Online Grocery Shopping: 7 ways it will help you save money

Do you prefer online grocery shopping or walking into the supermarket? I’m going to share 7 ways it will help you save money and I why I prefer it.

If only I had online grocery shopping when my children were very young. It would’ve been so much more convenient. No having to time shops in between feeds or naps. No lugging bags of groceries into the house while you’re trying to wrestle children. And then the packing away after an already hectic time.

Once online grocery shopping was introduced here in Australia, I was a convert. I tried the home delivery a couple of times but I couldn’t justify the extra cost and my supermarkets are literally around the corner. I can be there and back within 15 minutes using the click’n’collect service for no extra charge.

But will online grocery shopping save you money? Here are my 7 ways.

A running total of your order

What’s your grocery budget? Adding items to your grocery cart online you will instantly see a running total of your order and if you’re going to stick to your budget.

If you’re likely to go over, you have the opportunity to take out items you probably don’t need or it can wait until the next time you shop.

I bought bath soap today knowing I have one cake of soap left but I’m not likely to run out soap between now and my next shop. If I was going to go over budget, I could’ve easily taken this item off.

You stick to your list

Do you keep track of what you need each week? I keep a well stocked pantry and know when I need something. As soon as I run out, or am likely to run out very soon, I add the item to my magnetic whiteboard on the fridge.

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This helps with knowing what I’ll need for the week ahead for breakfasts, school lunches and evening meals. Also if I’ve run out of toiletries or other household items like laundry powder or dishwashing liquid, for example.

No impulse buys

Supermarkets are masters at putting impulse buys right before our eyes. At the end of each aisle, at eye height, at the checkouts and that markdown rack are all places supermarkets like to tempt us to buy extra.

I’m all for a good markdown but if it’s not on your list and you don’t need it, buying your groceries online will help you fall into their sticky traps.

Also, don’t fall for the online tricks either. They’ll suggest items you may have bought last time but not buying this time and the half price or online only specials are also there to tempt you.

Buy all means, check out the online specials to see if your favourites or items you’d like to try are there but only if they’re on your list.

Higher priced substitutions

I’ve never met a substitution I’ve never liked. The great thing about buying online is that the supermarket wants to keep you coming back and offers substitutions on the products you place in your order.

That is, if the item you ordered isn’t available at the time the order is filled, the order picker will pick as close as possible to your item but the same priced item or better.

I’ve received big named branded goods that I normally don’t buy (because of the price) because they can’t supply the item I ordered.

If anything, it gives you an opportunity to try a different brand to check for quality. Maybe that homebrand item you always buy isn’t so bad after all.

Costly convenience

It’s not only the dollar value of the order the cost of your time. We all know how busy we are lately, right? It’s not only the time you’re in the supermarket but the driving there, fighting for a car park, wrangling children (if you have them and avoiding the treats or bribes which all cost extra) the time to pack it all into the car and lug it into your house.

Depending if you get home delivery or click’n’collect, the cost of your time, fuel etc could be saved plus your peace of mind.

No other spending

Most supermarkets are within a bigger complex be it a shopping mall or smaller suburban shopping centre.

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There’s everything from coffee shops, bakeries, dollar stores and other stores that cater to everyone’s tastes.

When you grocery shop online you don’t have that temptation to purchase things you probably don’t need. Put that money towards a holiday, day out with the family or a special buy at the supermarket like fresh seafood or a big piece of roasting meat (which are all so expensive today).

24 hours per day

I thought I’d throw this one in as it costs me my sanity. There was a time when I religiously did the grocery shopping, in store, every Monday morning after school drop off. I guess it was my me time plus getting a good head start on the week ahead with a full pantry, fridge and freezer.

Now the children are grown up and I’ve been grocery shopping fortnightly for ages, I can shop at any time of the day.

When I went to bed last night at 11pm I had forgotten to place my online order. I quickly jumped online this morning at 6am and the order will be ready for pick up at 3pm this afternoon. It fits in well with whatever else I have going on for the day.

Conclusion

Whether you pay the extra for home delivery or use the supermarket’s click’n’collect service, online grocery shopping will definitely save you money in the long run.

It will help you get everything on your list, stick to your budget, have the convenience of someone else to pick your order saving you time and it will save your sanity being able to shop online any time of the day or week.

Do you love it as much as me?

PIN IT FOR LATER

How to save money buying snacks for your family

Buying pre-packaged snacks can add a lot to your grocery bill, especially if you’ve got children (or teens in my case). They seem to have ‘hollow legs’ and no amount of snacks or meals will fill them up. You also don’t want to be baking every day. Not everyone has the time. Here are a few ideas of how to save money buying snacks for your family.

Popcorn

Popcorn is so cheap to buy and easy to make. (The kids can make it in the microwave in a brown paper bag, as long as they are careful getting it out.) A little bit goes a long way.

In fact, I buy it in a 1kg bag for less than $5 and I reckon it lasts 12 months. With some basic pantry ingredients, you can make sweet or savoury versions of different popcorn flavours.

For kids who are used to eating packaged chips etc, it might be a hard habit to get into but it’s worth breaking up the chip snacks with the occasional popcorn in their lunch boxes or for an after school snack.

Potato Chips & Cheesy Snacks

If you absolutely, positively have to buy potato chips (or similar) snack items for lunch boxes or snacks, buy the larger packets and put into smaller bags. (You can reuse ziplock bags. Just give them a rinse out or use a container or paper bag to put them in.)

Using the Coles homebrand as an example, check out these cost comparisons:

Cheezels

1 x 110g box Cheezels @ $2.40 / 10 bags ($2.18/100gm) = $0.24 cents per bag
1 x 170g bag Coles Cheese Tubes @ $1.50 / 10 bags ($0.88/100gm) = $0.15 cents per bag

Difference of $0.90 per bag
Buying homebrand once per week = Savings of $46.80 per year

Potato Chips

1 x 380g 20 pack brand name box of chip packets @ $5.50 / 20 bags ($1.45/100gm) = $0.28 cents per bag
1 x 175g packet Coles homebrand chips (plain, salt & vinegar, chicken flavours) @ $1.60 / 10 bags ($0.91/100gm) = $0.16 cents per bag

Difference of $2.20 per 20 bags of chips
Buying 2 x homebrand packets per week = Savings of $119.60 per year

As you can see, nearly double the price if you buy the individual packets. Try to bag them up as soon as you get home and HIDE them!

