Lists are a double edge sword if you don't follow tip three. I have read that people with lists at a store spend more than non listers, because the buy everything on the list and more while non-listers overlook stuff.
Also buy ingredients non pre packaged can save you a ton, and I also agree with justelise, meat is quite the expense.
I am not sure if this is in all areas yet, but some grocery stores in my area have hand-held scanners that you use throughout the store, and you bag your items as you go along. At first this may seem like the store putting you to work, however there are many advantages.
The scanner keeps track of your grocery saver card and loads items that you usually buy on to the scanners. It will then offer you extra savings that you can add on top of coupons and in store sales. For example, I purchase a lot of cranberry juice, and I usually go for the store brand that is always priced at 2/4$ a gallon, sometimes I may even have a coupon for this product. My scanner keeps this history, and then offers me an extra $0.75 on top of the in store sales and coupons so I end up paying around $1 for the juice while other people are paying double that!
The other great features about these scanners, is that it keeps a tally of your costs and gives you the amount you have spent so far in the store! No more estimating! If you realize that you have gone over budget you can always remove items from your list.
And then there is always the added bonus of not having to go through the long grocery lines and waiting for your stuff to be bagged. My grocery store even pays you for reusing bags. They give you $.05 per bag, per visit (I know that is not alot, but it adds up and over time the bags will pay for themselves!). We are also given gas discounts for shopping, I have gotten up to $.60 off per gallon at one point!
We have three grocery stores in my town, and even with all of these great features, it is the cheapest of them all!
I recently had an experience with my about to be 21 year old, married daughter. I've had a budget since I was 16. I am a natural saver. My daughter knows this. I just turned 45 and am debt free except the house.
My daughter told me it's "normal" to have 2 car payments and credit card debt. She is married to an E-4 in the Air Force, aka "broke".
She told me all I care about is the money. I told her I don't, but I wish she wouldn't go an make the decisions with money that I made when I was her age. I didn't want to see her divorced because of money or go through the hardships I had to.
Bottom Line: Don't offer advice unless they ask. Don't lend money to relatives. Let them sink or swim on their own or all they will do is trash you. They are adults and let life teach them their lessons and be ready when the sky falls on them.
excellent points, Philip. I couldn't agree more about the freedom frugality gives you.
regarding equity and rent being "money down the toilet", I felt the same way when I bought my first house. five years later I needed to move and sold the house. I sat down and figured out how much I had spent in closing costs, interest, property taxes, and fixing up the house over the years. I was shocked at the amount and now agree with the idea that owning is not always better financially than renting.
In fact I plan not to buy another house until I'm able to settle down permanently. I took the money I got from the sale of the house and invested it, I'll let it grow until I'm ready to buy again.
One thing I really dislike about renting though - having to get after the landlord if something needs fixing. When I owned, I could just pick up the phone and hire somebody to get it done now and done right. Or do it myself if it was something I could handle.
The easiest thing I've done to save at the grocery is to withdraw cash at the ATM instead of using the debit card.
My husband and I have agreed to a budget of $100 a week - rather generous, I know, but it includes our eating out money as well. On Fridays when I shop, I take that money out and I know that it is the only money I am allowed to spend at the grocery store. I don't buy cleaners or paper products with this money...I usually go somewhere like Walmart or the Dollar Tree to get those cheaper.
I make a dinner menu for the week and put those ingredients on the shopping list, as well as anything for breakfast or lunch that we need. When I pick it up at the store, I note the price (usually round up to the nearest 50 cents) as I put it in the cart and subtract it from $100. When I start approaching zero, I have a look and see what items I have put in that aren't on my list. I usually end up spending somewhere in the vicinity of $60, which leaves about $40 for a nice dinner out on the weekend or a couple of cheaper meals and an extra gallon of milk if we happen to run out.
This is the single best tool I've used for watching our grocery budget.
If our grocery store has a good sale on something we use a lot, I definitley buy loads and freeze it. This really saves money, but does make our grocery bills erratic, as some months will show $200 and others $40.
I do meal planning for the week on Saturday morning, and reorganize the fridge beforehand. That way I can see if we have any perishable that needs to be incorporated into the next week. I keep the cupboards and freezer well stocked, but I really work to keep them reasonably organized and now we rarely waste food (last year, I spent about $60 on tons of glass canisters, and use them to store everything, now I can jut glance in the cupboard and fridge and see exactly what we've got, it was a great investment).
