I have a kind of sneaky trick to share.
My husband insists on my using Gain laundry detergent and nothing else, but I want to buy what is on sale. He says he can tell the difference when I use anything but Gain. So I kept on buying Gain even though it's getting expensive - like everything else.
So I bought a box of Gain, used all of it, but kept the empty box. Now I buy what is on sale and fill the empty Gain box and my husband loves the way his clothes smell like Gain!
I know this is deceptive, but I buy the groceries and have to stick to a budget that we've agreed upon. It's funny how just seeing a label is enough. Our minds are so powerful!
My husband is in the food business and teases me by saying that I'm not, what is known in the business as 'brand loyal'! It's true because I'm always trying to save money and will try store brands, but I still have my favorites like Dawn. I won't use anything else because nothing works like Dawn for me.
By metroplex
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I sure hope your husband doesn't read this website! I think you are a genius for thwarting his, what I consider to be excessive, "brand-consciousness". I, too, buy what is on sale because I haven't discovered any difference in the different brands.
I did something similiar with my husband. I wanted to switch from regular green tea to decaffinated, but my husband swore he could taste the difference and didn't want me to switch. So, for about two weeks I mixed 3/4 reg. tea with 1/4 decaf. The next week I went half and half. I continued this until it was all decaf. After a couple of weeks of the decaf, I asked him how he liked the tea. He said it was great. Then I told him of my little deception. He was very surprised but agreed that I was right. Sometimes you just have to do things gradually.
I do not have this problem with my husband. But do what you have to so you can on stay within the budget. Also I have loyal brand to Heinz and Hunts catsup. There is just some things that off will not do.
I do this with ketchup, soya sauce , but will not let go of my Kraft cheez whiz
I did the same thing wiith my husband and coffee. He swore he hated decaf and refused to drink it. So I started putting the coffee in a canister (so he couldn't see the what I bought). I'd buy decaf and put it in the canister before he got home. I was doing this for 5 yrs before he finally caught me.
Been doing this with breakfast cereal for years! My kids have NEVER noticed.
I agree with you , but I don't think it is fair to cut out his brand name item and you not cut out yours. If you want to make cuts then both of you should have to do it. Work as a team. Also be careful about off brands some of them can have something in them to cause you to be allergic to it because they are like the brand name but they also have different ingredients in them to make them a little different from brand items.
I am glad to know I am not the only woman that runs her home this way. I am thrilled I found fellow thrifties.
I started to buy eco-friendly laundry products and my teenage son would have nothing to do with it and refused to give up his familiar scent and softness. So while he was in school, we ran out and replaced the eco-friendly type in the old bottle, and watched to see if he would notice. I still had a new bottle I bought for the rest of the laundry, so he wouldn't get suspicious. He came home hugged the new bottle, made fun of my soap, started his laundry, he didn't even notice it wasn't the same color or scent!!
I do this with salt. The salt on the table is Lite salt or half the sodium salt. If he knew he'd be upset. Since he doesn't know, he doesn't notice! It's for his own good!
I have a huge fan of Dawn Soap also. You can let it sit on stained clothing and it takes the stuff right out. But the est thing for the use of this soap other than it's cleaning ability is for LICE!. My granddaughters got it when they visited their father and at school. The crap they sell at the stores is expensive and can seep into the person's head. It damages the hair. I used Dawn soap on their heads, bagged it for about 15 minutes and combed them suckers right out.
You go girl! I do this all the time. My husband gives me a certain amount for groceries, etc. With prices going up, I have to cut back. I switch brands in shampoos, etc. and keep the original packaging. When I make his sandwiches for lunch, I take the lunch meat and crumple it like paper, making him think there is more on the sandwich.
I've fed my husband vegetarian "sausage" and "ground beef" and not told him what it was. I've put as little as 1/8 of a pound of chicken or beef in a casserole when he insists that he needs 1/2 pound of meat per meal. I used to sneak him diet pop and sugar free koolaid, until he decided to switch "on his own".
He also used to insist that certain soaps, shampoos, or laundry soaps were superior. After 10 years, he now says, "oh, just get whatever is cheap and you have coupons for." What a good man!
Did this with dry mashed potatoes flakes, My sister was making twiced baked taters for a dinner party and they came out starchy, I told her to try instant, but her future husband only likes real. well I told her to get dressed and I would try to make these work. Once she was gone I made instant and added cheese and herbs. Everbody loved them and I still don't think she told her husband.