You can apply this principle to any packaged snacks like pretzels, corn chips etc. Always go the larger bag of homebrand snacks from the supermarket and bag them up yourself.

Nuts

Nuts are a great snack for older children (and obviously who don’t have allergies) because they contain a lot of protein which keeps them fuller for longer.

Nuts can be expensive though but if you put a couple nuts into a trail mix of popcorn, pretzels, dried fruit like sultanas and even a few choc chips in the mix, they make a tasty snack and a lot will go along way. Think almonds, walnuts, pecans or even peanuts.

Dried Fruit

Dried fruit chopped up and mixed into a trail mix, as above, or on their own make a good healthy snack alternative especially when you run out of fresh fruit. It also mixes up your baked goods. Dried apricots, dates, sultanas or any dried fruit for that matter, are great in cookies, cakes, slices or bliss balls.

Bliss Balls

I don’t know where Bliss Balls were when I was growing up but I wish they were around. I love them myself for a mid morning, healthier snack and they really don’t take anytime to make at all.

Nut Free Cacao & Coconut Bliss Balls

You don’t need fancy ingredients. Usually a base of oats, any nut butter, a sticky sweetener like sugar-free maple syrup or honey and then add blitzed dried fruit like apricots or dates, add blitzed nuts and/or coconut and roll into balls using a small ice cream scoop and keep in the fridge.

One or two in your child’s lunch box and then a few on an afternoon tea platter of fresh fruit, cookies, popcorn and/or any baked goods should keep them full until dinner time.

You don’t even have to make them into balls. Roll it into a log shape, pop in the fridge to firm up and cut into slices like I did for these Apricot & Coconut Bites.

High Protein Snacks

Snacks with a high protein will always fill your hungry family members bellies.

Things like boiled eggs, slices of deli style meats, cheese cubes or slices etc will always go down a treat in a lunch box or on an afternoon tea platter for your children.

Throw on some pickled onions, gherkins or olives too if they’re to your children’s tastes along with some crackers or homemade pita bread chips. These can be made from Lebanese bread or even tortilla which have been sprayed with a little oil, sprinkled with your favourite seasons and baked in the oven until crisp.

Sweet or Savoury Scrolls

If you don’t have a lot of time for baking, these pastry scrolls are great to pop into the oven while the oven is on (like when you’re cooking dinner.)

One sheet of puff pastry will make up about 18 small scrolls (if you cut them into 1cm slices).

Just spread with your favourite spread like Vegemite or lay ham or salami slices on the pastry, a sprinkle of grated cheese, roll up and bake for about 20 minutes in a 200 deg C oven. I’ve even made them by spreading butter on the puff pastry sheet, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and they taste like doughnuts.

They can be frozen and taken out as needed or eat straight away.

You can also do these with a basic scone dough or my 2 ingredient Greek yoghurt pizza dough for more substantial scrolls. Add anything you like to the dough itself like fresh or dried herbs, grated cheese of any kind and fill with meats for a savoury version or spread with Nutella and/or fresh fruit for a sweet version.

Baked Goods

I love baking but I don’t want to be in the kitchen all day baking either, especially when my kids devour it as soon as I pull it out of the oven. I want a lot baked in a short amount of time with as few ingredients as possible.

My Bulk Cookie mix using only 5 ingredients will allow you to create a few different flavoured cookies at once and makes a nice, crunchy cookie.

Double or triple a basic muffin batter and make 3 different flavoured muffins at once.

You can check out my Best of Lunch Box Baking with Pantry Staples recipes here.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

You can’t beat it for healthy snack option but sometimes they can be expensive. Only buy what’s in season.

You can also save some money by buying frozen or canned fruit. It will last longer and having a couple cans of tinned fruit in the pantry to use when all the fresh has been used up is a handy standby.

I like to dispense a can of tinned fruit into small containers and mix up a jelly and add that to the fruit for fruit and jelly cups.

Carrots, celery, capsicum, baby corn, radishes etc etc all make great dippers for a homemade dip like hummus or another homemade dip made with cream cheese.

To make a simple dip, buy the homebrand spreadable cream cheese or use sour cream and mix in chutneys, relishes, soup mix packets or use a salsa for dipping.

Don’t forget sweet dips too for fruit. Greek yoghurt flavoured with a little vanilla and unsweetened maple syrup is great for strawberries, other berries, apple and pear slices, bananas etc.

I also like to buy the occasional bag of marshmallows for hot chocolates, for baking or to make fruit kebabs where I thread chopped fruit and a marshmallow on a skewer for an afternoon snack.

Don’t forget about making a fruit smoothie for an afternoon snack and even freeze them into icy poles. You can grab the icy pole molds here.

There are so many different ideas for snacks. Your best inspiration is from the supermarket itself. If the supermarket sells it you can bet that there’s a recipe online for it. Don’t go out of your way to buy special ingredients but search for an easy recipe version of it.

If your children are used to those pre-packaged snacks, it’s time to make a change. Not only will it be healthier for them, you’ll save a ton of money. My kids have gotten used to my home baking and realising that not everything comes out of a packet from the supermarket.

How to save money on breakfast cereals & still eat healthy

Can you believe the cereal aisle at the supermarket? Aren’t we spoilt for choice? So many cereals, so little time. You’d spend nearly an entire day there if you had to read through every nutritional panel on every box of cereal let alone work out what the best price was on each box. If you’re wanting to still eat a good healthy breakfast, this is how to save money on breakfast cereals and still eat healthy.

What do we eat for breakfast

According to statistics, the United Kingdom is the highest consumer of ready to eat breakfast cereals, followed by Canada, Australia, the United States then Mexico.

You might be surprised at what people from other countries eat for breakfast. Protein rich ingredients like eggs, meats, cheese feature in some countries while a simple croissant and coffee is the standard fare for the French.

Here in Australia we enjoy a range of breakfast options including ready made cereals, pancakes, hot cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages etc or a simple piece of buttered toast smothered with Vegemite.

Super foods and juices are becoming all the norm these days which suits the busy person on the go and can be blitzed and drank while making your way to work.

Save money on breakfast cereals

I can remember as a child Mum would buy a variety of breakfast cereals based on what we wanted and we’d get tired of them easily then we’d get in trouble for not eating them. Luckily she knew how to use them up in baking.

