Here of late, I've been realizing more and more that there are things I've 'always' done or thought and that by simply changing my mind I can save us a bit more money. It started when I was watching "Old World Home" vlog. Hilary makes bread for her family every week and she always uses packets of yeast. Someone asked her 'Why don't you buy yeast in bulk?" Sheepishly, she admitted that it had never occurred to her to buy it in bulk...
And I'm right there with her. I sort of laughed to myself and wondered what other things I was doing on auto pilot because that was always the way I'd done it even though it was no longer necessary.
1. For years I had a lovely antique on the wall of my kitchen that held waxed paper, paper towels and aluminum foil. It was old and the only size rolls of aluminum foil or paper towel that would fit were small sized rolls. Not necessarily the least expensive option (per sq. foot) but that was what fit and so that's what I bought.
When we redid the kitchen, I removed that antique piece from the wall and put it aside. I put the foil and waxed paper in a drawer. Recently I realized that I'd sailed through yet another box of aluminum foil. I'd restocked foil in September, and I bought four of the small rolls. As I reached for the last box on the storage shelf that day, it suddenly hit me: I don't have to buy the smaller rolls anymore. Since I'm storing the foil in the drawer, I can buy a larger roll, and I'll run out less often.
Not only that but I'll get four times as much and pay half the money for it!
I was also still buying the cheapest, smallest paper towel rolls. It seemed as though we were forever running out of paper towels, and I wondered if we were overusing them. The truth is we don't use a lot of paper towels at all, but when we did, we had to use double the amount we might of another brand because the paper was so thin. Now that the paper towel was on a holder that could be kept under the counter, it wasn't necessary to buy the cheapest, and therefore smallest) rolls. I bought a better quality, large roll when it was on sale. It is a savings. In the past the small rolls cost $1 or $1.25 and we would go through a roll a month. The larger roll cost me around the same but we'll use it for a longer period of time.
2. Another thing I am constantly doing is buying things in multiples even when they are new to me products. Let me tell you, I have been bitten more than once by this habit of having a supply of things on hand that I do NOT like but am loathe to toss because I hate to throw money away. From now on I'm buying one. If it's a clearance item that I'm purchasing, then we'll see if I use it and can find something similar elsewhere. If it's a new item that was a special purchase item, I can still buy just one and go back for more if we like it.
Ditto for those things I use very occasionally. It's so much easier to go into the store and pick up a can of water chestnuts when I'm about to make that one casserole that calls for them and we have only on occasion, than to find myself with four expiring cans on the shelf and having to scramble for ways to use them.
3. Being 'influenced' by vloggers, recipe developers and people I know to buy certain products. After 47 years of shopping, I am pretty certain of what my family (and I) will eat and will not eat. Due to finances, I have been purchasing 'ingredients' for years rather than processed foods, but every now and then...I'll succumb because this person or that said, "Oh it's so good!"
And I even do this with healthy foods that I think I 'ought' to be using because this or that one said it was super healthy.
Again, more often than not it was a waste of time and money. Or worse: we really liked it but it was not sustainable on the budget I have to work with, so we had to give it up. Disappointment anyway you look at it, right?
4. It's not just food either. Buy this gadget or that because so and so swears by it and how wonderful it is to have it. I admit the reason I have a pressure canner is because it looked so much easier to use than the big bulky, can barely lift it manual canners. I'm not saying I'm ready to give up my pressure canner, but I am saying I have been influenced and found it to be a mistake for me personally. Clothing pieces, decor items, appliances, etc.
5. I know that I am a person who sometimes can get in a rut and like it. But that too is a habit that sometimes does not stand me well. Since John retired, I have mostly only left the house in his company. John didn't want to travel with a child in the car so he would refuse to buy groceries or do any errand when we had a grandchild with us.
Not only that but John is very much a "I can run back over to Warner Robins tomorrow..." and do one errand at a time.
Just here at the start of this year, I've been pushing myself to go do things on my own. I so much enjoy going out with the grands and I also enjoy running errands on my own when I can get multiples of things done that might otherwise get missed because John suddenly has had enough and wants to go home.
6. And John's right...If I don't get it all done in one fell swoop I can always go back. We're not so broke that we must ration gas, though I do tend to do so.
Sometimes I'm just flat worn out by what I have done. Sometimes, traffic is horrific, or things seem to be continually trying my patience and I'm just ready to go home. There is no shame in starting out again the next day.
That's just my bit of insight into ways that changing my mind could be a savings of time, money or self. What about you? Have you changed your mind lately about something?
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