The first 7 pages of TG are the preface, giving a brief history of the Dacyczyns' life and why Amy Dacyczyn decided to start a frugality project of her own. The last half page of the preface is titled 10 Painless Ways To Save $100 This Year. Now remember that TG was started in 1990 and was completed in 1996, so prices are a bit out of date. These 10 tips are pretty easy, but do have an audience, a family with children. Tip #1: Buy ten articles of clothing at thrift stores instead of buying new. #2: Hang dry four loads of laundry per week. #3: Make pizza from scratch. #4: Write letters instead of having lengthy long distance phone calls. #5: Reduce pop intake by four cans per pack a week. #6: Bake two loaves of bread a week instead of buying two. #7: Save $50 on birthdays by making decorations, cake and a present. #8:Cut smoking by three cigarettes per day. #9: Use dry milk for baking, homemade coco and coffee creamer. #10: Pack four school lunches per week instead of buying school lunches.
Modern breakdown:
#5: A 12pack of Coke costs about $6. If you were to buy two 12packs a week that is 104 packs, 1,248 cans, $624 a year. Reducing pop intake by 1/3 is 16 cans a week, 69.333... packs a year, 832 cans a year, $416 a year. This is a yearly savings of $208!
#6: A loaf of bread cost roughly $3. This costs $936 a year, at two loaves a week. If you make your own bread, following this recipe, it cost $1.05 a loaf! Impossible you say? I'll prove it. Yeast costs $1.50 a pound which is equal to $0.03125 a tsp. or $0.125 for the recipe, Sugar is also $1.50 a pound, the same as 37.666... Tbsp, or $0.04 per loaf. Vegetable oil costs $9 per gallon, $0.56 a cup or $0.14 for the recipe. Flour is about $0.60 a pound, a pound of flour is 4.5 cups, $0.66 per loaf. Lastly we have salt, the cheapest thing in existence, $.98 for 26 ounces or 122.75 tsp, which is $.008 a tsp, less than $0.02 for the recipe. Following this recipe with the prices I have listed, for two loaves of bread a week is $2.10, $109.20 a year for yearly savings of $826.80.
#8 Cigarettes: In MA cigarettes cost about $8 a pack, which for a pack a day smoker is $2,920 a year. If you were to reduce your smoking by three cigarettes a day you would only be paying $2,482 a year, this is a yearly savings of $438.
Reducing consumption by only a few units a day or week can greatly reduce your yearly expenditures. Shortly I will be living in a house by myself. I vow to cut my Coke and cigarette consumption by 1/3. I also plan on making my own bread. As you can see these prices actually exceed the advertised $100 savings a year. Aren't you glad you had me around to do the math for you?
The recipe referenced above is absolutely delicious and easy. You should all give it a try.
NFZ
I like i!! I love to make bread- I usually make sourdough- which might be more expensive since you have to feed the started to keep it going. But the only ingredients are flour and water- the yeast is natural.
ReplyDeleteI have got to stop my easy $1 coke at McDonalds. It is a crutch and I need to not go there.
Another thing I need to do is not go to Target. My favorite consumer advocate Clark Howard told a story of how a couple saved hundreds of dollars a month by simply going to Target once a month. I go there when I am bored an almost always spend $80.
Keep it up!!
Something else to consider is how much soft-drinks and tea cost at a restaurant (or fast food places). Forgoing those, if you eat out just once a week, would get very close to $100 over a year.
ReplyDeleteI noticed at Wal-Mart that a 20oz drink in the check out line is nearly (sometimes more) expensive than a 2-litre bottle.