But there are ways you can save money on buying the different cereals while still enjoying a variety. Here’s how.

Oats

If you buy the homebrand packet of oats (currently around $1.00 per kilo here in Australia), you can eat such a wide variety of breakfast dishes plus the come in so handy for other meals PLUS oats are a great beauty and health treatment for so many ailments.

They can be eaten as porridge by mixing with hot water, boiling on the stove or cooked in the microwave. Add your toppings like fresh fruit, stewed fruit, nuts, other grains and seeds, yoghurt or just a drizzle of honey.

They can be made into overnight oatswhere you mix the uncooked oats with milk or a combination of milk and yoghurt and put into the fridge the night before and you’ve got a thick cool breakfast treat ready to go. You can layer with more yoghurt, fruit, nuts, seeds etc as above. The choices are endless.

You can make your own toasted or untoasted muesli mixing whatever nuts, seeds or dried fruit in or make granola. Bake oats into breakfast bars, muesli bars, breakfast cups and a wide variety of different baked goods that are great for breakfast or healthy snacks.

They truly are a delicious, cheap and versatile ingredient and I always keep them in my pantry.

Corn flakes

Home brand cornflakes are another ingredient that is not only cheaper to buy than the brand names but it’s also versatile in so many other dishes.

If it’s the frosty flakes you like, just add sugar to plain corn flakes. Honey and nuts? Add honey and nuts of your choice. You can always top with fresh fruit and just about anything else you like.

Corn flakes are one of those standard pantry items I love to keep for baking like in myCrunchy Corn Flake White Chocolate Chip Cookies. There’s also a childhood favourite with Honey Joys. They make the perfect crumb coating for fish or chicken too.

Rice Krispies/Bubbles

This puffed rice treat is pretty flavourless on it’s own but wow! Doesn’t it have a variety of uses besides being a delicious breakfast cereal that the kids love.

Add sugar, fresh fruit, flavoured milk (like chocolate flavour) or anything else you like.

You can’t go past rice krispies for a favourite no bake sweet treat. LCM Bars are a standard lunch box treat for school lunches here in Australia. There millions of recipes using rice krispies and I’ve used them many times to make treats for my children.

Whichever is your favourite breakfast, always look at the homebrand version in it’sunflavoured version. Add your own flavours and toppings. Look at using the cereal for other meals and dishes. Let’s not forget about how valuable oats are for your beauty regime. I can’t image making a corn flake mask or scrub but you never know!

How to get everyone to save time & water in the shower with this 1 thing

Awwww, I remember those early days of bathing my children. They were so cute. Then they became toddlers and either didn’t want to get in or didn’t want to get out of the bath. I longed for the days when they could shower themselves and now, at ages 13 and 11, I can’t get them out of the shower. But I learnt how to get everyone to save time and water in the shower with this 1 thing.

You know the feeling. You’re getting dinner ready, the shower goes on and your teen hops into the shower. Waiting, waiting, waiting for them to finish so you can use the hot water in the kitchen or else you’ll get your head ripped off. They have no sense of time in the shower. I’m not really sure what they do in there but it’s certainly not cleaning themselves. The soap and shampoo is usually left untouched.

I then thought about how I could get everyone on board to take a quick shower. I’ve been taking quick showers since the kids were born. You jump in, wash and jump out because you’ve got a million things to do. Even my husband needs a gentle reminder sometimes to get out quickly so we can all have a hot shower.

That’s when I came up with the idea of the 3 Minute Shower Timer. A simple hourglass timer that lasts 3 minutes which is more than enough time for a shower.

One of the biggest wasters of water in the home is the misuse of the shower. People often wait for the water to warm up, get lost in a song or a thought and before you know it, litres of one of our most valuable resources has literally gone down the drain. 

Not only is your family wasting water, they’re wasting other resources like the electricity or gas to heat the water. No matter which way you look at it, having a 3 minute shower and keeping yourself within that 3 minute limit is certainly going to contribute to valuable savings on your water and power bills.

It’s handy too for teaching children how to brush their teeth effectively. Three minutes is a relatively long time to brush teeth so it will teach them to do a thorough job. Three minutes may not seem like a long enough time for a shower, but trust me, it is. If you teach your teenagers (and partners) to get in, wash themselves and get out, they’ll soon learn that it’s long enough.

The 3 Minute Shower Timer has a handy suction cup which will stick to any surface. It’s made from plastic so no need to worry about broken glass. It comes in a range of colours to suit any decor.

You can purchase a 3 Minute Shower Timer right here in the Domesblissity Shop. There is FREE shipping Worldwide.

The KISS Method (Keep It Simple Sweetheart)

If you’ve never heard of the KISS Method (usually known as “Keep It Simple Stupid”), I’ve adapted this method to every aspect of my family and homemaking life except I’m not stupid. Some people might say I’m a ‘sweetheart’ but I’m here to tell you you’re not stupid and you might be struggling with keeping on top of it all by over complicating things. Let me explain.

We’re all too busy

I’m not sure our grandmothers were as busy as we are today but they were busy enough. Take away working out of the home, the internet, social media, in store and online shopping, extracurricular activities for the children, and the list goes on, we wouldn’t be anywhere near as busy as we are. I know that first hand.

Admittedly, the internet and social media is my business so I’m lucky in a way that I don’t go out of the house to work but what am I working for? If I didn’t do this for a job, would we be able to survive financially? Yes, we would.

I’m not really making any kind of major kind of money to warrant a trip to the Bahamas but it’s a dream of mine to relocate to the beach one day. I’ll probably still do that but I want to make it as affordable as I can and that’s why I’m pursuing an entrepreneur’s lifestyle.

If I stopped doing it would I be as busy as I am? No, I wouldn’t. I’d have more time to have the garden looking nice. I’d have more time for sewing or being creative but I’d still be running the children to and from school, to after school activities but I don’t need to worry about household chores or making sure I’m shopping all the time to have the latest of anything. This is where the KISS Method comes into play.

How to make your life more simple

I don’t know if it was something that was in built from a young age or just in my genetic make up but I really don’t follow trends or need to have the latest whatever. I call this JOMO, “The Joy of Missing Out”.

