We cooked all meals at home. These included corn chowder, veggie stir fry, veggie fried rice, beans and rice, chili and cornbread, and homemade pesto pizza. We used a lot of frozen veggies from our CSA subscription, so they were still locally sourced, which is a nice green bonus.
We made a meal to take to a family with a new baby, helping out their finances a bit. This was chili and cornbread, and we included some homemade applesauce and muffins for breakfast. This is their fourth child, so the meal was a total blessing and I think they really enjoyed it.
The temperature outside was really cold (below zero with the wind chill), so we pulled out the down comforter rather than cranking up the heat. We also ran the gas logs a bit to take the chill off, which was cheaper than running the HVAC more.
I carpooled to work each day. My teammate will drive this week.
Because we had a snow day, I was able to stay home and allow Benny to get some extra hours in at the store. This was nice since he took some extra time off over the holidays, but time off for him now means time without pay.
Showers only happened every other day last week. This saved us on water, water heating, toiletries, and, most importantly, it saved a bit of time and our skin. Our skin really dries out in the winter, and our dermatologist recommends showering less frequently in the winter to preserve the skin's natural oils.
We combined errands and went out very little during the day. Our Walmart trip was funded with gift cards, so no money out of pocket was spent.
We took advantage of Harris Teeter's Super Doubles (good through 1/13), and saved a bundle on groceries. We are now well stocked on hot tea for the year, as well as potatoes and laundry detergent. We also got some great deals on birthday snacks for Wubby's birthday bash.
We placed our annual bulk spice order, including pumpkin seeds, flax, and dehydrated onions. We'll use these throughout the year. Since we did this order this month, we're trying to keep other grocery costs low so that this total can come out of the grocery budget.
Our citrus marmalade was finally made and canned, which freed up some freezer space and we were glad to have it made. We made some yummy muffins out of it from Muffins A to Z. Marmalade is awesome, because it uses the part of the fruit that most people generally throw away. This year's batch was pretty cheap because we used sugar we'd bought for practically free during holiday sales. We have enough peels in the freezer to make another batch, which I might do on a snow day. It always makes nice holiday gifts, and it's nice to do it well ahead of the holiday rush.
Our basement apartment is finally ready to list! We wrote up the ad yesterday and should have it posted today. Having this rented will be a welcome cushion back in our budget.
Closets began getting cleaned out again, in search for more things to list on eBay and Craigslist. The funds from these sales will help to pay for our CSA subscription this year.
We started tidying up our basement craft area and storage area in preparation for little man's birthday bash later this month. This meant that things got more organized, we cleaned up the chairs, and began a plan for painting the shelving and trim. This didn't really save us any money, but it did mean that we got the spaces better organized and found some things (supplies, tools, etc.) that we might have otherwise purchased had we not found them.
What about you? What did you do to live and save green last week? I'd love to hear from you!
Monday, January 12, 2015
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Putting the Gardens to Bed for the Winter
We've never done it this late before, but the weather was perfect. (A few years, we've totally skipped this step and I've regretted it in the spring.) We put our garden beds to "sleep" for the winter on November 30 in the span of about two hours, with the little man in the pack on Daddy's back. So we got some family time outside to boot.
How'd we do it? We tried the lasagna gardening method, which was super easy to prep. We started by laying out our layers of newspaper in the gardens after cutting back the old plants (and weeds!). We collected these newspapers from friends and from our days of purchasing the Sunday paper and now we're using them in the garden, which means that we're totally saving green in both senses of the word.
The next layer was about a two inch layer of our compost. Our composter was bursting at the seems from our kitchen scraps, yard waste, and what came out of our gutters after cleaning them. It felt great to be able to almost empty the composter and put that black gold to good use! We still had a few whole egg shells and citrus peels in there, but hopefully after composting some more over the winter, it'll be good to go in the spring.
Then, we added a layer of straw. We'd purchased this straw bale about a year ago, and hadn't gotten around to using it as mulch between our raised beds as intended, so we used it here to heavily mulch these beds. We probably added a 3-4 inch layer of straw to each bed. If we have time, I'd like to add a layer of leaves to the top when we clean out the ditch and culvert below the driveway.
