Thrifty housewife. Monologue of a thrifty housewife: how to learn to save every day

Issues of saving have always worried the minds of housewives, regardless of the time in which we live, be it the Soviet Union or modern market realities. And the poorer the society was, the more the homemakers tried to save.

I hope that we will not have to rise to the level of our grandmothers, but learning to be an economical housewife will not hurt at any time.

In order to become an economical housewife, you don’t need much. It is enough to learn to read and count. Yes Yes. It's enough. But how to do this, read on.

Where does saving begin?

It would seem that saving could be so difficult?! Spend less money - and all the savings. In practice, everything is much more complicated.

Let me give you an example. To clean the house, we use certain products, such as glass cleaner, floor cleaner, dishwashing liquid, etc. Each of these funds has its own specific price. You can buy a very cheap product, and seem to save on it, but in order to use it to clean, for example, a stainless steel gas stove, you will need two or even three times more of this product than another, more expensive product. cleaning stainless steel surfaces.

And it turns out that buying a cheap but ineffective cleaning product does not lead to saving the family budget, but on the contrary, it will increase the cost of purchasing cleaning products.

In order to become a thrifty housewife and start saving, you need to look critically at everything you do and choose all possible ways to save. In fact, you can save on everything, from saving on utility bills to saving on clothing and food. On the website you can find not only many interesting tips and publications on saving, but also recommendations and ways to preserve and increase family wealth.

What can a housewife save on?

Perhaps the most correct answer to this question is – on everything! And, in general, that’s how it is. We look critically at all our household chores and choose ways to save.

What does any housewife usually do?! That's right: washing, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping. It is in these processes that you can find ways to save money.

You can save on washing clothes in the following ways:

• purchasing a less expensive but no less effective washing powder;
• washing in an economical and ergonomic washing machine;
• washing at night or on weekends - significantly saves energy if there are two tariff meters for electricity;
• full load of washing machine. Washing in a half-empty washing machine with constant water and electricity consumption generally increases family expenses.

Save on cleaning and cleaning products:

Almost at the beginning of the article, I already gave an example regarding the selection and purchase of household cleaning or dishwashing products. The point is that not every cheap product will give the desired effect. Accordingly, to clean the house you have to use much more of the “cheap” product and buy it again. And this is clearly not an economical option.

Savings on cooking:

• gas is cheaper than electricity. Therefore, if you have a gas stove in your house, then you are already saving in some way;
• We cook as much as we can eat. If you are used to cooking for the week at once, but your family does not eat that much, count how much uneaten food you threw away at the end of the week. Convert this amount into money, based on the cost of the purchased products, and imagine that you did not throw out the leftover soup, but threw away money for this amount.
  The same is true when buying food: don’t buy more food than you can eat.

Savings on clothes:

Careful wearing and cleaning of clothes and shoes prolongs their life. Well, you must admit, if you washed your white blouse with your husband’s black socks, nothing good will come of this union. A faded blouse will have to be thrown away, and this is another expense.

The same goes for ironing clothes. If you chose the wrong heating for the iron, and because of this, a scorched spot remains on your husband’s trousers, he will no longer be able to wear such trousers. Accordingly, again unforeseen expenses.

You should have a similar approach to everything you do!

To summarize the above, in order to become an economical housewife, it is enough to follow a few basic rules.

1. You can save on any product you purchase. Be it food or a new blouse, or buying household appliances. We buy products in small wholesale; if the store offers discount cards, we purchase them and use them. Where you can ask for a discount, be sure to ask.
2. We treat all things that come into our hands with care. The longer this or that thing “lives”, the less expenses there will be to buy new things. Of course, anything that can be fixed or repaired should be fixed or repaired.
3. Food is purchased and prepared only in quantities that the family can physically eat.
4. We save on everything, from electricity to apartment cleaning products.

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Nina Minina-Rossinskaya

14.06.2015 | 6497

I share simple techniques for effective savings that I have tested from my own experience.

Like most women, I love wandering around the supermarket and making spontaneous purchases. But I get no less pleasure from weekly grocery shopping for my family according to the list..

I, a constantly experimenting cook, mother and thrifty wife, have developed the following principles over the years - “must-have basket” and “creative set”.

