Convenience seems to be the name of the game lately. Buy it and pay more to save time. But many things we buy to save time don't take that much time at all and can save us some big money in the long run. We sat down and looked at things we ate or used on a regular basis to see where would save some money. We started making the following 7 things at home like homemade french fries. It doesn't take much more time than normal to cook, and our version taste better are healthier, cost less or clean better!
So the first 2 items we started making are non-food items. We started making some of our own cleaners when my son had a BAD reaction to we believe our new laundry soap.
First we started making our own homemadeLaundry Soap. I made a post a few weeks back with the recipe we use. I had been meaning to try making my own soap since I saw the idea on the Duggars show (yes THAT long ago!) but hadn't done it until my son broke out in hives when we switch laundry soaps.
The second item we started making our DIYwindow cleaner. This formula cleans better than Windex has for me in the past! It's great for mirrors too as well as Car windows which seem to get the dirtiest for me!
The next 5 items are food items that have saved us about $40 or more a month on our grocery bills.
The first thing we started making on our own was Jams. Grape jelly is the cheapest and we really aren't grape jelly people (unless I'm preggo and craving peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches). We like strawberry jam or apple pie jams. The first jam I ever made was strawberry freezer jam. I then branched out to the freezer blueberry Jam and then canning jams! I like to get the fruit for these jams when they are in season so I can get the fruit at it's cheapest! (PS I love these jar for canning my jams!)
Once I got the hang of canning we got my mom's family pasta sauce recipe and started making it and canning it. We use this sauce on pasta, on pizza, on sandwiches, lasagna and more. It also makes a great dipping sauce. We make 13 LARGE jars at a time with makes 26 meals for us. The pasta sauce cooks all day, takes just a few minutes to toss together it cooks all day and for dinner we will have easy spaghetti with fresh sauce then it takes us an hour to can and process the jars and we are done for 3-4 months!
Next we started making handmadepizza crust. I bought a pound ofYeastfor under $10 and since we buy flour and sugar and all in bulk to make other items we have it on hand so we had what we needed. Even the crust packs you buy at the store have to rise so it isn't costing you any any more time.
Next we tackled homemadegarlic bread. We were paying $3 or more for a pack of garlic bread that feed us for one meal! we take a loaf of white bread we can get for under $1 and melt a stick of butter which on sale will cost us about 25¢ or less and add in some garlic salt and for around $1.25 we have homemade garlic bread and more of it then you buy in a box!
Most recently we started making homemade french fries. We bought a potato cutter and have been cutting our own fries now. We can 10lb of potatoes for between $3 -$4. We can get around 10 meals out of it. I love that with homemade french fries we can season fries any way we want, or we can dice potatoes and dow breakfast potatoes. I do still buy tater tots because I haven't mastered those yet!
These reactive purchases have become known as the Diderot Effect. The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things. As a result, we end up buying things that our previous selves never needed to feel happy or fulfilled.
Lower potential returns compared to investing. Potential for savings accounts to fail to keep up with inflation, eroding your purchasing power over medium- and long-term time horizons.
Set up a direct deposit from each paycheck to your savings account. That way you don't even think about the money you're saving—you're just saving. Start budgeting with EveryDollar today! And if you really want to get serious, use a separate bank from your existing checking account.
The things we own require time, energy, and focus.They need to be cleaned, organized, managed, and maintained. And as a result, they often distract us from the things that truly do bring us lasting happiness. Our purchases cost us more than we realize.
The Diderot effect is a phenomenon that occurs when acquiring a new possession leads to a spiral of consumption that results in the acquisition of even more possessions.
Maintaining higher balances in checking can put you at a disadvantage if you're not earning any interest on your money. If you have more than two months' of expenses in a basic checking account, you might consider shifting some of that over to savings.
How much money do experts recommend keeping in your checking account? It's a good idea to keep one to two months' worth of living expenses plus a 30% buffer in your checking account.
How much is too much savings? Keeping too much of your money in savings could mean missing out on the chance to earn higher returns elsewhere. It's also important to keep FDIC limits in mind. Anything over $250,000 in savings may not be protected in the rare event that your bank fails.
Over time, shopping may have become a habit and something that you consistently resort to as a distraction from life's problems. A shopping addiction can also be a way for a person to cope with difficult emotions, feelings or memories. It can become a way of numbing and muting pain or distress.
Let's look at seven recent stats that show we how much money we waste — and some expert tips on how to stop frivolous spending. $18,000 per year: the amount Americans spend, per person, on nonessentials according to a survey by Ladder and OnePoll, as reported by Vox.
People who have compulsive shopping disorder (sometimes called compulsive buying disorder) are often struck with an irresistible and overpowering urge to purchase goods in spite of negative consequences. 1. Characteristics of compulsive shopping disorder include:2. Difficulty resisting the purchase of unneeded items.
"Overspending is often more than just a lapse in financial judgment; it frequently signals underlying emotional or psychological triggers. For instance, some people may overspend as a form of escapism, temporarily distracting themselves from stress or emotional pain," Hathai says.
Generally, people buy unnecessary items because they are unhappy in their own lives. Often, people equate their self-worth with the items that they buy and obsess over being trendy or impressing other people.
You take an ordinary item and forgo using it once. Because of that, you start to see it as a little more special. But because you see it as a little more special, at the next opportunity to use it, you say, “Well, maybe this is not a good enough opportunity,” so you pass up using it. It becomes a little more special.
We often want to buy new things because of the feeling of satisfaction and the desire to show off. We want to show off that we have the latest and greatest of everything. We also want to give ourselves a reward for hard work.
Introduction: My name is Melvina Ondricka, I am a helpful, fancy, friendly, innocent, outstanding, courageous, thoughtful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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