I switched my grocery shopping to Aldi some years ago and haven’t looked back. However, Aldi doesn’t carry everything I need, so I occasionally shop elsewhere. Those other trips have become a progressive nightmare and an exercise in exhaustion as every purchase requires an “evaluation” for price, quality, and deception.
Our town’s mid-level grocery chain is Jewel/Osco. It was a local company, but it has been sold and is now owned by Albertsons, which also owns Safeway, Vons, and Shaw’s, among many others.
I have been burned so many times at Jewel that I believe their practices border on deception. It is one of those stores where the receipt proudly announces, “You saved 20% today!” but I still leave the store with a lighter wallet and little to show for it. I understand that Jewel is a full-service grocer and part of their costs include stocking multiple versions of the same product type, many specialty departments, and scads of employees. Yet, that still doesn’t justify the fact that simple items, like Comet powdered cleanser, can be three times more expensive than the same item at Walmart.
However, what concerns me the most is the convoluted and draconian way that their sales run. I still haven’t cracked the code. Some sale prices are available for all, others require that I tap in a phone number at checkout, and still others require that I preselect the item using their shopping app.
I have been burned so many times by this insane system that I feel a sense of dread when I have to go there to pick up an item that I can’t get at Aldi. I recently went to Jewel to buy a spice; since I was there, I browsed the sales. Home Run Inn frozen pizza was on a big sale. It was typically around $10, but on sale for around $6. That sounded like a 40% savings! However, Walmart and Aldi’s normal price was similar to Jewel’s sale price. I passed on the pizza.
I also passed on the sale-priced Milk. When I read the small print, I had to buy two gallons of milk, way too much for our needs. I wondered how many didn’t read the fine print, believing that their single gallon was on sale, only to be disappointed when they got home and checked their receipt. That is, if they checked their receipt, as most probably don’t.
My eye caught some fruit on sale. Strawberries and blueberries were being sold at a good price. I picked up both. I went to the meat counter and found several “buy one and get one free” items. I have been burned on these in the past, as it seems that Jewel will often place a similar item next to the sale item, making it very easy to pick up the wrong item. Additionally, I have discounted items that would ring up at self-checkout at the regular price, and the attendant had to enter a code to get me the discount.
On this trip, I spied some BOGO pork chops. I read the sign carefully, noting that another pork product was next to the sale items. I matched the pork chops with the sale sign, feeling good that I had selected the correct item. I also ensured I went to a cashier to avoid other issues. When I got home I realized that I screwed up. I did get the strawberries on sale, but the blueberries were at full price. I was supposed to use the Jewel app and click on an electronic coupon for the blueberries. I also got charged for both packs of pork chops, and I honestly have no idea why. Yes, I could have been more vigilant during checkout, but I was in a hurry and thought I had done everything correctly, only to find that the system was so convoluted that I had done many things wrong. Grocery shopping should be a straightforward experience, not a master class in proofreading.
I have had different problems at Walmart, where it isn’t unusual for the price stickers in the aisles to differ from what I am charged at checkout. And don’t even get me started on my extreme displeasure of having to use Walmart’s self-checkout and 18” of counter space to ring up an entire cart of groceries.
I have shopped at Aldi as my main grocery store for years. There are typically only one or two product versions, making purchasing easy. There is no drive to impulse buy, and the stores are small, so I don’t feel that I have run a marathon. Plus, their cashiers are fast and friendly. My overall grocery bills are always lower at Aldi than at Jewel and Walmart.
Shopping insanity extends to the online world, which is now dominated by Amazon and Walmart. Lately, there has been a lot of press coverage on Amazon’s practice of controlling its Marketplace sellers. For instance, sellers cannot sell their items on a different web platform for a lower price. They are given preferential treatment if they use other Amazon services, which adds to Amazon’s profits and increases consumer prices. Marketplace sellers can also use deceptive practices, such as flooding a product type by listing the same product multiple ways or using false reviews to push a product higher in Amazon’s listing.
Over 60% of Amazon’s sales are via Marketplace sellers. It doesn’t seem that Amazon vets Marketplace products, so you never know if your product is genuine or a knockoff. I tested several battery banks I ordered from Amazon; some were legitimate, and others had less than 15% of their stated capacity.
Searching for something on Amazon can be a frustrating experience, as you are assaulted by page after page of products. Many products seem identical or may vary only by a different brand name. Significant price differences can exist between the items, requiring an exhaustive search even for simple products. Some consumable products list price per ounce, others price per product, and others have a nonsensical price. All of this requires an unnecessary amount of vigilance.
Sometimes, you need to be a chemist to determine the best value. I use a deodorant product called deodorant crystals, which is simply the compound Alum. No matter what brand you use, it is identical. However, depending on the label, there can be tremendous differences in the price.
These are exactly the same compounds, but one is $9.41 an ounce and the other is only $2.02 an ounce.
Most people believe buying a larger quantity will yield the best price. However, I have repeatedly found that this is not the case when shopping on Amazon, as buying a larger amount of something can be significantly more expensive than buying multiples of the same product. That is crazy.
Talk about confusing. The first product is the cheapest, but the unit price is listed as “price per load.” You might think buying two would save you money, but the second listing is almost twice the price. The third listing is even more expensive than the second!Here we have two products that differ only in the scent, which will fade as soon as the clothes are worn. The lavender scent is 50% more expensive!Here you have a product directly from Amazon. If you buy the twin pack, expect to pay 30% more! Buy two of the “pack of one” for $7.12 instead of $9.55. That is a substantial difference, but you must carefully read the product description.
I have heard Amazon’s and Walmart’s online prices are dependent on zip codes, and there are reports that you can get better prices by searching at a different location or using incognito mode. I have not confirmed this, but if true, that means you are being upcharge based on where you live.
Online sellers will often offer the same product in different colors at drastically different prices. Also, a shopper may have to deal with the same products with one offering a discount coupon and another not.
The only difference among these three coffee makers is the color. Talk about price confusion. It would seem that the red coffee maker is significantly more expensive than the black one ($49.00 vs. $36.00). However, if you use the coupon and do the math, it is only slightly more expensive, and now the orange coffee maker is the most expensive. Why???I know that these two radios are exactly the same except for the branding. However, one is over $10 more than the other. If you were not a radio nut like me, you may think that the more expensive radio offered more.
I have checked on the same item over the course of a few days to find that its price can vary dramatically in 24 hours. I have seen price shifts of 25% and more. A product may go up, then down, then up again over the course of a week. All of the above makes shopping exhausting and confusing.
When it comes to grocery shopping I consistently save overall by shopping at Aldi and I don’t have to deal with math calculations, product decisions, and confusing “deals” and coupons. I’m also starting to feel the same with online shopping. A while back I had to replace our toaster oven and was faced with what looked like a hundred different choices. Some were the same item, others were variations on a theme, still others were rebrands of what looked like an identical product. In the end I went to a local store where they had 4 different toaster oven models. I picked the one that would hold the pans that we normally use in a toaster oven and was done in about 5 minutes. Could there have been a better toaster oven in my life? I don’t know, but the one that I got works well enough and the shopping experience was not confusing, frustrating, and exhausting.
You can’t even trust apps that promise that they search the internet for the best deal for you. The Honey app was very popular and promoted by many influences. So, what was the real deal? This Reddit poster gives you the details:
One: if you click on an affiliate link from a creator to buy something, they will sometimes get credit or a commission for you purchasing that Item. However, if you scan it with honey, honey will reload the web page so they get the commission.
Two: Honey will say “We scoured the internet and found you 5 codes” well, they don’t actually search the internet, what is actually happening is the seller of the item chooses what coupon codes honey can use. So you may actually be able to find a better coupon code if not using honey.
Our lives are becoming progressively more complicated as we become ever more electronically connected. Is that email from a bank real? Who is texting me just to say “hello?” Is the FBI of the CIA really calling me to tell me that I just won the lottery and all I have to do is to give them my credit card information? How about that YouTube video that says that everything that I’m eating is going to kill me, but I can be healthy if I drink their “click the link below” green goop three times a day? Is that too good to be true advertisement on Facebook real, or is it too good to be true? How about all of those political videos and articles that feel like these are either the best of times or the worst of times? Those make me feel like I’m reading a Dickens novel.
I don’t want to vet every purchase I make or do a math calculation to determine if I’m getting a good deal. All of these things add to stress and are mostly unnecessary. My plan is to simplify whenever possible. I’ll continue grocery shopping at Aldi, and I’m moving toward buying less stuff online while choosing options that give me clear and less confusing choices.
This unnecessary decision fatigue cumulatively adds to stress and promotes fear and distrust. I know some love the sport of shopping; I’m not one of them.
I recently wrote a post on hygiene hacks and confessed that I did not use a traditional antiperspirant. I use alternative measures to ensure I am “daisy fresh,” so there was no need to hold your nose in my presence.
I watched a new episode of “The Great American Baking Show” yesterday. I was bombarded by commercials showing people spraying a total deodorizing spray not only on their armpits but on their saddle area, feet, back, neck, and just about everywhere else. I always felt that these areas were handled with simple soap and water.
I remember the push in the 1970s to get women to use “Summer’s Eve” vaginal douche, which led to all sorts of problems, from dryness to infections. I was surprised to discover that vaginal douching, a bad idea unless medically necessary, had been pushed by advertisers for some time before that. Lysol (the cleaning product) encouraged the use of a Lysol douche with ads with titles like, “She was the perfect wife except for one neglect.” By 1911, there were several reported deaths and poisonings due to this practice. Lysol responded by telling women to continue using Lysol, but dilute it first! Keep those customers coming, who cares if you are poisoning them! Doctors will tell you never to use vaginal douches unless directed by a healthcare provider. You will mess things up.
My father was born in Chicago in 1910 in a home that initially didn’t have a modern bathroom. When he was younger, he remembers being bathed in a washtub. As he got older, he went to a community bathhouse where you could buy a sliver of soap and the use of a towel for a few pennies. This would be a once-a-week event. I asked him if people smelled in those days, and he said no, people did a daily wash-up to ensure they were clean.
The first time that I traveled to Europe was in the 1980s. I remember hearing that no one used deodorant and expected my nose to be assaulted. I did not encounter smelly people on that trip. They were doing other things to clean themselves. Today, most Europeans have converted to commercial deodorants, likely due to advertising.
Although modern bathing and showering are the result of indoor plumbing, keeping oneself clean and good-smelling has been documented as far back as Egyptian times and has been recorded among just about any group since that time. Some used religious cleansing as the reason to keep clean; others had communal bath houses where they could socialize and bathe. Egyptians used simple soaps, while the Romans and Greeks cleaned their skin with scented oils. Other cultures relied on water or mild abrasives to clean away the stink.
We often think of Medieval times as odoriferous, but people from then were concerned about cleanliness and tried to keep themselves smelling nice. Then, as now, the more wealth you had, the greater your access to hygiene options.
Yes, there have been times when people thought bathing was unhealthy or a sign of moral degeneracy, but many still did their best to smell better by wearing pungent spices or perfumes.
Dirty clothing often causes a stink; in the past, cleaning clothes could be difficult. People would beat or brush out dirt, air out clothing, and sometimes remake outfits to remove stains. There were no dry cleaners in those days!
Often, their clothes were made of wool or linen, two natural fibers that are bacteriostatic and odor-resistant. They also wore layers of clothing so that their outer clothes never touched their skin. Their “underwear” was frequently changed. If you were wealthy, it was changed daily. If you were poorer, it was washed several times a week.
Research gains in the late 1700s and 1800s made the mass production of inexpensive soaps possible. Pears translucent soap was introduced in 1807, and Lever Brothers (now Unilever Corporation) introduced Sunlight soap in the late 1800s. During this time, soap went from a luxury item for the elite to a product that just about anyone could afford. In Germany, detergents were invented in 1900 and found their way into multiple products, including self-care items like Dove soap, a syndet (detergent) bar introduced in 1955.
Dial soap, which has antimicrobial agents, was the first deodorant soap and was introduced in 1949 with ads that stressed, “Dial stops odor before it starts!” Deodorant soaps have used a variety of antimicrobial agents that have been banned over the years. More recent studies have shown that consumer deodorant soaps are no different from regular soaps in reducing skin bacteria and pose a danger to the environment. Dial is still a popular soap; it uses an anti-bacterial agent called benzalkonium chloride, and I’m unclear why.
Liquid soaps were invented in the mid-1800s, but most current liquid soaps are not soaps but detergents. Softsoap brand hand soap (a detergent) became popular in the 1970s, and shower gels (also detergents) became popular in the late 1980s.
There are several methods to deal with odor. The first one is to clean your body regularly. In the US, this means taking a bath or, more likely, a shower. In other places with less access, it could mean a trip to the river or a sponge bath. Other methods are to use a masking smell, like a perfume, to hide offensive odors or to block sweat production in odor-causing areas.
I went on a hiking trip with a close friend. I stayed at base camp and did day hikes while my friend and his son did a five-day trek over the mountains. My friend is typically very clean, and I have never noticed him to have an odor problem. However, he wore the same clothes on this hike and had minimal opportunities to wash. It was sweltering hot, and he sweated quite a bit. When I picked him and his son up, I could only describe the odor as similar to a garbage dumpster. After a shower, he was as good as new, but I suggested he burn his hiking clothes.
Our bodies have two types of sweat glands: eccrine glands, which are located all over the body. When you sweat, your body uses evaporation to cool itself off. Most people can’t smell this type of sweat, but some can, including me. Eccrine sweat doesn’t smell bad at all; it smells like people, and I rather like it.
The other glands are the apocrine glands located in the scalp, breasts, armpits, and groin. These glands produce an oily sweat that serves as food for certain bacteria. The waste products from these bacteria give people body odor, or BO.
Feet only have eccrine glands, but sweaty, unclean feet trapped in shoes can generate odors due to different bacterial by-products. That is why smelly armpits and stinky feet have different types of pungent aromas.
I remember TV commercials from the 1960s in which a person would be identified as smelling bad, and the announcer would say, “He has BO!” But instead of him saying BO, a loud fog horn would blast, “BEEEEE OHHHHH!!!” That had to be a pretty effective commercial because I was just a young kid, and I still remember it vividly. It let me know that BO was a bad thing.
A fun fact is that many East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) don’t wear deodorant due to a gene mutation that impacts their apocrine glands. They don’t produce oily sweat, so those smelly bacteria can’t grow.
This history of deodorants is fascinating and has modern and historical components. People have used various methods to reduce odor, from Europeans who wore masking perfumes and spices to South Asians using alum-based products like the Thai deodorant crystal and Filipino Tawas powder. Alum is bacteriostatic; in other words, it slows down the growth of bacteria. Fewer bacteria mean less odor.
Washing your body is the primary way to reduce BO. Additionally, there are two ways to control underarm smells: deodorants and antiperspirants.
Commercial deodorants used to have antimicrobial agents, but they have mostly been removed due to health and environmental concerns. Now, most commercial deodorants are just masking agents; they are cheap-smelling perfumes for the armpits.
Antiperspirants use aluminum salts. These salts plugged up sweat glands, so there is no sweat for odor-causing bacteria to eat, and so there is no odor. Antiperspirants are the most effective way to control malodorous underarm smells.
There is a fear that antiperspirants can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and breast cancer. These fears have been debunked many times and are not true, but they persist from self-proclaimed health gurus, often for their benefit.
