Let’s look at my couponing as an example. Many people think I must spend a lot of time to get the savings I do.  On average, I spend around 1 hour a week clipping and sorting coupons.  Today, I spent 2 hours at the stores.  So this week, my total hours spent were 3. I paid $23 out of pocket for my purchases, but received $23 in register rewards towards my next shopping trips. That means, in essence, everything I purchased today was free. I added up my receipts and had approximately $85 work of goods. That’s like making $85 in 3 hours, or an hourly worth of $28.33 (tax free). For an hourly frugal paycheck that high, you bet I’ll keep doing it!

But let’s look at something that might not be as viable for me. Let’s pretend I decided to sew a Halloween costume. (I don’t sew and I don’t plan on taking it up again, but I have done it in the past so I have a reasonable idea of what I’m talking about.) Let’s assume a pattern and fabric (on sale) is $15 and a brand new costume purchased off the rack is $25.  It would seem on the surface that I’d be saving $10 by making it myself.  I’ll allow 1 hour for going to the store to buy the supplies. Experience tells me cutting out a pattern and then the fabric will take me about 2-1/2 hours.  Then, I still have to sew it. In a perfect world, let’s say I could finish in another 2-1/2 hours (probably on the low side for me, but this is just make believe).  My total expenditure of time might be 6 hours. So, to save $10 it took me 6 hours.  That’s an hourly worth of  $1.67. Unless I was in a desperate situation that isn’t enough for me to justify the time spent.

Sometimes, savings come from re-thinking a solution, and the frugal paycheck may go way up by doing so.  Let’s take the Halloween costume as an example.  A new costume might still cost $25, but one purchased at a thrift shop might be the same $15 as we’d have spent buy supplies and make it at home.  That’s again a savings of $10. But if it only takes1 hour to go to the thrift store and pick out the costume, it now became a $10 per hour task.  Sometime you have to weigh the benefits, and be willing to think creatively outside the box to find your best savings solutions.

On the other hand, there are some tasks that you might feel are worth the effort despite a low or nonexistent worth per hour. I love to knit. The time spent to create an item far exceeds any possible price I might make selling the piece. For me, it’s a matter of enjoyment.  I do it while I watch TV and turn that into productive time. I could argue that it provides me with a ready source of gifts when I need them, but still the hourly worth is extremely low or nonexistent. Still, I would never give up knitting - I truly enjoy it and it’s important to me. Or you may feel strongly about doing things that are good for the environment. Sometimes, this may not yield a high hourly worth, but it may make you feel positive about doing the task. Helping clean up litter in the park doesn’t make you any money or give you any savings, but it might make you feel really good about helping to clean up an area enjoyed by many.  In both of these scenarios, regardless of the hourly worth, I say it’s fantastic to do things that you enjoy and can feel good about.

So when you consider incorporating frugal changes into your lifestyle, take a bit of time to calculate an estimated frugal paycheck and see what the hourly worth is to you.  Only you can decide what is too low and what works for you - but it helps to put it in perspective. Looking at saving money by making small lifestyle changes can be overwhelming. You hear so many different ideas and things to try. Not all of them are worth the time and effort, but some are definitely worth doing. As you bring more high value tasks into your lifestyle you’ll begin to really see and appreciate the savings.

Since that time, I’ve only used one can. The rest have been in the cupboard. Today was a day I was in no mood to cook, and I pulled down a can to make a quick lunch. It got me thinking how versatile pork-n-beans really are. Below are some of the ideas of add-ins and flavorings to make a plain can of beans into a flavorful side dish or meal. Feel free to mix and match. Experiment all you like. Let me know if you have any other ideas for things to add.