The fridge I only allow to be half full, so I can keep track. The freezer gets filled up about 4 times a year with homemade individual portion dinners that I make in big batches. This saves time and money and is great during busy times, when we would end up eating out. Every season, we use up every last thing in the freezer, to make sure it doesn't spoil.
I try to plan meals around a central perishable item, like fresh herbs. So I will buy fresh basil, and then make a thai curry, a pasta, etc, in the same week, because otherwise you can never use up all the basil and it's a waste. And we incorporate small amounts of meat or bacon with bean or lentil dishes: tastier, cheaper, healthier.
Finally, I subscribe to a cooking magazine. It's about $19 a year, but it keeps me motivated to cook and is also a good reminder of what's in season.
Having said all that, our grocery bill is better, but it is still higher than I wih it was! But we eat really well now.
But I'm getting better, thanks to my parents, brother and sites like WiseBread. A very unhappy 18 months living out of state and away from home left me $15,000 in debt. I finally broke down and told my parents, who helped me get out from under the crushing interest by taking out a low interest loan in their name that I'm making the payments on. My brother has let it be known that anytime I'm feeling reckless with money I can call him and he'll talk me down.
A few other tricks my parents' gave me -- Write down my goals and tape them into my wallet, so I have to rethink it every time I reach for my wallet. Moving back to my home state where I'm much happier has already curbed the spending, so has simply living in much cheaper town.
it's important to make a meal plan, but another good idea is to pull out your grocery flyer and see what's on sale. if it's chicken, buy a few extra to put in the freezer.
also, i have a grocery list that i print from my computer and hang on the frig. it's a list of the things we normally buy and it's ordered by aisle. this keeps me from backtracking during the trip.
finally, i recommend thegrocerygame.com as a way to save money. you need to be prepared to put in some time planning and cutting coupons, but when you can match coupons to really good sales you can buy name brands for less than store brands.
The tie in with religion is interesting, especially since the Pope took a lot of pot shots at the rich in the last set of "deadly sins."
I've been sitting here for half an hour trying to write a response to some of the comments. They stun me. It's so easy to judge people who have more money than we do or less money than we do. Easy to make generalizations without any evidence, and easy to stick with the attitudes that make us comfortable even if they aren't right. Easy to put down others because they don't have what we have, or know as many wealthy people as we do.
I agree with Ken. Pride and envy are just as harmful as the love of money, and it's interesting how closely these three things are related.
I make menus and lists and stick to them. The last is important and if I only buy what's on my list, I reward myself with a candy bar. Hey it works!
However, as an aside. When I was much much younger, I could estimate the cost pretty accurately of a basket of groceries by multiplying everything by 25 cents (yes, i'm old), then it went to 50 cents, then $1, now it's about $2.50. This system actually works pretty well unless you're buying a 12 pack bale of paper towels; they are outliers and mess the system up.
FYI, I just tried the Baby Dagny offer, and most of the items on their site are sold out and won't allow you to add them to the registry. You have to add 5 items before you can email the registry to people, and I wasn't even able to find 5 that were not sold out. Just wanted to save some time in case anyone else is starting down that path! But I still want a wubbanub so maybe I'll try again later on.
I do NOT watch these types of shows although last night i did catch the final episode of "i survived a japanese game show" which was surprisingly good! in answer to your original question . . . YES, i would if it were $100,000 k because it would pay off my credit card bills and still have $$ left to start over.
I've read a lot of posts like this lately, and none seem to mention that we tend to eat too much meat, and reducing how much we buy will make an immediate and profound impact on the bottom line of our grocery bills. Not to mention it will help make a significant positive environmental impact.
could you do a follow up post on how to prepare for a parents old age? My mum is in her late forties with no savings or retirement. i know she will be sickly (she is sickly now, and has already gone through a two year nervous breakdown during which time she sucked me dry of ALL my savings and income). i am her only relative, and it is going to be my responsibility to care for her in her old age. what can i do to make it easier? Help! Im only 25!
The other thing I have learned to do is to always check that the store's computers have given me the advertised price, credited coupons properly, tabulated buy-one-get-one-free offers correctly, etc.
I am shocked at how many times the receipt shows a mistake.
Some grocery stores will give you the item free if you point out the mistake.
Check it out!
