Is frugality advice realistic?

[pensmama87]

Sorry to monopolize the thread, but since I follow a lot of frugal blogs this just came up:

There’s a lot of free sample websites out there. A lot of these blogs highlight these when they are available.

Going back to the time = money thing, I am amazed at how much time some people will whittle away doing quizzes or chasing cents per hour on things like Swagbucks, or will spend lots of time just on a less than 1% chance that they might win something worth $2.

Will I spend 30 seconds (or less, thanks to auto-fill) filling out an address form to have something shipped to my house? Yep. Did I sign up for an Ebates account so I can click one extra button and earn an extra $1 or $2 every time I shop online for stuff I was going to buy anyway? Yes. Am I on a survey website? Yes, but I earn $3 for a 10 minute survey, and IMO that is worth it.

A lot of the “free stuff” out there is so time consuming and annoying that it’s not worth the effort to try to get it.

 

[Burt_Macklin]

I think that most people are good simply eliminating the really big drains on their finances. The biggest drains that I see are things like eating out, alcohol, self storage sheds, and cell phones. In my mind you can’t complain about being in debt if you can afford 300 month on cell phones or 175 month to store old garbage outside your home. If someone is at the point where an extra 10/month on store bought laundry detergent breaks them they need to start working on increasing their income.

 

[pensmama87]

I think that most people are good simply eliminating the really big drains on their finances. The biggest drains that I see are things like eating out, alcohol, self storage sheds, and cell phones. In my mind you can’t complain about being in debt if you can afford 300 month on cell phones or 175 month to store old garbage outside your home. ** If someone is at the point where an extra 10/month on store bought laundry detergent breaks them they need to start working on increasing their income.**

But who says they’re not also working on that?

Laundry detergent is one of those things, again, that is surprisingly simple. I can spend $13 at Walmart and half an hour and make enough detergent to last my family a year. Is it somehow wrong if, even when our income is greater, that I choose to do that anyway because I really don’t want to spend $120/year on detergent if I can spend $13?

I do agree with you about the really big drains. But while we wait for the extra income, we cut what we can. Until a few months ago I was doing all that AND worked from home full-time, which I now won’t be able to do for a while. My husband is looking for a better paying job and we have a few leads…but what until then?

 

[Allegra]

I don’t know about others, but I’m rotten at cooking dry beans. I follow the recipe… soak them for x amount of time, cook them for y period… and they’re still awful. The canning process really helps them turn out great.

I secretly enjoy reading LDS homemaker-blogs. They know how to do so many cool things. I went here to learn how to can dried beans. Places like this helped me with my chicken stock.

Really? I just soak them over night and turn the crockpot on. I really like the Cajon beans mix. Add a can of diced tomatos and some ham or sausage and you’ve got a yummy dinner when you get home, and the next day, and the next day. I think the bag is only may 30 cents more than the regular beans. I also like to add onion and kale but that’s kinda pushing it for Mr. Allegra, who doesn’t like beans anyway.

 

[Allegra]

Rinse and put in the crock pot to forget about for 4-6 hours…put in containers…freeze. (Though I’m usually just freezing 2 containers, as 1 will be used either that day or the next).

This is too many steps?

Then you have to get them out and cook them again. Why not just cook them when you need them? Of course, if you’re just freezing the leftovers, that make sense. I thought you were buying like a 3lb bag of beans are precooking the whole thing for some reason. That’s why I was confused.

PS- I actually do know someone who does this with white rice and I don’t get that either. As if boiling rice is a really time consuming thing.

 

[Allegra]

But who says they’re not also working on that?

Laundry detergent is one of those things, again, that is surprisingly simple. I can spend $13 at Walmart and half an hour and make enough detergent to last my family a year. Is it somehow wrong if, even when our income is greater, that I choose to do that anyway because I really don’t want to spend $120/year on detergent if I can spend $13?

