Costco Fun

After my last disastrous expedition to Costco, I was looking forward to hitting it again at a little less chaotic time.

My suggestion to hubby that we go on a weekday evening was met with an affirmative grunt so off we went. 

The store was refreshingly empty, so we were able to amble about at leisure. Hubby immediately found the tool and hardware section so that put him in a positive frame of mind straight away. 

I was just grateful to have a proper look at everything, and let my other half push the trolley (those things take some practice!)

I agree with those who say that Costco is a great place for catering a party - the platters are amazing. Where else can you buy a massive tray of prepped buffalo wings?

We ended up spending just over $100 on random stuff. I didn't really have a list so we decided to get things that struck is us a bargain or we really loved. 

Here is the haul. Ignore the other crap on my bench, I beg you.  Not pictured: 48 rolls of toilet paper that I do not have a storage solution for. 

The only thing I regret buying was the tray of Danishes (they're under there somewhere), 10 of which are now in the freezer and I'm not sure how well they will defrost. 

Best buy: Pop Tarts. Where have they been all my life?

My novice tips for Costco: don't go on a weekend, and know your prices. Other than that, just have fun! Aussies aren't used to seeing stuff in bulk, so a lot of the stock may be a novelty. 

Is it worth the yearly membership? Yes, if you team up with some family and friends and split up some purchases. Or if you have a family of ten or more!

Why I'm Still Shopping at Aldi

I don't think the people of my suburb "get" Aldi. A new one has opened up down the road (can I get a HALLELUJAH?) and I've been there twice now, switching from one a 20min drive away.

The locals, used as they are to Woolworths, push their overflowing trolleys past, giving it the side-eye. Of those that dare venture within, some seemingly dismiss the Aldi trolleys and bring one in from Woollies next door. Most don't have shopping bags, and I see them putting their purchases, one by one, loose into the boot of their car. The inventive ones have flogged an empty box or two, but this is a hard task given that this Aldi seems to be permanently fully stocked; shelves groaning. I think the staff are bored.

Our recent improvement in the fiscal situation meant that for a while, I was shopping at Coles. Not for any particular kind of loyalty, but because I like the Flybuys points. When we were struggling, I always longed to shop there again. I imagined myself strolling the aisles, leisurely browsing the 7 different brands of tomato sauce on offer.

But like most things in life, reality was quite different to my daydreams. I went back there a few times, bought my usual things - nothing too lavish like steak or anything - and walked out shaking my head over the docket. I could not believe what things cost there. Years of shopping at Aldi have spoilt me for the cost of things ranging from muesli bars to cheese.

And so I am back at Aldi, and quite happy about it. I am literally saving $30-40 a week shopping there, and honestly, there's next to no difference (except the fruit and veg isn't great). There's a few minor things I cannot get there, but I can duck into a Coles/Woolies/IGA any time once a month to get these.

I'm sure my fellow neighbours will warm up to it soon. They just have to remember to bring a trolley token, their bags and learn the Aldi checkout race-against-the-teller technique. Easy peasy.

Where do you grocery shop, and why?

Frugal living

 [source: own photo]

I don’t like talk about it much but as a household, we are finding it tough to cover bills and put away any savings. This living from pay to pay thing is getting old, and though we have made some changes to our lifestyle, there are still some things that we have not been willing to cut back on or give up in order to curb our spending.

Last week when a trip to Coles for the “bare necessities” to get us through to payday cost me $45, I ranted a bit on Twitter and had to wonder – how in the hell are families getting along? We  just have the two of us and I cannot seem to budget so that we are comfortable on our current income.

Reading this blog recently on Rhonda’s Down to Earth  made me have a think about what more we can do to live more simply, more frugally, make our money stretch further.

So, what have we already done?

• Swapped to shopping at Aldi rather than The Big Two Supermarkets. I save at least $30 a week doing this, though the fruit and veg is not very good quality. Thinking about shopping separately for it at the local grocer but this necessitates an extra trip somewhere which is just beyond me sometimes
• Cut down to fast food once per week. We get pizza on Friday nights – but it is expensive pizza because we both believe that paying a bit more to get something nicer than the cardboard served by the franchises is worth it.
• No longer buy magazines in the quantities we used to. Now, we have subscriptions gifted to us or purchase as a special treat only
• I hardly ever buy new clothes. When I do, it’s usually from the op shop. I try to buy all my accessories there also
• I’ve stopped buying vintage homewares; it was getting to be a bad habit! I have far too much stuff already, need to sell some 

What more can we do?

