Lightening Online

This week our discussion on The Complete Tightwad Gazette continues with a look at a couple of simple steps that can be taken to start (or restart as the case may be) you on the journey toward a “smarter” (or insert your own term for “frugal” ) way of dealing with your money.

Step One - Record ALL Spending

According to The Complete Tightwad Gazette, the place to start with getting a handle on your finances is here:

“…record spending habits for a period of 3 months” (p9)

Personally, I try to record all of our spending all of the time (with the exception of “petty cash” and “personal spending money” which are unaccountable amounts).

But if you don’t feel you can make a commitment to record all spending long-term, it IS helpful to at least do this for a period of time every now and then. It gives you a more *honest* look at where your money is going. If you don’t know where it is going then it is very difficult to make changes to how you’re spending.

Step Two - Separate Expenses Into Essential and Optional

Once you know WHERE your money is going, it’s important to look at what items you consider to be “essential” and what items you might consider “optional”.

I found this quote in The Complete Tightwad Gazette quite interesting:

“No one but you can say exactly where the line between essential and optional expenses falls. That depends on your value system”. p9

I’m not 100% sure I agree with that statement. I feel that particularly in Western cultures, we have a skewed idea of what really IS essential spending and what is optional. While I do agree that our own values system may cause some variation, I feel that many of us need to take a long hard look at what we consider “essential” when it comes to spending.

Discussion Questions

Do you track your spending and if so, how?

Do you track all the time or just periodically to check on where your money is going?

What are your thoughts on the debate between “essential” and “optional” spending. Have we gotten our ideas on “essential” a little “out of whack”?

Feel free to add any other thoughts and/or questions to the discussion in the comments section below.

As we were driving into Ballarat on Monday afternoon, I let out a squeal that gave farmboy a heart attack. The word “Aldi” held no meaning whatsoever for him but given I was supposed to be navigating, he assumed it had something to do with the navigation. He didn’t really appreciate my explanation either.

We continued on, only to come across ANOTHER Aldi resulting in another squeal from the navigator. Unfortunately at that precise moment I managed to miss a street we were looking for (in my enthusiasm over there being not 1 but 2 Aldi’s in Ballarat!!!!). Farmboy just didn’t share my excitement.

But I know you’ll all understand. What’s a little “getting lost trying to find our accomodation” when there’s an ALDI I can check out. And right in time for writing this post????

I was “good” though and waited until our last day (by which time Farmboy had forgiven me for getting sidetracked) to visit. So I’m going to start with my first impressions of Aldi.

ALDI

Was nothing like I expected.

It was clean and light and well set out and COLOURFUL. All their packaging just looks like a regular brand! Rather than a “no name” brand.

I didn’t buy a lot because well, we had 1200km to bring it.

The prices? I didn’t find them quite as cheap as I expected. As with everything I think you need to know your prices. In general I thought *most* things were either on par or around 10% cheaper than what I’ve bought elsewhere. I didn’t look thoroughly though. One thing I DID buy was some powdered milk as it was $2 cheaper than anything here. So about 25% cheaper.

I haven’t tried anything yet so I can’t comment on the quality. However, my overall experience was positive and if I had the chance to shop there on a regular basis, I would.

Oh, and I checked and a LOT of the products say they are made in Australia. I can’t comment on where the overall profits go but neither can I comment on where the profits from other supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths go either.

One thing I did find interesting was that pretty much the entire first aisle upon entering the store comprised of biscuits, prepackaged snacks and chips. Hmmm….. And I bought…. a box of chips (treat for the kids), 2 packets of savoury biscuits (for the trip home) and a couple of prepackaged snacks for the kids lunch boxes. I’m not sure if every Aldi is set up the same way but it’s something to be aware of. A few dollars savings can easily be eaten up if you’re tempted to buy that kind of stuff on a regular basis.

BLACK AND GOLD

Black and Gold brand here in Australia is a common generic brand in the smaller, independent type stores. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the products in this range. I have found many of them to be substandard and disappointing.

There are two products that we use regularly and enjoy within this range though.

1. Ice cream - some people hate generic ice cream and I do agree that the more expensive varieties are creamier. However, in many cases this is what you are used to. We regularly use the Black and Gold brand ice cream and enjoy it. A word of warning though, the neapolitan (which is a mix of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate) sends my kids hyper (and generally speaking we don’t have issues with colours affecting our kids).

2. The black and gold lolly range is Y.U.M!!!! I suspect they come out of the Allen’s factory.

WOOLWORTHS GENERIC

To be honest, I’m not all the impressed with the fact that Woolworths (and also Coles) have chosen to release a variety of different types of “store brand” products. I find it frustrating and confusing. In talking here though I’m going to be mainly referring to the basic products that are generally known as “homebrand”.

My favourite products?

Mint slice biscuits and fake kit kats! And no, buying either of those is generally not the way to keep your spending down (or your waistline measurements). Ooh, and recently we tried their choc chip biscuits too and they were FABULOUS!!!

I do buy biscuits, baking products, dairy products and many many pantry items from Woolworths (when I shop there - it isn’t my main shop).

What I wouldn’t buy generic from Woolworths again?

Frozen corn. It was TERRIBLE!

