My daughter, she’s probably the most frugal person I know. Seriously, how many people can say that about a 21 year old? Anywho, we walked to Target last week so she could buy coffee filters for her little coffee pot {the HH uses a french press so I don’t buy them} and as we were walking towards the coffee aisle we noticed Target had a small display of coffee filters next to the coffee pots they were selling.
Which, okay, would make sense… coffee filters next to coffee pots, right?
Funny things was though, there were only 2 {name brand} packages of coffee filters to choose from. What? No generic brand? Interesting!
So we turned around and walked 20 feet down the coffee aisle.
And what do you know… There sitting on a low shelf was a generic brand of unbleached coffee filters for $0.20 less.
Personally, I would have bought the bleached filters because they were the cheapest. But The Girl, she likes to buy unbleached products so she opted for the generic pack of 200 filters for $1.89 rather than the name brand coffee filters for $2.09.
She also used her “own bag” at check out and saved another nickle.
And then she pointed out that the tax on the coffee filters she bought for $1.89 came to $0.162 and the tax on the more expensive brand at $2.09 would have been $0.179… so basically she saved herself another $0.02 buy purchasing the less expensive coffee filters.
Seriously. I have created a monster. Do you take the time to find less expensive items in the store too? How many people think like this as they shop? I’d love to know.
~Mavis
Rebekah U says
A penny saved is a penny earned! What a valuable lesson she has learned early in life! Wealth will be in her future.
momof2cubs says
I think so too!
Karen S Picoult says
Absolutely! We even purchased new hardware for our newly refinished (long story, but MASSIVE savings) kitchen and bath cabinets by finding some we liked in a big box home improvement store, taking a picture of said hardware’s info in the store and shopped online (eventually purchased through eBay!!) at a huge savings!
She’s one smart cookie and you have trained her well, Mavis.
momof2cubs says
I do all the time! It has become a habit after about 20 years. ☺
Laura says
Well, if you are willing to go to Costco you could get 700 filters for about $3.50. Ours in WA stopped carrying them (too many Keurig users–yuck!) so I got mine in Oregon and even was able to save on tax as it is a no-tax state. Got two packages so we should be good for about 4 years now. I only buy in bulk the things I know we will use and that will not go bad. Coffee filters fit the bill.
So yes, I will go much further than 20 feet to save 20 cents! Good for you Bird girl, you are learning well!!
R.M. says
Success, Mavis! You’ve taught her well! I love seeing my grown kids make frugal choices!
Kathy says
Like mother, like daughter! I make saving money into a game sometimes.
Rebecca in MD says
Absolutely make an effort to save money on all purchases. Your daughter will probably be financially independent and retire early (FIRE) by 40!
Carrie says
With a little extra money upfront and the time to clean it everyday she could buy a reusable filter that creates less waste and will save money. I have a Keurig and only use the refillable pods but before I used a refillable basket filter for my regular coffee pot.
Jennifer says
Mavis, you are wrong. You have not created a monster, you have created a legacy. Frugal or just plain smart, that girl is going to make the best of it the rest of her life.
Fwiw, I have a 22 year old who is exactly the same way. She only has so many dollars and she stretches them tightly, until she’s ready to blow some. Healthy balance of frugality and spending and she’s happy.
Heather in Idaho says
Ooooh! I’ve had this same experience at Walmart. Baby\diaper wipes…two locations…..two different prices! It pays to know your stores!
It is rare to find frugal young people. All of mine are seem more frugal than me! I’m so thankful!
Lindsey says
This is off topic but I don’t know how else to let you know this. I don’t know if you changed something about your blog, but now when it opens up I get these very constant and very annoying ads that show up at the bottom, making it impossible to read stuff unless I take the time to X out of the ad. My ad blocker has not changed. Anyway, I am not sure if you know this is happening or how massively annoying it is. The side ads are a different issue. I can ignore them and I don’t have to X out of them in order to read your content. Maybe other folks don’t mind the bottom ads but I detest them. It is like the TV programs where the bottom quarter of the screen is taken up by an ad for some upcoming program or another. I finally got rid of cable, not just for the cost but because I hate having ads be so prominent. THank you for listening.
Alice says
I emailed Mavis about this problem ( one or two weeks ago). I have not seen a response.
