The Best Value for Your Money when Grocery Shopping

When shopping at the grocery store, don't just look at the big price on the shelf sticker - also check out the "unit" price or the "per ounce" price. I have found that this is really the best way to purchase the cost effective amount.

Let's take ketchup for example. (It is in it's own food group for my son, who puts it on everything!)

The cheapest big price on the store shelf is most probably the smallest size - say a 12 ounce bottle for $1.19. When you look at the per ounce price on this, it comes out to about 10 cents per ounce. But say there is a 36 ounce bottle on the shelf next to it - for $1.99. The bottle is bigger and costs 80 cents more, but the per ounce price for the larger size is now down to 6 cents per ounce.

That is savings! If you have the space and will be able to use it all before the expiration date, the larger sizes are almost always the best value. Also, check out the store brand versus the name brand. Using the same theory above, check out the name brand per ounce price versus the store brand per ounce price. You will see a tremendous amount of savings!

I have been teaching my kids this lesson as we go to the grocery store each week. I always have them look at the per ounce price on items instead of the "big" sticker price.

Want to learn more about being a savvy super market shopper? Check out this newsletter from the University of Kentucky school of Agriculture: click here. (It is a PDF document.)

Until another frugal moment hits!

The Frugal Queen

Free Online Training!

I know this will not be for everyone, but for those of you who are not afraid of trying new things...check out the State of Ohio Library's website for the Learning Express Library! The Learning Express Library is a website which allows you to take online courses in different subjects at no cost...and no this is not a gimick. It is a great resource offered by the State of Ohio's Library!

To check it out follow this link to the State Library's website:

http://winslo.state.oh.us/

Then scroll down the page and follow the link for Learning Express Library. (Or click this link:
http://www.learnatest.com/LearningExpressLibrary/Home.cfm?CFID=x&CFTOKEN=x&Refresh=1&sip=473908416&HR=http://www.library.ohio.gov/)

Either way, you will be taken to the Learning Express Library website. You can then register for a user account and follow the available links to courses on various Microsoft Softwares, including the new Office 2007 version!

You can also take practice tests for the SAT, GMAT, and many other areas like civil service exams and EMT/Paramedic certificaitons!

It is a fabulous resource made available through the State of Ohio Library - for all Ohio residents and everyone beyond our state. So either commit today to brush up on skills you have wanted to learn more about or pass the word along to someone who can use the Learning Express Library!

Until another frugal moment hits....

The Frugal Queen

Flower Exchange - Diversify your Flower Beds!

I received a great idea from a friend just north of where I live. She participates every Spring in a flower exchange. How it works is a group of neighbors or friends gets together each Spring and brings with them starts of flowers from their flower beds. For each start you bring with you, you are able to place a ticket with your name on it in the hat. Then one person takes turns pulling names out of the hat. As your name is pulled, you get to choose from among the flower starts. This goes on until everyone's tickets have been pulled.

At the end of the day, everyone goes home with a new variety of flower starts for their garden with no money spent!

Kudos to the ladies of Fallsburg for this great frugal idea!

Until another frugal moment hits -

The Frugal Queen

Mooch a Book Today!

I have discovered a great new website which will hopefully help me to recycle my books and get others that I want to read. It is called Book Mooch. You can link to it at http://www.bookmooch.com/ . Essentially, other people "mooch" books off of you and you "mooch" books off of others. The way the system is set up to work is explained on the site, so if you are a book lover, check it out!

This is definitely a frugal person/avid reader's dream find!

Until another frugal moment hits -

The Frugal Queen

Ridiculous Money Saving Ideas

Found a website this evening which provide me a few good laughs. Click this link to read about the "Ridiculous Money Saving Ideas": http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/ridiculous-money-saving-ideas.html .

Hope it gives you a few good laughs too. I definitely needed them. I decided to put up some strawberry preserves while the prices for strawberries were super low at the grocery store, but ended up splashing some boiling water on myself while removing the jars from the water bath. Terribly painful. I have a bag of frozen broccoli on the burns right now.

Sometimes frugality can be a very painful process.

Until another frugal moment hits,

The Frugal Queen

Why is the electricity bill so high?

The title of this post is a question I seem to ask in our house at least once a month. I have even gone so far as to check out an online calculator for electricity use, available for free at: http://www.consumerspower.org/home_energy/billestimator.php .

The thing I found was our pump for the well (we are on a well and septic system, not city water) was the most expensive thing as far as our electricity consumption. This was a big surprise! I am now looking at what we can do to reduce water usage (I never really looked at this before, because I always thought - I do not have a water bill per say, so I don't have to worry about how much water I use, right?) Now I am worrying about it quite a bit.

