If you have to make a minimum purchase to buy a turkey at the best price . . .

. . . this is what I do.

Our grocery store's deal this year is spend $35, then buy 1 turkey at $1.19 per pound, and get a second turkey for free. If I find 2 turkeys that weigh about the same, then my price per pound is about 59 cents per pound.

But I have to make that minimum purchase of $35, to get that deal. For someone who only buys groceries at rock-bottom prices, this can be a challenge to spend $35 at a regular grocery store.

But I have a system/plan that works for us. The bath tissue that I regularly buy is this store's own house brand of Scott's 1000. It's not comfy tp, but I did some figuring several years ago, and this bath tissue, store brand, at the current price, is the best bargain for our family. (Here's the post I wrote on making that calculation.)

So, I let our household run very low on bath tissue in the weeks leading up to my turkey purchases each November. It got so low this month that I was redistributing tp from one bathroom to the next, so no one in the house would have one of those emergencies. Yes, it was dangerously low, in fact! I didn't mean for it to get this low, but it did.

And to make my $35 minimum spend at the grocery store, I do a major stock-up of bath tissue for the bulk of that dollar amount, buying the economical tp, as I have already calculated. 

Anyway, on Friday, I made the first of our turkey purchases, buying two 19-lb turkeys, plus 40 rolls of bath tissue, 4 dozen eggs, and 1 tiny treat for myself. I was 2 cents short of the $35 minimum purchase, so I checked out the clearance racks at the grocery store and found a marked down Hallowe'en treat for myself. It was a Russell Stover's candy, very yummy, and 39 cents.

If you need to make a minimum spend in your grocery store to get the deal, look around for what else the store might carry, that is well-priced for your area. Some stores allow the purchase of alcohol or gift cards to go towards the minimum spend. I had thought of buying another bottle of vodka for making more vanilla extract. Or, if you know you would like to give a gift card to someone at some point, you could pick that up now, and have that go towards your minimum purchase. Or, perhaps a major stock-up of bath tissue would work for your household, as well.

Happy bargain shopping!

______________________________________________

Which financial path did you choose?

Choices. We each get to choose our financial path. We can choose living life way beyond our means, or we can choose to live within our means.

I'm close to someone who chose a very different financial path than my husband and I. They live a life that looks affluent to me. They travel a lot, eat out frequently, have not just one extraordinarily lovely home, but a second home, as well. They drive very nice cars, have gorgeous clothing and furnishings, and would shudder at the thought of "having" to live the life that I chose.

My family shops discount stores, thrift stores, clearance racks, gladly accepts hand-me-downs, makes do with what we have, and drive our cars until they just won't move any more. We rarely eat out, our travels are limited and so feel very special, and our home is almost entirely furnished with second-hand furniture, most of which was given to us by relatives who were down-sizing.

Looking at the surface, it would appear that this other couple is doing much better than my husband and I, financially. Their career paths have been far more lucrative than ours. My husband and I have always managed on about 1/3 to 1/4 of the other couple's income.

However, looks don't always tell the whole story. My husband and I don't have 1 stitch of debt, not one tiny bit. Our house is paid in full. We paid cash for our cars. We have enough comfort in our lives that life is indeed enjoyable. And we have a significant savings to ward off any unforeseen financial disaster. This other couple is in the retirement zone, but unable to retire for several more years, due to debt. They try to be upbeat, but I can hear between words that they wish that they could be enjoying retirement right now, as are all of their friends.

Over the years, I've felt envy for all they seemed to have. But now, I feel sorry for them and their financial choices. If my husband and I had to retire right here and now, we'd do okay, and find happiness regardless of our finances. If something were to happen and this other couple were to be forced into retirement, they'd be miserable with the style of life that they'd "have" to live with.


Often times, these choices are gradual. You find yourself in the fast lane and boxed in, unable to move over to a slower lane. In no time, the spending-lifestyle has escalated, and debt builds. Or in my family's case, our income was quite small, and we needed to trim costs a little bit, all those years ago. And before we new it, 27 years had passed and we had developed many frugal habits, and managed to snag a bit of financial freedom for ourselves in the process.

Either way, it takes just one step in the direction of choice to set a new path for yourself. Just one step. I'm grateful that my husband and I took that one step in a frugal direction.

__________________________________________________