COLES

Most of my pantry shopping is done at Coles so we use a LOT of Coles generic products. Again, like Woolworths, they have brought out several ranges of their own products so you have to be alert and aware as to which provide the better value.

To be honest, I am yet to find a generic product in Coles that I’m not really happy with. Most of our pantry staples are generic as well as many dairy products and freezer products.

There are some items, like cocoa, that I’ve yet to try (I have tried Woolworths cocoa and didn’t like that but reader feedback has caused me to reconsider) so I really need to consider doing that.

I was also disappointed when they recently switched to using syrup for their canned fruits. They now only offer canned/tinned fruit in fruit juice in their more expensive range.

FOODLAND

I think Foodland is a South Australian company so may not be familiar to many of you. Having said that, I was THRILLED when our local store became a Foodland store as I LOVE their generic brand products. I haven’t found any that I haven’t liked. When I was first living on my own, Foodland was the closest supermarket to me so I did most of my grocery shopping there. In particular, I REALLY like their multigrain bread. We also like their tinned two fruits.

I still choose to purchase many of my products from Coles as overall their generic products are cheaper than our local Foodland. Some would argue the case for shopping locally but that is a topic for another day.

LET THE BUYER BEWARE

A couple of things I have learnt in my journey to be more frugal.

1. Generic is not ALWAYS the cheapest. I have had other shoppers point this out to me before when I’ve automatically reached for the generic product. Items like sugar will sometimes go on special for a price LOWER than the generic product. You do need to be aware when it comes to shopping (which is annoying I know).

2. Generic products DO come on sale. Keep your eyes open because they will sometimes drop by 10% and it’s a good opportunity to stock up.

3. Check things like weight and percentage of product. On the sides of canned goods in Australia, they have to indicate what percentage of the product you are purchasing is in the can. Often-times generic products have a higher percentage but not always so it is something to be aware of.

OVER TO YOU

Please take the time to read these posts and comments made by others. It’s great to get a variety of perspective in regard to these things. As you’re aware, I have been rather distracted of late so if I’ve missed your post or comment, please let me know and I’ll add it in ASAP.

Generic Grocery Brands by Lizzie from Lizzie’s Home.

Generically Speaking by Maggie

Marita states:

When it comes down to it. Everything that ALDI sells is generic and I find in 99% of the time it is better than label brands.

My only label addiction is Pepsi Max. I can not stand generic cola. Hubby loves the Maxi Ice cola. Both of us loath Coke.

Some comments from River:

“..tomato sauce was alittle runnier…” HA!! I tried a savings (coles) tomato sauce and it was like coloured water and tasteless. The Farmland brand (coles) was ok, but it’s been replace by You’ll love Coles, and it’s not as good.

I buy other generic stuff, flour, sugar, paper towel, “glad” wrap etc. but a lot of the foods just aren’t as good. Canned tomatoes are more liquid than tomatoes, baked beans are hard and tasteless, both savings brand (coles). Farmland brand which is now you’ll love coles is better, but if I was in Foodland, the generic black and gold brand baked beans were nice. Generic biscuits are okay and jelly crystals, but I don’t like the cake mixes. years ago I tried a generic garlic bread and it wasn’t nice but hubby bought some home today to have with our pizza coles “smart buy” which has replaced the blue and white “savings” and it was nice. I’d definitely buy it again. I don’t buy the smart buy icecream, it’s yuk in my opinion, but the you’ll love coles vanilla is okay. Mostly i buy generic for single use things such as tissues, cottonbuds etc, or for foods where the taste doesn’t really matter, for instance flour will be mixed with other things and can’t be tasted in the final product.

Polly has given her feedback which has prompted me to rethink my stance on the cocoa and give it another try (it has been over a decade since I tried the generic cocoas):

I completely agree with you. However as a somewhat chocolate compulsive/expert, I think the homebrand cocoa is superior to the other supermarket brands. It is the richest, and finest I have come across, with a high percentage of cocoa….

Chris has added:

Totally agree with you in buying generic. My mom raised us in name brands but I raised my children with generic brands. Now they rather use generic than name brand…LOL

If you have something you’d like to add on this topic then feel free to jump in via the comments section. If you have a post on generic products, feel free to send me the link and I’ll add it to this post.

A FEW OTHER POSTS I’VE FOUND

Buy Generic Groceries

How to Choose Generics or Store Brands

Generic Groceries

* For those not living in Australia, I’m not sure if “generic” is a familiar term. It basically refers to the “stores own brand” of product. Here you might also hear terms like “homebrand”, “black and gold” and other variations of two colours (eg “blue and white” and so one).

I remember as a child when generic brands began appearing in the stores. I’m not sure if this was their first appearance or whether they were just becoming more widespread at this time. What I do remember is that there was a certain stigma attached to the generic type items. They were considered “poor people’s” food.

For a teenager at the time it was considered “social suicide” to be seen with homebrand or other generic items in your possession. I wonder if perhaps this “social conditioning” has stuck with some people. I’m surprised at how many people still seem reluctant to even give generic products a try.

There are a few common objections to using generic products.

My Husband/Children Object

Honestly, I think this is often more about mind over matter than anything. Yes, some things do taste different but different isn’t always bad. It’s about what you’re used to.

I’m not saying that EVERY generic product is a winner. Just that too often they get discounted as no good without being given a fair go.