I do agree with you about the really big drains. But while we wait for the extra income, we cut what we can. Until a few months ago I was doing all that AND worked from home full-time, which I now won’t be able to do for a while. My husband is looking for a better paying job and we have a few leads…but what until then?

I want to see your laundry detergent recipe. Saving money is great, but mostly I’m sick of running out halfway through laundry day. I like the idea of stock piling gallons of detergent in my basement and never having that happen to me again because it’s REALLY annoying! It’s possibly worse than the old days when I used to be one quarter short at the laundry mat!

 

[Allegra]

WOW. That IS cheap. We don’t water our lawn either (it rains a lot here)
and our water bill runs about 125-150 per month. 4 adults in the house.
And we have “high-efficiency” everything.

We don’t water our grass either. If it dies, we don’t have to mow.

 

[pensmama87]

Then you have to get them out and cook them again. Why not just cook them when you need them? Of course, if you’re just freezing the leftovers, that make sense. I thought you were buying like a 3lb bag of beans are precooking the whole thing for some reason. That’s why I was confused.

PS- I actually do know someone who does this with white rice and I don’t get that either. As if boiling rice is a really time consuming thing.

It’s mostly just freezing the leftovers. I don’t cook beans unless I’m out of ones in the freezer.

Once they are frozen, you just thaw and use them like a can (so no more cooking except as part of whatever dish). I am able to remember to take something out of the freezer to thaw, but I would forget to soak overnight and cook (plus then I have to dirty the pot extra times, and I hate washing dishes. I can almost always find room in the dishwasher for a 2 cup container - not always so for the crock pot.

I sometimes will double the amount of rice I need for something and freeze the extra to use for fried rice at a later date. That’s how I do most of my freezer cooking now - double what I was going to make and then put the second recipe in a foil pan to freeze.

 

[midori]

I’m convinced that the sprayer + cloth combination gets me way cleaner than just a dry piece of tissue.

When I was cloth diapering, I’d use dampened baby washcloths for wipes. Then they’d all get thrown in the wash, poof! All clean again for the next round.

I was really impressed at how awesome the washcloths worked. They were soft but had a good grip. They were gentle but efficient. I can totally see how people would be willing to make that shift for themselves.

 

[Allegra]

They’re correct about the public school nickel and diming thing.
Almost as bad as Private Schools. Even the Catholics ones get more $$$ out of people with "activity fees, uniform fees, (and uniforms that changes depending on your grade ) and sports fees.
Whatever happened to having uniformed paid for by advertisers?

The last week of every school year at the Catholic School, I and a couple of other teachers would be on “locker cleanout duty”.
We’d dumpster dive (large rolling trash cans) for the brand NEW packs of graph paper, barely used crayons, rulers, staplers, untouched glue sticks, new binders, whole packs of filler paper, cardstock, and sharpies that kids would throw away. Their response?
“my mom will buy me all new stuff in August”.
So while, I’m not likely to make my own cheese, I see the benefit of teaching kids that buying fresh is not wise or necessary.

Our school has an option for the parents to pay $25 per child and they get all of their supplies provided in a cute little back-to-school bag on the first day. Everything is labeled, color-coded, and the bag has the school mascot on it. It saves the parents a ton of money, because the school is able to mass order the supplies at a fraction of the cost. It’s good for the teachers because the folders and notebooks can be color coded and tailored to their needs for organizational purposes. There’s always extras so if something goes missing or is damaged during the year, the school replaces it for free, and without having to contact the parent. Plus it’s really convenient. There are still at least a handful in each class who feel like they’ve failed as a parent if they didn’t get their kid “better than everyone else’s” but most of the kids like the mascot bag and the day planner, so they usually ask for the back-to-school bag. They can always individualize with unicorn stickers or whatever.

 

[pianistclare]

But who says they’re not also working on that?

Laundry detergent is one of those things, again, that is surprisingly simple. I can spend $13 at Walmart and half an hour and make enough detergent to last my family a year. Is it somehow wrong if, even when our income is greater, that I choose to do that anyway because I really don’t want to spend $120/year on detergent if I can spend $13?

