Challenging Assumptions

Crystal has an interesting discussion going on over at MoneySavingMoms about warehouse clubs. This has got me thinking about Wal-Mart.

Gentle readers, I am a recovering Wal-Mart addict.

I used to shop for nearly everything at Wal-Mart. When my husband and I got married, I would peruse the sale fliers from other stores and occasionally go pick up a particularly good buy, but my general routine was to hit up Wal-Mart once a week for our grocery needs. I’ve never been a fan of the place. The vastness of the store, the constant crowds no matter what time you go, the fact that only three checkout lanes have cashiers…it drove me nuts. But I went. Our first few years of marriage, we were both grad students with part time jobs. Our combined income was under the 20,000 mark, and we still had to buy books, keep the apartment heated, and manage to feed ourselves relatively healthy foods. Plus the gas in our limping along cars- I commuted 40 miles both way Monday-Friday- plus health insurance, supplies, and savings. I had to shop at Wal-Mart. They were the cheapest.

When I shopped at Wal-Mart, I spent about 55 dollars a week, maybe 65 if we needed cleaning supplies or laundry detergent. Every week I would vow to get our grocery bill lower. I made menus and tried to plan around what we had. The 55 dollars, while it fed us pretty well for a week, did not seem to stock our pantry. But what could I do? Besides a few deals I would find after glancing at the sale fliers, Wal-Mart was so cheap. In my mind, we simply could not afford not to go to Wal-Mart.

I vowed that when my husband had a job in his generally well paying field, I was never going to set foot over the Wal-Mart threshold unless I absolutely had to. When we moved to Wichita, my No More Wal-Mart dreams came true!

Something funny happened when I stopped going to Wal-Mart. My grocery bill went down. Not just a little bit- drastically. Part of it was that I was moving more to the pantry method of cooking, where I stock up on deals and plan my meals around that. But I had been doing that before. There just had not been a pantry as nicely stocked.

I think that Wal-Mart’s supposed low, low prices are pounded into our heads. I know a lot of people who say that they can’t get anything cheaper than they can at Wal-Mart or Sam’s…but like I did in college, they rarely, if ever, step into a non Wal-Mart store. When you repeat anything over and over, you can start to believe it, regardless of what is actually true. So I had been repeating “I hate Wal-Mart, but they are cheaper than anywhere else” over and over, without really challenging my mantra. I thought they were cheaper, but I rarely challenged their prices. I just assumed that it was cheaper.

When I stopped going to Wal-Mart, I noticed that their prices are not always as great as I thought they were. When I started combining loss leader sales with coupons, I found that I was spending far less on name brand items than I spent on the Wal-Mart generics. I noticed manager markdowns that I never saw at Wal-Mart. While Wal-Mart does match prices on fliers, I have never seen ten cent markdown milk. I've never seen a Wal-Mart that doubles coupons. It does take a little time to match coupons to sales and manager's specials, but once I learned how and got organized, I found I was spending far less time doing that than I was waiting in line at one of Wal-Mart’s three open registers.

I still occasionally drop into Wal-Mart, but it’s maybe twice a year now, instead of once a week. I don’t miss fighting the crazy parking lot, the loud, oversized store, and the endless waits. And I spend 20-40 dollars a week now for a LOT MORE food than I ever got at Wal-Mart. This is not to say that your family will save a ton of money like mine has by not going to Wal-Mart. It may not. I challenge you challenge your assumptions, consider sales, consider coupons, consider other options.

What assumptions have you challenged in your frugal journey? What new things did you learn? I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or feel free to e-mail me at Frugal.Homemaker.Plus (at) gmail.com

Pantry Easter 2007

Last year, I was very excited how inexpensive our Easter was, thanks to the stocked pantry. This year is more of the same. Here is my Easter Dinner shopping list:

• Ham (the roommate generously donated a grocery store gift card he won at work and told me to buy the fancy ham. Yum!)
• Strawberries (on sale B1G1 at Dillons this week.)
• Apples

Gotta love the pantry!

This year will be similar to last year, menu-wise. Every major holiday I decide that I'm going to do a NEW! DIFFERENT! MENU! But I always fall back on the old favorites. Maybe on Thanksgiving? I do tend to do the meats a different way each year, so that's a start.

Easter at Casa La Frugal

Ham

Green Bean Casserole

Fresh Baked Rolls

Roasted Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce (my husband requested it, and I happen to have some in the freezer!)