My tip? Remove the contents from their packaging and either add them to the old packaging (the brand name stuff) or put them into another container. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.

OR. Try mixing half generic with half label brand.

They Are an Inferior Product

I think these days it’s a fairly well-known fact that most generic products are manufactured in the SAME place that label brand products are made. Often you’re looking at purchasing an item that is identical with a different packaging. Which means that with the label brand product, the extra you are paying for is advertising, cost of shelf space (I assume supermarkets don’t charge THEMSELVES for shelf space) and pretty packaging.

Now I KNOW that not ALL generic products are exactly the same. You do need to pick and choose a bit.

But lots of them are REALLY good and I think it’s worth giving them a try just to find the good ones.

People Will Think I’m Cheap (or Poor)

GREAT!!!! So let them!

Okay, I’ll be honest here, occasionally this still bothers me.

BUT, we all make choices in life.

If I spend $100 less than others on groceries per week for 10 years that’s $50,000. AFTER tax!

Now, we don’t save $100 a week using generic but it certainly does make a BIG difference to our final grocery tally.

Hence leaving us money to spend on more funner stuff! Like saving up to do our BIG trip next year!

They Dilute the Products

Maybe in some products.

1. Check the labels. I was looking at tinned tuna the other day. Tinned (canned) products are great because they give your percentages on the labelling. The cheapest generic (Australia now seem to have supermarkets carrying different “levels” of generic product) had 1% MORE tuna than the other tins of the same size.

2. Ask yourself, does it matter? I have noticed that tomato sauce is one product that is a little runnier in the generic brands than in the label brands. The thing is, my children like to cover their food with tomato sauce. Being a little less thick doesn’t actually matter in this case. In fact, it means they use LESS sauce overall - do a double saving!

Where Do I Start?

If you’ve never used generic products before, the best place to start is with basic items like flour and sugar (I DON’T recommend cocoa). Once you get beyond those, it is a bit of trial and error of trying products to see what they’re like.

Honestly

Some generic products are duds! BUT, I would have to say in my experience that there are a LOT of wonderful generic products out there, far outnumbering the duds.

Lightening’s Generic Products Love-Fest

Remember the Zucchini Love-Fest we had a few weeks back? Well, now I’d like to host a “generic” love fest. What do you need to do? Write a post outlining the products that you like (and those you definitely DON’T like) when it comes to generic/store brand grocery products. Make sure you mention which store they come from so people don’t get confused. You can post it anytime between now and next Friday and send me the link. Or if you’ve already written a post on this topic in the past, sending me the link to that post is fine too.

Next Friday (or Thursday for some of you) I’m going to post my own list of products we particularly like. I’ll also post any links that get sent in to other posts on this topic. Hopefully this way we can cover a good range of products AND a range of other countries too (c’mon my international readers, I need you to help me out some here)

Likes and dislikes vary but it’s always nice to be able to start with products that others have found to be good value.

It’s going to be a big generic link-love fest! If you’d like to be included, I’ll add a contact form right here to make it nice and easy for you to send me your link.

OR, if you don’t have a blog - you can send a review or two of your favourite generic products and I’ll add those to my post as well.

Happy Shopping (and Saving) Everybody!!!!

P.S. Feel free to pass the word around to your blogging buddies. The more participants we have, the better for all!

cforms contact form by delicious:days

We are fortunate in our finances in that we usually finish each of our personal financial years (which for us run Feb 1st to Jan 31st) with some kind of surplus in our bank account.

This hasn’t always been the case. In fact, a little over 3 years ago we were basically living BEYOND our means, spending around $3000 a year MORE than we could really afford to.

It was at this point that we decided it was time to separate our finances from the farm a little and work on tracking our spending and living more WITHIN our means (and perhaps even a little under them).

Still, it was somewhat of a surprise to us to get to the end of the first year and actually have MONEY in our account. At this point I was mighty glad we’d moved to a separate bank account for our personal drawings as this meant the left over money was OURS and wasn’t simply going to be swallowed up the endless black hole for money that a farm seems to be.

So, we needed to come to some kind of decision. What do we do with this surplus money? Spend it? Save it? Use it toward the mortgage?

I thought it would be a nice incentive toward NOT overspending, if we put at least SOME of any surplus at the end of the year toward something “fun”. Kind of a reward for our efforts throughout the year.

We started off using a split of 60% toward the mortgage, 20% toward our emergency fund and 20% “blow money” (meaning we didn’t have to spend it on something “practical” or “sensible”).

Now that the mortgage is paid and our emergency fund is at a level we feel comfortable with for now, we make decisions at the end of each year based on our needs and plans at the time. But still, at least 20% gets set aside to be deliberately spent as a “reward” for our efforts (which do involve hard work and sacrifice from time to time).

This system works well for us and we feel far from deprived even though we tend to spend less than others in some areas of our budget.

One year we took the kids to the Adelaide Show as our “splurge”. It’s great to be able to say to our children that we “choose” to spend our money in this way and have money available for ………. . We want to show them that frugality is about a lifestyle CHOICE. We are not deprived. We are not “poor”. We just choose to spend (or not spend) our money the way we do.

Yesterday we went on a spending spree. It’s not “normal” for us to spend our “splurge/blow money” quite this early into the next year but we had a plan. It was a plan that made sense to us. The money was sitting there. So we went ahead and instituted it.