I do agree with you about the really big drains. But while we wait for the extra income, we cut what we can. Until a few months ago I was doing all that AND worked from home full-time, which I now won’t be able to do for a while. My husband is looking for a better paying job and we have a few leads…but what until then?

OK, I want that detergent recipe.

 

[Allegra]

It’s mostly just freezing the leftovers. I don’t cook beans unless I’m out of ones in the freezer.

Once they are frozen, you just thaw and use them like a can (so no more cooking except as part of whatever dish). I am able to remember to take something out of the freezer to thaw, but I would forget to soak overnight and cook (plus then I have to dirty the pot extra times, and I hate washing dishes. I can almost always find room in the dishwasher for a 2 cup container - not always so for the crock pot.

I sometimes will double the amount of rice I need for something and freeze the extra to use for fried rice at a later date. That’s how I do most of my freezer cooking now - double what I was going to make and then put the second recipe in a foil pan to freeze.

How do you remember what all is in the freezer?

 

[pianistclare]

Our school has an option for the parents to pay $25 per child and they get all of their supplies provided in a cute little back-to-school bag on the first day. Everything is labeled, color-coded, and the bag has the school mascot on it. It saves the parents a ton of money, because the school is able to mass order the supplies at a fraction of the cost. It’s good for the teachers because the folders and notebooks can be color coded and tailored to their needs for organizational purposes. There’s always extras so if something goes missing or is damaged during the year, the school replaces it for free, and without having to contact the parent. Plus it’s really convenient. There are still at least a handful in each class who feel like they’ve failed as a parent if they didn’t get their kid “better than everyone else’s” but most of the kids like the mascot bag and the day planner, so they usually ask for the back-to-school bag. They can always individualize with unicorn stickers or whatever.

We used to do that. But then the school didn’t have the funds to outlay fro all the “stuff”.

 

[pensmama87]

I want to see your laundry detergent recipe. Saving money is great, but mostly I’m sick of running out halfway through laundry day. I like the idea of stock piling gallons of detergent in my basement and never having that happen to me again because it’s REALLY annoying! It’s possibly worse than the old days when I used to be one quarter short at the laundry mat!

3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap
1 box (55 oz) of washing soda
1 box (4 lb) of baking soda
1 box (4 lb 12 oz) of Borax
3.5 lbs Oxi Clean (optional, I always use it)

The most time consuming thing is grating the soap. You can use a food processor to do it if you wish (some people prefer that if they have HE machines). I just use an old grater, and in my HE top loader it works just fine and doesn’t gum up the machine.

Then you mix up everything in a 5 gallon bucket (you can line it with a trash bag if you wish). A yardstick is a good mixer. If you use the OxiClean, one tablespoon per load will be plenty. I tend to store most of it in the bucket, and then have a smaller container that lives over the washer.

All the ingredients are in the laundry aisle at Walmart, and that’s the cheapest place to get them in my experience.

I use white vinegar as a fabric softener and every month or so (basically, when I remember) I run a load just using the vinegar to clean the machine. I’ve been doing it for about three years now and my clothes seem to be just as clean as they ever have been.

 

[pensmama87]

How do you remember what all is in the freezer?

The chest freezer is roughly organized by type of food - all the bread stuff goes together, all the meat goes together, all the veggies go together, etc.

Pans with full meals are labelled and dated. Bags are labelled and dated. (I also put instructions for reheating on them - e.g. bake 350 for 30 minutes thawed or 1 hour from frozen).

We tend to eat on a rotation of three to four weeks or so, so I’m usually buying the same types of things to go in there and will notice as we get low on something.

Some people do maintain lists on the outside of the freezer, but I have never been able to keep up with that. I can usually remember, and I check when I meal plan or am getting ready to go on a big grocery trip.

