Interview with Fabulously Broke in the City | Popular Canadian Blogger

We are lucky to have interviewed one of the most popular personal finance bloggers in Canada – Fabulously Broke in the City.

She runs two popular blogs:

She is a 20-something year old who got out of $60,000 of debt in 18 months, earning $65,000 (gross) a year, using a handy budgeting tool.

I thought it would be great to interview her because of her experiences with debt and earning a large salary.

How many people do you shop for in your household and what is your budget?

We shop for 2, and our personal budget is usually $300 – $400 a month. It really depends, because some weeks we buy more or we replenish our stock, and other weeks we barely buy anything at all.

I can tell you that in 2010, my average budget was $234 per person, but we did eat a lot of fancy items during the year for birthday and holiday dinners, and we also cooked for my family (and paid for it all) a lot.

Do you have a Costco or Sams Club membership?

Yes. We have a Costco membership, but not Sam’s Club. I find one membership to be more than enough. We only go to Costco to buy staples that are cheaper than in grocery stores, and we don’t buy non-food, prepared meals or frozen items that seem to be very popular these days.

Do you shop name brand items (Unico, Kraft) or no-name store brands?

It depends on the product. If it’s rice, we will buy “name” brands, but if it’s salt, we will buy the cheapest possible (table salt is table salt, unless you buy fleur de sel for instance).

We do buy brand names for yoghurt for instance from the Canadian brand Liberté, only because no other brand has ever come close to the same quality. Or even buying specific brands of Italian pasta, rather than whatever is in the grocery store (we have to go to a specialty shop for that).

Which store do you spend the most of your grocery budget?
Any specialty shop over a regular grocery store. We go to the cheapest grocery stores for produce, but for organic meat or pasta, we go to independent specialty stores, or ethnic food stores such as ones located in Chinatown.

Do you use coupons on a regular basis?

No. Coupons never target people like us, at least not in our experience. We don’t buy frozen, packaged or canned goods very often, so it is a rare time that we will find a coupon that will discount what we already want to buy. As for detergents and cleaners, we don’t use a lot of them either (really!), so coupons are not applicable to us.

Do you shop with a grocery list?

Yes. We make a plan of what we want to eat that week, we check the stock of what is leftover, and we shop with a list, and a map of all the stores we want to go to and what we want to buy.

We rarely stray from our list, and only if we see a good deal, such as 3 for $10 tubs of Haagen-Daaz ice cream. :)

Do you shop at farmers markets on a regular basis?

Yes, whenever we can. The only problem is that sometimes farmer’s markets mark up the prices on produce they buy from the same fruit/vegetable depots as the big stores. I expect to get it cheaper if I am going directly to the farmer, but it is not always the case. Sometimes the produce from the big grocery store tastes better than what is sold at the farmer’s market.

Neither. We don’t use many preserves, and we don’t like frozen fruits or vegetables. We’d rather eat fresh and what’s in season. If I don’t see it, I don’t buy it. The only time I’d freeze something is if it were a meal I cooked and packaged into individual serving sizes.

Do you shop using grocery flyers (planning in advance with sales)?

Never. As I said, those coupons never seem to apply to our grocery list. If there is a sale on something in the store, we’ll buy it and change our meal plan for the week. Otherwise, no, we don’t pay attention to flyers and we don’t receive them. I don’t like junk mail.

What is the one area where most people can quickly and easily save money on grocery shopping?

Prepared meals, sugary cereals, milk, and “treats”.

With milk for instance, a lot of families give milk as an alternative to water or juice, but it can be very expensive to drink milk at every meal, or in lieu of water. For us, milk is not meant to be a substitute for water, but as a supplement to foods and to tea.

I also think people tend to spend a lot in buying prepared or frozen meals, when in fact the cost of preparing it at home and freezing it afterwards can be very cost efficient and healthier. $15 for a pizza for instance, is very expensive seeing as I know I can make the same pizza for less than half the price, and my ingredients will be of a higher quality. Or even chicken fettucine alfredo. These are all easily made meals that can be frozen as individual servings for later.

Prepared meals can be a great time saver or even a treat, but with planning and organization it doesn’t have to be a regular line item in your grocery budget.

Any grocery shopping advice (at the store, checkout, planning)?

Never leave the store before checking your receipt (sometimes cashiers scan items incorrectly) and always have a rough total of what your bill should be at checkout.

Also, if you are in a province (Quebec for instance) where the price scanning policy is in effect, if the price scanned is wrong or incorrect from what you see on the item or on the shelf, you can be entitled to the first item for free or up to $10 back. A lot of people miss out on this policy because they never check what they’ve paid for, and they walk out the door.

We’ve gotten quite a number of free items in the past (or money back) because we are diligent in checking the bill before leaving the store.

What is in your fridge at the moment? (If you could take a picture that would be great!)

This is generally what is always in my fridge: 5 lunches, 5 dinners and milk. Those sad little dried up fruits in the corners are lemons, meant to keep the fridge fresh but I am doubtful it works. I think baking soda is a better deodorizer. Call it fruitful decoration if you must ;)

http://www.everydayminimalist.com/?p=3446

We would like to thank Fabulously Broke in the City for helping us out with this interview. It is interesting seeing her fridge and how planned and well laid out it is. That has to be the cleanest fridge we have seen yet. She brings up great points about treats and frozen food.

Her household does not use coupons and does not use flyers. They seem to do a great job with their budget for two people. Knowing how to cook is a valuable skill and this helps reduce the budget.

Her most important point is drinks for children. Soda pop, juice, and milk are major contributers to budget bust. Children should learn to drink water early – prevents them from drinking their calories.

Maybe we can convince her to start using coupons!