I can’t tolerate antiperspirants because they make me itch. However, dermatologists now say to put these agents on at night to plug up sweat glands and shower them off the skin in the morning to eliminate skin irritation. I have not tried this as I already have another odor-controlling method that works very well. I’ll talk about that in the next paragraph.
I mentioned that some Asian cultures have used alum salts for hundreds of years to control body odor. These salts were marketed in the US starting in the 1980s as magic deodorant crystals, and I started using them in the early 2000s. These contain aluminum in compound form, but it is a different compound than those used in antiperspirants. Alum salts don’t block sweating; they are bacteriostatic and inhibit odor-causing bacteria. For me, they work like a charm. Ads say to wet the crystal and apply; I rub a dry crystal on my damp underarms after I shower. This method wastes less of the mineral and gets the job done.
Commercial deodorants were introduced in the late 1800s under the Mum brand, and antiperspirants were marketed in the early 1900s under the name Odorono. Neither was very popular for several reasons. Victorian era people felt it was improper to talk about such things as body odor, and they also felt that washing their underarms and wearing perfume worked well enough to keep odor at bay. The early deodorants and antiperspirants had many drawbacks including being irritating and staining clothes.
Edna Murphy’s father was a surgeon who developed an aluminum chloride solution to keep his hands dry during surgeries; she saw its potential to stop underarm sweating. Due to Victorian sentiment, she wasn’t very successful selling her antiperspirant until the 1912 Atlantic City Exposition, where she had a sales booth. 1912 had an especially hot summer, and visitors were especially smelly. She sold enough products at the exposition to hire the advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson Company. They assigned a new hire, James Young, to the campaign. Mr. Young was a former door-to-door Bible salesman without training in advertising. However, he was the man for the job. James Young is considered the father of shame-based advertising and could make potential customers worry about things they didn’t worry about before. He started to run ads for women saying that men would not love them unless they used Odorono, and sales took off.
From a 1937 ad:
You’re a pretty girl, Mary, and you’re smart about most things, but you’re just a bit stupid about yourself. You love a good time, but you seldom have one. Evening after evening, you sit at home alone. You’ve met several grand men who seemed interested at first. They took you out once, and that was that. So many pretty Marys in the world never seem to sense the real reason for their aloneness. In this smart modern age, it’s against the code for a girl (or a man) to carry the repellent odor of underarm perspiration on clothing and person. It’s a fault which never fails to take its own punishment—unpopularity.
He applied the same strategy with men during the great depression, stating that no one would hire them unless they used Odorono. Men then started to use the product. He turned a product that no one wanted into one that grossed 28 billion dollars in 2025.
There has been some backlash against commercial deodorants and antiperspirants, which has prompted companies to create green-washed products and home cooks to develop DIY concoctions. Let’s take a look at the marketing hype and ingredients used.
One is to continue to promote false claims that commercial antiperspirants cause dementia and breast cancer. To repeat, this is not true.
The other is to create fear about “unnatural” chemicals used in commercial products. You may be sensitive to a random chemical, but it is not thought that these agents are more dangerous than other deodorizing methods.
The term Natural has absolutely no real meaning. Frankly, the often criticized aluminum salts used in commercial antiperspirants are completely natural as they come from nature. Please don’t get hung up on this term, as it is used to manipulate you.
Antiperspirants are the most effective way to control underarm and foot odor due to excessive sweating. Natural deodorants use a variety of other agents to control odor and bacterial levels. Some work for some and not so well for others. Men sweat more than women and frequently work in more physically demanding jobs. Therefore, it is much more likely to hear women in office jobs claiming good results from a natural deodorant, where a man working in the field may be less enthusiastic. Here are some common ingredients used in natural deodorants:
Baking soda is a natural deodorizer, but it may worsen your BO as it is basic (remember acids and bases from high school chemistry?). The bacteria that cause BO in your underarms prefer a basic environment, and baking soda can encourage their growth. Plus, it can be irritating.
Essential Oils- Some essential oils, like Tea Tree, have mild bacteria reducing properties and may reduce odor-causing bacteria. However, all fragrances, including essential oils, can irritate sensitive skin, causing skin breakdown and more problems.
Coconut oil is used as a base that also has bacteria-reducing properties.
Arrowroot powder is a moisture absorber that may keep the underarms drier.
Corn starch has the same function as arrowroot powder, but is likely more irritating.
Activated charcoal- can reduce odor, but it can be irritating and staining.
Alcohol is often used as a preservative, but it could have some bacteria-reducing properties.
Magnesium salts have some bacteria reducing properties.
If you are a heavy sweater, natural deodorants are likely to be less effective. Additionally, they often cost significantly more than mainstream deodorants. You can buy an antiperspirant at Dollar Tree for $1.25 or a name-brand antiperspirant for about $4, while a Native brand natural deodorant starts at $13 (Walmart prices as of 4/2025).
There are many DIY recipe hacks for making your own deodorant, many using coconut oil and baking soda (see caution above). There are also several deodorant substitutes. Here are some of them:
-Spray or scrub rubbing alcohol under your arms. It reduces bacteria, but it is skin-drying.
-Use essential oils directly; this mostly masks odor, but can be very irritating to the skin.
-Use baking soda directly, it may cause overgrowth of harmful bacteria and can irritate.
-Apply glycolic acid directly; it reduces bacteria growth as it is acidic, but may be drying.
-Milk of Magnesia may reduce bacteria.
Some people have bacterial overgrowth problems that aren’t controlled by typical methods, and some dermatologists might recommend washing underarms several times a week with an antiseptic agent like benzoyl peroxide (PanOxyl), chlorhexidine gluconate (Hibiclens), or povidone iodine (Betadine). They would be instructed to wash their underarms with these agents and then leave the solution on for a few minutes before thoroughly washing it off. These cleansers can all dry out skin, so they should not be used daily. Most would use a daily antiperspirant or deodorant on top of this.
Whole body deodorants were introduced in 2017 with the brand Lume. Lume’s active ingredient is mandelic acid, which (like its cousin glycolic acid) makes an area more acidic and less friendly to smelly underarm bacteria.
Lume created a whole new market using funny but shame-based advertising; there are now many competitors. I recently checked out some at Walmart, and most seem to just be rebranded deodorants. Marketing is everything!
The Lume commercial makes people worry that they have offensive butt odor.
I’m a psychiatrist, meaning I’m also a licensed medical doctor. In my years of practice, I have been the medical director of several inpatient programs that required me to do a comprehensive physical exams…that is a head-to-toe exam, when a new patient was admitted to my unit. My nose has been very close to several thousand people so I feel I can honestly assess the need for a whole body deodorant. In my opinion, they are entirely unnecessary and could potentially disrupt the skin’s natural biome.
The vast majority of patients I have examined over my 40-year practice have smelled fine with basic hygiene. The ones that didn’t smell so good resulted from being dirty or having dirty clothing (or most likely both). They returned to being non-smelly with a shower and clean clothes.
For your saddle region, use gentle soap and water (or sometimes just water for women’s genital region). Your body cleans your internal structures automatically.
For stinky feet, change out shoes allowing them to dry, wear fresh socks, apply absorbent foot powders, and consider antiperspirant creams for severe cases.
If the above doesn’t help in those regions, it is best to see a doctor to determine if you have something that needs medical attention, like an infection.
Of course, there are other reasons why some people smell bad. We all know what we smell like when we eat garlic chicken or have a few beers, but those are temporary problems. Additionally, some illnesses, medications, and infections can cause odor problems. These are best sorted out by a healthcare provider. Lastly, some individuals have metabolic issues where they excrete malodorous scents. These individuals are rare, and I have never encountered one during several thousand physical exams.
For most people with odor problems, regular soap and water and clean clothing is the place to start, along with the application of an underarm deodorant or antiperspirant. If you don’t want to use anything under your arms you can try “washing up” a few times a day.
I’m not here to change anyone’s mind or to get them to start or stop any agent. If you are happy with your current hygiene routine, so be it. I’m here to educate, inform, and hopefully tell an interesting story.
Peace,
Mike
Sources for this post include the Smithsonian web page and other internet sources. Images are from the internet, and all content is used only for educational purposes. This post is not medical advice. See your doctor if you have medical or odor concerns.
I’m a retired guy who depends on his 401 (k) to live. Naturally, I have been in a state of terror these last few days, and I’m fearful for the days to come. Economists have talked about the adverse effects of tariffs ad nauseam, but it still seems that many misunderstand what they are. I would never claim to be an economist, but I thought I would do my best to define them according to my understanding. This post is my personal opinion.
Tariffs are a tax on the US consumer.
This statement is true. It is not a fee paid by the exporting country. A product comes into a US port and can only be delivered to the US vendor if the US vendor pays the tariff. The vendor then has the option of passing costs on to the consumer. In cases of a high tariff, it is most likely that the vendor will pass it on as they need to make a profit.
Corporations are beholding to their shareholders, who always want to see increased gains. They are not beholding to their customers. Think of a tariff as an exceptionally high sales tax added on top of the regular sales taxes.
Is this the first time that the US has used tariffs?
No, they have been used many times, including in Trump’s last presidential term. Then, they were used to a much more limited degree since others in the administration advised against them. Those constraints have been removed this time around.
What tariffs were imposed by Trump during his first term?
During his first term, most of Trump’s tariffs were on raw materials, with a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum. These tariffs were lifted on Canada and Mexico in 2019. Specific tariffs amounting to 34 billion dollars were placed on China, which retaliated with a reciprocal 34 billion dollar counter-tariff on the US.
Did Trump impose tariffs on specific manufactured products during his first term?
Trump did impose a few tariffs on products, notably solar panels and washing machines. The Whirlpool Corporation (makers of Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, and Amana washers) petitioned the president for the tariffs as they had difficulty competing with the Korean brands Samsung and LG. Tariffs were not placed on clothes dryers, but manufacturers chose to raise the prices of those items as well; this would mean greater profit for companies like Whirlpool.
The washing machine tariff raised the cost of a washer and dryer by nearly $200. Biden canceled this tariff. Manufacturers did drop the prices a bit, but they were still substantially higher than pre-tariff prices. Once tariffs increase prices, they will likely not return to their pre-tariff levels. The consumer pays the price.
Did the first-term tariffs move manufacturing and jobs to the US?
Yes, some plants moved to the US, creating an estimated 1000 jobs. However, around 74,000 jobs were lost due to the slowed economy, so the net numbers showed a significant job loss.
How did Trump’s first-term tariffs impact citizens and the overall GDP?
A May 2019 analysis conducted by CNBCfound Trump’s tariffs are equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in the U.S. in decades.[20][21][22] Studies have found that Trump’s tariffs reduced real income in the United States,as well as adversely affecting U.S. GDP.[23][24][25] Some studies also concluded that the tariffs adversely affected Republican candidates in elections.[26][27][28]
Are tariffs a new idea in the US?
No, tariffs have been used in the US in the past. It was the primary way the federal government covered operating expenses before a Federal income tax was established in 1913. The early United States was primarily an agrarian society, making it very difficult to calculate an income tax. It was easier to determine the cost of things entering the country. However, by the Civil War, it became evident that tariffs were inadequate to fund the government’s expanding role. The Civil War was supported by increasing tariffs, government bonds, duty taxes, and the sale of public lands.
Are there other examples of significant tariffs in the US and the impact that they had?
William McKinley, a Republican, sponsored the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which raised tariffs on imports to almost 50%. He was a protectionist who wanted to increase industry in the US and an imperialist who wanted to annex Canada to acquire its natural resources (sound familiar?).
The tariffs caused a steep increase in consumer prices, which resulted in a landslide Democrat victory in the 1890 congressional elections.
From a New York Times newspaper article published in 1890:
The Republican campaign orators and pamphleteers say that the various import duties levied by Congress are paid by the foreigners who send goods to America, and they deny point blank that the price of any article which may be called a necessary expense will be increased to Americans by the operation of the new tariff law.
And
Fortunately for those who believe in tariff reforms, the question as to who pays the tariff taxes, and likewise the pleas which are made in answer to this question by the partisan defenders of the new law, may be referred to the arbitrament of incontestable facts. It is no longer necessary to meet theories with theories. Let the facts, which are multiplying every day, tell who it is that pays the onerous tariff taxes. They will answer that the American people pay these taxes and that the burden of them rests most heavily upon the poor, inasmuch as there are very few of the necessities of life the prices of which are not increasing on account of the McKinley tariff.
Industry growth did increase in the US during the 1880s-1940s as the US transitioned from an agricultural society to an industrial urbanized one. Times were different then, and global manufacturing giants like China did not exist.
Modern economists have analyzed the impact of the McKinley Tariff. Kevin Bryan summarized the work of Douglas Irwin (a Dartmouth professor and expert on trade policies) as follows:
Irwin concludes that the protection did not pass a cost-benefit test: the welfare losses (to consumers and perhaps related industries) outweighed the gains to producers and any learning-by-doing benefits. This echoes a general finding in the tariff history literature: while high tariffs clearly redistributed income in favor of protected manufacturers, they were not an unequivocal net benefit to the overall economy’s growth.
In other words, Professor Irwin felt that the McKinley Tariff did not benefit the US economy.
The Democrats lowered these tariffs with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894.
Are there any other examples of the impact of high tariffs levied by the US?
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was supposed to protect American industries during the Great Depression. It placed tariffs on over 20,000 items, about 20% of all imported items. President Herbert Hoover signed the act in June 1930. This resulted in a trade war with other countries, which launched counter-tariffs on US items. The impact of these tariffs was to stagnate the world economy further and contribute to more job losses in the US and abroad. It is now understood that the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs lengthened the Great Depression. It had the opposite of its intended effect.
What about the “Liberation Day” tariffs of 2025?
The full impact of the above tariffs are still unknown. The economy was doing well and consumer inflation was lessening at the end of 2024, but it has been worsening under the Trump administration, with inflation punching back.
The impact of the extraordinarily high tariffs has had other consequences beyond financial, as many ally countries are now pulling away from US influence and forming alliances with each other. This could allow another world power, like China, to create stronger partnerships with nations, including European countries. Doing so would most certainly weaken the US’s role as a world power.
I have been monitoring European, Middle East, and Asian news outlets, and many countries echo the concern that the US can no longer be trusted and that they need to find solutions that protect themselves from the new instability and imperialism of the US.
Trump notes that he is only charging ½ of reciprocal tariffs. The layperson may assume that these countries have massive tariffs against US industries. That is not the case. The Trump tariff calculations have nothing to do with other countries’ tariffs and have baffled economists. They seem based on a trade deficit and make little economic sense.
Syria is under US economic sanctions, so its trade with the US is minuscule, only a few million dollars primarily for artwork. However, since that is still more than what we export to Syria, the Trump administration has calculated that Syria has an 80% tariff on the US and is charging a 40% tariff on all imports from Syria. And let’s not forget tariffs imposed on uninhabited islands and impoverished African nations. If this makes no sense to you, it is because it makes no sense.
The federal government says that Russia was one of only a few countries excluded from tariffs because we already have sanctions on them. Yet we have sanctions on Syria, but we imposed a 40% tariff on them. What gives?
The trade deficit from most countries is because we buy more from them than they buy from us. We buy from them because their products cost less; they don’t buy from us because our products cost more than they can get elsewhere. That is simple economics.
