MH went back to work. So while we're spending more on absolutely everything- and now more car wear & tear- that second income has helped so much.
We use coupon codes if we want to eat out. I religiously meal plan including quick things for busy nights.
In part because of how busy this time of year is- but almost all our social activities are now free or very cheap. We have drinks at a friend's house instead of going out.
On groceries, I'm shopping more at Winco, Trader Joes, and Costco and have stopped visiting Kroger and Target, which are more expensive here. We've also dropped snack foods, I used to keep chips around for parties but they're $5 a bag and not healthy anyways. If I need a snack we have self-pop popcorn kernels and I'll add some cheese and garlic powder.
As I mentioned elsewhere, I got an eBike, which hasn't yet paid itself off but I've taken it on over 200 miles of errands in 2 months, which has decreased my gas needs. It also saves me time commuting to weekly health appointments since I don't have to sit in rush hour traffic.
For clothing, I've increased use of thrift stores although around here they are getting very expensive. My local goodwill wants $20-30 for most items, so I get most of my clothes at Costco now when they are on sale for $10-15. I also like that if the quality is poor (I had pants that the stitching came out of in two months of casual wear) I can return them.
We are barely keeping up. It’s been rough. What’s really going to kill us this year is our propane heat. I’ve actually been thinking about getting smaller electric heaters for the family room and bedrooms, but they make me so nervous.
Groceries/food expenses are absolutely killing us. Anything we can do to lower costs is time intensive, and time is also at a premium.
I would really like for my kids to start buying lunch every day and/or at least grabbing the free breakfast to supplement snacks, but both are very resistant. School lunch is only $2.60 though and I'm sure I'm spending more than that to pack. I may have to force the issue, at least a few days a week.
I am actually finding the opposite of others when it comes to snacks-- even though individual packs are technically more expensive, if I buy in bulk packaging (large bag of chips, tub of yogurt, etc) they will eat much more than a single serving at a time and it doesn't last nearly as long.
I unexpectedly had more time than usual yesterday so I shopped at Trader Joe's, but my obstacle with shopping at less expensive stores (Aldi, Trader Joes, etc) is that they don't have everything that I want, and there is not a "regular" grocery store nearby for me to just pop in and get the rest of what I need. I may have to look into Aldi + grocery delivery, or maybe just trying to limit the trips to the regular store to 2x/month instead of weekly.
We are barely keeping up. It’s been rough. What’s really going to kill us this year is our propane heat. I’ve actually been thinking about getting smaller electric heaters for the family room and bedrooms, but they make me so nervous.
Not totally the same but because space heaters make me nervous, I like heated throws. I can keep the heat low at night when watching tv when I have one of these on my lap. Then I crawl into my heated mattress pad (I prefer this over a heated blanket) bed to also keep the heater low over night.
SwimDeep , can you share how you cook your tofu, when I do it, it's a hit or miss, most of the time a miss.
Meal plan, for sure. Our huge midwestern grocery store is Woodmans, and their prices are decent, lots of deals.
I paused my audible subscription, I need to check if DH has enough credits to also pause for a bit.
Since I was home unemployed this summer, I was super mindful to keep our NEST in Eco mode. That reduced our gas and electric bill by $52/month for the next six months; we are on the budget plan where you pay one lump sum based on your average use.
Thankfully my job allows me to WFH 3 days a week. I signed up for a parking flex account (similar to a health or dependant flex, just for parking while at work.)
Truthfully, it helped SO MUCH when I got my new job. My salary went up substantially.
I’m basically eating 90% vegetarian/vegan now. I’ve quickly realized how many complete meals from batch cooking I can make from non-meat ingredients. Bonus - I feel great.
Do you have meal suggestions or links?
I subscribe to NY Times cooking so I get most recipes there. Mostly, I make a lot of air fryer tofu, soups (black bean soup is my favorite and very versatile), and I admit I like Beyond burgers and buy them at Costco. I eat eggs every day for breakfast. Trying to make some lentil recipes next, and still trying to find a good butternut squash soup recipe.
Also, I pack a lot of grain bowls for work. I don’t follow an actual recipe, I just make my parts of the bowl in advance (like brown rice in the Instant Pot and I can use it for several servings). I always just make sure to include a grain, several greens/veggies, a protein (usually tofu or beans, but occasionally falafel or chicken), vegan cheese (not cheap, but my stomach can’t tolerate most real cheese anymore), and a sauce/dressing.
We've always tried to live frugally so we haven't really made a ton of changes because we're doing many of the things suggested here - we have a programmable thermostat that we adjust accordingly and we also have a fire place and kerosene heaters and try to not do laundry or run the dishwasher during peak hours.
