Probably, many housewives are familiar with the situation when, returning from work, not burning with a special desire to cook something, we buy ready-made food. And at home, in, there is a bunch of food that quietly spoils while you eat ready-made food from the supermarket. As a result of this whole situation, half the salary is spent on food per month.
But, in fact, you can save on products, you just need to discipline yourself a little and learn how to properly manage money.
It is about how to save on products that we will talk today. So, first you need to make a menu for the whole week. Despite the fact that it seems almost impossible, however, a roughly compiled menu will make your life much easier. Think about what you usually eat, for example, for breakfast. Buy eggs, muesli, cereals and ready-made cereals, as well as sausage or ham, depending on what you prefer. This will be enough. It will not be superfluous to think over several options for lunches and dinners.
The next step is to buy products wisely, as they say. Make a list at home necessary products, and in the store strictly follow the list. If "extra" purchases are your weakness, then it is best to take a small amount of money with you, only for what is needed.
Make it a rule to keep store receipts. At the end of the month, you will be able to knock down the amount that you spent on food.
It's no secret that in stores located near the house, everything is always exorbitantly expensive. Therefore, it is necessary to find the best option for a store that is not very far from home, and the prices for products in which will not ruin you before the end of the month.
Try to cook more often universal dishes. scrambled eggs, casseroles, cereals, omelettes and sandwiches can be prepared from rather unexpected products. For example, half-eaten pasta or potatoes for dinner will be an excellent basis for casseroles.
From the remaining porridge (if it is cooked in milk), you can cook pancakes. The remaining greens should not be thrown away, it can be cut through and frozen in.
Ready-made, frozen dough helps the hostess well. Yeast dough Great for making pizza or just baked muffins.
"Click" on seasonal fruits and vegetables. Of course, often in winter we want grapes or strawberries, but this is quite an expensive pleasure. Moreover, at this time of the year they are not very useful. It is better to give preference to vegetables (fruits) of a seasonal nature. They are much cheaper and safer. Judge for yourself that healthier compote, boiled by you or water with bubbles of an incomprehensible color in a plastic bottle, it is not known where and how it is stored.
The last and very important rule of economy is to avoid semi-finished products if possible. All of them are beautifully packaged, but have a relatively small weight (from 250 to 500g). If we translate the cost of a semi-finished product into the cost of one kilogram, it turns out that they are expensive, and their quality is a secret for the buyer.
It is much better and healthier to buy a whole chicken than ready cutlets or minced meat. Ready-made salads - also not quite healthy meals. If you need to reduce the time it takes to boil vegetables (carrots, beets, potatoes), buy these ready-made vegetables at the supermarket. Vegetables usually stand next to salads and marinated kebabs in the windows.
Following our advice, you will soon notice that food costs have noticeably decreased, the diet has become much more varied and healthier. Husband and children often leave the table with a satisfied smile. You often hear: “Thank you, dear!” You have “extra money” to go to the cinema with the whole family.
This does not mean that you will become worse to eat, no, you just learned to save!
The arrival of the financial crisis, which led to a decrease in income and an increase in prices in stores, reminded us of the need to save money; just how to do it right? Refusing to purchase essential goods, among which food, detergents and hygiene products come to the fore, is simply impossible, and without buying new clothes and shoes for several years, any woman will lose her attractiveness.
So what can you save on without unpleasant consequences for yourself and your family? After all, free money will never become superfluous - they can be directed in another direction, for example, arrange a joint trip to the skating rink or to an entertainment center. What are they, the secrets of an economical hostess? Maybe in the matter of rational family budget planning, as in cooking, there are special recipes? Let's try to figure it out right now, and try to understand what exactly will allow us to become more frugal and economical.
Basic principles of saving at home
To get started, start a special notebook, similar to the one where family records are stored. cooking recipes. It is in it that you, as a zealous housewife, will begin to record all family income and even the smallest expenses. Within a few months you will have a complete picture of all costs. So, undoubtedly, it will become easier to outline the main points for further savings. After all, the entries in the notebook will immediately indicate those expenses that were made without a specific need.
