Since it's a holiday...
It's Memorial Day here in the U.S., so I didn't want to put a Meet a Reader post up today. I know the authors of these posts enjoy reading comments from you all, and there will just be fewer people online today.
So, I'll just write some miscellaneous stuff because I get chances to chat with you all on the regular...so if fewer people see this, it's totally ok by me. 🙂
Grocery prices went slightly down in April
The Consumer Price Index showed a 0.2% decrease in grocery prices, which yes, is not a huge. But it's way way better than a continuing pattern of increasing!
Interestingly, in the last year, grocery prices have gone up 1.1%, but the price of food away from home has gone up 4.1%.
So, not only is eating out more expensive to begin with, the cost has increased at a higher percentage as compared to eating at home.
Eating at home with food you bought at a grocery store is almost always the cheapest way to feed yourself.
And that is true even with grocery inflation.
I'm trying a free month of online personal training
Back in December, I followed an account on Instagram run by exercise physiologist Ben Palocko, who does online personal training. I wasn't really looking to sign up for coaching but I liked his simplified approach to fitness and I thought I'd pick up a few tips by following him.
He'd sent me an automated message back then asking about my fitness goals and I was like "I'M IN NURSING SCHOOL AND SO BUSY. I'm just hoping to maintain my current level of activity."
In May he checked back in with me again, and he offered to let me try a month of his services so I could share the experience with you (but this is not sponsored in any other way!)
He does all his work through an app, which includes food tracking. I have never in my life tracked my food before so this is an interesting experience.
I already know I'm not gonna be a person who consistently tracks my food (TOO much work) but a month of tracking should give me a solid baseline to work from.
I have noticed that tracking food has the same sort of effect that a time-tracking exercise or a budgeting exercise has; you tend to make slightly better choices when you know you have to write them down.
(No one wants to write down, "2 hours Instagram scrolling." or, "$437 on takeout this month")
Anyway, my actual workout routine started today. My normal way of lifting weights is rather haphazard so it will be interesting to see how it feels to have a predetermined set of exercises to do!
I have a health screening this week for my job
I won't actually get started with training until later in June, but I think this health screening is the last step in getting all my ducks in a row for my student nurse job.
I'm not super sure exactly what happens at the health screening, but I already went through so many health checks for nursing school, this can't be super different!
I do know there's a nicotine test because this hospital doesn't hire anyone who uses nicotine. That'll be an easy one for me. 😉
I'm gonna dust off my Tightwad Gazette copy
It has been so many years since I read through this 900-page tome; in fact, I think I've gone nearly my whole 16-year blogging career without cracking it open.
I thought it would be interesting to take a fresh tour through this frugal classic, especially now that I have been writing about frugality for so many years.
I smiled when I read the preface; she said she never wanted to write a book (same!)
And she said that she liked the newsletter format because of reader participation (via letters back then).
"I solicit reader participation, which provides an enormous pool of expertise to draw upon. So even if my knowledge isn't well-rounded, the newsletter can be, and because I constantly learn from my readers, the newspaper is a growth process for me as well." -Amy D
Doesn't that remind you of what we have here? The process is a lot faster now because we can instantaneously connect, but otherwise, the experience is very similar.
I've basically just been running an internet version of The Tightwad Gazette. 🙂
I'm sure my trip through these pages will inspire some blog post ideas, so I'll share sporadically as I go.
If you're having a day off today, I hope it's relaxing and fun. And I'll see you back here tomorrow for Five Frugal Things (a feature Amy could definitely have included in her Tightwad Gazette newsletters!)
Re-reading the Tightwad Gazette should be amusing. It was written sort of on the cusp of the internet becoming a household thing and so much has changed since then!
@JenRR, I always enjoy re-reading her article (in the last part of the book) about whether one really needs a home computer. Her conclusion, IIRC, was, no. But she didn't forsee Covid and online learning, and nearly every company switching to online payments! As far as I know, my MIL is the only person I know who does not have a computer or internet in her home. She drives to the library to check her email and use the internet there, but says she's afraid to have "the Internet" in her house. She thinks she would get caught up in it and never get anything done. When she says this, my eyes tend to gaze at all the piles of hoarded stuff she has been meaning to declutter for the past couple of decades....
@Karen A., your MIL sounds exactly like my next-door neighbor--except that my NDN doesn't even have email or use a library computer. Other than that, I think they may be separated-at-birth twins.
