Buying Spices

Buying Spices from the Bulk Bins at Winco


I was pleasantly surprised to find over 50 varieties of spices in their bulk food section, and was even more pleased when I saw the prices. I decided to compare the price of spices from the bulk section with those you can buy packaged off the shelf.




The price differential was so large I even went back to double-check if I recorded the prices correctly. The reason spices from the bulk bin work out so much cheaper is because you're not paying for the expensive packaging. Many of the off-the-shelf spices come packaged in glass bottles, but even those that just come in simple plastic containers cost significantly more than buying spices from the bulk bins. If you wanted to you could go out and buy little spice containers at a dollar store for fifty cents each and still come in at under half the price of the off-the-shelf spices.

I'm sure the spices at Costco and Sam's Club are significantly cheaper per oz. than the little bottles you buy off-the-shelf, but you have to buy in much larger quantities than you may otherwise need. For many spices I find I only use 6-8 oz of a particular spice a year. Spices can spoil quickly making buying the 27 oz. containers from Costco infeasible for me.

Kmart double coupons

Kmart is supposed to give double coupons again starting tomorrow. I recommend calling ahead to see if they are going to honor it particularly after what happened last time. Hopefully they will. I'm going to call Kingsburg tomorrow to see if they will. It's a much nicer store than Clovis anyway. Happy Shopping.

Bill organization

One of the biggest things that cost us money is late bill paying. Sometimes stuff doesn't get paid, then there are penalties and late fees all adding up into quite a bit of money per year. Having a good system can help.

1. Sort your bills. Sort them into folders for pay now, next week, or next month. Better yet get a bill organizer and sort by due date. Make sure you pay each bill a week before it's due and sort accordingly.

2. Mark your calendar and make sure you send them out on time.

3. Set aside 20 minutes each week to pay bills.

4. Save your old bills for 2-3 months in case there is a question. Someone contacted me recently as their own record keeping was poor but I was able to go right back to the check and ask the bank for a copy of the canceled check.

5. Use auto pay. You can sign up with your bank, or set it up with the creditor yourself.

What if you are having problems? Prioritize your bills.
1. Keep a roof over your head.
2. If you need a car to get to work, make your payments and make sure you have gas to go to work.
3. Keep the lights on.
4. Make all other unsecured debt a lower priority. Make sure you communicate with them though. Many times they will give you a grace period, lower your interest rate, etc. to help you out. When I began paying off my debt I made a list of everything I owed and I sent it to each creditor and asked them for help in making good on the debts. I can't tell you how surprising the responses were. Some lowered the payments, some agreed to drop the interest and penalties. It was amazing what happened when I just got honest with myself and with my creditors. One bill alone saved me thousands by my honesty.

Valentine day savings.

If you’d rather save your pennies than spend them on red roses and chocolates this Valentine’s Day, you’re not alone. Given these grim economic times, many Americans may have less money in their pockets to play cupid this Valentine’s Day. But keeping St. Valentine’s spirit alive this February 14th doesn’t have to break the bank. Instead of an expensive night out, try one of these affordable date ideas:

Have a steakhouse dinner—at home. Pick up some flank steaks (a cheaper but still yummy cut) and grill or broil them (but don’t cook them past medium-rare–otherwise, they’ll get too tough). Try an enchanting London broil with horseradish sauce. Add mashed potatoes and veggies and you’re set! The meal will feel decadent but you’ll be saving a lot of cash by cooking at home.

Go out early. Many restaurants raise their prices for a “special” Valentine’s Day dinner menu. Skip it and go out to breakfast or lunch on the 14th instead. You’ll have alone time together without the extra cost.

Have fun in the kitchen. Whip up a batch of red velvet cupcakes, or bake brownies and use a cookie cutter to create heart-shaped treats. (Store the extra brownie bits in the freezer and them use to top ice cream sundaes later.) Then, jazz the brownies up with ice cream, chocolate or strawberry syrup, red and white sprinkles, raspberries or even Red Hots.

Volunteer together. Spend the day spreading the love to your community? Donate your time at a soup kitchen, food bank or other charitable organization. Helping others will make you’ll feel good—and that will bring you closer to each other.

Give him gas money. Don’t go all out buying your husband expensive clothes, tools or DVDs. Almost 50 percent of men (and 41 percent of women) say this year they would prefer a practical or useful gift such as money towards bills, gas (such as Exxon or Shell) or other financial needs, as opposed to more traditional presents like chocolates or dinner out.

