Tip #5

Not fit for human consumption; or is it?

Today's post is a continuation of my series on saving money on food. While my previous entry was about which grocery store to shop at, this one is about where to go first in the store. So when you first enter the store do not even think about putting anything in your cart u til you have checked out the reduced table. This is where the grocery store put the vegetables, bread, etc. that are well.... not the most fresh ones in the store. Usually you can find some veggies that are just a bit wilted, or in some stores ones that don't seem to be showing any abnormalities at all. These are your first choice and as long as they are eaten within a day or so of being bought they are perfectly good. If you are really frugal, or say you aren't sure if you are going to get the student loan you need for the year buy the veggies that have a bad spot. Often a spot can easily be cut off at home and voila! a perfectly edible nutritious vegetable. Now in the case of veggies that are fairly wilted or have/had bad spots you probably want to cook them, but that is totally to your discretion. Now the next stop on you're tour should be the section with all the meat. Now pretty much anyone who has entered a grocery store knows that meat is not the cheapest ingredient, but if you know where to look its not bad. Usually off to one side of the meat section there is a spot where they keep the meat that is about to expire. This meat is still totally good but depending on how many days are left until it can no longer legally be sold, it will be marked down anywhere between 10%-75% (or even better). The only thing to keep in mind when buyioing this meat is that it must either be prepared and eaten right away or be frozen until future use so that it does not spoil before you eat it (also if you buy a steak on the expiry date maybe don't eat it blue rare). After this check out the sales, buy anything else you need and go to the checkout. Now you may get some weird looks when you are digging through the bags of chicken to find the one that is reduced the most but its well worth the money you save. Your wallet will thank you.

Tip #4

Groceries: where to shop

With our recent economy meltdown that has been a surge in the price of groceries. The next few blog entries will be about how to combat high food prices and still get a gpood meal. Now the easiest way to reduce your grocery budget is to shop smart. Large 24 hour supermarkets hike their prices up for the convenience of getting a larger variety. So if you aren't in need of fresh obscurities but rather for say tomatoes and a bag of rice, you can hit up the cheaper grocer's. A few examples of cheaper grocery stores in Canada are food basic and Price Chopper whereas Sobey's and Zehr's tend to be pricey. Another place I often can score some cheap groceries is asian food marts. Now the food you get here is a bit different from your normal grocerystore and if the scent of fish makes you queezy I don't recommend it but if you are looking for cheap variety thats the place to get it. Of course the cheapest way to get groceries still usually remains the good old farmer's market. By this of course i don't mean the trendy all organic ones that have been popping up all over the place but rather the genuine farmer's market where farmer's bring their produce each week. Getting your food at a market supports the local economy, gets you fresher food than most grocer's and is just a whole lot more fun. So you may get a few weird looks when you come home with your groceries smelling like freeze-dried fish or a barn but its well worth the penny you save. Your wallet will thank you.

Tip #3

Don't throw it out

One essential skill for thrifty living is just to keep anything that still has use left in it. Note I said that it must still have use in it, otherwise your living quarters can easily become a landfill. Many people throw out their old technology whenever they upgrade to the latest gizmos and gadgets. I however, recommend keeping that old VCR or turntable. I am currently working a maintenance job at a camp. One of my duties with this job is to collect garbage. The other day I came across a box full of VHS tapes which I assume were probably thrown out because someone else' VCR broke. I now have a full summer's worth of media entertainment for no cost at all. Now you may argue that the picture/sound quality isn't the same, and that is true, but i find that there is something nostalgic about watching a film in the washed out grainy color of a VHS. Another benefit to keeping old technology is that it often comes back into style as a retro or vintage item (an example of this would be the recent renewed popularity of 80's video games). Now you may get a few odd looks from your friends when they see a commador 64 sitting on your coffee table, but just wait in a few years they'll envy you for having it. So keep your old technology, throw a retro party with it and have a good time. It may not match the stats of a blueray disk, but your wallet will thank you.