@Karen A., It’s been a few years since I read the book, but I remember that portion. I was born in the late 70s and love telling my kids about childhood before the internet, cell phones, etc. and how their grandmother used a computer for work that took up a whole room and involved paper punchcards. It’s amusing to watch their minds work on that info. I’ve recently been cleaning out boxes of my stuff from childhood through the early 2000s. So much paper!! There are some treasures in there but I most definitely don’t need report cards and paper copies of every bill from 2002. I’m very glad to not have so much superfluous paper in my life these days!
@JenRR, I was born in the early 70s and my kids almost fell over when they learned we did not have the internet growing up. One of my kids was begging for a cell phone and asked how old was I when my mother let me text- 35! Wrong argument to use on me.
@Lisa, Ha! I love it.
What kind of unit will you be working on for your student nurse job? I think the health screening other than the nicotine and drug screen is a vision and hearing test and N95 fitting. I had to bring my immunization record, too and they did a TB quantiferon test.
It's gonna be a joint and spine unit, but also possibly some on the general surgery unit (the manager who hired me manages both units so I'm not sure exactly where I will be.)
I am due for a TB test for school so it would be sweet if I got it done for the job. I could kill two birds with one stone!
My frugal mom was one the TWG’s original newsletter subscribers and kept a binder of them (which I still have). To me the best value was that she always shared her thought process and the math that went with it. That way you could decide if a recommended tip was worth it in your own situation.
@Jennifer C-L, I too have a complete set of the newsletters (begun by my frugal mother and completed by me). I may have to mention these in a codicil to my will.
And, yes, some of Amy's advice is dated now because she ended the newsletter just before the Internet exploded. But a lot of it is as fresh as ever. Go ye therefore and explore it, dear children in spirit.
@Jennifer C-L, that is so cool - the binder! I didn't know until this post that it started out as newsletters!
@A. Marie, I still have my binder with every issue in it, including one issue with a frugal tip from me.
I just made a Tightwad Gazette quiche - love how it's an easy option for a quick meal when you have some leftover rice. I like how she gave baseline recipes, so you know general proportions or common options and then you just wing it however you want.
But, like you, I haven't actually read the books for years - it'll be fun to hear what snippets or tips catch your eye!
@Suz, a tough crusted quiche? For some reason, the "tough crust" sticks in my head.
While her health insurance articles were far too shaded by her husband being in the military, her other articles were good.
I just bought, for the first time, The Tightwad Gazette! I am enjoying it so much. I read a few pages at a time as I have time 🙂 Jane
The Tightwad Gazette was originally THREE books. Well, first it was the black & white newsletters…After the 3rd came out they were consolidated to one. I still have all three copies. In 1993 I was newly married and wanted to learn about frugality so I could eventually be an at-home mom to my future kids. I devoured those newsletters and books. I even sent a tip in, which she printed in one of the books. I make Amy’s quiche @once a month. I just pulled the books out to re-read with you this summer. Finally, a book club with books I want to read. 🙂
@Jen in Santa Cruz, I would be very happy if you could post the quiche recipe. I need an easy recipe and I love quiche.
Yes! I remember reading the original three books, borrowed from a friend I believe.
@Vickymac, if you google Tightwad Gazette quiche, it comes up quickly!
@Jen in Santa Cruz, I was married in 1992 and, like you, still have my original three books!
I was so impressed with their creativity at making Halloween costumes, homemade gifts, fabulous birthday parties (I riffed off the pirate theme party one year), but my favorites are Amy's articles about philosophy and approach. One article was about the need to have "matting as in a frame" space around experiences and things in order to appreciate the individual aspect of each. This was quite a different approach then the "greed is good" and "buy, buy, buy" of the 1980's.
I also love how Amy was so clear in her goal to have a large family and live in a farmhouse in Maine with an attached garage.
@Jen in Santa Cruz, Now I must know which tip you sent in that got published! 🙂
@Jen in Santa Cruz, what was your tip, do you remember? I haven’t read the TWG books or newsletters but have heard of it and really would like to read it here, or just discussion now about what’s worked for you, Jristen, and others, and possibly what isn’t really relevant or worth the effort. I will say my best thing was investing whatever I could as young as I could, with paying for professional fiduciary guidance. Of course, as always, cooking at home and not buying a lot of new clothes and furniture are really important. And the idea of being cheerful in this endeavor matters more than Pennie’s grumpily staged away. Thanks, Kristen and all of you!