I'm hoping that by doing all of this in the fall that our beds will be ready to go in the spring. I'd love to plant one with raspberries, one with rhubarb, and one with asparagus. We did go ahead and plant the bed that had basil in it over the summer with garlic for the winter, so we'll see how that turns out in the spring. I'm hoping it had enough nutrients in it to support the garlic. I've never planted it before.
And, can I just say how good it feels to have that bale of straw out from in front of the house and some of those newspapers gone from the basement?! And they're being put to good use... even better!
So, what about you? How're you living and saving green in your gardens this winter? I'd love to hear from you!
How'd we do it? We tried the lasagna gardening method, which was super easy to prep. We started by laying out our layers of newspaper in the gardens after cutting back the old plants (and weeds!). We collected these newspapers from friends and from our days of purchasing the Sunday paper and now we're using them in the garden, which means that we're totally saving green in both senses of the word.
The next layer was about a two inch layer of our compost. Our composter was bursting at the seems from our kitchen scraps, yard waste, and what came out of our gutters after cleaning them. It felt great to be able to almost empty the composter and put that black gold to good use! We still had a few whole egg shells and citrus peels in there, but hopefully after composting some more over the winter, it'll be good to go in the spring.
Then, we added a layer of straw. We'd purchased this straw bale about a year ago, and hadn't gotten around to using it as mulch between our raised beds as intended, so we used it here to heavily mulch these beds. We probably added a 3-4 inch layer of straw to each bed. If we have time, I'd like to add a layer of leaves to the top when we clean out the ditch and culvert below the driveway.
I'm hoping that by doing all of this in the fall that our beds will be ready to go in the spring. I'd love to plant one with raspberries, one with rhubarb, and one with asparagus. We did go ahead and plant the bed that had basil in it over the summer with garlic for the winter, so we'll see how that turns out in the spring. I'm hoping it had enough nutrients in it to support the garlic. I've never planted it before.
And, can I just say how good it feels to have that bale of straw out from in front of the house and some of those newspapers gone from the basement?! And they're being put to good use... even better!
So, what about you? How're you living and saving green in your gardens this winter? I'd love to hear from you!
Monday, December 1, 2014
December Menu Plan
This month is all about making the most of what we have so we can spare a little cash for holiday baking. We'll be making the most of the pre-Thanksgiving sales by using potatoes, cranberries, winter squash, and turkey in lots of things.
Breakfasts
We'll be having lots of muffins this month: Cranberry oat muffins, espresso muffins, gingerbread spice muffins (all from Muffins A to Z, which I checked out for ages from the library before purchasing my own copy), The Prudent Homemaker's lemon poppyseed muffins, pumpkin (or winter squash) muffins, and my family's berry muffins. We'll also be having bagels from Panera (thanks to gift cards), egg sandwiches, and baked oatmeal (from Simply in Season).
Dinners
To use up the turkey, we'll have:
Breakfasts
We'll be having lots of muffins this month: Cranberry oat muffins, espresso muffins, gingerbread spice muffins (all from Muffins A to Z, which I checked out for ages from the library before purchasing my own copy), The Prudent Homemaker's lemon poppyseed muffins, pumpkin (or winter squash) muffins, and my family's berry muffins. We'll also be having bagels from Panera (thanks to gift cards), egg sandwiches, and baked oatmeal (from Simply in Season).
Dinners
To use up the turkey, we'll have:
- turkey soup (with barley, rice, or noodles) with homemade bread and herb butter
- turkey tacos with winter squash, refried beans, and homemade peach salsa
- barbecue turkey burritos or sandwiches with spinach salad
- confetti fried rice with turkey (a great way to use up those tiny bits)
*We'll also make several batches of homemade turkey stock using the three turkey carcasses we've got in the freezer now (we gleaned a few). Just put the carcass in the crockpot, fill with water, add an onion if you have it, and cook on low all day. Then strain it and pick the meat off to use in soup, casseroles, or fried rice.
