Shopping more to spend less
MEATY SAVINGS | Saves 40% a week by buying at wholesale butcher
A new mortgage, a longer commute and high food and gas prices prompted Joslyn Jelinek to focus more on cost cutting.
Among the changes she's made is kicking the caffeine habit, being more selective in where she shops and pampering herself and her dog less.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)
"I completely stopped getting manicures and pedicures, including nail clippings for my dog," the Chicago resident said. "I'm doing everything at home."
She used to take her dog Lola, a pit bull mix, to get her nails clipped every other week for $10 or $15 a pop.
"Then I'd get her washed, which could be about $30," Jelinek said. "I figured it's summer, I can do this myself, and I've been permanently just clipping her nails. We're both doing without the salon."
Jelinek, a clinical therapist, also is shopping at a greater number of grocers.
"We would go to Jewel or Dominick's a lot just for convenience sake, just to get everything at once," she said of the past shopping routine of her and her husband C.J. Jelinek, a web developer. "But I found from the smaller neighborhood groceries and different places I can get better deals."
For meat, she shops at wholesalers, where she has found whole roasted chickens for $3.99 and fresh ground turkey for 1.99 a pound. She likes shopping at Columbus Meat Market and Peoria Packing Butcher Shop on the near west side, she noted.
"I also like the Asian specialty stores because a lot of them have really good basic stuff for really inexpensive [prices]," she said. "Olive oil that would be $20 in a regular store is $11, and shallots that are $4.50 in Jewel or Dominick's are $1.99."
Jelinek said kicking her caffeine habit has produced significant savings.
"I completely stopped drinking diet soda and any sort of coffee stuff," she said. "I realized between Starbucks and just buying pop all the time, I was spending about $30 a week."
The couple recently bought a house in Rogers Park, moving from Lake View, where the commute time to work was as much as 30 minutes shorter. They used to drive a Ford Focus, but now drive a Toyota Prius.
"Once gas got over $4 a gallon and our commute got longer, it saved us a lot of money," she said. "We're getting about 45 miles a gallon. I'm filling up less. Instead of every week, it's like every two weeks, every two and a half weeks, which is wonderful."
The couple also is keeping costs in mind as they furnish their new home.
"When we bought the new house, we were worried about the expenses for getting new furniture," Jelinek said. "We didn't want crappy furniture, so we've been refurbishing stuff that we find in antique stores. We really wanted some nice things to make a nice home. This has been the best way to do that."
How are you making ends meet? Write to psmith@suntimes.com.