If I’m not keeping up with celebrities or people of influence on social media, I don’t have to waste my time watching them or see what they’re promoting. I don’t have to spend all my time worrying about rushing to see a movie because someone suggested it or finding that ‘hard to get book’ because everyone’s raving about it. (Remember the frenzy that was created when “The 50 Shades…” books came out? I’ve never read one and I don’t believe I’m missing out on anything. All that happened there was the author became very rich. Simple. Oh, and maybe you spiced up your sex life a little, I’m not sure.)

There are more ways to make your life more simple, in particular your home life. This KISS Method can work if you’re young or old, male or female, working or stay at home, a parent or single with no kids. It doesn’t matter. We can all over complicate everyday tasks and it doesn’t have to be like that. Let me explain.

Food in the House

Let’s face it. You need food to survive. This isn’t a point about cooking from scratch or buying takeaways. You do what works for your family but my point is, you don’t want to spend an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon, going through your junk mail to find out what’s on special at the supermarket, then formulating recipes and writing it all down on a menu plan. If you do that and it works for you, GREAT! But I could think of a million other things I’d rather be doing than that.

I’ve been a mother for nearly 15 years now and if I don’t know by now what my children eat, there’s something wrong. I want meal times to be seamless, without argument and a pleasant experience, all while preparing tasty, nutritious food for the whole family.

I keep it simple. My pantry, fridge and freezer is full of the food we all eat and my fortnight grocery shopping list is made up of those items I’ve run out of. That’s it! No meal planning. No reading through junk mail that might tempt you into buying things you don’t need. No being influenced by celebrity chefs who claim they can feed a family on $10 per meal which my children wouldn’t even look at let alone eat.

The other point I want to make is I do want the whole evening meal process an effortless one that’s why I’ll spend a little time, here and there, preparing meals or parts of the meal to save on time and energy.

For example, I’ll cook double or triple rice when I’m making rice for a meal and bag up enough for another meal and pop it in the freezer to use another time. I’ll have some ready made ingredients in the freezer or pantry for those emergency nights when things haven’t gone to plan and you’re either sick or just exhausted.

I don’t believe meal planning strictly allows that flexibility. If I say Wednesday is “Chicken Night”, I don’t have to worry about roasting a chicken, thawing a chicken breast in a hurry because I forgot to get it out or I didn’t have time to pop on that slow cooker chicken dish because something came up in the morning. I grab those already crumbed chicken breast fillets out of the freezer, tortillas also from the freezer, chop up some salad and serve. Keep it simple.

This also brings me to the point of ready made or cooking from scratch. There are no hard or fast rules here. Who am I to tell you that cooking from scratch is the be all to end all or the only way to do it? That’s what I love to do so I do it but I don’t feel it’s necessary to do it every time.

If I see a marked down packet of biscuits or muffins at the supermarket, I’ll buy them and pop them in the freezer. If I want to have chips in the freezer for a ready made fish and chips meal, I will. We do what works for us. If you’re working full time and want ready made, nutritious meals delivered to your door and can afford it, do it.

You don’t have to give food a thought. If you want to bake your own bread, milk your own cows and whip up your own butter, go right ahead. I think that’s a lovely lifestyle and if it works for you, go for it.

You find what works for you and your family and stick to it. But if you want to keep it simple, don’t spend a couple hours on a Sunday meal planning only to overspend at the supermarket and then still go and buy takeaway midweek because you got sick or you couldn’t be bothered.

That’s a whole lot of unnecessary work for nothing. Keep your menus simple, the food you eat simple (Europeans have made a lifetime habit out of it), and don’t waste unnecessary time baking if you don’t have time or because someone of influence shared a recipe for a chocolate lover’s dream cake that has $20 worth of chocolate bars on it when you could buy a $5 already iced mudcake that everyone loves. Keep it simple.

Housework

If you hate housework, join the club. It’s not one of my favourite past times but I must admit, I do love a clean and tidy home. It’s a bit hard with kids in the house, no matter how hard you try to get them to pick up after themselves but it doesn’t have to be hard.

Having strict housework schedules in place is just fruitless, for me anyway. Why tie yourself down with Monday is dusting day, Tuesday is cleaning floors day etc etc? That commits you to doing that on those days but what if something comes up? How will you cope? I prefer the most easy method and that is CAYG “Clean As You Go”. You create a routine that you clean as you go.

For example, when you wash the dishes at night (or load the dishwasher), cleaning the sink, the fridge handles, the stove and splashbacks is all part of the routine. You can also add sweeping the kitchen floor to that and in about 20 minutes, the whole lot is done. Same as brushing your teeth at night. Wipe down the bathroom vanity when you’re done. Clean or wipe down the shower while you’re in it. Not every time but at least once a week.

The extent of my housework efforts is left to once a fortnight for 2 hours on a Saturday morning. I get the kids involved. They clean their rooms and help with other chores. It’s helping them develop good habits and routines and it’s helping me.

I can overlook the dust on the coffee table during that time because I know it will get done on that Saturday morning or, if it doesn’t, guess what? It doesn’t and it’s no big deal. There are more important things, or should I say, people in the home that need your attention as a parent than worrying about dust on the coffee table. Keep it simple.

Finances

If you take the steps to have a very basic budget for your household finances, you’ll always be in control of your spending, your bills will be paid on time and you’ll have a roof over your head.

Three of the most important, and I believe the only important things to worry about in life a food, clothing and shelter. You need money for those and no matter how little or how much your income is, if you don’t have enough for those, you’re living beyond your means.

Forget about that shiny new object that everyone else has. Forget about that new food craze that everyone is on about it. If you can’t afford it, don’t worry about it. No one is going to think any more or any less of you. Do what is right for your family.

They won’t care that you only spent $10 on that piece of junk from KMart because it’s in the catalogue and someone else made it look pretty in their house. How do you know what that person’s house really looks like? It’s probably just staged.

Be realistic about your spending. Always save a little for yourself and save towards an experience that the whole family will enjoy. Create a simple budget with incomings and outgoings and stick to it. No fancy software required. No fancy spreadsheets or journals. On the back of an envelope will do. Keep it simple.

Style

Who doesn’t want to feel good about the clothes they wear, the makeup they have on or the shoes they buy? I know I do but I don’t let it consume me.