We’d been discussing for a while the need to buy a netball ring for Singstar Princess as she’s constantly using our old kids basketball ring to shoot hoops and given she’s interested in starting netball training, we figured a ring would be a useful backyard item. The basketball ring is a plastic adjustable kids one and doesn’t go very high.

We’ve also been talking for a while about how useful a punching bag would be. We’re finding that Leighton is prone to fits of anger and aggression that really need some kind of physical outlet (that doesn’t include throwing a pillow at the light and snapping the bulb off). Being able to let off steam would also be helpful for me and I know Farmboy will make use of it as well.

I noticed Sports Power were advertising both of these items and suggested to Farmboy that we *could* use our 2007 “splurge” money and just go out and buy them.

It still felt strange to walk into Sports Power and just spend $500 in the space of around 5 minutes. Then again, it also felt GOOD to know that we were spending money we HAD.

This is the netball ring. The “normal” me would have gone for the $20 ring that you need to attach to a carport or similar. The “splurge” here was buying a free standing ring that is easily adjustable in height and movable depending on where it suits us to have it. We also bought a netball for her.

The grin on her face last night when we told her what we’d bought was priceless. If it got any wider she would have lost half her lips as they fell off her face.  Despite the hot day she had to have a go when she got home from school today. 

And this is the punching bag set-up. It’s a bit flash for our usual “buy the cheapest you can find” style. Given at least 3 of us plan to use it on a regular basis, we felt it was a worthwhile investment.

Farmboy admitted to me on the way home that he has always wanted to own a punching bag. He’s a practical kind of guy and it would never have ocurred to him to go out and buy a set-up like this. It was only that I suggested we buy it with our surplus “blow” money that he’d even contemplate it. I was rapt when he said that because he really IS bad at spending money on himself. It’s nice to think we’ve bought something that will make him smile.

Not to be missed out, Trailer Boy (note: new name for “The Bomb”) got a new yellow football. His first EVER real football. Last season during football training he was asking for a yellow football. So now he has one. And it is definitely his most prized possession.  He doesn’t actually attend training yet but likes to go along and play with the other younger boys that are there.

Spoilt? My kids? Yeah….I know.

All that didn’t quite add up to $500.  Farmboy also bought himself a weights set.  He’s noticed since he broke his collarbone a couple of years ago that he no longer has much strength in that arm so he wants to work on rebuilding some of that.

Being frugal is boring?  Not in our family. 

I always find tips hard to write. It can be rather laborious to wade through tip upon tip that you’ve already heard or read. The best tip I can offer you is to take a look at 1 item you buy regularly and really think hard about how you might go about reducing spending on that item.

Having said that, this week I’m going to go through the list of non food items that I include with our grocery budget and explain what I do/have done to reduce spending in that area. Hopefully there is something here that will help most of you.

For those not familiar with the term “generic”, it is simply a reference to a stores own brand. We have many different generic “brands” now in Australia.

TOILET PAPER

This is one item where I tend to be rather fussy. I have a limit of 50c per roll and stock up big when a good special is on. Our personal preference is Kleenex Cottonelle. For some reason most people like Quilton these days but I really don’t like it much at all. It all comes down to personal preference.

I did find a great recycled, made in Australia pack that was more like 35c a roll in Bi-Lo one time but when I went back they no longer stocked it and I haven’t seen it since. I also didn’t write down the name of it.

TISSUES

Everyone in our family has hankies. The kids don’t use them as much as DH and I. I don’t push this one way or another. DH and I just happen to prefer hankies. I buy generic branded tissues (usually Coles) and then I purchase the Aloe Vera tissues if someone has a cold. We’re lucky to go through a box of tissues a month.

CLEANING CLOTHS

As I mentioned last week, I use old face washers and cut up towels for cleaning cloths. I do occasionally buy cleaning cloths and when I do I tend to buy generic and wash them many times. We’re hardly ever use the “chux” style of cloth.

For dishes I do buy those yellow sponges with the green scourer on one side - again, generic branded. We also have a dishmop (although they’re getting harder and harder to source these days) and occasionally use plastic and metal scourers (which don’t need replacing very often).

My biggest expense with cleaning are those George Foreman Grill cleaning cloths. DH loves them and who am I to deny him if he’s happy to do the cleaning up?

PAPER TOWEL

We don’t tend to use a LOT of paper towel. Most spills get wiped up with an old cloth nappy (if you see any of these in op shops - they make AWESOME mop-up-spills cloths).

When I do buy it, I tend to go with a generic brand. It’s usually just used for grease based spills or stuff that we really want to throw in the bin rather than wash a cloth from.

SOAP

I’m not a big user of soap (and no I don’t STINK!). DH on the other hand tends to need quite a bit of it. He’s quite limited in what he can use due to my sensitivity to perfumes so we tend to stick with Velvet which just happens to be about the cheapest soap there is.

I seem to accumulate a never ending supply of liquid body washes so that’s what the kids will often have in their bath (if anything).

For handsoap at the basins I prefer a liquid soap and most commonly I use a very cheap shampoo (watered down) for this. It’s also a great way to use up bits of shampoo that I’ve bought to try and haven’t liked.

