The $1,000 Plan: Day Seven

It is Day Seven of The $1,000 Plan to save $1,000 over the next 4 - 6 weeks. For the main meal today, I chose to cook fish and stir fry vegetables. The fish were from a fishing trip that Hubby and Mr 9 went on, and it was onhand in the freezer ready to be enjoyed.

Because I chose to oven bake the fish, with garlic, lemon juice and rosemary for additional flavour, I needed to make sure I had ample aluminium foil onhand to wrap them, in order to  follow the cooking process through that I wished to do. I thought I would share today one of the budget-friendly practices I have been doing in order to reach The $1,000 Plan: I buy such things as aluminium baking foil in a no-frills variety when I can.

There are some things for health reasons we do not compromise on, such as organic fruit and vegetables. These of course, more often than not, may cost a bit more to purchase than conventionally grown produce. Yet, for health reasons we choose to pay more, in order to have both the long term health benefits of avoiding food containing pesticides and the assurance that in the short term our children's skin and respiratory allergies are less likely to be triggered.

There are some day to day household items however, that I will select predominately because they are a no-frills variety, and because they are the generic type of that particular required item.

Sometimes it is only the brand name and/or fancier packaging that will make one type of product more expensive than another.

Being able to save on such things as aluminium baking foil, where there may really be no difference to the products on offer other than packaging and presentation, can make a difference budget-wise.

Yes, there are some things like soap and other products that can be laiden with nasty chemicals we wish to avoid, so I will not compromise and purchase just any product because it is cheaper, as it could well be that it is indeed much nastier! 

It is best to always practice discernment and do a little research into what any given product is made of and possibly contains in its ingredients list.

Finding where you can save on certain items can help greatly when you are trying to reach a saving's goal. I personally always try to weigh up what potential hidden health costs could be lurking behind the scenes, and whether the risks outweigh the benefit of buying cheaper.

Generic brands can sometimes prove to be just as good others, we just need to exercise wisdom and do some thorough research, and then all will fall into its place.