A lot of advice that will not only allow a woman to become a thrifty housewife, but also involve all family members in the process of saving, relate to everyday issues. After all, a considerable part of the money is spent on the maintenance of the apartment and the mandatory payments associated with it. Therefore, here you can save money, while receiving a certain benefit.
So, if among the main expenses of the family a significant amount is allocated for the payment of utilities, every economical housewife will decide to install gas and water meters so as not to overpay utilities. To save on payment, do not waste resources in vain, do not leave taps open, repair leaking plumbing fixtures in time, turn off the lights in rooms where no one is, install energy-saving light bulbs in the apartment. If you have to buy new household appliances, you should pay attention to the class of this equipment, because the higher it is, the more economical the cost of using electricity and water.
If cell phone and internet costs are becoming a strain on the household budget, it may be time to switch providers or switch to more economical packages that will allow you to lower your costs down the road.
How to save on food?
Many helpful tips economical housewives mainly include only recipes for dishes, the preparation of which is not expensive for the family budget, but the main savings lie not so much in the composition of the ingredients, but in home cooking food. Our compatriots have long been accustomed to buying chopped salads, pizza in supermarkets, which you just need to warm up in microwave oven, packs of dumplings and dumplings, other semi-finished products.
But economical housewives are well aware that such products are expensive, and are also unlikely to benefit the body. Therefore, it is better to go to the market or, at worst, to the hypermarket on a day off. Buy fresh vegetables, dairy products, meat and chicken, all kinds of greens, and then for a week cook healthy dishes from these products, using old and inventing new recipes. Therefore, any economical and thrifty housewife needs to learn the first rule of rational shopping: high-quality natural food is not more expensive than health!
In order not to spend a lot of time preparing dinner after work, tinker with the meat in advance, cutting it into pieces, make semi-finished products for meatballs, which then will only have to be fried. It's also a good idea to learn how to make an approximate menu for the week, while taking into account the recipes for those dishes that will not be difficult to prepare even after a busy day. Turn to the experience of more mature housewives and carefully listen to the advice of, for example, mothers. She certainly knows many tricks related to the issue of economy.
Remember that a truly economical housewife does not lose anything, so you do not need to cook huge pots of food, the remains of which will then be thrown away, and also fill the refrigerator to the top, since most products deteriorate during long-term storage. This is the second rule of how to be more frugal: you should buy food with a limited shelf life only in the amount that your family can use on time.
The properties of flour and sugar depend on the storage conditions of bulk products, so if you buy such products in bags in order to save money, ensure their safety. To do this, you need to create indoors, for example, in the pantry, ideal conditions where there is no moisture. And here sunflower oil it is not worth buying in packages - you can always choose it in any store. Here is the third rule that any economical young housewife needs to remember: products long-term storage it is really more profitable to buy in bulk, but subject to a reasonable approach and the availability of suitable storage conditions.
To become more rational in spending, train yourself and the rest of the family not to go shopping without first having breakfast or lunch. Of course, there are force majeure circumstances when you need to go to the store after work. But at this time you are usually in a hurry, so quickly take only what you need and go home. The advice not to shop on an empty stomach refers to weekly trips to the supermarket, which are often made by the whole family.
If someone is hungry, especially children, then the variety of food temptations will quickly migrate to your cart, leaving no room for really important goods. And how surprised you will be when you look through your purchases and find that the amount of money spent does not match the fullness of your refrigerator! Rule Five: A full meal before going to the store can be a good deterrent in trying to overbuy.
How to save money at home?
Any economical woman takes care of things, giving many of them the right to a second life. Even if you don't know how to sew, remaking an old coat into a trendy jacket at one of the sewing studios will cost much less than buying new outerwear, and from worn jeans you can make a miniskirt, a creative beach bag and many other interesting things.