SHAMPOO AND OTHER HAIR PRODUCTS

My biggest money saving tip? Cut everyone’s hair short! Since Farmboy has decided he likes his hair razor cut, we’ve used nowhere near the shampoo we used to! The kids hair gets washed once a week (or less often for Leighton if I forget to remind him ). I wash mine whenever I’m going out (which is 2-3 times a week at the moment).

Most people use TOO MUCH shampoo. Try cutting back how much you use. You can also put it into a pump pack to prevent other family members overusing. You can also use either soap or bicarb soda for washing your hair.

I used bicarb for quite some time but apparently it can strip any colour (artificially added that is) from your hair so I haven’t used it for a while. Must try it again one of these days. My hair was amazingly soft and silky when I was using bicarb.

We use very little in the way of conditioner. I use apple cider vinegar to condition my hair. I have it mixed in a spray bottle with a little Rosemary essential oil and about 3/4’s water to 1/4 vinegar.

For the kids I have a bottle of water with a small amount of conditioner in it that gets sprayed onto their hair before brushing. It gives them more than enough conditioning treatment for their hair and in fact has solved the problem of trying to wash all of the conditioner out of their hair. The diluted amount from the spray bottle seems to be enough to get rid of tangles and leave their hair shiny and manageable (well, mostly).

HAIR REMOVAL EQUIPMENT

Farmboy uses an electric razor so this tends to come out of a different budget (his first one was a birthday present). That requires no other products so I’m not constantly buying shaving foam or anything else for his shaving requirements.

I use a reusable razor with heads that have their own product for shaving. I also use some Nair but one tube lasts me the whole summer quite easily.

TOOTHBRUSHES, TOOTHPASTE AND FLOSS

I prefer to use Colgate Total Gel so look out for this on special. I will sometimes alternate with a generic brand. One of these days I’ll get around to trying a more natural toothpaste.

We mostly use pretty basic toothbrushes. The kids get fun ones in their Christmas stockings and the rest of the year just have plain coloured ones. I’ve found the Coles generic brand quite good in terms of the kids toothbrushes and tend to buy whatever is on special for Farmboy and I (Colgate do a reasonably priced multipack).

CLEANING PRODUCTS

As I mentioned last week, I use a LOT of water for cleaning. Then a mixture of bicarb, vinegar and Tri Nature natural cleaning products as needed. Tri Nature products are highly concentrated and last me ages (it’s been over 12 months since I’ve bought any).

DISHWASHING

I use Tri Nature Chamomile for handwashing and Tri Nature Citrus Dishwashing Powder in the Dishwasher. Both of these are concentrates and last us a long time. As a member of Tri Nature I get a 15% discount on these items when I order.

LAUNDRY DETERGENTS

I’m currently using up Tri Nature laundry products that I have always used in the laundry. When they are gone I want to try some different ideas I’ve read about natural alternatives (such as soap nuts).

One thing I have found with the laundry is that we need much LESS detergent than we were using. This is one of the reasons I still have product to use up - it’s taking a lot longer to go through now we’re using LESS. Keep cutting back until you notice a difference in how clean clothes are getting.

I very rarely use a fabric softener and when I do I use a natural one. When that is used up I intend to try vinegar as a fabric softener.

PEGS

I use a mixture of more expensive pegs and generic branded pegs. I always bring them inside when not in use as the sunlight ruins them very quickly.

In a pinch you can actually use bread tags as pegs (for thinner fabrics). We get plenty of wind and they seem to stay on the line!

GARBAGE BAGS AND BIN LINERS

I try to reuse grocery bags and fruit and veg bags (which fit our toilet bins perfectly) for rubbish as much as possible.

Garbage bags is one item where I have found generic to be inadequate so we tend to use Glad. I try to stock up when on special and buy the larger packs as they end up being cheaper per bag.

For white bin liner bags (yes, I do buy some) I can’t remember the name of the brand (and we currently don’t have any). It’s not generic and it’s not Glad but a brand that is somewhere in between in terms of cost. I *think* it might be Hercules.

WRAPS AND BAGS

I try to avoid using throw away wrapping where possible. We still use more than I’d like. I know it’s an area we could cut back on but it’s also an area out of my control at this time.

When we do use plastic wrap, I tend to buy generic. You do need to shop around a little to find the generic brands that work well. I’m not a big fan of much in the Black and Gold brand but have found a lot of the Coles Brand quite good.

I use generic brand freezer bags but up until recently preferred to use Hercules Snap Lock Bags (cheaper than the top brand but dearer than generic). For Princess Singstars birthday party I bought some Coles brand snap lock bags and found them to be great. I don’t reuse freezer bags but I do wash and reuse snap lock bags (unless they’ve had raw meat in them).

I also reuse bread bags for freezing items in. Not so much for the actual “savings” as for environmental reasons. Still, a few cents here and there can add up.

Items like alfoil and baking paper I tend to use generic brands as well.

But I generally work on the principle that if I can use something reusable rather than throw away, I will.

Now I’m going to throw it over to you. Do you have a tip or two that have saved you money when buying non food grocery items? Feel free to share in the comments section so we can all learn together.

Are you looking for budget kitchen items?  If you want to find discount bakeware for your household, let the internet give you the best prices.  You can find a huge selection of discounted kitchen goodies.  Whether you are looking for discount cookware or you want to find discount cutlery, we can help! 

