Skip to main content

Status Report No. 3: July 2012 Edition

A few notes on what's worked and what hasn't.


Groceries. Aldi has its drawbacks. I can't get everything I need there, it can be really crowded at times, and a few of its foods (eg., canned ravioli) just aren't as tasty as other brands, but without fail, I spend less when I shop there. For someone like me who has trouble mastering the art of extreme couponing, Aldi does a good job of trimming the grocery expenses. I'd still like to trim it more, but I think that will require some more creative meal planning. Status: Some Money Saved.


Meal Planning. I began establishing a menu and then shopping to the menu a few years before my daughter was born, so this is nothing new. However, lately I've been trying to change up what I fix so that I make more foods that can be done in bulk. This way, I'll have leftovers for another day and leftovers for frozen dinners for when my husband and I are at work. I'm still experimenting with this, but so far, I think it really is saving us money. I've also being trying to buy more fresh produce rather than canned. This seems to be a money-saver, too, but I can't swear to it. Mostly I do it this way so that I have a little more control over what's in our foods. This would probably be better if I bought all organic, but I don't. Organic just costs too much, and it's not available at Aldi (unless, of course, I just keep overlooking it.) Status: Some Money Saved.


Check back Wednesday for an update on my budgeting efforts.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tackling the Electricity Bill

I got our latest electricity bill this past week. It went up. Again. I don't understand why. It's been a mild winter, so we haven't used the heater as much as last year. Plus, I've made a few small changes that I had hoped would add up to even a slight savings: I've cut down on the time the TV has been on. I haven't been perfect about it, though, because I still turn it on to watch something, decide to work on something else at the same time, then after an hour or so, I realize I'm not watching the TV at all. Wasted electricity. I've unplugged my alarm clock. When we first brought our daughter home, her pediatrician recommended we feed her every two hours for the first week or so. After the first night of pushing an awkward combination of buttons and waiting for the alarm time to advance every couple of hours, I realized it was tons easier to just punch the time into my cellphone alarm. I kept the bedside clock until about two weeks ago. I also unpl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Home Improvements

I've taken a week off in September to finish some home improvement projects that have been in progress for far too long. My challenge between now and then will be to both set aside and earn enough to buy the supplies without having to charge anything. Our biggest expense will be paint. We've got to paint our living room ceiling, living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and one bathroom to have our home "finished." Hopefully we'll be able to get that far with it, but my fear is we'll need longer than a week to complete it all because several walls need to be repaired in places first. I've got a freelance project in progress right now that will give us the bulk of what we'll need, but I don't think it will cover everything. Plus, I have to make sure I don't spend any of it between now and then on "wants."
Post a Comment
Read more

Walmart Cards

On Thursday last week, I made a hasty trip through Walmart to pick up items I can't buy at Aldi when I noticed a sign that said using a Walmart card at the Murphy Oil gas stations could net a 15 cents a gallon savings. Because I was breezing through the store on my way to drop my daughter off at daycare before I had to head to work, I just made a mental note to do a little more looking into it later. Well, I finally had the chance. The 15 cents a gallon saving lasts through Christmas Eve, and it's good only on a Walmart prepaid debit card or credit card. If the 15 cents a gallon were permanent, I'd consider getting the prepaid debit card. Because it's only temporary though, I've decided to try loading up Walmart gift cards instead, which gives a 10 cents a gallon savings at Murphy stations through Dec. 24. Hopefully, I'll make the time to fit it into my schedule because my car doesn't get the greatest gas mileage, and 10 cents a gallon could come in ha...
Post a Comment
Read more