birthday cakes vs purchased.  The list goes on.

Take some time and save some money.  Your budget will thank you.

2020 Buying and Eating: August 1-15

$10.99x31=$340.69 allocation for the month

Cushion $970.29

What We Ate:  Low carb chili with cheese and onions; hamburgers and cottage cheese; white chicken chili; Thai spicy rice and salad; Moroccan barley with beans and vegetables; vegetarian pasta bake (2); baked potato bar;  beef/t vp sloppy Joes; grilled chicken;  tvp chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes; chicken divan over rice; vegetable pizza

What We Bought:  

Tops:corn on the cob (3), red  lettuce, clementines (2#)  $3.31

J&A Farmer's Market:  quart basket of tomatoes, sweet onions (2) $11.00

Aldi:  English muffins, bagels, sourdough bread, grapes, cucumber, eggs (3), mustard  $11.86

Aldi: bagels$1.49

Eating Out:

Bean burrito  $2.16

Lunch with Cousins:  $23.98

Lunch with Mike's sister  $45.80

Groceries for Two Weeks. $27.66

Meals Out for Two Weeks  $71.94

Grand Total for Two Weeks  $99.60

Remaining Allocation for August  $241.09

2020 Meal Plan: August 1-15

Vegetarian:  Moroccan barley with beans and vegetables; vegetarian pasta bake (2); baked potato bar; tvp chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes; bean burrito; vegetable pizza

Low Meat:  white chicken chili; Thai spicy rice;  tvp and beef sloppy Joes; chicken divan over rice

Meat:  Low carb chili; hamburgers; grilled chicken

Vegetarian  7

Low Meat  4

Meat  3

Chipping Away at That Number

 Ok.  You still have a gap between the money and the month.  Let's see if we can chip away at that a little.  

1.  Can you lower your car insurance now that you aren't driving as much?

2.  Use your library for books, books on CD, movies, etc.  You may be able to cancel your media package or at least reduce it significantly.

3.  Try shopping at a reduced frills grocery store.  You can save a significant amount of money by doing so.

4.  Read the sales fliers and shop from them.  Plan your meals around what is available inexpensively.  

5.  When menu planning, deliberately plan low meat or no meat meals.  Meat is expensive.

6.  If you need something, look to the used market if you can.  I have purchased many brand new items at a used item price.  The savings is substantial.

7.  See if one of your hobbies can translate into homemade gifts.  If not, try gift shopping at the grocery store.  Gourmet jams, sauces, etc can make wonderful and appreciated gifts.

8.  Can you get by with a less expensive phone and phone plan?  My partner has a smart phone and I don't.  We make it work.  We also shopped around and found a very inexpensive phone plan that provides everything we need.

9.  Before you spend money, try thinking outside the box.  Use your time and creativity instead of your dollars.

2020 Frugal Things In July

1.  2.5 pounds of free fish from a friend.

2.  A series of salvage shops to really up our stockpile.  We spent money now to save it later.

3.  Went to Starbucks and got a free latte for my birthday.

4.  Bought a new dishwasher after 15 years.  It was on sale for $130 off, and we paid with gift cards that will save us $ 28.00 on gas.

5.  I cashed in the change I have been saving for about a year.  I turned it into a Starbucks gift card and got the full $93.47 I cashed in.  If I had asked for cash back I would have lost a percentage to service fees.

A Timely Calculation

It appears that a lot of school age children will be learning from home this fall.  Parents will need to find someone to be there with them to help.  For many parents, one of them will be staying home and either cutting their hours or, at least temporarily, moving out of the work force.

How much do you need to adjust your budget?  Try this calculation.  The number may not be as high as you think.  Still hard, but maybe not impossible.

1.  Take your total salary, not your take home,  and subtract the taxes you have to pay on that amount.  Remember, there are federal, state and local taxes you get to subtract.  Take into consideration your partner's income.  It might put you in a higher tax bracket.  That means you may get to subtract more!