For every day and for holidays

I definitely make a menu for the week - it’s very convenient. I'll share my simple menu formula. I usually cook homemade cakes for breakfast, soup and salad for lunch, and I try to make dinner varied (chicken, meat, fish, and vegetables).

Based on the menu, I make a list for the “must-have basket” and, in addition to saving time and money, I get the opportunity for culinary creativity.

In my case, the “required cart” includes:

• chicken
• vegetable and butter
• cereals
• pasta
• vegetables
• sugar
• tea leaves
• mineral water

I buy some products in small wholesale for one or two weeks or even a longer period. It's profitable, and then you can go to
shop lightly.

As for the “creative set”, these are all kinds of spices, sauces, sometimes products for a specific dish, or those
which suddenly I really wanted to buy and cook something with them.

Baking is a tradition

I always take a lot of flour, since every day I prepare pastries for breakfast and bread in a bread machine. It's useful and beneficial.

I have a basic dough recipe, based on which I have already made dozens of sweets.

Cupcake (basic recipe)

2 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. kefir

1 tbsp. Sahara

2/3 tbsp. refined vegetable oil

1.5 tsp. baking powder

Combine all ingredients and mix. Bake the cake in a greased pan. Fresh or canned fruits, berries, dried fruits, spices, jam, nuts, and candied fruits are perfect as additives.

Fish, chicken, meat...

I like to make rolls for my family, for which I buy a piece of chilled trout, which I salt according to my signature recipe. My husband once calculated how much cheaper it is to buy chilled fish than lightly salted fish. The price difference is twofold. Already good!

Lightly salted fish

0.5 kg fish

1 tbsp each salt and cognac or rum

Dissolve the salt in alcohol and coat the fish with this mixture. Leave in a cool place for a day, or better yet for two.

During my weekly grocery shopping, I always take chicken, because you can cook dozens of different dishes from it. And I
I decided for myself: it is more profitable to buy chilled poultry whole and divide it into parts yourself.

• From the breasts I make our family’s favorite “sausage” – pastrami.
• I freeze the wings, and when there are enough of them for a family of five, I bake them in the oven with various
• spices.
• Legs give scope for culinary creativity, and I, like any housewife, have at least a dozen different options and recipes
• their preparations.

Chicken pastrami

2 chicken breasts (with skin)

any vegetable oil

• black allspice, pink and green pepper

• mustard seeds

Soak the breasts for an hour in a salt solution or cucumber brine and dry. Combine the oil with spices, add salt and mix. Lubricate the meat with the mixture and marinate for 2-3 hours. Preheat the oven to 275-300 degrees, place the meat. After 15 min. Turn off the heat and do not open the oven for 6 hours.

I usually buy chilled meat, less often frozen. It is more profitable to buy a large piece with a bone: you can use it to make soup, hot dishes, make minced meat, and even pickle lard at home. I treat minced meat very carefully - I make sure to read its composition and study its appearance (minced meat is better).

Other tricks

My family loves aromatic tea, but I almost never buy ready-made tea. Instead, I add ginger, anise and other natural spices to the tea brew - it turns out tasty and healthy.

Cereals, pasta...

You can't go anywhere without them. But sometimes I save money and make lasagna sheets and cannelloni myself. As a result, the process of purchasing products, like
the process of preparing them becomes not a routine for me, but creativity, because I put not only my strength, but also my soul into it.

I admit right away that I am a spender. And as a child, my mother scolded me very much for this: if money fell into my hands, I immediately rushed to spend it. Perhaps I just always knew what I needed. But one way or another, the money did not stay in my hands. Naturally, when I began to live an independent life, I had to remake myself, change myself radically.

First attempts

It all started, of course, back in my student years. Now, honestly, I can’t imagine how I lived in my first year on one scholarship (more precisely, on two: regular and social) - 1,200 rubles (in 2003). Moreover, I then managed to buy my first mobile phone myself (with my entire monthly income).

Later, when in my fourth year I began to live with my future husband, some kind of rational distribution of funds began. My husband’s salary was meager at the time, and I had virtually no income. As a result, we rented an apartment and lived on one and a half subsistence levels. It was then that I had to learn to save.