If your family spends a lot of money on clothes, then surely the situation when the closets are breaking under the weight of things, and there is, in fact, nothing to wear, will seem familiar to you. Therefore, first of all, try to get rid of those toilet items that you no longer need (they have become small, large, worn out), and analyze the rest. Determine which new clothes and which of the family members need in the first place. Distribute them according to urgency, rather than trying to cram everything into the next paycheck.
A thrifty young housewife will also be helped by very common advice that it is most profitable to buy clothes and shoes at seasonal sales. This is especially true for children's things, because they need a lot, and kids sometimes grow faster than we have time to update their wardrobe. Please note that the rapid loss of things of their original appearance, shapes, colors and textures may be the result of improper care for them. Remember that clothes are best stored on trempels and washed and dried as indicated on the tags. Advice that shoes should be washed, cleaned and lubricated with protective agents on time will help to wear them longer.
There are many ways to help update the interior economically: it is enough to buy new curtains and use hand-made items in the design. And even an old soft corner can be given new life with a change of upholstery and the use of beautiful sofa cushions. If you are a creative person, love and know how to make something with your own hands, then use these talents for the benefit of saving the family budget by decorating the house with items of your own creativity. Moreover, now it is considered a particularly fashionable and original solution.
Take Savings Seriously! And over time, you will definitely learn how to save money so that the apartment remains cozy, the aroma comes from the kitchen delicious food and clothes were fashionable. Do not think that a wide range of foodstuffs and manufactured goods has ousted the habit of baking pies on weekends from our lives, and made knitting, embroidery and sewing the prerogative of women of retirement age. All this will never lose its relevance, because it is based on the principles of love and care.
Here, perhaps, are all the main tips that will allow every housewife to rationally approach the organization of the family budget and become more economical. Let not all of them be useful to you personally, but the use of even a small part of the techniques described above will allow you to see positive results in the form of a certain amount of money saved in a couple of months. And if you do not back down and turn such an experiment into a habit of taking care of income and carefully planning expenses, then in a year and a half you will be able to strengthen the financial situation of your family in a completely unexpected way.
Sooner or later, any woman is faced with the question - how to become an ideal hostess, so that cleanliness and comfort reign in the house, the household rejoices at the time prepared and delicious meals while still having time for yourself. In order to correctly solve all these problems and learn how to be a good housewife for your home, you first need to answer the question - who is the ideal housewife? Let's try to figure this out together.
Signs of a good hostess: who can be called a real keeper of the family hearth
The main sign of a skillful and knowledgeable woman in the household is the ability to combine everyday life and chores to create comfort and at the same time remain a developed person who does not forget about herself.
Such a hostess has a house in perfect order and she herself does not go disheveled, and her children and husband are well-groomed. Good housekeeping skills are not innate abilities, they need to be learned.
For this purpose, it is not at all necessary to attend expensive and of little use home economics courses - it is enough to know a few simple tricks and old women's tricks, so that the question of how to become an excellent zealous housewife could be put into the category of resolved once and for all. Let's talk about all these tricks in more detail.
The ability to save money is one of the main signs of a skilled hostess.
A woman should be able to manage the family budget so that there is enough money for everything: food, clothing, entertainment and travel for the whole family.
How to become a real economical housewife?
- Start by keeping track of your income and expenses- get a special notebook or even a house book for this. Accurately enter into it all expenses and profits. Such accounting will allow you to calculate the main items of expenditure and take measures to reduce them. Every penny counts for a thrifty hostess!
- Make a shopping list ahead of time before each trip to the store, so as not to buy what you do not need. Ideally, plan 2-3 large purchases of products per month and try to produce them in large hypermarkets or wholesale markets and warehouses - the range of goods is approximately the same everywhere, but prices can vary greatly. The ability of an economic woman is to choose a price that is useful for the family budget.
- Also, you should master the whole amount of information about where you can buy high-quality, but not too expensive clothes, since the central stores of cities and boutiques often significantly overestimate the cost of their assortment.
The ability to plan your day is an important skill for a housewife.
How to be real experienced hostess who manages to do everything?
