Life Lessons #1
October 29th, 2006 at 10:02 pmSo I spent some time thinking about what I could put in this blog. I'm not a coupon queen or financial expert or even a paragon of fiscal virtue.
I'm just an ordinary person doing the ordinary things that make up daily life. So I decided to make a category for the little, ordinary things that may not mean much by themselves but can add up to pennies saved. And pennies add up to dollars, and dollars add up to debt freedom...
Today I did my weekly grocery shopping, and noted two specific instances of an opportunity to save pennies. First, I needed to get sugar. I normally grab the 4 kg bag, but today I noted that the 2kg bags were less than half the price of the larger bag, and a better buy as a result. So the lesson is to compare unit prices - normally, the larger sizes of anything are the better value, but not always.
The second lesson came in the canned vegetable aisle. I like to keep some tinned mushrooms in the pantry to throw into casseroles, and there was a case lot sale. For a case of 12 tins, both whole canned mushrooms and sliced mushrooms were $8.98. Not bad, considering that a case will normally last me about six months. But the real bargain was the mushroom "pieces and stems". Not as pretty as their siblings, but 12 tins for only $5.98. That's a savings of 25¢ per tin. Now, just between you and me, I really don't care if the mushrooms I throw into the mix are pretty (well, there goes my shot at the Martha Stewart wannabe award, but they taste exactly the same.)
The lesson is to compare similar products - and to keep an eye on those shelf prices. The pieces and stems were right next to the others, and I'm sure more than one person just grabbed a case without noticing the difference in price.
I'm just an ordinary person doing the ordinary things that make up daily life. So I decided to make a category for the little, ordinary things that may not mean much by themselves but can add up to pennies saved. And pennies add up to dollars, and dollars add up to debt freedom...
Today I did my weekly grocery shopping, and noted two specific instances of an opportunity to save pennies. First, I needed to get sugar. I normally grab the 4 kg bag, but today I noted that the 2kg bags were less than half the price of the larger bag, and a better buy as a result. So the lesson is to compare unit prices - normally, the larger sizes of anything are the better value, but not always.
The second lesson came in the canned vegetable aisle. I like to keep some tinned mushrooms in the pantry to throw into casseroles, and there was a case lot sale. For a case of 12 tins, both whole canned mushrooms and sliced mushrooms were $8.98. Not bad, considering that a case will normally last me about six months. But the real bargain was the mushroom "pieces and stems". Not as pretty as their siblings, but 12 tins for only $5.98. That's a savings of 25¢ per tin. Now, just between you and me, I really don't care if the mushrooms I throw into the mix are pretty (well, there goes my shot at the Martha Stewart wannabe award, but they taste exactly the same.)
The lesson is to compare similar products - and to keep an eye on those shelf prices. The pieces and stems were right next to the others, and I'm sure more than one person just grabbed a case without noticing the difference in price.