When it comes to clever marketing, I think cleaning products would have to rate right up there in terms of products that have created a market for themselves.

I mean, we all HATE to clean and LOVE to play, right? We are perfect sitting ducks for ruthless entrepreneurs who want to make their riches from us.

“Here, buy my product, it’ll make cleaning a breeze”

“Buy this and you won’t even know you’re cleaning”

“Life getting you down? This product will solve ALL your problems”

Don’t feel bad if you think you’ve been “sucked in” by these kind of advertisements. The fact of the matter is that companies employ psychological research when it comes to how to market their products.

They KNOW how to play on our weaknesses and fears. IT STINKS!!!

When you go down the cleaning aisle of your supermarket, do you KNOW what you are paying for? You are paying for the advertisement that convinced you you need that cleaning product in the first place!!!!

I’ll just repeat that last sentence in case you didn’t get it the first time….

You are paying for the advertisement that convinced you you need that cleaning product in the first place.

When that concept really sinks in, it’s a real DOH! kind of moment. I know because I’ve been there.

Want to know what I use when cleaning?

WATER

If you exclude washing dishes and clothing, around 80% of my cleaning is done with a wet cloth.

Guess how much that costs me a week? ZERO DOLLARS

And for cleaning with? Old face washers and cut up towels. I do also have a microfibre mop, a couple of microfibre cloths and a brush that I use on our tiles to scrub the grout.

Anyone Been to an Enjo Party?

I went to one a few years ago that really turned my thinking around when it came to cleaning. The demonstrator was cleaning the bathroom and mentioned that all you need to do is give is a wipe over with the bathroom mitt each day.

EACH DAY?

I was looking for the miracle that would lead me to need to clean LESS. Not MORE.

The sceptic in me couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I wiped over our bathroom each day with just an old rag of some description.

So I tried it. It worked no problems. Without a fancy $40 microfibre cloth.

Do I wipe over our shower every day? No. But I do try to do it reasonably often and very rarely do I need to use any cleaning products at all.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not really anti-Enjo. I do use *some* of their products although it’s unlikely I’ll replace them as they wear out.

My point here is that Enjo promote cleaning with less effort but more often. It’s a great tip. It just doesn’t necessarily require their products in order to work. They also promote drying with a cloth as you go - another great cleaning tip!

Do I Really Use ONLY Water to Clean?

No. Just for the majority of my cleaning tasks.

When I get behind, I need the help of cleaning products to help me “catch up”.

For some tasks I’ll use vinegar or bicarb. Plain old soap is a great and frugal cleaning agent as well.

I do also use some commercial cleaning products.

I just think that too many people use a “product” as a FIRST resort rather than a LAST resort.

More Does Not Equal Better Cleaning Ability

When you do use commercial cleaning products, are you pouring your hard earned money down the drain?

Cut back on the amount you’re using. Remember that manufacturers are going to put a MAXIMUM reasonable measurement on their packaging instructions. To find out how much you *really* need, just cut back a little each time until you notice it doesn’t do the same job anymore (this is what I’ve done with my washing powder - although I also know someone who washes simply in water).

Cleaning isn’t Only Costing us the Earth, It’s Costing us the EARTH

The cleaning products I do use are almost all naturally based and considered safe for the environment. This is doubly important now that we recycle ALL of our household water onto the garden (via a proper system so that it’s treated etc).

Now more than ever we need to be very aware of what we’re putting down our drains. The great thing about green cleaning is that it is often more frugal than chemical cleaning. Of course, now that we have an established market for green cleaning products, caution still needs to be had so that we aren’t talked into parting with our money unecessarily.

Summary For Reducing How Much You Spend on Cleaning

1. Try Water first
2. Recycle old facewashers, towels and other fabric to use as cleaning cloths. Throw through the washing machine and reuse (it’s best to edge cut up towels etc to reduce fraying)
3. Use soap, vinegar & bicarb soda as cleaning agents
4. Where you do choose to use a cleaning product, consider purchasing from an environmentally aware company and use SPARINGLY
5. Avoid getting taking in by bright and cheerful advertisements promising you the world

Affiliate Link:

From time to time, I get asked whether my $100 a week average grocery spend includes non food items.  To give you a bit of an idea, I’ll summarise below.

Items I DO Include Under Groceries 

• Toilet Paper
• Tissues
• Some cleaning cloths (such as for washing up dishes)
• Soap
• Shampoo’s etc
• Toothpaste, toothbrushes and floss
• Cleaning Products
• Dishwashing Liquid and Dishwasher Powder etc
• Laundry Detergents, Fabric Softeners etc
• Pegs
• Garbage Bags & Bin Liners
• Glad Wrap, Alfoil, Snap Lock Bags, Freezer Bags, Baking Paper etc

Items I DON’T Include Under Groceries

• Make Up and Skin Care - I have a personal care category for these and also use my own spending money
• Nappies &  Wipes - I used to have a “baby” category for these (and dummies etc) but now we only have a few dry nites to buy so these also come under “personal care”
• Houehold items like mops, mop heads, toilet brushes etc - these come out of our “household” budget
• Bandaids, Panadol and other “medical” type items come out of our medical budget
• Stationery items also come under “household”
• Toys and stickers for the kids - the kids have their own budget category which covers sporting activities, music lessons, tennis coaching and a few little bits and pieces that I buy from time to time (toys, stickers, craft supplies etc)

I hope that helps to clarify things for you.  One of the dangers of comparing your spending to someone else’s is that the term “groceries” is rather broad and while some people will include anything that can be bought in a grocery store, others will divide off certain items.

