THE THRIFTY SHOPPING GAME

THRIFTY SHOPPING or BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME

We all shop for something and the object of this game is to save as much as possible. Since my grandmother and mom did a large portion of their shopping in grocery stores, let’s play the grocery store game. By following a few easy principles we can save a lot on our food bills and reduce the number of times a week we have to eat out because there isn’t anything ready to fix for dinner. As with the previous games, add the savings to a “piggy bank” so we can have a concrete measurement of how we are doing. This time, we are using a separate “bank” from the previous game so we can chart our progress in each area.

Here are the guiding principles of this game:
1. Read and use the weekly grocery ads.
2. Always shop from a written list.
3. Never shop when hungry.
4. Shop alone.
5. Be flexible.
6. Use manufacturer’s coupons when practical.
7. Shop a maximum of 4 times a month.
8. Resist impulse buying.
9. Take a re-useable shopping bag.

These principles look simple and they can be but it usually helps when we understand the pluses and pit-falls of each one so let’s analyze them.

Read and use the weekly grocery ads.

This is the few minutes a week that can really pay off big time in the grocery shopping game.

Loss-leaders: Now stores have items called loss-leaders that they use to get us to come to their store instead of the competing grocery store. We want to use this competition to our advantage. The loss-leaders are items that are selling way below the normal price and often below the wholesale cost. IF this is an item that you use often and it will keep (canned goods for instance) this is the time to stock up.

For instance, say the sale item is canned tomatoes and you know that you frequently use two cans a week, and there isn’t a limit on how many you can buy, you might want to buy 3 months worth (8 cans a month times 3 months equals 24 cans). If the tomatoes usually sell for $1.00 a can and you can buy them for 2/1.00 then you have saved $12.00 and you won’t run out of tomatoes for 3 months.

You save in a couple of ways using this method AS LONG AS you don’t let any of your purchases spoil. First, you have the tomatoes on hand whenever you need them so you don’t have to make a special trip to the store to get some. Second, you have paid half of the regular price for the tomatoes. Third, this form of saving is a short-term hedge against inflation. In three months, the price of tomatoes may have increased to $1.05 a can so over the three month period your savings have grown without you having to do anything.

Now, compare the various grocery store ads and decide on which store has the best sales this week on the most expensive items you need to purchase. It is only time and cost effective to go to one or two grocery stores a week so it is important to decide where your will make the greatest savings.

Make a list for each store and note the items with special prices. Be sure to watch when you are checking out and verify that the scanned price is the correct price. Frequently the scanners are incorrect on sale items and often on the regular priced items as well. Some stores will give you the item free if you catch a scanner error but even if they don’t, you receive the benefit of the correct price every time you catch an error.

Always shop from a written list.

But my memory is fine, you say. Well, so is mine – most of the time. However, it isn’t fool-proof and I’m usually the fool that has to go back to the store to get the key ingredient for the main dish that I forgot because I didn’t use a shopping list. The other problem I frequently have when shopping list-less is buying the same item repeatedly. We had to eat our way through 40 pounds of potatoes one month because every time I went to the store I thought I needed potatoes so I bought 10 pounds. It was quite a while before the family wanted potatoes again after that fiasco!!! LOL.


The picture of the pizza notebook is from a Trashion Team member’s shop NatureMadeScents Think Again Notebook
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_18&listing_id=5232344

The Trashion Street Team specializes on creative thinking and making useful items from “trash”. This is just one example.


Next time we will continue with this discussion.

What Can I Do With This? Game

What Can I Do With This?


“A stitch in time saves nine.”

Notice that this pearl of wisdom doesn’t state nine what – stitches, cents, minutes or all of these?

“But I don’t sew,” you say.

No problem. It is very simple to sew on a button or to tack a seam by hand. All it requires is a needle, scissors and thread that matches the garment. In fact, if you secure the buttons before you wear the garment the first time you will probably never have to replace one as they will stay in place. The commercial sewing of buttons leaves a thread hanging and if you pull on that thread your button magically disappears. Once that happens you have to spend more than nine minutes finding another one, more than nine cents to purchase a new one and often more than nine minutes to sew it on if you count the time to get out your supplies, sew and put everything away.

The same principle holds true with many things. If you oil a squeaky hinge when it first starts to squeak, it won’t annoy you as much and it won’t wear out as fast.

Fix a leaky faucet and you save money on the water that drips down the drain and the faucet won’t wear out as fast.

Tighten a loose screw or bolt and it won’t fall out and disappear so you have to purchase a new one or throw the item away because you can’t find one the correct size.