Flavorings:
BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Brown Sugar, Molasses, Rum, Honey, Maple Syrup, Garlic, Worcestershire sauce,
Dijon mustard, Hot sauce, Pickle Relish, Vinegar (for a sweet-n-sour taste)

Add-ins Vegetarian:
Green/Red/Yellow/Orange peppers, Tomatoes (diced/crushed), Onions, Jalepeno (finely chopped), Pineapple, Rice

Meats:
Bacon, Ham, Spam, Hot Dogs, Kielbasa, Fried sausage/Chorizo, Shredded/chopped pork

Try them on: Toast/crackers, Baked potatoes, served over Rice
Try the in: Casseroles, Bean soups, Burritos

Free MP3’s from Amazon.com

Check back often as the selection changes regularly.  There is quite a variety from classical to death metal.  You can listen to previews of the songs to see if it’s something you might like.  I’ve found several albums for free that I’ve really enjoyed from this site.

You will find using the Amazon MP3 downloader is the best way to grab these items, but it’s also free and painless to use.  When you go to get the free items, the site will walk you through how to install it.  It can be set to automatically import the songs into your Windows Media Player or iTunes.

These songs are all 100% legal and do not contain malware.  Free and safe songs are a great way to enhance your media collection don’t you think? 

A grocery price book can literally be a notebook, but with today’s technology is really easier as a spreadsheet.  On it, you log your purchases and calculate the net cost per item (or lbs, oz, etc).  It’s kind of like the little labels at the grocery store – except you can take into account for the coupons you’ve used to really determine your actual cost paid for something.  (I do not include ECB, RR, or Catelinas on this because they generally are not product specific, just a way to reduce your overall bill.  If a Catelina is product specific then I would include it in calculations.)Knowing regular price is fine, but knowing the best SALE price is what you are after.   To learn more about what a price book is you can read this article and check out some of the references.

The first step is gathering your grocery receipts.  Log all of your purchases the dates, size of the item, and the prices you paid (after coupons is best).  A spreadsheet can automatically calculate your unit pricing for you.  I’d say that tracking this over a month or so, from all the places you shop, will be a good basis to start from.

Then using your matchups, you can see when and where the best prices really are.  I’ll give you an example.  There have been lots and lots of sport drinks on sale recently.  I know my teenager is happy to spend well over a dollar to buy them at the local convenience store.  So when I see a sale for $0.79 it’s really tempting to stock up.  But a quick look at my price book tells me that I was able to get them for $0.60 the last time I stocked up – so I’m going to hold out a little longer.  Granted if it’s been ages and the price is still higher, then maybe you need to consider prices have simply increased.  But in my case, it was just a month or so ago –so I’m holding out for better pricing.  When I find it, I’ll stock up with as many as I can to last me until the next sale.

It’s important to include things you may pay full price for like meats and fresh veggies/fruits.  These do go on sale from time to time, and knowing “regular price” will help you determine if you want to include them in your shopping this week or not. I keep track of my non-coupon purchases from Aldi’s just like I do everything else.  If I run into a sale or clearance at another store, I can quickly determine if it’s worth getting there, if I should hold out, or if Aldi’s is a better price overall.

Free price book spreadsheet from CheapCooking.com

I looked at several ways of tracking prices.  I finally settled on BestGroceryPriceBook.com.  There is a free version available on CNET but after careful consideration I wanted the full spreadsheet. Yes, it involved spending $9 for a spreadsheet, but I’m not about to create all those macros myself.  (Obviously, this is not any kind of paid endorsement of their product since I paid them to obtain it.)  I find it very easy to work with, and printing a fresh copy every 2 weeks or so is very simple and I carry it with me to each store.  In the first few weeks, I certainly saved more than I spent on the spreadsheet – an investment worth it’s weight in gold if you ask me.  If you’d like to see it in action, take a look at this video. BUT TO BE CLEAR – you do not need to use this particular price book, nor do you need to pay for one.  You can use any free one you like and/or you can create your own.  As long as you can see your lowest prices that’s what you are after.

It doesn’t matter how you decide to track your purchases, but the point is knowing when to buy is only as good as the best price.  You can’t possibly remember every price you’ve paid for every product, and a price book is the easiest method of helping you do this.  So if you are serious about saving money, take time to create the price book.  It can be food, toiletries, even clothes or gardening supplies.  Knowing the best price for anything and everything you buy will help you know when you’ve found a good deal any time you see it.

I know it seems like a lot of work, but it is worth it!  Let me know your successes with your price book!