the Diva Platform

The Boy and I, like many of you, have a household budget that’s shrunk dramatically in the last couple of years, due to my career change and his lack of permanent work.  Therefore, we’ve had to really watch how we spend our money.

It’s funny, back when I worked at the Firm, we did a book about the “trading up” phenomenon, where people spend more in certain categories.  The concept included the fact that the middle class had significantly more money and would always be trading up….until the second book “Treasure Hunt,” came out, which showed how people managed their pennies and maximized them as much as possible.  The penny pinching book did come out a little while before the recession hit, but I think the two are an interesting set because with the second, this trading up/trading down philosophy really takes hold.  Basically, in order for most middle class people to trade up, they have to trade down somewhere. And when they lose a significant chunk of income, the trading down happens a lot more.

However, I think that even though times are tough for us, we aren’t trading down for everything.  At least, not in a way I imagined.  Sure, we don’t go out nearly as often as we used to, and our wardrobes aren’t going to get replenished as much as maybe they should.  Yet, there are some things I’ve chosen not to skimp on.  Those would include:

• beer/liquor - Again, we’re not buying booze nearly as often as we used to, but on the rare occasions we do get beer, it’s microbrew.  Liquor has to be a brand we enjoy–otherwise it’s not worth drinking.
• toilet paper - I’ll get Angel Soft (a cheaper brand), but I won’t go to one-ply.
• toothbrushes - I had to replace my toothbrush, and we had a cheap one in the bathroom vanity.  I bought a new Oral-B the next day.
• toothpaste - I used to skimp (bought cheap more because it only came in one flavor), but the dentist said I needed to use the Sensodyne enamel building stuff.  It did make a difference at my next visit, so it’s worth it.
• shoes - My everyday shoes are pretty pricey Merrells (not pricey as in $400 Jimmy Choos, but they’re closer to $100).  I love them, and they’re good for my feet.  I also buy pricey insoles (take expensive shoe and make it even more expensive), but it’s totally worth it.  My running shoes are also around $100.  However, even for dress shoes and loafers, I like to spend a good $50-$100.  Anything lower than that, and they either won’t last or won’t be comfortable.
• Diet Coke - enough said

What about you?  Is there anyplace you don’t skimp?  How about categories where you found it’s OK to skimp?

Last week I was trying to get in and out of the grocery store as fast as possible–partly because I didn’t have time to spend there (nor did I remember to place an online order), but partly because I needed a little aerobic exercise, and I like to think that dashing through the grocery store raises my heart rate enough to count.

Things were going well, and then I got to the toilet paper aisle.  When did toilet paper get so complicated?

I realize you can say this about any number of product categories–just look at the numbers of toothpaste you can choose from.  Or shampoos.  Or detergents.  Or types of bread.  Sometimes I can deal with all the choice.  A lot of times I just get paralyzed by it all.

While I was mesmerized in the toilet paper aisle, I had these things to consder:

1. One-ply or two-ply?  (Two. Always two.  And I’d take three if they had it.  Companies can make razors with four blades.  Why can’t they make three-ply toilet paper?  Wait a second!  Quilted Northern does!  I’ll have to look for this next time, though I do live in the land of small grocery stores, which means it may not be on the shelves there)
2. How much per roll is it?
3. How much paper do you get per roll?
4. Single roll, double roll, or megaroll?  (Single roll seems hard to find anymore.  Double roll takes up less packaging, and megaroll was a new twist for me, which involved comparing a few brands for points 2 & 3, not really considering that a megaroll might not fit on my toilet paper holder (it does.  Barely).)
5. Do I buy Quilted Northern (which I love) even though it’s more expensive because I can get Upromise money to pay off the Boy’s student loan?
6. If I’m buying private label, do I buy the private label that mimics Angel Soft (Quilten Northern’s poorer cousin), or do I buy the private label that mimcs Quilted Northern?

And if we didn’t have some personal restrictions (no one-ply, no Cottonelle-type paper), we’d have to make even more decisions.

This time around I opted for the homelife (TM) brand Soft Choice–nine megarolls, which equals 24 regular rolls.  Homelife is one of Supervalu’s store brands (Supervalu owns Jewel).  I bought it because the shelf tag said it was comparable to Quilted Northern, which I could’ve used right about that point.  It was also cheaper than Angel Soft, which is what we usually get.

Needless to say, my ass is displeased.  I’ve got  nine megarolls of scratchy toilet paper.  Comparable to Quilted Northern?  Only if you think QN is sandpaper!  But we’ll use it.  And then I’m on the hunt for that three-ply.  Knowing that’s on the market will help me get through this bad purchase decision.

So I’m currently having an internal debate (soon to become external, since the Boy reads this) about how much cereal I should stock up on.  I like Kashi Go Lean, which I’m currently out of (and which I would like to purchase because I have milk in the house.  Milk in our house is a rareity–I don’t drink it too much, and when we buy milk, it has to be lactose-free.  So I bought some milk, which means a mad rush to make a lot of milky stuff so we don’t pour most of it down the drain.  Cereal is helpful in this situation).  Jewel has it on sale this week for 2/$6.  I also have a coupon for $1 off  2 boxes at Whole Foods.  I could very well end up with four boxes of cereal in the house.  We do have shelf space–we’ve gone through the umpteen boxes of pasta and probably six cans of oatmeal.  But the cereal will take up a fair amount of room, meaning not much space to stock up on anything else.

