Money Beagle - A Personal Finance Blog

Shopping At Multiple Grocery Stores: Our Breakdown

June 5, 2019June 13, 2019 by Money Beagle

Our family is lucky in that my wife has time to go shopping at multiple grocery stores. Many people are limited by time to one trip per week. This can mean having to pay more for groceries with some items not on sale. But, our situation allows my wife to find the best deals. She spends more time shopping at multiple grocery stores, but is able to buy more items on sale.

I always track our spending and I had a hunch that our breakdown by store might have changed. So, I went through our last few months of charges and came up with the following breakdown.

grocery store shopping — Shopping at multiple grocery stores can lead to big savings if you have time.

Breakdown In Spending – Shopping At Multiple Grocery Stores

This is our data from our credit card statement. It’s not scientific at all. I would say it’s fairly accurate, but there are definitely some issues. For example we buy some staples at Costco. But I didn’t include any of our Costco spending in here. It’s simply too hard to figure out (or guess) the allocation that goes towards groceries. At least at the grocery store, it’s fairly safe to assume you’re buying groceries.

With no further ado, here is our grocery store breakdown.

Commercial Real Estate Risk Signaled By For Sale Signs?

May 31, 2019June 10, 2019 by Money Beagle

My office is located in a office / manufacturing park. There are probably 30-40 buildings clustered. Recently, I couldn’t help but notice many For Sale signs. I drive past about twelve buildings on my way to my office, and there were recently six for sale.

On the For Sale sign for every building, there was a common item. They each indicated that the business was moving to a bigger location.

construction real estate for sale signs — Do for sale signs tied to growth mean additional risks to the economy or the companies themselves?

That’s a lot of growth. It got me wondering, is this anything to worry about?

For Sale Signs Are Good, Right?

Many would argue that for sale signs are good in this context. After all, the businesses are all moving. That means they’re growing. Ten years ago, we saw a large number of For Sale signs, but for a different reason. During those times, businesses were folding or shrinking.

Growth means many positive things.

Tipping On Carryout Orders – Yay Or Nay?

May 29, 2019June 6, 2019 by Money Beagle

Lines on credit card receipts for tips have popped up everywhere. It used to be that sit-down service was the only place where a tip applied. Now, that is not so much. Tipping on carryout orders is now a fairly common practice. At least, if you believe how often the tipping lines appear.

So, what is the expectation for tipping on carryout orders?

The Case For Tipping On Carryout Orders

While some would say that restaurants are being greedy looking for tips on carryout orders, many workers would likely disagree.

In many cases, workers are dedicated to the carryout section of a restaurant. There is a local pizza place that we love, but we’ve started doing carryout only. It’s so popular that waits for tables are usually at least 30 minutes, even on the least busy day of the week. So, the solution is to purchase carryout.

10 Great Father’s Day Gift Ideas

May 29, 2019June 3, 2019 by Money Beagle

Father’s Day is just around the corner. I don’t know about you, but it seems like dads are the hardest to buy for. I’ve found that about my dad, and I’ve been told it applies to me. I guess either we have simple needs or we just buy things ourselves. It’s probably a combination of the two! Regardless, here are some Father’s Day gift ideas that I think could help. They’ll definitely help my wife if she happens to be looking for ideas. But, I’m pretty sure these would apply for many dads out there.

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Grill Accessories

Every dad has a barbecue grill, right? Mine is sitting on the deck as we speak. I don’t care how fancy a grill it is. It doesn’t matter how much it might look fully stocked. There is always something that a dad could use. I’ve received multiple Father’s Day gifts tied to my grill. One year, I got a grill cover (which is now falling apart). Another year I got a flipper with an indentation of my favorite football team. Go Lions! There’s always something that a dad could use for his grill.

Do You Do Easy Or Difficult Tasks First?

May 17, 2019May 28, 2019 by Money Beagle

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes struggle to get motivated. There are certain days when getting going just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. For someone like me, this can be a big problem. I tend to be a lot more productive in the morning than during any other part of the day. I started looking at ways I could get more motivated on days when my energy is low. One of the things I thought of was how to prioritize tasks. Specifically, does it help to do easy or difficult tasks first?

Do you prioritize your easy or difficult tasks first?

Making My List Of Things To Do

One of the first things I do at work any day of the week is create a checklist of things to do. Never do I get everything done. But that’s OK. There are a certain number of things that are standing items. Those stay on the list and include things that I want to do every day. These include:

Cleaning out my e-mail.
Organizing my desk.
Tracking my project time sheets.

Then, I have a list of things that I need to do specific to that day. Finally, there are certain things that I do once per week.

The question is where to start. Do I start with the easy or difficult tasks first?

5 Easy Dinner Ideas When Time Is Short

May 22, 2019May 23, 2019 by Money Beagle

Dinner is the time for the family to come together. Generally it’s the biggest meal of the day here in the United States. However, it’s often tough to find time for a proper meal. I know in our house kids activities have made it where time is short. We find it’s still important to enjoy time together as a family. To do this, we cut back on the meal prep with some easy dinner ideas. Saving time on making meal lets you have more time to eat the meal.

5 Easy Dinner Ideas

Here are a few easy dinner ideas that we enjoy. I hope you do as well. Let me know your ideas in the comments below.

Nachos

We love to make nachos. The ingredients list is pretty simple. Chips, cheese, a protein, and some veggies. We all like different things for our protein, but it’s easy to accommodate. Some like ground beef. Others prefer cut up or shredded chicken. Sometimes we’ll use either re fried beans or black beans. It all works. Each person gets their own plate. We stick them in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, and top them with some sour cream and salsa. It’s easy and tasty!