US-owned companies have lowered their costs by manufacturing products abroad. Countries like China have also developed superior supply chains and a highly skilled workforce making it more desirable to manufacture in other places. Lastly, we now have a global economy where American-manufactured products often include parts and materials from other countries. I’ll include a video of one entrepreneur who tried to use US-based manufacturing companies and the barriers that he faced.
The “Liberation Day” tariffs have already launched a trade war, likely leading to a recession and possibly a depression. We are seeing some signaling of this with the stock market crash of the last few days.
If we look historically at the role of tariffs, the “Liberation Day” tariffs will result in higher prices on almost everything US consumers buy. This includes cars assembled in the US, as many of their parts are foreign-sourced. This will strain the pocketbooks of many Americans, some to the point of collapse. If the recession proceeds to a depression the entire country will suffer.
Some new factories will likely come to America, but history says the overall economic impact will be negative. The US was economically the world’s envy for the last few years, but those times will be over.
Re-establishing new factories in the US can cost a company billions of dollars, which they may not want to incur, as US policies have been erratic and chaotic as of late. Additionally, since these tariffs are based on executive orders, they could change on a whim or with a new administration. Companies want stability and predictability. Does it make sense for a company to close an efficient factory in another country and spend a billion dollars to build one in the US? Some companies will say, “Yes.” Others will say, “No.” As countries like China and India develop their middle class, industries may sidestep the US and concentrate on those vast markets.
Neighboring countries will likely seek other trading partners. When Canada faced the McKinley Tariffs in 1890, it shifted trade from the US to other British Commonwealth nations. This option exists today on a much broader level with a world economy, and Canada has already established a deal with energy-starved Japan to start shipping oil to them.
Prolonged tariffs will negatively impact all countries, including the US, a scenario that benefits no one.
Wait, why do we care about Canada selling oil to Japan? Aren’t we going to “Drill, baby, drill?”
Contrary to what you may hear, the US is already the largest oil producer in the world and has been for the last 6 years. The reason we buy oil from other countries is economic. Our oil refineries were built to refine a particular grade of oil, which is not the oil that our wells now produce. Canada produces the correct type of oil for our refineries, so it is better for us to buy from them and sell our oil to countries that have different refineries that can process it. Oil companies are reluctant to build new refineries in the US as it would be astronomically expensive, and they already have the facilities elsewhere. Even if we doubled our oil production, it would not change our need to import oil.
So what is the answer for US manufacturing?
The US market is a big one, but there are many other huge markets in the world including the European Union, India, and China. It makes little sense for companies to completely shift their production to the US as this will increase their prices for these other markets. To return to an isolationist economy would seem impossible and not economically practical for the US at this time. The way to reduce manufacturing costs in the US is to pursue greater automation/robots while reducing the salary and benefits of US workers. Neither of these options benefit US workers.
The industrial growth of the 1950s happened for many reasons. First, we had massive post-war manufacturing factories while the rest of the world was in ruin. Additionally, we offered higher education to the working class via the GI bill. This resulted in an intellectual explosion and the creation of new industries, including the semi-conductor industry. It seems unlikely that we can return to our manufacturing prowess of the 1950s because the rest of the world has moved on and now can produce just about anything from tooth brushes to spaceships on their own. What they need from us is our technical expertise and intellectual property. We have been “selling” those.
Is retraining of the underemployed the answer? That is a difficult question. Is it reasonable to expect the average high school graduate to go back to school to become a research chemist or a aeronautical engineer? Probably not, and if they could we would then have a glut of such individuals.
The biggest problem seems to be the transfer of wealth from lower classes to upper classes. If that is the biggest problem it is likely one solution point. Options like improving the minimum wage, the re-establisment of protective unions, and bettering education and healthcare for the underserved would accomplish some of these goals. All of these options would encourage the growth of the middle class and a large middle class means economic growth.
Obviously, I’m not an economist and I’m sure that there are many who have better solutions as this is just my two cents.
The bottom line:
Past attempts to enact significant tariffs on other countries have been unsuccessful and damaged the American economy.
The Smoot-Hauley Tariff Act of 1930 worsened and lengthened the Great Depression and increased unemployment.
Former friendly trading partners will likely form alliances excluding the US, which will weaken, not strengthen, our global influence.
“Liberation Day” tariffs will increase inflation and likely throw the US (and the rest of the world) into another great recession and potentially a great depression.
Opening major new US factories can take 5-10 years, and many companies may not pursue this due to the uncertainty of the US government.
We will never be able to compete with countries that have very low labor costs, especially with simple-to-manufacture items. Other countries will buy from those countries, not the US.
It makes more sense to export things in which we are leaders, like computing and intellectual/technical services.
People (like myself) who rely on retirement investments will spend less out of financial fear, further stagnating the US economy.
As inflation increases, the general population will spend less, resulting in job loss in many sectors.
Industries may try to bust labor unions to create a cheaper labor force. This move will not benefit US workers in the long run.
Tariffs will have the most devastating impact on the poor as their safety nets are already being impacted in many ways, including Medicaid, Social Security, and other governmental programs. This is how uprisings start.
Returning manufacturing to the US to 1950s levels seems very unlikely as the rest of the world has now caught up and in some cases exceeded our abilities in this area.
I decided to continue my theme of saving money by looking at some DIY cleaning products I make and use. However, I also do a lot of practical cleaning things, so I had to revisit the focus of this post. I’ll discuss DIY products and add easy ways to clean the house. This post will most benefit newbie cleaners who are starting with their first places.
When I was single, I cleaned my apartment, but that apartment was small, and I was pretty organized, so cleaning was a simple process. When I bought a house, I hired a cleaning lady to do those tasks, which continued for many years after I remarried. However, I was never pleased with the cleaning ladies I used. They often did a fantastic first clean and then some OK ones. As time went on, their work became more and more cursory. It was easier to go with the flow, so neither Julie nor I did much about it.
Ten years ago, Tom did a major remodel on our second floor, which was a great excuse to cancel our cleaning service due to construction. Julie was concerned, but I said I would do the cleaning. When I restarted this process, I discovered that many of the products we bought for the cleaning lady were empty and that both of our vacuum cleaners were inoperable (one had to be thrown out). The cleaning lady never told us any of this.
I didn’t have a lot of money when I cleaned my apartment in the early days, so I used the most straightforward methods possible. However, now I could buy whatever I wanted, so I hit the hardware store’s cleaning products aisle and was astounded by the massive array of products. It was overwhelming, and I bought everything in sight. Granite cleaners, glass stove top cleaners, floor cleaners, bathroom cleaners, toilet cleaners, stainless steel cleaners, multipurpose cleaners and creams, glass cleaners, “magic” cleaners, wood cleaners, and so it went. It was crazy, confusing, and expensive.
Dedicated products do a somewhat better job, but that difference is not great. For most “cleans,” I go as simple as possible. During the last 10 years, I have also experimented with different products to find the best value. Sometimes, you don’t need the best of show; the best value product works well enough. I’ll share that info as well.
I live in the Midwest, which has moderately hard water. I also use a traditional washing machine with an agitator. The machine is not a HE (high efficiency) machine, and I can’t comment on the needs of HE washers. Follow the instructions on your HE machine. All of my recommendations are my own, and they are based on my family and house. Your needs may be different. However, you can still use these suggestions as a starting point. As always, you do you.
About soaps/detergents in general
Many brands come in multiple variations. For instance, there is Original Tide, Tide with Downey, Simple Tide, Tide Oxy, and Hygenic Tide. I usually test the most popular formulation. I’m unsure how different each formation is in a particular product line; some seem like marketing hype.
Also, my tests are based on products that I have used over the years. I have not tested every single product on the market. My results are subjective but completely honest. Please shop by unit price (price per ounce or price per wash). I often find bigger-quantity products costing more per unit than smaller quantities or the exact same product by two different vendors at drastically different prices on Amazon. Use a calculator if necessary.
The dishwasher
Only use detergent explicitly made for dishwashers (duh?). If you can find powdered dishwashing detergent in a box, it is usually the most effective and cheapest. Additionally, you can adjust the amount: a little for lightly soiled dishes and more for that spaghetti casserole.
In our house, we have found pods more convenient. I have tested many, and I saw no difference in performance between the cheapest Walmart pods and the expensive multi-colored ones from the name brands. We primarily use inexpensive Kirkland pods (Costco), which do a great job.
Dishwashing Soap
Everyone needs dishwashing soap (which is a detergent, not a soap), but what brand should you use? The good news is that they all work, but some work better than others. A lot of this has to do with the concentration of detergent in the product. You can’t judge how concentrated a product is based on its thickness. All detergents, from dish soap to shampoo, use thickeners that add to the viscosity of the liquid but don’t add to the cleaning power.
If you want the most potent dishwashing soap, go with the top-tier brand. However, I’m usually quite happy with middle-tier products. The low-tier products work, but you will need to use more of them, so they are likely not the bargain they seem on the surface.
Top Tier
Everyone says Dawn is the best, and it likely is. It is also the most expensive.
Dawn
Middle Tier
These products all work great, but they are not quite as concentrated as Dawn. I’m usually quite happy with them, and some are half the price of Dawn.
Palmolive dish soap
Kirkland (Costco brand)
Great Value (Walmart brand)
Gain dish soap
Radiance (Aldi brand)
Amazon Basics brand
Bottom Tier
These will do the job, but you will need more of the product, so what are you saving?
Ajax Dishwashing Soap
Awesome brand (Dollar Tree)
Sun Dishwashing Soap
Extra Credit brand
Both my sisters swear by this product, but it is more expensive and more limited in how you can use it. However, they say it is fantastic on grease.
Dawn Power Wash
DIY Power Wash (my sister says it is just as good)
Use an empty Power Wash bottle.
To 13 ounces of water, add four tablespoons of dish soap and two tablespoons of rubbing alcohol. Swirl to mix.
How do you wash dishes? We use a sponge with a bit of detergent added to it. You only need a tiny amount of dish soap for most dishes.
Easy DIY cleaning method for greasy glass stovetops
When we fry something, we often get a layer of grease on our glass stovetop. You can buy expensive cleaners for this, but we use a DIY method.
Put a few drops of dish soap around your stovetop.
Using a damp sponge, smear the soap around the entire stovetop. Leave it for a few minutes.
Wipe off the soap using dry paper towels.
Follow up that wipe with a somewhat wet sponge.
Wipe that off with a dish towel or paper towel.
Two very simple homemade general-purpose spray cleaners
I grew up in the science age when everything had a cool product name. When I was a kid, multi-purpose spray cleaners hit the market with names like “Formula 409” and “Fantastic.” I believe those products still exist, along with “Pink” products and “Mrs. Meyers,” to name a few.
I’m constantly cleaning surfaces, and during the pandemic, cleaning supplies were in short supply, so I made some of my own. However, I simplified those complicated products (that were anti-microbial) to be super easy to make—both of these work. Be conservative on how much detergent is added. If you add too much, you will leave streaks and residue that will attract dirt.
You can use an empty spray bottle from a used-up product, but I like using a 32-ounce “professional” spray bottle. Product bottles often break after a few refills, but my pro bottle has lasted me three years. It was worth a few dollars. These formulas are based on 32 ounces; if you are using a smaller bottle, cut back a bit on the soap portion.
I use these for all surfaces: countertops, wood cabinets, the inside and outside of appliances (including the microwave and fridge), the kitchen table, and much more.
If things are grimy, spray on and let it sit for a couple of minutes, or use a nylon scraper to dislodge the gunk.
DIY Formula 1
Fill a 32-ounce spray bottle with warm water, leaving roughly 1 inch from the top. Add about 1 inch (or less) of an all-purpose cleaner. Add a few drops of dish soap if you need additional cleaning power. Screw on the top and gently swirl to mix.
Here are some all-purpose cleaners that I have tested and used for my DIY spray cleaner.
Top Tier
Mr. Cean
Spic and Span
Pine-Sol
Middle Tier
Fabuloso
Lysol All Purpose Cleaner
Bottom Tier
Mrs. Meyers All Purpose cleaner (smells great, but a meh cleaner)
Awesome Multi Cleaner (Dollar Tree)
DIY Formula 2
Fill a 32-ounce spray bottle with warm water, leaving some room at the top. Add ½ to a scant teaspoon of dish soap, replace the top, and swirl to mix.
Sink cleaning hack
There are many products to clean sinks, from Scrubbing Bubbles foam to spray-on liquids. They work but are expensive and quickly run out when cleaning multiple sinks. I use old-fashioned powdered cleaners. An enormous amount can cost around a dollar and last a long time, and it can be found in just about every store. The two brands that I use are Comet and Ajax. Both are equally good. Ed note: Both can be found at Dollar Stores for about $1.25, but my local mid-level grocery store has Comet for almost $3 and Ajax for around $2. Advice: shop around.
As a student, I worked summers as a janitor for CPS. An experienced janitor taught me the proper way to use powdered cleansers.
Wet down a sink. Sprinkle some powdered cleanser on a damp towel or sponge (don’t add the cleanser to the sink). Commence to scrubbing. If the sink is filthy, do an initial light scrub and let the powder sit on the sink for a minute. Re-dampen the cloth or sponge and scrub a little harder. Your results will look better than those of using a spray or aerosol cleaner. This works both on porcelain and stainless steel sinks.
Option two: I did this by accident. Use a small amount of dish soap on a wet sink and scrub with a damp sponge or rag. I just did this on a bathroom sink, and the results were fantastic. I may switch to this method because I can use fewer cleaning products. Less products = less clutter!
Bathtub Cleaning Hack
I have used powdered cleaners on our fiberglass tub but have read mixed cautions about doing this, as it is possible that these cleaners could scratch the tub.
Here is an alternate DIY formula.
DIY Tub cleaner
Mix 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda with equal amounts of dish detergent.
Apply to a wet sponge and smear on the tub. Let it sit for up to 30 minutes. Re-wet the sponge and scrub. Rinse with fresh water.
Shower Liner Cleaning Hack
After a while, shower liners get a bit gross and often show signs of “red mold,” which is, in reality, a bacterial film. Many folks throw out the old liner and buy a new one. However, returning the old liner to its former glory is easy. Toss the old liner in the washing machine (by itself) with detergent and bleach (I’m guessing I use ½ to 1 cup). Run a cycle, and your liner will look new. This works with plastic and white cloth liners.
Pot Cleaning Hacks
You need to know what material the pot coating is made from. Enamel and non-stick pots should never be exposed to abrasives. Stainless steel and aluminum pots can take a beating without signs of wear, and soap is best avoided when washing cast iron (although it can be used in certain situations).
The easiest method is the soak method.
Scrape off big chunks of burnt food with a nylon scraper; add hot water and dish soap, and let the pot sit during dinner. Then, wash using a non-scratching scrubby-type sponge or dish rag.
Other options
-You can also boil the above solution on the stove for more cleaning action. Bring soap and water in the pot to a boil, cover and turn off the heat, and let it sit for 30 minutes or more. Then clean it as above.
Cheap steel wool from the Dollar Store is excellent for stainless steel and aluminum pots (never use on enamel or non-stick).
Bar Keeper’s Friend works fantastically on stainless steel and aluminum pots with impossible-to-remove crud. I used this powder to rescue pots I thought I would have to throw out.
Toilet Cleaning Hack
I will use any detergent to clean the toilet; they all work great. This can be shampoo or shower gel that you don’t like or dish detergent. I use dish detergent that is sub-par for washing dishes. Just squirt some in and brush away. This hack works as good the dedicated staff.
