How did I save money today?

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Tank-Girl said:
So are it was all said and done, weigh ups done and a reality check, I ended up buying a brand new whipper snipper.

*huge sigh*

Money was put aside for the electricity bill and the small debt owed to the good next door neighbor paid.
That left precious little for anything else.

Just as well I live small.

Next pension is free and clear because I sacrificed this one.
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Seems my instincts were correct.
I brought the whipper snipper this morning and this afternoon I got a letter in the mail from my landlord about the state of my yard.
I have an appointment tomorrow so after that I will be getting stuck into my yard work.
 
Day 2 of not spending any money.

I went over the bank accounts and after DH's pay I had more money left over so I banked more into our 3 month living expenses emergency account bringing us to 28.8 % of the way there.

For those of us who are religious the budget doesn't add up and I appear to have way more money left over than my meticulous budget paperwork is saying. Truly a blessing :) .
 
I busted yesterday too. I went to the dollar tree store.
Topped off some things I was getting low on
Stocked up on pork and beans and also baked beans. Those cans are almost $2 at the grocery store
One thing I noticed though is that they didn't have one jar of green olives. They had cans of black olives ( which I bought 5 cans) but no green.
They also had 1&1/2 lb bags of pinto beans so I bought 4 of those to vacuum seal in jars

Got some seeds for the garden and some planters before they were gone. They had stackable ones which I want to give a try for some herbs
 
Got to day 3 of not spending any money yesterday but we busted today.

We went and picked up our monthly grocery order at Woolworths and I did stop in at both IGA get a lot of mostly half price or better specials on 1kg of minced beef,3 x sultana bran & 1 x nutrigrain cereals, 1 x led 8.5W light bulb, 1 x 6pk wholemeal bread rolls and 1 x 6pk wholegrain bread rolls for $1 ea instead of $3.99ea, 200g pack of sliced butter mushrooms and watermelon saving $29.58 on usual prices.

I had given myself a challenge last month (24th Dec - 21st Jan) of reducing our grocery budget down from $300 a month (including stockpiling) down to $250 - $280 and I am pleased to say I came in at $192 for the month or $108 under our usual budget :).

Similarly this month we have most things we need to buy in the home and are currently sitting at near to $179 but will need to top on some fresh fruit early next month.

Considering the thrifty plan as set out by the USDA is $356.40 a month for two adults of our age I think we are doing well considering our grocery costs are considerably dearer than the United States :).
 
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I wasn't going to go to the grocery store yesterday, but cheese was on sale and I wanted to stock up the freezer b/c I haven't seen a good deal on cheese in quite some time. While I was there, I checked the clearance meat section and there was a cooler full of thick butcher fresh cut bacon on a store special (not advertised) for $2.49 per pound! I bought them out. It was about 8 packages. So now the freezer is stocked with cheese and bacon!:thumbs:
 
angie_nrs said:
I wasn't going to go to the grocery store yesterday, but cheese was on sale and I wanted to stock up the freezer b/c I haven't seen a good deal on cheese in quite some time. While I was there, I checked the clearance meat section and there was a cooler full of thick butcher fresh cut bacon on a store special (not advertised) for $2.49 per pound! I bought them out. It was about 8 packages. So now the freezer is stocked with cheese and bacon!:thumbs:
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I’m going to have to look into freezing cheese! I could save a lot by doing that.
 
Double R said:
I’m going to have to look into freezing cheese! I could save a lot by doing that.
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It works great for shredded cheese. However, chunk cheese and sliced cheese can get a crumbly texture if frozen for too long, so I usually don't freeze those. Last week I used a package of shredded cheese for our pizza that was frozen in 2018. I thaw it in the frig and it tastes just fine. I always mark the date on the outside of the package before putting it in the freezer and keep them rotated. We go through a lot of cheese. Bacon too!

BTW, good to see you back on the forum Double R.:)
 
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Sentry18 said:
The Chief Financial Officer (aka Mrs. Sentry18) has declared a 3 year extreme belt tightening. And she is dead serious too. I know because I had to sit for an hour and hear all about it last night, and that included looking at comparative financial projections. While budgeting she calculated that we have 2 1/2 years left on our mortgage and 3 years to make it to our savings goal before my anticipated retirement date of 2023. Not our original savings goal, we already made that, but her new ultra-aggressive savings goal. Plus she wants me to work until 2025 now. Anyway she cut our general spending by $1,000 a month to increase our savings and she wants to free up another $500-$1,000 a month by cutting costs. And all of this because she got a 4% pay raise on January 1st and she started dreaming about early retirement, which for her means 2033 unless we "get really serious" in which case she could retire as early as 2030. Pray for me, I have a feeling my next 3 years are going to be interesting.
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Maybe in next five years a grandbaby or two maay come along and change all that?, got you covered in th prayers dept the rest is up to you ,your on your own.:D:good luck::thumbs:
 
Meerkat said:
Maybe in next five years a grandbaby or two maay come along and change all that?, got you covered in th prayers dept the rest is up to you ,your on your own.:D:good luck::thumbs:
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Wife just said yesterday that we will probably need to buy a small RV just for traveling around to see our future grand kids. We have 3 daughters that all claim that they want big families, 2 that want kids but smaller families, and 2 boys who have been told their whole lives that they need to carry on the family name. We are expecting around 20-25 grand kids. I may have to keep working just to cover Christmas and birthday gifts!
 
