My little frugal secrets

[suzysaver]

Do you ever do something sneaky to save money? Do you put generic cereal in the name brand boxes? I buy a lot of bulk and I just keep refilling those containers, things like instant potato flakes, brown sugar, cocoa powder, all kinds of things...my husband doesn't seem to notice at all.
My hubby can be a little picky, but what he doesn't now won't hurt him. He doesn't like line dryed clothes, for the last month I have been line drying them in the spare bedroom........After they dry I take them down and tumble them with a dryer sheet for about 5 min. and they come out all soft. I feel a little sneaky, does anyone else do these things?

[guest7]

That is so funny! Just today... dh wanted cereal for bf. and he said.. we don't have anymore milk...
I said... sure we do!
He said... no I used the rest up yesterday.
I said... and I made some more last night.
WHAT!!! You expect me to drink powdered milk?.. says dh
Uhhmmmm yup... You've been drinking it all along! says I

Well.. he had his cereal and said there was no difference...
"huh! Who's your mamma!"
Secret's out now!

[slowtypinwoman]

Nope no sneeky secrets here. They all know what I do because I brag about it. lol

[miss_thrifty]

my hubby fussy too, and lots of times i dont tell him wahts in the soup or no " no honey , theres nothing in those meatballs thats anything diff." lol
hide and sneak Ive had to over the years. What they dont know won't hurt them , ask seniors from the depression, they'll tell ya, lol lol

[Mom23boys]

The only thing I do that they don't know is add powdered milk to the milk carton. I don't think they would drink it if they knew.

[Mamaw]

I dont really keep it any secret but I dont advertise when I cook with powdered milk or whip up some new dessert or casserole using the leftovers and odd and ends in the fridge. No reason to admit the only reason I made a pie was to use the little bits of cool whip, creme cheese, yogurt and the like.

[joyb]

I once switched the whole family over to skim milk by mixing it with the 2% they were used to. I told dh and he laughed and said he couldn't tell the difference. We're not trying to be deceitful, but sometimes hubbies and kids are just stubborn.

[freedeal]

Do you ever do something sneaky to save money? Do you put generic cereal in the name brand boxes? I

I actually just thought about this the other day. I haven't done it but my 14 yo always fusses if I buy generic cereal. I am going to try this and see if it will work.

[peanut]

I often cook interesting things they know nothing about. As long as they like the end product, who cares if it's the product of cleaning out a fridge or freezer?

I often sneak healthy options into food. Something dd#2 is abhorred by.LOL I just don't tell her what she's eating is 'healthy' for her.

I also often buy things at the Dollar Store instead of paying full price elsewhere. Dh used to be against Dollar Stores, but not anymore. I don't have to sneak by him anymore. Same goes for thrift stores. I never told him my wardrobe came from there. He felt he wasn't a good provider if he knew. He didn't realize it had become quite a game for me to see how cheaply I could outfit myself.

Jean

[schellie69]

I did this once when i made chilli i used less meat, hubby could not tell until dd said something then he was like "i like lots of meat" but he admitted he could not tell the differeance, I am going to try adding powdered milk to the 2% that i buy and see if they see a differance, just have to do it when dh is not home. kids will use dry milk for cearl with no problem they don't care as long as there is milk in there for cearl. I have always bought generic so that is what my kids are used to but Iknow some of there friends wouldn't eat it because their parnets had said that it tasted bad, so my son told his friend okay i will get you something else he made his friend go to another room he made him a bowl of cearl with the generic told him it was the name brand and the kids ate it and said it taste great, then my son told him the truth he went home and told his mom who called me and i told her that i buy generic all the time she tried it and found out that it was not bad at all. I don't like being sneeky but sometimes you just have to be.

[peanut]

I agree. I don't like being sneaky either, but sometimes it's the only way to get them to stop being so stubborn and set in their ways. When I switched us to half and half TVP and ground beef, I snuck (is that a word?) it in chili, etc. They didn't notice. I made hamburgers with oatmeal snuck into them at first. They liked them better. I'm always challenging their taste buds like that. But it would be a lot easier if they just weren't so resistant to change period!

Jean

[shelsmiles]

Sneaky things? I don't consider them sneaky, I consider them STRATEGIC. DH is starting to learn (11 years later) not to ask if he doesn't want to know. There are clothes in everyone's closets and drawers in the house and food in the pantry and the freezer and the bills are paid and a roof over head. I take care of all of that and we get along just fine. How I do it is my business.

I take full advantage of freecycle, thrift stores, loss leaders and garage sales. None of it is illegal and it's just smart. My kids hate powdered milk, but only if they actually see me mixing it. So I don't let them see me ;o)

[graci42]

Sneaky? Me? Naaaa...I mix canned milk w/ the regular whole milk...dh won't drink % milk of any kind. I may have to try switching him...hehehe...it will be better for his heart.

I put oatmeal in the muffins...make waffles and syrup from scratch instead of buying cereal. When I buy cereal it's generic. DH didn't like Aldi's but he does now...hehehe What he didn't know ....hehehe

[Buckeye5]

How much is it for powdered milk? I might try this but won't be able to go to store for awhile.

[Vannie]

I don't do that, but my mom used to do it all the time. She told me because I was 8 years older than my brothers. She could never fool them about Welchs grape jelly though (LOL)