Unclog your sink without chemicals.
Three of us have long hair, and my son goes back and forth between long and shorter hair. Our drains often run slow, which is always due to hair in the drain. I have tried all sorts of chemical drain cleaners, which work but are a pain to use. Several years ago, I came upon a drain snake that is simple to use, chemical-free, and works better than chemical drain cleaners. It’s cheap and can be used over and over again.
Window Washing Hacks
Hack 1
When newspapers were voluminous, we would use them as paper towels when washing windows. Newspaper (not with colors) gives a streak- and lint-free performance.
Hack 2
This is the one that I constantly use. I buy concentrated window washing solutions from the hardware store. Professional window washers use these; some get diluted 100 to one. I then dilute them per instruction and have my personal “Windex” at a fraction of the cost of the regular stuff.
Hack 3
There are many DIY window washing formulas. Here is one of them.
DIY Window Washing Solution
Mix 2 cups water with 1/2 cup white vinegar and a few drops of dishwashing soap. Add to a spay bottle and use accordingly.
Paper Towel Hack
If you want to use fewer paper towels, you can use microfiber clothes specifically made for glass cleaning that are lint-free. However, FYI, these clothes may release microplastics.
Laundry Hacks
My wife does the laundry the majority of the time, so some of these are her hacks.
What type of detergent to use?
I switched to liquid laundry detergent when I was in college, as the powders of the day didn’t dissolve in cold water. Liquid detergent has many advantages over other forms, but its big drawback is that it comes in a giant plastic jug.
Pods are easy to use but expensive and inflexible.
Sheets can seem eco-friendly, but dissolvable plastics bind those sheets together. They often don’t clean as well.
Powders dissolve better today than when I was in college, but they are not as flexible as liquid detergent, which can also be used as a spot stain remover.
What is laundry detergent?
Laundry detergent is a complex mix of detergent, water softeners, optical brighteners, color-safe bleach, whiteners, pH adjusters, fragrances, stabilizers, preservatives, and enzymes. The more expensive detergents have more expensive ingredients, like additional enzymes, making them better cleaners but also more costly.
Top Tier Liquids
Tide
Persil
Middle Tier
All (We often use this brand in the fragrance-free version)
Kirkland (Costco brand)
Gain
Bottom Tier
Era
Arm and Hammer
Should you make your laundry detergent?
When my kids were young, one of our science fair experiments was determining what laundry detergent worked best (the best was Tide, and the worst was a forgotten Dollar Store brand). We stained white tee shirts with all sorts of stuff and then washed them with various soaps. We did one wash without soap as our control. We discovered that at least 50% of the cleaning action of doing laundry is done by water and agitation alone!
Making your own DIY laundry soap sounds so easy. A bar of soap, some borax, some washing powder, and a little this and that, and you have made laundry soap for pennies a wash. I have been tempted, but I have extensively researched the topic. The bottom line is that these homemade soaps don’t do a good job in cold water and leave a residue, making your clothes dingy and a dirt magnet over time. I wish that were not the case, but it is. Don’t forget that just washing your clothes in water alone gives you about 50% of the cleaning action, so it is easy to think that your DIY laundry soap is doing the job when it isn’t.
The difference between different laundry detergents and soap.
In the “old days,” people used soap and hot water to wash clothes. In fact, my grandmother boiled her wash. Hot water adds to soap’s cleaning power. Soap leaves soap scum, which requires careful rinsing in hot water.
However, people now wash in cold water, and detergents work much better in that situation. Many other agents are also added to laundry detergent to obtain good results. These include ingredients to make the detergents work better and agents to make whites whiter and colors pop. Enzymes are also added for stain removal, with different enzymes being good for one type of stain and others suitable for others.
The top-tier detergents often have the most enzymes, so they are great at removing all sorts of stains. They are fantastic if you have messy kids, kids in sports, or adults with dirty jobs. However, many of us don’t fall into those categories, so we can save money using a middle-tier product and still get excellent results.
Laundry Hack 1
My wife and kids just shook their heads when I told them about this hack. Why? Because they knew it long before I did. Oh well, I was late to the party. You need only a tiny amount of detergent to wash your clothes. Never fill the cap to the top with detergent. Your clothes will attract dirt and look dingier if you use too much detergent. The cap will list with a line or a number the amount of detergent to use for various situations. However, these markers are usually very faint and not obvious, so read the instructions on the bottle and find those lines. Most manufacturers are specific, so don’t use less detergent than recommended for optimal results.
Laundry Hack 2
You don’t need a ton of different additions to your laundry routine. You can just rub some of the liquid detergent into a stain for removal. Let it sit for a bit, and then wash. I use a tiny bit of dish soap on a greasy stain, which works well. My wife will sometimes spray a stain with diluted Simple Green. Lastly, don’t forget the power of the “soak.” Dissolve some powdered Oxy Clean in a bucket of water (or just use some laundry detergent). Add your garment and let it soak overnight; then, wash it as usual. Oxy Clean powder is a simple compound of washing powder, a little detergent, and a chemical that turns into hydrogen peroxide when dissolved in water. It is likely that the liquid Oxy product is different, so I would go with the powder. There are many generic “Oxy Clean” powders out there. If the chemicals are the same, they are the same, so you can save some money by using them.
Laundry Hack 3
Use dryer balls instead of liquid fabric softeners or sheets. Several appliance repair people have told me fabric softeners can damage your washer and dryer.
Floor Cleaning Hacks
We have many hard surfaces in our house that need to be cleaned. The most important thing to do is to use a neutral-pH cleaner. Specific floor cleaners and all-purpose cleaners will list if they have a neutral pH. Fabuloso and Mr. Clean are neutral pH. Using another type of product will leave a residue that needs to be rinsed off, adding an extra step.
I find products, like a Swifter, more labor intensive, less effective, and more expensive. I go with a bucket and a traditional string mop. If you know how to use a string mop, your job will be quick (I learned how as a janitor). When it comes to a bucket, I use one with a wringer, like you would see being used in a hospital or office building. They come in smaller sizes for home use.
Two of my kids love the O-Cedar Spin Mop system for their apartments. The O-Cedar system is easier to move around but less effective than a full-sized string mop. However, it is a good alternative if you have strength issues.
Don’t use too much multi-use detergent; too much will leave a residue and make your floor dirtier in the long run. Always wring out your mop and place it so the mop head can air dry thoroughly to avoid that moldy smell. You can wash string mop heads in the washer if needed.
There you have it, a bunch of hacks that will save you money and simplify your life.
I like to be clean, which is certainly not a controversial statement. My wife would say I’m a bit fastidious, and she might imply that I’m neurotically hygienic when she is peeved with me. However, I disagree. I’m not a “germophobe” guy; I like to smell nice. I may have a more sensitive nose than most, and I react negatively when encountering someone who needs a shower. Conversely, I like it when someone smells nice. That is just me.
Despite this propensity, I have developed some frugal hygiene hacks over the years. All of them came about for reasons other than being frugal. In most cases, they worked better than more costly options and became part of my daily routine.
I have written several posts on ways to save money, so I am adding this one. I had a little inner conflict when writing this post as it seemed too “personal” and a bit TMI. However, if it gets someone thinking about saving money, my disclosures will be worth it.
I gave up body wash/shower gels.
Body wash became popular in the late 1980s, and I was on board when they hit the market. The stuff was modern, smelled great, and was often colorful. Body wash is mostly water combined with detergent, thickening agents, fragrance, and other additives like preservatives, colorants, and buffering compounds.
Around 10 years ago, I was at a store and spied some bar soap that I bought primarily for nostalgia. The soap and I entered the shower, and it was love at second sight. I liked holding the bar, the slick way it felt when I applied it, and the overall experience. My wife and kids are still on the body wash bandwagon, but I’m now firmly back in the bar soap court.
Bar soap requires a slight change in procedure. You will need some sort of soap dish, and it is imperative that you dump out any water in that dish at the end of your shower. Otherwise, your bar will turn into a slimy, gross mess.
Body wash comes in a plastic bottle that is not earth-friendly. Bar soap comes in a paper wrapper. Both body wash and bar soap can be purchased inexpensively or ridiculously expensively. High-end soaps are differentiated mainly by the shape of the bar or bottle and the amount and quality of the fragrance added. Pro tip: no one will smell that fragrance on you within 10 minutes of leaving the shower.
If you have sensitive skin, one brand may work better than another. The same can be said if you have especially oily skin or an unusual odor issue. I have dry skin and can use just about any soap as long as it isn’t heavily fragranced. When it comes to body wash and bar soap, the skin-irritating ingredient is usually the fragrance.
You may wonder if an inexpensive brand will get you as clean as a high-end product. If I put you in a room with 25 people who took a shower the same morning, some using the most expensive body wash and others using the cheapest bar of soap, you would not be able to smell the difference. All products get you clean. You may prefer the luxury of an $95 bottle of Tom Ford body wash, but it won’t get you any cleaner than a $0.54 bar of Ivory soap.
This 8.5 ounce bottle of body wash costs almost $100!Ivory Soap costs less than $0.60 a bar.
Is bar soap less expensive than body wash? Shower gels and soaps come in various sizes and price points, making comparison difficult. However, here is a reasonable examination:
Dove soap products are mild, quality products that many people like. As of March 2025, you can buy 16 Dove soap bars at Costco for $18.49 or $1.15 a bar. A 16-oz bottle of Dove Body Wash will last about the same length as a bar of soap (based on my usage habits).
On Walmart.com, the 20-oz bottle of Dove body wash was less expensive than the 16-oz bottle (go figure), so I’ll use that price and recalculate it for 16 ounces.
Doing some math: $7.97/20 oz = $0.40/ounce. $0.40 x 16 oz = $6.40. So the calculated cost is $6.40 for 16 oz of Dove body wash. That compares to $1.15 for a bar of Dove. An over 500% difference! You can buy even less expensive bars, with brands like Irish Spring and Ivory selling for around $0.60 a bar.
I no longer use pump-liquid soap at the sink.
I don’t like using bar soap at the sink. You may be grossed out thinking about all the different people who used the same bar, but it is equally hygienic to use bar soap and pump soap. I don’t like it because people don’t drain the soap dish, and the soap becomes a goopy mess. Liquid soap has been around forever in public places but became popular for home use with the introduction of the Soft Soap brand in 1980. As soon as liquid soap became available for home use, I started using it.
The COVID pandemic brought all sorts of shortages, including liquid soap and liquid soap refills. I remember going to Target to find the shelves bare of these basic products.
We had some foaming soap bottles on hand, and with a quick YouTube search, I discovered that it was simple to make foaming soap, which is just regular liquid soap plus water. This was the perfect way to stretch my dwindling liquid soap supply. Additionally, I much prefer foaming soap as it makes less of a “drip mess” on the sink while cleaning my hands just as well.
To make foaming soap, fill an empty foaming soap bottle ⅕ with liquid soap and the rest with warm water. Add the water slowly, like you would add beer to a stein, to prevent over-foaming. Put the top back on and give the bottle a few shakes, and you will have a bottle of soap for 1/5th the cost of regular hand soap.
Making foaming hand soap is super easy. You can use a foaming container from a used-up bottle or buy empty foaming bottles from Amazon and other places.
Hand soap, body wash, and shampoo use the same ingredients with only minor changes. Hand soap may contain more detergent, body wash more fragrance, and shampoo may have an adjusted pH to reduce flyaway hair. You can use any of the above when making foaming hand soap. Body wash and shampoo are designed to suds better than traditional hand soap, so use those if you like suds.
I found a better and cheaper way to apply body lotion.
I have dry skin, and when I was newly married, my wife would complain that my legs felt like the bark on a tree trunk. She suggested that I use lotion after a shower, and I dutifully complied.
My initial effort was to dry off after a shower and apply a hand lotion like Vaseline Intensive Care. That was a pain because it was slow and tedious, as applying the lotion dragged on my dry skin.
I researched the rationale of using lotions, which changed my approach. You may think that lotions soften skin like oiling an old baseball glove softens it. That is not the case. The primary purpose of any hand or body lotion is to trap moisture (water) close to the skin. A person’s natural oils are supposed to do this, but if you are a daily showerer like me, you wash those oils away.
I developed my method, which works better, is quicker to apply, and has cost savings. This is what I do:
I switched from hand lotion to a body cream. A lotion is liquid because it contains alcohol and water (making the product more diluted). Body creams usually come in tubs and are significantly thicker and more concentrated. I have used many, but my favorite is Cerave Moisturizing Cream. However, the others work well enough, too. Because they are more concentrated, body creams are more economical in the long run.
I apply the body cream as soon as I’m done with my shower. I do NOT dry off, so all that water is available to make my skin healthy and soft. Since my skin is wet, the cream glides on, and I’m done in a minute or two. I also use significantly less cream this way, so I don’t feel like a greased pig. Since I’m pushing the water around, I’m dry enough to get dressed a few minutes after applying the cream. I never have to “towel dry.”
I use much less body cream this way; a jar will last me months.
I have used this method for many years, and my wife’s tree trunk complaints are long gone.
I like Cerave Moisturizing Cream, but other brands are also good.
I stopped using traditional deodorants decades ago.
Don’t say, “Eww,” I don’t smell bad; I just have an issue. Antiperspirants work great for me. Unfortunately, after about a week of using them, My pores are so clogged up that I want to rip my armpits off.
I can’t tell you how many commercial and “natural” deodorants I have tried. They just don’t work very well. Now, if you were sitting across a room from me, you probably wouldn’t notice anything, but my nose does, which bothers me.
Natural mineral crystal deodorants have been used in Southeast Asia for hundreds of years and came to America around 30 years ago. I saw an ad in a magazine 20 years ago and bought some via mail order. Mineral crystals are not an antiperspirant, so they don’t make me want to rip out my armpits. They work so well that I don’t have the slightest hint of any offending body odor.
My original purchase was a large mineral crystal rock in a little bag. However, I have purchased it in a more traditional stick form for many years. Don’t buy the spray or roll-on, which consists of the mineral salt dissolved in water. They are a massive waste of money. Buy the solid mineral crystal. Your skin has to be slightly damp so you can dissolve a tiny amount of the minerals on your skin. This product lasts forever. I had my last stick for over a year and only had to replace it because I dropped it, which shattered the stick into a dozen pieces.
I rarely use toilet paper!
If the title of the last section gave you the ick, I’m guessing that this one gives you the double ick. Let me assure you that all is good down there.
When COVID hit, people went nuts. Do you remember the TP riots? Someone hoards toilet paper, and then everyone has to. We are sheep. I remember going to multiple stores to finally score a four-pack of toilet paper that was more akin to sandpaper—and I was happy to buy it.
Several people I knew had installed bidets on their toilets during that time. These were the fancy ones with heated seats and massaging water programs. Soon, they sang the bidet’s praises, which caught my interest. However, to install one would cost me around $1,500 (bidet price plus a plumber and electrician). I decided to go a more straightforward, less techy route and got a non-heating unit that could be self-installed (which I did with the help of a friend). It cost around $60 and took less than 10 minutes to hook up. I believed I would upgrade to a fancy unit if I liked the process. That was around 3 years ago.
There are many of these types of DIY bidet attachments on Amazon. This one is a best seller and is less than $30.
There is a slight learning curve, but using cleansing water instead of TP gets you much cleaner down there, and it is less irritating if you have a spell of frequent “visits.” It is the best $60 I have ever spent, and I have no need to get a more elaborate model.
