Monday Q&A-Temptation and Seasonal Buying (not in that order)
Do you have some observations/guidelines about the annual sales of certain staples?
Right around Easter you mentioned that you were stocking up on flour because that's usually the last time it goes on sale for awhile. I was a little low myself and saw that flour was selling for a very good price at Safeway. I stocked up as much as I could on your advice. Lo and behold, you were right. I haven't been able to buy flour for that price ever since. I buy fruit and vegetables in season, but I'm wondering about other staples now. Do you know if there's a good time to buy sugar? Canned tomatoes or other canned goods? Meats that can be frozen? Is there any kind of cycle w/paper products (unlikely, I suppose).
-Clare
Sugar sales usually happen around the same time that flour sales happen. Actually, most baking supplies go on sale all at the same time. More people bake around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter than any other times of the year, so the stores put their baking supplies on sale in order to entice you into their store.
It's easier to find a flour sale around the holidays than it is to find a sugar sale, but if you keep an eye on the sale ads, you can usually find a good price on sugar.
Meats are a little more difficult to predict. My stores seem to run sales on meats in pretty regular cycles year round. For example, my Weis store puts Tyson chicken breasts on sale for $1.69 every so often, and I've found that buying two large packs is usually enough to tide me over until the next $1.69 sale. A few exceptions to this are turkey (super cheap from November-December), and hot dogs/bratwurst/grilling meats (on sale during grilling season, along with ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, and the like).
In my area, canned goods don't seem to be deeply discounted at any particular time of year, but it's possible that I've missed a trend since I don't buy a whole lot in the way of canned groceries.
I've also not noticed any pattern with paper products, although sometimes paper towels go on sale when stores run spring cleaning specials. (Incidentally, though, I think that the best way to save on paper towels is to avoid using them as much as possible in the first place. Ditto for napkins. Not ditto for toilet paper, unless you own a bidet or something. 😉 )
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Your latest post made me wonder: don't you ever WANT anything that's not frugal?I often do well with grocery shopping. I shop every day for my household and make a trip of it: walk to the local Whole Foods, buy just what we need for dinner, breakfast and lunch, and then come back and cook. I find this way, I don't over-buy, and produce doesn't go bad. (not for everyone, but I've got time on my hands and it's good exercise).But every so often, I'll see something (bottle of wine, pair of shoes, an extravagant purse) and will succumb to the temptation---this is what usually throws off my frugal attempts.I'd just like to hear if you've got something you succumb to, how you deal with the urges (even if things don't go on sale often), and what you do to tide yourself over.-Reese
I think I've mentioned before that I am naturally frugal. I'm pretty sure I was just born this way, as I can remember debating for quite a while over buying a $14.99 sweater when I was a teen (and had much more than $14.99 in my account). Because frugality is in my blood and is not something I just do because I feel I ought to, resisting temptation in this arena is not particularly difficult for me.
This doesn't mean you should be terribly impressed by my self-control...on the contrary, you should probably be less than impressed because I don't have to exert a lot of effort to save my money. I'm just not tempted by most consumer goods out there, and I'm more than happy to patiently wait for something to show up on Freecycle or at Goodwill.
However, this is not to say that I don't ever spend money on things that are sort of extravagant/expensive. On the contrary, I think frugal living allows me to spend money on things I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise. And quite honestly, the idea of never spending money on anything fun or nice is really unappealing to me, and it's not the way I live.
I recently spent over $1000 on a camera lens, for example. I spent $25 apiece on my loaf pans from Williams-Sonoma. Also, we're going to the beach for two weeks next month which isn't exactly the most frugal choice ever.
There are two things, I think, that help me to resist spur-of-the-moment spending and help me avoid sabotaging our financial future.
1) I save up for non-frugal expenses. We started saving for this year's vacation as soon as we got home last year, so going on vacation is not going to disrupt our finances. Our rental is all paid for, and we have gas and spending money saved up, which is a delightful feeling. I earned money for my camera lens by doing some side work this spring, so buying it didn't derail us, and I used birthday money to buy my loaf pans (because I am weird and enjoy spending birthday money on things like that!).
As long as your budget isn't the sort where you're just barely getting by, I would highly recommend setting aside money for things that you want. For instance, you could allow yourself $40 a month for food splurges, if that's what really blows your hair back. Or you could give yourself a clothing budget, and if you manage not to spend your clothing budget each month, you could save up enough to buy that expensive purse.
