It's Cheaper to Do This than That Thread

[pershing]

Do you do or buy something that you found a cheaper way recently? If so, share!

Mine is small, but it's how I came up with the idea for this thread:

It's cheaper to buy a fresh jalapeno from fresh produce section than one of those small cans in the mexican food area.

For years and years, when it's taco night I go to the grocery store, get some taco kits and grab a small can of jalapenos right next to the kits. It was fine when those small cans were a dollar or under, but they are two dollars and rising now.

I went to the produce aisle grabbed one to weigh it and price it, thinking it was $1.99/lb, probably the same as the can.

It was 16 cents. Ugh! I could kick myself!

Does anyone else have one?

 

[DizMe]

Great thread! I know I have quite a few, I just can't think of them right now

But a couple that are probably not secrets to anyone: buying your spices in bulk is SO much cheaper than buying the little jars in the spice aisle. My grocery store has bulk bins and bulk spice containers. It's so cheap to get nutmeg, cinnamon, etc as well as things like taco mix, gravy mix, and onion soup. One of the biggest savers for me is sesame seeds. I put them on/in a lot of my food. You can get a little bag of them for almost nothing and if you like (and I do), you can toast them in a pan for a few minutes for the added flavor.

 

[Pacesetter]

This may sound a little lame, but it's cheaper to stock up on something when you see it at a really low price rather than wait until you need it and have to pay whatever. I just paid double for a package of coffee pods at the grocery store because we were out than I saw it for at WalMart two weeks ago when we still had lots.

 

[Monykalyn]

If you have space and money up front- buy a side of beef all at once. I've done this for a few years now (a side will last a couple years for us) and it averages about $4/pound after processing- including steaks and roasts.

Garlic- much cheaper to use fresh and chop than get jarred stuff. Actually anything in bulk that you have to "process" yourself. I'll shred a big block of cheese at once in food processor.

I also make my own onion soup mix, taco seasoning and pancake mix.

Growing own herbs that you use a lot of. I love rosemary so I grow large bushes of that outdoors and keep one indoors in a container through winter.

 

[DizMe]

I rarely use canned cream soups. I just make my own "condensed soup" out of butter, flour, and milk and add some bouillon if I need more flavor.

I tried making my own Rice-a-Roni as we don't eat much packaged food and I figured I could do something similar, so I googled and found a recipe to make it and keep in mason jars. For me: totally not worth it

 

[goodeats]

I used to read frugal message boards - there was quite a contingent that made their own laundry soap. It sounded pretty expensive TBH.

I maintain it's cheaper to stock up on TP, Paper Towels, Canned goods, etc at Costco and just be done with it rather than collecting coupons and chasing the deals around town. But then again I'm an impulse shopper and am better off not being in the stores!

It's also cheaper to take of yourself now then to let yourself fall apart. Same can be said of car maintenance and home maintenance.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We like to get Chipotle once a week and love their guac, but the cost keeps going up. Chipotle actually has their guac recipe on their website. We wait for avocados to go on sale ($0.59 each) and then buy a bunch. We let them ripen, cut them in half, remove the seed and then freeze them. When it is Chipotle night, I take out 2 avocados from the freezer, let them thaw and then make the guac. So we get the same guac for less than 1/3 the cost.

 

[pershing]

I used to read frugal message boards - there was quite a contingent that made their own laundry soap. It sounded pretty expensive TBH.

I maintain it's cheaper to stock up on TP, Paper Towels, Canned goods, etc at Costco and just be done with it rather than collecting coupons and chasing the deals around town. But then again I'm an impulse shopper and am better off not being in the stores!

It's also cheaper to take of yourself now then to let yourself fall apart. Same can be said of car maintenance and home maintenance.

I went through the soap making phase also. It was cheaper by far than buying laundry detergent but nothing is better than tide. So I coupon for tide instead.

I did learn a lot about vinegar’s uses while in that phase. So I don’t consider it a waste.

I stock up on bulk items at BJ’s-flour, sugar, rice, toilet paper, kitty litter, eggs,...things we use a lot of, but I still coupon at BJ’s.

I’m an admitted couponer. I don’t like the word extreme, but I presently have 20 boxes of different kinds of Special K, yogurt and even tiny bags of Lindt candy-each from Last week’s haul. My receipt total before coupons was $84 and was $1.89 after.

So I think coupons make a difference, but there’s nothing impulsive in my buying. I get what I can with coupons and then put it together into meals somehow.

 

[Txshadow]

I've started buy as much as I can at Aldi. They have a location that is on the way to my normal grocery store so I stop there first. Armed with my list and reusable shopping bags, I purchase everything I can at Aldi, before driving the remaining mile to my normal store to finish up. I place cold items in my insulated bag and they are fine during my shortened trip to the "regular" store for items Aldi doesn't carry. I kept a price list mt first few trips just to confirm Aldi prices were better and I averaged 15% - 20% savings.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

it's cheaper to check and see if any of your local animal shelters are offering vaccine, spay/ neuter, and microchipping clinics than to have it done at your vets office (probably, depending on your vet of course). I got both of my cats microchipped for the price it would have been for each of them at my vet- and any proceeds went to the shelter.

Obviously, it's good to get them in for a vet visit just to get a checkup on their general well being, but if you fall on hard times like i did at one point these clinics can be lifesavers!

 

[Moramoon]

Something I've kind of gotten out of the habit of, but since we're trying not to eat out as often is being sure to check restaurants where kids eat free on certain days of the week. I know the Chili's by us they're free on Tuesday. I think our Penn Station and Bob Evan's they're free on Tuesday too. Steak n Shake is weekends. I also recently found out that Chipotle has a kids reading program. I haven't looked into it yet, but we'll probably enroll our son in it.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Buying two one way flights (using two different airlines). People are often surprised with this. I know a family that drives from West Coast to East Coast to save money when I told them I often find flights RT PP for under $300.

