By Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money
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Stop following other people’s advice to save money! Do what works for you!
I spend way too much time on Pinterest.It’s a huge time suck for me.
Instead of my Pinterest feed being full of DIY and recipes, mine is usually full of money saving tips. Pinterest knows what I like. I’m a sucker for a good money saving tip!
Just last night I was looking through my Pinterest feed and I saw a picture from a blog post about saving
money on groceries. I knew I needed to read it because I’m struggling to get our grocery bill below $150. I hope the new Aldi will be the solution to my problem. I’m slowly cutting out convenience foods such as precut veggies and baby food, but my grocery bill is still larger than I’d like it to be.
I was getting pumped about saving money on groceries until I read the way the author kept her groceries under $100 a week. Hereare her suggestions:
- grew yourown veggies
- buy meat in bulk, such as buying half a cow or pig
- baked yourown bread
- buy staples in ultra bulk, such as 100 pounds of flour at a time
I couldn’t help but be annoyed as I finished reading.I was annoyed because these are great tips, but ones I don’t currently want to follow.
Here’s the deal: I do want to be the type of person who grows veggies and bakes bread. I really do. But right now I have two kids under the age of three. Most of my days are spent holding another human being. If I’m not holding one of them, I’m feeding one or dealing with poop. So. Much. Poop. There is no way I’d have the patience to garden, bake and take care of kiddos. No way.
Side note: I am actually going to plant an herb garden this afternoon. Maybe I will get into this gardening thing after all.
I may not be the best at budgeting my groceries, butwe still save money. That’s when it hit me. I don’t have to follow all the advice for saving money. I only have to do what works for me.
There is no fail proof formula for saving money other than actually following through. Different things work for different people. That’s life, right?
[bctt tweet=”Different things work for different people”]
In order to really save money and become financially fit, we have to find our own motivation and work from there.After we find our motivation, we need to figure out how to make it work. This islike trying to lose weight: you can either eat less or exercise more. When it comes to saving money, you can either spend less or make more.
[bctt tweet=”When it comes to saving money, you can either spend less or make more”]
As much as I’d like to shave some pennies off my grocery budget, I think my time is better spent making money. I don’t think I’ll ever be a professional blogger, but the money I’m making from this side job is fulfilling and makes me feel a little less guilty about going over budget on groceries.
Here’s the takeaway: don’t follow someone else’s plan for saving money. Make your own plan. Do your research tosee what other people are doing, but when it comes to making your own plan, do what makes you happy. Don’t cut out cable if you love it. Don’t coupon if you hate it. Find what works for you. Love to cook? Stop eating out. Love to garden? Consider planting some edibles.
There are a million different ways to become financially fit. The first step is to find your motivation and make an official goal.
Have you set your goal yet?
Like this post? You’ll love my steps for thinking like a saver.
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Comments
Great advice…. We all have different standards of how much is reasonable saving, or spending, but one thing is for sure, saving is a vital part of a healthy living! And sometimes, big savings come from doing small and simple things around the house that can save big money!
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Katie saysI love your insights! The idea of doing what works for you and your family could apply to so many different things – saving money, going green, organizing, parenting, and more. Smart advice!
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I love this post, it is so true! There are so many great tips out there that just don’t apply to me, my family, and our current life. We can’t go down to one car for example. Make your own plan is great advice!
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- Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says
Thanks! I tried to convince my hubby to do one car and he said no. I’m so glad he did! I think I would go crazy at home with two kids and no car.
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- Wee Green Folk says
So true! There’s loads of great ideas out there but they’re so impractical. I can barely get the fish fingers in the oven let alone go and harvest the food from the garden….maybe some day! Let me know how the herbs work out:-)
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- Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says
Right? Our dinner tonight ended up being leftovers, and that was work.
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- Rachel Osborn says
Thank you for helping take the guilt out of life. :) We are incredibly frugal, but when we do buy things, we buy the best! I shouldn’t feel guilty for having nice things when other people are throwing their money out the window on a regular basis, buying cheap gadgets, cheap fast food, cheap clothing…We got rid of cable to save money and just stream everything now. But I only subscribe to one streaming service at a time-I know people who subscribe to all of them all the time, PLUS have cable! I can’t even fathom that, lol!
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- Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says
I’m with you on buying quality items! It only makes sense.
I have to admit that we have 2 streaming services. Luckily one is free because we borrow my moms Netflix login! The other is Amazon Instant through Prime which only makes sense to utilize since we pay for Prime anyway.
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- Laurie says
I planted some tomatoes today. I have a 1.5 year old and a 3.5 year old. I spent about $35 on fencing and posts to keep said kiddos from destroying them. $11 on organic fertilizer because I didn’t want to have to worry about them getting into chemicals. $8 on the plants, not counting the seeds I tried to grow, but were destroyed (I only have so many high shelves). $20 to revamp the drip irrigation because my kids flip out when I try watering with the hose. So, saving money? Probably not. More of a hobby really.
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- Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says
Gosh! That stuff does add up fast! As long as you enjoy it, it’s worth it though. I really want to try tomatoes. I never plant them at the right time here. It’s so hot here all the time that I always miss the opportunity. Any tips?
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The grocery bills have also been much higher for us lately. Price of food, especially produce and meat, has skyrocketed. I try to to buy my meat and fish at Costco because they typically have good prices. I’ll cut everything up and then freeze everything. It requires spending more up front but cheaper in the long run.
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Totally agree. I see posts for make your own washing detergent and tomato paste and think – no chance! I’ve got 2 kids (6 and 7) and work 30 hours a week – I’ve got better things to do. Although we live in Australia and it may be different, we save about 25% by shopping at Aldi rather than the ‘traditional’ supermarkets, so hopefully you won’t have to wait too long.
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- Hannah @ Eat, Drink and Save Money says
I’ve got better things to do too!
I am SO excited about Aldi. You have no idea!
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- Katie says
Preach it sista! Some ideas are all well and good, but it has to work for you. I’d love to do all of those things – I can bake my own bread once in awhile, but I certainly would have no place to store 100 lbs. of flour (ha!). With the price of meat these days (although milk has gone down!) it is hard to get a grocery budget under $150 a month. I just recently started going to Aldi and some things definitely were a bit cheaper there, however, I did happen to notice when I bought a can of generic Pam there, it cost less but it had an ounce less than my generic can from Wegmans. Lesson to be learned – compare prices AND sizes AND unit price. Have fun trying to save – I really enjoy the realistic view of this post! :)
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I completely agree that what’s right for one person isn’t always right for another! It’s important to do what works for you!
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