Sentry18 said:
Wife just said yesterday that we will probably need to buy a small RV just for traveling around to see our future grand kids. We have 3 daughters that all claim that they want big families, 2 that want kids but smaller families, and 2 boys who have been told their whole lives that they need to carry on the family name. We are expecting around 20-25 grand kids. I may have to keep working just to cover Christmas and birthday gifts!
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LOL, the gift thing is for sure. But don't work too much and miss out of the joys of grand parenthood. Aslo if its anything like what my 4th oldest grand daughter wants fro a wedding that will put you back lots of money.
IMo its is wasteful to spend so much money on a May wedding but so far daughter is already into the $35,000 range.
 
Meerkat said:
LOL, the gift thing is for sure. But don't work too much and miss out of the joys of grand parenthood. Aslo if its anything like what my 4th oldest grand daughter wants fro a wedding that will put you back lots of money.
IMo its is wasteful to spend so much money on a May wedding but so far daughter is already into the $35,000 range.
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Yikes! I have one married already. The wife and I came up with a number we could reasonably afford (WAY less than $35,000) and told her this is what you are getting and no more. We told her she would get the same if she had a big wedding, small wedding, or decided to elope. She ended up having a small wedding and put the rest into savings. We already told her sisters that is approx. the same number they will be getting.
 
Sentry18 said:
Yikes! I have one married already. The wife and I came up with a number we could reasonably afford (WAY less than $35,000) and told her this is what you are getting and no more. We told her she would get the same if she had a big wedding, small wedding, or decided to elope. She ended up having a small wedding and put the rest into savings. We already told her sisters that is approx. the same number they will be getting.
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Very good plan. My daughter should have used that one on little Paris .
It doesn't teach a child to be conservative or even wise to just them spend like they have a money tree.
We refuse to let them do for us and it sonetimes upsets them but we don't need anything. We did let them help us when septic field had to be replaced a few years ago.I feel if you get use to help you will need help more often,plus don't like taking from anyone much less our kids. Let them blow it on weddings.:D
 
Went to the local Family Dollar and used a $5 coupon off a $25 purchase. I added a lysol spray, super pack of TP, airborne, dramamine, & dayquil tabs to my stock. I don't really need any of it, but I had some other coupons as well and got a nice big bag full for less than $22.:D I couldn't help but add some fresh meds to my stock with all the discussion of the coronavirus going on.:(
 
@angie_nrs I like to stock up on cheese and bacon too. I freeze the blocks - when I make it to the restaurant supply (cheaper.) Bacon at $3 per pound is a bargain- $2.49 is awesome!
@Amish Heart Isn't it a shame? We like to support local over big box, but double the price? That's tough - and unfortunate.
 
Some financial advice from my dad

I have done this, not all the time, But..i try

Buy a second hand car, pay cash
make a new car payment to your self every month
when you have the cash to buy a new car. make an offer at the dealership this way
go find your car. stand in front of it. a salesman will swoop on you like a buzzard on a dead rabbit
exchange pleasantries. Hand him a business card with the amount you will pay IN CASH for the car you are standing in front of.
Leave..
He will call you to say the manager will not approve that low of a deal. be pleasant/ firm. tell him to call back when the manager changes his mind
You will receive a call.might take a week or 2.

How to determine the price to write on the card?
sticker price Minus 20%
At the office, when you have the pen in hand, papers unsigned
casually ask what the spare tire is, is it a donut or a full size spare tire?
If do nut. set the pen down. tell him that is a deal breaker.
you require a real spare

Now you have a new car, paid for in cash. continue to make the car payment to yourself each month
 
Frodo said:
Some financial advice from my dad

I have done this, not all the time, But..i try

Buy a second hand car, pay cash
make a new car payment to your self every month
when you have the cash to buy a new car. make an offer at the dealership this way
go find your car. stand in front of it. a salesman will swoop on you like a buzzard on a dead rabbit
exchange pleasantries. Hand him a business card with the amount you will pay IN CASH for the car you are standing in front of.
Leave..
He will call you to say the manager will not approve that low of a deal. be pleasant/ firm. tell him to call back when the manager changes his mind
You will receive a call.might take a week or 2.

How to determine the price to write on the card?
sticker price Minus 20%
At the office, when you have the pen in hand, papers unsigned
casually ask what the spare tire is, is it a donut or a full size spare tire?
If do nut. set the pen down. tell him that is a deal breaker.
you require a real spare

Now you have a new car, paid for in cash. continue to make the car payment to yourself each month
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This used to be very true, especially when businesses relied on a cash infusion from time to time. And it is still true if the car has been on the lot a long time and they really want it gone. However I would submit that in the modern era the days of cash being king are gone. My wife and I always buy our vehicles with certified funds (because I am not going to walk into a dealership with $25-30k in cash). We have been offered lower prices if we finance versus pay in full. About 2 years ago we purchased a GMC Acadia Denali with somewhere around 15,000 miles. We haggled over the price and the dealer was super excited until he found out we were going to pay in full right then and there. Then he stopped haggling. This is because dealerships used to make their money selling cars, now they make they money on financing, fees, upgrades, service programs, extended warranties, etc., etc. If they sell you a car for what is essentially just cash, they are potentially loosing money. Perhaps this is less true at small used car dealerships who still rely primarily on the sale price to make their money, but we want used cars were warranties and free service plans.
 
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