Post by Honeylioness on Sept 30, 2011 11:58:47 GMT -5
midwesternjd - Oct 10, 2011 at 11:39am
Hello everyone from this week's captain!
QOTW - When you’re looking at your spending, do you find that you generally purchase name brands - or are generic brands just fine with you? Is there anything in which you have to have a higher quality version? Do you find that you end up spending more money this way?
COTW - Identify the items in which quality is important (trash bags and mattresses are at the top of my list). See if you can use this to re-tool your budgeted spending such that you’re spending money on what you really value, and saving on the rest.
This is an issue that has cropped up repeatedly for me - the latest example was when our DVD shelf literally exploded last night [image] . I’m pretty sure it came from Big Lots and the plywood just eventually gave out. But as I picked up DVDs (several of them cracked), I wondered how much I really “saved” by getting the $50 DVD shelf vs. the $150 DVD shelf. At the same time, name-brand food is pretty much wasted on me - I taste zero difference between Kroger Raisin Bran and Kellogg's Raisin Bran, so figure I may as well buy the cheapest version.
mizbear - Oct 10, 2011 at 11:56am
QOTW: I am not name brand specific as long as the product works/tastes as good as the name brand product. For instance, I am very picky when it comes to chocolate syrup. For making chocolate milk- it MUST be Hershey's. I will use Ovaltine powder, but I dislike Quik by NEstle- I have to use waaay too much to get the proper flavor. I will use store brand ketchup IF it tastes close to Heinz, but NOT if it tastes close to Hunts (Heinz has more vinegar I believe). I am name brand picky on bunny rabbits and foo-foo. I refuse to smell of Aunt Flo and B.O. Not attractive. And it's not a deal if it leaks or doesn't work. Jewelry is all wal-mart almost.
I pay more for my SB than I do for my cards of hypoallergenic earrings.
COTW: The things that I am totally dead set on brands- I can usually get coupons for to make them extraordinarily inexpensive. The exception being if I go with the monster boxes of trash bags at wal-mart. I don't even pay for my name brand pasta because I buy it 10/10 with $1 off coupons.
Maybe I missed the question.
shanendoah - Oct 10 at 12:16pm
QOTW: Mac & Cheese has to be Kraft if its from the box. The Kirkland brand is yucky. We buy a specific kind of andouille from Trader Joes because DH doesn't like the taste of the Adele's, which is all we can find at Safeway or CostCo- Safeway used to have an andouille in their store brand that we really liked, but they no longer carry it here. And I drink Coke- not Pepsi or generic cola. But for us, that's pretty much it.
For MIL, though, its a different story. She will get it in her head that a specific brand is the only thing that works/tastes good, etc, and it can be a fight to get her to accept anything else. We pick these fights carefully- the savings has to be significant to be worth the hassle of convincing her to at least try the product- because she will simply throw things out or give them away if she decides they are not exactly what she wants- wastes more money than it saves at that point.
COTW: We shop at CostCo and buy in bulk, and for the most part do our best to get good deals all the time. The andouille is the only thing that we just buy, whatever the cost, because we don't go to TJs often so don't see the sales, and we only buy it when we need it.
For the Coke, we only buy when its got a good sale. For 4th of July and Labor Day, they often have buy 2 get 3 free sales and we stock up, often clearing out the inventory for my particular kind of Coke (diet with splenda). But even with coupons for name brands, we check against the cost of the generic.
That's on regular expenses. Things like cars, furniture, the every once in a while things, we always go with quality over cost. For things that are going to last years, lasting 10 years instead of 7 results in major savings, even if the initial cost was higher.
financialpeace - Oct 10 at 12:59pm[/b]
The allowance system is working really well for me so far. I blew all my allowance the first day due to an unplanned trip with a friend, but knowing I only have to hold out until this Friday to get more has kept me from spending any money unnecessarily. It is also helping DH but not as much as it is me.
I don't know how you all keep up on the conversation here. By the time I finish reading everything, I have no idea who said what and what all I wanted to respond to. I'm going to have to start taking notes or something. I know somebody said something about my DH having a great, stable job. That is true, and my layoff will not ruin us financially. It will just limit our saving. The biggest problem I am having with the layoff is the emotional issues. I have days where I feel like such a failure and so worthless. My job paid horribly, and I hated it, but I would much rather have left it for a better job than to essentially be fired from it. There is hope, though. My DH has finally agreed to move out of the area. He has an interview in Washington state (we currently live in Oregon) next Monday. It is in a much larger area that should hopefully provide more opportunities for me than our current town. We should also be able to find a cheaper apartment than what is available here. There will be additional expenses involved, though, with the move and the travel for the interview. Hotel, gas, and food. I'm really glad we have been good so far this month and that should continue the rest of the month when we are home. That should offset some of the additional expenses.
