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Money saving advice on the Today Show from America’s cheapest family

November 11, 2012 by Lisa · 1 Comment

This is being republished, I originally posted it on October 1, 2010.

Advice on how to save money is everywhere these days. Everyone has their tips & tricks and every media outlet is just filled with “experts” telling us how to save money. Every time I see a clip coming up on tv, I’m interested. I certainly consider myself bargain-savvy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn something new. Or in some cases it serves as a reminder to something that I meant to do but never got around to (like covering the hot water heater). And in some cases, the advice falls under the phrase of that bad 80s song “Things that make you go hmmmmm.” Today was that day. This morning on the Today show, they announced that “America’s Cheapest Family” was coming up with some advice. So I grabbed my coffee and stayed tuned.

The host introduced them and then said they had three many pieces of advice. Keep in mind that I had two little ones in the room with noisy toys, so I didn’t catch all of it.

It can be tough to discern all of the advice out there, everyone is trying to save!

The first piece of advice was that when cooking, to double recipes so that you have more and have to cook less. I’ve tried this and it didn’t work for us. First, you don’t save any money on shopping, as you’re still purchasing the same ingredients, just more of them. And for us, I found we had MUCH more waste. For example, I would prepare (usually on a Sunday) a double batch of lasagne, chili or something like that. That would be our Sunday dinner. We’d take it for lunch on Monday, and then have it again Monday night for dinner. I will say that I certainly concede it is much easier to just reheat something on a Monday night instead of cooking. But that’s a time saving measure, not money saving. Tuesday, I’d take it for lunch again, and at this point, hubby would refuse to eat it again for dinner. I would continue to dutifully eat said reheated meal until I couldn’t take it anymore, and usually end up tossing about a third to one quarter of the original batch.

If I prepare just a regular sized batch, we either have no leftovers or we have one or two servings of leftovers which get eaten the next day. No waste. Maybe if you have a larger family or if it’s a dish that you can freeze right away, it works. I have found though, that freezing the already prepared food, sometimes freezing it does funky things to the texture and consistency. And I have a vacuum sealer, still doesn’t work out.

The second bit was something about only grocery shopping once a month. I can’t get into this idea. Almost all grocery stores change their sales weekly, what might be free or almost free one week will be full price the next. A monthly budget is a monthly budget–whether or not you split it up into four weeks. Make a budget and stick to it. Unless you live in extremely rural areas, the gas savings are minimal.

Then the daughters piped in that when they get home from the grocery store, that they (the kids) help put away the groceries. And they help with meal preparation too. Nice gesture, but I fail to see how that plays any role in saving money. A viewer called in and asked “How do you keep produce for a month?” Great question! I like to feed my family healthy stuff. The mom said that produce does in fact keep for a month. Yeah, I’m calling bs on that one. It does not. I challenge her to find me any baby greens or spinach that will last a month.

I was starting to lose interest at this point, and another viewer called in. She said she liked to shop with coupons and wanted to know how she could get more. The answer they gave–have a coupon swap in your neighborhood. Ok, not terrible advice, but….really? That’s all you got? How about coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, store websites, manufacturers’ websites, e-coupons, store flyers and circulars….I could go on. There are plenty of places to get more coupons without bugging my neighbors. I know of some moms who do this and it works great if you have a local network of couponers. But if you don’t, then what?

I don’t know how “America’s Cheapest Family” earned that honor. I know of a mom that can feed a family of five (healthy stuff too!) on $800 a year. I may just nominate her for the show.

So sorry Today show, imo you failed this time. Give me some news I can use!

Updated: Here is a post I did recently on 30 ways to trim your grocery budget. I am getting back on the budget bandwagon and seeing real savings again! Click the banner to view it.

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Tips and strategies for shopping at membership warehouse clubs

November 7, 2012 by Lisa · Leave a Comment

This weekend is the grand opening of the Costco in Concordville, at Brinton Lake. As a general rule, I do not shop at warehouse club type of stores, but there is some value. Use these tips and strategies to make sure you getting good value.

Memberships: This is one of the biggest turnoffs, in my opinion, of a warehouse club-the fact that you have to pay them to shop there. I’m a customer! Why do I have to pay you to shop? Not only that, the customer service you get at a warehouse club is minimal, they don’t even offer bags, and the display and the atmosphere (and often, the heat) leaves much to be desired. I wonder what they are doing with the membership money, besides counting it. So that would be my first tip–see how you can save on a membership. Where are you going to recoup your $30 or $50 investment to shop there? Some employers offer group rates, so do some civic groups like sports teams, churches and schools. See if you can get a discount that way. Some clubs like BJs offer free passes for a day or up to 60 days. Use those! Always at least get one free day out of it so that you can shop, compare prices and determine if your savings will really be worth it. Consider splitting the membership with a relative or your BFF. Make it a date to go there quarterly, since only one of you can get a card and has to be there.

Coupons: I think the only one that takes manufacturers’ coupons is BJs, but I could be mistaken. All of them offer store coupons quite often. See if you can use both (at a BJs) and see if they will take a competitor’s coupon.

Know what you are spending: I put this in another section, but it warrants the attention. Know what you are paying for things at the grocery store, and bring a calculator and note pad. Make sure you are getting value and/or a good price! Know how much of an item your family will consume before it goes bad, particularly for perishables.

Product packaging and assortments: The big joke about warehouse clubs is the fact that you have to buy things in such large quantities, like a 55 gallon drum of ketchup. Take a calculator with you and see what you are paying per ounce or per lb for your items. It may not be cheaper than the smaller items at grocery stores. But you see such a big package that the big price tag doesn’t deter you–let it deter you! Make sure you are getting value. Also, many big packages like granola bars and yogurts come in assortments. Make sure your family eats ALL of the flavors included. My family will easily eat a 32-cup package of yogurts in about 2 weeks, but if I throw out the 8 plain ones because no one likes them, I’ve just increased the price by 25%. It’s not a value if you throw out 10-30% of the pack due to undesirable flavors.

Don’t just shop for groceries: My friend J posted on our Facebook wall the other day that she finds value in these clubs with the eyeglasses. Her vision program on her insurance is quite limited and she frequently has to spend significant money on eyeglasses for her family. But at Costco, they are so much cheaper than at other places, she more than recoups the money she has to spend on the membership. These clubs not only sell eye-wear, but tires and cases of alcohol in some states. Don’t just try to save money on the basics, if you are considering a membership, look at ALL the product areas it covers.

Factor in convenience: Large families and babies go through a ton of product in a small amount of time. When my boys were babies, I used the freebie days at BJs to stock up on baby food and formula, and I found significant savings on both money and time that way. For those with large families or if you don’t like to shop, going to a place like this once a month and getting what you need may be worth it for you.

Saving money is not easy! It requires work. But before making a paid commitment on where to grocery shop, you want to make sure you are getting the best value. Take care and let us know what deals you find.