Eleven Miserly Guidelines to Saving Money

Here are the eleven miserly guidelines that are the core principles covered in Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy (remember, I profiled the author the other day):

1. Don't confuse frugality with depriving yourself.
2. Remove little wasters of your money.
3. Keep track of food prices.
4. Don't buy everything at the same store.
5. Buy in bulk whenever possible.
6. Make your own whenever possible.
7. Eliminate convenience foods.
8. Cut back on meats.
9. Waste nothing.
10. Institute a soup-and-bread or baked-potato night.
11. Cook several meals at once and freeze them.

A few comments:

• She uses "miserly" as a replacement for "frugal" and she means it as a positive term (versus what some of us might consider "miserly" to mean -- similar to "hoarding.")

• Most of these guidelines have to do with food-related purchases because that's the category she initially focused most on reducing (since it was large and not fixed.)

• I'll share details on many of the tips above, so before someone comments that buying in bulk isn't always a good idea or that shopping at several stores wastes gas/time, you may want to wait until I have a chance to cover it in a future post.

• I like the fact that she recognizes small spending is a budget killer.

• We've cut back on meats ourselves, but mostly we've cut back on the quantity of meat eaten at each meal, not what she (and others) suggest -- having more meatless meats meals.

That's it for now. See anything that really sparks your interest?

Comments

[Param]

"having more meatless meats." - now that's an oxymoron... did you mean having more "meatless meals" instead?

[Cyclepath]

Very good advice. A lot of people still don't realise that by making small, simple changes in their habits, it will affect their financial status in the end.

A word of advice regarding bulk purchases though. There are times where bulk purchases are not always cheaper, so price comparisons need to be done.

[Rob]

I like all of the points. Wasting food is something we need to work on in our house. We eat leftovers all the time, but sometimes we forget they are in the fridge and it goes bad! However I do feel a little better about it than I used to since we have started composting all our left over food (except meat).

[Hank]

The hardest part is drawing that line between frugal and depriving yourself. It is very easy to get carried away in being miserly or frugal by taking it to the extreme.

[FMF]

Param --

Yes, that's what I meant. :-)

I'll update it.

[Belmont Thornton]

Your tips are very useful, I hate wasting food and i feel it is something that saves a lot of money if worked on properly.

[Old Limey]

The waste of food in America is apalling, look no further than the food left behind on the tables in restaurants by other diners. My wife and I were raised as children in England during WWII under very severe food rationing. The convoys bringing food into our island were being torpedoed by German U-boats so naturally we imported lots less than normal. A common slogan was "Waste Not, Want Not".
Even though we are in a financial position where money no longer matters our values have not changed, my wife will still take home our leftover food from restaurants including half a loaf of French bread and the butter packages we didn't need.
I also grow lots of our fruits and vegetables. We have freezer full of home made soups of various types, bags of stewed apples, plums, and tomatoes that we use in the Winter. Absolutely nothing in our house goes to waste.
We have many meatless meals - for us it's a matter of choice and health - not money. Last night for example we had Alaskan King Crab with a Caesar salad, French bread from Costco, and a bottle of great Australian Chardonnay from Lucky's that was $2.49.
The crab was a special buy at Safeway, a 10lb. box for $9.99/lb that will last us 5 dinners and 5 lunches.

[Lauren]

I absolutely struggle with #1. Sometimes a budget can seem like a diet, and treating yourself can enduce that diet-cheating-guilt. I'll have to work on budgeting in some fun for the present. Maybe we'll try adding in some of those meatless meats, they sound European...

[KaseyD]

I pretty much do all but #8 and #10.

I've got a Lucky's and Safeway real close to me, so I review the weekly flyers and shop both stores (#4). Thre is real competition between them; each trying to draw in customers with a few great deals. For example, I gotten grapes for $0.79# at Luckys when they were $1.99 at Safeway. If I didn't price check, I'd have paid more than double at Safeway. Did I need grapes - No; did I enjoy them - Yes (#1)

I make almost everything from scratch (#7); except I have yet to break my habit of buying packaged bread mix for fresh baked bread. (I just love Bob's Red Mill when it's on sale.) Perhaps I'll try making my own mix from scratch. It should be a lot less expensive.

With regard to #8, I don't use less, because I've never eated much to begin with. However, I've replaced home cooked meals with meat (beef, pork, chicken or seafood) instead of meals out and frozen pizza for dinner. I always buy bulk/on sale; thank goodness for freezers.

I like #10 and will try to set that up. I already make my own soups (via crockpot or pressure cooker) with lots for leftovers. But it is on an erratic schedule. Sounds like a good plan for Sunday night supper.