If you're going to pack a lunch (or dinner) make sure it's local though - what's the point in eating a sandwich you might make back home if all of the locals eat shwarmas (as pointed out above) or baguettes?
Travellers should keep in mind, though, that in some places, the local version of fast food, eg. a shwarma, is probably going to work out cheaper that buying the ingredients and making your own. And shwarmas aren't all greasy by the way. In Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula, they're little more than succulent meats cooked in their own natural juices with pickles, fresh mint, lettuce or rucola, tomatoes on the beef, potatoes on the chicken, some tahini - a tenth of the calories of a hamburger.
I'd also recommend a local fresh food market and local delicatessens over the grocery story. Buy some local cheeses and sliced meats, in Italy it's essential to buy some fresh buffalo mozzarella, a bunch of fresh basil and bag of tomatoes - all of that would cost use less than 2 euros at a local market - buy a small bottle of olive oil for another 2 euros (it will last you the whole trip) and you can make your own Caprese salad. A local bottle of wine for 4 euros and you're set! Like always, do as the locals do - or eat as the locals eat - and you can't go wrong!
I like that one above*laughs*. Seriously, one thing that worked for me is informing them of the consequence if they mismanaged their money.
For instance, I just found out last week to my disbelief that my parents don't have any health insurance. I have to inform them that if something bad happens to their health, hospital bills can zeroed their ALL their savings in just a few days. It didn't take so long to convince them to buy a health insurance as we belong to a family with history of heart problems.
Yes, instilling fear can be an option*laughs* but sometimes, you have to help them open their mind to possibilities to "force" them to shape up their finances.
@ken - the little stories I told in my post were not "bearing false witness". They both happened. One was to my friend, and the other was to me. These are what I'd call "evil" situations. What's most evil about the situations, though, is that the perpetrators are generally clueless about the harm they're doing. They worship so hard at the temple of Mammon that they're oblivious to the paupers at the door.
Also, if your son can't work for himself, it's fine to leave him money. In fact, I know someone who is in that very situation, and I'm glad that he's got his money, because, otherwise, his life would have been a lot more difficult if not impossible. I'd rather that he live than die, and it's the money that makes living possible.
On the other hand, inheritance is inherently undemocratic, and encourages sloth. Most of our Founding Fathers would have agreed - even capitalist favorite Ben Franklin suggested that we abolish inheritance. That's a 100% estate tax payable on death.
@xin - it's interesting that they railed against the rich, but not against the powerful. Then they used their power to strip peasants of their small land holdings, to consolidate capital in the name of "the people". Then, they needed a scapegoat for their failure to achieve their promises, and picked the bourgeoisie as their whipping boys.
The big difference between a communist country and a capitalist one is that the capitalists scapegoat the poor instead of the rich. The poor are blamed for so many of our problems. Drugs? Blame the poor. Crime? Blame the poor. Poverty? Blame the poor. In a recession? Blame government spending on welfare. Can't end this Iraq war? Blame those Shiites in Sadr City who are impoverished (because, somehow, the wealthier Sunni who are funding terrorism aren't mentioned much)
Meanwhile, the powerful are hiding their power, and consolidating their capital holdings. Sometimes, it's called invasion, other times, it's eminent domain, and other times, Manifest Destiny (aka, gentrification).
I don't equate "rich" with "evil" but it's a fact that the rich have more ways to exploit the poor than the poor have to exploit the rich.
For example, the usual landlord-tenant relationship is a zero-sum game. My loss is the landlord's gain. Since rent (for a room in a house with eight other people) consumes more than half my income, this constitutes a major depletion of my meager resources.
My landlord owns the house and rents out bedrooms. His rental income is more than twice his mortgage payment. So he lives in his house for free and gets richer every month. (Where do I sign up for a money-making deal like this?) He's not evil but I feel like a cash cow being milked.
And I feel trapped - since so much money is going to rent, I cannot save up enough money to move to a cheaper place.
WHOA! I have no money for retirement, and I resent the idea that I am bad at managing money. And I totally reject the idea that I am bad at math or that I have an addictiopn to shopping, drugs, or gambling.
@liz - corporations are just a form of ownership of a company.
Arguably, the corporation is more evil than an individual who owns a company, because the corporation is supposed to make a profit, within the parameters of the law. The law is pretty permissive, while an individual's morals are generally less permissive than the law. (That is, unless one is a Satanist - then "do what thou wilt" and do whatever it takes to make the money.)
