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.

How I stopped coughing!

I've been battling bronchitis for about 2 months and a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine asked if I had ever rubbed eucalyptus oil on the ball of my foot to stop coughing? I'm sure I looked at her as if she were loosing it but I was desperate enough to try anything so I said no and where do you get this oil. Long story short, she had some and gave it to me to try. I was coughing most of the night and not sleeping so I had very little to lose except maybe to have oil on my sheets and smell like a medicine bottle so I put a couple of drops on my finger and rubbed into the ball of each foot and then waited to see what would happen. Now up to this point I had been coughing constantly when up or down, so I went bed and tried to go to sleep - just certain that I would start to cough the minute my head hit my pillow. Boy was I wrong! Instead of coughing, I went to sleep and slept through the night without coughing. Next morning I started coughing again so I rubbed some eucalyptus oil on the ball of my foot and magically the cough went away.


So far, both my husband and I have used this treatment with great success and the oil absorbs into your skin very rapidly so it doesn't stain the sheets or leave a lingering odor after a couple of minutes. My friend said she got the oil at the local health food store.


Now I always like to put a picture into my posts and the only thing I could think of that was connected to eucalyptus was that Koala Bears eat eucalyptus leaves so I decided to link to this ecoetsy team member's shop and her pins that feature Koala Bears. Swirlyarts has these really cute button pins http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_1&listing_id=15541764


I hope you will visit her store and purchase a pin to remind you to use the handy eucalyptus oil the next time you are pestered by a cough - and may that be a long time before you need to test out this tip.

Added a Follow This Blog Link

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to Lyndel of BearHollowCreations wonderful instructions I was able to add a follow this blog button on the right hand side of this blog and hope that you will do so. If you follow my blog, I'll link to yours.

Fall has officially arrived and with it many activies on my various street teams. The Trashion Street Team has a couple of biggies planned. Watch this space for updates on the Trashion Monster Mash, a Virtual Trunk Show and Save the World Sale.

The VAST (Visual Artists Street Team) has a fall colors challenge so many new items will be posted and I'm sure a lot of lovely treasuries will feature these items.

My OCEAN (Oregon Coast Etsy Artists Network) just finished a local art festival very successfully and now are working on various local events and a rack card to promote our items.

EcoEtsy rocks as a street team and many treasuries are created weekly as well as updates to our web page and the Etsy Mini photos that display our work.

Last but not least, Acetsy and Aceo Bounty Challenge keep creating wonderful ACEO's for all of us to collect and give as gifts.

If you haven't already done so, attend one of the Virtual Trunk Shows in the Etsy Virtual Labs. They are a lot of fun and you get to see wonderful items and learn more about the artists who create these items.

Etsian Injured in Plane Crash

I just came across this article in the Storque and wanted to help spread the word. A lovely young couple were critically injured in a plane crash in Arizona and the Etsy Community is rallying around with prayers, funds and blogging.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/craftivism/article/etsian-and-blogger-critically-injured-in-plane-crash-nienie-/2562/

Stephanie Nielson was an active blogger nieniedialogues.blogspot.com and her sister is keeping up with some of the blogging on her own blog with updates on Stephanie and Christian's condition http://blog.cjanerun.com/

This is written with my prayers for a speedy recovery so you may both be with your 4 small children soon.

SALE Section added to my Etsy Store

I've just added a SALE section to my Etsy store. Click on any of the pictures above and they will take you directly to my store. This week I'm featuring great buys on three items of reconstructed clothing. I hope you will check it out.

Just added some pics

Since the Sale is over, I've changed the picture display to show items in my own shop. Thanks for viewing and for your visits to the shops participating in the sale and for your purchases.

Kae

My VAST street team is having a Labor Day Weekend Sale and so I've added some visuals of the wonderful artwork that is specially priced this weekend. Just click on the picture you like and it will take you directly to the artist's store on Etsy. Happy shopping.

VAST Labor Day Weekend Sale Treasuries

The VAST Labor Day Weekend Sale is in full swing with lots of wonderful art and some of it is showcased in these treasuries. I hope you will check them out and give them some clicks as well as visiting the various stores featured and pick up some wonderful art at affordable prices.

VAST LaborDay Sale!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=4449

More VAST LaborDay SALE!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=4619

VAST Visions
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=4646

VAST Labor Day Weekend Sales Event

The Visual Artists Street Team had such a successful Christmas in July event that we have decided to hold a Labor Day Weekend Sale. At this moment there are 16 shops participating with a variety of discounts available from 25% off everything in my stores to buy two prints and get the third free and a variety of other discounts and programs. I hope you will all take a moment and check it out. This handcrafted carousel book is one of the items in the Kae1Crafts store that will be discounted 25%.

Here is the link to the forum thread with all the latest on the VAST Labor Day Weekend Sale.
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5780437

And here is the latest list of participating stores:

Here's a list of the VAST shops that are participating in our LABOR DAY SALE:
http://www.hwinfield.etsy.com/
http://www.coquinaarts.etsy.com/
http://www.hammelmanart.etsy.com/
http://www.norablansett.etsy.com/
http://www.jeanhood.etsy.com/
http://www.kauaiartist.etsy.com/
http://www.studiovirgo.etsy.com/
http://www.jamieribisi.etsy.com/
http://www.glasscatjewels.etsy.com/
http://www.kae1crafts.etsy.com/
http://www.dianeclancy.etsy.com/
http://www.susanelkin.etsy.com/
http://www.lilypang.etsy.com/
http://www.heronkate.etsy.com/
http://www.scharart.etsy.com/
http://www.siiso.etsy.com/

Whew! That's SIXTEEN Wonderful Art Shops that are participating! Awesome!

and if you count my http://www.kae1supplies.etsy.com/ then there are 17 great places to save a lot of money.