We probably started, like everyone else, with a notebook of expenses and income. We carefully saved all receipts from purchases, then wrote down the amounts in the columns, down to the kopecks. And so on for six months. At the end of the month, we summed up the results, analyzed what was unnecessary and what could be saved.

However, this did not help us at all - we lived from paycheck to paycheck. Soon, recognizing that maintaining such a notebook was useless, we abandoned it.


The situation improved when, in my fifth year, I found a job. We lived on two salaries for a month without much strain and even managed to buy something big and save up for something. It was quite easy: my husband’s salary was once a month, and it was spent on paying for the apartment and large purchases, while I received interest every day on what was done during the working day - with this money we bought food.

In general, we lived well. Even all the “pockets” from both wallets were put into a cow piggy bank every evening, given to us for our wedding. And then sometimes they spent it on something unplanned.

When my daughter appeared, I had to quit my job, and life became a little harder, but not much - by that time my husband was already working in a good position with a good salary. We took up saving with new efforts only when we bought our own apartment and paid half of my husband’s salary for a loan.

This has already become a real savings. And after my husband and I separated, and I got the loan (thank God, along with the apartment), saving simply became a way of life. So how do I save?

My strategy

And the saving strategy is quite simple: do not skimp on products. Of course, we don’t eat red caviar or eat tons of cookies and sweets. My parents supply my daughter and I with potatoes and other root vegetables from their dacha - fortunately, my little booger and I eat just a little bit.

Expensive products such as cheese and sausage live in our refrigerator all the time, but in small quantities. True, I still haven’t learned how to guess this number. When I lived with my husband, I got used to food disappearing from the refrigerator at lightning speed. And since our separation, because of this habit, a lot of things in the refrigerator have already spoiled precisely because of my carelessness.

Although, if I bought fewer products at the store, I could save money. From here rule one: don't take more than you can eat.

And at the same time immediately second rule: non-perishable products(sugar, flour, cereals, pasta) It’s better to buy in the largest volumes and in bulk. Since my daughter and I hardly use sugar, except for adding homemade pies and cookies, this product has not decreased by more than a kilogram from our reserves in 6 months. That is, sugar will not appear on my shopping list for a long time.

By the way, here it is third rule: Before going to the store, you need to make a detailed shopping list. I allow myself no more than one deviation from the list - to “pamper” myself, because it is impossible to keep yourself in constant tension of austerity.

As for other expenses, this applies fourth rule: For the sake of quality, it's worth sacrificing a LITTLE cost. For example, I have a certain taboo on buying shoes in markets. Only in the store and only with a guarantee. Yes, sometimes it costs a third, or even half, more, but it’s worth it.

For example, I wear sneakers from the market for 500 rubles for two months - not even enough for a season. And sneakers from the store for 800-900 rubles - two summers. I tried and experimented three times - the result was the same.

Since we touched on clothes and shoes, there is one more thing for me, fifth, rule of economy: discard unnecessary complexes. While my daughter is small, and around her friends and acquaintances there are children older than us, without a twinge of conscience I take advantage of the fact that they give us a lot of things.

Yes, some things can only be worn under other clothes, but very often they give away completely new, almost unworn dresses, trousers, and T-shirts. I admit, almost half, if not more, of my daughter’s clothes are previously someone else’s things, not from the store. Moreover, I often alter my clothes into my daughter’s, for example, jeans. And I’m not ashamed to “wear” my aunt’s clothes myself, who gets tired of them. Fortunately, we are the same size.

Following these simple rules, now my daughter and I survive on 8 thousand rubles. Agree, this is very little even for a provincial town. But I admit, even in such a situation, for example, my mother would have managed to save money - but, alas, I was not able to understand HOW she does it...

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The thought of how to become frugal can often occur to women. This is due to the fact that the range of products is becoming wider, but finances do not always allow them to be purchased. That is why sometimes it is worth thinking about how to optimize your expenses so that you have enough for basic needs. Nowadays, doing this is actually not as difficult as it seems. If you follow certain tips, you can understand how to become frugal.