Jenny S.currently In Wisconsin
@Libby, BARN!
@Vickymac, I will see if I can upload photos of the recipe soon. There was one with the (leftover) rice crust, which is good, but I always keep pre-made pie crusts in my freezer since all you need are eggs, cheese, spices and seriously whatever meat and/or veggies you have on hand. I remember that Amy said you can use ANYTHING, she once even made a quiche with sauerkraut and it was good. My family always eats it up, hot or cold. I have never use sauerkraut, though!
@Karen A., My Frugal Tip was so silly and I can’t believe she even published it. But I was an aspiring writer at the time and seeing it in the newsletter made my week!
@Selena, YES! You are right LOL - an attached BARN!
I want to give an up-date regarding "my" Ukrainian refugees whom I hosted for 18 months. A mother with her teenage daughter - now 15.years old.
Somewhen in September last year they went back to their home in Charkiw - in the very east about 30 km distance from the Russian border. During the last couple of weeks life has turned into a nightmare with shelling, bombing, rockets day and night with many casualties.
Things are so bad that the mother (and the father) decided to send their daughter back to Germany. The girl wants to stay with me. All three of us grew very fond of each other. Vor various reasons the mother cannot stay in Germany. So the plan is that she will accompany her daughter to my place and I am now in the process of asking/getting custody for her daughter. Lots and lots of burocracy, paperwork etc - with no promise of being able to work it all out the way we want it to.....
This new development comes right at the moment when I am in the midst of selling my flat und moving to another place next week. That makes things even more complicated because now while applying for the necessary papers and process for the girl I am switching address and registration. And I am extremely busy right now.
They are planning on arriving on Monday two weeks from today. The mother will stay for a short while and then go back to all her duties at home (among them her mom who suffered a really bad stroke a few weeks ago).
Just imagine how desperate things must be in order for sending your 15 year old daughter abroad for an indefinite period of time to make sure the daughter is safe.
My feelings are so mixed. I am over the moon and absolutely thrilled to see and hug both of them shortly and I love the thought of sharing life and flat with the girl. But I am heart broken for the parents. And for the girl as well of course.
Prayers for the well being for both of them are much appreciated.
I have no words to describe my gratitude for living in a country with no war.
@Lea, this breaks my heart. I will pray for your living situation and the family. God bless you and your heart for others in peril.
@Lea, wow! Prayers for you and this family. What a heartbreaking situation.
@Lea, Wow! Bless you for opening your home and heart. Prayers for all involved, and that everything will go smoothly.
@Lea, I am so sorry for the pain caused the family. You are an angel to help them. I pray that things improve and that everything works out.
Just the other day I was thinking about the people in Ukraine and how exhausted they must be. It's hard to imagine what it's like to live in conditions like that, and for such a long time.
I'm glad that you are able to be there for the 15 year old; bless you for helping this family.
@Lea, thank you for the update and for your practical caring for this precious family. Will be praying for the parents and you and their daughter, as well as all others caught up in violence and war.
@Lea, this is heartbreaking. I'm so glad you can look after the girl and so sad for her parents.
@Lea, blessings on this family as they struggle with an impossible situation, and on you for helping. I often reflect that those of us in the USA don't appreciate (most of the time) how lucky we are, however grim things may seem. I wish all of you all the best.
@Lea, while it is heartbreaking to have to send your child away, I am sure it is a great comfort to these parents to know their girl is with you, someone they know and trust!
@Lea,
God bless you for taking in the little girl and making sure she'll be safe. Thank you for doing that and for taking them in earlier; you are making the world a better place. As for the mother, it just breaks my heart that she has to take care of HER mother who suffered the stroke, and that she has to do this right in the middle of an all out war.
I am reminded about reading about two little girls who were exiled due to war. One was Anne Frank, who moved with her family from Germany to the Netherlands because it had been a safe and neutral country in World War One. Sadly, history did not repeat itself and the Nazis took over the country in World War Two. So the Franks and their friends had to hide out in the "secret annex" -- a back room/attic space in Mr. Frank's business building -- only to be caught in the end by the Nazis. Except for Anne's father, they all died in those horrid concentration camps. Anne and her sister Margot's deaths occurred shortly before their camp was liberated, IIRC.
