February 2008 - Posts

• The joys of a pantry -when you have a system

  I still embrace the simple pantry system my Grandmother taught me 30 years ago.  I can not even begin to calculate how much money, time and hassle it has saved me.  The concept is simple:  Look at what you USE and build up a stockpile of all of those items that you can.  Learn when it is a good deal at the normal price, a great deal at a reduced sale price or a KILLER deal when they decide to get rid of the item.  Killer deals come along very seldom, but they are the most satisfying to scoop up.  I love it when the company changes the label or size etc and the grocer decides that they need it to go away immediately and mark it down below their cost - even better if you also have coupons.  I keep a 6 month to 5 year supply of such items.  When you only need to go to your storage area instead of the store you save money three times plus tons of your time.  First, you bought the item on sale, not at full price.  It never seems to be on sale when you have run out and need it now.  Second, you saved the cost of going to get it such as gas, busfare, wear and tear on car, etc.  But third, you never saw the impulse items because you did not set foot in the store.  That can be a huge savings!  Companies spend millions learning how to shut down your intelligent side and get you to pick up and buy items you did not know you wanted until you saw them.  It is a game you can only win if you limit their chances at you.  You can stash supplies from lightbulbs to canned goods to bagged rice to TP to toothpaste and pasta.  And the items can be stored anywhere that they are protected from the damaging effects of heat, cold, water etc.  Which means anywhere in the living space at your home.  Just avoid storing scented non-foods like laundry products, health & beauty etc in the same area as food items.  Just about any item found on a store shelf can be stored at your house, but only use the space for high use items.  If one box of laundry soap lasts you 3 months, having a 10 year supply is wasteful since it may break down or you may find you no longer like that item the best because you found something that works better long before it gets used up.  What I do is set up shelves like the grocer has and figure out how much I use this item.  I use a lot of tuna, canned tuna keeps for 2+ years.  Since I use at least a can a week 52 cans is about a year's supply.  I don't plan to buy that much, I usually have about 25 cans on hand but if I found it at a great price I know about how much would add a year's supply to my stock.  I have found it for 25 cents per can when the store decided to stop carrying one brand, needless to say at that point I gleefully stocked up!   And don't forget to share your frugal bounty with those who have little or nothing, one of the soul satisfying things about my pantry is hearing about a need and being able to meet it and help someone out. Posted Feb 25 2008, 11:22 PM by Debbie Z. with 3 comment(s)

• Hello Everyone

  My name is Debbie Z and I have joined the Dollar Stretcher community today with a new blog - Kitchen Table Finances.  I hope to share with others the incredible gift I was given by the older members of my family who taught me how to be frugal and watch my spending when the "norm" was to be a spender and not think about how to make stuff and money last longer.  I strayed from their ways for a while in college and afterward, but I came back to my senses when I got out on my own and had to pay my own way! In our family, at the kitchen table was where lessons of every type were taught and sometimes driven home by a comment of "You were told that would happen if you.., so now what are you going to do to fix this mess?".  Hopefully some of those little tips and tricks of a different way of seeing the world can help others as much as they helped me.  My Grands (grandparents) all lived until I was a young adult or until I was nearly 40 so I received lots of life lessons in the little things that very quietly let you pile up the savings in all the monies you are not forced to spend.  So to share a few things as examples:   My Grands were horrified at the thought of making a special trip for anything.  We kept a fully stocked food and supply pantry.  And you put EVERYTHING on a shopping list so you would not forget to buy it while you were in town.  Your neighbors and friends did likewise, so if you needed something the odds were high you could borrow one and buy them a replacement when you shopped again.  You can still do this today. An unusual way to save is to never buy any vehicle that is the color of the road or the shadows if you can avoid it.  If you already own one like this, make it a constant habit to always drive with your headlights on so others will see you.  You can replace a lot of extra headlights for what one wreck caused by someone who did not see you and hit your car would cost you.  Never use the so called parking lights - they cannot be seen well enough to let someone avoid hitting you.  Never just destroy anything out of idleness, I have watched so many people sit and tear up something that they later had to repair or replace.  Isn't it easier to just not tear it up to start with?  Even paperclips, sheets of paper, and pencils are useless once mangled and cost money and effort to replace.  And someone with "monkey fingers" who picks at loose wallpaper, flaking paint, loose buttons, a seam coming unravelled etc means that the item often now requires time consuming repair and you may have it out of service for days or weeks until it is repaired.  And most people today may not know how to repair something that has gone from a tiny problem to the whole item being messed up so they have to buy another.    Posted Feb 06 2008, 12:22 AM by Debbie Z. with 1 comment(s)