But, the rich are not free of greed either. How else did most of them get rich? It's usually because they desired more money. In my experience, unless you're uniquely talented and controlled by a svengali, you're not going to get wealthy without making the effort.
I'm not saying I'm free of greed. I'm moderately greedy. You have to be, to have a reasonable retirement in this economy. If you don't learn to accumulate, you may end up a homeless street person. That's the American way, so, being in America and all, you have to be a little greedy.
And to get rich, I mean really rich, you need to hire people and make a profit off of them. Suppose that you do the "normal" thing and contract out janitorial services for your business, so instead of paying $12 an hour to the custodians, you can pay a subcontractor $12 an hour, and avoid payroll taxes. You know that their workers make minimum wage, and the business owner is skimming on your behalf. Is that evil?
Hi, here's a revised and improved version of my post above, which got a little garbled with my cut-and-pasting!
Thanks for the great post! I thought I would share how I do my shopping and pantry/fridge management as well.
I use my pantry extensively and it is well-stocked. In order to organize my shopping and to prevent food wastage, I use two separate lists: a shopping list and a "what to eat next in the fridge" list. I keep both of them next to each other on the fridge, and have a pen holder right next to them so they're easy to use.
Here's how the shopping list works (most people will be familiar with this one): As I use ingredients up, I immediately put them on my shopping list unless I have a good backup stock in my pantry. Then, about once a week (when I start to get low on veggies, typically) I look over this list and add anything else I need (usually, vegetables or milk or eggs) and take the list with me. I take the list with me to work so that I can pick up the groceries on the way home. (this works for me because I am used to this routine, and as a result I don't tend to be tempted by stuff that is "off the list")
I have several mental categories for my shopping:
1) fresh vegetables
2) milk and cheese
3) meat and stuff for the freezer.
Every week I get vegetables first, not always sticking strictly to my list. I just make sure I get enough dark green leafy vegetables, root vegetables, and other vegetables to last me the week or a little more. I go with a list of veggies, but can vary my selection according to what's cheap or good at the store.
Then I get anything else on the list.
Then if I see something that I normally stock in my pantry or freezer and it's a deal and I could use some, I will buy some of that item. I have a good sense by now of how many of an item is reasonable and won't go to waste, so I can just ballpark guess the quantities of sale items to buy. Right at the moment, even if I came across a stunning deal on something, I wouldn't buy it because the pantry is fully stocked. I have enough sardines in cans to last the year, for example. They're on sale for 11% off at my local stop and shop, but I won't buy any more. ditto for tomatoes in cans.
Once I get the groceries home, I, too, focus on not wasting anything. To accomplish not wasting any food, I my second list, "things to eat next in the fridge".
This list is all the foods in the fridge that should be eaten next because they've been opened or would go bad soon if not eaten. Anything that I cook that goes into the fridge goes on this list as soon as it goes into the fridge, as well as any vegetables or other stuff that is getting long in the tooth. (As a backup system, anything that goes in a container on the fridge also gets a slip of masking tape on it with a description and the date it went in, as well. The tape and the marker are on the top of the fridge ready for me to use at all times. Having a label on the food gives you more confidence that it either is or is not ok to eat. For example, I sometimes make my own ketchup. The batch will last months, and it's kept in a mason jar, so it needs a label so two months later I won't wonder, "Is that ancient tomato sauce that could be bad or ketchup that I can eat??)) This way I make sure that I eat what is there before making anything new or buying anything new. I put a "c" next to the cooked items, I put an "R" next to bare ingredients in the fridge and I put an "F" next to stuff in my freezer that I need to use soon. Anything that needs to be eaten in the next two days gets an asterisk!
Then when I am deciding what to make for dinner and lunch, I check the list first and make a strong effort to use those foods before they go bad.
This has made a difference in my food bill. I used to throw out a good $20 worth of food a month that spoiled in the fridge. No more. It also keeps the fridge pretty uncluttered and clean, and because there are no "mystery items" clogging up space it's easy to get things in and out of the fridge.
Sorry about the long post, but I hope it's interesting and useful to someone. That's how I manage my food shopping and my fridge and pantry!
Lists are a double edge sword if you don't follow tip three. I have read that people with lists at a store spend more than non listers, because the buy everything on the list and more while non-listers overlook stuff.