Meanwhile one of the people who had helped the Secret Annex residents, at great personal peril, was a young employee named Miep Giles in the diary. You may be interested to know that Miep herself had been a child refugee sent to live in the Netherlands during World War One, had bonded with her hosts so that her parents later let her stay. Apparently wanting to pay it forward, she helped more than one group of Jews. None of the different ones knew about the other groups; that way, if anyone was captured, they couldn't give any one else away to the Nazis. Amazingly, Miep didn't think she had done anything special, but she was persuaded to write her memoirs. Hers is a worthy companion book to Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl, and in the right hands, likely would make a good movie or miniseries.
So, Lea, you are carrying on a great humanitarian effort, and I applaud you for your "being the hands and feet of Christ" in doing so.
1938: “I seek a kind person who will educate my intelligent Boy, aged 11, Viennese of good family,” the advert said, under the name Borger, giving the address of an apartment on Hintzerstrasse, in Vienna’s third district."
Jews advertising their children in the late 1930s hoping to get them out of the country and away from the Nazis.
Read this. I also read the book as it's fascinating.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/may/06/guardian-200-ad-that-saved-jewish-father-from-nazis
@Lea, How generous and unselfish you are. This is a wonderful story especially in the part of how close you’ve become. This family got such a horrible deal but you saved them and their daughter. What an example you set!
Correction: Miep's last name did not have an L in it. It should be Miep Gies.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I recently sat in a canal boat outside the apartment that Anne Frank hid in. The area is lovely now, can't imagine what it must have been like then.
@Lea, I pray for you and your Ukrainian family in such a stressful time. Best of luck with moving at the same time. It does seem like stresses fall on our shoulders when we least want them, but we seem to muddle through anyway. Helping you make a new home will help your new roomie feel it is her home, too.
@Lea, How wonderful that she can send her daughter to you and she knows she will be safe am well cared for. What a terrible thing for them to go through but how lucky they are that you can help.
Thanks for posting today. I expected not to enjoy one today. You are so special and deserve everything good. I am working my way through Kate Bowler books and watching Golmor Girls. Having such a great time. I subscribed to Amy's newsletter. It was so interesting. I did not want to live check to check like all the other folks at my company.
I checked out the Tightwad Gazette books from the library when I was newly married. The two tips I specifically remember were to use the tops of orange juice cans to repair shoes (on the soles), and to use frosting containers as containers for other things.
I'm laughing because those two tips are so random and not especially helpful.
Hahahah, what??? How in the world would orange juice lids be useful for shoe repair???
And the frosting one is funny because wouldn't it just be better to make your own frosting? And frosting is awfully quick and easy to make anyway.
@Tammy,
The thing I remember most from TG is how she cobbled together an awesome robot costume for one of her young sons (elementary school age). They used all kinds of miscellaneous stuff from the dad's junk drawer -- dials, wires, fuses, clothes dryer tubing, and even a cut-up milk jug for the mask. The boy was the hit of the Halloween party in their new community, where they'd just moved.
I don't have kids, never used that tip, but I started doing all kinds of other non-kid-related things she described. Framing greeting cards in frames gleaned from dollar stores or garage sales, using not-to-tall cedar chests for coffee tables/extra storage, shopping secondhand, etc.
Oh, and her essay on Christmas shopping is a classic.
@Kristen, yes! Why OH cans! It’s hard to picture, but maybe you’ll post it here, with pictures, for future reference, or for chuckles. My Mom did not cook or bake much, and I didn’t know about homemade frosti for a few years. Those containers were a great size for a serving or two of something. And they were “free”. I doubt Ud buy that frosting g ever again, but someone should sell thise 26 oz round containers with the easy-open top. They are just the right size for the freerubber bands that come with my newspaper to hold a post-it label on the container and they fit in the door or my refrrigerator and big stand up freezer! This tip is already obsolete! Lol
@Kristen, IIRC the orange juice lids were not to repair shoes, but to make a kind of "tap shoes" for kids who wanted a pair.
@Anne, Ooooh, that makes more sense.
@Tammy, I am loving reading these comments about the Tightwad Gazette as they were so influential to me at that time period when they were published. I do not recall the juice lids or re-use of frosting containers, but I remember that Amy said you could brush your teeth without toothpaste to save money. And home haircuts!
Consumers started pulling back on grocery shopping in the face of rising prices, so the big chains and Walmart and Target and Aldi have all started reducing prices. Target just announced it would lower prices on 5,000 items, including milk, produce, bread and coffee, as well as diapers and pet food.
On the other hand, prices keep going up on fast food and restaurant prices.
So, yeah! Eat at home.