I'm lucky I guess in that my husband doesn't mind what I get as long as it works and saves us money. We have found that sometimes cheaper isn't always better. Speaking of Dawn dish soap...I now use it as a laundry soap. I read here to use 1 cup dawn to 7 cups of water. I just mix it in an old bottle. It gets the grease out of my husbands clothes from work much better than any Tide or other expensive brand did. If we need whitening power I use oxy clean or borax on my whites. We save so much $$ now on laundry soap. Also I stopped using expensive softener and now only put vinegar in my downy ball. Clothes, even towels, come out soft!
I'm with ALL of you. First off, there's no replacement for Dawn. Just about everything else is replaceable. My husband swears by Folgers coffee. I've been buying Maxwell House which is sometimes $2.00 cheaper plus with a $1.00 coupon works great. He doesn't know the difference. One of these days I'll tell. I buy most everything generic or store brand now.
OMG as I was reading these responses, I started laughing. I have done or do all of them. My favorite is the "lunch meat and crumple it like paper, making him think there is more on the sandwich. ". I may have even done that one for myself...lol. I am with everyone about Dawn. We use Dr.Bonner's liquid soap. We love the peppermint in the summer, very refreshing. It USDA fair trade organic. My skin itches when I use other kinds of bath products. But it is also great for laundry, hair washing, and you can even brush you teeth with it. I tried that but I didn't like it. A 1/2 gallon is $35, but you add water to that & it makes a gallon, it's concentrated. My son & his wife both use it and theirs last over 6 months. They have other scents also, even unscented. That's my 2 cents.
Wow! When I read these posts, I think I have slipped back into the 1950s. I cannot believe women still get an allowance to buy groceries and have to "fool" their husbands so they can buy what they want to buy. Haven't you ladies heard, we have been liberated! I am 61 years old and nobody is going to tell me what to spend on groceries or what to buy. I am shocked!
Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions, ideas and your little 'tricks of the trade'! I am still amazed how powerful our minds are! And for the somewhat negative responses I received, you're entitled to your opinion too. It is interesting to see that there were more positive responses than negative ones. And a lot more tips too!
For the record I'm 53 years old. I guess I could spend whatever I want, on whatever I want. I have indeed heard that it's not the 1950's anymore. Yes, we have a budget; I don't think I know anyone these days who doesn't have a budget. Not a 'allowance', a budget. There's a big difference. Even wealthy people work on a budget. That's how they keep their money.
And we both have allowances too. We each get a certain amount a week to spend on lunches, etc. I choose to eat at my desk and spend my allowance on things my husband wouldn't think of buying. He does the same with his allowance. It's okay with both of us.
My husband doesn't tell me what to do. I do the Gain thing because it saves us money-nobody gets hurt. Saving money is a priority we both agree on. Frankly, I have worked through my former feelings of 'nobody is going to tell me what to do or buy, etc'. It's my choice and there's a big difference there.
And I do cut out certain things for myself that I can do without. We work as a team. For example, we don't spend over $100 on anything without talking it over with each other first.
On the other hand, my husband wants me to shop at expensive clothing stores and have good quality clothes. I, however, buy almost all of my clothes at the resale shop and still have expensive, good quality clothing, but not at full price. I choose to. He doesn't tell me to. He is grateful that I choose to save money on clothing, but would never stop me from buying expensive, full price clothing.
I agree; some cheaper brands are not as good as the 'real' brands. I don't buy the cheaper brands in this case. I'm also careful of what I buy and am sure to read where a product is manufactured.
I get older I'm more conscious of what I want to spend money on. My husband, by the way, doesn't stop me from buying anything. He is a generous man, but both of us are not foolish when it comes to spending money.
I was single for 17 years; longer than I am married now and I was never in debt. I worked as a secretary and I worked hard and was careful and I did without a lot of the time and most of the time. When my sister got divorced she very quickly got into $80,000 worth of debt on things like expensive clothing and buying whatever she wanted when she wanted. Her husband was a multi-millionaire and even they had a budget. Unfortunately, he wasn't very generous with her when he divorced her, and she, unfortunately, wasn't wise about how she spent (and still spends) her money. Also unfortunately, she is still in debt, having been divorced for almost 20 years.
We all have a choice to live as we like. We all have different priorities. One of the things I love about this site is the fact that it has an unspoken 'live and let live' attitude. Thanks again for your creative ideas and most of all, thanks for listening!
I love your post! As the poster who thought this was the 50's poohpooh on her! My X used to complain if I microwaved a tater and called it baked. Well in order to save $'s I would still nuke the tater and wrap it in crinkley used
(clean) foil after tater was nuked. He thought he was getting baked! If he wanted homemade mashed potatoes he had to peel them or else he got instant which are just as good. I had some tricks up my sleeve from my mother!
Good to know lots of us do it. I know I am late posting just read it but loved it so much.
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