It seems at least once a month someone in one of the Frugal groups asks:
How Much Do You Spend?

And less frequently, someone will say “I am a single…” Most recently living in Brooklyn without any option for even a few herbs. Since I have lived there (West Village and Prospect Park long ago) I know what she is up against.
And frankly well meaning as some of the few responses she got were, they did not really apply to her situation. Well except for one that stands out in my memory “Space is Space”
So yeah, boxes under the bed can hold canned goods if the buy is good enough to warrant the purchase and then hauling it up to that 5th floor walkup.

There are no easy answers to these questions and it can be quite daunting to someone just starting to learn to live a more frugal life.

Obviously this has been on my mind for awhile and so I finally sat down and wrote out my thoughts. If you are interested, the rest of the story is on my blog.

First, I do not look at one month, but average over a year because some things I buy in bulk have a longer shelf life and so I might buy something on sale that wont get used for several months –

Second, depending on where you live prices vary – sometimes greatly and especially if you are “Delivery Dependent”.

In the Aldi Nerd group for several weeks people were posting images of prices of milk and eggs – mind boggling the differences (and yes I do understand many if not all the factors involved) “Dairy” is almost always a loss leader in ALDI – they will lower/raise the price of milk, eggs, etc based on local competition in those and other items. Good marketing on their part – requires Caveat Emptor on yours.

Third, Some have dietary considerations that mean they likely have to spend more to get the same amount of nutrition even if comparing themselves to a neighbor.

Fourth, some (like me) are willing to spend a bit more when the difference in quality and/or flavor warrants the higher cost – like buying seasonal produce from a local farmer during the summer.

Sit down, do you basic budget ( listing all expenses that are even vaguely contractual necessities from rent/mortgage, vehicle payments, utilities, etc) And because I keep good records of actual usage – I have twice negotiated a better budget billing amount with BGE – better than any of the other resellers could offer.

Other necessities like monthly medical insurance and insurance co-pays. Again not a lot of room to play around with those.

Then contractual items where you do have some control, like seriously do you really need to upgrade that smart phone – or have all those extra cable channels, or whatever else has a monthly cost where you have some choices.

So add up all the expenses you do not control, subtract it from your likely income (and do include any benefits you qualify for such as WIC or SNAP) – decide what to set aside for an emergency fund each month and that is what you have left for food & entertainment and any other non-necessity.

That is what you have to work with. Now the hard work begins.
take EVERY receipt and look at what you buy “all the time” and what your paying.

Determine what resources are available to you and use the Internet to comparison shop at least prices and specials. Savvy shoppers know that if you use the current “leader” for Delivery InstaCart – IF you look at the various store listings, you will see some have “In-Store Pricing”. Others, depending on their agreement with InstaCart – have varying markups. Further, the markup and other details may vary depending on how you order – (I.E. ALDI order placed thru Instacart vs. ALDI.com – different payment arrangements, same percentage of markup)

Start looking at alternatives and be open. I know that JUST using my Ninja Foodi (I am cooking for two, 6 dinners, (he does one because that is our deal) and we have both Breakfast & Lunch at home – About once a month (usually his night to do dinner) we get Delivery Chinese or a Pizza. Long story short, the efficiency of the Foodi reduced our electric bill an additional average of 20%. ($21.75 less than past normal of $104)

On top of that it came down during my “experiment” year with a countertop convection oven and a 2 Cosori electric pressure cooker was good for another reduction of about $5 per month.

When the original oven quit, and it was clear the two quart was insufficient, I added the 6.5qt Ninja Foodi after extensive research and realizing that the IP and others looked less expensive but I would need TWO Appliances and a lot of extras that were already part of the Ninja products. It paid for it self in less than 6 months so after doing without a working oven for 6 months, added the Foodi Oven. Both are now paid for by savings and my electric bills continue to be an average of 40 to 50% lower. It does what I wanted, but it remains to be seen if it will be replaced with the same unit if it dies (both are now out of warranty, so I am starting thinking about what might be best next time)

We are in an apartment – and no windows suitable for even a small herb garden, so I tracked what we used for herbs and spices, learned how to buy and properly store bulk for locally grown fresh was not an option. And yes I did the math on dehydrating when they were in season, but this area’s electric is second only to the kind of rates we paid in NY to ConEd. So yes, to the lady in Brooklyn, I know what you have to contend with.

That made a 17% difference over buying even BOGO or similar specials in that category. With a bit of planning and my 20 year old immersion blender I knocked another 5% off this past two years by developing my own version of basic blends and then add what “suits the moment” if say, more marjoram is needed for the Italian salad blend.

By preparing condiments suitable to dietary restrictions, another 4-8% annually off the food budget.

There are no easy answers to these questions and it can be quite daunting to someone just starting to learn to live a more frugal life.

The good news once you get your records keeping set up, it usually requires less than an hour a week and I find that hour is often work at least $30 or more in savings. This allows us to choose better ingredients or to apply to other debts or to entertainment.

Enjoy The Making
Wheat