Saving & Giving

He who does not economize will have to agonize.
~ Confucius

Sometimes I post about what I'm doing to save money from time to time (you can search "frugal" in my posts to see some of them).  Other times I post a running tally of what I've saved during particular shopping trips.  It helps to keep me on track and accountable for spending.

I was inputting all my shopping expenditures onto a spreadsheet each month for awhile.  That way I could compare the costs over the year(s).  I still have all my receipts but whether I continue to input the information will depend on how much time I have.  Right now I am busy making projects on a deadline as I'm trying to get them finished for Christmas gifts.  When I am busy crocheting or quilting, I spend so much time on projects.  I hate to tear myself away to look at receipts and input data.   I'd rather work on projects, read or get together with friends for a frugal outing.  Having said that, my major savings strategy is still to shop the sales and examine my savings.  I just do it in a more general way.

At the beginning of each month or the end of each month, it is always time to do the "big shop" for the month's food and household items.  This week savings were as follows:

• savings $9.12 Canadian on 2 weeks of meat (chicken legs, chicken backs, pork ribs, pork steak, ground beef).  Actual cost - $51.23
• savings $ 28.43 Canadian on food from the pharmacy (eggs, butter, milk, cream, canned tomatoes/beans/salmon, popcorn, toilet paper. Actual cost - $54.52
• Total cost ~ $105.75 Total saving ~  $37.55 Canadian

This week I have spent more at the pharmacy than usual because there are a number of things that were on sale that I wanted.  At the pharmacy I collect points for my purchases.  Once you reach a certain level of points you can redeem a certain amount of dollars and use it toward a purchase. I will be reaching $85 (Canadian) soon.  This is only the 2nd time I have been near  this level because I usually spend when I reach the $10 level.  When I reach $85 I will purchase multiples of things I need (butter, eggs, toilet paper, coffee, bacon, etc.).

I still have to shop at the grocery store for items which are only purchased once or twice per year (oil, lard, flour). These items are all on sale this week.  I also get a lot of savings week after week on vegetables and fruits at the local produce store.  The produce store is consistently less expensive for most vegetables.  When you add these savings up week after week they can be quite substantial.

For some time now, I've noticed that more and more things have risen dramatically in price.  Virtually everything is the local grocery store is now 30% higher in price (or several dollars more) than they were a few months ago.  I have watched prices steady increase over the past 3 years or so.  I've also noticed that some things, like toilet paper has doubled or tripled in price yet the number of sheets per roll has been cut in half.

Did you notice that the manufacturers have reduced the size of double rolls yet still call them double rolls?  Or is this only happening in my corner of the world?

You really do have to shop carefully and make sure you shop the sales if you want to keep your grocery bill close to what it was a year ago.

How about you dear reader?

Have you noticed the same things at your supermarket?

I purchased a high powered blender recently and saved a $100.00 Canadian, plus the cost of shipping and handling which was an additional $19.30 Canadian.


It arrived in the mail a few days ago.  I washed it right out of the box and promptly tried it out with some vegetables that were on their "last legs".  I didn't follow a recipe I just threw together a number of veggies. I didn't add water.  What came out was quite thick and tasty but more like cold soup than juice. I will have to read up on some recipes.  I already have a good blender but in order to use it I have to chop my fruit and veggies into smaller pieces and then I have to throw out or compost all the pulp and fibre that is extracted.

I am so looking forward to the new blender to use as a juicer. I am thinking I can simply wash the fruit and veggies and turn them  juices that retain the pulp and fibre. I will also be able to make hot chocolate and hot soups for the coming winter and ice cream in the summer!

 The new blender should save me a lot of money every month but I did notice it is extremely loud to operate. I will have to experiment before deciding if it is practical to use at different times of the day and night.  I worry about waking the neighbours or annoying them. If it really is too loud, I will have to send it back and look for a quieter version.

Well my friends you've heard what I'm doing to shave costs from the budget.

What are you doing to keep your food budget or household budget down?

Besides the ever increasing cost of food and household items, the needs in Kenya are always on the top of my mind.  The needs there are great.  The needs here at home have also been great and I've spent a lot on short travels.  Every dollar counts.

I'm still trying to raise funds for Elvis to finish his medical studies in Kisii, Kenya.  The number of those willing to help him have been small but I remain optimistic that a few more people will help out. Elvis is in his last year and time is short to come up with all the funds to help him graduate.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.

~ Charles Dickens

Kenya is a country that desperately needs medical officers (doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians).  When Elvis is finished his training, he is hoping to work with the people in the isolated northern regions of Kenya.  They can really need medical help.  They have to travel so far just to get a simple medical check up & many go without help for even the simplest of things.