The answer is simple: plan your day ahead of time. For a real hostess, the day is scheduled by the minute and a certain period of time is allotted for each case. It is important not only to make a list of tasks, but also to prioritize them.
For example, it is far more important to have dinner ready for the children to come home from school than to spend the same time cleaning up, which can wait. Also note things that can be combined - for example, while the meat is baking in the oven, you can turn on the laundry and iron the clothes.
You can plan your day like this:
- do the most difficult tasks first;
- put things that are not so burdensome at the end of the schedule.
This approach is useful both from the point of view of saving time and from the point of view of the competent distribution of one's own forces.
It’s good if you build your schedule so that one day you will cook food for a couple of lunches and dinners, and the other day you will be cleaning up the room, washing, ironing, and other worries. Do not forget to find time for yourself in the drawn up schedule: a housewife does not mean disheveled and slovenly in an eternal dressing gown and curlers on her head.
Inventory control and the ability to cook delicious food
How to become a good housewife?
Cleanliness and comfort in the house are the hallmarks of successful housekeeping
How can you become a clean housewife?
Simple enough - you need to learn a few elementary rules for maintaining order in the house:
It is also useful to distribute tasks over several days before a major cleaning. For example, if you plan to clean the carpets and polish the furniture on the weekend, wash the curtains, wash the windows, clean the plumbing, change the bedding during the week. Feel free to involve other household members in cleaning: let your husband or children take out the trash, knock out the rugs, wipe the dust. Working together is much more fun, and after cleaning, you can arrange a festive dinner or go to the cinema with the whole family.
Economical hostess. Part 1 - NutritionAll rich people who I met in my life knew how to save and rationally use the resources at their disposal. They never spent money without first asking the question: what will it give me? And vice versa, those people who clearly had financial problems and often asked for a loan were guided by the principle “we live once and in a big way”.
Saving for the sake of saving itself is a thankless and merciless business. It is necessary to save in order to free up financial resources for more important purposes than the clogged refrigerator shelves. And the first step to reasonable savings should be taking into account the available financial resources.
It is impossible to manage your money wisely if the exact amount of income and expenses is unknown. Therefore, if we have decided to take the path of reasonable food savings, then we need to know exactly how much the family spends per month on food, and what percentage this amount is from the general family income.
I think that you should not set yourself the goal of reducing, say, the cost of food to a certain amount. It is much wiser to set a goal to reduce the percentage of food expenses. And this is achieved in two ways:
- by reducing costs;
- by increasing income.Which of these ways is preferable for you personally - choose for yourself. Food expenses should not exceed 30% of total income. Optimally - up to 20%. If less than 10%, then you can only envy your income.
Accounting for expenses should be kept for at least two or three months in order to get an idea of where the money comes from and where it goes. Even if you think you have a rough idea of this process, there are many surprises waiting for you. For example, you will be surprised how much extra money can be spent on various sweets and uselessness, such as chocolates, chips, modest gatherings in cafes, etc. When I started keeping records, I was literally shocked by the size of the column: "Eating out." Then, for several months, I tried to patch up this black hole, as a result, the number in it no longer looks so frightening.
Well, then, after getting to know the reality, you can start planning the family budget and specific tasks: where to cut and where to add.
Accounting can be done different ways: the old-fashioned way in paper form or with the help of computer programs.I remember that as a child, my mother had a special notebook in which she scrupulously entered all expenses. Then at the end of the month I counted everything and delivered a verdict. As a rule, it began with the words: "Everything is lost, let's go around the world ..." And ended with the words: “Despite the crazy spending of our dad, I managed to save so much this month.”
Now the time has changed, instead of notebooks, tables in Excel and special programs for home accounting have come to the box. Here you can see an overview of such programs and choose the right one at this link.
Personally, I have used these programs over the years:
. http://easyfinance.ru/
. http://www.keepsoft.ru/homebuhl.htm
. http://justtry.ru/buh/family-accountingIn principle, they are similar in function, I switched from one to another only because the first one bothered me. So I changed it once a year. The first is online (but the most multifunctional). And the second two can be installed on your computer.
