Things we don't buy anymore 051626

 

Things we don’t buy anymore

May 16, 2026

 

We have drastically cut back on the items we purchase since our retirements. 

First, we no longer buy bottled water.   Our 22 year old Frigidaire refrigerator finally gave out nearly two years ago and hubby spent about a week researching which one to buy to replace it.  So, we now have one with a water spout and ice maker.  Thus, we have no need to buy bottled water.   I DO buy a few bottles every now and then for the grandson (I spoil him!).   We make our own coffee at home every morning (or, rather, I DO!) and I buy a 3 pound bag of coffee beans at COSTCO and I grind them here at home as needed.   We use a stainless steel 12 cup percolator that I put on the stove every morning.

Second, I don’t buy pre-cut vegetables and I rarely buy pre-mixed salads.   I prefer to make my own.   Have you ever looked at pre-mixed salads?  Half of the time the lettuce is brown.   Ugh!  NO THANK YOU. Waste of money!

 

Third, I no longer buy smoothies.  My doctor told me it’s better to eat real fruit, so I do buy strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.   If I have the two grandkids together on an early-release Wednesday, I take them to Whole Foods and they make up their own berry cup to eat as a snack at our house, but that’s a big splurge!

Fourth, I no longer buy any kind of flavored coffee creamer.   I’ve always had a fondness for the vanilla ones, but now I just buy half & half from Trader Joe’s.   Hubby likes the flavor and consistency of it and we have a Trader Joe’s about a block and a half away from our house.   Whole Foods is about 2 blocks away.

We only eat beef now MAYBE once a week.   We eat a lot of chicken and ground turkey.  We make turkey patties, “hippie” salad with turkey (turkey, kidney beans, green onions, and maybe radishes, along with Fritos chips.   I take out the Fritos from mine as I have to watch my carbs.) We eat a LOT of salads with chicken mixed in as protein.   NOT BEEF.

Fifth, desserts.  NOPE.  I have to count my carbs these days, so desserts are OUT and who can afford them anyway?   On rare occasions, I make an Amish zucchini chocolate loaf or a pumpkin loaf in the fall, but that’s about it.  The daughter makes a mean banana loaf.   I want to try more baking at home, but I DO have to watch my carbs! ☹

Sixth…WINE… Hubby was in the wine business for about 20 years and was a wine broker, but these days we buy a tiny box of 4 single servings of wine and it lasts us WEEKS.   We used to buy wine weekly.   Nope.   Can’t afford it.

Seventh, canned drinks like Arizona ice tea or fizzy flavored waters.  Nope.  Plain water or hubby now buys bottles of the seltzer water from WalMart for 79 cents each and we mix it with lemon juice or lime juice. NOT buying flavored canned drinks anymore!

What else?   I rarely buy paper towels as we have tons of microfiber cloths and I cut up old dish towels and reuse those.

Cleaning supplies?   Vinegar and Dawn dish soap, maybe some orange essential oil mixed into the mixture.   I’ve NEVER invested or like commercial cleaners.   HATE those stupid Febreze things and the sprays.   I’ve always used essential oils and I need to start using up the stash that I have!   Vinegar, Dawn, and an essential oil clean MOST THINGS.

Towels?   I recently did purchase two new bath towels from COSTCO because ours were so old that they hardly have any lint on them anymore! But, it was about 10 years since I bought any, so I figured it was time for a couple new ones.

I even wash our single car.   I HATE paying $10.00 and over for a drive through car wash!   I have a bottle of car wash soap that I use.  I do a better job than most car washes anyway, but there is one down by the daughter’s house that does a decent job for $12.00.

VEGETABLES:   Last year I grew a TON of vegetables.   I grew early tomatoes, green onions, radishes, turnips, cabbage (not this year), Swiss chard (yummy!), and green beans.   My peas did NOT grow.   I don’t seem to have luck with peas, but I bought a $2.00 bag of mixed soup beans at WalMart, separated the seeds by variety, and planted them and they did BEAUTIFULLY!   Easy peasy!  Unfortunately I am NOT planting squash this summer or pumpkins.  It just isn’t worth the extra water.

Any ideas/suggestions/ thoughts that you might have?   What are you doing to save money?

Oh, and hubby, back in 2018, purchased a Nissan Rogue HYBRID.   We love her!   I usually only fill her up once a month, and even though it is recommended to use the super unleaded gasoline in her (which I buy at Sam’s Club), I love how efficient she is!   I forget to check the gas gauge, but I did put in $30 worth of gasoline this past week, and that ONLY filled her up ¼ way…sigh…And that was at $6.49 a gallon here in California.

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May 16, 2026

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