There’s a saying that it takes a village to raise a child.
I believe that holds true when we’re trying to do more, and do it better, with less.
You guys are wonderful readers who offer out-of-this-world suggestions and ideas in the comments section. I’d like to highlight some of these today and offer more details for those who asked questions.
Original Post: A Detailed List and Seven Stores in Two Days Makes for a (Very) Long {Counting} Crumbs
From Elysha: I’ve just started reading your blog, and I’m just learning how to budget for groceries. So, I’m going to ask the inevitable question you probably get asked all the time: how does the cost of gas and your time equate into your budget? I recognize you may thoroughly enjoy driving and spending time doing your shopping, but as a person just starting in this process, can you compare what you would have spent if you purchased all those items in just one store?
There’s a somewhat detailed yet rambling response to Elysha already posted, but I failed to mention that she has a very good point. At one point in time, the thought of how much money I was spending in gas to get “all the deals” had crossed my mind. To ease my concerns (or validate them), I figured out how much it cost per gallon to make certain trips. Thanks to our gas-sipping car, it didn’t cost me much, but it made me think about the purposes behind each shopping trip. Was the trip worth saving 50¢? Was the trip worth the time and effort spent in packing up the kids and snacks? Did I even really need the item in question?
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From Carolyn: The Costco price per pound is about 25 cents cheaper than I paid in the bulk area of Winco last week. Where do you store the flour once you’ve opened it?
The picture up top is of what we affectionately call our fallout shelter. We used to store the stockpile there when it was at its fullest (because every kitchen cabinet was full too), but now we really on keep on hand what we know we’ll consume, or leftover water from camping trips. 
You can see two bags of flour behind the black bags with the newest bag of bread flour up front and center. This closet also holds our Christmas tree and other remnants from a “quick, let’s clean up, company will be here any minute!”.
Original Post: Final Lessons Learned from a Pantry Challenge
From Carolyn: Sometimes I buy things for a purpose…and then I can’t remember or find the recipe it goes with. for instance, last month I bought sausage for a Sausage and Apple stew recipe I found. Now I can’t find the recipe. I know I’ll eventually use the sausage, but it’s annoying.
I have been there SO MANY times! I use this blog to help me remember why I bought certain things (yes, I often search my own site!). Before I had a blog though I used to write down on a calendar the meal I had planned for dinner. If I had pork in the freezer and couldn’t remember what it was for, I could check the calendar to see if I had it written for a meal. If not, it was fair game. If it was, I was reminded of what it was for!
Original Post: {Friday} Finances: Creating a Christmas Budget
From Mary Katherine: Also something people don’t always consider – is if they are going to see family, the cost of travel/gas/hotel to go here and there. Or if family is coming in town – the expense of extra meals and taking them to do things locally.
Mary Katherine makes an excellent point. Travel is inevitable for us all at some point in time and it’s important that we consider the costs when we’re planning our holidays. Making larger meals will cost more, but consider using less expensive cuts of meat, stretching meals with beans or vegetables, and serve salads often. Community calendars fill up with fun and often free things to do. Checking out Christmas lights with a cup of hot cocoa is always a winner!
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From FemmeFrugality: Love love love this post! You’re so right…it is about the experiences with your loved ones; not the money or insane gifts. We don’t have a budget yet; to be honest I didn’t realize Christmas was that close! Where is 2012 going? But we try to shop throughout the year to ease our burden during the last two months.
FemmeFrugality has made the system of shopping year-round work for them, but I like her non-financial reason – to ease the burden of the holiday season. She mentioned that time with those we love should take priority over the hustle and bustle. A wonderful reason to spread out the shopping season.
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From Amy: We save all year for Christmas, after all, it comes around every year! I don’t shop throughout the year, but I could just pull money from the Christmas envelope where the money is stashed. Only in the past year or two did we wise up to included the extra expenses like the craft shows I attend with my mom and the extra food expenses and extra decorations. We try to budget, but those extra things became a stressor for me.
Amy uses the envelope system to fit her needs and has a Christmas envelope set aside, yet available whenever she needs it. Brilliant! Having that envelope ready is wonderful when you stumble across a great gift, but it will certainly steer us away from buying unnecessary trinkets that catch our eyes from Target’s $1 spot!
Original Post: {Chopped} From the Crumbs Kitchen: Hydrogenated Oils
From Jewel Kelley: Your post made me look at a box of saltines and what did I learn? A new word: INTERESTERIFIED: The interesterification process is used as an alternative to partial hydrogenation, which results in trans fats. However, research indicates that interesterified fats may pose health risks, some greater in magnitude than trans fats. Ain’t that a kick in the face?
Wow – it appears that manufacturers are coming up with even more ways to make our food faker. Here we are eating saltine crackers – a simple “staple” that we often consume with soup and feed to toddlers learning how to eat solid foods. Jewel Kelley makes the perfect case for reading ingredients, and looking them up if you’re not sure what they are. Don’t trust the manufacturers!
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From Nina: For me, a tip I tend to try to follow is to not eat processed or packaged food. Usually I go for snacks I find at the farmers market or home-made snacks. Of course I can’t always follow this to the T and have a bunch of packaged snacks at home, but that’s usually a good way to not have unwanted ingredients.
Nina is right – reaching for fruit or something homemade is a guaranteed way to avoid unwanted health hazards. I like her candidness – we’re not perfect and we often have packaged snacks at home. If you’re not sure where to being when it comes to what’s good for you and what’s not, take Nina’s advice and aim for fruits and vegetables!
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From Ravi Wells: The amount of money you spend on ANYTHING processed is all profit for many layers of marketing and distribution – in manufacturing – it used to be the formula that the retail price of an item was 10 times the cost of production – with these food-like processed substances – you are looking at sometimes 20 to 30 TIMES the cost of production – so guess what? you are eating garbage that cost a tiny fraction to produce of what you pay.
How often does the cost of production cross our minds? This is definitely food for thought when we’re looking for something that comes in a package. Paying for unhealthy “food” is bad enough, but overpaying is just over the top.
Have any suggestions or ideas for fellow readers? Leave them in the comments!