We don't celebrate Memorial Day in Europe so the only thing I remember is that it's in May!
I've heard of the Tightwad Gazette but never read it. I wonder how dated it is.
It's ridiculously humid here but punctured with thunderstorms. I was cycling yesterday and the heavens opened! As soon as I got back it got hot and sunny again.
I'm 'relaxing' this evening by watching 24, which may not be the best choice of show as its effect is anything but relaxing lol!
@Sophie in Denmark, the "don't waste food", knowing caloric/nutritional requirements and wants vs. needs is never dated. As I stated in another post, her health insurance info was "tainted" due to her husband being in the military.
Some of her info might not apply if one did not also want to have a large family. But her book/books are food for thought.
@Sophie in Denmark, I read the Tightwad Gazette years ago when I was newly married. The author offers lots of philosophy and practical tips as well as personal experiences, recipes, and insights. One of the gifts I took from her newsletters was support for pushing back against the consumerist American culture I was living in. The same careful thinking about consuming, waste, and spending supports the teachings of my (Christian) faith. We should practice consumer discipline so that we have more to share with others, and if we do practice this discipline well, we can stop spoiling the clean beauty and health of the earth. And save ourselves the headaches of sorting, storing, and coping with wasteful accumulations of stuff we don't need and don't use.
"The hospital doesn't hire anyone who uses nicotine"-- Wow! That is quite a strong and healthy and important stand!
I wonder how hard the adjustment was when they implemented that policy. When I think back a few decades, hospital workers were always a major group of smokers. I don't even think that is ironic-- more like tragic.
And quitting is not easy.
I don't know if existing employees were grandfathered in, and maybe this just applies to new employees? I'm not sure how they made all of that work!
Edit: I just looked it up and it sounds like the policy just affected new hires, not people who were already hired. However, using any form of nicotine is disallowed on hospital grounds, so people who do use nicotine have to do it somewhere else.
@Kristen,
The hospital where I work is a non smoking campus, so any smokers have to smoke somewhere else (cannot smoke outside in the parking lot, etc). They offer patients who smoke nicotine patches. There is a monthly (and hefty) surcharge on health insurance payments, if the employee or any family member covered by the employees health insurance (such as a spouse) smokes, or at least admits to smoking. Not sure how they would monitor that. As far as I know, they don't do or require nicotine tests of new hires or current employees.
I'm old enough to remember when smoking was allowed practically everywhere in the hospital....nurses stations, the cafeteria, even patients could smoke in their rooms. It was awful!
Not even vaping? That sounds...overreaching.
Yeah, as far as I know, they do a blood or urine test to check for nicotine, so that's gonna show up no matter how you're getting the nicotine in your system.
I don't think it's anyone else's business if I choose to vape when I'm not at work and it doesn't harm anyone else. Note: I do not smoke, never have, and I do not vape. It's just this seems ridiculous. Why not Breathalyze all personnel on Saturday nights, too? Put everyone overweight on a forced diet? Slippery slope.
I am a little surprised that it is legal; seems like somehow it would qualify as discrimination. But I read that this kind of rule is legal in a lot of states.
I do fully support the whole hospital grounds being smoke-free; that seems very well within the limits of sensibility.
@Rose, that's my reaction also. I don't use nicotine either, but this does feel like a slippery slope. When people around me smoke and apologize for it, I usually respond, "It IS legal!" in spite of hating the smell.
In my state, it cost $64/day per person to feed people who are residing in a shelter. So if it is a family of 4, that would by a lot of groceries over the month. I do realize in a shelter people do not have their own cooking facilities. SNAP benefits in my state for 2 is over $500/month, which for two is a decent amount + those receiving SNAP benefits are also eligible for a certain amount of produce, which does not come out of the $500+/month. We are fortunate that we can afford our groceries, although the other day 20 items cost over $70 and that we not going have a complete meal with what I purchased. I did find that the store brand rice squares cost more for less weight at our lower cost local grocery store than at Aldi and of course the name brand yogurt that I like cost more than the satisfactory Aldi product.
Restaurant prices have gone up due to increased costs of running the restaurants: new minimum wages, utility costs, rents, equipment replacement or repair has increased and the added cost of credit card usage. Some restaurants in my area are tacking on a +% for paying with credit card. How many people carry cash anymore? Also, I don't like to use my debit card because of the increase in hacking.