I wear what makes me feel comfortable. I might look at the latest styles online to see what this season’s colours are or what the latest fashion is but it doesn’t bother me if I don’t get the look. What might look good on someone else may not look good on me. I’ve had my own style for years and it doesn’t really conform to anything in particular. Gosh, I’ve still got my Levi’s denim jacket I bought when I was 17 and it’s never gone out of style.

Think of your style as one that will never go out of fashion. Know what colours suit you and stick to those. Keep a few good basic items in your wardrobe that you can accessorise to change the look.

Wear make up or don’t wear makeup. It’s entirely up to you. I don’t. Maybe a bit of lipstick when I go out but that’s it. When I was younger, of course, I wore a bit when I went out but it was never the latest must have because someone suggested it. I wore what tones suited my skin type and colouring and kept it simple. (I can always remember my Dad saying that we looked like hookers when we went out with “all that makeup”. That might’ve stuck more in my head than what the current girl’s magazine said I should’ve been wearing!)

Your feet are, hopefully, going to be carrying you around for a long time so wear footwear that is comfortable. Sure, I wore high heels when I was younger but I may be regretting it now. Corns and bunions and not so attractive feet are the result of keeping on top of the latest shoe styles. I would’ve been better wearing a pair of runners for the amount of dancing I used to do rather than wearing 4 inch heels! Keep it simple.

Home Decor & Furnishings

What’s the point of trying to achieve that certain style that someone has suggested? You’re only going to worry about how you’re going to achieve it on your budget. I love interior design and decorating and like to change the look in my home often but I don’t go and buying all new furniture and decor to change it.

I use other pieces from other areas of my home or keep an eye out at secondhand shops. If not successful there, I’ll DIY a project. Spray paint only costs a couple dollars a can. Sewing a cushion or a new curtain isn’t all that difficult (if you have a sewing machine). Make do, recycle or ‘shop’ from your existing home decor.

Remember, the more you fill your house with stuff the more you’ll have to clean it and then you’ll be worrying about what you’re going to do with all that stuff when the next style comes out or that new shiny thing that you just have to have. Find your own style, keep your knick knacks and home decor to a minimum, keep your home tidy and keep it simple.

I hope these couple points will help you to make some minor changes to your home life so you can ease any stress in your home. As homemakers, we don’t want to be tied down to strict schedules, inflexible menu plans, staying on top of trends or other people’s styles and not having the money to do all that. We all work hard for our money and we want to use it to the best of our abilities. Keep it simple sweetheart and you’ll see your life become a lot easier.

What is the true value of the things you buy

I don’t go shopping much anymore. Some weeks I don’t go near the shops. It’s just a lifelong habit I’ve got into from years of living a frugal lifestyle. I only get what we ever need but it got me thinking about what is the true value of the things you buy whether that’s food, clothing or whatever.

 

Dinner time is and has always been for me, for the last 10 years, a struggle for my daughter and I. It’s a long story but I got to thinking about the actual price of the food I serve and what she doesn’t (or won’t) eat. I don’t spend much on food and we always eat well but with me not going to work and trying to save every cent I can, it still makes me mad when she wastes food, or more to the point, just won’t eat it.

I started putting the price of the food, and other things we buy as a rule, into an ‘hourly rate’ or how many hours of work I’d have to do to pay for those things. This is what I came up with.

How much is a parent’s hourly rate?

For those of us who are parents, you only know too well how it is to take on the role of teacher, carer, nurse, taxi driver, cook, cleaner, etc etc.  What is the hourly rate for that? I know we don’t get paid for it but if we did, I’d have to say it would be a large amount. Because we don’t get paid, it’s even more vital that what we do buy is carefully thought about and how it will benefit or be of use in our home.

Even if we were to get say $40 an hour. The job of parenting never stops. It’s from sun up to sun down (and in between). It’s Monday to Sunday, every week of the year from the day they’re born. At 24 hours a day, 365 days a year that works out to about $349,440 per year. Imagine that? That would be our mortgages paid off, overseas holidays and maybe a new car every couple of years. Unfortunately that’s not a reality so those of us who choose to be stay at home parents, taking special note of what you buy is even more critical.

Is spending $40 on a takeaway meal justifiable when you aren’t earning $40 per hour? Is that new decorative item from Kmart (plus the other impulse purchases you made) that total $40 worth it? If you’re wondering how to save money and stay on top of the household budget, it’s important to note that the purchases you make are absolutely necessary or ask yourself “can I make this cheaper myself”, “can I use something else I already have” or “can I make sure I stock the basic ingredients for those takeaway meals and make it at home”. You can’t spend what you don’t have.

What about if you were working?

So what about if you are a working parent or both of you are working? Both of you might be on $40 an hour or upwards. Does this enable you to make larger purchases like a bigger house, a fancier car, buy takeaway food at least once a week or buy brand new clothes for the family? All those things are maybe affordable but what if one or both of you lost your jobs? Are you able to slip into a routine where you could manage without that extra $40 an hour? Wouldn’t it be better to live like you haven’t got it just in case?

I know when my (now) ex-husband left and I was left with no income other than the allowance from the government welfare I received, that I managed and I managed well. I had worked all my life before having my children and always had money. I lived a frugal lifestyle back then and saved for a rainy day (or overseas holiday). Every day items like clothes were bought secondhand and only when I needed them. Food was still the same basic pantry ingredients but cooked into exotic cuisines I loved so much. This is how my parents and grandparents lived and were always comfortable. They always had money for the bills. Always had food (and good food) on the table and had their homes paid off well before time.

My grandparents were able to sell their dairy farm and retire at the age of 60 and move to the Sunshine Coast here in Queensland and they still lived frugally. My Mum and Dad (who sadly passed away when he was only 59 and ready for retirement) always had enough money to pay for our sporting ventures when we were young and bought us only the best equipment. We didn’t eat much in the line of takeaway nor did we get a lot of new clothes. Mum sewed and we were given a lot of hand-me-downs from neighbours. 

They certainly didn’t earn anywhere near $40 an hour and Mum stayed home only taking in babysitting and sewing jobs to supplement Dad’s income. They had their house paid off when I was in high school. It’s all about priorities and not flittering away your hard earned income on unnecessary expenses.

What is the cost of the products you buy?