In any case, the main thing is not the form, but its content. Accounting for all expenses and income is a tedious and painstaking task, but very effective and useful.
Should I save on food?
This topic was born from one conversation near the sandbox, in which four young mothers participated. While the kids were making Easter cakes, we discussed a very burning question: who spends how much money on food? We all had experience in housekeeping and our own vision of this problem. Everyone believed that it was his approach to the distribution of the family budget that was the most correct and convinced others of this.Yegor's mother complained about the crisis and the eternal lack of money. Necessary payments and paying bills ate up almost all the money earned, so I had to save on food. For example, fruits were bought only once a week, and pasta, cereals and potatoes were the main food. Frankly, we were amazed by this recognition, since outwardly the family gave the impression of being financially prosperous: two new cars, expensive clothes and toys for the child, excellent repairs. Although, as it turned out, it was the payment of loans for these cars and the new built-in kitchen that required the lion's share of the family budget. And on the minuscule that remained, the family lived.
Matvey's mother immediately stated that she does not save money on food and does not advise us. She is going to give her child everything only the best and dearest, and she will never regret anything for her boy. They always have fresh fruit, meat, smoked sausage and red fish, expensive cheeses in their house. True, not everything has time to be eaten and a lot is thrown away. And it’s not at all possible to save money to solve a sore housing issue: they live together with their father-in-law and mother-in-law in a two-room Khrushchev, and the father-in-law also has serious problems with alcohol ... But the family is guided by the motto “We only live once” and in matters of nutrition, really, no what does not deny itself.
Anya's mother complained that too much money is spent on food. Especially for all sorts of "unnecessary", like sweets, chips, chocolates. As soon as the husband goes somewhere with the children, almost the entire amount that she allocates for food for a whole week will be spent on such nonsense. In addition, my husband is a very picky eater. For example, he flatly refuses to eat vegetable soups and porridge. For him, meat should be mandatory every day and at least for lunch and dinner. And the meat itself is by no means in the form of minced meat or chopped pieces, but a large steak. The eldest son began to adopt the same eating habits. So, no matter how hard she tries, no savings come of it.
I told them that I had been doing home accounting for many years and I always knew exactly how much money our family spends on food. I try to keep this amount within 20-25% of our total family income. If the income in any month pleases, then we indulge ourselves. Well, if they decrease significantly, then I am able to feed the whole family tasty and varied for $ 30 (less than 1000 Russian rubles) for a whole week. True, the girls did not believe me. They unanimously declared that for such an amount you can feed only pasta with potatoes, and you can definitely forget about the taste and variety. No matter how much I convinced them that it was more than real, how much I did not give examples, they were skeptical.
Several months have passed, and this conversation has not gone out of my head. In our society, it is not customary to openly discuss your income and financial problems. You can convince others as much as you like that everything is in order in these matters in the family, but if this is not so, then the family itself suffers from this, first of all. I will not take on the role of a financial guru and will not talk about money at all. I want to talk about just one of the aspects - money for food. In this matter, I have both experience and skills and certain successes.
There are no problems with money in only one case: with an unlimited number of them. For example, if you have a Magic Nightstand in which money appears by itself. Or a good fairy godmother who gives you as much money as you want. But, as a rule, our resources are limited and have a certain source of income: salary, business income, pension, parental assistance, rent income, allowance, etc.
At the same time, the possibilities of the consumer society surrounding us have no limits. The more money we have, the more temptations and temptations to spend it. It only at first glance seems that the cost of food can be limited by the capabilities of the human body and appetite. Truffles, foie gras and roasted nightingale tongues are food not for the hungry, but for the rich. Do you know the saying: “The more money, the more they are missing”? And this is true: if you do not control the flow of money, then, regardless of the amount of income, there will always be little of it.
Why save money on food?
