Motivation for months of July and August

How do you keep up the motivation to save money even in the summer months?

This can be extremely challenging especially in times of a heat wave, because I don’t know about you, but I end up avoiding cooking. This leads to spoiled groceries in the fridge, resulting in loss of hard earned money. However, what is also true is no matter what you do you end up with some compost just because life is not perfect.

To keep motivation high I use my weekly meal plan and plan according to weather (hot). So on peak hot days/ weeks consider meals which use the cooktop and oven less. There are 3 ways to tackle the summer heat:

First, choosing to use the stovetop to make meals in short bursts. Second, avoiding the use of the oven by making sandwiches or salads for dinner. Third, sacrifice one day and use oven to cook several meals which will keep 2-3 days.

Also, one of the stovetop ideas I had this week was egg salad sandwiches. I actually boiled the eggs in the morning when it wasn’t too hot and made the meal to completion and placed in fridge.The other idea is what I call no 7 special it’s basically a combination of cold food you find in fridge, as an example cold cuts. This can also be prepared nicely ahead of time in fridge. Therefore, all of these strategies help me remind myself that every time I cook something of hubby cooks, we are really saving hundreds of dollars. You could even install a budget app that could reflect how much money you really save over just a few months.

Consider commenting on my blogs on questions on my menu or any hacks you’ve come up with for the summer. I’d love to hear from you!

Storage ideas to save $$$

As you know I've been always mindful of trying to avoid wasting money unnecessarily due to my background of my parents immigrating into Canada and starting from ground zero. It's funny because I am always thinking about how I can stretch our household dollars and my family and friends can attest to that. I have made it into a game, and forgive me but its my frugal obsession! Don't get me wrong there are days where I am lazy and go pick up some takeout locally.

So today I thought i'd talk about another way to save money around the house is to be mindful about what you buy and to make the food that you do buy go a little longer by using different storage methods and tactics.

The tips I'm about to share are some, that I've discovered over time, because I realized that this is another "department" where a lot of money can be wasted if one is careless.

1) Storing Fresh Herbs: Cilantro, Coriander

I personally take them out of the vegetable bag and place a paper towel around the bottom of the stem; also if you happen to know the different "cold zones" in the fridge, you could choose one that is not as cold (if that makes sense). Wrapping the cilantro/coriander in a paper towel helps by avoiding moisture buildup between the bag and Herb which quickens its deterioration.

I've tried putting them in a jar with a bit of water but they seem to not do so well-at least that has been my experience.

I avoid washing the herb and storing it in the fridge as this will also contribute to the herb going bad, which in the end causes a loss in money over time. 

It may not seem a lot of money as on average they cost anywhere from $0.99 on sale to $1.99 but overtime these dollars add up in the course of the week, and then year; especially if some end up in the compost. If you do have a garden, patio or balcony you could definitely grow your own herbs and this would save hundreds of $ over the years.

2) Storing Strawberries

- Buy less than you think you need because strawberries inevitably go bad.

- Also avoid washing them and storing them in the fridge as they may become moldy, or over ripe.

-Buy local, made in same province, city, or within 100km.

3) Salads

I am working on bringing up my Iron stores so I really try to make an effort to buy better quality lettuce/salad. Its a work in progress but eventually I would like to include more of a variety of salads in my diet.

I use to eat iceberg lettuce, and more simple vegies like carrots, broccoli. However, in the past few years I have switched to the boxed salads. I aim to buy boxed salads that either come in a mix (spring mix). and/or buy at least 2 packages of different ones. 

-I find that boxed salads lasts a bit longer rather than if you buy the fresh ones off the shelf not precut. I am not sure about the science behind it but my lettuce usually succumbs to fridge burn (getting too cold). It could also be that the boxed salads are already precut, ready to go, thus you end up wasting less over time.

4) Meat

If you are a meat lover (which I am) buying larger quantities make sense to a certain point. For example, you don't want to buy so much meat that you eventually can't fit in your freezer or fridge and end up wasting because you can't eat through it.

I personally don't believe in buying a second freezer (as it could contribute to a slightly higher electrical bill) to store excess meat products unless of course if you have a very large family. If you ball park cost of second freezer, electricity wise could be maybe 10 bucks a month more, so $120 a year more; 5 years means a whopping $600 more.

Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you have found at least one thing that could save you money.

