Don't Spend $400.00!

Todays New York Times had a hilarious article about people who never look at the price of anything suddenly trying to cut back on expenditures. They were clueless. One guy bought a $400.00 electric fireplace to save on his fuel bills. It barely heats anything. Someone else bought a gazillion heads of cauliflower trying to save money. Another person "frugally" eliminated her $12.00 soup purchase and bought $500.00 dog bed. Go figure.

I didn't even know there were $12.00 soups. Not where I shop. Cripes, I could live for a week on $12.00 worth of soup: goulash, onion and chili, and maybe some bean or pea thrown in. Soup is the cheapest thing you can serve.

To save, what you do is not spend money on anything that you don't have to. Nothing. If you discover that the cauliflower is $5.00 per head and you have carried 6 to the checkout counter, tell the clerk you only want one. Or none. Just because it is in your cart, you don't have to buy it. The man who bought the stove should have done a cost/benefit analysis. The woman with the cauliflower is supposed to be good at math.

I don't know.

Today I checked at the resale shops I take used clothing to, and the one wanted nothing until after Thanksgiving, and the other wanted nothing until after December. Wha? The economy must be so bad that everyone is taking old clothes to the resale shops instead of donating them.

Think I'll try EBAY or Craig's List. Really.

I bought all the sale items for ingredients I need to take my Thanksgiving side dish and dessert to our hostess' house. Amazing how much is on sale. I'm taking a Brussels Sprouts/Cauliflower side side and a pumpkin cheese cake with a marshmellow-sour cream topping. Both dishes are rich as Croesus and have some nutritive value, i.e. vitamin a, beta carotene, protein, calcium, well, you get the idea, as well as loads of fat.

It's cold out and we need an extra layer to keep us warm. That's what I keep telling myself. Have you ever noticed how skinny people are always cold? They must dread winter.

The Cauliflower woman has started a blog. EconoWhiner.com. Maybe we should all give her the wisdom of our experience.

Savings at the Grocery Store

This week, with a hard memory of our retirement investments tanking, I went over the grocery specials more earnestly than usual, and the store, perhaps responding to the bad economic news, had a number of tempting specials.

We broke down and bought one large pumpkin for $9.99. We usually buy three but the crop failure this year has them at astronomical prices. Hard to do without a pumpkin. Just need one.

Except for the specials, I only bought groceries I needed for this week. We're trying a new cheese spread for the cocktail hour. We've discovered some of the pretty good "spreads" made in-house at the store are about $5.00 a pound, which is a decent price, cheese-wise.

So the final grocery total came to $65.77 and the savings were $40.73. That's not bad. I didn't have to buy any paper, plastic or cleaning products. We bought a 24 case pack of cat food earlier in the week at Walmart. BTW, Walmart has the best and the cheapest cat litter. We never buy anything else.

I potted up 8 geraniums that I saved last winter and put in the big whiskey barrell by the side of the house. They grew and flourished and will spend the winter indoors again, thereby saving beaucoup bucks.

I made spaghetti alla amatriciana this week. We got three meals out of a pound of spaghetti and a 28 oz. can of tomatoes and 1/4 lb of bacon. This works out to pennies a meal. Can't beat that. Tasted first-rate, too.

Cheaply yours,

The Cheeseparer

Collecting Junque and Collectibles in a Faltering Economy

This is from Kovel's email newsletter. Some good thoughts. I had just about given up on this blog, as no one is reading it, but what the hell?

From Kovel's:

News, News, News
COLLECTORS VS. THE ECONOMY
Collectors should be able to survive a bad economy better than most. We are used to buying "used" things. Antiques and collectibles are all recycled parts of the best of the past. Buying good "used" furniture from consignment shops or a Salvation Army store is a challenge, but a knowing collector can search and find a worthwhile antique. Vintage clothing is praised by our friends and we brag about shopping at secondhand stores. We are trained to barter and negotiate prices by our years of buying at flea markets. Now it is acceptable to use the same money-saving techniques at local department stores. And of course we understand the financial gains from a garage sale, cashing in old gold and silver, and redecorating by refinishing, painting, and reworking some inexpensive "finds." We learned to repair our antiques, so we have always balked at buying a new blender when an old one can be made to work. We already like to cook from scratch, so let's do everything the old-fashioned way. Let's "waste not--want not." And don’t forget to clip grocery coupons and make the kids turn off the lights when they leave a room.

In the Good Old Summertime

Here are some tips for your summer savings. Enjoy the thrill of the grill, too. Did you know you can grill practically anything? Sign up for a grilling newsletter that will discuss grilling fruits, veggies, even romaine lettuce. Using indirect heat, you can cook meatloaf and almost anything on your grill. Don't heat up the house on those hot summer evenings.

Remember that spices, herbs and seasonings can create memorable flavors. Be creative. Make your own rubs.

Get a jump on summer with these tips to save $$$$

http://genxfinance.com/2008/05/06/get-a-jump-on-summer-with-these-warm-weather-money-saving-tips/

And speaking of summer, here are some ways to save on your water bill and help the planet, too.

http://www.moneyaside.com/10-money-saving-tips-on-water-in-your-garden

Go Forth, but Cheaply

Here are some tips for budget travel. Sometimes ya just gotta get outta the house.

http://www.alondb.com/Budget/Articles/Money_Saving_Tips_For_Budget_Travel.php

The Cheeseparer

The 10 Most Hated Money Saving Tips

I love this guy.

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2007/11/the-10-most-hat.html

At least he waffles a bit on the pet issue. Since I stopped smoking (20 years ago), I've always had money in my wallet. And that was before the cost of ciggies went through the roof. I have also saved on cold medicines, sore throat medicines, etc.

