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Things I Buy Once a Year

​During the Aldi tours and workshops last week I mentioned a few of the things I only buy once a year and it seemed to strike a chord with some Cheapskaters because I had lots of questions at each workshop about once a year shopping.

I have bought cleaning ingredients and toiletries once a year (meat once a quarter, most groceries once a month and top up with fresh fruit and veg and dairy fortnightly) for so long, I think Hannah was still in the pram. Now it's just habit and I love it. 

Here's what I buy once a year:
Item
​Qty
Size
Store
Dilute
Dishwashing liquid
6
450ml
Aldi
​50:50 with water
Dishwasher powder
​6
1kg
Coles
Use 3 level teaspoons per load
​White Vinegar
4
2L
Aldi
Depends on what it is used for
​Borax
3
500g
Coles
Depends what it is used for
Laundry Soap
4
4pck
Coles
​ Washing Soda* This is a once every two year buy
5kg
Aurora Cleaning Supplies
Bicarb soda
1
5kg
Value
All purpose bleach
4
1L
Aldi
​ Eucalyptus Oil
4
100m;
Aldi/Bosistos - whichever is cheaest
Shampoo
3
900ml
Aldi
Conditioner
3
900ml
Aldi
Shampoo (kids)
6
1L
Aldi
Conditioner (kids)
6
1L
Aldi
​Roll-on Deodorant
​ 15
100m;
Aldi
Toothpaste
​10
145g/165g
Aldi
​ Toothbrushes
​5
​4pk
Wherever is cheapest
Toilet paper
15
12pk
Aldi
Herbs & spices (onion, garlic,  cumin, oregano, chilli powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, mixed spice etc.)
​Depends on herb/spice, some I use more often than others
Hindustan Imports
Oven bags
5
10pk
Coles
Value
Shower Gel
12
5000ml
Aldi/Coles/Chemist
50:50 with water
Hairspray
4
Value
Aldi
Value
​Why do I buy these things once a year? Well grocery shopping isn't my favourite thing to do; I like to get in, and get home (another reason I've been shopping monthly for 23 years). And because it saves me from worrying about running out between monthly shops and because it's another couple of aisles I can skip on shopping day. 

Once a year, in the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve, I do my yearly shopping for things like dishwashing detergent, shampoo, borax and so on. It takes about an hour to shop and about half an hour to put it away at home. Then those things are off my list until the end of the year.  Phew!

The question was asked about prices. Shopping once a year locks in prices - if they go up on any of those items during the year I've saved some money. Because most of the things I buy come from Aldi the price is always cheaper than brand names from Coles or Woolworths even on half-price sale, and it rarely changes. 

Another question was where do I keep it all? 

We have a big home, but there's not a lot of storage (go  figure!) so like most households we need to juggle for optimum storage efficiency.

Herbs and spices form Hindustan come in plastic bags, not the best for long term storage or even efficient storage. I have a lot of recycled 500g pasta jars that I decant into. They're all labelled. These then go into the freezer. Why the freezer? It is cool and dark, and so helps to keep the herbs and spices fresh for the year. There are smaller containers in the spice cupboard that are handy to  where I cook. When they are empty they get washed, dried and refilled. Now the common thought is that herbs and spices don't last longer than about six months. I say phooey to that! Of course they do. They may lose some potency over time (I'm using ginger I've had for almost three years and it is still strong). If that's the case all you need to do is add a little more to get the flavour you need. Don't go tossing those herbs and spices just because some supermarket or specialist store tells you to - they just want you to spend more of your hard earned money!

The dishwashing liquid and one spare empty bottle (for diluting) are stored under the kitchen sink, along with the dishwasher powder. It's where it is used, easy to get to and put away neatly.

The bottles of white vinegar, eucalyptus oil, borax, bicarb soda, washing soda and laundry soap are stored under the laundry trough because that's where they are used (the laundry, not under the trough). I make Miracle Spray in the laundry and grate soap for washing powder in the laundry so it makes sense to keep the ingredients in the laundry too.

The shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant are kept in the relevant bathroom cupboards. Wayne and I have electric toothbrushes, the kids use normal toothbrushes. I allow for a new toothbrush every two months or when it starts to go fuzzy, so we can have a lot of toothbrushes in the bathroom at the beginning of the year. By the way, I don't throw out the "used" toothbrushes, I move them to the laundry and use them to scrub grout or around taps, to clean spots on the carpet, to clean the wheals on the cars and to scrub plant pots etc. before they are tossed.

And lastly the TP. Thank goodness for watertight garden sheds is all I can say, or we'd have TP stashed all over the house. I just stack it up on a pallet Wayne put down for me (to make sure it stays off any damp concrete) and the air can circulate around the stack to keep damp and condensation at bay. 

Before we had the garden shed the TP was kept on top of the laundry cupboard, on a shelf in our wardrobe and on the bottom of the linen cupboard. Like I said, it was all over the place. 

How do I pay for this once-a-year shopping?

The same way I pay for other shopping - from my grocery budget. Each month I put aside money to cover the big shop in December. Totalling the receipts from the last shop and dividing by 12 gives me the amount I need to put aside each month. Easy. 

What if there is an amazing sale on borax or toothpaste during the year?

If I find an amazing sale, and it must be at least 10% less than I paid, then, if there is money in the once-a-year budget, I'll use it to stock up. I haven't often found this to be the case very often; the last time was on toothbrushes for 85c each (I used the slush fund to buy two years' worth) and adjusted the budget accordingly.

Doing a once-a-year shop may sound like hard work, but it's not. It is quick and easy, It saves me money, time and energy for the rest of the year, why wouldn't I do it?

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  • Home
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