But what if the item does break or wear out? What do you do with it? Throw it away? That is the American way after all – just toss it and go buy a new one. But remember, we are working on not spending extra money but learning how to change our wasteful habits.

The thrifty person looks at it first before tossing it to see if there is any part that can be used for another purpose.

Does it have a handle that will work on that case where the handle broke?

Do the small gears lend themselves to your latest art or craft project?

A plate breaks and after I get through being annoyed I wonder if I can use the pieces as mosaics in the new stepping stones for the patio.

My jeans have too many holes to repair – can I make a purse or an apron or a pot holder out of the useable pieces?

When something at our house breaks I hold it in my hand for a moment and try to imagine a new life for it.

Of course, not everything can be reused but you will find many items that can and save pennies or dollars with a small amount of thought and effort. Remember every penny you save this way you don’t have to pay the government taxes on again so it is really more than a penny saved.

One example of this is, I have a lovely brown stretch top in my shop that had a small spot on the front. Now it looked like new except for this small spot and I couldn’t bear to just toss it. I found a small piece of lace with a flower and leaves in it and cut them out, used some fusible webbing and attached the lace to the top. Then I added some fabric paint and a few amber and topaz colored glass beads. Instead of a spot, now I had a lovely lace bouquet on the front. Since this top was slightly too small as you can see from the picture I listed it on Etsy in hopes it will make someone else’s wardrobe sparkle.

Every item you reuse instead of discarding means that there is one less thing in your trash that you have to pay to have hauled away and one less thing in the landfill.

Reuse, Repurpose, Upcycle, Recycle – make these words a part of your daily life and your piggy bank game will grow rapidly.

I'm in two Etsy groups that focus on reusing and recycling items: EcoEtsy and Trashion. When you visit Etsy, search for trashion or teamecoetsy and you will find a wealth of ideas and products to help you save money and be creative with your own items.

COME PLAY GRANDMA’S ECONOMY GAME

My grandmother and mother both lived through the ‘great depression’ and learned some very hard fiscal lessons. Money was scarce but taxes still had to be paid on land or the family homestead would be forfeited and sold to pay the taxes, jobs were non-existent or paid very little if you could find one, often workers were paid in local script and that ‘money’ didn’t pay the federal tax bills. Hopefully we won’t experience these dire circumstances again but we can all use some of the lessons to increase our financial well-being.

They lived by some of the sayings that we now call clichés and ignore because we’ve heard them so often. In this series I’m going to examine some of these sayings and see if they are still beneficial today.

“A penny saved is a penny earned.”

I know that we’ve all heard this saying so let’s start by analyzing it. In today’s world a penny isn’t even worth picking up – or is it? If we find a penny on the ground and pick it up we’ve gained a little much needed exercise but we’ve also gained a penny that the government isn’t going to tax us for earning. So that penny is automatically worth more than a penny because we haven’t paid income taxes on it or social security (FICA) taxes on it. That probably makes this penny worth at least 1.15 cents or more. Now if we save this penny and put it into our savings account it will start to earn compound interest and be working for us immediately. Just imagine, if we find a lot of pennies, we have increased our wealth by just bending over and picking them up and saving them.

Now if we apply this saying to our spending habits by thinking before we spend our hard earned money, we can increase our wealth by putting the pennies we’ve saved into a savings account and again use the power of compound interest.

About now I can see you jumping up and down and saying, “But I have too much month for my money right now. I can’t save anything because I need every penny for current expenses!”

I won’t question that this is the case but we are on a mission to fix that problem. I hope that some of what I’m writing about will help you accomplish financial freedom from overwhelming bills and money worries.

How do we determine if we are saving money or overspending our income? One of the easiest ways is to write down every purchase for at least a month and then look at where your money is going. Am I spending it on espresso coffee? Cigarettes? Movies? Eating out? Beer? Snack foods? Rent? Gas? Car payments? Or….?

Once I have this information then I can see where my budget is leaking or hemorrhaging money. As a famous TV psychologist is fond of saying, “You can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge”. Information about my spending habits is the first step to fixing the problem. After analyzing my monthly expenses here is the next step.

If you are married and/or have children, it is important to involve the whole family in the debt reduction process. Children need to learn about money matters and how to handle their finances and if you work as a family then everyone has a sense of accomplishment as the piggy bank fills.

NOTE: If you have very small children set aside a small percentage of the savings for a reward the whole family can enjoy so that they see an immediate result of saving.

