Quick Rant (and when brands cheat on pricing)

If you want, you can skip the rant and go straight down to the list of money-saving tips. They are things I've learned about that save quite a bit of money. Or you can keep falling for marketing hype and making greedy people rich...

The Rant:

I was shopping for some more of the Root Erase permanent hair dye I've used in the past. It was $9.97 when I bought it for the first time a couple of years ago. I was able to get multiple uses from it because I only need to touch up my temple hairs (mostly). I ran out and don't want to deal with the henna process right now. What does the same product now cost? $19.99 - and that's with the current 33% markdown... It's typically $29.99. 

 Now, this is where the rant really comes in: all the other similar products are in that high price range. I could find single-use products for cheap but... Just when I gave up and was resigned back to doing henna, I decided to check one more thing. What, I wondered, do men pay for dye? Answer: $8.52 for a tube that I can use over and over and over.

The Tips & Tricks (some are repeats from prior posts):

• Don't buy women's razors, shampoo, dye, etc., without checking what's on the shelves for men... And when comparing chick products against our wonderful male counterparts, make sure you are comparing ingredients and not just the marketing labels & hype. Results are what matter.
• Don't you dare spend a lot of money on those Lemi Shine "dish detergent booster". The full product description on most retail sites is "Lemi Shine Dish Detergent Booster, Citric Acid Cleaner, Pre-measured Tablets". Right now, you can spend about $10 for 15 tablets. Meanwhile... I often buy citric acid by the pound for less than that. I mix some citric acid with water to put into my dishwasher's rinse cycle and I add the powder when washing clothes or doing any other cleaning with this hard as metal tap water.
• I have stopped using Zzzquil to battle insomnia when my magnesium oil's not working. I recently discovered that Benedryl and Zzquil have the same "active" ingredient: diphenhydramine. One of my infusion nurses almost fell over laughing when I told her. She thought I always knew this - otherwise, why do I go into such a doze coma after taking Benedryl prior to infusions?
• I cut way back on buying pricey lotions, conditioners, etc after I learned to boost the cheap stuff with guar gum and/or powdered goat milk. I had no idea that guar gum was so good at softening the skin and conditioning the hair! I thought it was only good for giving my Ninja Creami creations better texture.
• Speaking of hair and beauty products, years ago, I learned about buying and using base ingredients to make cheap versions of my favorite staples. I don't get into the complicated ingredients that I'd need a science degree to use but buying the same oils, emulsifiers, and such things that are in the store-bought stuff... genius.
• Another reason I shop at suppliers like Making Cosmetics is because of the quality of carrier oils and other ingredients. I do like Majestic Pure's oils but I can often get my jojoba and such cheaper at cosmetic suppliers. Piping Rock has bad customer service but I will shop there for cheap stuff that I'm not as picky about. I often get my Marula oil from them.
• Back on the magnesium oil that I use to help induce restful sleep. After using it that way for years, I learned that applying it to the underarms makes for a good deodorant.
• Maybe the simplest way I started saving money a long time ago was by not buying purse/pocket-sized grooming products. I can buy (in bulk) cheap little containers - again from the same place you can buy cosmetic ingredients if you want to avoid Amazon. I have a baggie full of little squeeze tubes, and small bottles with lids and dispensers. I use them to hold small amounts of whatever I like to have on the go or in my purse/pocket and for traveling. The tubes and bottles come in plastic that will safely hold lotion, vaseline for the lips, and even perfumes. They come with sprayers and droppers, etc and you can get them in glass if you prefer. The same goes for not buying both full-size and travel-size perfumes. There are cheap little roller bottles available to transfer perfume into. I think the first set of empty glass perfume sprayers I bought was at Perfumania back in Anchorage. Using the spray nozzle on a perfume bottle, you can aerate small amounts into cute and handy purse-size sprayers. If you want to really be cheap, you can order empty perfume sample tubes (with sprayers) from Amazon or a cosmetic supplier. 
• When it comes to cleaning products - think Lysol Greased Lightning, etc. - buy the big refills and fill up some of the cheap (but good) empty sprayers. I will buy empty spray bottles from Menards or Amazon for cheap - as long as they have both the "stream" and "spray" options - and slap a sticky label on them. (Make sure you get the kind that can hold cleaning liquids. I will ask the clerk or go online and read reviews first.) Also, I have bought concentrated odor neutralizers from suppliers to save money. It is cheaper to add water with it in a spray bottle than it is to buy premixed products where I am, as usual, paying for marketing and packaging.
• Speaking of cleaning products, one huge ripoff is the Mr. Clean "magic" erasing sponges. Those are literally just melamine foam cut into convenient sizes. You can buy that stuff almost anywhere and save money. I wouldn't even start on Amazon looking for it. Sellers have figured out that buyers have wised up and are buying basic melamine. Check local hardware stores for the best prices.