Also buy ingredients non pre packaged can save you a ton, and I also agree with justelise, meat is quite the expense.
I am not sure if this is in all areas yet, but some grocery stores in my area have hand-held scanners that you use throughout the store, and you bag your items as you go along. At first this may seem like the store putting you to work, however there are many advantages.
The scanner keeps track of your grocery saver card and loads items that you usually buy on to the scanners. It will then offer you extra savings that you can add on top of coupons and in store sales. For example, I purchase a lot of cranberry juice, and I usually go for the store brand that is always priced at 2/4$ a gallon, sometimes I may even have a coupon for this product. My scanner keeps this history, and then offers me an extra $0.75 on top of the in store sales and coupons so I end up paying around $1 for the juice while other people are paying double that!
The other great features about these scanners, is that it keeps a tally of your costs and gives you the amount you have spent so far in the store! No more estimating! If you realize that you have gone over budget you can always remove items from your list.
And then there is always the added bonus of not having to go through the long grocery lines and waiting for your stuff to be bagged. My grocery store even pays you for reusing bags. They give you $.05 per bag, per visit (I know that is not alot, but it adds up and over time the bags will pay for themselves!). We are also given gas discounts for shopping, I have gotten up to $.60 off per gallon at one point!
We have three grocery stores in my town, and even with all of these great features, it is the cheapest of them all!
Sorry for the long post!
I recently had an experience with my about to be 21 year old, married daughter. I've had a budget since I was 16. I am a natural saver. My daughter knows this. I just turned 45 and am debt free except the house.
My daughter told me it's "normal" to have 2 car payments and credit card debt. She is married to an E-4 in the Air Force, aka "broke".
She told me all I care about is the money. I told her I don't, but I wish she wouldn't go an make the decisions with money that I made when I was her age. I didn't want to see her divorced because of money or go through the hardships I had to.
Bottom Line: Don't offer advice unless they ask. Don't lend money to relatives. Let them sink or swim on their own or all they will do is trash you. They are adults and let life teach them their lessons and be ready when the sky falls on them.
excellent points, Philip. I couldn't agree more about the freedom frugality gives you.
regarding equity and rent being "money down the toilet", I felt the same way when I bought my first house. five years later I needed to move and sold the house. I sat down and figured out how much I had spent in closing costs, interest, property taxes, and fixing up the house over the years. I was shocked at the amount and now agree with the idea that owning is not always better financially than renting.
In fact I plan not to buy another house until I'm able to settle down permanently. I took the money I got from the sale of the house and invested it, I'll let it grow until I'm ready to buy again.
One thing I really dislike about renting though - having to get after the landlord if something needs fixing. When I owned, I could just pick up the phone and hire somebody to get it done now and done right. Or do it myself if it was something I could handle.
The easiest thing I've done to save at the grocery is to withdraw cash at the ATM instead of using the debit card.
My husband and I have agreed to a budget of $100 a week - rather generous, I know, but it includes our eating out money as well. On Fridays when I shop, I take that money out and I know that it is the only money I am allowed to spend at the grocery store. I don't buy cleaners or paper products with this money...I usually go somewhere like Walmart or the Dollar Tree to get those cheaper.
I make a dinner menu for the week and put those ingredients on the shopping list, as well as anything for breakfast or lunch that we need. When I pick it up at the store, I note the price (usually round up to the nearest 50 cents) as I put it in the cart and subtract it from $100. When I start approaching zero, I have a look and see what items I have put in that aren't on my list. I usually end up spending somewhere in the vicinity of $60, which leaves about $40 for a nice dinner out on the weekend or a couple of cheaper meals and an extra gallon of milk if we happen to run out.
This is the single best tool I've used for watching our grocery budget.
If our grocery store has a good sale on something we use a lot, I definitley buy loads and freeze it. This really saves money, but does make our grocery bills erratic, as some months will show $200 and others $40.
I do meal planning for the week on Saturday morning, and reorganize the fridge beforehand. That way I can see if we have any perishable that needs to be incorporated into the next week. I keep the cupboards and freezer well stocked, but I really work to keep them reasonably organized and now we rarely waste food (last year, I spent about $60 on tons of glass canisters, and use them to store everything, now I can jut glance in the cupboard and fridge and see exactly what we've got, it was a great investment).