To use up the winter squash/sweet potatoes, we'll have:
- tacos
- squash and black bean chili w/ cornbread
- lentil and sweet potato soup w/ pesto grilled cheese
- winter squash cream sauce with pasta and broccoli
- breakfast casserole with winter squash muffins
To use the cranberries, we'll have:
- whole wheat pancakes with cranberry apple crisp and bacon or eggs
- open faced meatball subs with cranberry/tomato sauce
To use up the potatoes, we'll have:
- slow cooker potato soup with bacon and cheese (using homemade turkey stock)
- loaded baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese
Other fillers include:
- jambalya with steamed veggies
- broccoli and cheese soup with garlic toast
- pesto pizza with veggies
- spicy thai noodle stir fry (my riff on this recipe)
- tuna casserole with peas or broccoli
Lunches
As usual, lunches will be leftovers. We'll be getting our order of fruit from the high school orchestra in a few days, so we'll have those grapefruit and tangelos to fill in lunches and breakfasts.
Holiday Goodies
The holiday goodies we'll be baking/making this year include:
- rosemary olive oil bread
- chocolate dipped peppermint jo-jo's (these are from Trader Joe's and they're fabulous on their own, but even better dipped in white chocolate)
- muddy buddies/puppy chow (people call it either, but it's the same peanut butter, chocolate-y goodness)
- muffins for the work crowd
- citrus marmalade
- candied grapefruit peal
- sand dabs --a family favorite, my uncle eats them by the triple batch, and Benny's not far behind! (some people call them wedding cookies, basically butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and pecans rolled into balls or crescent shapes)
We'll save some green by using what we have on hand, buying ingredients in bulk, and using the slow cooker like the work horse that it is. We'll also save some energy on our heating bill, since the oven will be running more, and we'll batch cook as much as possible.
How's your December shaping up? Are you keeping dinners easy to make time for holiday baking? I'd love to hear from you!
Monday, November 24, 2014
Increasing Your Earnings to Decrease Your Debt (or Increase Savings)
We've been working really hard over the last few years to eliminate all our debt (mortgage is next on the list, I think) and increase our savings for retirement and other long-term goals. We've trimmed all the fat from the budget--and some would say we've gone beyond that into sacrificing. Now, we're on to finding avenues to help us increase our earnings so we can meet our goals even faster.
Find Professional Development that is Free or Pays You
I've gotten in the habit of only accepting professional development opportunities that are free that sound fabulous, or ones that pay me. For example, NCCAT (the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching) offers seminars to teachers for free. You have to pay your travel, but they help with sub cost, and house and feed you like royalty. This is a great way for me to get a little R&R on someone else's dime, while also getting some great PD that keeps my license current.
This past summer, I was accepted into the Governor's Teacher Network, which pays me a significant stipend for producing professional development for other teachers. I can get some credit for completing their online course, while also getting paid. The NEH has great summer opportunities for teachers all over the country and world, and they pay you to go. I'm applying for one of their workshops this summer. If I get accepted, it will be great because we have family in town, which means less money will be pulled from my stipend check since I won't stay in a hotel.
Now, I realize that you may not always be able to implement this strategy, and it may not work for all fields, but for teaching, this has been great. It also helps me to make sure that I'm not giving up valuable time with my family for mediocre PD.
Ask for a Raise
As a state worker in a non-union state, I can't exactly do this, even collectively with other workers. However, it is a strategy that works for people in other sectors. I was blessed this year that with pay scale adjustments, I received a raise of about $150 per paycheck. (Though I know others with different levels of experience actually had their pay reduced, which is another discussion entirely...) If you work in a job where you can ask for a raise, and you haven't had one in a while, consider if you could request one. Or maybe you need to work a bit harder, develop your skill set more over the next six months, get the boss's eye, and then ask for one after he sees how hard you're working.
Work a Side Gig
I recently accepted a job tutoring a younger student after school. It will take a significant portion of my planning time, but the extra pay was worth it. I tried to be reasonable with my fee, knowing that not all families can afford professional rates, but also knowing that my skill is more than just babysitting. If this tutoring continues, it will add almost an extra $200 to our monthly income, which will really allow us to pay down the home equity line faster.