I gave up shaving with a modern razor.
I made this change at least 15 years ago.
Like most, I would buy a razor starter kit and a couple of packs of razor blades at the drugstore. Eventually, I would need more blades, but when I went to buy them, there were so many different options that I could never remember which system I had. I would then purchase another starter kit and more packs of blades. This cycle repeated in an endless loop. I felt ripped off buying blades at over $3 apiece. Plus, I hated that the blades were mounted in plastic, which would remain in a landfill long after I was gone.
There had to be a solution, and it was right in front of me. I remembered my father shaving with a Gillette double-edge safety razor. As a kid, I would sit on a stool and watch him. I was fascinated.
Those same razor styles exist today and remain popular in many other countries. I bought one and started using it. There is a learning curve when transitioning from a multi-blade system to a safety razor. With a multi-blade cartridge, you apply a little pressure as the force is distributed over all the blades. With a traditional safety razor, you let the razor’s weight do the work. Additionally, a cartridge razor is designed to connect with your face at the right angle, but you are the one who angles a safety razor (at around 30 degrees). Use a safety razor for a week or two; it quickly becomes natural. I can’t remember the last time that I nicked myself.
When you use a safety razor, you get a close shave and are less likely to deal with bumps and ingrown hairs. A gigantic community of safety razor enthusiasts is out there to answer any question. Shaving with a safety razor can be dirt cheap or expensive if you want to use exotic shaving creams, limited edition razor bodies, and such.
I love shaving this way. Ninety percent of the time, I use a German-made razor from Merkur that is built so well that it will last a lifetime. I sometimes switch out that razor for others I own, including a Gillette Speed Razor made in 1953. Why 1953? That was the year that I was born!
I have used this razor for many years and it still looks like new. You can buy many different styles of safety razors at various price points. They all use the same razor blade style.
This form of shaving is extremely earth-friendly as the steel blades are entirely biodegradable. Instead of paying over $3 for a cartridge blade, typical double-edged razor blades cost between 5 and 50 cents and are universal for all safety razors. Most blades are now made overseas in the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, China, India, and Pakistan. They come in cool-looking packages. Most newbies buy an inexpensive “sample pack” of different razor blades to determine a brand that works for them (some blades are milder, others more aggressive). My favorite blades cost less than 10 cents each and do a great job.
If you get into “wet shaving,” you can buy all sorts of shaving soaps, creams, and brushes at various prices. However, a regular can of shaving cream works just fine, too. I could continue, as I enjoy shaving this way, but I’ll stop now. Check out videos on YouTube if you want more information.
Want to try out wet shaving? This kit comes complete with a razor and blades and costs less than $15.Some wet shavers turn it into a hobby. This titanium razor costs around $250. Do you need to spend that much? Absolutely not.Wet shavers often get into the weeds when it comes to shaving and return to using shaving soap and a brush. Here, you can buy three pucks for around $10. Can you use regular shaving cream in a can? Of course!You can also go a more luxurious route. This Art of Shaving soap and teak wood bowl cost around $50. The soap works, smells great, and will last a very long time. You can buy razor blade samplers to find the best blade for your beard. This popular sampler pack on Amazon gives you 100 blades for around ten bucks.
I stopped going to the barber.
I’m a guy with typical male pattern baldness. I also have a ridiculous tuft of hair in the middle of my forehead. I decided I was not going the “comb over” route. Many years ago, I told my barber to give me a close crop, which he did. I continued that way for some time until an “incident” happened. I had a rare extended break between two workplaces and spied a “Super Cuts.” Only one stylist was working, but I was told I was the next customer. I signed up and waited, and waited, and waited. It turned out that the stylist was cutting her friend’s hair, and they were deep into gossip. Finally, I got up and left. Irritation is sometimes the mother of invention. I went to the store and bought an electric hair clipper and never looked back, as my particular haircut is easy and straightforward.
I got sick of waiting for the stylist and went out and bought a hair clipper set.
I’m not sure that I would tackle a more complicated cut. However, I know people who do. I have a talented sister who always cuts her husband’s hair, but she went to an expensive salon for her cuts. When COVID hit, she was housebound and decided to give it a try. She did a fantastic job, and her hair looks no different than when she was spending a fortune to have someone else cut it. Only you can decide if such a bold move is right for you.
I can make my own cologne.
The freshmen in the high school I attended were housed in an annex building that lacked typical high school amenities, including gym showers. As young boys dealing with puberty and girls, most of us were overly conscious of our post-gym smell. Our solution was to splash on cheap drugstore colognes, a habit that I quickly adopted.
I have worn cologne every day since, the only exception being when I hike in bear country, as those buggers think cologne smells delicious. I know some people don’t like others wearing cologne, but I am the opposite. When someone walks by me and I get a subtle whiff of a fragrance, it leaves a positive impression. I think, “This person took an extra step to smell nice today.” I want to do the same.
The most expensive part of a bottle of cologne is the cap, followed by the sprayer and then the bottle. The liquid contents are relatively inexpensive. Spending $60 for a bottle of cologne is common, with many popular scents costing significantly more.
A while back, I wanted to make my own, and indeed, it is a simple process involving perfume alcohol and scenting agents in the form of essential oils and commercial concentrates from scent houses.
I currently have several bottles of store-bought colognes, so I do not need to make any homemade stuff. However, it’s fun to do and only costs pennies on the dollar.
I was surprised that they still sold this cologne as it was one of the brands we used as high school freshmen. It was potent stuff and likely sold for under $10 at the local Walgreens. It now sells for over $30. Should I buy a bottle? Hmm, probably not. Sauvage is a very popular department store brand. It goes for around $100.Ready for the big league? Aventus is a classic from the British house “Creed.” Be prepared to spend over $400/100 ml for the privilege of wearing this scent.
I am brand agnostic.
As a medical resident, I made little money. Yet, I had to pay child support, and because of my daughter, I needed to rent my own apartment. Money was very tight. I quickly went from preferring certain brands to buying what I could afford. That included hygiene products. For instance, I purchased whatever ADA-approved toothpaste was on sale. That action became a habit that I continue to this very day. Costco always sells one brand or another of toothpaste on sale. When we need toothpaste, I buy one that is on sale. Likewise, I don’t care if I use brand-name or house-brand mouthwash. I don’t get hung up in advertising hype.
When it comes to a lot of hygiene products, I’m brand agnostic. As I write this Crest toothpaste is on sale at Costco so I would buy that brand if I needed toothpaste.
Well, there you have it, nine of my hygiene savings hacks. None were started to save money, but they all do. Saving a few cents here and there may sound silly, but it all adds up. Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, became one of the wealthiest persons in the world, a few pennies at a time.
I created my first YouTube video series in 2008 due to the Great Recession. One of the populations that I was treating was newly divorced men who were suffering financially during that time. As we talked, it became clear that many were spending money on eating out because they didn’t have the basic skills to make food.
Cooking may seem simple if you have been doing it for years, but it is more complicated than you think. You must know what to buy, when, and how much to cook, plan what to make, and have the gear to make it.
Younger divorced men often prioritized spending on a new wardrobe or a big TV rather than a good set of pots and pans. As a psychotherapist, my goal was to improve the quality of my patients’ lives, including enhancing their practical life skills. Cooking for themselves would allow them additional independence and financial security, which equals better mental health.
I would focus on a simple first step, like packing a lunch instead of eating out, and I was surprised how difficult this was for some. Many thought their only option was to slap together a boring sandwich; for others, even that seemed too complicated. That is why my first YouTube series in 2008 was on ways to pack a lunch. It was my first attempt at making YouTube videos, and is best forgotten.
We are currently experiencing runaway inflation. This is annoying for those with a cash reserve but devastating for individuals and families who are struggling financially. In my last post, I wrote about ways to save money on food. This post is all about ways to save money by packing a lunch.
As a working adult, I almost always packed my lunch. It was a financial must in graduate school and during my medical training. As an established physician, I could afford to “go out,” but I still chose to pack my meals for several reasons. The main one was that I would do paperwork and return phone calls during my lunch break. Other doctors would finish seeing patients at 8 p.m. and then stay an hour later to return calls and tidy up their paperwork. I wanted to go home to my family as soon as possible.
There have been times when I would buy my lunch. In the past, I worked for the VA system several days a week. They had a heavily subsidized cafeteria, and I sometimes bought lunch so I could socialize with the other doctors. How good were those lunches? You get what you pay for, and their lunches were cheap.
My kids have picked up on some of my habits and packed their food from home. Most of them are now living away and have continued that habit, which saves them time and money. My wife takes a slightly different approach and has a mini-fridge and microwave at her workplace. She often eats shelf-stable foods at work that she can easily prepare. She is particularly fond of dehydrated soups in a cup and buys them by the gross when they are on sale.
One of my wife’s favorite work-time lunches is dehydrated soup in a cup. She buys them in quantity when they are on sale.
The rationale for packing a lunch is clear: It saves money and can be healthier. A 2015 Visa credit card company survey noted that the average person could save $1,170/year by packing a lunch. A 2023 analysis on makingsenseofcents.com cited a $100 saving per month. However, you can save much more.
Let’s look at two extremes. In 2025, spending over $20 (lunch and tip) at a typical restaurant would not be uncommon. I recently took my daughter out to lunch at a pick-up place. A sandwich plus chips and a drink was close to $20! I ordered at the counter, had to pick up my food, and had to bus my table, so I did not give them the “suggested” 25% tip. Naturally, that would have increased the cost further. These prices may seem high where you live, but they are commonplace in Chicagoland.
In med school, I was desperately poor and brought a cheap lunch 95% of the time; I packed a generic sandwich and perhaps some house-brand cookies, chips, or an apple. I often drank water but sometimes brought one of those horrible sugary drink pouches (Capri Sun). Coffee was usually available for free in the hospital. Let’s look at one of my typical med school lunches using 2025 prices (prices from Walmart.com as of March 2025).
One serving of rebagged Walmart sandwich cookies $0.13
Gala Apple (⅓ pound) $0.40
Coffee $0.00
Total $0.99
If you are spending $15/day buying your lunch, 5 days a week, 48 weeks/year $3,600.00
If you are packing the above super cheap lunch/year. $238.00
Savings/year $3362.00
It seems that everyone carries a water bottle. They come in a vast variety of shapes, types, and sizes. Why buy a bottle of water when you can bring it for free?You can buy snack packs of cookies, chips, and popcorn for around 50-60 cents a bag or rebag a larger package. Here, I have a cup of home-popped popcorn with one cup costing only a few pennies.
Of course, you may pack a more deluxe lunch or only eat off of the $5 McDonald’s menu every day, but either way, you will save money by packing your lunch.
I had a patient who was constantly strapped for money. She and her husband worked in lower-level retail jobs and ate all their meals at McDonald’s (or similar joints). I finally convinced her to cook at home and pack her lunch. This was a difficult sell because she thought she could never eat as cheaply as a McDonald’s combo meal. However, she went from never having enough money to saving money.
When I first met my friend, Tom, he always went out to eat. He owns a residential construction business and is often in different locations with interesting food options. It would not be uncommon for him to buy coffee and a breakfast treat at Starbucks, a nice lunch at a local pick-up joint, and make a trip to get coffee during the workday. However, with today’s economy, he now brings a thermos of coffee and lunch from home and is eating better and healthier.
Thermos-style coffee flasks come in a variety of styles. Here is the one that I use.
If you decide to bring your lunch, it’s wise to invest in some inexpensive accessories. Here are a few items to consider.
I usually packed my lunch in a soft-sided 6-pack cooler. It kept my food cold enough that I didn’t need an ice pack. However, there are now a variety of inexpensive soft-sided insulated bags specifically designed for lunch. You can find them everywhere, from big box stores to Amazon. Choose one with a sound closure system, i.e., a sturdy zipper. My bags would last me years. If they got grungy, I hit them with a bit of soap and water.
There are now a massive variety of insulated lunch bags available.
Regarding food containers, when I was in med school, I used the least expensive fold-top sandwich bags for items like a sandwich or some rebagged chips. However, zip-close bags are inexpensive and recommended over fold-over ones. I just searched Amazon, and they can be had for as little as $0.02/bag. A better option is to use reusable containers. Granted, you must use them for a long time to “break even,” as sandwich bags are so inexpensive, but they are likely the better ecological choice. Several of my kids prefer to use Rubbermaid-style containers designed for sandwiches. Naturally, there are now many reusable containers for just about any food need. My son often takes frozen chicken nuggets in a pristine Tupperware container purchased at a second-hand shop. He heats the nuggets at school for a quick no-prep lunch.
Zip-close sandwich bags can be had for as little as two-cents per bag.My kids liked reusable containers for their sandwiches.
I was also poor as a medical resident, but my lunches were often better than those of my cohorts, who bought their lunch daily. With minimal funds, I planned out my meals carefully and would cook enough food for two meals. I purchased a Rubbermaid lunch meat container that was about an inch deep and the width of two slices of lunch meat. When my dinner was ready, I put half of it in the Rubbermaid container for lunch the next day. While my friends ate cafeteria sandwiches, I had real meals (traditional dinners, stir-fries, casseroles, etc.). This was an extremely economical way to eat, as I never threw out leftovers. By the way, do you know that Americans throw out about 40% of the food that they buy? That is throwing away money.
My daughter recently moved to her own place and called to tell me she was “channeling” me. She made a small meatloaf and sides. She ate ⅓ of that meal and immediately packed the remaining 2/3rds into individual containers. She loved the idea of coming home the next two nights to a delicious homemade dinner that only required a reheat. She packs her lunch and doesn’t get tired of the standard sandwich or bagel fare, so her lunch prep is also simple.
I read an article about a woman living in a tiny NYC studio apartment. She only ate organic but still had a very frugal grocery bill. She did not have a kitchen and did meal prep on the weekend using a hotplate, a coffee pot, and a small rice cooker. She had no kitchen sink, so she washed her dishes in her shower. She made two to three main courses for the week and divided them into individual meal containers. She also made enough morning coffee for the week and refrigerated it to reheat in the morning. Yes, her plan was extreme, but it worked for her. All she needed was some problem-solving abilities and a little creativity.
I worked two days a week in a town almost 100 miles from home so I would spend the night in a hotel. The city was rough, and the dining options were limited. Also, I worked the first day until 10 PM, so I wanted to get to my hotel room and chill. I packed in lunch, dinner, and breakfast for the following day. My lunch was typically leftovers from home, and my dinner could be various things, from leftovers to a sandwich to a meal that I prepared in my hotel room. Breakfast was often oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit.
I built a “kitchen in a bag” that included a 7” mini electric frying pan. The hotel room had a microwave and a coffee maker, so I could make just about anything I wanted to eat.
My traveling kitchen included a tiny 7″ electric skillet that was surprisingly versatile.
My niece likes to meal-pack salads. She will make five salads without any dressing. She keeps a bottle of dressing at her workplace, but repacking an individual salad dressing portion is easy if you don’t have access to a fridge. As a medical resident, I had a couple of 1-ounce Rubbermaid containers that I would carry. I hated cleaning them, so I devised a solution. I would seal a portion of salad dressing in a Ziploc sandwich bag. At lunchtime, I push the dressing to one corner of the bag and twist the top like a pastry bag. I then snipped off the corner to pour the dressing on my salad. This method works for soft food items, including butter, peanut butter, and cream cheese. It is very easy to do, and there is no greasy mess to clean up.
