Let's get real. If you're an average person with an average job, and you own a horse or two, being frugal matters. It matters a lot. It matters even more when your horse eats more than any other horse you've ever known, and you and you alone are financially responsible for providing it food. So needless to say, I'm a frugal freak.
Okay let me take that back. I'm not a frugal freak. I know when the cost of an item reflects it's quality. There's no questioning that. However, clearly there are places where corners can safely be cut. That's why I've decided to coin Friday "Frugal Friday" here on the blog. Every Friday I'll bring to you a new tip or idea to save some cash. Unless I run out of things to bring up, then we'll just have to rename Friday something else!
There's something to be said about the worth of a dollar. To some people, a dollar means nothing. To others, it can be the difference between dinner and a growling stomach. For the majority of us, a dollar is a dollar. Sometimes we fight tooth and nail to save a dollar, sometimes we mindlessly throw our dollars at things that really might not be worth it. One of the things that drives me nuts about myself is the amount of time I spend staring at labels. I'm terrible at math, and many companies are VERY smart in that they list the ingredient levels and total amount of a product in different units than their competitor's brand. This is sneaky, because to the untrained eye, or the average person who doesn't really care about a $2 difference, if it's not right there in front of them to easily distinguish, they choose what they know, or maybe what looks or sounds more convenient. If you're budget conscious like me, and a dollar matters to you, you've got to do a bit of investigating.
For my first installment of Frugal Friday, I just want to talk about the importance of doing your math when making an informed purchase. Sometimes the Dollar Tree really DOES have the best deal. But there are other times when the size has been reduced to make it worth $1. DO. YOUR. MATH. I hate math just as much as the next person....unless that person doesn't hate math, then just go down the line till you find someone else who does; but it's important if you want to save a dollar here and there.
My best example would be that of Alfalfa Pellets. I was going to go through and chronicle my venture in picking the best multivitamin for Maxwell, because there were a LOT of conversions and math involved. But for the sake of simplicity, I'll go alfalfa pellets, where we can assume all nutritional levels were equal.
When I decided to switch Max to an all forage based diet, his staple was to be alfalfa pellets. Easy to add supplements to, he still 'feels' like he's getting a grain meal, the price point is better than that of straight alfalfa hay, and not to mention he much more enjoys the pellets than straight hay (go figure!). I have two feed stores that I frequent for my horse's needs when I need to get something in town. Store A (Tractor Supply Company) and Store B (Come See Come Sav). Store A sells a quality alfalfa pellet in a 40lb bag for $13.99. Store B sells a quality alfalfa pellet in a 50lb bag for $18.99. Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you which is a better deal. Some folks can, because they can swiftly do the math. Me? No. I have to break out the calculator. That's okay, because it's saving me money. I'm only spending my TIME to save my MONEY. The absolute best way I've found to go about the math for many horse related products is to either break it down to a daily cost, or a cost per pound. In this case, we just want to know which product is the better deal, so we'll stick to cost per pound. Easy enough, store A's alfalfa breaks down to $.35 a pound (rounding up to $14 a bag), and store B's alfalfa breaks down to $.38 a pound (rounding up to $19 a bag). Shockingly enough, the bigger bag IS NOT the better deal in this case. For someone who picks up only 1 50lb bag a month for their horse, it's not a huge deal. 3 cents means nothing. That's fine--I get that. If I'm nowhere near the cheaper store, I've picked up this bag in a pinch. But when your horse eats around 14lbs of this stuff a day, you've got to think about the most cost effective way to do it. My horse requires 420lbs of alfalfa pellets every 30 days. If we did the 50lb bag, that would cost (about) $159. If we did the 40lb bag, which we do, it costs me (about) $147. That's a $12 savings per month. That's half the cost of his multivitamin. So now I only need to come up with $12 versus $25 to purchase that. See where I'm coming from? Saving that one or two dollars per bag really adds up when you put it all together.
This is what sparked Frugal Friday for me. I am always looking for a deal. A high quality, correct product, at an affordable rate. Check back next Friday for my first product introduction. Sometimes it's a product, sometimes it's a store, sometimes it's an idea, like today. In the mean time, PAY ATTENTION! Look at your labels. Marketing and production reps will hate me for pointing it out, but they do this sort of thing to pocket those dollars instead of leaving them in your wallet! Remember that! This isn't a new concept, but it's one that needs to be mentioned from time to time, since we get caught up in convenience rather than frugality when it matters the most.
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