I am going to look into a new clothes washer, a front loader instead of a top loader. The front loaders use less water to clean the clothes and at 15 loads of laundry a week, this could be a big savings over time. I have also asked the kids to consider recycling clothes they have worn if possible (not visibly dirty or no odors). This will hopefully cut back on the number of loads of laundry I have to wash (isn't this every mother's dream? kids who are responsible enough to minimize the amount of laundry which needs washed?)

I will let you know later if I move on the new washer idea and if I am able to cut the electricity bill through less water usage.

Until another frugal moment hits!

The Frugal Queen

If it's not on sale - Ask for a Discount anyway!

Here is another tip for you Frugal types out there - when you do go shopping, if the item you want is not on sale, ask for a discount anyway. The worse they can say is no. The best they can do is provide you with a discount that saves you lots and lots of money (or at least a good percentage of the purchase price!). Here are a few of my latest requests which helped me save money:

1. Purchase of kid's birthday gifts at Toys R Us - Ok, I only do this once a year and was ready to bite the bullet and pay the price for the items which they had picked out when the cashier saved me.....she had coupons which she applied to my purchase! What was great is the kids had each gotten a $3 gift card in the mail to apply to the purchase of their items, so when the cashier applied the first coupon to the first purchase (I had to make the purchases separate in order to use both coupons we got in the mail) I quickly asked if she had any more of those great coupons behind the counter, could she please apply another one to the second purchase! She did and I came out spending about $30 less overall than I had calculated. All just for asking...

2. Purchase of clothes at Lane Bryant - They usually send out great coupons which I never remember to take with me to the store. When I was there recently and purchased a number of items, I asked the cashier if she might be able to still apply the coupon discount to my purchase because I had received one, but had forgotten it at home. She was happy to apply the discount and the simple act of asking saved me $50. Way to go!

3. McDonald's - The McDonald's I stop at some mornings on the way to work offers a discount card for the students of the local college. (Buy 10 value meals, get one free.) When I learned this, I asked the cashier one morning if I too could have a discount card. She was happy to provide me one and now, about every six months, I get breakfast for free!

These are just a few of the ways in which I have saved money just through asking for a discounts. If you have some great stories to share on this same topic, please add them to this post through a reply.

Until another frugal moment hits...

The Frugal Queen

Great Frugal Dinner Idea!

Now that my hubby is picking up an extra shift during the week (he is a Chef and works part-time at a restaurant - up to now only on the weekends), I am faced with the dilemma of making dinner for the kids after spending 8 hours at work and 2 1/2 hours commuting. I was not exactly thrilled with the prospect, but set my mind to find something I could easily make which would be hot, fresh and not cost a lot (in other words - no prepackaged dinners).

That is when I hit upon the idea of having breakfast for dinner on "Mom's" night to cook. I billed it to the kids as a mid-week treat and they are now hooked. I am hooked as well, because as we all know, breakfast is one of the cheapest meals to make as long as you keep it simple.

Last week we had pancakes, eggs, corned beef hash and toast. The total for the entire meal was well under $5 for all four of us. Plus, it was easy to whip up - it only took me a total of 15 to 20 minutes to cook it all (and that was while I cleaned up the kitchen from the day's events and loaded the dishwasher - you have to have something to do while waiting to flip those pancakes!).

Next week, I am going to plan on waffles, plus anything else I find in the frig that is breakfast type food which they will eat and which will not take me a long time to cook.

So, in the old days I would have found somewhere to buy dinner for the 4 of us on my way home, at an average cost of $30. Now, I have it down to approximately $5 and we are more likely than not eating healthier (I am certain someone will debate this with the above reference to corned beef hash, but it is not a staple in our house, just a left over from our summer "camping" food that happened to be in the cupboard).

Even if you don't have breakfast for dinner once a week like I am planning to, even once every other week and once a month will still help to bring down your overall food cost!

Until another frugal moment hits,

The Frugal Queen

A Great Financial Resource

I have found a great new resource for frugal individuals such as myself - the transforming Debt Into Wealth system. I have listened to the CDs (which I checked out from the library for free, thank you!) and his system makes sense.

I am going to give it a try and I will give you periodic updates on how I am doing. If you are interested in learning more about his system, check out his website at:

http://www.johncummuta.com/

Remember though, I was able to check this resource out of the library, so make certain you look there first. ( I am NOT getting paid to promote this program, I just liked it when I listened to it and felt it made sense.)

If you have any good resources for debt elimination which you have come across, please feel fee to post them as an addition to this post.

And so not be be negligent in my posting, here is your frugal tip for the day - use your local library first before purchasing resources. My family frequently visits the library (my little ones are on a first name basis with the librarians in the children's section) and we are able to check out books, games for the computer, books on tape/cd, music and movies. So long as we remember (that is Mom remembers) to take them back on time, it is a completely free service! Just think of the savings in movie rentals along!

Check out your local library - its a frugal person's paradise!

Until another frugal moment hits -

The Frugal Queen