Growing your own lettuce

• Lettuce, as a daily staple vegetable, isn’t cheap. A 12-ounce bag of the non-iceberg variety is $3.69 for full retail, and barely feeds a family of four at dinner. Heads of romaine, butter, or red/green leaf varieties are upward of $2 per head. At $3.69 per bag, eating your own lettuce every other day during the summer will save you over $160 on your grocery bill.

• Every variety of lettuce (with the exception of iceberg) is rich in vitamins and nutrients and part of a healthy diet.

• Lettuce seeds are cheap. A single $1.79 packet will grow you all the lettuce you can eat all summer long.

• Lettuce can be grown in containers, so even if you don’t have garden space, a bag of soil and a dozen containers will keep you rolling in fresh lettuce this summer.

• You can grow your lettuce without chemicals, so if you’re trying to go organic, growing your own lettuce is a good way to incorporate your own organic harvest into your diet.

• Lettuce grows in just a matter of weeks, so you can start early, and then rotate more into your garden throughout the summer and well into early fall.

Free Breakfast at Denny's

On Tuesday 2/3/09 Denny's will be giving a free grand slam breakfast to everyone from 6am to 2pm. Sounds good to me!

Also at Walgreens this week:
Thermacare heat wrap $2.49
Easy saver rebate $2.49 free or profit if you have a coupon.

Walgreens multipurpose solution $1.99
easy saver rebate $1.99

Garnier Fructis hair care $3.99
rebate $3.99 free or profit if you have a coupon

Revlon age defying concealer, foundation, or lip gloss $9.99
rebate $9.99 or profit if you have coupons

Be careful of advice

Ok, so the title of this post is kind of funny since I'm giving advice, but it's important to be careful of the advice you are getting. Make sure it's from a good source. Crown is an excellent source with a biblical basis to it. One of the things it teaches very strongly is avoidance of debt. Whenever you see something encouraging you to incur debt I would strongly advise against it. Debt is nothing more than bondage to your lender. There is an article in the Fresno Bee that I found very little to agree with. Our grandparents understood the value of living within their means but somewhere along the way that was lost and credit was encouraged. So if you read the article today on "Feeling the pinch" for whatever it's worth here is my take on it.
1. I do agree with looking through your checking account and credit card statements to get a clear picture on what you are doing with your money. Be careful with how you pay your bills. Avoid atm fees and late fees. It can mean hundreds of dollars in savings each year.
2. Do not buy bottled water. You can buy a good home filtration system instead for a couple hundred and just take your own water with you. Better yet just drink from the tap. There is nothing wrong with it.
3. Only buy stuff on sale. Be careful of the prices. Sometimes what you think is a sale isn't a sale so it's important to know your prices.
4. Buy private label brands. They taste the same, believe me. I see no difference from one can of tomatoes to the next but there is sure a difference in price.
5. The article advises shopping at warehouse clubs. It used to be true that if you bought in larger quantities you saved money. Now this is no longer true. Be careful shopping at warehouse clubs, often the prices are no better.
6. Cook your own food. I totally agree with that one. Eating out is very expensive.
7. I don't agree with using your credit card for a large purchase in order to get the extended warranty. It is often much cheaper to pay cash, you can often get a discount for that. If you have money you keep in savings for household maintenence it will draw interest. Extended warranties are rarely used anyway making them a waste of money, but in the event you need a repair it is often less than what you paid for the warranty.
8. Use credit cards for shopping discounts. This is sort of true only if you pay off the card immediately. Otherwise your savings in eaten up in interest.
9. Take advantage of AAA or AARP discounts when traveling. Always ask what discounts or specials are available. Definitely like that advice. There is almost always a way to save on that stuff.
10. Review insurance accounts and eliminate unneeded coverage. Sometimes you can combine your home with your car giving you an excellent discount.
11. Raise the deductible on your insurance but make sure it isn't for more than you can afford.
12. Cut back on ongoing subscriptions or services. I recently changed our cell phone service at a savings of over $300 a year.
13. The last piece of advice was to keep the thermostat at 60 degrees and use baseboard heaters in the rooms the family spends the most time in. I'm not so sure about that one. Gas is generally cheaper than electricity and many space heaters are far from efficient. I do highly recommend a programmable thermostat. Our bill dropped by $50 a month when we started using one of those. When my daughter moved out it dropped another $50. I'd like to know how one person used so much! Since you can't really get rid of your kids, I do recommend talking with them about the cost of the utilities and the importance of using them carefully.

So that is my take on the article, and as it stated it can all be done without clipping coupons!