There is no RIGHT or WRONG way to organise things here.  It’s just a personal preference.  I find the larger costing items can throw both my budget and my tracking out and make it harder to see where we’re up to from week to week.

What I do works for ME and while you are more than welcome to do the same, please don’t feel that my way is the ONLY way.  This is also why I encourage you to compete with yourself when it comes to reducing the grocery budget.

The real victory comes not when you manage to achieve the same grocery figure as me.  The real victory is when you realise that once upon a time you spent $X and now you’re spending $10 (insert whatever figure you like here) less. 

No doubt there are some items that I’ve failed to include on either of these lists.  If you have a question about where I include certain items in my budget, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll endeavour to answer it.

Next week, I’ll go through those items that I DO include and explain ways that I’ve found to reduce our spending in the area of non-food items.  I *was* planning to include of all this in todays post but I’m rather tired after being away so you’ll have to forgive me for making you wait another week.

For some time now, I have wanted to grow my own Aloe Vera plant. It has to be one of the handiest plants for saving money on medical supplies. I FINALLY have 2!!! For a grand cost of ….NOTHING!!!! It took me some time but I eventually found sombody with their own plant who potted up not 1 but 2 plants for me!!! Gotta love a freebie! Especially a freebie that could well SAVE me quite a bit of money over the long term!I have been doing some research into the benefits and uses of Aloe Vera. I figured while I was doing the research, it might be helpful to put together a blog post about the benefits of Aloe Vera. A lot of these are anecdotal benefits (there haven’t been scientific studies done to “verify” them). Please use some common sense and caution when first using Aloe Vera in case you or your family members have some sensitivity to it.

External Benefits:

skin moisturiser

relief of sunburn

anti-inflammatory

promotes healing

relief for burns

insect stings

itchy rashes

antimicrobal

relief from eczema & psoriasis

relief from acne

aids healing of scrapes and abrasions

scalp care

sore muscles

cold sores

bruises

sprains

arthritis

anti-ageing (apparently Cleopatra used to bathe in Aloe Vera juice to help maintain her youthful appearance)

Internal Benefits:

aids digestion

assists with bowel problems

lower cholesterol levels

fight infection

reduce inflammation

absorb toxins

heal ulcers

aid circulation

alkalises digestive juices which can aid indigestion

aid immune system

GROWING YOUR OWN

How to Grow Aloe Vera plants

This link provides a detailed explanation on how to care for and grow your own Aloe Vera plant. I learnt the hard way that they don’t like frosts. My first attempt at growing a plant from a cutting in our garden some years ago met with limited success as the plant curled up it’s toes at the first frost. Apparently they are 95% water which is why they don’t like frosts. Interesting that they are able to survive on fairly low levels of watering though. They obviously hold onto their water well. I’m sure the shape of the leaf and the thickness of it’s outer coating have something to do with that!

Now I’m growing a couple of plants in pots and so far they seem to be growing and thriving well. They seem to thrive on neglect which makes them a perfect plant for me to grow!!! I tip a bit of water into mine occasionally and they seem fine. If I put the pots outside though, they need a lot more care and attention (I’m assuming due to a higher temperature and evaporation rate).

HARVESTING THE GEL FROM YOUR HOME GROWN PLANT

One of the great benefits of growing your own aloe vera plant is that you have fresh gel on hand at all times. In my opinion, fresh is always going to better than a bottled product that has had to be stabilised in order to give it some kind of shelf life. The down-side is that the juice surrounding the Aloe Vera gel can cause skin and bowel irritations in some people. To apply externally, some people simply break off a piece of the plant and apply the opened flesh to the wound. This is fine if you don’t have sensitive skin.

For those with sensitive skin or who would like to make use of the gel as an internal tonic, the following link provides step by step instructions on

How to Harvest Fresh Aloe Vera Gel

It also provides some explanation of various parts of the plant and which parts are of benefit to us as humans. The writer recommends harvesting a leaf when it is the size of your forearm. I grow my aloe vera in a pot so it’s not likely to get that big. I guess the point is the larger the leaf, the more gel you can harvest from it.

WHY I CHOOSE TO GROW MY ALOE VERA PLANTS INSIDE

I wanted to try growing an Aloe Vera plant in our bedroom as I read somewhere that it is a good plant for removing toxins from the air and aiding a restful sleep. Any plant will help to do this but those with a rubbery leaf texture like Aloe Vera are known to be particularly good at attracting dust particles. Plants also produce negative ions which are good for improving mood (so a MUST for me LOL).

I currently have 1 plant in our bedroom and 1 in the dining room (close to the kitchen).

Here are some links to articles on the benefits of indoor house plants:

Happy, Healing, Healthy Houseplants

Air Cleaning House Plants (mentions that Aloe will remove formaldehyde from the air)

Other interesting links

If you would like to read more on the benefits and uses of Aloe Vera, you might enjoy some of these links:

Herb Info - Aloe Vera

Herbal Information Centre - Aloe Vera

Benefits of Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera

Mayo Clinic on Aloe Vera

I hope you’ve found this article interesting and helpful. I’d love to hear of your own experiences with growing aloe vera and how you’ve made use of it’s many healing properties.