THE PIGGY BANK GAME

Now you are ready to start playing the Piggy Bank Game. Start playing by picking at least one thing that you are going to reduce or stop buying for at least one month. See how many things you can find that you should or could reduce. If you have an espresso coffee every morning ask yourself if you could make it at home for less money and be just as satisfied. If you smoke, could you cut down one or two cigarettes a day? If you rent movies a lot, could you use the public library and check them out instead. That is free!!!

Once you have determined what you are saving on this month, set up a piggy bank to put your savings into each day. Your piggy bank doesn’t need to be an actual piggy even though that would be fun – use a can with a lid, a jar or whatever you have on hand. You DON’T need to go buy a piggy bank – remember this is about saving money, not spending it!

Paying into the piggy bank is your visible reward for reaching your daily goal. If you drink one less espresso a week, put that amount of money into the piggy bank the day you skipped your espresso. If you smoked two less cigarettes, put the cost of those cigarettes into the piggy bank.

There are three rules to this game:
1. Pay yourself every time you save on what you have determined is your item you are reducing or stopping for the month.
2. Put the money in the piggy bank daily.
3. DO NOT remove any money from the piggy bank until the end of the month.

Once you have done this exercise for a month, count the money in the piggy bank and then take it directly to the bank and put it into your savings account. This is your first step towards economic freedom. Pat yourself on the back and get ready for next month and see if you can save even more.

It is important to continue keeping a spending record of what you are spending each day so you can analyze how you are doing at the end of each month.

Since I like to put a picture into every article and I didn't have a bowl or piggy bank in my shop, I used this beautiful blue felted bowl that is for sale in TanisAlexis shop on Etsy as an illustration of something you could use as a piggy bank. Here is the link to this bowl and other awesome items. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_13&listing_id=10715266 She is a member of my awesome EcoEtsy Street Team.

Watch for my next article and please leave a comment if you have found this helpful or not.

EcoKate has Front Page Treasury

My EcoEtsy team mate, EcoKate has her awesome treasury on the front page. I've captured a screen shot for those who missed it. She is very mathematical inclined if you look at this one. :)

EcoEtsy Treasury on Front Page

Silver of the Valley's treasury just made the front page of Etsy. Here is a screen capture of the treasury for those who missed it.

Here is a link to Silver of the Valley's shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5526983

EcoEtsy Team Member on Front Page

Fisheye of the EcoEtsy Street Team made the Mother's Day Showcase on the front page. Congrats!! Her lovely blue pottery pendant is in the lower left corner of the screen shot.

GOOD JOB!!!

ETSY TREASURIES AND EARTH DAY IS COMING

I've been trying to make it a special project to capture treasuries on Etsy that will feature Earth Friendly items or images of our lovely world as a lead-up to Earth Day. Also, watch the Storque http://www.etsy.com/storque/ for articles on Eco-friendly and Earth Day activities.

My lastest treasury is here and will last until April 15 @ 11:00pm Eastern time:
EcoEtsy and Trashion Together
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=39047

Here is just one picture from this treasury with permission from fisheye:
If I get more treasuries after this one expires, check them out too. The more views the better.

Eco Etsy Street Team Scavenger Hunt

The Eco Etsy Street Team is holding it's first scavenger hunt on Etsy this Sunday, March 16th. You have a chance to win prizes donated by the Eco Etsy members. Join in on the fun! The hunt starts at 12pm EST and ends at 12am EST or until all the prizes are spoken for.
You can visit the team blog at http://ecoetsy.blogspot.com/for more detailed instructions on how to participate.
So come out and celebrate the lucky holiday with us!
*please note
The details of the hunt will not be posted on the blog until tomorrow evening, March 15.

TRASHION ECOETSY AND OUR EARTH TREASURY on Front Page

I was lucky enough to get a treasury the other day titled Trashion EcoEtsy and our Earth - this one was so popular that it rose to number two before it expired. I captured a screen shot (sort-of) so that you could see it for a little longer.

The items are all constructed either of discarded materials or are earth friendly items. It is so awesome that you can buy recycled or upcycled and it looks so awesome. Thanks to all of you who checked this treasury out and for creating such wonderful items.

