I came across an article the other day in a magazine that shared tips on how to save money on groceries. Most of the tips are ones that my family already practices like using coupons, shopping the weekly deals, making use of triple or double coupons, etc. But there was one tip that I had never heard of in the past that I found very interesting. The article said that when shopping for groceries, you should use the 80/20 rule. Basically, this rule says that you should purchase 80% of your grocery items in their natural state and the other 20% of your products in a prepared form. What does this mean? Examples of prepared items included: prepackaged carrots, shredded lettuce, boneless chicken breasts, etc. The equivalent natural state of those same products would include: whole carrots that need to be cleaned and cut, a head of lettuce, and whole chickens. The article went on to say that there is such a markup on prepared and prepackaged items, that you can save a lot of money by purchasing these products in their natural state.
While I have always understood there was a markup on prepackaged items, I never really thought about the premium charged for them. Look at a recent example of carrots that I priced out at Aldi last week.
- 1 lb. Baby Carrots – $1.19
- 2 lbs. Whole Carrots – $.99
Our local Aldi was selling a 1 lb. bag of baby carrots for $1.19. We buy 3 bags of these baby carrots each week. They are convenient, already washed and cut, and are easy to use for snacks and packing lunches. On the flip side, they sell their 2 lbs. bags of whole carrots for $.20 less than 1 lb. bag of prepared carrots. Comparing equivalent weights of both products, we are paying a $.70 premium per pound to have someone else prepare our carrots. If you spread that out over the course of 3 lbs. of carrots per week for 1 month, that is over $8.00 in premium we are paying per month just for carrots!
Unfortunately, buying 80% of your grocery items in a natural state can come at a price. The price you pay for purchasing groceries in their natural state is your time. In my opinion, a person’s time is one of their most valuable resources. I value my free time and enjoy spending it with my two children and wife. Take the carrot example – If it takes me 15 minutes (just an estimation) to clean and cut 3 lbs. of carrots each week, then that is 1 hour spent over the course of one month. That 1 hour spent translates into $8.00 of savings each month. So is my time spent worth $8 per hour? That doesn’t really seem worth it when you look at the numbers.
In the end, I think balancing my time vs. saving money first depends on the amount of money saved. A few weeks ago, I spent $40 to rent an aerator for my lawn which took me 4 hours to complete. It would have cost me over $150 to have a company come in and do the same thing. This was an example of when I felt it was worth spending the 4 hours to save a lot of money. Secondly, I think the choice also depends on what you would be doing with that time instead of using it to save money. If I was using that 15 minutes per week watching television instead of cutting up carrots, I could justify saving the money. On the other hand, if I was spending that extra 15 minutes with my children, then it is not worth saving the money.
My wife and I have actually decided to start buying the 2 lbs. bags of unwashed carrots and spending the time cutting and cleaning them. We are going to do this for the money savings, but also actually enjoy the taste of the carrots over the 1 lb. bag of baby carrots.
How do you balance your time vs. saving money?
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I like the idea of the 80/20 rule – though since I live alone and love to cook, my rule is more like 95/5. I do buy cut up chickens, for example, but otherwise I try to buy things in their raw form. My sister got me a nano last year for Christmas, so what I like to do is listen to NPR podcasts while prepping foods. For example, I eat a lot of celery, so I cut, clean and prep it all at once while listening to my favorite shows. That way it doesn’t feel like wasted time.
Other than chicken, I can’t think of much that I buy already prepared. I even bake my own bread. I don’t mind spending the time though, because the results are so much better than what I could get in the store – just like your carrot example, I do it mostly because I prefer the flavor.
BTW – Thank you so much for the pfbuzz mention!!
Dawn – I agree. Chicken would be the last thing in the world I would want to prepare on my own!
During the boom years, time was more valuable then the bust years that we are approaching. Therefore very family is the process of reconsidering these trade offs. If you get laid off, then cleaning your own carrots is at least paying $8/hour.
Curt – Good point. The worse the economy gets, I think the more I would trade my time for saving money.
You make some really good points. Our time is worth something. Each decision we make shows the value we place on different things. Sometimes, even though we might really dislike a job, we do it because the savings are so great. Other times, the savings aren’t that much, but we do it anyway because we get other things from it – like the taste of the carrots. If people were to think through their decisions I bet many of them would be different, AND they might feel differently about their decisions.
Jennifer – I agree with your points. If the economy keeps getting worse, I will probably think more about saving money and using up my time. However, right now, I would rather spend most of my extra time with my kids!
The more people think about saving the more people are open up to ideas of earning more income. I think people need to sacrifice one thing or another inorder to save. I mean get a second or even a third job to supplement the income and then reduce your family time. We have to be ready and hope things will get better.