• Make our own passata – we use a lot of it, and although Aldi sauces are only $1.80 a jar or something, I think we could make some cheaper
• Explore frugal recipes, making meals go further
• Make our own pizza instead of getting take away
• Grow some veges. This has been high on my list for a while but I don’t have a place to do it yet. Now we have some bricks left over from the old shed knockdown, I’m hoping that we can make a proper garden
• Grow our own herbs. Must do!
• Learn to sew. Repurposing old clothes looks fun and is a great way to reuse old things, something I am passionate about.
• Start making our own bread. I have a breadmaker that I never use!
• Make my own birthday/gift cards. I have so much scrapbooking stuff this should be a breeze. Saves at least $5 a pop! 

Things I still don’t think I/we’ll give up:

• Foxtel. We enjoy it too much and watch it all the time. But perhaps we can cut back on our subscription, get rid of the some channels to save a few bucks a month.
• Movies. We go at least once a fortnight and use a reward card to redeem a free ticket with points. But it can still be an expensive exercise when you factor in snacks and drinks. Alternative – go on cheap Tuesdays.
• Soft drink. Both hubby and I are addicted and spend quite a bit. Because the cost of Coke is astronomical at service stations and corner stores, I try to buy in bulk from Aldi each week.
• The occasional scrapbooking supply purchase. It’s my hobby dammit. But I commit to buying a lot less and to a “scrap your stash” mentality for the foreseeable future.

And of course I'm reading a lot of simple living blogs. What are you doing lately to save money/simplify your life? Any tips?

Errand day - supported by modern tech

Yesterday I had a rostered day off. This meant I was keen to get a lot of stuff done that needs to be taken care of in business hours. I'm not sure if you get this from my online presence - but I'm a pretty disorganised person. I struggle to do things like pay bills on time, get the right groceries or know what is for dinner.

I've been combating this general lack of organisational savvy in recent years one problem at a time. I've set up regular bill payments and direct debited as much as I can. I order groceries online, and yes actually use a LIST, and use a weekly meal plan.

One thing I didn't anticipate was that my iphone would also help. In between apps like Google maps, my bank, Reminders, Notes and Evernote I have no excuse for forgetting things any more. That is, if I remember to put it in there...

So yesterday I used Evernote to keep a list of the things I needed to get done.

No, I'm not commenting on why I needed to go to the gunsmith! I then set reminders in my Calendar to have alerts pop up when it was time for my appointments. In Evernote you can do this just by clicking the link in the time!

I even had a list ready for the library - since seeing a segment on Sunrise about "chook lit" I've been interested in sampling the genre.

After going to the doctors, I had to go to Pathology to have a whooping cough test (joy). Used Google maps to find the place.

And lastly, on a whim I cancelled my haircut and allowed the hubby to whisk me away to the movies - using Safari to check the times first as I didn't have an app for that particular chain.

Knowing that I had a list of absolutely everything, and even reminders buzzing to let me know when I had to be someplace was extremely comforting. Even though I had a day full of errands, I was more relaxed.

Here is a great post on how to get more out of Evernote from crashtestmummy. I really want to use it more dynamically in future. I especially have to get used to tagging notes.

Here is the link to the Sunrise segment on chook lit that I saw with Fiona Palmer.

What apps or organisational tools are making your life easier lately?

Couponing: Oz Style update

[image source]

This week is my second week of being a novice couponer. This morning I sat down with the week's junk mail and went through it all. I mean REALLY looked at what is being sold and the prices. I am focusing solely on groceries at the moment as this is the area where I feel our household can really save some dough.

I physically cut the sale items I wanted out of the catalogues and clipped them all together with a bullclip. Then I took the little pile of paper shopping. I think C was a little embarrassed. He should be thanking his lucky stars I'm not toting around a large binder folder full of coupons and clippings just yet!

I've found the hardest thing is learning what things really cost. I mean, the catalogue may tell me that something is on special for $1.29 off, but how do I know that I can't get the same item at another supermarket for $1.50 cheaper normally? So it's been a steep learning curve and it has been absolutely shocking, SHOCKING I tell you, to realize just how blase I have been about groceries for many years.