Used clothes are cool. Just have them cleaned.

The tip below is the funniest one I've seen yet.
Donate shirts to the Salvation army, then buy them back for 50 cents, already cleaned. Whooeee!

http://blog.andyblume.com/?p=513

Save a little or Save a lot

Household items: we all have to buy ‘em
http://www.moneyaside.com/10-tips-to-save-money-on-household-items

Save a million bucks:
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/04/10/money/doc47fed98810f4e040369549.txt

Cut Your Entertainment Budget:
http://www.moneyaside.com/10-tips-to-save-money-on-entertainment

Family Budgeting
http://www.businessrockford.com/biznews/x623552672

Earth Day is coming up. Give a thought to saving mother earth.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/save-money-save-energy-save-earth,348043.shtml

Today's Money Saving Tips

Above: Make good choices at the deli counter.

Bring your lunch to work: spend time at the deli-counter. There are always weekly specials. You can make your own tuna salad. Don't eat the icky thin-sliced turkey/ham loaded with nitrates, preservatives and water. Yuck. You can roast a turkey or chicken breast on the grill or the oven, have a main course, and take the leftovers to work. Buy (or make) decent bread. Create your own salad at home and carry the dressing and croutons to work in separate packages. You can eat healthy, cheaply and it tastes wonderful.
http://savesavesave.blogspot.com/2008/04/money-saving-tips.html


A blog that’s not exactly light-hearted, but one you should take to heart.

http://moneyning.com/money-tips/understanding-key-saving-more-money/

One of my shabby little secrets: dilute the dishwashing liquid. It will last 4-5 times as long.

Money Saving Tips Galore

For your Sunday morning perusal:

http://frugal1stopmom.wordpress.com/

University of Maine has some tried and true tips

Holy cow! I didn't know that universities still had "extention" programs just like in the old days. These tips have been around for a while, but as new generations need to know how to tighten ye old belt, these suggestions are good.

http://extensionnews.blogspot.com/2008/04/tips-for-saving-money-on-groceries.html

Planning menus and cooking for several meals makes a lot of sense and takes much of the work out of cooking. The food channel has a mid-afternoon program that gives details on how to do this.

Here are more grocery saving tips. Never shop hungry is some of the best advice. Take a list. Yada. Yada. You should commit these ideas to memory.

http://www.dchieftain.com/news/79070-04-02-08.html

Cook once, eat twice.

Tips for Organic Groceries and Everything Else

Organic foods tend to be a lot more pricey than "regular" foods, but sometimes the payoff is better. We have been eating organic carrots, and they taste so much better that we will pay the extra money.

The mom below can guide you through finding coupons for organic foods:
http://greenandcleanmom.blogspot.com/

Yum!

This blogger has, like the cheeseparer, collected tips from everyone. You should have enough saved to finance a cool weekend somewhere.
http://beingfrugal.net/2008/04/03/frugal-tips-to-survive-a-recession/

A humorous look at cheeseparing

Maureen Lang has an internal debate about how to save money for a vacation.
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/lang/866286,033008lang.article

Saving money is sort of like losing weight. If you already eat healthy meals and don't "do" junk food, you have far fewer options than if you're a burger and fries person. Likewise, with personal finance, if you are already frugal and clip those coupons and shop those sales, how to make further cuts is more difficult.

Maybe my readers have some ideas?

The Cheeseparer

Cheeseparing Tips From All Over

Today’s cheeseparing tips from all over:

Tried and True Tips for Grocery Savings:
http://www.courant.com/business/custom/consumer/hc-savemoney.artmar27,0,3570490.story

And MORE: http://www.mlive.com/food/index.ssf/2008/03/savvy_shoppers_share_tips_to_f.html

I liked the idea of planning your menus around the meat and produce specials. In the Boston area there are occasionally BOGOS (buy one get one) on meat, and you can pop one into the freezer for a “free meal” later in the month.

47 Ways to Save!

TechnoCrunch has a handle on saving 47 different ways.
http://www.techocrunch.com/47-tips-on-how-to-save-money-every-day-without-much-effort/

May The Eastern Bunny Bring Coupons Galore

Here's the Friday stuff:

From the Contra-Costa Times.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_8622799?nclick_check=1

The tip about using the Sunday funnies for wrapping kids birthday presents is great. I used to do that a million years ago. The presents always looked cool.

Cook and home and save money. Save even more money with these tips:
http://sixoclockscramble.blogspot.com/

Wallet Pop:
http://www.walletpop.com/2008/03/21/get-a-great-start-on-a-healthy-frugal-and-green-life/

Great Ideas from All Over

The Money Case will help you save:
http://blog.themoneycase.com/

Read the comments for good money saving tips:
http://someonebeingme.blogspot.com/2008/03/where-is-money-going.html

Buying coffee all the time can be a real wallet drainer. Use a commuter cup from home. We buy good, cheap coffee at the Ocean State Job Lot.

Look for the free day at local museums. Search out free or cheap concerts in the local paper.

Save on groceries! Great blog:
http://becentsable.blogspot.com/2008/03/works-for-me-wednesday-centsable.html

Another excellent blog: Clean you house with baking soda, well, almost:
http://frugal-life.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!74E2ED49D47DDB89!993.entry

And Thrifty Mommy know a thing or two about clipping coupons. ://www.thriftymommy.com/

I’ve been doing that for years and years. I have a pretty good organizational system that I’ll share on a day when there aren’t so many GOOD BLOGS to recommend.

The Cheeseparer