Yes, I know these are not real words.
Doing a lot of browsing these days, finding other families that are living a bit off the map and less conventionally. Some may call it counter-culturally. I’m trying to find where we fit in and define what we want. Because it isn’t just about having less stuff.
My sister passed on the link to TheFrugalGirl.com. Good read about home management, tips on buying in bulk, meal planning and savings. Her four children are all well dressed and wear a mix of new and thrift store items. I like what she is advocating, living on less and within your means, but I am not sure that her system is my style.
I want less in my cupboards. I don’t want a 10 kilo sack of oats in my storage closet. I don’t want to have an excel spreadsheet detailing best by dates in my pantry. We also just don’t have the room for this type of system.
Having less in the cupboards is a sign of personal growth for me. When I went away to university I found great joy in grocery shopping. I found greater joy in opening my cupboard in the kitchen of the house I shared with friends and seeing all of my food lined up. There were times in my childhood where you would have to bake something or cook a pot of rice to find something to eat. Full cupboards equaled wealth.
The last 15 years have given me perspective and distance on those times. I now find it better for my waistline and sanity to just have what we need for a few days or the week on hand. I shop at Costco but only for things that take up very little space or can be used/consumed within the month. I’m working through the back log of foods that are rarely used. There will be a lot of Thai flavoured dinners this month.
I still want to meal plan and shop at the cheaper grocery stores. The Suburban Minimalist is trying to cut her grocery budget down this month. I am taking notes. Is there a way to cut costs and not buy in bulk? Could I save with less food waste and a few vegetarian meals? R.S. also wrote the other day about buying locally and that visiting a local producer is a pleasant experience. We have great farmer’s markets here but they are expensive.
While I am not averse to shopping at Goodwill for clothes, I am averse to visiting it once a week for the good finds. The high of a good find is not worth shopping for clothes once a week. I’ve never been good at malls and find that after an hour I get mall apathy – I just want to lay down on a bench and go to sleep. I am researching getting wardrobe help from a professional. A friend used a reasonably priced stylist that she said saved her a lot of time and money. For a small fee the stylist assessed the client’s wardrobe needs, took her measurements, did a pre-shop putting aside her finds at a few stores and then they went for a two hour shop together. The feedback was that it was fast, easy and the client now has a wardrobe of clothing she will wear and that works together. I’ve made enough bad purchases to know that what I invested in the service I would get back in clothing I actually wear.
So I think my mantra is more about shopping less than deal finding. Not stepping into the store in the first place vs. shopping the loss leaders at all five grocery stores. I’d rather sleep than line up overnight for the Boxing Day deals. I want to spend less of my life in stores.
Are you a minimalist or frugalist or both? Or none?
Honestly, I think it takes a proper mix of both. For me, it’s all about investments. If I find a good outfit, I will keep it forever. Currently, I am in the process of losing 80 lbs so buying expensive clothing is just not wise. That being said, I am a white collar professional and I cannot look like crap at work. Thus, I’ve invested in items that are timeless, neutral and aesthetically expensive. Being strictly frugal can ( often does) lead to clutter, and minimalism can be expensive. So I’ve tried to adapt to both in my life. I think I might start a blog and write about it? I dunno. At any rate, thanks for the inspiring post!
It depends on the veg. meals you have in mind. The price of the protein can vary greatly (beans, homemade tofu, homemade seitan = $-saver, store-bought tofu ~ ground meat in sauce, store-bought seitan ~ nice cut of meat). Going veg. definitely allowed me to increase spending in other parts of the food budget especially because we are bean-heavy for protein.
I have decided that saving on groceries is not a priority and think that actually saves us. I finally settle on buying what we actually use in the quantities we use them. I know this is a bit of a luxury, a lot of people HAVE to count every penny when it comes to food shopping but:
(1) I buy GOOD food so what I cook is good. I do buy local and organic/sustainable as much as possible and some of it is more expensive but some isn’t and the $ I spent makes me very aware of the wilting lettuce in the crisper — less eating out, $$ saved.