There’s a huge phenomenon here in Australia at the moment with everyone being crazy about shopping at KMart. The KMart marketing team have done so well to instil a real love of the discount variety store with consumers that they just can’t walk past it without popping in and picking up some little thing. Sure, there’s a lot in there that might be necessary, like underwear for the kids, a new mixing bowl or printer ink. That’s all I go in there for. I’m always surprised by the so called “KMart Lovers” who love cleverly marketed cheap trinkets for the home, the cheap, heavily discounted clothing and other cheap wares.

source

It might be a bargain for $3 for a brand new kid’s t-shirt but think about how much it cost to make, how much profit KMart are making and what did the person get paid who made it. At what price are these imported products being produced? Are they 20 cents each? How much is the person who stands in the factory spray painting those cheap cutlery sets getting paid? What about the young girl who sits at a sewing machine for 18 hours a day, sewing together t-shirt after t-shirt?

My conscience won’t allow me to buy these cheap items, especially brand new. I see them all finish up the secondhand stores after a little while for about a dollar each but still won’t buy them. What purpose do they have in my home other than being a dust collector. KMart brings out the next season’s catalogue a couple months later and you buy the next product they’re promoting. I would rather fill my home with functional items, family photos and drawings and trinkets belonging to my family members that really mean something. If you’re wondering how to save money, bypass the discount variety stores, avoid impulse buys and only buy things you need.

How much will it cost you to make it yourself?

You can’t be bothered cooking dinner so you pick up a $40 burger pack for you and your family. You’re a working parent so you’ve probably earned that (or near to that) in an hour so you can justify it. What about if you had bread rolls and meat patties in the freezer, salad in the fridge, wedges in the freezer and a cheap bottle of fizzy drink in the fridge that cost you all up under $10? It might be a little bit of effort to put together but by the time you add up the wages of the person who cooked those burgers, the person who served you, the delivery costs of transporting the raw ingredients, the store manager’s salary, the marketing and advertising, what is the real price of the actual food? Probably about less than $10 and not very nutritious I bet.

What about that costume for your child’s upcoming fancy dress disco or book week? Do you rush out and spend $20 on a costume from KMart because you can’t be bothered? The costume probably cost about $2 to make in some factory in China. If you looked in your child’s wardrobe and added a few items from the second hand shop, you’d probably come up with a really neat costume for way less than $20 and it would be original.

I’ve seen this meme pop up on Facebook a few times and I have to agree with it. That’s why I don’t buy much craft supplies. Most of the crafts I did with my children when they were young (and still do) come from food packaging that I’d saved. I had a big box when the kids were young that I’d save all the cardboard boxes, lids, rubber bands, etc etc and use other household items like cotton buds, cotton balls etc and I pick up a lot of craft supplies from the second hand shops. I only recently bought a huge bag of beads for my daughter for $3 from the second hand shop. It will last her a lifetime if she decides she wants to make necklaces, bracelets, bookmarks or whatever else.

I’ve always said once my children are older I will start quilting. I just adore them. I have a few that my aunt has made for me and I started a quilt last year using old fabric scraps I had. If I was to take the hobby up now, starting new, I would need a bank loan to buy the fabric. It is so, so expensive but there are so many people doing it. There are fabric designers, pattern makers who bring out books. It’s quite trendy to be making the latest collection of fabric into a quilt but at what price? Will it cost you $500 for the fabric and notions by the time you finish it? Early modern quilting was a way to use up scraps of fabric and remake them into something useful for the home like bed coverings, mats or heavy duty curtains for example and also a way for women to come together to socialise. No craft shop is going be getting my money for the latest designed fabric just so I can cut it up for a quilt nor are they getting my money on cheaply imported craft supplies. There are so many ways you can make do with things from around your home.

I take a lot of pride in my home and who and what is in it. Buying a $10 trinket from KMart isn’t going to benefit my family one bit. An organised home that we all pitch in to clean and keep tidy is our sanctuary and my family’s safe place to be. I truly value my hourly rate and what I spend it on. It will go towards items that are needs and the rest will be put away for a rainy day, a holiday or an experience for the family. What price can you put on the people in your life over the useless products that are available for purchase today?

Think of your time as a dollar value and it might help you to see the value in the products you buy. If you’re a stay at home parent this should make it easy to think twice about making an impulse purchase.

Developing these new habits and really thinking twice about what you buy and how it will benefit you and your family will certainly help you create the lifestyle you want instead of “keeping up with the Jones’s”, following trends, feeling the fear of missing out on what everyone else is doing and having the money to pay your bills on time and keep some leftover for a rainy day.

5 ways to save up to $100 off your weekly grocery bill

One of the biggest weekly expenses we all have is the weekly grocery bill but it doesn’t have to be that way. I find it easy to save on groceries so I want to share how to save up $100 off your weekly grocery bill.

I’ve been running my kitchen like a restaurant for years. That is, I keep a well stocked pantry, freezer and fridge with all the basics. Having these basics allows me to create any number of dishes. I buy whatever fruit and vegetables are in season, one, because I know they’re fresh and two, because they’re cheap. I never buy more than I need for a fortnight because it won’t get used and will only go to waste.

The ‘protein’ I buy is always around $10 per kilo. No fancy steaks or expensive cuts. If these are marked down, I’ll only grab them then or, if the budget allows it, I’ll pick up something a little more fancy for a date night for my husband and I. You may already know some of these ideas but if you don’t, implementing these couple of changes may see huge savings that you can put to good use in other areas of your household budget like family holidays, paying off big debt, appliance upgrades etc.

Buy Homebrand

There’s always heaps of hype about Aldi but I personally don’t like shopping there. Except for a handful of well known brands, Aldi stock their ‘own’ brands which are exactly the same as the homebrands in the major supermarkets. The quality is no different. I’ve been baking and cooking for many years and I can personally vouch for the quality of these goods. I’m talking about the flour, pasta, sugar, butter, corn flakes, cracker biscuits, tasty cheese and other basic every day items. 

I know some of us have discerning tastes and fussy eaters in our house but with these basic ingredients that are being used for ordinary dishes, eg the flour to thicken a sauce or bake a biscuit, the pasta to be smothered with a delicious, flavoursome Bolognese sauce, the butter used on toast, the corn flakes with sugar or fresh fruit and the cracker biscuits and cheese for school lunch boxes, no one is really going to know the difference. If you want to be sneaky, remove the packaging and decant into another container.

