Wednesday, 12 August 2009
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Magazines: Do They Help...or Hinder?
I get a lot of great cost cutting ideas from magazines, but I also get a lot of "woe is me" from them. I will see "Budget Recipes" only $2.50 a plate. WTH not at my house. I mean I can make a meal for under $5 for the whole family! Then there are those oh-so-great "Home Makeover" tips for under $1000 for a whole room! No way man ain't happenin here! Then of course those great must have dresses for only $100 each, geeze I must be slummin w/ my $100 a year for a whole wardrobe.
Magazine articles like those can make you feel deprived. They can make you feel like you "don't have". Let me not fool you, I have those feelings some times. I think most of us do from time to time. There are great ways to accomplish these things for a much less kick in your budget. I wish they would quiz REAL moms and people in the REAL world before printing these articles.
You can feed your family a balanced meal on much much less than $2.50 a plate. For dinner alone that would come to $375 a month for my family. That's a lot of money on groceries and more than my whole monthly budget and that includes HBA and extra items.
Next to the "Home Makeover". If you want to makeover a room w/in your price range here are some suggestions. Try Habitat for Humanity Restore for lots of useful items. My sister got 4 gals of butter cream paint for $4 because someone bought it and didn't want it and gave it to the Salvation Army. Wow that stuff looked nice. When going to Lowes and/or Home Depot make your first stop their "Oops" and clearance areas. My husband thought our Laundry Room was going to cost about $500 to redo. This included putting in a new door and a wall. We are almost finished and are getting away with about $250. This doesn't include the flooring but does include new plywood for the floor.
A lot of businesses in our area have gone out of business. I was able to get 24 cases, yes cases, of 1/2" tile that are 1'x1' and high end for $200. Wow what a bargain. This is going to take care of the mud room, small bathroom, laundry room, kitchen and dining room with a lot left over. Our front sun porch was never finished and more will probably go in there. For $50 I got a roll of thick plush carpet for our bedroom and it will probably do our hallway too.
Moving right along to a beauty makeover. I can't help much here. First off, I'm a plain jane. I do wear make up but my shoes don't match my purse. I'm not to picky about either of those either, if I even carry a purse. I'm frumpy I'll admit it. But I do buy nice items. They are always clean. Usually a bit big but never tight. I just don't like tight clothes. I'm a soap and water gal and don't really know how to use a cleanser. Much of my make up *sigh* is Estee Lauder as I will get it on sale and items that lead to the free gifts and well free is free and it ends up cheaper than raiding the drug store. OH and if you're nice to the sales lady she'll give ya lots of great samples.
How do you cut costs around the house?
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Comments (11)
I'm amazed at how anyone can spend so little on groceries and necessities for a WHOLE FAMILY. I want to know how its done. I feed my boyfriend and myself and its like, $200+ every two weeks.
@cutesycharm@xanga - Same here! My husband and I spend about $100/week at the grocery store, and we do EVERYTHING possible to cut costs and still eat healthy.
Yeah... I live with only my father, and we're at about 130 dollars every week for just the two of us-- and we've both been cutting down on food A LOT. He just got Gastric Bypass, and I'm trying to lose about 70 lbs...
I want to know what the OP is making to feed a family on five bucks other than spaghetti. z.z
I'm a size 14/16. I have to buy my jeans at Lane Bryant to fit my booty and they're at least 49 bucks a pair, and I've dropped 60 dollars on a sundress from there (when it was on SALE for 60 dollars, mind you) I've tried shopping thrift shoppes, but they never have what I need when I need it-- I run Dungeons and Dragons games four nights a week and can't be bothered thrift shopping once a week to scour the racks. The clothes thing is kinda non-negotiable for me, because the big-girl clothes at Target and Wally World are so frumpy-- but basics there like their tank tops are just fine. It's hard to screw up a regular t-shirt.
I agree about the makeup, though. I buy all of my makeup at buy one, get one free at Walgreens or CVS's buy one, get another 50 percent off sales. They have it every four months or so, and I wear base, lipstain, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara every day, and with just that... I never, ever run out of makeup if I just drop about 25-35 bucks quarterly. I use Neutrogena Acne wash products, use one squirt in the morning and one at night to get the makeup off... but I splurge on expensive moisturizer.