2.  Subtract the day care costs you normally paid.  You are now the daycare provider.

3.  Subtract the transportation costs you had for getting back and forth to work.  You live there now.  :)

4.  If you needed extra clothes for your job, subtract that cost.  You can really dress down now.  So can you kids.

5.  If you were the cook for your family, subtract the extra costs for take out and easy to do food.  You may still have some, leave that in, but it will drop.  Believe me.

6.  Anything else that you can subtract that I haven't thought of.

The resulting end number that you still need to cut from your budget might be a lot smaller than you originally thought.

Good Luck!

Huge Salvage Shop, Part Four

Tortillas (4)       $0.25each
Vegetarian baked beans  16oz  (2)  $0.49each
Roman beans  15.5oz  (4)   $0.49each
Wolf brand chili  15oz.  $0.49
Corn  15.25oz     $0.49
Sauerkraut   27oz.    $0.75
Paella mix      $0.69
Poppy seed dressing     $0.10
Falafel mix   (3)    $0.50each
Cake mix with frosting for RV     $0.50
Coffee 26 oz  (2)     $4.99each
Coffee  10oz. (6)     $0.50each
Lime juice  4oz.      $0.25
Sage leaves   $0.50
Low mein noodles  10oz    $0.65
Hush puppy mix       $0.35
Roasted chestnuts   (4)     $0.25each
Chocolate chip  (4).     $0.50
Vegetable broth   32oz   (2)     $0.25each
Dry pinto beans   4#       $1.29
Velveeta  2#        $4.99
Cream of chicken soup       $0.59
Sopaipilla mix        $0.59
Crackers    (3).      $0.49each

$254.76 was spent in total on this huge salvage grocery shop.

I now feel comfortable to confront whatever is ahead.  We can shelter in place again if necessary.  And for quite a few months. And yes, we went over budget.

2020 Buying and Eating: July 16-31

The monthly allocation is spent.  We are$42.04 into the cushion.
The cushion now stands at $970.29

What We Ate:  Morocan beans and vegetables with barley.; Curried potato, pineapple, corn; Mexican pizza and potato skins; vegetable soup and noodles over mashed potatoes ,yogurt, fruit
We started low-carb on the 20th.
Marinated and oven roasted chicken, cabbage, pepperoni with cheese; Low carb chili with cheese; Low carb hotdog casserole (2); Low carb turkey sandwich with avocado and cheese and salad; smoked turkey, Brussels sprouts and artichoke hearts with Parmesan; smoked turkey sandwich with horseradish sauce and fresh fruit; North Carolina bbq pork with green beans and strawberries; leftover pork and Turkey bbq;  Italian sausage with peppers and onions and salad; chicken stir fry; ham and cheese sandwiches on low-carb bread

What We Bought:

Save a Lot:  salad greens     $1.19

Aldi:  zero net carb bread (2), onion soup mix, cucumber, blueberries, strawberries (2), heavy cream (2), cottage cheese   $17.88

Price Rite:  pork roast. (7.75#)  $5.70

Aldi:  strawberries (2), blueberries, low carb bread (2)  $12.05

Price Rite:  cucumber, lettuce, green pepper, muenster cheese, horseradish cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, fresh mozzarella cheese $10.23

Total for Groceries:   $47.05

Eating Out:

Khao Thai lunch with Angela  $15.37

Grand Total for two weeks:   $62.42


New Cushion Amount:   $907.87
Amount into the cushion for the Month:   $104.46

This was the first time into the cushion for the year.  If we had not done the huge salvage shopping we would have been under so I am ok with this.  On to August!

2020 Meal Plan: July 16-31

Vegetarian:  Moroccan beans and vegetables with barley; curried potatoes; Mexican pizza; vegetable soup and noodles over mashed potatoes


Meat:  We started low-carb on the 20th
Marinated and oven roasted chicken; Low carb chili with cheese; Low carb hotdog casserole (2); Low carb turkey sandwich with avocado and cheese; smoked turkey sandwich with horseradish sauce ; North Carolina bbq pork; leftover pork and Turkey bbq; Italian sausage with peppers and onions; chicken stir fry; Low carb ham sandwich

Vegetarian:  4
Meat:  11

Our low carb diet is evident in the numbers.  Back to normal in two days.  :)