First of all The money saved on food can be spent on more necessary and important things. For example, to solve the housing issue, develop your own business, educate children, health, vacation, etc. It is very sad if the most important priority in the family is "to eat deliciously without denying yourself anything." Maybe your child would rather eat hake today than salmon, but study at Oxford tomorrow? Or will you deny yourself red caviar and blue cheese for several years, but you will be able to buy the house of your dreams? If you believe that you can afford the fulfillment of any desires without restrictions, then say hello to the good fairy godmother.
Secondly, the transition of the family to a thrifty diet means a simultaneous transition to a healthier diet. For example, refusing smoked sausage, sprats, shop semi-finished products will only benefit the body. And an increase in the amount of available vegetables in the diet, such as cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, etc. would be approved by any nutritionist. In addition, the refusal to eat meat at least two days a week, the introduction of vegetarian days into the menu is welcomed not only by religious orthodoxies and vegetarians, but also by doctors. Saving on food is not eating quality products. Saving on food is the choice of quality products at a reasonable price.
Thirdly, the ability to save and feed a family for a limited amount is a very important and necessary skill for any housewife. God grant that we all never know the need, so that the experience of our grandmothers who went through difficult wartime, or our mothers who managed to raise their families in the difficult 90s, will never be useful to us. Let's hope that we have a cloudless future ahead of us, without crises and losses. But the ability to save and save in the small is the guarantee of our confidence that we will cope with the big. If you know how to save and spend the money you have wisely, then you are not afraid of sudden financial crises associated with illness, job loss, falling income levels, etc. Because there is self-confidence, and this is the key to success.
What can't be saved?
- On the quality of products. We carefully study the expiration dates and appearance products. At the slightest doubt, we refuse the suspicious.- You can not save on health. The diet should be fresh vegetables, fruits, foods rich in protein. If you completely switch to pasta and potatoes, then in the future you will have to spend even more on medicines than on such “illusory” savings.
- On petty and rare pleasures. If you want to treat yourself to something tasty, then so be it. The less often, the greater the joy from such pampering.
How can you save:
- To replace store-bought semi-finished products with homemade ones. We reduce to the minimum possible the consumption of sausages, sausages, dumplings, fish sticks and cutlets, ready-made chickens, sauces and mayonnaises, salads, five-minute cereals, ready-made pancakes, cookies, sweets and other sweets. Instead, we cook more on our own: soups, casseroles, salads, cereals, pasta, various gravies and sauces, pies, mannas, charlottes and other cheap, tasty and healthy dishes.
Sausages or steak?
- On the exclusion of products from the category "pampering" and snacks: chips, buns, crackers, sandwiches between main meals.- On the rational use of already purchased products. We don't throw anything away! We perceive a product that has gone bad in the refrigerator as a mute evidence of our poor household skills: either you don’t know how to buy in accordance with your needs, or you don’t know how to cook.
Stale bread turns into crackers, croutons, breadcrumbs, toppings for gratins.
. Cottage cheese is made from yesterday's milk.
. The missing kefir will go into the pancake dough.
. Majority ready meals(except salads) are perfectly stored in the freezer.
. Yesterday's uneaten porridge is added to today's soups, cutlets, casseroles.
. "Extra" vegetables are frozen until better times.
. Small pieces of anything left in the refrigerator make excellent toppings for pizza and pies.
. Cucumber and tomato marinades are the basis for pickles and borsch, you can stew meat in them.
. After frying the meat, the remaining juice and fat turn into the basis for sauces, etc.- Eating out. Minimize snacks in cafes and other catering establishments. Homemade food is tastier, healthier, and cheaper. You can take on work "soboyki". Yes, for this you will have to cook more at home and organize yourself in planning tomorrow's dinner. But the savings will be obvious. To do this, you need to specially buy containers and thermoses, in which you can bring any dishes with you: from soups to salads.
Charlotte or candy?