(2) We get our produce and some other staples from a CSA and the rest at a co-op grocery store. They aren’t the lowest prices but I am not tempted by the super-duper deal on the bag’o’batteries I don’t really need and my children are not begging for the Disney themed cups we definitely don’t need. Spontaneous purchases are (good) food not junk (food or stuff).
As far as saving on kids clothing, I LOVE the kids clothing resale shops. They tend to be well enough stocked (with higher end brands) and everything is seasonally appropriate–I don’t have to hit them more them more than once or twice to get my daughter dressed for the season. We had a funeral to go to and I went to a few stores and didn’t find anything appropriate for her to wear. I went to the resale shop and found a very nice dress, tights, and dress shoes for $11US.
Thanks for your comments. I’m still tweaking our grocery plans. In the new year I am going to try home delivery from a company that sells mostly local and organic. I’m enjoying having a lot less in our cupboards and would like to experiment with just having a weeks worth of groceries at a time.
Kids resale shops: good to hear a positive review. There is one that I want to check out in the next few months. Just waiting until Henry really needs something.
I am with you on this one. Just shopping less has cut back on my wants and “needs” drastically.
No temptation, no urge.. I didn’t even know I needed it. 🙂
We often forget about temptation removal in relation to will power. Reason number one that I don’t have cookies and ice cream at my home – I’ll eat them often. If I have to actually leave my condo for a treat it makes me think if I really need or want it.
I tried the frugal route and had no success. I was constantly organizing coupons and ads. I was running from store to store and checking bargain websites using up all of my ‘free’ time. I was always anxious thinking about getting this weeks deals before next weeks deals were released. And worst of all, I could not shake the the feeling that I had missed out on the deal of a lifetime if I had NOT taken advantage of a sale or coupon. Grrrrrrrr. I was spending more money than ever ‘stockpiling’, and I now have about a year’s supply of toothpaste. It’s not even the toothpaste I prefer. It works for some people, but not for me.
I understand completely. I’d rather just buy less, use what I do have and spend less time in stores. I think you can still be a smart shopper without obsessing over it. We also don’t eat a lot of packaged foods which is where you tend to save with coupons.
Too bad about the toothpaste.
Well I had an inkling that we were of like mind – but am now pretty convinced. I meal plan – my meal plan being posted today – but it won’t be the cheapest produce, it will be a well thought out menu so that we can eat good food (ie free range chicken eggs etc…) whilst having no waste at the end of the week. This week (I am taking part in Food Waste Friday over at The Frugal Girl – I love her blog she has amazing recipes and some great tips) I have 6 celery hearts that are being disposed off! Not bad eh? Everything else that could have been wasted has gone in the slow cooker for a fab veg curry tonight with home made chapatis. I feed my family of four from a fridge that is the size of a small cupboard by International standards – I get a huge sense of satisfaction when on the last morning before delivery my hubby pours out the very last glass of orange juice and there’s not a drop left – he may look slightly concerned but it’s all perfectly timed! My worry with frugality has always been does it equate to less stuff (less waste?)- I’m not sure. As a self-employed charity consultant I charge for my services by the hour – so I can never get that out of my mind if I have to walk round a grocery store – shopping online takes 25% of the time and I may pay a delivery charge but I’m not paying for fuel and I can spend the time with my kids. Sorry for long comment but I really feel passionate about this subject particularly food purchasing, cooking and waste x off to finish my meal plan!
I like the idea of grocery delivery. If I were going back to work I would look into it. Shopping with baby in tow takes a lot of time.
Sounds like you have a good meal planning system. There is something very satisfying about getting exactly the right amount of food for a set time and having it all used up. I need to spend a bit more time on this as we are constantly running out of a few staples during the week – it’s always the reason I have to do a second shop.