When shopping for anything, try not to be influenced by labels and marketing. Look at ingredients when comparing something like a dandruff-fighting shampoo. Sometimes, it's not that products have the same ingredients overall but where on the label the ingredients fall. Being higher up or lower down on a label tells how prevalent or potent that ingredient is in the product formula. I like to use INCI Dedoder to decipher product labels and compare products. 

the pure citric acid has no fragrance/additives

pure citric acid


The LemiShine has fragrance added

Sometimes though, you just like what you like. For instance, all dark roast coffees are not the same, even when the beans are from the same region. I prefer Yuban and Lavazza to many other brands of coffee. But when it comes to, say, a hair product, I want whichever one does what it says and that usually has to do with ingredients - period.

Here are some examples of the types of products you can use to save:

(and sorry but Blogger is not letting me format photos placement!)

About $3

Concentrated funk-killer! LOL

I share perfume
with my SIL!

I blend this with oils (&
guar to thicken)

For cleaning products
industrial plastic

1st kind I ever used to carry 
perfumes on planes

great for essential oils or perfumes

I use it straight

find at local hardware & paint stores

So there you have some ideas for ways to save or stretch your dollars.

By the way, I am not recommending that anyone go messing with ingredients and chemicals. I am telling you what I have done and used to save money. I am always careful to ask my brother or someone to help me research and understand what I am dealing with. Use your head. Use common sense. Be responsible for what you do.

As far as that hair dye fiasco, I can't be mad at brands for trying to milk us for as much money as possible. I'm just mad at myself for not being savvier. I usually catch this kind of trick. Live and keep learning, I guess. 

Peace

--Free

Amazon's Been Hiding (Bulk Buy) Stuff

 Katt Williams will understand me when I say that I am both happy and sad right now.

I just found out that Amazon has a bulk Bulk Food Supply department. I do probably 90% of my grocery, household, and personal goods shopping on Amazon. I actually once found their site directory. And that directory does not link to the Restaurant and Bulk Food Supply department I just discovered. By complete accident.

So I am happy that I stumbled onto the page but sad that I didn't know about it before.

Lately, I've been in bread-baking mode. I have refined my basic bread skills and am working on learning the Tangzhoung method for my yeast bread.  I love baking for two reasons: it's cheaper to bake it than to buy it (especially brioche or other specialty bread), and it's therapeutic. It's probably beneficial to brain function because I really have to focus and concentrate on each step. 

The smell of flour and yeast and eventually, fresh-baked bread is just a whole other level of aromatherapy. 

Yesterday, I made my first mostly-successful loaf of Japanese Milk Bread. Next time, I plan to get it just right. Because mine did not come out this nicely...

Anyway, I was going to buy more yeast in the little neighborhood market. A tiny set of packs - about a tablespoon each - was almost 2 dollars. The last jar I had - that has lasted me for a long while - was from a neighbor. Once when we were out and she lost her card, I gave her a tiny bit of money. I wouldn't let her return it so when she saw me baking one day, she ran home and came back with a brand new jar of yeast. She bought it thinking she needed it for a one-time recipe.

I checked all the groceries on Instacart and, yep, yeast is pricey. I decided to look for something in bulk. Nothing at Walmart, Target, or Amazon. At least, that's what I thought when I tried just using the Amazon search bar.

Where do most of us go searching online? Google. My search query? "online food supply".  Because I' lazy. Guess what came up right near the top of the search returns?

It's probably because the internet spies know me better than my own family. I wasn't surprised that Amazon was at the top. But I kinda was...

Normally, when I'm searching for food products and Amazon switches categories for me it's from "All Departments" to "Grocery & Gourmet Food". Not this:

Anyway.

Since I was there, I went about looking for some yeast in larger packages. I found this 1-pound package.

I like everything about it except that the package is not resealable. 

I had to put some in my old yeast jar in the fridge then seal the rest airtight to keep in the freezer. Every time I open the main package, I will risk spilling yeast everywhere. Annoying.

Back when I started this post, I had only been looking for things very basic bread-baking supplies. Recently, I have been looking into buying things to make seeded and sprouted grain bread. I will have to check out this Bulk section so I can do price comparisons. Another thing I find worth buying in bulk are paper plates, plastic utensils, and other household items I love as a single gal.

Anyway, there you have it. In case you were looking.

To summarize:

Buying in bulk saves money. You don't have to have a large family to buy in bulk. Amazon has competitive prices when buying in bulk. Compare prices. Get a food sealer. Do your research.

Peace

--Free