This “checklist” series of articles looks at common areas of spending to identify a list of opportunities to reduce costs. Not every tradeoff opportunity will make sense for you, but we hope you find this a helpful compilation.
Household expenses encompass a broad swath of products and services we buy to keep fed, clothed, and clean 1 Although as my children can attest, the latter is subject to a pretty broad range of interpretation . While costs for these goods and services can vary (sometimes widely), we all have a need for sustenance and clothing 2 with all due apologies to the naturalist community . I’ve detailed a list of opportunities for common trade-offs in this space but want to be clear up front that a comprehensive list is beyond what can be accomplished here!
Reduce Groceries expenses
- Shop on a schedule. Grocery stores strategically organize their products to maximize “impulse buys”. Shopping once a week (or at the schedule that works for you) can minimize the “surprise” purchases 3 like you could say no to chocolate covered crickets?
- Shop from a list. If you don’t go in with a plan, one will undoubtedly emerge as you shop, but if you aren’t careful you will find yourself leaving with a whole lot of things you would never have bought if you came up with a list in your own home. I think the Holderness family does a nice job illustrating this point.
- Never shop while hungry 4 or hangry . Enough said.
- Try “pickup”. Increasingly retailers are providing the option to allow you to pick up your groceries rather than even go in store. This does run some risk of learning the product you really wanted was out of stock, but in general it can save time, cut down on the impulse buys, and usually doesn’t cost extra.
- Shop at discount grocers. Aldi’s or Walmart can save you money but be careful not to assume everything is cheaper just because the store is a “discounter”. Note that many discounters have great deals on the sale items but are actually more expensive for others. Know the price of your most common purchases and check to how has them for less!
- Consume less. Many of us have items on the list (or that magically appear in the cart) that we don’t really need. Much of the time those extras aren’t all that good for us anyway!5 Although i’m sure that phenomena exists only in my family A potential win-win here.
- Buy generic brands. Most grocery chains feature a private-generic brand that is pretty much identical to the name brand.
- Use coupons/loyalty cards. Note that couponing is often virtual in today’s world. Many large retailers will have an app to help you identify what you are eligible for a discount on. Similarly, loyalty cards are free to get and can save you significantly.
- Buy bulk. Now this one assumes that you have a big enough family that buying in bulk can actually save you cash. Buying that 20 pack of toothpaste probably isn’t the best call shopping for one 6 although now that I think about it, I can think of one or two exceptions to that but if you’re shopping for the family it can be a nice savings and larger warehouse stores often can have substantially lower pricing on certain consumer goods like batteries.
Reduce Clothing expenses
- Shop at discount and stores or thrift stores. Even if you like some brand names in your closet there are plenty of options to buy those for less with a little less 5th Avenue Sachs and a little more Marshall’s/TJ Max. For those who just want something to cover them (or their kids), Walmart, Costco, and numerous other discounters and big box stores offer heavy discounts on clothes.
- Buy at the end of the season. The racks might look a bit picked over, but the Clearance rack is the first spot I check when visiting the clothing store! I might need to hold onto that winter coat for 6 months72 months if you live in Wisconsin, but at 75% off it can be worth it.
- Try yard sales. This is a bit seasonal, but especially effective for kids. Often there are like new clothes available for pennies on the dollar 8 turns out kids growing through multiple sizes a month can actually save you money, provided it’s someone else’s kid in a growth spurt! .
- Use community sponsored free clothing sources. It doesn’t get any cheaper than free!
- Buy quality. Now this one may seem counterintuitive, but buying cheap clothes can backfire if you are constantly replacing them.