WARNING: This post contains material which may cause jealousy.  If you struggle with the green eyed monster when it comes to romantic husbands, please do NOT read any further.  LighteningOnline.com cannot accept any responsibility for fits of jealous rage, pouting, sulking, foot stomping, whining or any other behaviours or actions that may result from reading this post.  You do so at your own risk. 

You may have noticed that I haven’t been around much over the past couple of weeks.  My family have been staying at our in laws shack over the Christmas and New Year period.  I’ve popped back home a couple of times for quick “do the washing and other stuff” type reasons but for the most part we’ve been relaxing at the beach.

Farmboy’s sister and her family have also been staying there.  Between us we have 5 children although put together it can seem like 10 some days.  LOL.  It’s been lots of fun though.  My SIL called us back before Christmas and kindly offered to have our children for a night so that Farmboy and I could have a nice romantic night away.  Being the romantic practical person that he is, Farmboy suggested that instead of booking in to a nice romantic establishment by the seaside somewhere along the coast, that we instead come HOME.  Actually, this suited me quite well as at least I have internet access at home and could get a desperately needed “fix” while we were here!  Of course, this came with the added bonus of him being able to squeeze in some farmwork not having to book for any set night AND of course, not having to pay for any accomodation getting to sleep in our own bed! 

As it turned out, it was a good thing we decided to go this way as our youngest hadn’t been well so we brought him home with us too.  A nice romantic evening for two three.

We had to stop in for some food on our way home as I’d cleared out our fridge and taken all our fresh food down to the shack.  DH told me to leave everything to him, so I did!

Here’s what he rolled out……

Entre (we have this so seldom, I’m not even sure how to spell it!!!)

Freshly prepared prawn cocktails (my favourite)

Main Course

Flame grilled t-bone steak (from our 1/2 cow in the freezer) served with bbq roasted zucchini (freshly picked from the garden), carrots (some in fridge from the 5kg I bought before Christmas) and potato.  Accompanied by pink champagne (also my favourite).

To say it was delicious almost doesn’t do it justice.  It was suberb!!!!  Farmboy is sure turning into the BBQ king around here!

Pampering

We were so full after that we decided to postpone dessert until after our 4 year old was in bed.  Once he was safely tucked away DH ran a bath in our spa bath and we relaxed in the spa with more champagne, fresh strawberries and some Ferrero Rochers.    Twas delightful.  He even added some of my peppermint bath salts to the bath.  And gave me a foot massage in the bath.

Dessert (yes, there was still dessert to come after all of that!!!)

Strawberry cheesecake (generic - because we both really like the local generic brand cheesecake) served with ice cream and fresh cream and garnished with extra strawberries.  He was going to add a swirl of strawberry sauce to the plate but we didn’t have any left.  It’s the thought that counts though!

It was a really lovely evening!    The next morning when I woke up, he cooked me bacon and eggs for breakfast as well!!!  While he popped out to do a few jobs around the farm (like make sure the sheep had enough water), I treated myself to a microdermabrasian facial (I’ve been slack with skin care while we’ve been at the beach) and defuzzed with some Nair (I’m allergic to pain so waxing doesn’t really rate as an option for me!) and dry brushed my skin.  It was so lovely to take a little time out for myself.  DH took The Bomb with him so I had some nice quiet alone time (always something to be cherished!).

Estimated Costings and Savings:

Spa Room overnight $200

3 course dinner for 2 with champagne $150 (at least)

Cooked Breakfast for 2 $50

Massage $50

Hair Removal $30

Facial $30+

Total Potential Cost $500+

Total cost to us for food, champagne etc approx $60 (not including food already on hand)

That’s a pretty massive saving isn’t it?  Who said frugality had to be about deprivation?

Isn’t my DH a very clever bunny?  And a most adorable hunny?  Jealous yet? 

I like to add epsom salts to my bath.  It’s very relaxing and apparently the magnesium is absorbed through the skin while you soak.  This is good for me as I seem to be lacking in magnesium and I’m terrible at remembering to take supplements.  There is quite a bit of information available online spouting the benefits of epsom salts.

Earlier this year I bought a large bag of epsom salts from a horse supply place.  It’s much cheaper to buy there than in the supermarkets.   Given my mum is allergic to almost all perfumed bath salts, I decided it would be nice to make her up her own bath salts with just a bit of colouring and no scent.  We’re also doing small gifts for DH’s siblings and their partners this year so I thought something homemade like this might fit the bill for the females.

There has been quite a bit of talk on the Simple Savings* forum about homemade Christmas gifts.  One of the ideas that has been discussed is that of making Candy Cane bathsalts.  It sounded to me like a great concept for Christmas Gifts.  There are quite a number of recipes available on the internet.

I kept my “recipe” fairly simple with the main ingredient being epsom salts.  I also added some bicarbonate soda as that is supposed to help soften the skin.  The red has been coloured with food colouring and while most recipes say to add Peppermint Essential Oil, I just used Peppermint Essence as that’s what I had.

I made Glass Deco images to add to the jars and the tag I found at Organized Christmas .  You can also find a recipe there if you prefer not to just “wing it” like I did.    Here is a photo of the finished products.