If you could help spread the word about the campaign to help Elvis or even add a donation to help him that would be awesome.


For your convenience, you can use the button on the top right of this screen.

Saving Money

I want to say a big "welcome" to my newest follower Jan. I hope you find something here of value. Please feel free to join in the conversations.  I am honoured you chose to join my blogging family.

Lately, I've been spending time thinking very specifically about the ways I've been learning to save money and stretch my dollar's spending power. I've made a list of the things I've been doing for the last few years and I hope to share them with you soon.  I'm doing this because it helps me to see how far I've come and how many changes I've made along the way.  The changes haven't been difficult.  In fact, many of them have been quite pleasurable. Now that I'm not working, I see saving money and running my household more efficiently as my job. I do it because I no longer have salary increases and my expenses are more or less the same except in a few areas. I do it because I have debt to pay down. I also do it because I want to minimize waste and have money to give to charity, particularly Missions of Hope in Kenya.  As a believer and follower of Christ, I take it as one of my joyful duties to give to my neighbour. Even if I wasn't a believer and follower of Christ, I still would want to help my neighbour.

I'm going to share the things that I've done and maybe it will inspire some of you who don't have a big income or who have gone from a large income to a smaller income, like I have now that I am retired. My hope is that in encouraging you to save money you can help others by giving them a hand up.  So with that little introduction, I will share something simple today and in pictorial format. 

One of the big changes I've made in the last year or so is to buy bulk beans instead of canned beans.  I've always loved beans but been intimidated by making them from scratch even though I knew they were much cheaper.  When I worked I was always super busy and when I had time off it was only enough time to try to clean, shop for food and personal needs and catch my breath.  Nowadays I purchase beans regularly in bulk and use them in a variety of ways.  This small step is not only good for the pocket book but also great for your health since beans are a wonderful source of protein and a great alternative to meat.

Here is a bowl of garbanzo beans I soaked.  I bought these close to where I live.  The unit price was 55 cents.  For cost comparison, it would cost me 75 cents per unit for dried and packaged garbanzo beans in the local grocery store which is actually a few steps further from where I live than the place where I bought these beans.  I can actually probably find these beans for less than 55 cents per unit but that would defeat the purpose since it would take more of time, energy and transport costs.

I am also soaking some kidney beans.  I bought these at the same place where I bought the garbanzo beans and the cost was 35 cents unit.  I forgot to price the packaged kidney beans at the grocery store tonight but am pretty sure these bulk beans are cheaper.

Here I have the kidney beans boiling on the stove. I hope they don't take too long since I have to get to sleep soon. I bought the beans late in the day and so their soaking time has been cut short.

Here are the boiling garbanzo beans. I have them on a gentle roll so they don't break apart. In a taste test they seem almost ready. Looking in on the beans later, I realized oops, I overcooked them a bit, lol.  They'll have to be used for hummus. Yummo1

The kidney beans will be rinsed with cold water after they cool and  be packed in containers and stored in the fridge for use during the week. We use them as an accompaniment to meals, in soups, chilies and salads.

The other thing I like to do to save money and which is also a form of entertainment, is to browse the thrift stores. I donate a fair bit to the thrift stores because I am undergoing a major decluttering effort at my home.  Sometimes though I am the customer and last week I was looking for a doll (more about this in a later post.).  While I was searching for the doll, I came across some brand new clay pots with clay tray bottoms.  I picked them up for $2.00 each which included the trays for catching the water when you water your plants.

At the same time, I found this fabulous clay, glazed garlic storage pot.

I say fabulous because it is in black and matches some of my canisters in the kitchen. Perfect!

And the best part is, it only cost $2.00 and it has never been used.  My guess is that it would cost at least $10.00 in the store.  The clay pots were $2.00 a piece and  I bought two.  The price is the same in the store but I would have to pay another $3.00 plus, for the trays.

Well there you have it.  Some of my small efforts at savings and they were such little steps, enjoyable steps and yet easy to do. I hope you will come again for many other savings strategies I've been using.  In closing, let me say that for years now I've read other people's strategies for saving money.  But I always found the ideas hard to implement.  The ideas always seemed daunting because they related to goals for substantial savings that seemed unreachable, for example: saving $50,000 or more for a down payment on a house or saving some exorbitant sum of money each year that perhaps I didn't have as disposable income.  In the end, I just had to learn that I can only do what I can do at any given time. I can try my best and I can take baby steps. I also had to have goals that were more meaningful to me which included ways to live and have shelter while at the same time, keep giving to missions.  While I was working I also made sure I had insurance and saved money each and every month.   What I was not good at was keeping the credit card balances paid off each month and so that is a key reason I am on restricted spending now.  I hope whatever I've learned might be useful to someone.  Until next time.