Strawberry Pie

Apple Pie

Coffee, Tea

Easter really snuck up on me this year. I want to do an Easter basket for my husband too. I don't really know why, but the idea has been planted in my head and it keeps coming up, so I suppose that there is a reason. I will do this as frugally as possible, and try to get candy he likes and I hate so I don't eat the whole thing before I give it to him!

Keeping the House Together While Sick

So as I've mentioned in the past few posts, I've been ridiculously sick the past week or so. Thank God that's over! The roommate got as sick as I was, and my husband was under the weather as well, so we were not really in the mood to do anything but stare at the TV. Even reading did not appeal to me, as holding up the book just too too much strength. Forget shopping for bargains, or cleaning the house, or trying to do very much for dinner. Here's what got us through this:

1. The library. As soon as I decided that I was getting sick and it was not just allergies, I went and stocked up on books and videos. I also do this when a big storm is expected. It's a great way to combat boredom when you can't really get out. If you're too sick to go to the library but still want things, you can put them on hold and have somebody pick them up for you. (Check your library for their policy- most libraries I've been associated with would allow this as long as they brought the person's card.). Most places do holds for free, but my library charges .25 cents per hold unless you belong to Friends of the Library.

2. What's for dinner? Crockpots can save your sanity at times like this. So can having a built up pantry. We did not need to go to the store during this time, because our pantry is stocked. We use powdered milk, so we did not even have to leave for that. This is also a time to use those gift cards that you may have forgotten about. Most restaurants will prepare a take out order for you, and you can use your gift card. And yes, ordering a pizza to be *gasp* delivered won't kill you if that's all you can handle. As long as you don't do this every single night of a three week illness, it will be fine. Check online for coupons to pizza places. I found better deal online for Pizza Hut than their specials and the coupons I already had. I've also considered asking what the lowest price available is, but I have not been brave enough to do that.

3. Do the Necessary Chores, and ignore the rest- In my house, that is figuring out what is for dinner, the dishes, the end of the day general pick up of the main living area, the laundry, and wiping the bathroom counters/swishing the toilet each day. That sounds like a lot, but it does not take me more than 20-30 minutes of hands on time for these chores. I also use my dryer when I'm sick, rather than hanging the laundry. I let everything else go until I felt better. By keeping up on those small things, I keep the house under control but not much more. I would not be embarrassed to have somebody suddenly drop by, but I would wish that my house were cleaner. I also try to disinfect the doorknobs, faucets, light switches, etc a few times a day when somebody in the house is sick.


I don't have children, so I always gain a new and profound respect for mothers when I'm this sick. All mothers are supermoms to me, if they handle being sick *and* taking care of kids at the same time.

WFMW- Sick and Tired, But Still Frugal!

One of the perils of using the pantry method of cooking (where you buy whatever is rock bottom priced and make your meals around that) is that you sometimes are just not quite sure what to make with your seemingly random stash.. This is why I love the All Recipes Ingredients Search. You have a pile of rice, some chicken, and tons and tons of cheese? Voila, tonight we're having Salsa Chicken Rice! The ingredients search can also help you get out of the rut of eating the same five meals over and over and over, which can be nice. And when you have the cold from Hades and can't think worth beans, it does the thinking for you.

I have been sick this week. I'm thankful I hit the motherlode sale on tissues a few weeks ago (Free after coupons and rebates at Walgreens) because I'm going through them like crazy. Yesterday I used three boxes. Three! This is also a good time to pull out all of your time saving tricks. Crockpots can really save you at a time like this. Yesterday I threw pork chops and assorted seasonings in the crockpot first thing in the morning, and proceeded to sleep the rest of the day. My husband made rice and microwaved some vegetables when he got home. Dinner was ready, even though I was pretty much out of commission. Today I feel much better, but as a precaution, I'm getting the casserole assembled and ready to go. If I'm dying on the couch by dinner time, the guys can just pop it in the oven. I'm sick and they're tired, but we can still eat inexpensive meals at home. Works for me!

Using What You Have:Inexpensive Vegetable Lasagna

I love fresh vegetables and fruits, but this is one item that can really cost me a fortune if I don't pay attention. One of the ways I get around that is by picking up just about any random marked down produce items if I like it and the price is inexpensive enough. But what does one do with a pound and a half of zucchini, two pounds of mushrooms, and bargain carrots?

