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What frugal people do is refuse to waste their life always selling it for ever more money!
The better any person does conserving ,and rightly, using what resources they have the more of their life they can enjoy in ways other than working themselves to death.
There is a lot of truth in the old saying........Waste not, want not.
It just takes a smart person to see that truth.
On the contrary, smart people understand the economic concept of diminishing returns.
I'm not against frugality in general, but there's a limit at which point it doesn't make sense anymore.
There's a lot of discussion around saving money here and there.... but the focus should be on saving time. Money is virtually unlimited, time is limited.
This frugal forum really gets to me sometimes. All this time people waste savings a few bucks here and there can really be used more effectively making more money.
What time is wasted by grabbing x dated item off the shelf versus y dated item?
What time is wasted by grabbing x dated item off the shelf versus y dated item?
Usually those items are on a different shelf, and requires search, and does not have a steady stock. However, I suppose the bigger issue is you're potentially eating less fresh food just to save a few $.
As I said in my previous post, lets steer this back into the OP's question.
I don't care about the expiration date: if it looks, taste and smells right - I will eat it
I am known to eat stuff from my pantry that is ( that's the question - maybe 10+ years old?? )
Just last weekend I made spaghetti sauce using a jar with expiration date 2002. The sauce was delicious!!
I always take time into consideration versus just trying to eek out the cheapest for the sake of it. For instance, I have a couple friends who will drive miles out of their way just to save a few cents on a gallon of gas. Why? Because the principal of it. The fact there is cheaper gas somewhere else. Never mind that they WASTE gas driving those extra miles. It's an emotional thing. Me, I'd rather drive fewer miles and not spend the extra time or resources and pay a few cents more. Instead I drive a car that gets 45 mpg, paid for with cash, and save in other ways.
Or how about Black Friday. Get up at o'dark thirty to stand in line at some store so I can hand over money? Oh heck no. Sorry, but my time, my need for rest is so much more valuable than whatever is being hawked. If I need something I'll buy it online, look for free shipping (which I often find), and avoid the hassle of a mall crawl at holiday time. There is nothing I can't live without that requires me to get up before it's light out, stand in line, and fight for.
Or clipping coupons for hours and then shopping at 2 or more stores for a cumulative few hours a week. Most of what I purchase doesn't have coupons. Fresh produce, fresh dairy, meat/chicken. Point of purchase coupons are available, and by purchasing very few convenience items and cooking from scratch, I save a lot that way versus stocking up on simple carb/high fructose corn syrup items. I don't go to $tarbucks, I make my own coffee every day. I have a monthly budget and I stick to it. I do shop at Aldi (a discount food store) where I can get all the basics (milk, cheese, eggs, bread, coffee, etc) at a significant savings, with no coupons needed.
I try to take a big picture approach whenever possible and not get caught up in a nickle/dime game.
I always take time into consideration versus just trying to eek out the cheapest for the sake of it. For instance, I have a couple friends who will drives miles out of their way just to save a few cents on a gallon of gas. Why? Because the principal of it. The fact there is cheaper gas somewhere else. Never mind that they WASTE gas driving those extra miles. It's an emotional thing. Me, I'd rather drive fewer miles and not spend the extra time or resources and pay a few cents more. Instead I drive a car that gets 45 mpg, paid for with cash, and save in other ways.
Or how about Black Friday. Get up at o'dark thirty to stand in line at some store so I can hand over money? Oh heck no. Sorry, but my time, my need for rest is so much more valuable than whatever is being hawked. If I need something I'll buy it online, look for free shipping (which I often find), and avoid the hassle of a mall crawl at holiday time. There is nothing I can't live without that requires me to get up before it's light out, stand in line, and fight for.
Or clipping coupons for hours and then shopping at 2 or more stores for a cumulative few hours a week. Most of what I purchase doesn't have coupons. Fresh produce, fresh dairy, meat/chicken. Point of purchase coupons are available, and by purchasing very few convenience items and cooking from scratch, I save a lot that way versus stocking up on simple carb/high fructose corn syrup items. I don't go to $tarbucks, I make my own coffee every day. I have a monthly budget and I stick to it.
I try to take a big picture approach whenever possible and not get caught up in a nickle/dime game.
The one thing I haven't done is have my own business and not have to work for someone else. I am impressed with your business acumen. I'm an excellent saver and pay attention to maintaining a serious financial cushion as well as maxing 401K, no consumer debt (other than mortgage), but alas, I have never figured out what to do so that I was working for myself and not stuck in some corporate grind job. I'm creative in my thinking...but only for others. For myself...turns out, not so much.
Now back to your regularly scheduled frugal mythbusting.
I don't care about the expiration date: if it looks, taste and smells right - I will eat it
I am known to eat stuff from my pantry that is ( that's the question - maybe 10+ years old?? )
Just last weekend I made spaghetti sauce using a jar with expiration date 2002. The sauce was delicious!!
I'm pretty much the same way. I don't eat meat, so that probably helps (spoiled meat=scary).
I always cruise the produce section for manager's specials. Unlike the poster above who finds it time-consuming our local Kroger just has these mixed in with the regular produce. I just look for the bright yellow/orange labels.
I care a LOT about food. I love to cook and I'm pretty picky. I find that these specials are produce that is ~just~ about to go "out of date" (usually due to a purchasing error on the store's end) and they are over-stocked and need to move the stuff fast. e.g. One day a produce manager had apparently overbought mushrooms. A three pound pack was 99 cents. "Fancy" mushrooms such as portabellas were similarly marked down.
I grabbed as many as I could and went home and made mushroom soup . We LOVE mushroom soup. I'm not cheap, I used plenty of leeks, dry white wine and real butter and organic cream in my recipe.
I guess my point is, I love getting a bargain due to the store's error. I also realize that often these "specials" need to be used ASAP. If you buy produce this way and take it home and let it molder in the fridge....yeah that's wasteful. If you are willing to go home and chop and cook and can and freeze it can be a big money saver.
I've learned that some dairy products are labeled to protect the store. Sour cream, buttermilk, ricotta come to mind. If you store these unopened in cold conditions they will last much longer than the printed label. When you do open the package be careful not to cross-contaminate, and of course get them back in the fridge ASAP.
Some cheeses (feta, goat's milk) can have their life prolonged by storing them in a bit of filtered water in an air-tight container.
You can make bagged greens (not cheap but a huge time-saver) last longer by putting a small piece of paper towel or cheese cloth in the package to absorb moisture.
If you buy produce in clam-shells (berries, grape tomatoes, greens) flip them over every few days to let the produce on the bottom "breath". These containers usually have holes on both sides.
Oh, and if you buy dairy (cream, half and half) in paper cartons, switch it to a (sterilized-in your DW) glass jar after opening and it will stay tasty longer.
For those who have any common sense on managing their pantry, dated foods is a swell way to make your food budget stretch a long way.
I agree that /some/ post-dated foods are still good for quite a while
Used to get free (or deeply discounted) milk at my work, candies, health bars, cans, etc. (until it was required to be THROWN away, no exceptions!)
I was then on beyoned-strict budget.
Still, even now I often look for those but don't usually see them in local stores. Only bread and pastries at Walmart and banged-up cans or wrinkled cereal/outmeal boxes at another store. They probably throw away all nearly-expriration date stuff!
Produce is often not usable by it's date.. meat is dangerous but could be used for couple more days if cooked very thouroughly. Everything else, imho, is OK for a little longer!
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