The fridge I only allow to be half full, so I can keep track. The freezer gets filled up about 4 times a year with homemade individual portion dinners that I make in big batches. This saves time and money and is great during busy times, when we would end up eating out. Every season, we use up every last thing in the freezer, to make sure it doesn't spoil.
I try to plan meals around a central perishable item, like fresh herbs. So I will buy fresh basil, and then make a thai curry, a pasta, etc, in the same week, because otherwise you can never use up all the basil and it's a waste. And we incorporate small amounts of meat or bacon with bean or lentil dishes: tastier, cheaper, healthier.
Finally, I subscribe to a cooking magazine. It's about $19 a year, but it keeps me motivated to cook and is also a good reminder of what's in season.
Having said all that, our grocery bill is better, but it is still higher than I wih it was! But we eat really well now.
But I'm getting better, thanks to my parents, brother and sites like WiseBread. A very unhappy 18 months living out of state and away from home left me $15,000 in debt. I finally broke down and told my parents, who helped me get out from under the crushing interest by taking out a low interest loan in their name that I'm making the payments on. My brother has let it be known that anytime I'm feeling reckless with money I can call him and he'll talk me down.
A few other tricks my parents' gave me -- Write down my goals and tape them into my wallet, so I have to rethink it every time I reach for my wallet. Moving back to my home state where I'm much happier has already curbed the spending, so has simply living in much cheaper town.
it's important to make a meal plan, but another good idea is to pull out your grocery flyer and see what's on sale. if it's chicken, buy a few extra to put in the freezer.
also, i have a grocery list that i print from my computer and hang on the frig. it's a list of the things we normally buy and it's ordered by aisle. this keeps me from backtracking during the trip.
finally, i recommend thegrocerygame.com as a way to save money. you need to be prepared to put in some time planning and cutting coupons, but when you can match coupons to really good sales you can buy name brands for less than store brands.
Wonderful post! I really enjoyed it, particularly your first-hand insight regarding China and communist rule.
The tie in with religion is interesting, especially since the Pope took a lot of pot shots at the rich in the last set of "deadly sins."
I've been sitting here for half an hour trying to write a response to some of the comments. They stun me. It's so easy to judge people who have more money than we do or less money than we do. Easy to make generalizations without any evidence, and easy to stick with the attitudes that make us comfortable even if they aren't right. Easy to put down others because they don't have what we have, or know as many wealthy people as we do.
I agree with Ken. Pride and envy are just as harmful as the love of money, and it's interesting how closely these three things are related.
I make menus and lists and stick to them. The last is important and if I only buy what's on my list, I reward myself with a candy bar. Hey it works!
However, as an aside. When I was much much younger, I could estimate the cost pretty accurately of a basket of groceries by multiplying everything by 25 cents (yes, i'm old), then it went to 50 cents, then $1, now it's about $2.50. This system actually works pretty well unless you're buying a 12 pack bale of paper towels; they are outliers and mess the system up.
FYI, I just tried the Baby Dagny offer, and most of the items on their site are sold out and won't allow you to add them to the registry. You have to add 5 items before you can email the registry to people, and I wasn't even able to find 5 that were not sold out. Just wanted to save some time in case anyone else is starting down that path! But I still want a wubbanub so maybe I'll try again later on.
I do NOT watch these types of shows although last night i did catch the final episode of "i survived a japanese game show" which was surprisingly good! in answer to your original question . . . YES, i would if it were $100,000 k because it would pay off my credit card bills and still have $$ left to start over.
#6 Don't forget to compare store brands to the normal brands you buy. Those types of savings can also make a big difference.
i got juno for $5.24 - it was $14.99 originally!! love it! great job keeping us updated!!
:)
amber
I've read a lot of posts like this lately, and none seem to mention that we tend to eat too much meat, and reducing how much we buy will make an immediate and profound impact on the bottom line of our grocery bills. Not to mention it will help make a significant positive environmental impact.
could you do a follow up post on how to prepare for a parents old age? My mum is in her late forties with no savings or retirement. i know she will be sickly (she is sickly now, and has already gone through a two year nervous breakdown during which time she sucked me dry of ALL my savings and income). i am her only relative, and it is going to be my responsibility to care for her in her old age. what can i do to make it easier? Help! Im only 25!
The other thing I have learned to do is to always check that the store's computers have given me the advertised price, credited coupons properly, tabulated buy-one-get-one-free offers correctly, etc.
I am shocked at how many times the receipt shows a mistake.