QOTW - When you’re looking at your spending, do you find that you generally purchase name brands - or are generic brands just fine with you? Is there anything in which you have to have a higher quality version? Do you find that you end up spending more money this way?
This is something I am terrible about. DH is worse than me, though. I have recently started making an effort to experiment with buying generic items, especially at the grocery store, and continuing to use them if the quality is comparable to the name brand. I know I spend way more money than I need to because of my name brand bias.
COTW - Identify the items in which quality is important (trash bags and mattresses are at the top of my list). See if you can use this to re-tool your budgeted spending such that you’re spending money on what you really value, and saving on the rest.
Quality shoes are important to me. I have a pretty high arch and shoes that are not supportive enough will make my feet hurt really bad. Right now I don't think there is anything I need to buy where quality is super important. I'm working on shifting more and more toward generic if it is significantly cheaper.
sheilaincali - Oct 10 at 1:04pm
QOTW: DH is way more wrapped up in brands and buying quality than I am. He was 100% convinced that DS needed Nike gym shoes because kids would make fun of him if he had an off brand. DS couldn't care less what brand of shoes he wears. DH will only buy his special brand of coffee too. As for me- the only name brand or brand loyality I have is for my tampoons. Yup- after the honest to god shortage, manufacturing snafu last year I am stocked up on them. I buy them for stockpile whenever Walgreens has their buy one get one free sale.
COTW: Not sure how to accomplish this. I don't have a seperate line item for girly supplies. DH's coffee and that is just something I have learned to budget into the grocery budget.
I do agree though that you get what you pay for. With furniture and clothing. I would rather buy well made items than the cheap items.
dakota4600 - Oct 10 at 1:35pm
QOTW:[/b] I'm pretty much all for using generics, unless I can get the name brand on sale so that ends up being the same or less. We do have brand loyalty to a few things:
Steak Sauce (We tried the off brands and each used up the bottles of B-2 and 59 sauce ;D, which were awful and vowed never again.)
TP (I use a lot more of the cheap stuff, so for me I think it is a wash on the cost, since I use so much more of the generic.)
Kleenex
Magic Erasers (The generics just didn't do the job).
I really try to make stuff at home when possible. In fact made roasted red pepper hummus last night. It is very yummy. Plus I have 4 bags of chickpeas in the freezer to make more later.
I think I've finally convinced DH to spend a little more to get better quality on bigger items. He is in the cheapest is best mindset, but I've started using the cost per day with him. (ie we spend $500 today and use it for 500 days or we spend $750 today and use it for 1000 days)
COTW- Hmmm...that will take some thought.
Honeylioness - Oct 11, 2011 at 2:54pm
QOTW - I agree with the idea that for some things, purchasing on the cheap up front does not pay in the long run for some things. I would include appliances, vehicles and certain clothing items on that list.
However you do not necessarily have to pay full price either. My winter coat is 10 years old. It is a full length black wool. Nothing trendy about it. It was originally $400 at Sears. However I bought it in February when they were trying to move out all the old winter items - and spent $150. Which I considered a LOT of money to spend on one item at the time. However it is still holding up well and has paid for itself over and over versus buying a cheap $20 nylon jacket at Wally World.
For some food items I won't buy the generic since I don't like the taste/texture and it will just get thrown away - so there is no savings there. My list includes: Heinz catsup, Hershey's chocolate, KRAFT Mac 'n Cheese in the box with the creamy cheese packet, Cream of Wheat (the original), Diet Pepsi and Friskies Indoor Cat Formula cat food. This last is important because other brands, especially store brands, give my cats the runs or they throw it up.
COTW - I think overall I do this fairly well. For instance, if I have a coupon for a name brand item but the generic equivalent is still lower in cost - I will pick the generic. If the name brand with coupon is the better deal - then it gets added to my cart.
As I usually research things to death, I think I am able to be confident that I have purchased the item with the most value for the dollar. Like my mattress or my car. In the past I have used this "savings" to buy fabric for myself. That is an area where I won't buy based solely on price. There is a reason some fabric sells regularly for only $1 a yard, or a spool of thread is only $0.79 - the quality stinks and the material doesn't hold up.
Hello everyone from this week's captain!