On a FB page, the question arose what have you given up at the grocery store with the higher prices. I would say going out for an ice cream. One kiddie sized cone costs as much a container of ice cream (on sale) + cones. I want to take the grandchildren out this summer to the beach or someplace and have a treat with them. I'll figure out something for them.
Kristen, good luck on your job. It will give you a foot in the door when you graduate. You'll be getting paid at the same time as gaining experience for next year's schooling.
Might be an interesting book club if we all read/re-read together. I have never read it, but school is out June 14th and I’m game. (The way I grew up, you’d think my parents wrote it!)
@Sandra in SoCal,
Yes! I still pick up my copy, on the above-mentioned cedar chest/coffee table, and thumb through it every now and then when I'm bored. It has some outdated items, such as cheaper long-distance for your rotary dial landline phone, but most of the stuff is still very useful. Especially her philosophy, which is right in line with that espoused by Kristen and us members of the Commentariat.
Love the Tightwad Gazette! Definitely a classic that helped start me on my road to frugal living. And wow that is interesting that the hospital you interviewed for has a "no nicotine" clause for its health care workers. I'd never heard of that! I guess it makes sense, though!
I tracked everything I ate for six months in an online calorie tracker. That's how I lost 30 pounds. It definitely is not for everyone, but that sort of consistent accountability works for me.
@kristin @ going country, could we have a link to the calorie counter?
@kristin @ going country, I've been tracking for just over two years with the free version of My Fitness Pal and lost 70 pounds. Avoiding knee replacements was a huge motivator.
@Ruby, Yup, that's what I used.
I am just noticing that fitness guy's beard... 😉
Bahahahah, no, no, no, he's married and has a cute little one year old. Nothing shifty here. lol
Looking at the news release, the prices that have dropped include fruits and vegetables, which is not surprising as its spring. The government talking about a drop in food prices when it's a drop of 20 cents on a $100 food bill seems specious.
Am I the only one who doesn’t believe that grocery prices only rise 1.1% in the last year? It feels much higher than that to me. I believe the 4% restaurant rise- wouldn’t be surprised if it was more- but I feel like my grocery total is shockingly higher than I anticipate every week.
Well, I think the year before, they went up 7.7%!
@Lisa, I totally agree with you. Even 7.7% does not feel correct.
@Lisa, me too, although I only shop about every 6-7 weeks. I am gasping for breath each time I go, because the prices keep climbing.
I think it's great that they screen for nicotine. Nothing worse than working a physical job in close proximity to or being cared for by a healthcare worker who reeks of cigarette smoke. They can't smell it on themselves (because smoking dulls the sense of smell and taste) and have no idea how bad it smells or that it clings to their clothing and hands. I'm highly sensitive to cigarette smoke and when I worked in health care back in the day all the nurses and nurses aides smoked (even the director of nursing in her office way back when!!!), and doctors and nurses smoked during team meetings since patients weren't present. UGH! Thank goodness those days are over.
Now if we could just convince health care workers to stop using products full of fragrance, from laundry products, lotions, soaps, shampoos, and perfume and cologne. Sets off my asthma.
@Jan, and here we hit the slippery slope. Like no kid can eat PB cuz Suzie is allergic to peanuts. And it is NOT FAIR for Suzie to eat in another room. Yeah, my FIL who was in a hospital due to a war wound in WWII had a smoke with his doc. I have a HUGE issue with the VA telling veterans who fought for the US, actual war or line defense contractors pockets/president thinking vengeance for daddy war "no smoking". Up until post Vietnam, the US provided cigarettes. Something to ponder but even as a former smoker, I'm not passing judgement. Whoever is working in that VA facility needs to remember s/he is there due to those vets, particularly the WWII vets.
Got them, smoke them.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I'm off today and happened by a Goodwill store. The college students have left my town and a lot of things were donated to GW. Store employees have been putting out all kinds of merch, including clothing, college "bling", bicycles, flat screens for TV or computers, clock radios, school/office supplies including holders for laptops or I-pads, dishes, linens, shower curtains, shoe racks, housewares from student apartments, and pretty much anything the kids didn't want to take home to Mom's, move with them, or put into storage. There was a lot of nice stuff in there, most of which I don't need. But I got a few practical items: a nice big indoor trashcan for under $2 (it had the half-price color on its tag), a large iced tea jug for making sun tea, a bottle cap opener that had a magnet on it -- useful since the store where I work retail is not selling soda pop in old-fashioned bottles, a desk organizer, a little battery operated blender for drinks (probably for alcoholic drinks but I will use it to mix powdered drink mixes with milk) and an air fryer cookbook, and two commuter coffee cups (half price, super cheap). I had a 20% off coupon and that brought the prices down even lower.