Happy shopping.

Monster Mash Materials Arrived

The Trashion Street Team is holding a Monster Mash and I'm taking part. We have been assigned trading partners and mailed our Monster Materials. Mine arrived yesterday and now I need to see what Monsters emerge from the wonderful box of goodies that NatureMadeScents mailed to me. As you can see from the picture - there are many monsters lurking in that pile of goodies.

We are each to create 2 monsters - one goes into our personal Etsy store and in my case it will be sold in the Kae1Crafts store. The second monster will be sold in the HOST store to benefit Etsians in need. Any further monsters we create from the materials can be sold or given as gifts.

Watch my blog for updates on this Monster Mash with pictures to follow.

VAST Christmas in July SALE

Here is your chance to put a beautiful piece of original art under your Christmas Tree this year and do it at a great price. The Visual Artists Street Team has some awesome works and they are being offered at great prices. Don't miss out on this sale.

Etsy stores participating in the VAST Christmas in July Sale so far are:
JeanHood
treeartist
artbylmr
TheCreatorsPalette
kauaiartist
dianeclancy
Kae1Crafts

For a preview of the great listings check the VAST Gallery Blog.

http://vastgallery.blogspot.com/

Check this thread for updates

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5706334

And I will blog as I have time.

Quiltyasin an O.C.E.A.N. Team mate on Front Page

Hi,

I've been absent for a while dealing with personal stuff but wanted to show off the Front Page debut of Quiltyasin. Congratulations. Your miniature art quilt is lovely.

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. :)

Kitty 107 on Front Page of Etsy

Congratulations to Kitty 107 on her kitties making the front page. Here is the screen shot and she has the place of honor as the lead photo.

Living With The Angels Treasury

This treasury was created featuring many of my Mother's favorite things. She loved lilacs, kittens, and dogs. She made awesome jams and jellies and her cookies filled the kitchen with wonderful aromas and a hungry tummy with goodness. Sheep, sheep dogs and farm life suited her as did her love of the outdoors, the ocean and water.

A tribute to her had to include a hand sewn item and the apron was very appropriate - as she made her own aprons and then wore them daily.

Thanks to the kindness of Diane Clancy for capturing this screen shot since my photo program was being difficult and I didn't have the time to make it work.

Treasuries - much like life - come and go but now we can view this one as we wish.

Also, thanks to all who have emailed me, made comments on the treasury and convo'd me with hugs, prayers and love. We all appreciate it as I've been sharing the comments with my family.

Hugs back to all of you, my wonderful Etsy friends.

Kae

Mom is with the Angels

In loving memory of Genevieve Elliott

Everyone eventually comes to this day - the day that their Mother dies. Suddenly you are the older generation. So much of what I am today is due to her teachings, her passions, her love.

My Mom was an awesome cook who baked, canned and provided wonderful meals for her family. Her buttermilk biscuits were light and fluffy, her oatmeal cookies delighted the taste buds, her jams and jellies won many first prize ribbons at the county fair. But she didn't just cook, she also sewed. I remember when I dreamed of having a reversible pleated skirt and we didn't have the money to purchase a 'store bought' one. My Mom helped me find the material that was suitable and then used her treadle sewing machine and painstakingly matched and sewed the skirt. Suddenly I was the proudest girl in high school with my new reversible skirt.

Mom's talents didn't end with the cooking and sewing. She also loved animals and her life on the farm in Southwestern Oregon. She was a master at taming wild kittens when their mom would bring them out to join in the communal feeding in the barn. An injured animal seemed to trust Mom instinctively and allow her to tend to the injury. I once watched her remove a mole trap from my dog's paw. The dog stayed very still - it just whined a little even though it was trapped and in pain - while Mom gently removed the trap. Most people would have been afraid to try, but not Mom.

Lilacs, roses, gladoli and fushias were featured in her garden and yard. Reuse, recycle, upcycle and frugal living were a way of life - at times from necessity but often because it just made sense to this country woman.

A neighbor needs help, Mom was there with a friendly word and always food to comfort and sustain them. Someone was injured, Mom was there with the calmness of spirit and willing hands to take charge and make it better.

Mom has been involved with raising foxes, dairy cows, sheep, cattle, chickens, goats, dogs, cats and kids - and loved them all.

Then came the day that she could no longer manage the farm and we couldn't either so it was sold and she lived in town. One day she fell and broke her hip and with the same patience and determination she had always shown, she walked again, decided to stay in the assisted living facility so her kids wouldn't worry and "because it was just so comfortable, I stayed."

I don't remember a day that I didn't see her with a book to read. Even when her mind began to fail, she would have a book on her lap and proudly state that "I am a reader."

In her memory, I created a treasury of some of the things that I knew that she liked. I hope you will view it and learn a little more about my Mother.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=10183

In getting to know her, you get to know me just a little as I find myself doing many of the things that she used to do. I love to cook, sew and read. I find myself reusing, repurposing and recycling many things which has led me to join EcoEtsy and Trashion street teams on Etsy.com.

Mom, thanks for all you have given me. Have a wonderful time playing with the angels.

Love,

Kae

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!!!

Storque Article Uses my Item Picture

WOW!! I was reading this very interesting article in the Etsy Storque and when I got to the bottom and was looking at the pictures they had selected to go with the article - there was one of my items!!!! {See Kae doing the happy dance} Here is the article link and it is well worth the read. http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/craftivism/article/upcycling-for-greener-living/10/

A big thanks to the author TeenAngster for using my picture.