QOTW - When you’re looking at your spending, do you find that you generally purchase name brands - or are generic brands just fine with you? Is there anything in which you have to have a higher quality version? Do you find that you end up spending more money this way?
COTW - Identify the items in which quality is important (trash bags and mattresses are at the top of my list). See if you can use this to re-tool your budgeted spending such that you’re spending money on what you really value, and saving on the rest.
This is an issue that has cropped up repeatedly for me - the latest example was when our DVD shelf literally exploded last night [image] . I’m pretty sure it came from Big Lots and the plywood just eventually gave out. But as I picked up DVDs (several of them cracked), I wondered how much I really “saved” by getting the $50 DVD shelf vs. the $150 DVD shelf. At the same time, name-brand food is pretty much wasted on me - I taste zero difference between Kroger Raisin Bran and Kellogg's Raisin Bran, so figure I may as well buy the cheapest version.
mizbear - Oct 10, 2011 at 11:56am
QOTW: I am not name brand specific as long as the product works/tastes as good as the name brand product. For instance, I am very picky when it comes to chocolate syrup. For making chocolate milk- it MUST be Hershey's. I will use Ovaltine powder, but I dislike Quik by NEstle- I have to use waaay too much to get the proper flavor. I will use store brand ketchup IF it tastes close to Heinz, but NOT if it tastes close to Hunts (Heinz has more vinegar I believe). I am name brand picky on bunny rabbits and foo-foo. I refuse to smell of Aunt Flo and B.O. Not attractive. And it's not a deal if it leaks or doesn't work. Jewelry is all wal-mart almost.
I pay more for my SB than I do for my cards of hypoallergenic earrings.COTW: The things that I am totally dead set on brands- I can usually get coupons for to make them extraordinarily inexpensive. The exception being if I go with the monster boxes of trash bags at wal-mart. I don't even pay for my name brand pasta because I buy it 10/10 with $1 off coupons.
Maybe I missed the question.
shanendoah - Oct 10 at 12:16pm
QOTW: Mac & Cheese has to be Kraft if its from the box. The Kirkland brand is yucky. We buy a specific kind of andouille from Trader Joes because DH doesn't like the taste of the Adele's, which is all we can find at Safeway or CostCo- Safeway used to have an andouille in their store brand that we really liked, but they no longer carry it here. And I drink Coke- not Pepsi or generic cola. But for us, that's pretty much it.
For MIL, though, its a different story. She will get it in her head that a specific brand is the only thing that works/tastes good, etc, and it can be a fight to get her to accept anything else. We pick these fights carefully- the savings has to be significant to be worth the hassle of convincing her to at least try the product- because she will simply throw things out or give them away if she decides they are not exactly what she wants- wastes more money than it saves at that point.
COTW: We shop at CostCo and buy in bulk, and for the most part do our best to get good deals all the time. The andouille is the only thing that we just buy, whatever the cost, because we don't go to TJs often so don't see the sales, and we only buy it when we need it.
For the Coke, we only buy when its got a good sale. For 4th of July and Labor Day, they often have buy 2 get 3 free sales and we stock up, often clearing out the inventory for my particular kind of Coke (diet with splenda). But even with coupons for name brands, we check against the cost of the generic.
That's on regular expenses. Things like cars, furniture, the every once in a while things, we always go with quality over cost. For things that are going to last years, lasting 10 years instead of 7 results in major savings, even if the initial cost was higher.
financialpeace - Oct 10 at 12:59pm[/b]
The allowance system is working really well for me so far. I blew all my allowance the first day due to an unplanned trip with a friend, but knowing I only have to hold out until this Friday to get more has kept me from spending any money unnecessarily. It is also helping DH but not as much as it is me.
I don't know how you all keep up on the conversation here. By the time I finish reading everything, I have no idea who said what and what all I wanted to respond to. I'm going to have to start taking notes or something. I know somebody said something about my DH having a great, stable job. That is true, and my layoff will not ruin us financially. It will just limit our saving. The biggest problem I am having with the layoff is the emotional issues. I have days where I feel like such a failure and so worthless. My job paid horribly, and I hated it, but I would much rather have left it for a better job than to essentially be fired from it. There is hope, though. My DH has finally agreed to move out of the area. He has an interview in Washington state (we currently live in Oregon) next Monday. It is in a much larger area that should hopefully provide more opportunities for me than our current town. We should also be able to find a cheaper apartment than what is available here. There will be additional expenses involved, though, with the move and the travel for the interview. Hotel, gas, and food. I'm really glad we have been good so far this month and that should continue the rest of the month when we are home. That should offset some of the additional expenses.