Edit

Brand Name	Price	Homebrand (Coles)	Price	Difference
2kg White Wings Plain Flour	$5.50	2kg Plain Flour	$1.50	$4.00
1kg CSR White Sugar	$2.21	1kg White Sugar	$1.00	$1.21
500gm Zafarelli Penne Pasta	$2.15	500gm Penne Pasta	$1.00	$1.15
250gm Western Star Butter	$2.30	250gm Butter	$1.60	$0.70
725gm Kellogg's Corn Flakes ($4.00)	$0.55/100gm	500gm Corn Flakes ($1.80)	$0.36/100gm	$2.20
250gm Arnott's Sao Cracker Biscuits	$3.14	250gm Cracker Squares	$1.00	$2.14
1kg Bega Tasty Cheese	$14.51	1kg Tasty Cheese Block	$6.00	$8.51
			Total:	$19.91

With just those ingredients alone you could potentially save $19.91 per week!

Don’t be tempted by buying markdowns

Don’t get me wrong. Markdowns are great only if you NEED them and those items are on your list. I see a lot of people on social media sharing their markdowns and that’s great. But if you’re making a special trip to only go and buy milk, for example, and you’ve picked up $37.61 worth of marked down meat, cheese,  yoghurt or baked goods and saved $40.00 in the process, you actually haven’t saved anything. You’ve spent $37.61 unnecessarily.

Supermarkets need to get rid of near expiry date goods quickly and they usually put them out when customers are just ducking in for milk or buying something for dinner that night to tempt them. I love scoring markdowns but only when I’m doing my fortnightly shopping. I’d rather keep that $37.61 in my pocket and use it for what it was intended instead of thinking I’m getting a bargain. My freezer is full of marked down meat and bread that will all be used in my regular fortnightly meal plan but it wasn’t an additional purchase. It was part of my normal shop.

You could potentially save $40.00 per week by sticking to your list.

Buy in bulk

I’m not a stockpiler. I just don’t have the room. I do however buy toilet paper in larger quantities because that’s something we seem to go through a lot and there are huge savings on buying it in bulk. Check the unit price on the supermarket price tag and if the larger quantity is cheaper AND you have the room, buy it. For example, a 24 pack of toilet rolls are $11. A 12 pack of the same toilet paper is on special for $10 this week. A 12 pack would probably do us for the fortnight but because I’ve got the room for the extra 12 rolls, I’d buy the larger size. Who wouldn’t for an extra $1?

The potential saving on this item alone is $9.00! (1 x 24 pack @ $11.00 = $11.00 compared to 2 x 12 packs @ $10 each = $20.00)

Be aware of bulk offer buys

Be aware of supermarket specials bulk buy specials. For example, 10 x 170gm tubs of Chobani yoghurt for $10 might be good if that’s your favourite brand but are you really getting a good deal? That adds up to $10 for 1.17kg of yoghurt but a 1kg tub of a popular brand of sweet and creamy vanilla yoghurt is only $4.00 and you can add your own fresh fruit and flavourings. That’s a saving of $6.00 alone.

Also, multiple buy offers like buy 2, get the third one free aren’t really a saving if you’re not going to use it. About the only time I’d use this offer is on tinned tomatoes. I really don’t need 3 cans of any thing else. If my pantry stock is getting low on say canned pulses (chickpeas, lentils or kidney beans for example), I’ll only buy them then but I don’t want valuable space taken up in my pantry with stuff I’ll probably only use in winter time.

Potential savings are unlimited but by sticking to only what you need and what’s on the list you might potentially save up to $10.00 per week.

Don’t buy ready made

I could be your worst enemy in the supermarket. Okay, each to their own. You may not know how to cook or might be really time poor but when I see people, time after time, buying packet meal mixes I really cringe. For one, they don’t taste very good and if you kept a well stocked pantry, you’d already have all the ingredients to make these dishes, over and over again.

For example, a 145gm packet of Continental Alfredo Pasta & Sauce is $2.99. Only 145grams! I’m not sure how many people that would feed let alone the taste is pretty vile, well compared to what you could cook at home with real butter and cheese. In the table above you can see that you can buy a whole 500gm pack of pasta for $1.00 so if you only use a fifth of that packet for a side dish it would cost 20 cents plus a bit of butter, flour, cheese and seasoning and you’ve still got plenty of all those ingredients to use in other dishes. This  packet of pasta and sauce can only be used once but if you’ve got your pantry stocked with all the basic ingredients, you can make it over and over again.

Even if you made up a bulk pot of pasta and cheese (Macaroni & Cheese, for example) and freeze it in family size portions so that you can just pull it out and defrost for a quick easy meal if served with meat and salad or vegetables.

Another one I cringe at is Apricot Chicken. It costs $1.75 for a packet mix to make it. If you had a 500gm jar of homebrand apricot jam for $1.40 in the fridge and some onions, that’s all you need to make it. The apricot jam can be used on toast, in baking, on sandwiches or pikelets. So many different uses for it.

I could go on and on about every single ready made meal, packet mix or jar of pasta sauce. Buy the basic ingredient and think of how many different ways you could use it instead of buying just a once-off meal packet.

If you bought 7 ready made meal sauces or packets for around $3.00 each and instead you used basic ingredients from your well stocked pantry, that could potentially save you $21.00 per week!

So, by implementing just these 5 changes alone you could potentially save up to $100.00 ($99.91 in my examples above) each time you shop.

 

Disclaimer: These prices were based on Australian supermarket prices in February 2017.

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How to find the best deals

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.  I received cash payment for this review and will earn rewards for any new user who signs up as an influencer to Dealspotr. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How to start saving over $13,000 per year

There’s no point to living frugally if you’re not going to see some benefit instantly especially when it comes to money. Living a frugal life means so much more than that but it’s one of the biggest reasons I have for this kind of lifestyle. I tell myself I can buy it new and spend as little or as much as I want. But what I prefer to do is buy it secondhand, get it for free, make it myself with things I already have and save money for the more important things in life like experiences. I want to share how to start saving over $13,000 per year.

