Comments on: Caffeine Update

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:54:41 +0000

I did this as well, around two years ago. But, then slowly started drinking the evil Diet Coke again. I’m now back to almost solely drinking Diet Coke!! I need to start cutting back, as it certainly does eat away at the budget.

By: rob in madrid

rob in madrid — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:30:44 +0000

I had a written price book for a while but I found it just as easy to run a mental one, I pay attention to prices and stock up when things are on sale.

By: danielle

danielle — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:01:35 +0000

I’ve never heard what Margot is saying about bottled water being the unhealthy thing now. Lol. I’ve always drank tap water. I’ve had plenty of people tell me that they’re surprised I’m still alive, so the switch in what’s better now is just funny to me.

By: Aplus Financials

Aplus Financials — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:13:58 +0000

Glad to hear it’s working out for you. Wish I could stop drinking caffeine!

By: momstheword

momstheword — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:57:07 +0000

Using a pricebook is a great way to save money. When my hubby was out of work for a year using one really helped us cut down our grocery bill. I still have one.

I have my pricebook sheets that I record the information on, but I also have a little memobook that I carry with me in my purse. It contains the rock-bottom price for everything I buy. Usually I have a good idea of what a great price is, but you can’t always remember everything.

By: Feeding6

Feeding6 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:07:15 +0000

Isn’t that great that you gave up soda! It will save you tons and tons… I remember just almost 1 yr ago when my hubby was told he was PRE diabetic… OUCH at just 37… he, with out me even saying, gave up his Mt. Dew addiction.. cold turkey… His numbers when down (with the help of our changing to CLEAN eating) and he is much happier now…
I now am thankful when I leave the store with NO soda in the cart and Know I saved atleast $10!

By: cheryl

cheryl — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:27:55 +0000

I am so glad it is getting easier for you. Now I need to weed my husband off of iced tea.

By: Joy Smith

Joy Smith — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:20:52 +0000

That’s wonderful to hear that your son wants you to be healthy. It’s even more wonderful to hear that you didn’t lecture him, but agreed with him. So many parents will argue with a child about things like that when often they know more than we do! I am sorry to hear about the bug. I’m not feeling well myself today, but it has to do with stress and oversleeping.

By: KDB

KDB — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:35:42 +0000

Tricia, you’re spot on with chilled water in the fridge. Something we picked up while in Australia is, we have some really nice clear glass re-corkable wine bottles that we use for water. At dinner, we’ll set out four glasses and one of those for our chilled beverage.

Good luck on kicking caffeine, I gave up Cokes long ago on taste grounds, but I don’t think I could kick my morning coffee

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:51:22 +0000

Hi Margot – We are tap water drinkers. We have reusable bottles that we have filled with tap water and we put in the fridge to keep it nice and cold. It tastes much better that way. I probably should have been more clear when I said he grabbed water from the fridge. We have never really been into purchasing bottled water, except for a small stash we have for emergencies.

By: Deby

Deby — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:43:52 +0000

I agree with Margot about the bottled water, it’s wasteful to buy bottles and bottles of water that just get thrown out. But, we also prefer the taste of bottled water. We use a water cooler which we picked up at Target for about $70. We have two 5-gallon water bottles that we refill at the machines up at the grocery store for 25 cents a gallon. Cost wise compared to bottled we probably break even within 6 months, plus it tastes better than tap and I love the convenience of instatant hot or cold water.

By: Margot

Margot — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:20:25 +0000

From the way you wrote this blog entry, it sounds like you are now using bottled water. If that’s the case, I suggest you switch to tap water or using a Britta filter. First, bottled water is very expensive (compared to non-bottled water), and shouldn’t be part of a low-budget scenario. Second, bottled water is a nightmare for the environment. Google the issue if you want to learn more, but the bottles are filling up oceans and landfills. Third, due to chemicals in soft plastics, bottled water may actually be bad for you. Fourth, bottled water is often just bottled tap water. It’s a total con. Consumer Reports has done tesating and found that over 50% of brands of bottled water actually have more junk (chemicals, bacteria, metals) in them than tap water.

Just get a britta filter or use tap water. And if you want it to be convenient, you can use refillable metal, glass or plastic bottles.

By: Hazzard

Hazzard — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:21:45 +0000

Hi Tricia,
Great to see you are cutting out caffeine. You might also consider looking in to caffeine free tea. My wife is English and got me hooked on tea years ago. She still drinks regular tea but I switched to caffeine free a long time ago. The trick is to put extra tea bags in so it’s nice and dark.
Hazzard