Here it goes for this week.
We had no waste this week. Yea!
However, my husband said something that gave me food for thought.
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| Store brand and name brand crackers |
Here's the long version of the story.
My
parents save all of the crackers they are served with their soup and
salads when they eat out. However, they rarely eat them when they get
home. They just save them up. Therefore when we visit, we take their
stash home with us. So every few months or so, we are eating up their
leftover crackers. This happened recently. I made soup and asked Ward if
he wanted a little pack of crackers to go with it. He said, "Sure, that's the only time I'm going to get name brand crackers." He said it
playfully, but it made me think.
- I didn't know that the brand made a difference to him. Had he told me and I didn't pay attention?
- Is my family so tuned into our thriftiness that they don't even think there are options?
- When we can afford it, why are we eating an inferior product instead of a better one?
- Sometimes saving money is a game to me, but do I go overboard?
Interesting question you post. Over the years I have ventured off and on on being more frugal. Again,I find myself in this mode. BUT my husband and kids do recognize the cheaper store brand products not always being up to par. I admit myself, that they don't always compare. Somethings I figure will be disquised with cooking flavors and spices etc, but other things, I end up buying name brand.
ReplyDeleteGood job on no waste.
I have only just started my journey, so this no waste or food waste friday is an ideal idea. I however this week, do not have any waste!
Good job with no waste this early in the game.
DeleteJust because its not name-brand doesn't mean its inferior! Some off-brand stuff is better in my opinion. In our house we compromise on things; its Aldis brand for most things but then I run over to the other grocery to buy things like Cinnamon Life and Hersheys Syrup.
ReplyDeleteOf course, store brands can be as good or better than name brands. However, in this particular case, he preferred the name brand. The point being that we weren't picking and choosing based on our taste. We were choosing on cost only when we were able to afford the more expensive brand if we wanted it.
DeleteI usually try to save money by cooking from scratch. I buy store brands if they are comparable, but if there's really no comparison, I just go for it. I mostly just tried to avoid as many things with "brands" as possible.
ReplyDeleteI try to cook from scratch, but I don't like to cook. So buying some convenience food while not as thrifty as cooking from scratch is usually cheaper than eating out. I find the key to it all is planning.
DeleteHa! I am definitely guilty of going "over the top" with thriftiness. It drives CatMan crazy from time to time. Of course, it doesn't generally show up with food. I have to cook pretty much everything from scratch due to food allergies, so "treats" for me generally means buying quality ingredients, and I'm OK with that.
ReplyDeleteBut CatMan nearly had a conniption fit when I put the TV etc on a power strip to save "vampire power." He'd be sitting there clicking the remote saying "why isn't this *%$#! thing working?!?" I finally caved on that one and we're both much happier for it!
I have a friend who has a tester that lets you know exactly how much electricity things are using when they are turned off. I want to borrow it. I think the statements about electric use have been overgeneralized. If we knew really what was going on, then hopefully we could agree on what we need to worry about. Right now my husband and I have different ideas. Sounds like your house.
ReplyDeleteActually, CatMan does some work for a company that makes those devices. He wrote all the software for it. His take is that for most things the whole vampire power issue is overblown. Not entirely sure I agree, but for the moment I'm taking his word for it!
DeleteThat's actually what I thought--that the whole issue is overblown. But I was trying to be more politically correct in saying over generalized. Someone was telling me that their toaster used so much when it was not in use. However, they have a toaster that you can program and has a light on it. Mine has one lever that goes up and down to start it and a slider (that's broken)for darkness of the bread. Both are mechanical devices. So when they say a toaster uses x-amount of electricity when it's not in use, they should be comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges. That doesn't always happen. However, I do think some things might do better unplugged when not in use. Not sure what at this point.
DeleteI think you're right. I used to have a television that had a feature that was supposed to make it turn on instantly instead of having to "warm up." It was always hot to the touch, so I'm pretty sure it sucked a lot of power when it wasn't in use. Same deal for the DVR I used to have... I'd unplug it simply because it made so much noise that it drove me crazy!
DeleteInteresting!
ReplyDelete>When we can afford it, why are we eating an inferior product instead of a better one?
This fits in with some things I've been thinking about eating in general. A friend of mine mentioned the concept of "editing" what we eat -- similar to writing, when she writes a first draft then edits to better make the piece achieve her goal, she has learned to plan what she'll eat (or at least be more thoughtful) to better achieve her goals. She's being more thoughtful about the quality of the food she eats now.
I'm trying to learn this from her (and from the excellent example of another couple in our family), but it is an ongoing project. Next step: reading and thinking about Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". And getting the rest of the vegetables planted outdoors.