- We buy vegetables and fruits only in season. No fresh strawberries in February or persimmons in August. Benefit and taste qualities greenhouse winter tomatoes cause great doubt, and the impact on the wallet is tangible. You need to buy what has grown under the sun. In winter, these are long-term storage vegetables and fruits: beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, celery, apples, oranges, bananas, persimmons. In summer, the choice is much wider.- The freezer is our friend. We do not buy frozen vegetables, herbs, berries and fruits. We are not lazy, but we prepare all this on our own in summer and autumn. If there is a desire and opportunity, we independently collect and dry / freeze mushrooms and berries. We actively use seaming, pickling and salting for the winter.
- Before going to the store, we make a menu for the week. Based on it - a list of products and buy only on it. This is the surest way not to buy anything superfluous and unnecessary!
- Interested in prices in each store for similar products and prefer those that are cheaper. If the purchase occurs once a week, then it is best to choose large grocery stores with more affordable prices. Even if such a store is far from your home, the cost of gasoline will pay off due to the large volume of purchases.
- We study promotions and discounts. And not only prices, but also the expiration dates of products for these promotions. If the products can be eaten before the expiration date, then we buy.
Before the purchase we study the ratio of the real weight of the product in the package and its cost. It makes no sense to pay for a beautiful and large package. It is better to prefer a similar product that is 30% more expensive but 50% larger.
Nuts or chips?
- Nuts, dried fruits and seeds cheaper by weight than in the package.We are trying to cut down on meat consumption. I am not advocating to completely abandon the use of animal proteins. If you want, they should be (although vegetarians and ascetics prove with their personal experience that you can live without meat). Meat must be in the diet of children, pregnant women and people engaged in physical labor. But it doesn't have to be every day. Several days a week, meat can be replaced with other protein-rich foods: fish, legumes or dairy. And cheap and useful.
- On purchased juices. Most of the juices that are sold in bags in our northern stores are made from concentrated powder. An exception may be tomato, apple and birch sap(they are often poured into banks in their original form in our latitudes). It is cheaper and healthier to cook compotes from fruits and berries frozen in summer.In the following publications, we will talk more about reasonable food savings. Share tips and tricks to save money available recipes. We will learn how to plan a family budget, how to determine the required amount of food expenses per week. Let's talk about the personal experience of saving, our own successes and results.
Do you know how much your family spends on food?
The endless crises in Russia and the increase in the cost of services and food prices make us look for opportunities to save every time. You don’t want to be under stress from constant savings, so it’s better to consciously approach this issue and start applying useful tips in your life every day.
When traveling to Europe and America, it has always been surprising that they are very economical with their resources and money. Western people always calculate the expediency of purchases: all electrical appliances and equipment are bought in an energy-saving mode, all garbage is sorted. They always buy goods in stock at discounts, and they take the children home from the kindergarten for dinner, because it is more economical for the family budget.
Let's see how we can save in Russia. Our whole life consists of daily habits that we can revise in order to save money in everyday life.
- Control the temperature hot water when washing dishes without adding cold water, and slightly reducing the pressure of hot water. And it’s better to save up dishes and.
- Change all the light bulbs in the apartment to energy-saving ones. Save up to 40% on electricity.
- The refrigerator should be placed away from the stove, from the battery, from the window so that the sun does not heat the surface of the device.
- When cooking on the stove, the area of the bottom of the pan must exactly match the diameter of the burner. Food is better to cook under the lid. Save up to 20% per month on electricity.
- It is better to load the washing machine after weighing the laundry, that is, at full load. But set the mode to economical. As a result, you save both powder, and water, and the electric power.
- A glass of water when brushing your teeth will save up to 15 liters of water per day, and 450 liters per month.
- A shower saves several times more water than a bath. Don't neglect it.
- Unplug all electrical appliances and chargers from outlets. Turn on the warm floor in the apartment as needed. And in your absence, it is better to turn it off.
- In your chandelier, for example, 10 light bulbs. This amount is needed only when guests gather. Therefore, leave 3-4 lamps for comfortable lighting, this will also bring significant savings.
- Do not put hot food in the refrigerator, wash at night in automatic mode, collect spring water for free, iron clothes when there is a lot of it, and not just one thing.