2) I keep my goals in mind. Part of the reason that spending isn't usually tempting to me is that I've got bigger and better things in mind. Short-term, I want to save up enough to pay for a car in cash. Long-term, I want to save for our children's college expenses and our retirement, and I want to pay off our mortgage early. And when that happens, we'd like to use our new-found financial freedom to give more than we can give now.
Most of the time, these goals are not something that I want to give up for the short-term pleasure of buying something. However, I don't want to live my whole life depriving myself and my family of some of the pleasures that money can buy, so we do choose to spend some of our money instead of saving it all.
To use my examples above, family vacations are important to us, nice photography equipment is important to me, and quality kitchen equipment is important to me. However, brand new clothes are not terribly important to me, (especially when I can find nice used items)and neither is regular take-out.
Of course, the balance between saving for the future and spending in the here and now will look different for everyone, but I think that what is most important is that you make a plan that allows for both in a way that fits your income and your goals.
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How do you deal with temptation? Please share any tips you have for Reese! And if you've noticed some seasonal sales trends that I haven't, let us know.
I have noticed that canned items go on sale when the food bank drives go on. I've noticed when buying for the collections, usually close to Thanksgiving, that many cans are 3 for $1 or even as low as 4 for $1 in my area(Southeast U.S.). So at the same time I will stock up on some soups for our pantry.
There are a number of items in today's column I want to comment on:
"you should probably be less than impressed because I don't have to exert a lot of effort to save my money"
So true! My grandmother - a woman of few but worthwhile words - said much the same thing. Another formulation I hear is that you can't be brave if you don't have to overcome fear; without fear it's not bravery, it's foolhardiness.
"because I am weird and enjoy spending birthday money on things like [loaf pans]!"
My last birthday gift (from my family members combined) was ... wait for it ... washing machine. It's a front loader and my top loader had just died. Whoo-hoo! A front loader, finally. That may be even weirder than loaf pans, which I could totally get into.
Reese - how are you at developing new habits? Once a habit is formed it's startlingly hard to break it. This is true for good habits as well as bad ones. So in addition to Kristen's idea of having a splurge budget, my suggestion is to develop the habit of not buying an impulse immediately. Take some time to think about how much you really want that thing. If it's a bottle of wine at Whole Foods, think about getting it on your next trip. It'll almost certainly still be there and you'll have a little time to balance that bottle against whatever else it is you want your money for.
Kristen - I hope you're considering claiming that lens as a business expense. Dunno if you can but it'd be a nice bit of extra in your pocket.
How I avoid temptation:
If I'm shopping and find a purse/bag I *have to have* I walk around the store with it in my arms. I put the purse on my shoulder and see how it fits, I get used to having it. And then, I realize I don't like it because the 2 purses I have (one black, one purple) are perfect. If I ever find a black or purple purse that can displace the ones I have, then I'll get it. It's been 3 years, I haven't bought a purse or bag!
For clothes, what has helped me was getting a sewing machine and learning how to sew. I look at clothes, see that it wold take an hour or less to sew, figure out the cost of the fabric, and realize that the $20 shirt or $60 dress is really only about $10 and an hour or 2 of time. Knowing that, I won't buy it. If the item is on sale for a price that would be less than the fabric, then I try it on and see how it fits. If I would have to make alterations, I consider the amount of time and the price. For example, the last pair of pants I found were $12, but needed alterations. It would take 10 minutes to alter, and there was at least $10 worth of fabric in the pants. I bought them because it would take longer to make them and that was worth the $2 to me, even with the alteration.
For food, generally looking at the calorie count will dissuade me. If it doesn't, I put it in the cart, on the "kid seat" part and then every other item I look at in the store is compared to the temptation item. Generally, by the end of the grocery store trip, the temptation item is out of my cart because I would rather have the food I need than the temptation item.
As for sales:
Paper products are on sale now as the last big grill day (Labor Day) is coming up. I got a huge stack of napkins for 39 cents yesterday! I don't use them, but my roommate does, so this was a great find. Also, condiments are on sale (mustard for $1 and Mayo for $1.50) so I stocked up.
Canned goods will be going on sale soon, usually the end of September and then again around Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is the time I stock up on olives (generally less than a $1 a can) and broth (generally less than 50 cents a can!).
And no, I don't consider myself frugal, I consider myself practical! Why spend more for the things you need if you can wait to stock up and have all that you need?
You know, I can't say I've ever spent a grand on a camera lens. Though I have been eying a Leica Mount (probably a Voigtlander) rangefinder and those things are NOT cheap at all.