I have some news for my next blog, so I will be happy to share it with you all.

Also, do share any ideas of your own (in comments), which could inspire some to save even more.

Happy Humble saving,

Katy

My frugal Identity

Mango Philadelphia cream cheese sushi

How did my frugal mindset start? 

My frugal identity comes from my upbringing and background of being an offspring of 1st generation parents who came to Canada. 

Perhaps my story is not unlike others as it started with my parents goal of securing a better life for themselves and their children. I was often told of the struggles my parents had to go through to survive and provide for the family back home. My parents were from a generation where many things that we take for granted in many countries were simply not available. For instance, disposable diapers were not available and cloth ones had to be sewn by my mom from scratch from material. Further, garbage bags were not available so trash was thrown directly into the bin without a liner.

I watched my parents living life through their frugal vision and they coincidentally created my frugal mindset (which at times my mom finds it amusing because times are not tough like back home, but yet I feel the need to save). My mom and dads goal was not to be be in debt and instead to have savings for future goals and retirement.

My parents savings strategies(a couple of examples-more to come in future blogs)

My dad:

My father would rarely buy coffee from Starbucks, Mcdonalds or any other brands. Instead, his every day habit without fail was to invest in a regular coffee machine (nothing fancy) and make coffee. His favorite coffee was Hazelnut Crème flavor as it was the smoothest and didn't have too much of a kick, because he worked with machines as a high end furniture maker (so he couldn't afford to have shaky hands!) 

Yes, this coffee takes "effort" which some people don't want to do because they have to wash the coffee maker or wait for it to be made but because the Hazelnuit coffee comes in bean format, you have to actually grind it, before putting it into the coffee maker. I understand that its difficult in the morning to prepare for work. My dad would leave himself enough time in the morning to make sure he had enough time to go to the bathroom, brush his hair, make coffee and put it into a thermos (he would make enough to last breakfast and coffee break), make his bed, make and eat breakfast. When my My mom would get up with my dad and heat up soup and put into his thermos so he has an additional meal to his regular lunch. His work day began at 7am! so he had to be up at like 5:30 with an hour of preparation and then about half hour of a drive.Also his lunch prepared by my mom the night before with the exception of soup. 

Probably the cutest thing is that the co-workers would love the smell of my dads coffee and even comment at the nice smelling soup he had. 

My mom:

My mother was a homemaker who raised us and gave us the head start to education by reading to us when we were little. She sewed when she could to extend the life of our clothes to further stretch the money my father earned at the beginning of our life in Canada when he wasn’t earning as high of a wage because he just got to the country. 

An example of a sewing project was often my brother would tear his pants where his knees were. So, my mom would sew patches which she got from the material of old pants. Therefore, she saved money by simply not having to buy new clothes at $15-20 a pair. 

Another example is my mom would make lunches for both my father and the children (3 of us altogether), and then during the day would make sure that dinner was prepared for when we came home from school and then for my father who returned much later than we did. These lunches were not pre-packed lunches everything was from scratch. My mom would buy bigger items from Coscto when it made sense (toilet paper, diswashing liquid, laundry detergent, hams,) fruits and vegetables from other specific stores where the price was right. With all the saving it didn't mean we didn't spend any money on takeout at all. For any occasions we would eat KFC, Chinese, sushi,ect and take it to the park and enjoy the meals there.

The savings for dinner alone are astonishing for a family of 5, depending on what restaurant can run you a minimum from $100-150 CAD, including drinks (the price goes higher if you add alcohol).

In conclusion, all of these habits kind of set tone for me to really appreciate every dollar I earned, and perhaps to always be a geeky thrifty person and sometimes I go overboard but it makes me happy.

I know some people might look at me and say its so strange why don’t you just go out and splurge on yourself and not worry about money so much?

The answer is that Its in my personality not to splurge. I love to go somewhere or to go to a nice restaurant instead of spending money on manicures or pedicures, but don't get me wrong I do enjoy life we have takeout almost weekly (which is technically worse of a saving habit) but both of us do work so we have more household income coming in which provides us an opportunity to splurge once in awhile.

In addition, I enjoy knowing that I have some money to spare so that if a life emergency comes up, I can sleep reasured that I have nothing to worry about. Also any trips that I go on are all budged out and I don't even have to worry about money and just have a good time.

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leaving a comment on ways you save money! I’d love to hear from my readers.