Making Powdered Laundry Detergent

Hi friends,

Some of you will remember my first foray into making liquid laundry detergent. I've used about half or just under half of it so far and it is working very well. It doesn't suds at all but that doesn't affect it's cleansing properties. I've even started hanging out clothes to dry on the patio as a way of saving on electricity costs and doing my part to go green.

My mother has been having a lot of skin issues which have baffled the doctors and her skin is extremely sensitive so we thought I should make her some powdered detergent. This is the recipe I used.

Powdered Laundry Detergent:

- 2 cups Washing Soda (I get mine in the laundry section of a local food supermarket).
- 1 cup of Borax (I get this at another food supermarket which is closer to my house than where I buy the Washing Soda).
- 1 1/2 bars of Sunlight Bar Soap (If you don't have Sunlight and you are in Canada, you can use the Ivory Bar soap. In other countries, I understand people use Zote, purchased in Mexican food shops or Fels Naphta).  If none of these are available in your area, have a look on line and order that way.

The process is rather simple. You simply mix the washing soda and the borax together. I then shred the Sunlight Bar soap in my food processor and all it to the powdered mixture and shake it well to mix it evenly. If you do not have a food processor you can grate it all up with a hand grater. It will just take longer.
Now store the mixture in a jar or a plastic baggie. When you want to do your laundry you use only 2 tablespoons of this mixture.

I've never made this detergent before but it is a variation of the same recipe that many others use and post on line so I'm sure it will work quite well. I didn't do the cost calculations per load this time but I may add them  later.

Next, I will be making bar soap for washing my face and body and I hope to post about it in future. I have been scouring the local shops to find lye which is one of the key ingredients. I've found a supply but I've also read on line that the lye is of inconsistent quality. I will probably try it anyway and see for myself. Otherwise my only option would be to purchase the lye on line which will increase the cost.

Savings in April

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; 
the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1 KJV

Some of you read my post on saving money in March. If you haven't already and you would like to read it, you can do so here.  I wasn't going to do another post about savings this month but I had a couple of really great cost savings and I wanted to share.

Over the weekend I was lamenting the bare freezer and lack of meat in it for my roommate who eats a lot. Also the coffers were quite bare and wouldn't take much of a hit. There was virtually nothing on sale last weekend meat-wise or food wise. Since I've been sick with cold all week I didn't have much time to address my mind to how to solve this problem. Well God is good.

After reviewing last weekend's flyers and finding nothing, I was so blessed this week to find chicken on a great sale. Chicken legs (drumstick and thigh) were on sale for $1.00 a pound. This is a virtually unheard of price so I sent my roommie off to the store to bring home about 33 pounds of chicken.

This has now all been re-packaged into servings for two and there are also 3 larger packages for making larger dinners ahead of time or for inviting someone over.  Altogether I counted 20 packages of chicken.  Tomorrow we may get more to fill up the rest of the freezer.  This protein source will be supplemented with pulses like chick peas, navy beans and kidney beans and a few other meats like minced beef and a bit of pork.

On the top and bottom are the bags of chicken, red items on the right are bags of buckwheat to put on tired muscles, bags of ice and frozen fruit for smoothies on far left.

Normally, I try to make oat porridge and this month I have added Cream of Wheat to the stocks.  But I also like to have cold cereals on hand for those days when I want a change. I was able to purchase these two boxes of cereal (below) for $2.99 each. This is a savings of almost $3.00 per box of cereal.  The box of cheerios is made of whole grain wheat and the bran flakes are full of fibre.  For other wheat type products I hope to buy 5 kg. of flour for $6.99.

Flour as well as many other staples like meat have really soared in price over the last many months. I don't know exactly when it happened but it is certainly noticeable at the food stores.  Sometimes the cost of steak, chicken, and other meats/fowl is more than double to what it was selling for over the summer even.  Flour has also doubled in price so I do not buy it unless it is on sale. I remember when I could purchase 10 kg. of flour for about $10.99 and you now pay that for half the amount of flour. Has this happened where you live too?  I think it is a world wide phenomena. I'd heard that pasta prices were going up long ago due to the cost of wheat and semolina flour much of which comes from Canada but I don't know how the prices have increased in other countries as a result.