Some grocery stores will give you the item free if you point out the mistake.
Check it out!
If you're going to pack a lunch (or dinner) make sure it's local though - what's the point in eating a sandwich you might make back home if all of the locals eat shwarmas (as pointed out above) or baguettes?
Travellers should keep in mind, though, that in some places, the local version of fast food, eg. a shwarma, is probably going to work out cheaper that buying the ingredients and making your own. And shwarmas aren't all greasy by the way. In Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula, they're little more than succulent meats cooked in their own natural juices with pickles, fresh mint, lettuce or rucola, tomatoes on the beef, potatoes on the chicken, some tahini - a tenth of the calories of a hamburger.
I'd also recommend a local fresh food market and local delicatessens over the grocery story. Buy some local cheeses and sliced meats, in Italy it's essential to buy some fresh buffalo mozzarella, a bunch of fresh basil and bag of tomatoes - all of that would cost use less than 2 euros at a local market - buy a small bottle of olive oil for another 2 euros (it will last you the whole trip) and you can make your own Caprese salad. A local bottle of wine for 4 euros and you're set! Like always, do as the locals do - or eat as the locals eat - and you can't go wrong!
I like that one above*laughs*. Seriously, one thing that worked for me is informing them of the consequence if they mismanaged their money.
For instance, I just found out last week to my disbelief that my parents don't have any health insurance. I have to inform them that if something bad happens to their health, hospital bills can zeroed their ALL their savings in just a few days. It didn't take so long to convince them to buy a health insurance as we belong to a family with history of heart problems.
Yes, instilling fear can be an option*laughs* but sometimes, you have to help them open their mind to possibilities to "force" them to shape up their finances.
Sam
Fix My Personal Finance
http://fixmypersonalfinance.com/
@ken - the little stories I told in my post were not "bearing false witness". They both happened. One was to my friend, and the other was to me. These are what I'd call "evil" situations. What's most evil about the situations, though, is that the perpetrators are generally clueless about the harm they're doing. They worship so hard at the temple of Mammon that they're oblivious to the paupers at the door.
Also, if your son can't work for himself, it's fine to leave him money. In fact, I know someone who is in that very situation, and I'm glad that he's got his money, because, otherwise, his life would have been a lot more difficult if not impossible. I'd rather that he live than die, and it's the money that makes living possible.
On the other hand, inheritance is inherently undemocratic, and encourages sloth. Most of our Founding Fathers would have agreed - even capitalist favorite Ben Franklin suggested that we abolish inheritance. That's a 100% estate tax payable on death.
@xin - it's interesting that they railed against the rich, but not against the powerful. Then they used their power to strip peasants of their small land holdings, to consolidate capital in the name of "the people". Then, they needed a scapegoat for their failure to achieve their promises, and picked the bourgeoisie as their whipping boys.
The big difference between a communist country and a capitalist one is that the capitalists scapegoat the poor instead of the rich. The poor are blamed for so many of our problems. Drugs? Blame the poor. Crime? Blame the poor. Poverty? Blame the poor. In a recession? Blame government spending on welfare. Can't end this Iraq war? Blame those Shiites in Sadr City who are impoverished (because, somehow, the wealthier Sunni who are funding terrorism aren't mentioned much)
Meanwhile, the powerful are hiding their power, and consolidating their capital holdings. Sometimes, it's called invasion, other times, it's eminent domain, and other times, Manifest Destiny (aka, gentrification).
I don't equate "rich" with "evil" but it's a fact that the rich have more ways to exploit the poor than the poor have to exploit the rich.
For example, the usual landlord-tenant relationship is a zero-sum game. My loss is the landlord's gain. Since rent (for a room in a house with eight other people) consumes more than half my income, this constitutes a major depletion of my meager resources.
My landlord owns the house and rents out bedrooms. His rental income is more than twice his mortgage payment. So he lives in his house for free and gets richer every month. (Where do I sign up for a money-making deal like this?) He's not evil but I feel like a cash cow being milked.
And I feel trapped - since so much money is going to rent, I cannot save up enough money to move to a cheaper place.
WHOA! I have no money for retirement, and I resent the idea that I am bad at managing money. And I totally reject the idea that I am bad at math or that I have an addictiopn to shopping, drugs, or gambling.
@liz - corporations are just a form of ownership of a company.