I often buy clothes, sandals and boots at the end of the season when they're on clearance i.e. sandals, shorts, swimwear in September and jeans, long sleeves and boots in March.

 

[ktate82]

Something I've kind of gotten out of the habit of, but since we're trying not to eat out as often is being sure to check restaurants where kids eat free on certain days of the week. I know the Chili's by us they're free on Tuesday. I think our Penn Station and Bob Evan's they're free on Tuesday too. Steak n Shake is weekends. I also recently found out that Chipotle has a kids reading program. I haven't looked into it yet, but we'll probably enroll our son in it.

O'Charlie's has kids eat free everyday! Plus Wednesday is free pie day for adults....

 

[momma2ethan]

Something I've kind of gotten out of the habit of, but since we're trying not to eat out as often is being sure to check restaurants where kids eat free on certain days of the week. I know the Chili's by us they're free on Tuesday. I think our Penn Station and Bob Evan's they're free on Tuesday too. Steak n Shake is weekends. I also recently found out that Chipotle has a kids reading program. I haven't looked into it yet, but we'll probably enroll our son in it.

I love kids eat free promos. We take advantage of it at Denny's and Ihop at least once a month.
We are also Red Robin club members and frequently get emails for 15% off promos. Ds loves the siracha tavern double so we'll go a each get a tavern double meal at $6.99 each reg price, share a soda and be out the door for under $20 including tip.

I'm an avid clearance shopper. I check out the clearance racks at Target each time I'm there and rarely pay more than $5/pce for DS's clothes. I buy a size or 2 up from his current size and am not forced to run out and replace items at full price when he hits a growth spurt.

I also try to hit Target after each holiday when they drop holiday items 70-90%. I don't care that my saran wrap is red and has snowflakes on the box or that our paper plates are festooned with snowmen.

 

[Action City]

I’m an admitted couponer. I don’t like the word extreme, but I presently have 20 boxes of different kinds of Special K, yogurt and even tiny bags of Lindt candy-each from Last week’s haul. My receipt total before coupons was $84 and was $1.89 after.

You aren't saving anything if you end up throwing food away because it is stale or has gone bad.

 

[pershing]

You aren't saving anything if you end up throwing food away because it is stale or has gone bad.

Yeah, nothing gets thrown away in my house.

However, you bring up a great point! Food management in the house is an important saving tool! Assessing what you have that spoils, and planning for its use before it goes bad is a great way to save money.

I also donate anything couponing thing that doesn't work out to the food pantry bin in my grocery store. Like the dozen Annie's Mac N' Cheese boxes I got free with coupons. The boys were like, Yuck!, this is so not like Kraft, so in the food pantry bin they went.

I personally label the front of my cans, mixes etc. anything with an expired by date on it with black marker so I can see it the dates when I open the cupboard.

For instance, I recently learned to make falafels because I had 4 cans of garbanzo/chickpeas (same thing) expiring. I was going to grill them in the oven, and look up how to make hummus but my kids loved the falafels so much, I ended up using all 4 cans on them!

btw I hope everyone knows that cake mixes should be definitely tossed when expired. There are stories of toxic mold forming and stuff. Duncan Hines even recommends destroying the box and contents so no one else pulls is out of the garbage.

 

[amcnj]

Yeah, nothing gets thrown away in my house.

However, you bring up a great point! Food management in the house is an important saving tool! Assessing what you have that spoils, and planning for its use before it goes bad is a great way to save money.

I also donate anything couponing thing that doesn't work out to the food pantry bin in my grocery store. Like the dozen Annie's Mac N' Cheese boxes I got free with coupons. The boys were like, Yuck!, this is so not like Kraft, so in the food pantry bin they went.

I personally label the front of my cans, mixes etc. anything with an expired by date on it with black marker so I can see it the dates when I open the cupboard.

For instance, I recently learned to make falafels because I had 4 cans of garbanzo/chickpeas (same thing) expiring. I was going to grill them in the oven, and look up how to make hummus but my kids loved the falafels so much, I ended up using all 4 cans on them!

btw I hope everyone knows that cake mixes should be definitely tossed when expired. There are stories of toxic mold forming and stuff. Duncan Hines even recommends destroying the box and contents so no one else pulls is out of the garbage.

Plus if your last shopping bill was only $1.89, then that is less than the cost of even one box of the cereal! But still, it is good to buy what you can use or donate before expiration to avoid food waste. I still marvel at how little some couponers can pay for so many items.

 

[kid-at-heart]

We like to get Chipotle once a week and love their guac, but the cost keeps going up. Chipotle actually has their guac recipe on their website. We wait for avocados to go on sale ($0.59 each) and then buy a bunch. We let them ripen, cut them in half, remove the seed and then freeze them. When it is Chipotle night, I take out 2 avocados from the freezer, let them thaw and then make the guac. So we get the same guac for less than 1/3 the cost.

You can freeze avocados? I did not know that. Do they turn brown when frozen?

 

[dolewhipdreams]

We use the "Subscribe and Save" feature on Amazon like crazy, especially for consumable pet products. Just be careful to monitor the length between orders. When we first started getting our dog food through Amazon, we set the reorder rate too high and ended up with three bags at once (oops!).

This board is great- only one page in and there have been so many helpful ideas.

 

[Action City]

You can freeze avocados? I did not know that. Do they turn brown when frozen?

Yes and yes.