I like having fresh fruit on hand but always look for it on sale. Here is a box of clam shell strawberries for $2.98 (I often get them for $2.50 a box) and a bag of red grapes for $2.45. I won't pay more than $1.99 per pound of grapes and they don't come often at this price. I got these ones for $1.50 per pound. Perhaps I should have bought a bit more and freeze some for snacks. They are good cold. Have you ever eaten them that way?

I like avocados in a vegetable sandwich or in a salad and in home made guacamole though I haven't made the latter in a long time. I thought 3 avocados for $2.00 was a fantastic buy as they are often $1.50 per avocado.

 

I also got 5 large lemons for $2.00. I like using lemons in cooking and in adding to tea or coca cola to cut the sweetness. Other good deals this week were two packages of chocolate chips for $2.50 per package.  These will be great for making cookies and/or squares. Another good deal was a small package of dry salt pork for $1.78 for the next time I want to make baked beans.

I was also able to replenish paper towels at 6 rolls (70 sheets per roll) for $4.99.  I prefer at least 80 sheets per roll but you get what you can, when you can. Toilet paper stock was added to by purchasing 12 double rolls of 270 sheets per roll. This paper cost about $5.99 on sale and is made from recycled paper.

In surfing the websites I like to frequent, I was directed to this video and this short, thought-provoking article entitled "Are You an Over-Buyer or an Under-Buyer".  I enjoyed it a lot and thought you might too so you can find it here.  I know I am most certainly an over-buyer which is why I have clutter. I like to be prepared for all things and sometimes take it a little too far. As the woman says, one "type" is not better than the other. We each have our challenges and I am trying not to overbuy where it isn't necessary.

In my earlier post on savings I mentioned that I hadn't yet got around to seeking a reduced interest rate on my credit cards.  Well I did get up the effort this month on one card.  The bank agreed and brought down my interest from 12.99 percent to just under 6%. Can you believe it? That is more than a 50% reduction in interest rate and I could have had it much sooner. I hadn't realized until I made the call that I was on a fixed interest rate, not a variable one. I feel blessed for having found this out. While I know that interest rates are intended to go up, it is not likely to affect this credit card rate anytime soon. At least I will have some breathing room on the interest accruing on the unpaid balance.

I added about $2.80 to the Snowflake Jar Fund. When it reaches $200.00 I hope to help a woman entrepreneur in Kenya to expand her business by giving her a loan. Once she pays back the fund, it will be re-loaned to another woman and so on. The challenge will be to find women who can benefit from a loan this small as Kenya is fast becoming a very expensive country.  This will be my little contribution to helping women in the developing world.  I'd love to have you join me in this if it is something you would be interested in. Write me and I can tell you more.

Saving Pennies in March

I continue to try and cut daily and monthly living costs wherever possible and to save money on food in various ways so I can pay down my debts as quickly as possible. I haven't kept a journal of what I am doing but in thinking about little ways I've saved money this month here is what I remember.

Food Savings

~ I purchased flats of canned mushrooms, canned beans and kernel corn. I usually purchase these in individual cans which is not very cost effective so I don't buy them as often as I would like. After doing a cost per can analysis, I purchased these particular canned goods because they are staples in good home cooking and because the price ended up being between 82 and 88 cents per can.  The savings is about a 17 to 86 cent savings per can depending on where I buy them so I think I got quite a bargain.

~ Of course dried goods purchased in bulk are even less expensive than canned goods on sale. I purchased dried garbanzo beans (chick peas) which cost about a third the cost of canned beans when I am able to buy them in bulk. I soaked and cooked the beans to be used in making a couple of meals. I also used garbanzo beans to make a red pepper hummus this week.  The other beans I soaked and cooked were navy beans for use in the boston baked beans dish I made earlier in the month.
~ I shopped the flyers and was able to purchase, beef roast, chicken drumsticks and whole chickens, all for less than $2.00 per pound or $4.35 cents per kilogram. These are excellent prices for meat and it is not usual to get this good price in my neighbourhood. I always try to buy more meat when it is on sale. Then I cut it and re-package it into portions for cooking. Out of one package of meat, I can usually get 2 or 3 meals to feed 2 people and one of the people is a very large eater. Once I get a small freezer I will be able to buy more meat ahead of time, and also freeze soups and cooked meals for warming.
~ I shopped the flyers each week. This past week I was able to keep the cost of a 12 pack of double roll toilet paper and a pack of 6 roll paper towels to less than $5.00 a package. I like to buy 2 ply toilet paper with at least 250 sheets per roll and paper towels with at least 80 sheets per roll. One hundred (100 ) sheets is preferable but they are sometimes not available. I always do the cost analysis of each roll of toilet paper and paper towel in order to get the best buy. Fortunately paper products are generally on sale at one of the several places where I buy them in the neighbourhood.

