This morning, in the Cecil Whig, there was an advertisement for the new ALDI store on Rt. 40. The grand opening day will be July 13th. If you have never shopped at an ALDI before, than you should definitely go and have a look. ALDI specializes in generic food items of good quality that are usually priced under other generic brands. The web site FAQ says that 95% of items are their own brand and only 5% are name brand items.
When shopping at ALDI be sure to bring a quarter to be able to use a shopping cart. You get the quarter back after replacing the shopping cart in the rack. You must also buy the plastic bags that they have to bag your groceries. I believe they are 10 cents now so be sure to bring your own plastic or reusable bags to save even more money.
The new store is located on the Pulaski Highway next to APGFCU.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
My $6 Ice-Cream Cone
On Saturday, I went to pick my son up from the Woodside Farm Creamery, in Hockessin, DE. When I got there the meeting he was attending was over but I wanted to get one of their famous ice cream cones. We got in line because my son wanted to buy a pint of ice cream with his own money. They only take cash and I had $14 in the envelope that I carried. When it came our turn, I realized only had $4. Our two cones were $5 and change. My son gave me his $5 and we paid for our cones. I went to the ATM that they have there and took out $20 so I could reimburse him and he could pay for his pint.
There it is! It cost me $2.65 or so for the cone and $2 in the fee that the ATM charges. Plus my bank charges me $1.50 for using other ATM machines. My ice cream cone cost $6! I felt like kicking myself. I hardly ever use ATM machines and when I do, I try to make sure that I use my bank’s machines where I am not charged a fee.
Bank fees add up. If you use the ATM at various places instead of your bank, chances are that you are paying far too much for this privilege. Some ways to avoid the ATM fees are:
Use the envelope system to store and use your cash. Remember to bring the envelopes you need with you.
Carry emergency cash in your wallet or purse for just such emergencies.
If you can, use your bank card as a debit card.
Next time I go to Woodside Farm Creamery, you can be sure that I will make sure I have lots of cash.
There it is! It cost me $2.65 or so for the cone and $2 in the fee that the ATM charges. Plus my bank charges me $1.50 for using other ATM machines. My ice cream cone cost $6! I felt like kicking myself. I hardly ever use ATM machines and when I do, I try to make sure that I use my bank’s machines where I am not charged a fee.
Bank fees add up. If you use the ATM at various places instead of your bank, chances are that you are paying far too much for this privilege. Some ways to avoid the ATM fees are:
Use the envelope system to store and use your cash. Remember to bring the envelopes you need with you.
Carry emergency cash in your wallet or purse for just such emergencies.
If you can, use your bank card as a debit card.
Next time I go to Woodside Farm Creamery, you can be sure that I will make sure I have lots of cash.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Great Post at The Simple Dollar
A few days ago, Trent Lott of the Simple dollar wrote about grocery store flyers and sales. I liked the article a lot. I never knew that manufacturers pay for placement of their products in the flyers. I have often wondered why they decided to print something as a sale when the every day price was the same as the "sale" price. Now I know.
Today, a friend of mine at work, stopped by my desk at work as I was perusing the Pathmark grocery store flyer. They no longer have Pathmark in the Baltimore area and she was excited to see that it still was a surviving grocery store chain. She told me that she liked to shop there because they had such great deals. I have to agree with her. I usually shop at 2-3 stores each week to pick up their loss leaders and cheap items (I won't say sale priced items since I learned not everything is a sale!). Lately, I have just been shopping at one of the two Pathmarks in Newark, DE. I also shop at a warehouse club every 2 weeks and, in summer, I buy fresh fruits and vegetables at a farm stand. I highly recommend the Pathmark. In general, they have very good prices on their sale items.
This has given me the idea of doing several posts on how I grocery shop. Whenever I give my Frugal Living presentation, many people are shocked at how little I spend on groceries every month. I have 2 teen aged girls and 1 teen aged boy plus my husband and myself to shop for. I spend an average of $575-600 a month on food for all of us. The USDA has a wonderful chart on how much people spend on food. Click on the latest month available and add up how much your family eats per week. Then find your plan - thrifty, low-cost, moderate cost or liberal. According to the chart, if we ate on the thrifty plan, we should be spending $733.20. Our food costs come in at least $133.20 under the USDA least expensive plan. How do I do this? Stay tuned and find out how!
Today, a friend of mine at work, stopped by my desk at work as I was perusing the Pathmark grocery store flyer. They no longer have Pathmark in the Baltimore area and she was excited to see that it still was a surviving grocery store chain. She told me that she liked to shop there because they had such great deals. I have to agree with her. I usually shop at 2-3 stores each week to pick up their loss leaders and cheap items (I won't say sale priced items since I learned not everything is a sale!). Lately, I have just been shopping at one of the two Pathmarks in Newark, DE. I also shop at a warehouse club every 2 weeks and, in summer, I buy fresh fruits and vegetables at a farm stand. I highly recommend the Pathmark. In general, they have very good prices on their sale items.
This has given me the idea of doing several posts on how I grocery shop. Whenever I give my Frugal Living presentation, many people are shocked at how little I spend on groceries every month. I have 2 teen aged girls and 1 teen aged boy plus my husband and myself to shop for. I spend an average of $575-600 a month on food for all of us. The USDA has a wonderful chart on how much people spend on food. Click on the latest month available and add up how much your family eats per week. Then find your plan - thrifty, low-cost, moderate cost or liberal. According to the chart, if we ate on the thrifty plan, we should be spending $733.20. Our food costs come in at least $133.20 under the USDA least expensive plan. How do I do this? Stay tuned and find out how!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Welcome New Castle Countians
Last night I spoke to a small group of people at the Newark branch of the New Castle County Library System. I enjoyed my evening with the group. Welcome to my blog and I hope you become a follower and sign up to get notices when the blog is updated.