- It is better to pay for utilities, the Internet, and electricity a little in advance. Many of them give bonuses for prepayment: city tours, favorable rates, paying with bonuses for your fare, access to an electronic library, etc.
So, thanks to these tips, you can save up to 40% per month .
- Stain removal can be done with dishwashing liquid, laundry soap, ammonia.
- A microfiber cloth can be used to wipe dust without any chemicals.
- Air fresheners can be replaced with scented candles.
- Bread is best stored in the refrigerator. It does not ferment for so long and can be used for a long time.
- Instead of sausage, make your own baked meat in the oven. It is more useful and economical.
- Make your own white meat chicken, herring and liver pâtés.
- 3 ply toilet paper is more economical than 2 ply.
On home tricks you can save up to 20-30% .
Everyone knows that it is better not to go to the store when hungry. Everyone also knows about price tags with 99 at the end. But about the menu for the week, I think not.
- Make a menu for the week and a list of products for the week at once.
- Prepare semi-finished products yourself and freeze everything. It can be pancakes, meatballs, cabbage rolls, broths, dumplings and pasties.
- Bread can be refreshed by first soaking it in water and putting it in the oven.
- From the leftover products, you can cook pizza, scrambled eggs, hodgepodge.
- Plant fresh herbs and onions instead of flowers on the window.
- Put everyone on a dinner plate. So much more economical than throwing away leftovers.
- Tea is healthier and better to brew in a teapot - that's enough for everyone. And you can add thyme bought at the pharmacy, dry apples from the dacha, rose hips from the forest on your own to it.
- Buy water for drinking in large containers, it is more economical.
- In the morning, drink coffee at work, and not from a vending machine on the street.
- Clearly divide portions for consumption: for example, a pack of kefir is divided into 5 doses, and pour oil for frying in a pan using a spoon.
Do not save, but diversify your diet simply by leading accurate calculation of all costs .
- Use the 72 hour rule: don't buy right away, don't get emotional.
- Buy groceries with a fresh mind, when you are not very tired, so you will buy less unhealthy stuff.
- It is more economical to buy groceries in a basket than in a cart.
- Small children increase the cost of shopping by 30%.
- Bulk purchases at vegetable bases, in collaboration with someone, bonuses in the store, large packages, promotional sales of the right product - use it.
- Always consider the cost of one piece goods, and not per package.
- Focus on prices.
- Freeze foods in the fall. Eggplants, peppers, carrots, beets, tomatoes are more delicious in autumn. Then it is convenient to cook from them, and they are as tasty as in the high season.
save up to 40% .
- Lead a healthy lifestyle, there will be savings on medicines.
- Walk 5 km a day and you will not be overweight, and your complexion will improve significantly.
- Make healthy face masks from everyday products.
- It is better to visit a dentist, gynecologist, therapist once every six months so you do not miss the disease, and you will not need expensive medicines, as well as dental treatment.
- Make gifts with your own hands, you can give flowers grown by yourself, and pack everything yourself.
- Manicures and pedicures will last longer with proper care.
- Do not buy packages from the store. The package costs 10 rubles, you go to the store 10 times a month, here you have 100 rubles, and this is 1 kilogram of apples.
- When shopping, the price must be compared with the cost of your hour of work.
- Review communication tariffs for the whole family.
- Plan the weekend not only for going to paid events, but also prepare excursions to interesting places yourself, and promise the children a picnic in nature - everyone will be interested.
- Don't buy books. Enrolling in an electronic library will give you very big savings, for example, a subscription for a year costs about 2-3 thousand, and one book costs 300-400 rubles.
Daily habits will bring you more an organized approach to your money and time .
Initially, when you introduce new habits, the body resists a lot, and you may even feel tense and tired from it. You need to consciously approach the issue of saving, and accept what, in the end, will bring you not only savings in money, but also benefits.
Try it, you will succeed! And then, it's so interesting to manage your little home empire!