It’s worth thinking about where the money is mostly spent. To do this, you can start keeping track of your expenses over a certain period of time. Then you can go through the list and see what you actually need and what you can do without. If you have made a purchase that can be considered unnecessary or is not needed, then you can safely not purchase it again

Things that are purchased regularly, for example, cleaning and kitchen products, should be purchased in large quantities or at a discount

If purchases are made in one place, then it would be correct to purchase a discount card there, this will also give a small saving

Sometimes you can spend extra money when there are a lot of cheap items on sale, so you should be careful and only spend money on the things you need

There is no need to buy into promotions that promise a gift or discount when purchasing a certain amount. Since you will still have to spend more money than expected to get a discount

Shopping from catalogs is sometimes not the most successful, and delivery amounts are sometimes not the most profitable

Thanks to online shopping you can save a lot of money. This is also due to the fact that the seller does not pay rent, so the cost of the goods may be less

On the Internet you can make joint purchases on various sites, then the goods are much cheaper. This is very common now. The organizer can buy from the supplier at wholesale prices and then the participants in the joint purchase pay less

It’s worth starting to save money rather than spending it right away. Many people make deposits to keep their money safe and generate income

Buying on credit is not always profitable. Sometimes it’s easier to save up the amount and pay for the purchase right away. After all, when paying on credit, you spend more than expected.

You need to make it a rule not to spend a lot of money on payday. The person is usually euphoric and begins to spend considerable amounts

It is better to cash out electronic money, then it will be spent much less

It is worth reviewing the tariffs for the Internet, mobile phone and other services. Sometimes you can switch to a better one and save money. It happens that services in an expensive tariff are not in demand at all, so it makes sense to change it

It is better to spend big on food once a week, buying goods that are not perishable. It’s better to spend a decent amount on a large number of products once, and then bribe only small things

How to become a thrifty housewife

Prices are constantly rising and needs are increasing, so people start saving. This does not always work out right away, but with experience a person gets used to it. It falls to a woman to optimize family expenses, so she begins to think about how to become an economical housewife. It's not very difficult, anyone can learn.

A woman must have a notebook or notebook in which she will do the calculations. There you can record your income and also list your expenses. After some time, it will be possible to have an idea of ​​the amounts spent. After this, it will be easier to understand where exactly you need to save. To understand how to become a thrifty housewife, you need to be able to optimize expenses.

A lot of expenses go towards utilities. Therefore, the right decision would be to install meters on everything possible. If you don’t pour water too much or leave the lights on in vain, you can save a lot. Many people are now installing energy-saving light bulbs. Since this takes significantly less electricity.

A good and thrifty housewife not only knows how to save on purchased products, she prepares many dishes herself to help the family budget. After all, if you prepare pizza or salad yourself, you will free up a considerable amount. Many people are used to buying ready-made food, which is more expensive. But you shouldn’t skimp on your health, so you should buy vegetables, fruits and other products at the market or in a hypermarket. You can find a lot of recipes on the Internet or come up with something yourself. You need to prepare food in advance so that you don’t have to throw away what has gone bad later. Some products can be purchased in bulk because it is cheaper. But you should definitely remember that they must have a good shelf life.

To understand how to become an economical housewife, you need to learn how to treat things with care. If you can’t remake clothes yourself or eliminate defects, then sometimes it’s cheaper to go to a workshop than to buy a new item. It often happens that there are a lot of things, but they are no longer worn. In this case, you can try to sell them in order to purchase more necessary things. You need to shop for clothes as needed. The order of purchases needs to be planned, and not try to buy everything at once.

To save on buying clothes, you should buy them during sales. There you can buy things at half price. Especially if there are children, then this question is relevant. Since they grow very quickly and they often have to buy new things.

If you want to update your apartment, but finances don’t allow it yet, you can do it partially. Sometimes changing curtains or just wallpapering a room can significantly change the style and the room itself. To update your furniture, you can simply change its upholstery, this will make it look like new.

In fact, being frugal is not at all difficult. Over time, this will become a habit on its own. For example, if you are planning a trip, you can partially pay for it in advance and out of season, it will be much cheaper. If you go in July, the prices are the highest. But if you choose mid-July or the end of August, you can have a very inexpensive vacation.