 

[Allegra]

We used to do that. But then the school didn’t have the funds to outlay fro all the “stuff”.

They actually get a lot of the stuff for free, or from grants. The project actually started because a local church was making the bags for a lot of our free and reduced lunch kids. Then the PTO pointed out that a lot of the other parents would happily pay for the bags if that was an option. They use the money from the year before to pay for the “stuff” for the following year. We also have lots of kids that move in during the school year and their parents almost always buy one.

 

[Allegra]

The chest freezer is roughly organized by type of food - all the bread stuff goes together, all the meat goes together, all the veggies go together, etc.

Pans with full meals are labelled and dated. Bags are labelled and dated. (I also put instructions for reheating on them - e.g. bake 350 for 30 minutes thawed or 1 hour from frozen).

We tend to eat on a rotation of three to four weeks or so, so I’m usually buying the same types of things to go in there and will notice as we get low on something.

Some people do maintain lists on the outside of the freezer, but I have never been able to keep up with that. I can usually remember, and I check when I meal plan or am getting ready to go on a big grocery trip.

I can’t even remember what I’ve put in my freezer that’s over the fridge, and half of that is taken up with ice cube trays!

 

[pianistclare]

I can’t even remember what I’ve put in my freezer that’s over the fridge, and half of that is taken up with ice cube trays!

LOL sounds like us.
I tend to buy smaller packaging so that they don’t just sit in the freezer getting freezer burn.
I use it up.
The freezer is for ice (we go through tons of ice…(it’s HOT here) and ice cream, of course.

 

[Kelfa28]

I hate being frugal…but I made a general attempt at it when hubby and I started having kids.

By kiddo number three we’ve thrown in the towel with just about everything we used to do.

I used to Cloth diaper.

Then our town decided to change the way it bills our water usage.
Our water bill skyrocketed to the point where it literally made no difference in spending money on disposables or dealing with the hassle of Cloth diapers (especially since they would always start leaking…regardless of what I did when it came to washing them).

I didn’t have to buy special detergent anymore…I decreased the amount of wash cycles between the diapers themselves and the extra clothes we’d go through from leaks.

I still use wash cloths for wipes…that is something frugal I won’t shy away from.

I used to “bargain shop” a little.
I’d go to specific grocery stores that had better deals.
Now with a 3.5 year old, a 20 month old and another due any day now…no way can I be bothered.
I get to the store, find exactly what I need…don’t bother to look at prices or compare anything and get out as soon as I can before the kids run me into the ground.

We aren’t planning on breastfeeding this new baby more then a month.

My first wouldn’t latch and I couldn’t nurse her…so I pumped instead.
One reason was to avoid spending money on formula.

You seriously think a mom of three under the age of four…who will also be back in school in another 1.5 months will have the time or energy to pump again?
NO!
She’ll be on formula when she starts day care. I don’t care anymore…things either cost time or money…in this case, time is way more important.

I know my kids are just going to be more and more expensive as they get older.

Regardless of what anyone’s opinion is of being open to life and equating good Catholics with big families…we are stopping at three.

Financially and psychologically…I’m through having any more kids. Three is plenty.

 

[pensmama87]

I can’t even remember what I’ve put in my freezer that’s over the fridge, and half of that is taken up with ice cube trays!

I think a lot of it is based on what plays to your strengths. I’ve always been an organized person and strategic shopping, couponing, and freezer/pantry storage fit very well with that. I keep a price book and have a basic idea of the sales cycles. So that’s the bulk of our money savings.

I don’t know how to can and I can’t sew. I don’t know how to do my own work on my car. My fix-it skills are not stellar, but I am less afraid of a few things now than I used to be. Those things do not come naturally to me and they are very frustrating when I attempt them (and when I get frustrated, I get very bad potty mouth and I don’t like my children to hear that kind of talk )

So, do what works for you if you feel so inclined. I’ve gotten over thinking that I will be good at every frugal thing or that everything labelled “frugal” is actually worth doing - for our house.