You can now buy various small containers perfect for items like salad dressing. However, I think they are a pain to clean, so I use the “Ziploc” method. Foods like salad dressing and peanut butter are easily transported using a Ziploc bag. I have always carried a pocket knife with me which is handy for so many things.You simply push the bag’s contents to one corner and then twist the bag like a pastry bag. Snip off the corner to deliver the contents. Here, I’m adding some peanut butter to a cut-up apple. There are a variety of containers that can be used for meal prep from plastic to glass.You can also buy semi-disposable boxes for meal prep. However, even with care, they will need to be replaced much sooner than the non-disposable types.
There are many inexpensive items designed for eating on the go. I suggest keeping flatware with your lunch gear. I used a camping-style spork for years, but you can also buy a knife, spoon, and fork for very little at dollar stores. It is best not to use your home flatware, as it is easy to lose.
I kept a titanium sport in my lunch bag.You can buy nifty lunch flatware or go to the dollar store and buy a place setting for a couple of bucks.
If you work indoors, your company will have a microwave oven in its lunch room. I always used Rubbermaid-style containers, but you can now get many glass ones with sealing lids. When I was working at that distant city site, the clinic had a microwave, but it was filthy and rusty inside. I purchased a tiny 1-quart warming “Crockpot” with a stainless inner pot. I would pile in leftovers the night before and then pop them into my mini warmer when I got to work. By lunchtime, my meal was piping hot.
Food containers now come in every shape and can be found in plastic, glass, and stainless steel styles.
My friend Tom rigged a small microwave and inverter in his tool trailer so he could quickly reheat his lunch. Airline attendants and van dwellers love a little heating device called a HotLogic Mini to safely heat their food, and let’s not forget the humble wide-mouth thermos, which has kept lunches warm for millions over the decades.
The HotLogic Mini is a food warmer popular with airline attendants and van dwellers. It comes in both an AC and 12-volt model. It often goes on sale.The widemouth thermos has been around forever and allows those without a microwave to have hot food at the workplace.
I always carry a little pocket knife for many reasons, including lunch. I can cut up an apple, open the tip of a Ziploc filled with salad dressing, or cut a chunk of bread.
A little pocket knife is useful for many things.
I like to prewash my flatware and dishes after lunch when I don’t have a sink handy, I pack a couple of damp paper towels in a Ziploc. These are also useful for wiping my hands in a pinch.
A few damp paper towels in a Ziploc back are handy for a quick pre-clean of used Tupperware or to wipe hands.
The trick when packing a lunch is to think outside of the box.
The traditional sandwich has its place, but my favorite lunch is last night’s leftovers. I also freeze individual portions of homemade soups and stews that can be pulled out of the freezer on days when the cupboard is bare and I don’t feel like running to the market. Additionally, I like to mix things up, sometimes buying shelf-stable ready meals for a few dollars that I can eat with a slice of bread. Remember, anything goes: oatmeal for lunch? Sure. Cheese and crackers? Why not? Can of soup? If you like. Yesterday’s carry-out Chinese? Of course. Be creative, and you will never feel deprived or bored.
If I had extra from a batch of soup or stew, I would seal it in a vacuum seal bag and freeze it. In a pinch, I could use this as a quick lunch.On occasion, I would pack shelf-stable meals. These Hormel meals could be found for around a dollar and are now sold for under two dollars. I would pair them with some bread and butter for an easy pack.
If you are fearful of diving in, then do it slowly. Brown bag Tuesdays? Meal prep on Sunday for three workday lunches and go out the other two? You are in charge of your mealtime destiny. The longer you do it, the more natural it becomes. Good luck!
I have been retired for 7 years, – I can’t believe it! This is my annual retirement update blog post.
The first question you may have is, “How are you doing?” I’m here to say that I’m doing well despite some challenges. My most important advice for anyone who is or is about to retire is to “roll with the punches.”
Many have plans and expectations when we retire. However, you will likely be disappointed if you rigidly hold to those expectations. I have been flexible, and at the seven-year mark, I can honestly say I’m very happy. My happiness requirements may differ from yours, so (as I always say), you do you.
I think that my most significant change has been dealing with my wife’s illness, which has been ongoing for the last two years. My wife is a trooper and has not let it control her life. However, it has had us modify plans.
My wife loves traveling and exploring new and exotic places. However, medical issues have gotten in the way. I’m more of a country mouse and thrive on being in nature. When I retired, I turned a van into a camper with my friend Tom. It is super cool and can operate completely off-grid as it generates electricity and even purifies stream water. I have taken “Violet the camper van” nationwide and want to travel more. I did go on some longer trips with my son this year and continued mini-adventures with Julie, but I had to delay any extended trips with her.
Violet the camper van is the childhood clubhouse I never had, and the twelve-year-old boy in me loves her. I can’t tell you how much joy Violet gives me when traveling. Now that we are two years into Julie’s illness, we are considering a month-long trip in Violet. Will that happen? Who knows. However, I am sure that we will go on some shorter trips.
Taking a traditional “vacay” also remains a possibility as she heals. We are approaching life one day at a time.
My adult kids returned home during COVID but are leaving the nest again. One left last August, one will leave this weekend, and the last will go by early summer. Having them around the house changed what I thought I would do in retirement. However, it turned out to be a good change. We all reconnected, did many things together, and wholly enjoyed being a reunited family. Now, I have to deal with that whole empty nest thing again. I like my kids, so I expect a difficult transition, but I know I’ll survive. My kids are moving locally, and we are already looking for ways to continue to see each other. One option is scheduled rotating brunches alternating with Sunday dinners for those who can make it.
Being retired presents its worries. When earning money, I could always work harder if I needed to. Now, I’m dependent on Social Security and my retirement investments. Also, I have been on Medicare for years. The government has been so chaotic lately that I wonder daily what my financial and health insurance future will be. This concerns me, but I realize I have no control over it. I’m trying to adapt, a “One day at a time,” philosophy.
I am very thankful that I remain healthy. However, in January, I had shoulder surgery, which I’m still recovering from. Each day, I’m a bit better. One’s health can change at the drop of a hat, so I’m trying to live each day to its fullest.
It doesn’t take much to amuse me, and it would be an extremely unusual day where I am bored. I love exploring my thoughts in this blog and other venues. I love spending time with my family doing simple tasks like cooking dinner with my kids. I thrive on learning new things, which are often obscure and trivial. I continue to be an Amazon “influencer” and like reviewing new products for them. Beyond my immediate family, I am incredibly fortunate to have friends and extended family who I love and who love me.
I continue to explore photography and want to expand my commitment to it once the weather clears and my arm improves. I enjoy traveling to other towns to take street photography. This can be shooting anything from people to interesting architecture. I have done this by myself in the past. However, I would like to find a like-minded person with whom to share the experience. I am considering putting an “ad” in one of our local Facebook groups. I would supply the transportation (Violet) and my accomplice could split the cost of gas. I’m pretty shy, and I always feel I have to keep people entertained, so it would be a significant growth step if I dared to do the above. However, now that Julie is feeling better, I certainly think I could (at least) do some day trips myself if necessary.
So much of my energy last year was focused on Julie and my kids. It felt good to be there for Julie, and currently, I’m helping my one daughter transition into her new apartment. Because of my partnership with Amazon, I have acquired a lot of stuff to give my kids as they venture out on their own. Beyond those freebies, I have encouraged them to take household items with them. For instance, my son will likely take our basement rec room furniture when he moves out this summer. We only use our rec room for storage and exercise, so giving him that furniture is a win for both of us. I like being helpful to others, but I also focus on taking care of myself.
I once again have been on a crusade to lose weight with my BMI being my lifelong nemesis. I lost weight in 2016 and kept it off until COVID hit. I have now lost most of what I want to again, less 6 pounds that refuse to leave my body. I am happier when I’m a more normal weight, but I’m also trying to accept who I am. Despite incredible effort, I have never permanently cracked the obesity problem.
This last year, I did a lot to organize and eliminate 35 years of “living in the same house” clutter. I have a long way to go, and unfortunately, my shoulder’s recovery will prevent me from doing much on that front until late summer or fall. That’s a good excuse not to feel guilty for not doing it!
This year has continued my spiritual journey. I am a Christ follower who tries to follow Christ’s example daily. I think Jesus’s message was overwhelmingly of forgiveness, acceptance, peace, inclusion, and love. After many years of attending a church, I left when their message changed to exclude groups that didn’t fit their particular interpretation of the Bible. This saddened me greatly. I’m not sure where to go next or if I should just build my spiritual life as an individual, I’m even thinking of attending a more “universal” church. All of this is a process in motion at the moment.
I still revel in having control over my schedule. For most of my life, others scheduled my time. I accepted that as being the way it was. However, there is a joy in not constantly feeling that I must be busy producing something worthwhile. Writing today’s blog post is not fiscally productive. However, it gives me pleasure, which is enough justification to do it.
My life at seven years of retirement is extremely rich and fulfilling, and I know why. Long ago, I figured out those general categories that satisfied me. Everyone has broad areas that are fulfilling, but those areas differ from person to person.
These are mine:
I love to learn.
Gaining knowledge on a topic excites me. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if I am learning the latest psychopharmacology for the treatment of psychosis, the history of the Permian-Triassic period, or why one brand of power tools is superior to another. In my professional life, my learning focused on becoming an expert on a particular topic. However, now I can learn as much as I like on a subject and then stop when desired. I can dip my toes into any area from van life cooking to quantum mechanics, and when I have had enough I can stop and move onto something else. What a wonderful gift!
I love to be creative.
Nothing excites me more than applying an idea or concept from one discipline to a different discipline. I love to push my boundaries and explore the commonality of things that seem dissimilar on the surface. I am a natural problem solver and there are so many problems that I have yet to solve. Creativity can be applied to all aspects of life. It is creative to develop a complex business plan. Still, it is also innovative to determine a better way to clean a toilet or find a delicious way to use leftovers. All give me joy.
I love to teach.
I want others to think and think outside the box. Yes, I want to impart information on others, but I also want them to take that information and form their own ideas. During my professional life, I might help a patient see how their behavior hurt their mental state. That would be the first step. However, giving them the tools to empower them to move towards healthy change was equally important. Now, I may help one of my kids explore a life change. Yesterday, I sat with my daughter, pondering health/life insurance options as she starts her first adult job. I was active in the discussion but not the decision maker. Give a person a fish vs. teach a person to fish.
I love connecting with others.
I have posted many times that I’m an introvert and deliberately limit the number of people I invest in because I try to invest fully in them. Am I a recluse? Nothing could be further from the truth. I need less person-to-person contact than some, but I do need contact. However, I also need my alone time.
Connecting with those I value is an absolute necessity. I am beyond fortunate that those individuals value me as much as I value them. I love hearing their viewpoints, hanging out with them, learning from them, and even disagreeing with them. People enrich my life, and now that I’m retired, I have the time to stay in contact with those I love regularly.
These essential “wants” may seem elementary to many, but they immensely satisfy me. Since they are non-specific, they are not bound by my status. Recognizing my core needs has allowed me to adjust to my life despite its ups and downs. They are the keys to my happiness.
Let’s see what the next year brings!
Peace
Mike
I wore a tie only a few times these last 12 months. I used to dress “professionally” at least 5 days a week. I don’t miss that.My new work outfit. A flannel shirt! much more comfy.
Food has always been a large part of most people’s budgets. Inflation is a pain if you have financial resources, but it is devastating if you have been living paycheck to paycheck. As money becomes tight, people rely on other sources of cash, including credit cards, which adds more to their financial woes.
You can delay purchasing a new TV or pause on updating your wardrobe, but you can’t stop eating. I grew up in a family of seven. My dad worked, but my mom did not work outside the home. We always had food on the table, and because my mom was a great cook, it was always delicious. However, she employed many budget-stretching techniques, some of which seem lost in today’s world of fast food, prepared meals, and restaurant eating.
In the early years of my marriage, I embraced many of the modern eating patterns. When my kids were young, it was common to go out to dinner once or twice a week, and we frequently went out to breakfast after church on Sundays. Fast food was a big part of our diet and it wasn’t uncommon for us to grill steaks for dinner because we had a “taste for them.” Much of that has changed in our household, we are economizing but not feeling deprived. In many ways we are eating better than we did in the past.
How is that possible? I do most of the grocery shopping and meal preparation at our home (I’m retired) and have employed many techniques I observed while growing up. Additionally, I was divorced from my first wife and poor during the early years of my career. I developed options to survive on the smallest grocery budget possible. Lastly, over the last decade I have taught my kids how to cook and in doing so I have refined and simplified that process. In today’s post I aim to show new budgeters some of those techniques.
Teaching my kids has been a joy. We now work as a single unit in the kitchen and have great fun making meals together. Here we are making some chicken fried rice.My kids have also become accomplished bakers.
What this is not.
Many articles and YouTube videos have titles like: “I survived spending only $1 a day for food,” or “How I fed my family of 4 for only $25 a week.” God bless those individuals as their methods often combined starvation with monotony. My goal has never been to eat as cheaply as possible, it was to reduce costs. We are well fed in our house and still have found ways to economize.
What this post is.
My goal is not to have you incorporate every idea listed. If you are new to trying to reduce grocery costs, start by emphasizing spending less at the grocery store, and do that by using a method that works for you. Add other savings options as you become more comfortable, ignore options that I present that make little sense to you, and incorporate things that work for you that I have neglected to list. This post is intended to be a springboard for your creative process. It is meant to inspire you, not to overwhelm you.
We eat regular food.
There are always ways to economize no matter what diet you ascribe to, but the more restrictions you place on your eating, the more difficult it becomes to economize. Can you find multiple ways to reduce food costs if you are vegan, gluten intolerant, or wholly organic? Yes, of course. However, we are traditional eaters in our home, which gives us more saving options. You may object to some of my methods, citing that we should eat how you eat. I respect your choice, but you do you and let us do us.
The simple steps to saving money on food.
Buy cheaper
Buy less
Make from scratch
Keep food making simple
substitute
Be varied
Use it up
How to spend less money on groceries
There are many ways to save at the grocery store, but it is unlikely that you will use all of them. The best approach is to start with options compatible with you and then add or subtract techniques that work, or don’t work, for you.
I have always been fascinated by those who are good at coupon clipping. However, I am not one of those individuals. Likewise, I have a niece who is a pro at using a store’s digital grocery coupons, sometimes saving 30% of her bill. Using an app before or while I shop is a frustrating pain for me.
Others will shop multiple stores every week to find the best deals and loss leaders. I admire them, but I’m usually “done” after buying a week’s groceries at a single store.
Choose and become familiar with your main store.
I go to the store with the lowest overall prices to save money on groceries. In my neck of the woods that means Walmart or Aldi. I was a Walmart shopper for many years but slowly abandoned shopping there. Why? for multiple reasons: The store is gigantic, and I would end a shopping trip exhausted. There were so many choices that I would get decision fatigue comparing items and their prices. The store has so many products that I always bought more than I intended, and I despised self-checkout when I had a cart full of groceries.
