it isn’t really a tool, but the framework of paying myself first so there wasn’t much to see in the accounts was a great mental hack.
Other than that I use excel and google sheets. I dislike that I’m running two sets of books atm, but Excel has over a decade of tracking I don’t want to lose, and I can’t access it on the Mac, so I use Google sheets for more granular tracking of spending categories.
One way to start is by combing through the last 3 months of expenses, marking categories for everything and getting an honest picture of where your money is going. It’s tedious work but very illuminating. Spreadsheets are a good way to do this if you’re familiar with it; so are tools like YNAB but they are paid and not strictly necessary.
Then, instead of trying to go from zero-to-100 on budgeting, choose the 3 categories you want to change the most and set a budget and identify the behavior changes that will help you reach it. For example, if you want to reduce groceries you might need to choose more bulk food, or change some meal types. If you want to reduce heating bills you might need to reprogram your thermostat and wear more layers. If you want to grow your savings, automate those transfers. Do this for a few months and then, if it’s going well, add more categories.
I just use an Open Office spreadsheet.
When we first got married, I had already been in the habit of budgeting, but my wife was not. So what we did was track every expense to the penny on the spreadsheet with a different tab per month. Once we knew our combined expenses, we started to put constraints on them by category. That evolved to the budget we use today.
Part of the budget is saving up for expenses ahead of time. This includes things like insurance, travel, and INSURANCE DEDUCTIBLES. I stress the last one, because having that saved up in advance helped enormously when our water pipes froze in the house last month.
I just found this link today. It’s really interesting to see where you stack in terms of income or wealth not only among your country’s citizens, but also within the world as a whole. I didn’t know where else to post it, so here goes.
Thank you for sharing, this was a really good exercise in gratitude.
I love that! I saw something similar a long time ago and I think it’s so important. The tendency to only compare upwards is so harmful.
I hit $94 at Aldi yesterday on a weekly grocery run for 2. I don’t believe I’ve ever crossed $75 there before. We indulged in some beef, almonds, and a couple other higher priced luxuries but that’s not totally unusual. Produce seemed reasonable though the selection was still reduced compared to pre-covid times. Honestly Trader Joes is close to parity for me now especially when factoring in the better selection and variety.
Side question, when did chicken thighs get more expensive than tenderloin??
Chicken thighs were $1.99/lb at Aldi this morning? I bought a big package.
Boneless were ~$3.50/lb at my location, very limited supply. Tenderloins $2.79 IIRC. Maybe it was simply a supply issue.
I have been appalled by chicken thigh prices in SoCal. Often over 3-4/lb, haven’t seen under 2 maybe 2.50 in a long time. Saw a 3lb bag of frozen (usually cheaper!) for 12.99 over winter (probably around bird flu/million dollar eggs time period) and chose Not Chicken for that night. Granted I’ve mostly been shopping Ralph’s/Kroger and Sprouts, but I was doing so before as well.
ETA and its not even compared to other meats, it’s when thighs are more than breasts. Did other people discover that dark meat is better!?
Thighs are the more popular part now, which seems weird, but look at the price of chicken wings. LOL
I feel like chicken has doubled in price, but it’s still a lot cheaper than beef here. Honestly, I just buy whatever is on sale and toss it into the freezer.
All the meet in my butxhers shop has gone up in price by a couple of $$/kg.
I have been working on getting really comfortable and memorising super-quick, pantry based meals that meet my family’s needs (i.e. stuff they like + not allergic to). AND I’ve been practicing leaning on them instead of McDonalds so that we can save money for nicer takeaway.
I’m now at:
This is enough now to feel like we’re not relying on the same thing every time we’re exhausted! I would like to keep adding meals, and am going to enjoy looking at recipe sites to pick something I think everyone would enjoy.
Would you like a new recipe to try? Here’s my cheesy turkey and rice casserole.
What you’ll need:
2 lbs of ground turkey (I use 93/7 so it’s not greasy)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (just a regular sized can, no family size needed)
1 pack of Ben’s Original Basmati rice (the orange pouches that cook in 90 seconds)
8 oz (or more depending on how cheesy you like it) of shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder
1 9x13 baking dish
Steo 1: preheat your oven to 400F
Step 2: Brown your ground turkey and drain any grease; pour into large bowl for easy mixing
Step 3: Season the turkey meat with your salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder
Step 4: add in a few handfuls of that shredded cheese, leaving enough to sprinkle over the top of the casserole after it’s in the pan
Step 5: Add your can of cream of mushroom soup
Step 6: Cook your rice according to the instructions then dump it in the bowl with everything else
Step 7: Stir it up real good to combine everything (it kinda looks like dog food at this stage, but it tastes good I promise)
Step 8: Line your 9x13 pan with foil and spray it good. Then pour in your casserole and spread it out in an even layer. Sprinkle the rest of your cheese on top.
Step 9: Bake at 400F for about 14 minutes until the cheese is good and melted.
Step 10: Enjoy
My Bro can be very picky but even he likes it.
I am looking for alternative food markets. I’ve come up with those below. Have I missed anything obvious?
Amish/Mennonite, CSAs, Ethnic, Farmer’s Markets, Farm Stands, Food Hubs, Mail Order, Pick Your Own, and Salvage Markets.
Thanks!
Restaurant supply stores is the only thing I can think of.
Please don’t take this as anything other than an innocent suggestion:
Do you have a garden where you can grow your own food?
I do grow some of our food. Usually beans, greens, peas, and tomatoes. This year I added potatoes and onions. The greens and most of the potatoes rotted because of all the rain and ?, the beans and peas did pretty well, and the tomato seed was too old and I got no plants. I also have perrenial herbs, asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke, pear and peach trees (the fruit trees are immature).
We had a financial crunch when I needed to plant the garden this year, I used the seed I had, no matter how old, and used it all. So, I have no seed left for 2024, and some things, like the cherry tomatoes, just didn’t come up at all.
I’m writing a frugality book. One appendix is a list of alternative food source directories, when I can find them. What I’d listed was what I’d found data for.
Restaurant supply, especially Gordon Food Service, as they have retail stores where you don’t need a membership.
They have a much better herb/spice selection than Costco. Their pizza sauce is great. The deluxe meatballs! You cannot beat the price on the giant bag o’salad.
They really are geared for restaurants- lots of small restaurants get their “specials” there - so the sizes are big, but I divide stuff up and freeze it in more manageable portions.
Costco business centers are their own beast if you’re near one.