Another thing we do that I haven't seen mentioned here is we buy our meat directly from a local farmer - it's a big one time cost up front but per pound price is usually lower than in the store and we're not trying to shop around and guess when sales will be. For 3 people we do 1/2 a pig and a 1/4 cow. This year we're planning better with our order & doing it with others to get a whole pig which we'll split with my stepson and a whole cow split with stepson and another person to bring that initial cost even a little lower. The farmer we get our pork from recently started selling whole chickens so we're gotten a few of those.
We also watch our local Seize the Deal/Groupon options.
Post by EvieEthelGarland on Oct 9, 2023 14:18:02 GMT -5
We’ve been doing mostly ok, but some prices are shocking me now. DH and I went out to a counter service restaurant and got 2 sandwiches, soft drinks, fries and a dessert and it was $75. We do not have student loans, are out of the daycare years and DS is not in any pricey activities. We bought our house 10 years ago and could not rent a one bedroom for what our mortgage is. I’m on Ozempic and the grocery spending has dropped as I don’t like wine anymore, but I have had to buy all new clothes this past year. I am very nervous of upcoming changes. Currently, the family plan is covered 100% at my work but that is ending this year. I increased my 401k contributions to keep my take home the same as when I paid a share of premiums, so hopefully it’s not too bad once I scale that back. My company will be saving $36k on my benefits and I bet I see none of that in increased pay. Both our cars are about 10 years old. Service costs are up and they’ll need replacement probably about the time the kid starts college. One of the things I need to do regarding grocery shopping is stop going to so many stores. A certain item might be less at a different store, but I never just buy that one item. I went to Costco last week just to buy milk and spent $70. It was stuff we needed and on coupon, but the full option of chicken tenders and snacks does not need to be available at all time. And I might need to ration milk.
@@ds went to homecoming last week and I was fully prepared to spend $$$ on something to wear but he and his friends wanted to go to Value Village first. I was surprised it was $25 for a shirt and blazer after a 40% off coupon, but I still saved a lot.
We are putting off replacing our car and I'm trying to get my husband to get a new job. (I like my job and I'm relatively well compensated in my field IMO.)
We have a 10-month-old, and she's our first, so clothes, food, daycare, formula, etc are a lot more than I thought, though some of that is my own fault because clothes are cute.
Has anyone switched their phone plan from a major carrier to something like Boost or Mint Mobile? I live in a large metro area, but my parents live in a semi-rural area. Over the past few years my T-Mobile has finally reached them, lol. T-Mobile also gives us free Netflix and a few other benefits, but Mint Mobile is SO cheap, like $30/month for 2 lines for the first 9 months. You just have to pay upfront.
Ugh, I spoke too soon. I was laid off today, so now *I* am the one looking for a new job. This sucks.
TLDR: 1. Gently squeeze moisture out with your hands. 2. Cube or plank and pat dry. 3. Pan fry in oiled nonstick skillet until light golden brown. 4. Drown it in sauce and simmer until the sauce thickens and the tofu is well coated/glazed.
That's it 👏
*I've only done this with extra firm and firm because that’s what we like. I don't know how it would work with soft.
I tried pressing, coating in corn starch, marinating, par boiling, and baking, and all those recipes felt like a lot of effort for very little pay off (and extremely messy pans).
I found a recipe for green curry glazed tofu where the technique was much simpler. Just gently squeeze extra firm tofu to push out some of the moisture, cube, pat dry, and pan fry as is in a bit of oil until most of the sides are golden brown. Then pour in the sauce, stir to coat, and let it simmer until the sauce has reduced.
We weren't a fan of that recipe, but we liked the texture of the tofu. Then I found the honey sriracha tofu recipe on Budget Bytes (www.budgetbytes.com/honey-sriracha-tofu/). I skipped the pressing, marinating, and corn starch coating - just pan fried it plain then stirred in the sauce until it had reduced and glazed the tofu.
So now those are the techniques I use. The sriracha is still our favorite, but I've also done a chipotle bbq sauce that was good. The tofu really soaks up the flavors this way, and it cuts way down on prep/cook time.
Of course tonight the tofu is just getting dumped straight into the pot with the mapo sauce, which is also a great technique lol.
We are putting off replacing our car and I'm trying to get my husband to get a new job. (I like my job and I'm relatively well compensated in my field IMO.)
We have a 10-month-old, and she's our first, so clothes, food, daycare, formula, etc are a lot more than I thought, though some of that is my own fault because clothes are cute.
Has anyone switched their phone plan from a major carrier to something like Boost or Mint Mobile? I live in a large metro area, but my parents live in a semi-rural area. Over the past few years my T-Mobile has finally reached them, lol. T-Mobile also gives us free Netflix and a few other benefits, but Mint Mobile is SO cheap, like $30/month for 2 lines for the first 9 months. You just have to pay upfront.
Ugh, I spoke too soon. I was laid off today, so now *I* am the one looking for a new job. This sucks.
Sorry about the job!
