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Knyteguy posted:My wife and I both acknowledge that we suck at groceries. I dunno what to do except itemize everything and post it here for input, which I'll do to see if anyone sees some glaring issues with or something (which would be appreciated). Start a google drive spreadsheet, share it with the thread. After you go shopping take a few minutes to go through and record what you paid for everything. If you bought something you bought before, it should be on the spreadsheet already. Record what you paid this time and keep a running average. Here, this is the piece of crap we use. Red is Safeway, where we buy fresh veggies and more perishable items, and blue is Costco. Sometimes we buy a thing in both places and it's a little confusing because Costco poo poo comes in bulk. If you have a smartphone, pull up the list while in the store and you can compare the price of something to your running average. If you don't, try to look at the list before you leave, or print it out. You'll know when a deal is actually a deal. You'd be surprised how much the price of stuff can swing. Produce especially. Apples can triple in price from week to week around me. We got lazy with the sheet after a while, but we collected enough data on our staples to have a good handle on what they cost. We know if chicken is super expensive for some reason, and can adapt. We don't need to pull up the list anymore for the stuff we buy regularly. Something like this would also help you lay out the actual food you eat and what you really spend on it.
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Feb 19, 2015 02:52
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Knyteguy posted:My wife and I both acknowledge that we suck at groceries. I dunno what to do except itemize everything and post it here for input, which I'll do to see if anyone sees some glaring issues with or something (which would be appreciated). I think you should itemize the food you already have, as well. I don't see how you simultaneously have a freezer full of food and nothing to eat. Is it just that you'd rather buy something fresh/prepackaged instead of eating what you do have?
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Feb 19, 2015 03:00
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You wouldn't read creditboards.com but at least read this if you're going to work on your credit: http://whychat.5u.com/
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Feb 19, 2015 06:42
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Knyteguy posted:Extrude any news for you? Hope you had your baby at least.  Nope we're still waiting. I really wish the language around due dates was more like, "here is a four week period where you can expect your baby and then after that we can talk induction" rather than this emphasis on a specific date. It's really loving with me and it's probably loving with your wife. Make sure she gets plenty of support and keep telling her that up to 42 weeks is still full-term/normal and even if it goes past that and you need to induce, in the end you get a baby so try to focus on that part. (Though BFC-wise, I hope neither of us hit induction since that will be another thing on the medical bills...)Also some general tips on grocery shopping I'm sure you've heard but just in case: don't shop hungry and always shop with a plan. Definitely try to itemize the next few trips and see how much you spend on impulse/unneeded purchases because you might be really surprised. That poo poo adds up quick.
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Feb 19, 2015 10:24
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ExtrudeAlongCurve posted:
don't know how helpful this is, but we have done much better on our grocery budget by doing online groceries, like from Safeway etc. We can still use our reward cards, but the impulse OOO LOOK SHINY PKG thing is done for us. Once a month we go to the other store and get meat to freeze, but we have been able to keep our food budget from going over by doing this. Its not for everyone, I know, but for me and my husband it been a real help on keeping us on track for getting just what we need on our list, and not all the incidentals.
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Feb 19, 2015 17:56
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Knyteguy posted:My official Equifax score from that secured credit card is 568, so grain of salt and all with Credit Karma. This number is a lot closer to what I would expect with that many accounts in collections. Not to be a dick, but this should quell any idea that you are going to refinance your car any time soon. No one is going to refinance a car that far under water with 10+ accounts and $20,000+ in collections with a 568 credit score. Keep your head down, save, build a solid emergency fund, adjust to living with a baby. In a perfect world you'll have $10k-$20k+ saved by the end of the year and then you can make decision on what you want to do with it (I would personally pay down the car before stirring up poo poo with what you have in collections).
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Feb 19, 2015 19:57
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KG, I believe your plan is to have your wife return to work after 6-8 weeks or whatever. How flexible are your jobs for when your kid gets sick? My daughter just started daycare and surprise surprise she got an awful cold her second week there, she spiked a fever so she had to go home and cannot return for 24 hours (which means out the next day too). How are you guys going to deal with stuff like that? My wife and I have a good workplace that allows a lot of flexibility so it's not an issue for us thankfully.
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Feb 19, 2015 20:46
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Bugamol posted:This number is a lot closer to what I would expect with that many accounts in collections. Not to be a dick, but this should quell any idea that you are going to refinance your car any time soon. No one is going to refinance a car that far under water with 10+ accounts and $20,000+ in collections with a 568 credit score.
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Feb 19, 2015 21:04
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If you want to save money on groceries start shopping at Walmart.
