Oh boy, for once the English translation doesn’t sound that hot. And anything but poetic compared to the original Faust exclamation “Zwei Seelen wohnen ach in meiner Brust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Don’t worry, this won’t be a lecture on one of the greatest literary pieces that has ever existed. It’s about ME. Of course, it’s about me! (Who else!?) It’s about me living two extremes. 1.) The extreme saving me and 2.) The extreme spendthrifty me.
Well, maybe those two extremes are not so unusual after all, harmonizing with each other. After all, I couldn’t throw my money out if I weren’t also an expert saver, could I? How I do it? I’m not reusing tea bags, if you worry about that. Or live on instant soup for weeks. Or … At some point, I do have to draw a line. I do have living standards and one shouldn’t prohibit oneself everything. Unless one absolutely has to because money is that tight. After all, you only have one life and should live it to the fullest. The saving issue – or trying to spend as little as possible a month, especially on groceries – is more like a game to me.
Because basically, you can only save when it comes to groceries. Fixed costs are just there, and even though you might save a few bucks by changing your cell phone providers and insurances, use your car less or cut back on restaurant food, when it comes to a monthly basis, there’s mainly just groceries you can save on. (Of course, you should also rethink your daily coffee-to-go and ready-made meal!) But now, in these home office times, it’s much easier to not being tempted that much! And of course, being single is an advantage in these regards as well.
My greatest treasure is my large freezer – not only indispensable for the groceries I bring back from Austria, but also for homemade pre-cooked food and sauces, value packs of veggies and meat. I’m sure you will start laughing out loud now when I tell you that I’m actually thinking of replacing my 5-drawer freezer with an even larger one. The largest I can fit into my little niche. As with everything else, I love to have a big choice for my lunches / dinner. Freezing my homemade sauerkraut, red cabbage, potato goulash, vegetable soup, zucchini soup, lasagna, dumplings, various pasta sauces, roasts and so much more. As it is now, one drawer is filled with veggies, one with homemade meals, one with meats, one with cake and one with my Austrian supplies. And there’s just not enough space, never enough space … because … whenever I see chicken / BBQ meat / ground meat 30% off because they have to be used up by the next day, I’m your girl! Carrying the packages home and freezing them to use at a later date. And just like every girl, I love the feeling of having made a bargain … Which is why I love, love, love browsing the weekly ads from my favourite grocery stores and make a list of what to buy. Speaking of which, I have also started to plan the week ahead when it comes to cooking and what I might need. That way I don’t buy food I then have to throw away because it spoils. And thanks to my freezer and my weekend cooking, I also always have food I can just take out. Would you believe there are months I only have to go grocery shopping once in a fortnight? Just to get some fresh fruit and veggies at the most? (Home office and the still ongoing lockdown, the annoying masks to put on whenever leaving the house, is definitely an advantage when it comes to my shopping habits – as in trying NOT to go shopping as much!)
Without home office? I treated myself to one day a week going to lunch with my colleagues and taking lunch from home for the rest of the days. Ever calculated what you can save on that alone? You’d be surprised …
Not smoking or drinking alcohol, or even juice or soft drinks, is another thing I save on. You don’t like water all that much as I do, because it’s so dull? (And if, it needs to be straight from the fridge, I can’t bear lukewarm water!) But luckily, there’s been the invention of tea bags to be made with cold water, which is a great way to spruce up the boring water. Voilà, soft drinks and juices not necessary anymore.
And when it comes to other stuff? Well, it’s really easy right now. The shops are mainly closed anyway and my only obsession are my books … but, well, everyone needs a hobby.
Apart from that, it’s nice to see one’s savings increase, for the bad times, for old age … or just for a better time to come to being able to throw it out again for stuff you don’t really need. Or travels.
ABOUT EVERYTHING AND NOTHING 
I love those huge freezers. I know a couple who bought a huge freezer (only freezer and it is as big as a dresser chest) They do DIY dumplings and freeze them down. They also go on those fishing trips with professional fishermen teaching people how to fish in the ocean. Then they bring back the fish and freeze them down. They would do huge amount of fish dumplings from scratch. I can’t believe they do that but they have been happily doing that for years. LOL.
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