Do You Live By Any Frugal Rules?

[staceyy]

Such as not paying over $1.00 a pound for vegetables? Please share whatever rules you try to live by that help you to save money.

[latierra84]

i have quite a few of these. in the past year or so though... theyve changed. example. i used to only buy lettuce if it was 79 cents or less a head. its been a year since ive seen it at 79 cents now. before, if i couldnt find it at that price, id just make do and switch up my menu. ive now accepted the fact that the cheapest head of lettuce i can find in my area is 99 cents, and thats only when there is alot and they are really pushing it.

i try to only spend $5 a day on meat. thats meat for the whole day, for four people (really big meat eating people at that).

i only buy soda if i can get it at 75 cents a twelve pack or less. if you watch for deals, you can get it pretty regularly at this price. dh loves mt dew so when cvs has the killer soda deals.. well.. lets just say that i came home with over 50 twelve packs once. i had to remind him that they needed to last us a while LOL

[Dancing Lotus]

I don't pay more then a dollar a lb for any fruit to veggies unless they is absolutely no way around it. We just make do or do without.

I don't pay any more then 50cents for shampoo or conditioner. And I don't pay anything for toothpaste or body wash. I can thank CVS for that.

Most food items I will not buy until I can get it for 50% or less then regular retail. Of course this will be harder to do without a second freezer anymore.

[Samigirl]

I'm sure I'll think of other rules I live by....but off the top of my head....I never spend more than $1.99 lb for meat. I always stock up whenever there's a good sale. I spent more money these past two weeks than I had planned, but I got some great deals on chicken breasts, hamburger meat, and cross rib roast.

[Royal]

I never spend more than 2 euro per meal on meat. I never spend more than 1 euro on lettuce. Almost all our meals are under 5 euros for 2 adults 2 kids. If it costs more, there better be leftovers!!

[Tango]

I have a few of these:
-We turn off the gas to the furnace on May 1 every year rain or shine.
-I won't pay more than $0.39 for toothpaste and $0.99 for shampoo or conditioner
-I have all kind of different limits in my head for other groceries
-I don't believe in having credit cards at all
-use cash only
________________
Krissy

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

If a sock gets a hole in it, we do not throw them away! Dh does the sock mending around here. You would not believe the money that we have saved by sewing up holes in socks.

All electrical appliances must be unplugged when not in use! This has saved a ton of money as well.

All leffovers must be eaten up! Food waste has never been tolerated here.

Store bought cookies, pies, cakes, etc are never brought into this house. i know how much dh and the girls enjoy goodies on occasion and how much my two oldest grandchildren do, so I always make sure that the cookie jar is filled with wholesome organic cookies. The cost is about half of purchasing a big package of God only really knows whats in them store bought cookies.

I make all of my own cleaning products. They are safe and just as effective as the toxic store purchased ones.

Dh and I almost never purchase new clothing, not unless it is out of season and marked down by at least 60%. We are avid Goodwill and garage sale shoppers.

No car washes! We do it ourselves and get a good workout by doing so. The same goes with carwash vacuums. We haul our shop vac out and use it. Just think of how that .75- 1.00 adds up every week 52 weeks a year.

All greeting cards are purchased at Dollar General or the dollar store.

great thread!

[Ebbie]

Yeah I have a few informal rules I follow! some are:

- no more than $1 for shampoo and conditioner

- no more than 25cents a roll for name-brand toilet paper

- I aim to keep meals to $1 or less per person per meal

[shoiji]

Things I normally would not buy if they are on sale for .99 I might splurge and buy them. An example is graham crackers. I like them buy normally would not buy them. I am also getting used to buying meat when there is a managers special. I look for the little red tags and if it is something I want I will pick it up and divide it up and freeze when at home. I also ask anyone working in the meat department if there is anything on special.

Also try to buy produce when they are in season. Seems to be cheaper.

[cab54]

Don't go to the store until I am down to ---nothing ---to make a meal with. The less I'm there, the less I spend.

[MomK]

Hmmm...great question!
recycle
compost kitchen waste/add to garden
always buy thriftstore clothing-nothing new

I'm sure there are others, I just can't think of them right now!

[coup]

I remember when I first started couponing reading a post by a fellow couponer. She said she wouldn't pay anything more than sales tax for tooth paste. And I was so excited to get some for 25 cents at that time.

Well, you guessed it...I haven't paid more than sales tax only on my toothpaste in a couple of years. I also get the following for just sales tax: toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, mousse (most of the time!), deoderant, & razors. I do "invest" $3 per week to buy 2 Sunday papers for coupons, so I guess these items truly aren't free.

My other rules are for clothing: It must be 75% off or more.

I'm even to the point that I don't go to after holiday sales until it hits 75% off. And I don't get too excited until I find it 90% off!

I'm sure I'll have more grocery rules soon as the prices keep creeping up!

[forHISglory]

We eat simple meals, homemade. No desserts. Eating out is rare, except for Taco Bell on Tuesdays (50c tacos, so it costs us a full buck when we eat out!), and Burger King on Friday nights (double cheeseburger for 99c), so that's a $2 date night! And we always order water to drink.

Whatever we put on a charge card is paid for when the statement comes in. We never carry a bill there.

[joyofsix]

If I can make it cheaper I don't buy it.
If I can fix it cheaper I fix it.
I never buy anything until I think about it a week.

[Marie78]

Frugal Rules I live by:

I only pay cash for gas and I never spend over $20 a week, I might have to amend that this week, as gas has krept to over $3.70 a gallon here.

I grocery shop once a week at our local grocery store and if we run out or forgot something we have to wait until the next week's shopping trip (with the list and coupons after preparing a weekly menu)

I shop once a month at Aldi. I stock up on all the canned goods, baking and other supplies I buy at Aldi each month. I only go once a month, so same rules apply, I'll have to make do until my next trip if I forget something or run out. I won't spend more than $35 cash here a month.

The Dollar Tree is right next to the Aldi I shop at, I stop in once a month and stock up on any cards I need, soap, gift wrap, or seasonal items (most recently two bags of soil) and 3 garden decorations. I also keep an eye out for any brand name items that made their way into this store . I've found great brand name shampoos and conditioner for a $1 each . I won't spend more than $10 cash here a month.

I use only grocery bags for garbage bags and I take any extra bags back to the store for recycle (if we end up with too many).

I take leftovers to work for lunch everyday.

I keep an envelope with my free after rebate money from Rite Aid purchases. This is all I have been using to purchase more free after rebate items. That way whatever I buy free after rebate doesn't cost any "extra" cash out of my own pocket.