If you need anything, this is prime time to go in to charity thrift stores in college towns and see what the kids didn't keep. Most of the stuff is gently used; it likely was bought new by students and/or their parents who shopped at Target or Ikea or a department store without regard to price . Since they have no earthly idea how to save money, the kids just tossed it into a donation box at year's end. Their loss = our gain.
I also think groceries are more expensive again where we live. My husband eats a very limited diet, so I can tell you exactly how much items on it cost. Radishes alone went up from 99 cents to $1.39 in a week for the same size and brand, which has been 99 cents for a number of years.
I was a subscriber to the Tightwad Gazette but donated my binder of the complete newsletters because we were moving and everything had to fit on the not that big truck. Amy's articles definitely helped refine my frugal skills. My son always had the most elaborate homemade Halloween costumes thanks to her outside-the-box thinking.
I just finished reading "$10 dollars a week" by Catherine Owen it's available on Project Gutenberg. A young bride sets up housekeeping in 1880's New England. It explains how to plan meals and has recipes. Though all the recipes are described in narrative form the concepts are sound. Roast chicken is dinner and next day becomes chicken salad.
@Spring, Another old housekeeping book nerd! Catherine Owen wrote a lot of books. You can find plenty more at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/mb
Search on housekeeping or cookery and you can choose which decades you want and country of publication, and so on.
Might be interesting to see what in "The Tightwad G" is not just outdated (like long distance phones), but is wrong today. For instance, does she say handwashing dishes is cheaper than a dishwasher? In the 80-90s, that might have been true, but today, the amount of water used by a dishwasher is minimal.
Of course, she would have had to figure out how long it would take to pay for the dishwasher by the water/energy savings.
@Heidi Louise, our dishwasher is thrifty on water, but running the drying cycle is where it eats energy: a normal cycle is 2.5 hours long. My husband is in charge of doing dishes and insists on using the heated drying. Sometimes when he's not looking, I wash them by hand because it's less than 20 minutes to get it done.
I love the Tightwad Gazette - some of it holds up and some of it... well, the times they have a'changed. (looking at you, recycled jeans purse.) I'm curious to see what stands out to you as you read it!
A list of responses to this most welcome post today.
1. Does it bug anyone else when people say "Happy Memorial Day"?
2. It seems that prices have risen far more than the Consumer Price Index indicates.
3. Just the idea of a personal trainer causes my blood pressure to rise, reminding me of stressful PE classes with mean teachers, and irritated "jocks".
4. I am surprised that the new place of employment hasn't been sued for their hard-core no nicotine requirement; after all, in spite of being horrid for you and smelly, it is a legal substance.
5. My sister gave me her copy of the Tightwad Gazette back in the late '90s; she was furious when her MIL gave her a copy, feeling insulted and disgusted (probably a bit of an overreaction). I thought some of the tips were hilarious, such as cutting a broccoli rubber band in half to use it for what? Can't remember, but do remember it as an extreme measure of frugality.
Hahaha, I don't know that I would ever, as a mother in law, give that book to a daughter in law. Too much potential for insult, unless you KNEW she'd love it (for instance, if I was the daughter in law. lol)
Nicotine gets a bad wrap due to its normal intake to the body - smoking or vaping. In reality, it is quite the perfect drug. Gives you a boost when you need it, relaxes you when you need it. I know a couple of people who once they stopped smoking - which is supposed to be THE BEST THING you can do for yourself - discover they have UC (ulcerative colitis). Evidently the nicotine must constrict/otherwise keep in check the inflammation (or whatever kept the UC in check).
SO I do find it a bit of a quandary when said employer part and parcels a person due to a nicotine test. Which I'm sure does not identify the source of the nicotine.
What is that soup in your post? It looks so delicious
I don't know how I missed this post on Monday...I signed up for a free dietician meeting weekly through my benefits at work. Similarly, it is causing me to focus on healthy habits, weighing myself, taking my BP, and adding in exercise. There's no way I will track food - I eat only when I am hungry and am re-thinking a lot of what I buy at the grocery store. Eating out is so much less fun than it used to be, even without the price increases. You can always always fix yourself something comparable and healthier, with just as much satisfaction.
LOVE tightwad gazette and I re read mine usually once a year