QOTW - When you’re looking at your spending, do you find that you generally purchase name brands - or are generic brands just fine with you? Is there anything in which you have to have a higher quality version? Do you find that you end up spending more money this way?
This is something I am terrible about. DH is worse than me, though. I have recently started making an effort to experiment with buying generic items, especially at the grocery store, and continuing to use them if the quality is comparable to the name brand. I know I spend way more money than I need to because of my name brand bias.
COTW - Identify the items in which quality is important (trash bags and mattresses are at the top of my list). See if you can use this to re-tool your budgeted spending such that you’re spending money on what you really value, and saving on the rest.
Quality shoes are important to me. I have a pretty high arch and shoes that are not supportive enough will make my feet hurt really bad. Right now I don't think there is anything I need to buy where quality is super important. I'm working on shifting more and more toward generic if it is significantly cheaper.
sheilaincali - Oct 10 at 1:04pm
QOTW: DH is way more wrapped up in brands and buying quality than I am. He was 100% convinced that DS needed Nike gym shoes because kids would make fun of him if he had an off brand. DS couldn't care less what brand of shoes he wears. DH will only buy his special brand of coffee too. As for me- the only name brand or brand loyality I have is for my tampoons. Yup- after the honest to god shortage, manufacturing snafu last year I am stocked up on them. I buy them for stockpile whenever Walgreens has their buy one get one free sale.
COTW: Not sure how to accomplish this. I don't have a seperate line item for girly supplies. DH's coffee and that is just something I have learned to budget into the grocery budget.
I do agree though that you get what you pay for. With furniture and clothing. I would rather buy well made items than the cheap items.
dakota4600 - Oct 10 at 1:35pm
QOTW:[/b] I'm pretty much all for using generics, unless I can get the name brand on sale so that ends up being the same or less. We do have brand loyalty to a few things:
Steak Sauce (We tried the off brands and each used up the bottles of B-2 and 59 sauce ;D, which were awful and vowed never again.)
TP (I use a lot more of the cheap stuff, so for me I think it is a wash on the cost, since I use so much more of the generic.)
Kleenex
Magic Erasers (The generics just didn't do the job).
I really try to make stuff at home when possible. In fact made roasted red pepper hummus last night. It is very yummy. Plus I have 4 bags of chickpeas in the freezer to make more later.
I think I've finally convinced DH to spend a little more to get better quality on bigger items. He is in the cheapest is best mindset, but I've started using the cost per day with him. (ie we spend $500 today and use it for 500 days or we spend $750 today and use it for 1000 days)
COTW- Hmmm...that will take some thought.
Honeylioness - Oct 11, 2011 at 2:54pm
QOTW - I agree with the idea that for some things, purchasing on the cheap up front does not pay in the long run for some things. I would include appliances, vehicles and certain clothing items on that list.
However you do not necessarily have to pay full price either. My winter coat is 10 years old. It is a full length black wool. Nothing trendy about it. It was originally $400 at Sears. However I bought it in February when they were trying to move out all the old winter items - and spent $150. Which I considered a LOT of money to spend on one item at the time. However it is still holding up well and has paid for itself over and over versus buying a cheap $20 nylon jacket at Wally World.
For some food items I won't buy the generic since I don't like the taste/texture and it will just get thrown away - so there is no savings there. My list includes: Heinz catsup, Hershey's chocolate, KRAFT Mac 'n Cheese in the box with the creamy cheese packet, Cream of Wheat (the original), Diet Pepsi and Friskies Indoor Cat Formula cat food. This last is important because other brands, especially store brands, give my cats the runs or they throw it up.
COTW - I think overall I do this fairly well. For instance, if I have a coupon for a name brand item but the generic equivalent is still lower in cost - I will pick the generic. If the name brand with coupon is the better deal - then it gets added to my cart.
As I usually research things to death, I think I am able to be confident that I have purchased the item with the most value for the dollar. Like my mattress or my car. In the past I have used this "savings" to buy fabric for myself. That is an area where I won't buy based solely on price. There is a reason some fabric sells regularly for only $1 a yard, or a spool of thread is only $0.79 - the quality stinks and the material doesn't hold up.
. We all have different approaches to our personal finances. Many of us have had to change our way of thinking in terms of our personal finances at least once. So when it comes to personal finance, are you a dieter or a lifestyle changer? DO you look for that short term fix or a long term change?