This is kind of what Angela was saying in her comment on Friday.  Who has room to store all this stuff?  If you have a house, you have more of an advantage than those of us in apartments/condos, though vintage places do sometimes have walk-in pantries.  I did have friends who were looking for a condo at one point, and one of their criteria was having a pantry.  The real estate agent said that new places don’t have pantries because nobody cooked in those fancy kitchens.  Needless to say, they didn’t buy.  I wonder if people in these types of condos are cooking more now.

But I think you have to have a basement and/or a decent-sized garage to be able to take full advantage of this.  Or a lot of kitchen cabinets.  And are those home prices out of reach for regular folks?  Sometimes yes, sometimes no, I think.  What do people with crawl spaces do?  Or those who don’t have room to freeze five million pounds of chicken at a time?  Well, you struggle with space and making trade-offs for what you’ll save on.  And if you’re lucky, you don’t get trapped into a coupon obsession (which at some point your friends will laugh and say, “Remember when you were in that couponing phase?  Oy!”).

I’ll also speak a little to dollar sales versus volume sales.  I don’t know all the nuances of this (and if you do, please chime in), but sometimes manufacturers would prefer to sell a lot of volume, rather than dollars.  You sell more volume than your competitor, and you can claim a higher market share based on volume.  Sell the “We’re #1″ fact (based on volume) to customers, and they may buy more.  Sometimes having a greater market share is more important to a company.  Plus, as you sell more volume, items may become cheaper to manufacture.  Your cost per item is less, and you can get more profit out of it.

At any rate, I’d love to continue the couponing conversation.  Let me know what you think and how you’re doing.  Do you have the ability to remember prices of certain items at each store?  Can you memorize the sale papers and know what you’re buying this week?  Or do you just throw up your hands and say it’s not worth the time and effort?

As I’ve mentioned before, my folks get about five newspapers a day.  One of these is the Times out of Northwest Indiana.  On Sunday while we were waiting for Easter dinner to cook, I grabbed the front section of that day’s paper, and the top story introduced their new columnist Jill Cataldo, who writes and teaches classes about couponing.  The story included this little bit:

Earlier this month, Cataldo presented her workshop to a full house at the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library.

“Super-couponing combines buying items when they’re at their lowest prices with efficient couponing to further reduce the price,” Cataldo told her audience.

Cataldo showed the class what she calls “anatomy of a cereal deal,” in which it’s explained how she bought 58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars for $5.15.

“Then we ’shop’ at home from the pantry instead of running back to the store,” she said.

I put that “58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars” tidbit into my brain and let it fester.

After dinner the Boy also saw the story, held up the paper, and innocently asked, “Did you see the new coupon column?”

“You mean ‘58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars’?” I replied.

“Oops.  I’m sorry I said anything,” he said, after which I launched into a tirade of how much room it would take to store that much food in your house.  And I understand that I’m a little out of touch with what’s probably her target audience–I’m sure a family of four goes through at least a couple of boxes of cereal a week.  Still, you’re talking about storing a good three or four months worth of cereal alone.  If you do that with every product, how much room does that take up?  How can you possible go through everything in a timely manner?

My mother responded, “Do you want to go shopping in the basement for some Tide or canned goods?”

Go figure.  We didn’t “shop” in the basement on principle.  And also because our carsharing car was downtown, and I wasn’t about to haul leftovers and Tide and canned goods on the bus while I was wearing high heels.  Besides, I’m too old to pilfer from my parents’ stockpile of food and cleaning supplies in order to save a buck.  I came to this conclusion a few weeks ago, when my mom told me to bring laundry home on Easter so we didn’t have to spend the quarters doing it in our apartment building.  I’m too old to drag laundry to another state to save a buck twenty-five a load (or $2.50, if I’m drying it too).  I’m also too old to sleep on the floor (unless I’m camping or in a country where that’s the culture), and I’m too old to live in a garden apartment (”garden” is fancy for “basement”).  At this point in life I should be at a place where I can provide basic things for myself.  Granted, things may get desperate around here, and I may have to eat those words, but for the moment, I’m driving myself to earn money so I can live up to this “I’m too old” philosophy.

Anyway, I didn’t want to rant about the Super Couponer solely on the basis of 58 boxes of cereal and 40 boxes of granola bars, so I checked out her sites and read her column.  She’s got an interesting philosophy that you should sometimes buy things you don’t want or need in order to get something you do want for cheaper, which is something I’ve never considered, mostly because I don’t have space to store stuff I don’t want until enough of it stockpiles to warrant a donation to the food pantry.  Still, it’s an interesting twist and different from the same old tips and tricks you read about.

On the other hand, she’s offering a third class in her Super Couponing series that talks about “stockpile control” and “spousal resistance.”  I can only imagine what this is like, especially since it’s going to be taught by her 13-year-old daughter, who might have just a thing or two to say about that stockpile and what daddy thinks of it.

I told the Boy about “spousal resistance,” and he warned me, “I’m going to be that spouse.”  Guess I’d better get through those three bottles of eco-friendly cleaner that I got for five bucks (as opposed to $3.79/bottle) because with those, our little stockpile shelf in the closet is overflowing.