Lace Faerie says
Bugs me, too!
Julie C says
Yes, it is really annoying!
Teckla says
I don’t believe his is a “Mavis” issue. I have this same problem on her blog and a number of others as well, including my local “on line” newspaper. Doesn’t hurt to let her know, of course, but I doubt she can do anything about it. I don’t understand how all these ads and pop ups work, but it’s a broader issue. Any computer geniuses out there who can tell us how to get rid of these things?
Mavis Butterfield says
I appreciate you reading my blog. I truly do love blogging, but what started out as a hobby, writing just for my mom and a handful of friends, has grown into a full-blown job with full-time hours. I am so grateful for that because it allows me to continue to do something I really enjoy. When I first started and I was blogging for fun, I never looked at my blog as a business. And it stayed that way for years until I realized how costly it was getting to run a growing site. There are so many expenses to running a blog of this size, so I had to start looking at it as a proper business. When analyzing income vs. expenses, I realized I had two options: 1) Start charging {which even the thought of that makes me crazy!}, or 2) Increase revenue with advertisers to balance blog costs. I went with the later.
I know that ads are annoying. I hear ya and feel the same way. But my hope is that I provide content worth putting up with said ads. I do work hard to ensure my posts are personal, relevant, useful and fun. I am hoping because of that, my readers are willing to put up with a small increase in advertising.
Thanks for understanding,
Mavis
mable says
I love your blog and I understand about the ads–it is just the new ones that have started popping up from the bottom, making it impossible to keep reading, not just because it is a distraction but also it literally blocks the bottom of the page in black so you can’t read it. I just thought maybe you didn’t know this was happening. The irony is that I go out of my way not to patronize places that run especially annoying ads, and I know other folks who do that, too.
Julie C says
I’m not bothered by the presence of ads themselves, I get that it helps offset your costs. I even occasionally click on ads on my favorite blogs as a show of support. It’s just that it’s really hard to read your articles when a good portion of the screen is blocked by these new pop up ads at the bottom. Especially on my tablet & phone, where it’s next to impossible to hit that little “x” in the corner to close the ads. A lot of times, I end up clicking the ad itself and going to their website at a time when I’d rather stay on your site and finish reading your article. The worst is when I have one of your recipes pulled up on my tablet trying to follow it and that happens.
Julie C says
Also, ever since I turned 40 last year, my eyesight is not what it used to be. So I have to enlarge the screen to read it and when you do that, the box on the bottom gets bigger and takes up even more of the screen space.
Laure says
And I thought I was the only one, LOL. Congratulations on raising a frugal daughter.
I take it a step further in my head — 0.22 is spent with after-tax dollars, so that would mean we have to earn 0.33 or so to get the 0.22 to spend…. This adds up! I always think: if I have $$ to spare, I like to give it to the charity of my choice, and Target is not the charity of my choice.
Cheri says
I try hard to buy the cheapest thing I can for the quality I want, but I don’t drive myself crazy over it after a point. Some people get deep into coupons and sales flyers, driving around to a bunch of different stores on target days to get the best possible deal. I just don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to do that. Instead, I did comparison shops among all my local stores to figure out which stores were generally cheapest for the things I want to buy, and then I stick with them.
Sonja C. says
I may be wrong but in the picture it looks like one package was 2.09 and another was 1.79, which is cheaper still. Lol good job teaching her though.
Martin says
I do this all the time. It’s not about the money it’s about how we think. If we don’t care about the .20 cents it becomes .50 then $1.00 the $5.00 and so on. Before you know it your in serious debt. I took it a step further. I am saving for a travel trailer so I put a large number on top of sheet of paper my goal #. Every time a save any amount I subtract it from my goal. You won’t believe how quickly my goal number gets smaller. The girl is one smart cookie.
Judy says
Target charges for bags?
I admit I hardly ever shop there but I’ve never paid for a sack. Is this new? Or a west coast thing?
Mavis Butterfield says
No, they don’t charge for bags… but for each bag you bring in to carry your things out in you get a $0.05 credit on your purchase. 🙂
Jenny Young says
I do for some things but I’ve shopped for over 30 yrs & pretty much run & get the same things every time without looking around much…unless I see a jump in price or size reduction.