It's about give and take. If you buy cheap makeup, you can get better moisturizer. If you buy expensive food, you can cut down on soda and drink water with lemon instead for a week.
To answer the original question: I avoid buying magazines like that at all costs. I flip through them to get ideas while waiting in line... but other than that, I just get envious and it makes me want to spend more money than necessary.
Great post! I have often thought the same thing - who writes these articles and who for? People don't really live like that do they? I grocery shop for my family of four and spend (usually) between $70 and $80 a week. If I notice a really good sale on meat I will stock up and that may put me over one week, but generally I stay around $70. I also am not a big makeup user. A little eye shadow, some Avon lipstick and I'm ready to go. And $1000 a room makeovers! Who are they kidding! We just redid a bathroom and it only cost $120 - yep only $120. Two quarts of paint ($8 each), 2 new bathmats ($15 for the cute frog, $5 for the plain one), new shower curtain ($15), framed frog picture ($5), rub-on wall decorations ($60 from ebay). This room is so cute now and it didn't cost a fortune. I watch for sales, I pay cash (or use my debit-card), I shop the bargain areas in all stores (including the grocery - that's where the meat purchases come in). We eat very well and I love to experiment in my cooking to keep everyone interested, so it's not like we are eating pasta every night (tuesday only). I garden, clean my own home, work part-time, and still have plenty of time for recreation. Oh yeah; the magazines - I check them out at the library - for free. Life can be simpler and less expensive. And it isn't hard to do.
I totally agree wirth the whole "issue" with magazines. I like browsing through them but am usually appaled by their suggestions - want nice skin, try this amazing $30 moisturizer or $20 lip gloss - wtf! I also get really peeved at the home improvement section - you want me to pay $50 for ONE couch pillow? I really think their suggestions are either 1. nuts or 2. aimed at people who have a lot of money to burn.
I will say I was at the dentists office and saw a Lucky magazine that devoted the whole magazine to everything being under $100. That was a good start but next month they went back to suggesting a $250 dress and $300 shoes.
i like to use magazines for inspiration, but not to actually go out and buy the things that they offer.
@Aiyoku_Angel@xanga - I actually just heard a quote like that yesterday! You can have anything you want but not everything you want. It's a great quote :)
@cutesycharm@xanga - First off I'm a huge coupon clipper. I get tons of stuff free and if we can't use it I donate it to the Women's Shelter. We do not pay for any HBA or health and beauty aids that I can think of. Most of my grocery money goes towards dairy and meat and the outside aisles at the store. I'm able to get bread at our bread store for .59 a loaf. Many times buns, pita, bagels, and other bakery items or .29. Most are outdated but still good.
I take advantage of rebates. When I first started I opened up a rebate account and put $50 in there as a test. Kept a record of spending and I actually make money on a lot of the items.
I shop once a month, I have a garden, and if its not on sale and we need it I get the generic but usually name brands are much cheaper.
@whitetrashpoet@xanga - I replied to cutesycharm and then saw your post. We eat a lot out of the garden. It's not really big. I freeze a lot of the items and we eat a lot of them. This year we're trying to make pickles but I'm not very good at the homemaking thing lol.
We eat healthy but healthy isn't cheap. You have to work at it and I know a lot of people in our area who always had money are having a lot of trouble with cutbacks.
@Aiyoku_Angel@xanga - @chickensrule4ever@xanga - One of the meals we had last week was String Bean Soup from our garden. The only thing I had to pay for was milk and a couple of tablespoons of flour. Its one of my kids favorite meals.
Last night we had chicken salads. The pkg of chicken was $2.49, the veggies were free from our garden, and we shredded 1/2 block of cheese at about 1.00 so for $3.49 the whole family ate.
Tonight we are having a pasta and ham salad.
1 box of macaroni noodles .49
1 red pepper from the garden chopped
1 onion from the garden chopped
4 ribs of celery bought cost approx .25
3 chopped radishes from the garden
2 cups snow peas garden
2 cups of chopped ham (this is from a ham I made a few days ago and this is the 3rd meal from a 5.49 ham) 1.83
1/2 cup mayo reduced fat about .75
Total cost for dinner 2.32
You're lucky you can garden... I have a black thumb xD
Fruits and veggies are expensive as all hell.