Magazines

Before kids I used to buy the latest fashion magazines, food, lifestyle, decorating and other magazines without even thinking about it. For the last few years I don’t buy them anymore. I borrow them from the library or buy them secondhand from the thrift store for about 50 cents each. If I was to buy a food magazine and a lifestyle magazine every week, I’d be spending close to $15. Years ago Mum used to buy a woman’s magazine but back in those days they were actually full of recipes, tips, patterns and other useful information. Now they’re only full of celebrity news. Over the course of a year, you could potentially save $780. That’s a week’s accommodation at the beach for us. Money much better spent in my opinion.

Total saved: $15 per week | $780 per year

 

Takeaway coffee

I’m a big coffee drinker and I love nothing more than going out with the girls for morning tea. I still do that on the odd occasion but as far as buying a takeaway coffee when I’m doing the shopping or when I’m out and about, I just don’t do that anymore. When I used to work, before kids, I bought at least 2 takeaway coffees per day. At an average of $5 per coffee (especially in the city) that’s money that could be better spent on making coffee at home or work, whether that’s instant or brewing your own from beans. Coffee makers are really cheap to buy from thrift stores. If you were to buy 2 coffees a day every day of the week, you could spend that money on an overseas trip or put towards a major renovation in the home.

Total saved: $70 per week | $3,640 per year

Trip to the Cinema

One thing that makes my blood boil is the price that the cinemas charge for snacks. I just can’t believe people are so willing to pay those prices, like it’s okay. There should be some major enquiry into it. I can’t justify it no matter how hard I think about it. Unless it’s school holidays or date night, we don’t go to the cinema. We watch a movie on TV or DVD at home and make our own snacks or allow for a few special treats in my fortnightly shopping budget. Your average spend of $50 for a family of four (2A @ $9.50 ea + 2C @ $5.50 ea = $30 + snacks @ $20 = $50) and you go once a month, you could save quite a bit of money. Even when we do go to the cinema, we always take snacks from home.

Total saved: $50 per month | $600 per year

Takeaway Meals

One of the quickest ways to save money each week is to not buy takeaway meals. If you want to allow for it in your budget, then sure. What I do is have a few stand by ingredients or ready made meals partly prepared (like pizza dough or frozen chicken tenderloins) so I can put together a meal really quickly when we’re late home or I’m sick or the kids are sick. I refuse to set foot in McDonalds anymore. I can’t justify the price, at all, for the quality of the food that is sold. To me, it’s atrocious. I really feel for those ‘kids’ making that rubbish and hope they learn to cook once they’ve grown up. (Sorry, ranty pants on!)

I always have hamburger buns in the freezer and even if I don’t have hamburger patties made or frozen, we can make bacon and egg burgers, chicken or fish burgers. You can get family meal deals sometimes for $20 from say McDonalds but my daughter won’t eat it so it would cost us at least $40. I cringe when I think of what I could buy at the supermarket for $40. If you buy takeaway at least once a week, this is another way you could quite easily save that money.

Total saved: $40 per week | $2,080

Amusement Parks etc

I have never bought amusement park tickets for my family. Except for maybe Seaworld, I hate them. I hate the rides and could think of better ways to spend my time than standing in a queue for 2 hours waiting to go on a ride that scares the living daylights out of me. I know that probably sounds a bit old fashioned but that’s just me. My kids are lucky in a way that they haven’t missed out on going to these places because their Dad buys these annual passes but at $99 each (x 4 for our family), I could think of plenty of other ‘free’ ways to enjoy time with my family like picnics, days at the beach, a trip to the park, catching a train to the city. All of these amusement parks, fun centres (like trampolining places etc) are all so expensive and don’t even talk about if they sell food there.

I have had coupons in the past that I’ve taken the kids to some of these so called ‘fun centres’ so it hasn’t cost that much but they are special treats for during the school holidays. I might sound like a mean Mum but my kids don’t seem to mind. It makes them appreciate it more I think when they do go on the odd occasion than expecting to go somewhere every weekend. I did buy the children a ticket ($20 each) to the Ekka (our annual show/fair) which I gave to them for a Christmas present. That was the first time they’ve been and the last. They’ve realised just how much of a waste of money it is now and it’s nothing like how it was when I was a child.

Total saved:  $396 per year

Buying clothes & shoes

Buying clothes is one of those things that I think we all can buy too much of. I admit, I’m a little guilty of this even though all the clothes I buy are secondhand from the thrift store. If I’m going there to buy something in particular, I haven’t been able to walk past the clothes racks just to see what’s available. I have picked up some wonderful bargains but in all honesty, I haven’t needed them. The total spend might only be $10 but if you’re doing that with full priced clothes at either a discount store or a major chain fashion boutique, your weekly spend might be more like $100. That could be for clothes for any member of the family. It’s easy to do.

If you’re not budgeting for this, you think it’s a bargain and if you don’t need it, you could quite possibly be saving $100 on unnecessary clothing purchases. Allow for some money in your budget to update underwear as required. If children are having growth spurts but consider buying secondhand or asking friends with children older than yours for hand-me-downs.

Total saved: $5,200 per year

Buying Books

I am guilty of this when it comes to recipe books. Over the years I’ve purchased quite a few and don’t even hardly refer to them. I think of them more as ‘coffee table’ books or nice books to look at. My every day, frugal cookbooks are what I refer to mostly or my online recipes I’ve saved in Pinterest. I don’t buy them anymore. I might borrow them from the library and if its one that I simply couldn’t live without, I’ll drop a few hints to the husband to purchase it for me for Christmas. My cookbook shelves are bursting at the seams so I don’t think I really need anymore.

The same could apply to novels and other books. Unless it’s going to be read, over and over again, I think borrowing it from the library or buying secondhand from thrift stores or book fairs is the better way to go. If you bought a new book every week at say $20, that’s yet another way you could save.

Total saved: $1,040 per year

Total saved on these things alone: $13,736 per year

There are plenty more ways to cut back and save. It could be walking more and using the car less. It could be downsizing your home or car and saving the money you make. Make more from scratch like food or cleaning supplies. They are all small steps you can take to having that little bit leftover. Everyone has different things they’re saving for. It could be for a deposit on a home, a new car, an overseas trip, investing, donating, a good night out, a family vacation, whatever. I’d rather make a small sacrifice with these few things than miss out on doing the things I’d prefer to be doing in the long run.

 

Disclaimer: The prices in this post are in Australian dollars and should be used as a guide only. Family sizes differ also this post could be applied to single people. This post is my opinion on possible ways to save money over the course of 12 months should you be wishing to save for something in particular.