I have had Mint Mobile for a couple years. It gets spotty in the rural mountains of NC but so do all other carriers. I pay $200 for an entire year of service with Mint. Definitely worth it for me.
My husband got a promotion this fall that came with a 33% raise. It's a temporary position - 5 years - so I didn't want to get used to the money. We funneled pretty much all of it into retirement and college savings. We may have to change that to keep up with the cost of things right now.
I paused my audible subscription, I need to check if DH has enough credits to also pause for a bit.
PSA: everybody check if you've got access to Libby from your local library. This is how I do ALL my reading!
Yes! Our county library uses Libby and I did the whole new library card process online. I had to go in person for my city library card and they use a different app, but between both apps I can find almost any book I’m looking for. Some holds take a few months but I can keep a few things on hold on each at a time. For the city library which is close to our house, the kids and I put physical books on hold via the app, they transfer them from other library locations, it only takes a few minutes to pick them up, and they don’t charge late return fees.
We rotate our streaming services and never have more than a couple at a time because we don’t have time to watch it all anyway.
Post by wanderingback on Oct 9, 2023 15:52:12 GMT -5
We just went through and made sure to cancel any subscriptions that we don’t need.
Thankfully I breastfeed so haven’t had to buy formula. I feel like baby expenses aren’t too bad and thankfully we’ve gotten all her clothes so far as hand me downs or as gifts. I don’t think I’ve bought her a single piece of clothes.
I don’t really get alcohol when we eat out anymore.
I just made an actual budget to track our spending.
Thankfully a huge saving grace is that my 1 part time/consultancy job as of last month I get paid $3700 more per month and daycare is $3100 per month so I’m not feeling that bill quite as much as I was anticipating. Very grateful.
Post by wanderingback on Oct 9, 2023 15:57:52 GMT -5
Oh and Buy Nothing group! I had taken a several year hiatus from FB, but rejoined to join a parenting group. So now I check Buy Nothing and the parenting group for things. I haven’t gotten a ton but I got some breastfeeding storage bags and a baby walker. So happy to see things not go in the landfill and to save money.
We are barely keeping up. It’s been rough. What’s really going to kill us this year is our propane heat. I’ve actually been thinking about getting smaller electric heaters for the family room and bedrooms, but they make me so nervous.
They make oil filled radiators that are electric and have thermostats and timers. I have always felt safe with those. We have also used the little electric fireplaces. We've used them to warm up the room before bed, but would not leave those on overnight.
It’s been stressful. H makes good money, but as a teacher I’m barely making more now than I was when I started 15 years ago. Wuth the price of everything going up I feel like the last year was spent treading water. We haven’t taken on any debt, but we haven’t made any meaningful savings at all- and with two senior cats, family we have to travel to see, kid activities, etc- it’s going in the other direction. Every month we move things over just to move them right back.
We’ve been feeling it. Things that we’ve changed include:
1) eating out a lot less. We didn’t go out much, but we used to do takeout once a week. That’s been cut way down and if we do get takeout it’s pizza.
2) shopping at Costco more. Prices are better especially for fruit, snacks and frozen foods. We’ve replaced eating out with semi-prepared meals.
3) delaying buying a new car and other “wants” that aren’t needs yet. My car is 14 years old and H’s is 8, so replacing one is coming soon. The price of new cars is insane.
DD2 is in her last year of daycare. So I’m also counting down the months until that payment drops off. I always dreamed of when we will finally be done with daycare but I feel like the savings won’t feel as significant by the time it happens. Aftercare keeps going up too so the savings will likely be only around $600 a month, which will probably go right into a new car payment.
ETA: I’m also going to try to avoid Prime Day and all the impulse buying it produces through FOMO. I need to start planning for Xmas and I also want to be more mindful of what we buy and try to focus on quality/enjoyment rather than quantity of gifts. I feel like I go overboard out of fear of not making it “special enough” for the kids, probably because of social media pressure.
The car thing is making me especially nervous. Our last few cars were leases- the last car we owned wound up needing so much work and was such a money suck at the end we didn't want to deal with that again, and the cost of leasing was very reasonable. Now my lease is up and the new prices are INSANE. We're thinking of just buying, but we weren't really expecting to put a bunch down and the cost per month is still going to be way more than what we're paying now. I'm low key freaking out.
I’m pretty frugal but stuff I’ve been doing lately includes
-selling baby and kid stuff on FB Markerplace -relentlessly canceling streaming services if I haven’t used them in a few weeks. There’s no penalty to stop and start so I don’t want to pay for something I’m not using. -cancelled Amazon prime -the library is for more than just books! Ours has a great selection of DVD movies. I also do toddler storytime for free rather than paying for music class and whatnot. When I don’t know of a good fun outing for our older kid I just take him to the library and let him get a boatload of books and movies. He loves just browsing around and getting to take whatever he wants for free. -enjoy local parks instead doing things like fall festivals