I just keep hoping someday my dream will come true and I'll no longer be a simple IT tech but can actually make a living with my camera.
William, I do photography on such a part-time basis, I don't even think I will make enough to have to pay taxes on it. lol I've only done a handful of sessions for pay, which is fine by me, as if I have to edit too many photos, I start to not have fun anymore!
A new washing machine would be an exciting gift for me too. lol
Battra, I didn't save up money for my lens by doing photography, so don't feel envious or anything! I played the piano a ton (for choirs, accompanying vocalists and instrumentalists, doing weddings) and I also did some childcare for a few months this spring/summer.
I considered going for a cheaper zoom lens, but I figured I would eventually want the L zoom lens and that I might as well fork over the cash now instead of buying the cheaper one now and the more expensive one later. I hope someday to upgrade my camera body to a full-frame DSLR, so I feel like it's wise to buy lenses that will work well with that, you know?
Great post! Must be nice to never even start with those "bad" spending habits! You must have grown up in a frugal household? Nevertheless, I love to read about your financial endeavours, it's inspiring!
Reese, you mentioned that you go grocery shopping every day, but on these trips you are tempted by other sales and other items. Maybe if you started to grocery shop less, maybe 2 or 3 times per week that would help? I know that has helped me.
"A new washing machine would be an exciting gift for me too. lol "
We are sad, sad people.
@Kristen
I completely agree that it's best to put your money into lenses and not the half frame or smaller lenses. That's why I got the cheapest body that Nikon has (a d40x) and I actually sometimes shoot old but very nice MF lenses on it. Of course, I also have to carry my trusty light meter around but I do that anyway since I shoot film 99% of the time.)
I invested in film a while back so it's what I stick with. Someday, though I wouldn't mind investing in some really fast and fine glass but I figure if I'm going to do that, I may as well go with the best (Leitz, Zeiss etc.) and get them on a decent body.
You did touch on something that I think is really important. Sometimes you really don't need to buy the thing to "hold you over." Had you bought the lesser lens you would've bought the better one eventually and that wouldn't be very frugal.
I tend to prefer prime lenses over Zooms personally as they are usually less expensive and faster but that all depends.
William, at least there's more than one of us.
Batta, I'd like to have a large assortment of prime lenses one day, but for now, this is a good all-purpose lens. I still adore my 50/1.4 prime, though...it just can't be beat for low light. And it's about 5 times lighter than my L lens!
Well depending on your technique a wide, a normal and a telephoto should be plenty. I'm not big on telephoto shots but once in a while they are good to have around.
Though today's zooms are much better than they used to be back in the mid 80s when film was king.
It is definitely frugal to check the ads to stock the pantry. We like one particular brand of mayonnaise. I'll clip the coupons for it and when it goes on sale, I buy at least 6 jars. This usually lasts until the next sale. The cashiers always comment and wonder why I buy such large quantities of mayo but little else. I tell them I'm stocking my pantry until the next sale. "Oh! What a good idea!" This practice is astonishing to them but wonderful for the pocket as well as the pantry. The same habit holds for meats. Lay them on cookie sheets to individually freeze the portions, cover with plastic grocery bags, and when completely fronzen, place them in ziplocks.
"This doesn't mean you should be terribly impressed by my self-control...on the contrary, you should probably be less than impressed because I don't have to exert a lot of effort to save my money."
For just finding this blog, this line alone makes me like it. 🙂 Like Reese, I sometimes agonize over how PF bloggers seem to make ALL the right choices and never fall into temptation like "the rest of us" seem to. It's good to see a writer with an extremely non-preachy tone, kudos, you're writing and photography are great! (I'd like a nice DSLR someday... Right now, I'm loving my point & shoot Canon that seems to be fantastic for my present skills.)
For me, I avoid temptation by having a set amount of "blow" money. If what I want exceeds my spending limit, I'm stuck waiting... Unless I feel comfortable enough to spend my tiny bit of savings on it. (Savings set aside from spending money not used, for nothing in particular.) I find that I rarely feel like taking from savings, but am happier when I have a bit of a "windfall" (extra money, I get paid on commission so it changes and I won't know until checks are posted) and can spend the money in one fell swoop without touching savings. This time, I finally have enough of this "extra" to pay for a new piece of ink art, which I'm looking forward to. 🙂 (Of the tattoo variety, which for some reason I feel weird mentioning on a blog like this!)