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Feb 20, 2015 00:20
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Walmart only saves an average of 19 cents per trip so unless one is really close its not worth the gas difference.
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Feb 20, 2015 07:28
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On what? Walmart groceries are noticeably cheaper than the other places in my area.
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Feb 20, 2015 07:34
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n8r posted:On what? Walmart groceries are noticeably cheaper than the other places in my area. Not all Walmarts sell groceries. Only super Walmarts and Walmart markets. On a phone right now but there was a study a while back that showed on an average shopping trip it won't be much better. It fits my own experience. Plus Walmart groceries have been horrific poo poo in my experience. Bruised produce was the standard when I lived in TN and had Walmarts. Don't have em in Seattle but last time I went to one was in Hawaii because it was close and I walked out because the quality was poo poo. Drove to a local place and paid the same prices for better quality.
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Feb 20, 2015 07:51
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n8r posted:If you want to save money on groceries start shopping at Fixed that for you.
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Feb 20, 2015 15:20
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Why deal with walmart when you can just go to costco?
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Feb 20, 2015 16:41
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OK - If your Walmart sells groceries, it's a good place to shop. My local Walmart is neither a super or a market and it's got a full grocery section YMMV. I personally find costco a difficult place to shop for a small number of people, especially fresh stuff. The portions are just too large, so even if it's cheap on a per lb. basis you end up throwing away stuff. The pre-made frozen section is also quite expensive at Costco - and a lot of it is not terribly healthy choices. I'm sure Costco can work great for some people and some families, but most people should probably be mixing in shopping at non-bulk stores as well. I don't really understand how KG is spending over $400 per month on groceries and still spending $100 on eating out. If I had to guess, there is a lot of pre-prepared expensive food being purchased and a fair bit of expensive proteins as well.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:07
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Hey everyone thanks for the grocery stuff I will get back to that soon. The baby was born yesterday. Everything went fairly well. The labor started at 2:45am and he was born at 1:51pm. 7lbs 1oz. I don't have many details about the cost or anything like that yet, but they're being discharged sometime this afternoon so at least we don't need to pay for 2 days. Anyway glad it's over. Extrude best of luck! If your son isn't here then I hope he comes soon! E regarding groceries we shop at a place called smiths which is called something else some other places, but the cheap place to shop here I called winco for non-bulk. I'll post more details soon. Thanks.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:22
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Congratulations buddy!  You're a daddy now 
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Feb 20, 2015 17:23
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Congrats KG! Glad to hear everything went well. Enjoy the honeymoon.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:24
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Woo! Congrats!
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Feb 20, 2015 17:26
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Oh my! Congratulations!
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Feb 20, 2015 17:48
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Congrats!
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Feb 20, 2015 18:02
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Congratulations!
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Feb 20, 2015 18:09
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Congrats Knyteguy & Janus Owl!!! Glad to hear it all went well.
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Feb 20, 2015 18:20
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Congrats and good luck!
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Feb 20, 2015 18:20
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Be the best dad you can be, buddy.
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Feb 20, 2015 18:21
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Congratulations! 
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Feb 20, 2015 18:23
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Congrats you two!
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Feb 20, 2015 18:25
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Congrats buddy. I hope SloMo is toasting the birth with champagne and caviar somewhere...
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Feb 20, 2015 18:27
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Congratulations Knyteguy and Janus Owl! I remember the announcement and holy poo poo that did not feel that long ago. Good luck on this journey from here on out.
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Feb 20, 2015 18:47
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Congrats man.
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Feb 20, 2015 19:10
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Great news KG, post some baby pics soon
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Feb 20, 2015 19:16
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Congratulations KG! Sounds like everything went about as well as you could expect!
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Feb 20, 2015 19:30
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Aw yeah! Congrats, and enjoy teaching that little bundle everything about the world it just entered
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Feb 20, 2015 19:38
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Nocheez posted:Aw yeah! Congrats, and enjoy teaching that little bundle everything about the world it just entered
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Feb 20, 2015 20:35
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Congrats KG and Janus Owl!
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Feb 20, 2015 21:05
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Congrats!
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Feb 20, 2015 22:15
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nice, probably can get 10K for the kid on the black market. use that to finish the emergency fund and pay down the car a bit seriously though, congratulations
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Feb 20, 2015 22:35
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I bet you can get 50k for that kid on the white market if you know what i mean.
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Feb 20, 2015 22:37
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dat Child Equity Congrats!
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Feb 20, 2015 22:43
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Congratulations! Enjoy this time, it's precious.
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Feb 21, 2015 06:36
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