There is a picture of the front treasury page showing that this treasury was in second place but I can't seem to insert the picture into this post so here is the link to view it. http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ecoetsy/photos/view/d6fc?b=1

Kae

2 Treasuries on Etsy - Check them out

I snagged a regular treasury and a treasury west last night and both feature VAST, Trashion and EcoEtsy items and how well all these concepts fit together. I hope you will look at each item in the treasuries to help them move to the hot list at the front of the treasury list so happy looking.
Here is a link to the main treasury:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=28815
And the link to treasury west.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=1544
Kae of Kae1Crafts and Kae1Supplies

Hanger Christmas Trees

Here are a couple of pictures of Christmas Trees made from wire clothes hangers. They are difficult to photograph because they are so shiney. The first view is the tree standing on a glass table and the second image is of the inside showing the crossed hangers. I've used 6 hangers that are interlocked with all of the hooks pointing downward. They are taped together like a star and then a craft wire is fastened around the bottom to make it secure. Once the hangers are secured, I then take garland and wrap it around the tree shaped hangers fastening at each hanger edge with hot glue. Once all the garland is attached, you can add a string of mini-lights if you wish. I don't because these trees are perfect for nursing homes and other places where you don't have a plug-in or lights can't be used. I then add decorations (again using hot glue to keep them in place). To store, I cover with a cloth and put in a dry place until next year. The colors and decoration choices are almost unlimited. Go Trashion and impress all your friends and family.

Eco Etsy Holiday Sale Launched

"Welcome to the Eco Etsy Holiday Sale. Take 20% off select items. When you purchase an item on sale, you will be entered into a drawing to receive a free gift donated by our members. See our blog at http://ecoetsy.blogspot.com for more details. Happy shopping!"

Both of my shops are participating - just click on the sale category in each shop and you will find the items on sale and already reduced 20% for ease of calculating final price with shipping. I will combine items from both shops whenever possible to save you shipping. Just convo me or email me and I will send you a corrected invoice.

Happy shopping - remember - Buy Handmade for the Holidays.

Blog Action Day

I just learned from another Etsy Trashion Team Member that today is Blog Action Day and wanted to participate. The focus of recycling is so VERY important to all of us that I like to make my voice heard even a little bit.

I think I was born into a recycling family - in that they never threw anything away!!! :) Now, sometimes this can become a problem but often great uses were found for the saved objects. Used yogurt cartons became freezer containers for leftovers, jams, jellies and more. Flour sacks were transformed into beautiful clothing. Living on the farm meant that compost piles nourished the garden, manure piles - ditto.

Now I live in the city in an RV so my footprint is small but I still recycle what I can, I shop for clothing as thrift stores and yard sales, I recycle packaging materials when shipping items sold in my Etsy stores Kae1Crafts.etsy.com and Kae1Supplies.etsy.com as well as my Amazon and Ebay accounts. When I ship books, I make my own boxes out of discarded cardboard.

Many of the items in my Etsy stores are recycled, upcycled or used.

Fall Events and Happenings

Lots of great things have been occurring lately on some of the street teams that I'm involved with plus a surprise notice from the cross stitch editor of http://craftgossip.com/ stating that she will be mentioning my Kae1Supplies.etsy.com store in the blog.

Etsy Trashion has been very busy with their Trunk Show (a great success) and now a posting on Etsy's new Storque
http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/events/article/trunk-full-o-trashion/124/

that shows some of the Trunk Show action and participants.

VAST Street Team is getting set to launch our VAST Autumn Event on September 15th so we are all busy creating great items for this. You can use vastautumnevent as a search on Etsy to find the items that are linked to autumn and this event.

On a more personal front, I've been busy creating clothing for my Craft store and adding a lot of new craft books and magazines to my Kae1Supplies store so do check them out and remember that I will combine shipping for items purchased in both shops to save you money.

I've also joined ecoetsy street team but haven't had much time to really get acquainted with it. One of their focuses is to reuse as much packaging materials as we can so that items don't get put in the dump -- well many of my items I use in shipping are 'reclaimed, reconstructed and repurposed' to say the least. Here is a short list of how I reuse packaging materials:

1. I use old plastic bags to make padding for shipping using foam peanuts that I've been given and then seal the bags to that the peanuts aren't floating away while packaging.
2. I use old boxes to make 'new' shipping boxes the correct size for what I'm shipping.
3. Egg cartons make good packaging around lighter weight items and protect them.
4. Cereal cartons make a good protective backing for lighter weight books and magazines.
5. Carefully open any item you receive so you can reuse the envelope, bubble wrap, peanuts, etc.
6. Tell friends and neighbors that you accept all used bubble wrap, peanuts, and any other packaging materials you use so you don't have to buy new.
7. Protective plastic wrap from boxes (the soft kind of plastic wrap) is great for filling small corners when packaging.
8. Soft foam can be sliced with a serrated knife and made to fit whatever packaging shape you need. I found a cheap knife at a thrift store and use it just for that purpose.

These are just some of the things I've done for reusing packaging. I'm sure others have many great tips and I hope you will share them.

Happy autumn, selling, packaging and successful shipping.

Kae