Home
Log in / Sign Up
    Private Messages   Advanced Search   Rules   New User Guide   FAQ   Advertise   Contact Us  
Forum -> Household Management -> Finances
How to scale down standard of living
Previous  1  2  3



Post new topic   Reply to topic View latest: 24h 48h 72h

bzmommy




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 05 2019, 1:13 pm
amother [ Floralwhite ] wrote:
Some more specifics:

Teach your kids to watch for baal tashchis. For example when they pore a bowl of cereal, the bowl should be half or 3/4 full, based on how much they eat, and they shouldn't flood the bowl with milk - I have seen little kids who give themselves leave over literally half their breakfast very morning. Then you are buying twice the amount of breakfast food and milk! Same with yogurt - if they don't use the whole thing, you can put it back for the next day, yogurt lasts a long time.

If you live in Brooklyn, you can watch the sales for expensive things. If not I'm sure there are other ideas but this might help anyone else living here.

Chicken cutlets family pack - KRM - always $3.99 now. I use a kitchen scale to divide my chicken into 1 lb portions and freeze, and pull out one each supper (me, my husband, and two toddlers).

Ground beef family pack - KRM or Goldbergs when it goes on sale there - never more than $3.99. I need 12 ounces for a meal. You can stretch it by mixing with vegetables if you need to get more out of it.

Pasta - never more than 88 cents! Shoprite has it on sale often, we stock up.

Shredded cheese - whenever it goes on sale in KRM we stock up for about 3 months and freeze. Tip - always happens pesach time and Shavous time. Never pay more than $2.

American cheese - never pay more than $11. Goes on sale usually Pesach and Shavous, sometimes Rosh Hashana. You can freeze it, too.

Cans of corn, peas, beans - stock up Shoprite, often on sale Thanksgiving time.

Cereal - never buy full price, usually not more than $2.5 in Shoprite.

Soda - my husband's department, he stocks up when it is on sale in Shoprite. I don't drink it.

Snacks for kids - pick the cheaper bags or brands. Do not buy a large back and sandwich bag pretzels and chips - kids resent that.

I check the sales Wednesday and decide where we ill shop. If we want to go to KRM, we go Tuesdays, when it is quieter.

AS a treat, buy a tub of ice cream on sale and make your own milkshakes instead of buying. $7 for a gallon of ice cream is a lot cheaper than 5 milkshakes in a store! We go through maybe two or three of those a year. Same goes for deli-style sandwiches, falafels, pizza, etc.

I NEVER buy ingredients that are very unhealthy or very expensive, unless it's a really big occasion, like Yom Tov or a simcha, maybe once a year - heavy cream, fancy spices, any other kind of meat or cheese, premade freezer food (exception when I am pregnant sometimes), bakery deserts (though my husband does buy extras when we have guests fro Shabbos). I don't make recipes that call for cups of sauces or entire containers, or things like cookie butter or prefried onions unless I can do it myself.

My one cheat is that I splurge and buy the frozen garlic but try to stock up when it is on sale.

You can use leftover pasta to make chicken or deli salad (deli is cheaper prepackaged btw), or if dairy cook with eggs. We do that for Friday lunch often, after pasta for Thursday supper.


Nonfood items -

Detergent from costco or this one from target is probably the best bang for your buck - https://www.target.com/p/arm-3.....1854. I think you can order online, which helps if you don't have your own costco account.

diapers and wipes - amazon subscribe and save - and don't feel the need to buy a good brand. I buy luvs and huggies wipes and save a fortune by making sure I do it when I have 5 things in my subscribe and save. It is ironically a way to splurge - I have saved money by buying cheap extras as a 5th item. Family prime accounts can help both share the cost of the account and getting enough items to order.

Clothing for children - I have a rule - not more than $20 per Shabbos outfit for toddlers. Less weekday, and use hand-me-downs. I buy all online in stores I can return to for free - Macys, old navy, H&M, childrens place, etc. Socks don't pay more than $1 per pair for white.

I do use credit cards, and pay weekly to ensure I don't have huge balances and to keep my score high. I use the ones that get me the best points back and use it for big expenses like electronics and sefarim sets. I get minimum 2 cents back per dollar.

We buy gifts whenever we see sales so when we have an occasion, we have one at a decent price waiting on our shelves.




I follow lots of these ideas... so nice to see someone else think like me lol
Back to top

amother
Ruby


 

Post Sun, May 05 2019, 6:16 pm
"Snacks for kids - pick the cheaper bags or brands. Do not buy a large back and sandwich bag pretzels and chips"
I only buy snack bags for shabbos party! I don't understand why they are so necessary? Theyre not healthy or filling!!
Back to top

amother
Ruby


 

Post Sun, May 05 2019, 6:17 pm
If you live in Lakewood, serendipity is amazing!!
Back to top

amother
Floralwhite


 

Post Sun, May 05 2019, 8:19 pm
amother [ Ruby ] wrote:
"Snacks for kids - pick the cheaper bags or brands. Do not buy a large back and sandwich bag pretzels and chips"
I only buy snack bags for shabbos party! I don't understand why they are so necessary? Theyre not healthy or filling!!


So what do you send to school with your kids for snacks? Fruit?

Actually buy large bags for Shabbos party, then we plate.
Back to top

southernbubby




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 05 2019, 8:23 pm
I make lots of popcorn which is very cheap.
Back to top

amother
Ecru


 

Post Mon, May 06 2019, 9:44 am
bzmommy wrote:
Great ideas
How about internet ?? What plans n prices do you pay?


Depends on your usage, but we just cancelled our home internet. It was getting more and more expensive and the quality was really bad. We have internet at work and some internet on our phones.
Back to top

naomi2




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, May 06 2019, 11:43 am
Only use cash.
Write up a monthly budget, withdraw cash and keep it in marked envelopes for each category. You can also pay bills using cash at many pharmacies. Keep an envelope for extra spending money too. So instead of cutting back, you are only spending what is absolutely necessary. You can also then go through each category and find ways to be frugal about them too.
Back to top

amother
Seafoam


 

Post Mon, May 06 2019, 5:36 pm
h20 wireless.

There is a cheaper one but I don't know the name its recommended by safecell in Lakewood
Back to top
Page 3 of 3 Previous  1  2  3 Recent Topics




Post new topic   Reply to topic    Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

Related Topics Replies Last Post
Shana Rishona - living separately / 2 cities 16 Yesterday at 10:49 pm View last post
Looking to buy living room couch and chairs
by amother
15 Sat, Mar 23 2024, 8:53 am View last post
ISO Convertible Sofa that looks stylish and living-roomy
by amother
3 Sat, Mar 09 2024, 9:26 pm View last post
This weeks Aha story in Ami Living about Yocheved Gross
by amother
10 Sun, Mar 03 2024, 12:38 pm View last post
Help me decide on Living Room Sofa Fabric:
by amother
1 Mon, Feb 26 2024, 6:52 pm View last post