I used to walk in, buy the things I needed and get the hell out. Do you do this? Sometimes I wouldn't even look at the price. So for example if I needed pasta sauce, I bought the brand I knew I liked. And sometimes, it is the brand my mother buys. I think "they" (being the people behind all these brands) rely a lot on familiarity and comfort to sell their product, and I've come to believe it is just silly!

I had to break some very big brand habits when our household had to start shopping at Aldi, and I'm doing it again now. If another brand of tissue is on sale that is not my "normal" one, I'm going to buy it. Because you've got to try it before you knock it, right?

One problem I've encountered is the price of buying in bulk has set me back a few more dollars than I thought it would initially. I spent $170 last week at Aldi and Coles combined, but I'm hoping that it will last me 2 weeks. Yes, that is including meat. So if it works out to be $85 a week in groceries, I'm going to be a happy clam, because it will mean no more mid-week stop-offs at the local shops to get last-minute things for dinner.

Here are a few rules I've set myself:

• If we don't eat it, don't buy it, even if it's on special (duh)
• If it's a bargain, buy at least two
• Check the free in-store magazines for coupons (I was so excited to find my first coupons last week!)
• Use your loyalty card to get points (FlyBuys at Coles, Everyday Rewards at Woolworths)
• If you can get it at Aldi cheaper, only buy it if it tastes ok (always a hit-and-miss situation)

My best bargains for these past weekends have been:

• $6 for a 780g jar of Kraft Peanut Butter (got 2 because we burn through it like nothing on earth).
• $3.49 for 1kg Sard Oxy Plus stain remover (the equivalent in Napi-San brand is about $7 I believe)
• $1.29 for Crumpets (50% off)
• $1.49 for Doritos (50% off)

I have found the most helpful website by far is Oz Bargain, as it lists the weekly grocery specials and the dollar AND percentage savings for each major supermarket.

Admittedly, today I went and spent a further $60 at Coles, thus blowing my original budget plan, so I'm going to be trying harder next week. I must admit though, $11 of that was on ice-cream to get a free 6 month magazine subscription!

What's your best bargain lately?

Extreme Couponing: Oz style

One of my twitter friends, Grosby, sometimes tweets about Extreme Couponing, a show in the US about people who “clip coupons”. I don't think there's an Australian equivalent, mainly because we don't get catalogues ("inserts”) with many discount vouchers on them for things like groceries or staples. But there are some great ways to get bargains by watching the specials and buying in bulk when good deals are available.

How do I know? Because I was so fascinated I ended up researching it. My first port of call was the Extreme Couponing website, to watch some clips of the show as it is not showing on cable TV here yet. It was here I learnt the truth of someone else's remark that Extreme Couponers are actually hoarders with an excuse. I mean, some of folks have built special rooms in their house to hold the bargains that they had picked up. Some even do it just to give thousands of dollars worth of goods away to charity.

Then I hit youtube and found people like “Coupon Queen” Jill Cataldo and The Krazy Coupon Lady, Heather Wheeler. And I can tell you, I was mesmerised. Some of these couponers (and it's not just the ladies, folks) even Dumpster Dive to find coupons that have been thrown away.

Well, I have been INSPIRED. I usually throw away my junk mail because I shop at Aldi, and up until now really believe that this is the best way to save me money on my groceries. But there are things I just can't get at Aldi, or I don't like their version. Baked beans is an example. Aldi does have an acceptable version, but I'm a Heinz Baked Beans girl from birth. So imagine my happiness this week when a peek at my junk mail reveals a them on sale for $1 per can at Woolworths this week!

This afternoon I spent a good 20mins going through the junk mail and writing down some bargains. I'm going to put the lists in my handbag, so they're in there when I'm at the shop, and not on the counter at home like usual. And I'm going to buy in bulk, because I do actually have the room to do it, even with meat.

I'm a novice though, still learning. I don't keep a folder or binder of vouchers or coupons. Yet. Or carry a filing box in my trolley, which was a strategy I saw that I liked! But I am hitting up bargain-hunter websites like OzBargain and Shop-a-docket. In fact, I'm going to print off a discount voucher for 10-pin bowling right now – that's our next date night taken care of!