Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Wednesday Musings

I’ve been perusing the grocery store ads this morning and thinking about saving money. About how many of the items in the sale ads are high cost foods and how the cost of some items have risen. For example, one ten pound roll of ground beef is selling for $30.00 right now at Walmart when last summer it was only $20.00.

Cooking from scratch will save us money, but cost us time. 

Some of the sales worth mentioning are Jimmy Dean Sausage at Kroger for $2.49, Kroger brand peanut butter $1.00, and Publix has Hebrew National and Oscar Mayer hotdogs B1G1Free. 

We will be making a list and grocery shopping before the sales run out on Tuesday. I try not to be discouraged by the prices and just keep on going. How about you?

For a long time during the pandemic I stopped perusing the grocery store ads and just bought what we needed. Now with rising prices I need to get back to the way I did things before COVID and stock up when I find sale items. 

Something else I’ve been thinking about recently is reusable products. 

Should we spend money on items we are just going to throw away? Items such as paper plates, paper cups, and plastic forks? We will save money, but it will cost us time to wash the dishes. Is the trade off worth it? I think it comes down to a personal choice. If I had less time and more money I might opt for those time savings things occasionally. 

From time to time I will read some of the posts on Reddit. One of their groups is dedicated to buying an item one time and then keeping it for life. It’s a pretty interesting group. 

Here is a link to it if you’re interested:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/

Other items that are reusable that will save you money include: 

Reusable shopping or grocery bags (Aldi)
Reusable water bottles
Reusable straws
Reusable food containers
Reusable Cloth Pads
Real plates, cups and Silverware
Reusable wool dryer balls

Anyway, these were just some things I was thinking about this morning. Sometimes I get bogged down in the minutiae of things, but I’m only human and wouldn’t be me without that. 




Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
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22 comments:

  1. 85/15% ground beef on sale is $4.19 lb. It was up to $4.99 and on sale bscb is on sale for $2.49. We pay way more for everything here in western PA. I did buy a 1/2 cow with my daughter to share, the cost was $2.99 for all the meat. Our gas is $3.39 and I just watch the best we can.

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    1. Thank you, Cheryl. I think just watching the best we can is the best that we can do here too. It’s interesting to see the prices from your area too, thank you.

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  2. I think about some of these things as well. I have an ongoing debate with my husband about recycling. We are both supportive of it, but what about if it requires thoroughly washing something (say, a glass jar holding tomato sauce). We're in a huge drought, so does the "wasted" water equal out the recycling of the glass? I'm not sure.

    We rarely use disposable products. We have cloth napkins as well. The money savings is less of an issue than the environmental impact. However, we certainly have them at larger (pre-COVID) family events.

    I'm almost back to my pre-COVID way of shopping for groceries (adding back in the produce stand & Trader Joes, & going less to our 3 minute away but pricey store.)

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    1. That is a great question to ask about the jar when you’re re in a drought. Paper products do get used here if there is a big family event unless we are sitting down to a holiday dinner in our dining room, but cookouts...definitely!

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  3. I was looking at the Kroger ad too, and I will buy the sausage at $2.49 and Kroger honey peanut butter for $1. I will get the sugar for .99 if they have it in stock. It wasn't that long ago, that we could buy 5 pounds of sugar but the packages have shrunk to 4 pounds now. My cats need canned cat food, but it has gone up $2 since I last bought it. Cat food isn't something that goes on sale very often. But I guess we will do what we have always done, and stock up as much as we can when things are on sale.
    Thanks for the links. I'll check them out.
    The only time I use paper plates and cups are when we are camping. Definitely worth it then. ;)

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    1. Kathy, I will be getting those same items too. I didn’t know about the sugar though, I will have to check that out to see if ours has it. I definitely agree on paper products and camping. Just don’t tell the Girl Scouts. Lol

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  4. I rarely use paper products unless it is a large group or we are camping.

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  5. I am pretty much a reusable type person. I do keep paper plates and cups for big gatherings (LOL - they last me forever). Washing only takes a couple minutes.
    Paper towels only for cat yack. se cloth for everything else.
    Reusable bags - for years.
    Refill water bottles for myself and keep a 2 liter pop bottle of cold water for company.
    More than one use is the way to go in my book. Such a savings.

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    1. I agree, more than one use is terrific. I even save the tops of the dish wash detergent bottles thanks to you, Cheryl.

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  6. Sam's Club has 3 pound packages of Nathan's hotdogs for 9.99 on special with a dollar off this week. They are still the real full size hotdogs. Those 10 and 12 ounce packages are the tiniest hotdogs that you can hardly taste them on the bun! I was so happy to see that they actually still make the full size ones. I have noticed that a lot of items that used to always be BOGO at Publix are no longer but rather 2/$__ and not a great deal. We always end up back at Aldi plus we have scratch and dent type discount grocers here. We never pay more than $1 for roll sausage and they are all the good brands. 2.5 pound packages of bacon for 6.99, etc. I am so thankful for other options.

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    1. That is a great deal on the Nathan’s hotdogs, Lana. You definitely have to be careful at Publix as they do not have the great deals they used to have. One of their competitors left town a few years back and it made a noticeable difference. You definitely have some great prices in your area. I love that for you!

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  7. I have always gone through the flyer at my favourite grocery store. I think I just may have to add another grocery store to see if I can get my bills lower.

    God bless.

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  8. Minutiae is important! Unfortunately, we do use paper plates and plastic cups everyday. But, I do use glass to store things. I find Publix has things I need on sale. Even two for prices are good. Plus, I have some cheaper stores that have items like tuna at very good prices.

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    1. In your situation it is understandable though. Something that makes life easier when you’re in pain would be worth it to me. I like to check out Publix B1G1Free as I do get some great sale items there like Pam cooking spray.

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  9. I have not looked at the Publix ad yet but I will be jumping on the Hebrew National BOGO. I will have TheHub pick up a couple on his way home from work also. They freeze well and I had rather have them than any other brand, so it is tock up time!

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    1. We enjoy the Hebrew National hotdogs too, Anne. And they do freeze well. I will be stocking up on those too.

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  10. Things are much more expensive here in the UK too. I often go to Aldi but even there . . .
    xx

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    1. Yes, Aldi has their speciality items that can be costly too. We have to be careful even there.

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  11. I am truly glad I built a pantry and kept up with during the pandemic. With the rising costs I am just replacing basics now. It's been a huge relief. Covid is giving us a new & different frugality. It's a brand new game to play.

    I can see the allure of disposable products, especially now when people might feel safer throwing things away instead of touching contaminated plates, for example. Also, I am sure there are a lot of overwhelmed end of their rope people out there right now that washing a plate might be the thing that sends them into a meltdown. You know it's always those little things that break us. In my home it's just two of us and furbabies so dishes are not an issue. I know after a day of sanitzing and stress I have looked at the full dishwasher that needs to be emptied like it was an evil thing, lol. New drought conditions with cities regulating water consumption I think that disposable is only choice for many. You can wash the dishes or wash your hair for the day. I know I would want to wash my hair. I have a friend who is in Northern California. She is a serious frugalite. She buys disposable plates & things because she said the forest fires give her no choice in the matter. She also has those random power outages so doing dishes can be challenging.

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  12. That is another viewpoint I hadn’t thought of, Safyne. That people wouldn’t want to touch contaminated plates during a pandemic. Washing dishes doesn’t bother me for some reason. I don’t even mind putting them away most of the time. If I did I would probably use more paper plates. LOL

    Does your girlfriend in California have a blog? I would love to read it if she does.

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