If anyone has any questions or would like more information on something that I spoke about last night, just email me. At the bottom of this entry is a way to comment and a way to send me email.
If anyone has any questions or would like more information on something that I spoke about last night, just email me. At the bottom of this entry is a way to comment and a way to send me email.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Repurposing Furniture
When my husband and I thought about how we would set up the house we just moved into, we found that we had very little storage. There is an “attic” that can be used as a bedroom and one of our teen agers is using that huge space as a bedroom. The lack of storage was a big problem since we had an empty basement that we put many boxes in at our last house.
The first thing I did was impress everyone with the lack of storage. Then I forced my husband to go through his books and papers in the basement and get rid of as much as he can (He is a pack rat!). My daughters and I got rid of most of the toys. Then I thought about where to store things.
One of our problems is that my husband and I were going from our own closets to one that we had to share. Luckily it is a good size. We always left all of our clothes hanging in the closet no matter what the season. With just one closet we couldn’t do that. Where to store the overflow?
Here is what I did:
We have a white cabinet that has 4 shelves and I used it to store the good china in. In the new house I have huge amounts of cabinet space in the pantry. I put the good china in the cabinets in the pantry. Then, I took the cabinet and placed it in our bedroom and filled it with all of our sweaters. This made space in the large tubs that we have for winter storage. We placed the hanging, winter clothes into the tubs. Problem solved. A dish cabinet is moved to another part of the house and repurposed to be a cabinet to house sweaters.
I also repurposed a toy box. This box held my teen agers’ toys when they were small. In our last home, it held board games that we still play. Now, it sits at the foot of our bed holding winter blankets. It even looks like it matches the white, china/sweater cabinet!
Think about other ways to use furniture and extend the usefulness. In the long run, this will save you money. I didn’t run out and buy plastic blanket storage bins or a beautiful, cedar chest. I used what I had and got creative.
The first thing I did was impress everyone with the lack of storage. Then I forced my husband to go through his books and papers in the basement and get rid of as much as he can (He is a pack rat!). My daughters and I got rid of most of the toys. Then I thought about where to store things.
One of our problems is that my husband and I were going from our own closets to one that we had to share. Luckily it is a good size. We always left all of our clothes hanging in the closet no matter what the season. With just one closet we couldn’t do that. Where to store the overflow?
Here is what I did:
We have a white cabinet that has 4 shelves and I used it to store the good china in. In the new house I have huge amounts of cabinet space in the pantry. I put the good china in the cabinets in the pantry. Then, I took the cabinet and placed it in our bedroom and filled it with all of our sweaters. This made space in the large tubs that we have for winter storage. We placed the hanging, winter clothes into the tubs. Problem solved. A dish cabinet is moved to another part of the house and repurposed to be a cabinet to house sweaters.
I also repurposed a toy box. This box held my teen agers’ toys when they were small. In our last home, it held board games that we still play. Now, it sits at the foot of our bed holding winter blankets. It even looks like it matches the white, china/sweater cabinet!
Think about other ways to use furniture and extend the usefulness. In the long run, this will save you money. I didn’t run out and buy plastic blanket storage bins or a beautiful, cedar chest. I used what I had and got creative.
Goodwill had a $5 a bag sale!
Yesterday, I went to the “sidewalk sale” that the Elkton Goodwill was having. It was actually a parking lot sale! They had huge bins of clothes and we got to plow through them in a quest for items of interest. There must have been 20 bins! When we got there, we bought a re-usable bag for $5. Then we got to fill the bag with whatever we wanted. I took my daughter and her boyfriend and, together, we filled 2 bags. I think Goodwill had too many items to display in the store and this helped out customers and the store. I saw one lady open the trunk of her SUV and she had 6 or 7 bags in there!
I haven’t been writing much due to our move. I have been very busy. If I hadn’t been moving, I would have put out a short article telling readers about the sale. However, my daughter told me I should add Twitter to my FLTAYG information sites. I could have easily Twittered the information. Sometime this summer, expect a Twitter site!
I haven’t been writing much due to our move. I have been very busy. If I hadn’t been moving, I would have put out a short article telling readers about the sale. However, my daughter told me I should add Twitter to my FLTAYG information sites. I could have easily Twittered the information. Sometime this summer, expect a Twitter site!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Two Fun Festivals This Weekend
Saturday, June 6th, is Newark Night! This is when the town of Newark celebrates the students leaving for the summer. Food, crafters, vendors, politicians and 20,000+ people are out on Main St. from 5 pm - 9:30 pm. Join the fun!
Rising Sun's Sun Fest is also June 6th, from 9 am - 5:00 pm. Vendors, crafters, music and food.
It is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow and I intend to go to Newark Night with my sister who is visiting. During the day, I will be helping my husband and teenagers move to our new house.
Rising Sun's Sun Fest is also June 6th, from 9 am - 5:00 pm. Vendors, crafters, music and food.
It is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow and I intend to go to Newark Night with my sister who is visiting. During the day, I will be helping my husband and teenagers move to our new house.
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