One of my tricks is to use them to replace meat. You can add vegetables and use less meat, or replace the meat entirely. Yesterday we had vegetable lasagna using some of those bargain carrots (.69 cents for a huge pack), mushrooms (two pounds for .99 cents), and zucchini (five good sized ones for .49 cents).

Here's how I made the lasagna using my bargain produce. Including the noodles, sauce, and cheese, this dish cost about three dollars to make. I still have tons of mushrooms and zucchini left, but there are many other dishes that I can make with these things.

First I cut up the mushrooms and grated the carrots and zucchini. I then cooked the vegetables in a little bit of butter. After they were done, I poured a jar of bargain spaghetti sauce over it. I poured about 1/4 c on the bottom of my lasagna pan first, before I added it to the veggies.

Then I got my "ricotta" (cottage cheese on manager's special that had been in my freezer for awhile) and mixed it with some garlic powder and oregano. I also added an egg and mixed it in well.

Next I layered sauce, noodles, ricotta mix, and cheese until I reached the top of my pan.

Ta-da! A yummy meal that will have lots of leftovers for my family. Lasagna freezes well and is also an excellent lunch to take to work, if you have access to a microwave.

Cost Breakdown Day Five: Eggplant Parmesan

We've come to the end of the cost breakdown series. If you have not been following along, check the end of this entry for the previous four days.

Tonight's dinner was a baked version of Eggplant Parmesan. It's very easy to make, and since I don't fry it, it is pretty darn healthy. Plus the guys love it!

Full Priced Eggplant Parmesan

1 eggplant (about 2 dollars)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (1.66 for Ragu)
1 cup mozzarella cheese (2.99 for 2 cups, so 1.49)
We did not have Parmesan, so I'm leaving it out of both calculations

Side of broccoli (2 dollars per bag of frozen broccoli)

Total: 7.15

Sale Priced Eggplant Parmesan

1 eggplant (on sale awhile ago for .50 cents- bought tons and froze them!)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (Ragu on sale +double coupon was .50 cents)
1 cup mozzarella cheese (.64 cents for two cups, so .32 )
We did not have Parmesan, so I'm leaving it out of both calculations

Side of broccoli (1 dollar on sale)

Total: 2.32

That's a difference of 4.83!

Watching coupons, finding cheaper alternatives, and watching sales do add up. In this five day cost comparison, I spent 14.71 to serve dinner to three adults. Most of these dinners had leftovers. This figure also includes ordering a pizza. There is no way I could serve dinner to three adults for five days for under five dollars a person if I did not watch the sales. If I had served the exact same menu with full price items, it would have cost 43.13. That's a difference of 28.42 for five days. I can save my family about 1300 dollars a year by shopping smart, while still eating healthy, homemade food and the occasional take out pizza! If I can do it, you can too.

Here's what else we at this week:

Day 1: Cheddar 'n Ham Loaf
Day 2: Onion Soup
Day 3: Baked Potatoes and Salad
Day 4: We ordered pizza!

Cost Breakdown Day Two: Onion Soup

It's day two of my recipe cost breakdown! On today's menu: French Onion Soup with Swiss Cheese and Homemade French Bread.

I am serving it with a side of organic grape tomatoes. Yum!

Full Price Onion Soup With Bread and Cheese

French Bread, store bought- (.99 cents)

2 onions (2.99/bag, about 10 onions in the bag .59 cents worth of onions)

1/4 cup butter (I used margarine- 1.69 per 2 cup tub, so .21 cents worth)

2 T flour (let's say about 5 cents- I'm too tired to try to calculate 2 T out of 10 lbs!)

2 cans beef broth (Kroger cans are 1 dollar each, so 2 dollars worth)

Bread is calculated above

1/2 cup swiss cheese (2.99 per 8 oz 2 cup bag, so .74 cents worth of cheese)


I'm leaving out the Parmesan, so I won't calculate that in either recipe.