This last reason is why I quit Walmart as my main grocery store. I had a full cart of groceries and there were no checkers, so I was stuck sorting items on 18” counters. I had to place things back in my cart and separate them as I checked myself out. At the same time, I was scanning and looking up fruits and vegetables on the touch screen. Our Walmart has an employee who stares you down like you are trying to steal something. It is very uncomfortable. Naturally, the machine froze, requiring me to wait for that person to release it. My final straw was when I went through that ordeal only to have the lady at the door want to review my receipt and check every purchase that I made. Nothing like a store that makes you feel like a criminal. What did they find when they reviewed my cart? They found that I paid for every item. However, that was the final straw for me.
I switched to Aldi and have never looked back. In our area, Aldi generally offers prices lower than Walmart and much lower than traditional grocery stores. Aldi has its limitations, but many of them benefit me. Aldi mainly sells house brands, but their quality is good. If you want a product, like catsup, there is only one brand to choose from. That is fine because I don’t have to ponder which item to buy. Because they have fewer brands, the stores are small and less fatiguing. Ours has super fast checkers, taking that burden away from me, and large areas to pack groceries. Aldi does run sales, but they are very clearly marked and don’t require coupons or apps. I always spend less (compared to when I shop at any other grocery store) at Aldi. That is even when I bite the bullet and use another store’s digital coupons.
Aldi stores are much smaller than a typical US grocery store making it much easier to shop there.
Aldi has limitations and eliminates many of the frills that other markets have. You won’t be able to get a decorated cake at Aldi, and there isn’t an on-site butcher. Additionally, Aldi has limited products. You can buy any cake mix, as long as it is chocolate, white, or yellow. Need some spices? Aldi sells them at a great price, but don’t get too exotic. I have never seen the spices as basic as bay leaves or thyme at Aldi. However, stopping at another store to get those things is easy and economical as long as I buy just what I need.
Basic spices are very inexpensive at Aldi and are of good quality. However, you will likely need to go to another grocer if you need anything beyond the basics.
Consider house brands.
When I was a resident physician I made little money. Additionally, I was paying child support and had to live alone in my own apartment as my daughter stayed with me every other weekend. Money was extremely tight. In those days, grocery stores featured “generic” products, and I bought them because I had no choice. However, generic was not the same as a house brand. They were of inferior quality. One time I opened a can of green beans that contained an entire plant, stem, leaves, and roots!
I have found that house brands are typically very good quality, and their quality has increased. My kids like Oikos yogurt, and my wife will sometimes buy that brand if she finds it on sale. However, the Adli brand tastes pretty good and is significantly cheaper. When my adult kids said, “Dad, we prefer Oikons,” I said, “Feel free to buy it; if not, I’ll buy you the Adli brand.” Given the option of buying their own, they happily ate the Aldi yogurt.
Of course, high-end products are likely better than house brands. I read recipes where the writer tells the reader to use a particular canned tomato or mayonnaise brand. However, we are not “high end” here. We are just regular eaters.
Consider making your coffee.
Buying coffee every day is a costly proposition. You can make your own for pennies on the dollar. Making coffee can be extremely simple or very complicated depending on your desire. Instant coffee (trust me, you can get used to it) is incredibly cheap and as easy as adding a teaspoon of the stuff to hot water. There are also a multitude of coffee makers available, from drip to French presses to Keurig style. You can buy a reasonable drip coffee maker for $20-$50. Using coffee pods is the most expensive way to home brew, but still much cheaper than buying Starbucks. Lastly, making your coffee at home is more convenient than waiting in line at a store.
We buy whole beans at Costco and grind our coffee for each pot. We have a Bunn coffee maker, which was expensive but has been continuously used for over 10 years.
Do we ever buy coffeeshop coffee? Yes, but mostly when we are meeting someone at a coffee shop.
Adjust your diet based on current costs.
Eggs were a mainstay in our house when I could buy a dozen for eighty-eight cents. My daughter would hard boil a bunch for a week’s worth of breakfasts. I sometimes made them for lunch and occasionally cooked omelets for a family dinner. However, eggs have gone through the roof, and we eat less of them. I have gone so far as to purchase “egg replacers.” Egg replacers can be used in cakes, cookies, pancakes, and other baked goods. They don’t have the nutritional value of an egg, but they are relatively inexpensive and bind ingredients similarly to eggs.
I mentioned earlier that we used to eat steak regularly. It is now a “special occasion” food. When we eat steak, we cut it in half, so two steaks feed four people. That amount of meat is still more than US nutritional guidelines.
Other beef products have also become expensive, so we generally eat less of them.
Being flexible is key when it comes to saving money.
Limit buying processed foods.
I have an older relative who no longer wishes to make meals from scratch and mostly buys premade individual frozen meals. I completely respect her actions, but her grocery costs for one person are roughly the same as what I spend for four adults. Most will tell you that processed foods are not the best for you. I’m here also to say that they are costly.
That said, we do buy some processed foods. Every Friday, we make frozen pizzas for dinner. By the end of the week, no one wanted to cook, and this option worked out for us. We can always find frozen pizzas on sale. Balance and common sense are the key to sustaining a food plan.
Stick with the basics.
Another reason that I love Aldi is that many of their foods are “basic.” What are basic foods? They are foods that can be utilized in many ways. I can buy premade frozen pancakes or save money using a pancake mix. Even better is making pancakes from scratch using flour, which can be transformed into thousands of different foods.
Do I ever buy frozen pancakes? No. Do I ever buy pancake mix? Sometimes. Do I ever make pancakes from scratch? Often!
If you have essential ingredients on hand, you can make many foods. If you buy a pizza, you have a pizza. If you purchase a jar of spaghetti sauce, you can make pizza, spaghetti, a manicotti bake, and lasagna. You can do all the above and more if you buy a can of crushed tomatoes. Sometimes I’ll make individual pizzas on a worknight using whatever I can find in the fridge. The kids love them.
Be reasonable.
My grandmother made bread for her family every week. It was delicious! I occasionally make bread as a treat, but I mostly buy bread. Convenience is the driving factor.
I sometimes make bread as a special treat, but I mostly buy it for convenience.
I occasionally buy a pre-made refrigerator meal, and my wife loves diet soda. As I have repeatedly said, balance is key to a successful plan. How many extras you can add will depend on your cash flow. I know of families that almost exclusively drink water to save costs. Everyone has to figure out what works best for them.
Fresh, frozen, or canned?
We do buy fresh vegetables and fruit, but we buy them carefully. Certain vegetables, such as onions, potatoes, green onions, carrots, celery, and salad fixings, are reasonably priced. Likewise, bananas and some apples can be good values. Other fruits and vegetables can be bought when purchased in season. However, how fresh is fresh? Vegetables are transported to stores, often from different countries. They then sit under bright lights as they get sprayed with water. This may make them look fresh, but it also promotes mold.
Frozen vegetables and fruits are picked and processed at the peak of their ripeness. They are often less expensive than their fresh counterparts. They also last a long time in the freezer and are flexible when cooking.
Many people have negative feelings toward canned fruits and vegetables. However, they are picked similarly to frozen and are highly nutritious. They last a long time while being shelf-stable. I often add them when bulking up something like a stew or serve them as a side after adding a few additions to make them more palatable.
Cook from scratch when possible.
We do a lot of “scratch” cooking. If you know some basic cooking skills, you can make almost anything. My family and I would agree that the food we make from scratch tastes better and is less expensive than prepared foods and even restaurant meals.
Teaching my son to use a pressure cooker.
The more you cook, the easier it gets. The same techniques are used repeatedly in cooking, so when you master a method with one recipe, you can use it in a dozen more.
Consider buying a general cookbook like those from Better Homes and Gardens or Betty Crocker. They have time-tested recipes that use basic ingredients and are designed to work with inexperienced cooks. You can find hundreds of recipes online if you don’t want to do that.
Cooking from scratch can save you money.
But I only have a microwave.
I have the benefit of a fully functional kitchen. However, I know some live in basement and studio apartments and only have a mini-fridge and a microwave. You can make many things in a microwave. I traveled out of town weekly for many years working until 10 PM. I didn’t want to leave my hotel then and often made dinner in my room. Additionally, my kids have made many things in the microwave. We have made scrambled eggs, cakes and muffins, fish, BBQ turkey legs, rice, pasta, baked potatoes, bacon, regular oatmeal, tea, and much more.
Adding one appliance, like a rice cooker or an electric frying pan, will exponentially open up your culinary world. If you live in a studio apartment, you don’t have to eat out every meal.
Clean as you go.
One of the biggest lessons I taught my kids was cleaning up as you go. When I cook, I constantly wash items. I may use the same measuring cup three times, and by the time the meal is ready, that cup has already found its way back into the cabinet. Nothing will discourage your cooking more than dealing with a mound of dishes at the end of the meal. Cleaning up as you cook is a critical part of cooking from scratch.
Build your supply of staple foods.
I was going to add a link to other authors’ lists of staple foods you should have in your pantry. I decided against it because many of those lists were extraordinarily long and included items I have never used in 50 years of cooking.
Staple foods are basic ingredients that you should always keep in your pantry. However, if you are budgeting, buying all of them at once is not feasible. I suggest reserving a portion of your weekly food budget for staple items.
Start with the basic: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper, cooking oil, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, canned tomatoes, rice, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, frozen ground meat, and the like. Slowly build up your supplies as you can, watching for sales.
We have many staple items beyond this list, including curry powder, cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, hot sauce, powdered sugar, cut-up chicken, jar garlic, soy sauce, coconut milk, and more. However, we have built up those supplies slowly. Having staple items allows you variety when cooking. There is something you can always make.
Be flexible when cooking.
This is more of an advanced skill. I’m not afraid to substitute one ingredient for another or to even omit an ingredient from a recipe. The result may not be as intended, but it will still be good. A simple example would be to exchange a can of whole tomatoes for crushed tomatoes. However, this is just the start of what you can do. If you don’t have a particular spice, you can often substitute with something similar or leave it out altogether. Only have 1 pound of ground meat and the recipe calls for 1.5 pounds? Make up the difference with another filler. However, if you are just starting to cook, follow recipes as well as you can until you are wholly comfortable switching things around. I’m usually successful at substituting ingredients but I still make “fatal errors” occasionally, so caution is advised.
I made a soup/stew from whatever I could find in the fridge. Italian sausage, some wilted spinach, carrots, and this and that. It was delicious and the kids loved it. Cooking ad-lib takes a little practice so don’t be discouraged if your results are less than perfect the first few times.
Buy and eat less meat.
All meat is expensive, but beef takes the prize. Even cheap cuts are now costly. Sometimes you can substitute one meat wholly or partially in a recipe. For instance, you can do a 50/50 split of hamburger and ground pork when making meatloaf. This will result in a tastier product. We sometimes use ground turkey instead of ground beef with excellent results.
We often make many combination foods that use less meat. Think soups, stews, casseroles, hot dishes, stir fries, loaves, and more. These are delicious, filling, and nutritious and can often be made in a single pot or pan, so cleanup is a breeze. Making combination foods is as important as choosing the right grocery store to save money.
There are so many wonderful ways to use less meat. Here I’m serving a chicken and pepper stir-fry.I picked up some butternut squash and turned it into a copycat Panera winter squash soup using an on-line recipe and my pressure cooker. I added a protein rich salad and a slice of homemade bread for a pretty darn good meatless dinner.
Consider meatless meals.
If you can go vegan or vegetarian, more power to you. We are not there yet. However, we will often have meatless meals that we all love. My kids get excited when we make homemade potato pancakes or mac and cheese, and my wife and I love lentil and bean dishes, which can be made with very little meat or are entirely vegetarian. There are many ways to make delicious foods that don’t require meat.
KISS
Keep it simple, silly. Basic foods, ingredients, and cooking make a sustainable behavior change.
Do a food inventory and make a list before going to the store.
Check out what you already have before going grocery shopping. A time-honored way to save money at the grocer is to create and stick to a list. Of course, don’t go to the store hungry!
Use it up.
We are good at using meat before it spoils and finishing leftovers (often for the next day’s lunch). However, we need to improve our use of fruits and vegetables. We are trying to do better by taking inventory of what fruits and vegetables are on hand and incorporating them into our meals. Additionally, we pay special attention to those items that are declining. For example, wilting celery is still terrific when used as an aromatic in a soup, stew, or casserole.
Make what you have, not what you want.
We mostly avoid making meals based on what we have a taste for. Instead we cook based on what we have on hand. This eliminates another form of decision fatigue and allows us to use up items that would have gone bad. My daughter used half of a jar of spaghetti sauce for a spaghetti lunch. I used the remainder to make an impromptu pizza.
Consider making a menu.
Another time-honored money-saving tip is to make a weekly menu. Sadly, I have been unable to do this formally. You may be better at this than I am.
Make less/Eat less.
As a poor medical resident, I made enough food for two meals. I would immediately separate half of the food into a travel container. The first half would be my dinner, and the second half would be my lunch the next day. I ate better than many of my cohorts who bought their food daily.
I have constantly had to battle with obesity my entire life. The first time that I lost 100 pounds was in the 7th grade! I gain weight very quickly. I have adopted a way of eating called “cafeteria style.” If you have ever bought a meal in a school cafeteria, you know you get a portioned amount of items. That is what you eat, no more. When I eat at home, I portion out a similar amount of food and try (not always successfully) to only eat that amount. There is no need for me to go back for seconds and thirds as to do so results in a negative outcome.
My wife taught me the trick of using a smaller plate when eating dinner. Here I made a chicken paprikash, spaetzle, and some broccoli.
We often have leftovers that the kids take to work, but I try to make only a reasonable amount of food to avoid food waste.
Buy good items that are reaching expiration.
One of our local grocery stores often sold items nearing expiration but still perfectly good. Meats could be found for more than half off. I would buy these in bulk, portion them in vacuum-sealed bags, and then freeze them. However, recently, I have had a few experiences where I had to return meats as they were past their prime and I am no longer practicing that habit. If you have a reputable store, find out when they re-label items for bargain prices.
Portion out meals.
I avoid places like Costco as I always spend more than I intend. However, I still shop there occasionally as the quality is excellent. This is especially the case with bulk meats.
When I get home, I divide the bulk package into meal-size portions and then vacuum seal and label each package for the freezer. Meat can stay fresh with no freezer burn for over a year.
We had to buy several major appliances last year from Costco, which gave me quite a few Costco bucks. I used them to buy meat that will last us a long time. I like to portion out the meat into vacuum seal bags and then freeze it.
Learn the art of preservation.
There are many ways to preserve food, here are two ways we do it:
The vacuum sealer
I have used a vacuum sealer since the early 1990s and have saved a lot of money in the process. I freeze meal-size portions of meat for main courses and vegetables for soups and stews. I’ll also freeze individual portions of leftovers that I can pop directly in boiling water for a quick lunch. Additionally, I freeze many dry items. For instance, I buy bulk rice, which I portion and vacuum seal in 1-2 pound bags.
I now use a chamber style vacuum sealer, but a regular (and inexpensive) tray-style vacuum sealer also works well.
Name-brand vacuum sealer bags are excellent but expensive. I use off-brand brands with good results. Over the last few years, I have switched from a standard home vacuum sealer to a chamber-style one. Chamber vacuum bags cost only pennies, often the same price or lower than a Ziploc bag, but they are much stronger and more resistant to freeze burn.
The freezer
We have owned a separate freezer for over 30 years. It is a manual defrost model that costs very little to operate, only a few dollars a month. The freezer allows us to buy cheaper meats in bulk (which I then divide up), buy items on sale, buy items that are good but are reaching their expiration date, and much more. It is also convenient to have extra freeze space to hold that emergency frozen meal or an extra pizza to serve a friend who makes a surprise visit.