~ I made snacks at home this month rather than buy them ready made. I made a batch of chocolate chip and raisin cookies, a batch of cinnamon rolls and some red pepper hummus for spreading on crackers or dipping tortilla chips.

~ I bought some bulk spice to make my own spice mixtures and arrowroot for baking. These ones are pre-packed in small convenient packs and are much less expensive than those in the food stores that come in cans or small glass jars.

Clothing Savings

~ I spent $100 on 2 pair of pants and got $25 back, plus a $40 coupon for spending in April.  I also get points from this purchase toward a gift certificate. I often shop for my niece and my mom at this store as well so it is easy to rack up the points toward a gift certificate. After I shop about 4 or 5 times at this store I have enough points for a $25. off coupon. The coupon comes in handy for buying undergarments or sleepwear for myself or family members and the coupons are valid for up to one year.

Household Savings

~ These next few 'savings' could also be deemed to be bad purchases. I choose to look at them as purchases returned which ultimately saved me money. I bought and returned a personal purchase of much needed undergarments for $186. and taxes. I purchased from afar and the items didn't fit so I returned them. I also purchased a new bedspread for my niece who has recently moved. I found the package was missing the cushion and pillow sham so these purchases were also returned for a "savings" of $60. and taxes. I also bought a 5 drawer cart on wheels. It was on sale for $19 and taxes (half price). When I got it home and turned it over, it had a big hole in it so back it went to the store. These purchases were headaches because they did not pan out and wasted my time as well as the cost of return shipping in the first instance and the cost of return bus fare in the other two cases. If I look at it from a positive perspective, I feel like I saved myself from making about $300. worth of purchases. If I still need these items later (example the undergarments), I can purchase what I need later. I also learned that I will no longer be shopping at this one particular store where I had to return the items. It is not the first time I have had problems with purchases where I get something home only to find out later that something is missing from the package. It is regrettable as this used to be one of my favourite stores to get good value for the dollar.
~ I switched one set of bathroom lights to energy saving bulbs and I also have a new fixture which uses 3 bulbs instead of 8. I am not sure what the total cost savings is but I know there will be some. This is also a move toward green living. The only thing I am concerned about is the toxic mercury contained in the bulbs. I hope I never break one!
~I unplugged several of my appliances and now now I totally shut down the computer each night. Apparently all this saves energy (phantom energy use).
~ There were a few days that it was quite cool in my home. I turned on the ceramic heater rather than the household electrical heat. This little heater is more efficient than the household heat and I can direct the heat to where I need it.

Miscellaneous

~ I haven't yet got around to asking for lower interest rate on my current credit cards and I haven't been able to find a 0% credit card like some bloggers write about when recommending how to get out of debt. However, I did find a credit card with 1% cash back and 1.99 % introductory interest rate for balance transfers. I don't usually go for these kinds of deals because the interest after the introductory period is usually quite high. In this case however, I get an introductory period of 10 months which I think is quite generous. So I'm going to transfer a sum of debt that I can pay off in 10 months and then not use this card at all except for perhaps paying utilities which would then get paid right away on the card. The only thing I did not like was needing to apply for this credit card because it will affect my credit rating but I felt I could save on a lot of interest payments over the 10 month introductory period. The key will be making sure I don't use the credit card other than for saving interest on paying down my debt.
~ I was able to save $10. on Celadrin, an herbal supplement I wanted to try for aches and pains of arthritis.

~ I saved 40 cents on sending a small parcel and another 40 cents on sending a Money Gram. I will add the 80 cent savings to my Snowflake Jar fund.

~ I returned bottles to the bottle depot ($1.70) and saved another 80 cents in posting a parcel and sending a Money Gram. I added these small savings to my new Snowflake Jar fund (see sidebar to the right). This fund was started by gathering my loose change from January, February and March. Most of what I add to this fund will be from bottle returns and a little loose change here and there. As of today the Snowflake jar contains $19.79 Canadian.  When I have built up this fund to $200, I will use it to start a micro finance project for a woman in Kericho, Kenya under the  auspices of the Missions of Hope.
~ I saved $2.75 on a bus fare yesterday. The nice bus driver saw me loaded down with bags of food and he let me take a seat without putting my money in the token box. That was a blessing :-). I purchase tickets for the bus so this saves my ticket for another day's use.

All in all, I am pleased with what I was able to do this month. I will endeavour to keep up the small steps each month to save money, reduce debt and reduce energy consumption.