Organic Grape Tomatoes (2.99)

TOTAL: 7.57

Sale Price/Alterations French Onion Soup with Bread and Cheese

Bread, homemade (With super sale flour and yeast, it will cost about .40 cents a loaf)

2 onions (1.49/manager's special bag, about 10 onions in the bag .30 cents worth of onions)

1/4 cup butter (2 cup Tub on sale, with double coupons came out to .50 cents, so .06 cents worth)

2 T flour (let's say about 5 cents- I'm too tired to try to calculate 2 T out of 10 lbs!)

2 cans beef broth (I used four cubes of Kroger brand broth cubes, bought *gasp* full price at 1.79, so about 7 cents worth)

Bread is calculated above

1/2 cup swiss cheese (1.00 per 8 oz 2 cup bag, so .25 cents worth of cheese)

Organic Grape Tomatoes (manager's special .99 cents!)

TOTAL: 2.12

That's a difference of 5.45!

Two days into the experiment, I have saved 10.98. Not bad at all. So far, it is worth my time to hunt down sales.

Things to Have On Hand

Colorado got slammed with a blizzard a few days ago. As I was reading the newspapers today (they were finally all delivered after having delivery stop for a few day due to snow) I was amused by the reports of what people were pulling off the grocery store shelves. The top three listed were milk, eggs, and bread.

I never have to go to the store for any of those things. Here's how!

• I use powdered milk. Even if you only use it in emergencies or for baking, it's excellent to have on hand. It has a very long shelf life, and if your power goes out, you can make just the amount you need for the moment, thus completely eliminating your need for refrigeration.

• I use soy flour as a substitute for eggs. This is hard to find inexpensively in Wichita, but I usually got it for .99 cents a pound in Colorado. 1 T of soy flour and 1 T of water = 1 egg. The flour has a long shelf life and does not need refrigeration.

• I keep flour, yeast, and other baking necessities on hand. I can always bake bread if I need it. (Unless the power goes out, I suppose.)

Because of these things, I will never have to brave a storm for milk, eggs, and bread. What are your favorite things to keep on hand for bad weather situations?

What We're Eating

Monday: Chicken Broccoli Bake with a salad kit I got for .49 cents on "about to expire" markdown.

Tuesday: Spinach lasagna, homemade french bread

Wednesday: Chicken Tacos

Thursday: We went to Subway.

Friday: Salmon Chowder

More October Meuns

Here's our menu from our pantry for the past few days. My mother in law is visiting, and has kindly taken us out to dinner. She loves to eat out, and we took her to one of our favorite places in Wichita. All of the items that I made came from our pantry. The meatloaf was made from the free sausage I got in March, and marked down hamburger I bought awhile ago. The green beans were .28 cents at a sale, and the baked potatoes came from a cheap 10 pound bag I bought awhile ago. Baked potato soup is easy to make and a good way to use leftovers. I'm going to top it with sale bacon (10 dollars for a ten pound box, bought a month ago) and chives from the garden.

Saturday: (My mother in law was visiting and took us out. Very nice)

Sunday: Meatloaf, green beans, baked potatoes

Monday: Baked potato soup (with leftover baked potatoes from yesterday.)

October Pantry Challenge!

We close on our house on September 29. (YAY!) I am so excited, and really terrified. I've never owned anything so big before, and while we're anticipating some new expenses, I know that it will be more than we're expecting. These things always seem to be that way. The first big one I know if is the fact we're going to have to buy a fridge. We're checking around for scratch and dent places, the paper, and watching sales at Sears and the like. We're hoping to score an in-between fridge on Freecycle so we can search for a good price at a leisurely pace.

Anyway, my husband and I were examining the contents of our freezer and pantry, and came to the realization that we could probably live well for a month or more on what we already have. So that's what we're going to try to do in October while we recoup from the biggest purchase we've ever made and the expenses that are associated with it (like the fridge). We're doing an October Live From the Pantry Challenge, and I'm excited. I'm going to start going through my stuff and making a menu for the month.

Here's the rules we're going to follow:

1. No new food purchases, except fresh fruit.

2. No unnecessary paper product/deodorant/shampoo/etc purchases. This should be easy, since I have enough to last at least six months.

3. We will buy Halloween candy. I'm excited to have a house because of this- we never got many kids at our apartments. Since there are tons of kids in the neighborhood we chose, we hope to get lots of kids and see their cute costumes. (Edited 9-16-06)

Hmmm. Actually, that's really about it. I have two weeks to figure out the menu and stock up on any little things I'm missing. I'll post the menu as I figure it out. I'm sure you'll hear a lot about the new house after we sign the paperwork. I still can't believe it.

Have a great weekend everybody!