Consider buying one of these appliances when you can afford to do so.
I am a gadget lover who has been buying small electrics for my entire adult life. I have just about every gadget that you could imagine. Some of you are likely attached to a small appliance and may covet your toaster oven, or rice cooker (to name a few)—more power to you.
However, two appliances stand out for working individuals who want to transition from eating out to making food at home. Consider one or the other (or both!).
I purchased a 2.5-quart, very basic slow cooker for $9 as a medical resident, and I used it extensively to make many different meals. For instance, In the morning I would toss a couple of pork chops in it with a drained can of sauerkraut, a grated apple, a little brown sugar, and some caraway seeds (if I had them). That evening I would have a delicious dinner (plus a lunch the next day) waiting for me.
Slow cookers can be purchased for as little as $20 (fancy ones cost more) and are very easy to use. They are great for those who can plan meals in the morning, and they also save energy. I suggest a 4-quart size for an individual or small family and a 6-quart model for a larger family.
The other appliance to consider is a pressure cooker; the most energy-efficient appliance I have ever tested. Pressure cookers sometimes frighten people, but the new ones employ many safety features. You can buy a stovetop or electric version; both have advantages. I recommend an electric pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, for the new cook. If you shop around, you can buy a decent one for $60-$80. Pressure cookers are great for those who don’t want to bother with morning prep but also don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking when they get home. Pressure cookers can cook food in about ⅓rd of the time compared to traditional cooking methods. You can make a delicious soup from scratch in under 13 minutes of pressure. A 3-quart pressure cooker works well for singles and couples, a 6-quart is best for most others.
A pressure cooker is a welcome addition if you want to make real food really fast.
With both appliances, you have the advantage of one-pot meals, which means less cleanup. It is also easy to make a larger batch for tomorrow’s lunch or to freeze away for a future meal.
Should you upgrade your cooking gear?
You likely have everything that you need to make, just about anything that you want to make. However, good equipment makes cooking easier. I use an inexpensive pull-through knife sharpener every time I cook. I use small electrics. I like quality cookware, and my Dutch oven is my favorite pot. However, I have built my cooking gear over 50 years. All you need is a chef’s knife, a big pot, a saucepan, a frying pan, and some cheap utensils. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to save money. Shop second hand or garage sales. They are great places for cookware and appliances like crock pots. Request items as gifts, start a gear fund or shop sales, or do none of the above and work with what you have. It is all good.
Conclusion.
Remember, progress, not perfection. You will likely fail if you immediately try to implement all of my suggestions. Come up with a solution to save money at the grocery store and then implement a few of my tips. Add and subtract options as indicated.
We are not deprived in our household. We eat very well while eating less highly processed food. Yes, we have snacks and desserts too. Our goal is to maximize our savings while minimizing deprivation. Try the same.
My kids made me this wonderful Father’s Day cake.Saving grocery money is not about deprivation, it is about being reasonable. Here I’m having a delicious homemade strawberry shortcake.
Peace
Mike
Addendum: I mention my efforts and my kids a lot in this post. Please note that my wife is also involved in a lot of meal prep!
I was raised in a blue-collar neighborhood and attended a horrible and dangerous public high school. My dad told me that my only higher education option was to attend the local community college, which I did for two years. There wasn’t money for a big university, and I had no one to guide or inform me about scholarships.
In the “talents” department I had a lot of deficits. I grew too fast, and so I was incredibly clumsy. I’m blind in one eye, so I have little depth perception, making me terrible in sports. I’m naturally an introvert who loves to hang out in my brain and think of obscure things, so I would never be successful as a salesperson. I prefer to have deep relationships with people, so I have to limit how many of them I have as I devote myself to those individuals. Still, it takes a special person to tolerate me as I constantly process multiple thoughts, making it seem like I’m often in the clouds.
I have written past posts citing my dyslexia. However, I use that as a shorthand term as people can relate to it. In reality, my brain works oddly on multiple levels, and I have had to devise my own solutions to basic skills, like being able to read—tasks that others master with standard instruction. I can understand the most complicated abstract subject, but I can’t remember a phone number and have tremendous difficulty remembering a person’s name (honestly, I try).
I can often solve complicated problems with solutions that others don’t see. This has turned out to be my big strength. Completely unrelated information connects in my strange brain, as if there is a unifying law that joins everything. I used to think everyone thought like this and was shocked to discover that was not the case.
Educators liked how I thought outside the box, some even using the “G” word to describe me. Between you and me, the idea that I’m a genius is ridiculous. I have trouble spelling simple words, and have been known to get lost driving around my neighborhood! In fact, my friend Tom sarcastically calls me by the name, “Pathfinder.” Yet, I have the ability to do well on academic tests, frequently breaking “the curve.” Go figure.
Teachers strongly encouraged me to pursue advanced educational goals and schools found ways to fund my tuition. I’m sure that some of that money was federal money.
My graduate education was completely paid for. When I applied and got accepted to medical school, I wanted to go to Northwestern, but it cost an enormous $14,000 a year (a joke compared to today’s massive tuition costs). I was about to sign on to another medical school that accepted me but Northwestern took care of me.
In the 1970s, I researched how proteins were extruded through cell membranes at the University of Illinois. At Northwestern, I was part of a research group that did basic cancer research. At the University of Chicago, I was a member of a team that used monoclonal antibodies to study MS. Now, monoclonal antibodies are used in cutting-edge medical treatment, and the process by which Multiple Sclerosis destroys the brain’s white matter is understood. Applied medicine starts with basic research.
As chief resident of psychiatry at Northwestern, I helped select newly minted doctors who wanted to become psychiatrists. As an attending doctor, I have worked with thousands of individuals, helping them with mental illness and addiction issues. I co-founded a clinic that employed others. As an assistant clinical professor at multiple medical schools I trained many medical students and residents.
I’m writing all of this not to brag, but to make a point. If the Federal government didn’t have programs that supported students there was the possibility that I would have wound up as a factory worker instead of a doctor.
My kids are smart and have been given fantastic educational opportunities and merit scholarships. They have seen their mother’s and my love of science and our desire to give back to the community. Having the benefit of their mother’s gene pool added to the unique way that I think, they lack my limitations and would do well in any discipline, including business and finance. However, they all have chosen to delay their careers to pursue advanced degrees that (for them) have meaning and help others.
One of my kids is in grad school studying how environmental change impacts insects. Insects are great research models because they have short lives, allowing researchers to examine the impact of changing conditions over multiple generations. This basic research may sound silly to the uninformed but has practical implications for the real world.
My child came home from a lab meeting yesterday and was very upset about the national halting of research funds for university research programs. Like me, my child’s graduate education is being funded. In return, they are giving up multiple earning years as they dedicate themselves to being a part of the solution to the catastrophic problem of climate change. My child’s PI says that my child’s funding is likely safe, at least for now. However, others in the lab won’t be as lucky. This university-wide funding freeze is having severe consequences in almost every research lab. The freeze will significantly impact how many new graduate students can be funded for next year’s entering class.
Some potential students will likely seek other avenues, like business, as getting an advanced science degree may become impossible, and employment opportunities post degree will become limited. The bottom line is that this one act could impact US research for many years. Other countries will take advantage of our restriction, and even if the funding started to flow next month, a tremendous amount of damage has already been done that can’t be reversed.
Another of my kids joined the Peace Corps after college. They were willing to give up years of their earning lives to teach physics to kids in Africa. When COVID hit, everyone was evacuated back to the US. After two weeks in the States, all funding and health insurance benefits were cut off. My child had to go on Medicaid until they could find a new job. Imagine if they came back from Africa with an illness, like malaria, and were left high and dry?
I know some people are anti-science, but think about what science has given everyone. Every time you use your cell phone, get treated for an infection, heat food in your microwave, get help for substance abuse, and a million other things you have basic research to thank.
Our country became great and a world leader because of the GI Bill, which allowed people who would have never been allowed to go to college that opportunity. Some of those individuals developed the microchip, which makes everything from your cell phone to your TV work. Yes, it is easy for uninformed people to make fun of a study that may sound ridiculous on the surface. Just dig a little deeper and those “crazy” research projects have significant implications in the real world.
I don’t think I changed the world, but I moved the needle very slightly in a positive direction. Imagine a thousand like me. Now think of 10,000 or 100,000 of us. Helping others who want to help others helps everyone.
The group that benefited most from DEI were white women (Contrary to what you may believe). Women approach problems somewhat differently than men (excuse the generalization). That is a considerable asset, so I’m glad they benefited from that initiative.
Around one third of federal employees are vets who have already sacrificed much. I have worked for the federal government in the past, and as a physician I was underpaid compared to what I could generate in private practice. However, I was filling a necessary role. It felt good, but you don’t become rich working for the fed.
People believed that despite my many limitations, I was worth investing in. I have tried to repay their generosity 100 fold and have dedicated a significant part of my practice to help poorer and underserved populations. I am not alone in my desire to sacrifice to improve the world. Oh, and let’s not forget all the taxes I paid due to my higher economic status!
My sage mother would tell me, “Don’t spite your face by cutting off your nose.” Every organization has bloat. That is just a fact. Should the government make a strong effort to eliminate wasteful spending? Of course it should. However, the cure shouldn’t be worse than the problem. Imagine if you had an infected foot, and were given two choices, give antibiotics to cure the infection or cut off the patient’s body at the waist? You don’t have to be a doctor to use common sense in this situation. However, it seems that common sense is becoming less common.
It was the middle of the night when the phone rang. I woke up, startled, and stood up. An immense sense of dread washed over me; I was frozen. I couldn’t answer the phone. It was almost as if something was holding me back. Intuitively, I knew that Tom was gone. I didn’t need confirmation from the person on the other end of the line that it was over.
But what did I lose? What did I have? It was all a mystery to me then, as it is today—memories scattered to such a degree that I can’t even place them in chronological order. Wishes for a future never to be. Expectations never met. Questions never answered. All I could do was accept.
The terrible memories are the most persistent. However, with some thought, wonderful memories emerge and are more fulfilling. Where do I even start?
Today would be my brother Tom’s birthday. He would have been 84 today. But that was never to be; my brother died when he was 33 years old, and I was 20. We were just starting to form a connection with each other. It was nascent but had promise. I longed to know my brother, but circumstances were always against us.
I remember the news, but I don’t know where I was. Certainly, I heard it from my parents. My brother Tom, at 6’1” and husky build, seemed like a tower of health. However, he had gotten a cold that never went away, and when he went to the doctor, something rare in my family, simple blood work revealed a horrifying conclusion. My brother Tom had leukemia. The family GP recommended that he transfer his care to the University of Chicago. The local hospital was not capable of treating him.
I was in my last year of college studying biology but had little medical knowledge. I planned to become a university professor and was interested in microbiology, not human physiology. The type of leukemia that my brother had generally responded to treatment. A cure recently developed, almost as if it was designed to help him. But then the reality of cancer hit.
When people talk about cancer, a particular veil of information is placed on it. No outsider understands the agony the individual and their family go through—perhaps that is for the best. There’s always an outpouring of sympathy and concern, but people move on. No one wants to hear lousy news, so the patient and the family tend to neutralize what they tell others. Sometimes, they do this to shield themselves. Tom was my first exposure to knowing someone on a close level who had cancer. This was my first time being upfront and in the center.
I was home from school for the summer, working as a Chicago Board of Education janitor. My father had used his clout in the board to get me the job. It was a summer program that hired college students to work in schools. This provided less expensive labor for the school’s many summer maintenance tasks and also provided students with jobs. I started these summer escapades years earlier and many years before I was eligible. You had to be 20 or 21 to get one of these jobs, and I started at 16. I was a tall kid but very much looked like a 16-year-old. I remember a union representative quizzing me about my age when he visited my job site. In my anxious state, I gave him a birth-date that aged me at 30 years. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
When my brother died, I remember one of the assistant school engineers coming to the funeral. I’m not even sure how he knew that my brother had died. I didn’t recall having much of a connection with this man. However, I still think of him fondly for his kindness in coming to comfort me that day. Acts of kindness do make a difference.
I wish I had more memories of my brother. I wish that we had done more things together. However, my brother was 13 years my senior. When I was 10, he was 23. His life was separated from mine.
I remember my brother Tom being big, strong, and dark in complexion. He had black hair from my mother’s side. I always liked my brother Tom. He was a kind soul, and I can’t remember any time that he made me feel bad.
The family consensus was that Tom was a bit on the morose side. This was based on his habit of sitting in his bedroom with the lights off while listening to the radio. However, I don’t know if that interpretation was wholly correct. I, too, like to sit in the dark. I don’t consider myself depressed; instead, I do it to tune out outside stimuli so I can think and concentrate. Was Tom the same?
One of my earliest memories of Tom is when he went off to college. I was around five then, and my parents and I drove him to Rensselaer, Indiana, so he could attend Saint Joseph’s College. I don’t have many memories of the college, but I remember being very impressed that he was going away to school.
He had met a woman named Donna who worked with my sister Carol. She was some years older than Tom, and he fell madly in love with her. She was possessive and couldn’t deal with the fact that he was so far away. This meant that Tom was constantly returning to Chicago and not addressing his studies. I don’t know how long it took, I assume a year, but he failed out of school and returned home. Donna then dumped him. He gave away college for nothing.
He got an office job working for Union Carbide as he determined his next steps. He applied to multiple colleges, but many rejected him because of his academic failing at St. Joe’s. Eventually, one accepted him, Parsons College in Iowa. Tom attended Parsons and graduated with an excellent GPA, gaining a business degree. I remember attending his graduation with my parents. They were proud of his accomplishment. However, what I remember most was that it was a stormy day. At one point, I stood under a tree to shield myself. Suddenly, I felt tingling in my body and heard a massive crack and a boom above me. Lightning had hit the tree I was standing under, but I was unharmed. It was a miracle.
In this time frame, he met my sister Nancy’s friend, Lee. A romance developed, and then a marriage. I also remember that he was conscripted into the army at some point, or did he volunteer to shorten his time in service?
I remember his wedding to Lee and his move to the Garfield Ridge neighborhood of Chicago. It was when he was married that he was diagnosed with leukemia. I recall visiting him at the University of Chicago hospitals. I remember how he went from being a hefty guy to skin and bones. I recall helping him into the car for a doctor’s visit. He was so skinny that his belted pants fell to his knees. I remember his voice going from strong to weak and raspy. I recall him being hospitalized and begging me for water, which he was not allowed due to an ileus. I didn’t have the medical knowledge that I have now, and I was afraid even to give him a sip because I thought it would kill him. I still regret that decision.
I also have a few other scattered memories of my brother. I remember him taking me to a James Bond movie when I was probably 12. I was thrilled to have him pay attention to me. My brother wrote me a few letters when I was in college, but I don’t remember receiving them. After my mother died, my father found some of the letters. I suppose Tom didn’t have my address, so he gave them to my mom to mail to me, but life got in the way, and she forgot to do that. What a treasure it was to read them. There was no earth-shattering news, but they highlighted my brother’s wit and writing ability. It made me feel closer to him.
As I got older and our age difference narrowed, we slowly started to form an equal relationship. Sadly, his illness prevented any major progress in that area. With that said, I still have many warm thoughts for my brother Tom. I wish we had had more time together. I celebrate him and his life today. His birthday is February 8, 1941. Rest in peace, dear brother.