Arguably, the corporation is more evil than an individual who owns a company, because the corporation is supposed to make a profit, within the parameters of the law. The law is pretty permissive, while an individual's morals are generally less permissive than the law. (That is, unless one is a Satanist - then "do what thou wilt" and do whatever it takes to make the money.)
But, the rich are not free of greed either. How else did most of them get rich? It's usually because they desired more money. In my experience, unless you're uniquely talented and controlled by a svengali, you're not going to get wealthy without making the effort.
I'm not saying I'm free of greed. I'm moderately greedy. You have to be, to have a reasonable retirement in this economy. If you don't learn to accumulate, you may end up a homeless street person. That's the American way, so, being in America and all, you have to be a little greedy.
And to get rich, I mean really rich, you need to hire people and make a profit off of them. Suppose that you do the "normal" thing and contract out janitorial services for your business, so instead of paying $12 an hour to the custodians, you can pay a subcontractor $12 an hour, and avoid payroll taxes. You know that their workers make minimum wage, and the business owner is skimming on your behalf. Is that evil?
Hi, here's a revised and improved version of my post above, which got a little garbled with my cut-and-pasting!
Thanks for the great post! I thought I would share how I do my shopping and pantry/fridge management as well.
I use my pantry extensively and it is well-stocked. In order to organize my shopping and to prevent food wastage, I use two separate lists: a shopping list and a "what to eat next in the fridge" list. I keep both of them next to each other on the fridge, and have a pen holder right next to them so they're easy to use.
Here's how the shopping list works (most people will be familiar with this one): As I use ingredients up, I immediately put them on my shopping list unless I have a good backup stock in my pantry. Then, about once a week (when I start to get low on veggies, typically) I look over this list and add anything else I need (usually, vegetables or milk or eggs) and take the list with me. I take the list with me to work so that I can pick up the groceries on the way home. (this works for me because I am used to this routine, and as a result I don't tend to be tempted by stuff that is "off the list")
I have several mental categories for my shopping:
1) fresh vegetables
2) milk and cheese
3) meat and stuff for the freezer.
Every week I get vegetables first, not always sticking strictly to my list. I just make sure I get enough dark green leafy vegetables, root vegetables, and other vegetables to last me the week or a little more. I go with a list of veggies, but can vary my selection according to what's cheap or good at the store.
Then I get anything else on the list.
Then if I see something that I normally stock in my pantry or freezer and it's a deal and I could use some, I will buy some of that item. I have a good sense by now of how many of an item is reasonable and won't go to waste, so I can just ballpark guess the quantities of sale items to buy. Right at the moment, even if I came across a stunning deal on something, I wouldn't buy it because the pantry is fully stocked. I have enough sardines in cans to last the year, for example. They're on sale for 11% off at my local stop and shop, but I won't buy any more. ditto for tomatoes in cans.
Once I get the groceries home, I, too, focus on not wasting anything. To accomplish not wasting any food, I my second list, "things to eat next in the fridge".
This list is all the foods in the fridge that should be eaten next because they've been opened or would go bad soon if not eaten. Anything that I cook that goes into the fridge goes on this list as soon as it goes into the fridge, as well as any vegetables or other stuff that is getting long in the tooth. (As a backup system, anything that goes in a container on the fridge also gets a slip of masking tape on it with a description and the date it went in, as well. The tape and the marker are on the top of the fridge ready for me to use at all times. Having a label on the food gives you more confidence that it either is or is not ok to eat. For example, I sometimes make my own ketchup. The batch will last months, and it's kept in a mason jar, so it needs a label so two months later I won't wonder, "Is that ancient tomato sauce that could be bad or ketchup that I can eat??)) This way I make sure that I eat what is there before making anything new or buying anything new. I put a "c" next to the cooked items, I put an "R" next to bare ingredients in the fridge and I put an "F" next to stuff in my freezer that I need to use soon. Anything that needs to be eaten in the next two days gets an asterisk!
Then when I am deciding what to make for dinner and lunch, I check the list first and make a strong effort to use those foods before they go bad.
This has made a difference in my food bill. I used to throw out a good $20 worth of food a month that spoiled in the fridge. No more. It also keeps the fridge pretty uncluttered and clean, and because there are no "mystery items" clogging up space it's easy to get things in and out of the fridge.
Sorry about the long post, but I hope it's interesting and useful to someone. That's how I manage my food shopping and my fridge and pantry!