Many people could work a side job like this in whatever your field of expertise might be. Maybe it's teaching music lessons, or doing yard work for someone who hates it, offering a design consult to someone who lacks color sense, babysitting, or something else entirely. What could you do to make an extra $20-$50 each week?
Sell Your Stuff
Or someone else's... We're not shy about taking people's cast-offs. We find that we'll either put them to good use, or we can make a little extra cash by selling the stuff on eBay or Craigslist. It's important if you're going to do this that you know your product. You can't mark stuff up too much, otherwise it'll never sell. You also won't make much if you sell it too cheaply, and it won't be worth your time. I know some people scour yard sales and thrift shops for stuff to resell online, and have made a business doing it. We're not to that level, but it is a strategy that has helped us pay for the "extras" we'd like, but aren't necessities, like our CSA share or new bedding.
Sell Your Space
We've rented an upstairs bedroom in our home for several years now and will begin renting our basement apartment soon. There have been lots of benefits to this arrangement outside of finances, but the primary reason we did it was so that we could use the rental income to pretty much cover our mortgage payment each month. I realize that not everyone may be comfortable with renting a room in your home, but we have found that it's led to some wonderful relationships that we never would have found otherwise. As long as you're selective about where you advertise, and about who you interview for the space, then we've found it to be a great bonus in more ways than one.
All in all, I figure our extra income streams actually amount to about $800 or more per month, which is pretty impressive, since a few of them (like rental income) are pretty passive.
What could you do to increase your earnings? Here's to living and saving green! I'd love to hear from you!
Find Professional Development that is Free or Pays You
I've gotten in the habit of only accepting professional development opportunities that are free that sound fabulous, or ones that pay me. For example, NCCAT (the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching) offers seminars to teachers for free. You have to pay your travel, but they help with sub cost, and house and feed you like royalty. This is a great way for me to get a little R&R on someone else's dime, while also getting some great PD that keeps my license current.
This past summer, I was accepted into the Governor's Teacher Network, which pays me a significant stipend for producing professional development for other teachers. I can get some credit for completing their online course, while also getting paid. The NEH has great summer opportunities for teachers all over the country and world, and they pay you to go. I'm applying for one of their workshops this summer. If I get accepted, it will be great because we have family in town, which means less money will be pulled from my stipend check since I won't stay in a hotel.
Now, I realize that you may not always be able to implement this strategy, and it may not work for all fields, but for teaching, this has been great. It also helps me to make sure that I'm not giving up valuable time with my family for mediocre PD.
Ask for a Raise
As a state worker in a non-union state, I can't exactly do this, even collectively with other workers. However, it is a strategy that works for people in other sectors. I was blessed this year that with pay scale adjustments, I received a raise of about $150 per paycheck. (Though I know others with different levels of experience actually had their pay reduced, which is another discussion entirely...) If you work in a job where you can ask for a raise, and you haven't had one in a while, consider if you could request one. Or maybe you need to work a bit harder, develop your skill set more over the next six months, get the boss's eye, and then ask for one after he sees how hard you're working.
Work a Side Gig
I recently accepted a job tutoring a younger student after school. It will take a significant portion of my planning time, but the extra pay was worth it. I tried to be reasonable with my fee, knowing that not all families can afford professional rates, but also knowing that my skill is more than just babysitting. If this tutoring continues, it will add almost an extra $200 to our monthly income, which will really allow us to pay down the home equity line faster.
Many people could work a side job like this in whatever your field of expertise might be. Maybe it's teaching music lessons, or doing yard work for someone who hates it, offering a design consult to someone who lacks color sense, babysitting, or something else entirely. What could you do to make an extra $20-$50 each week?
Sell Your Stuff
Or someone else's... We're not shy about taking people's cast-offs. We find that we'll either put them to good use, or we can make a little extra cash by selling the stuff on eBay or Craigslist. It's important if you're going to do this that you know your product. You can't mark stuff up too much, otherwise it'll never sell. You also won't make much if you sell it too cheaply, and it won't be worth your time. I know some people scour yard sales and thrift shops for stuff to resell online, and have made a business doing it. We're not to that level, but it is a strategy that has helped us pay for the "extras" we'd like, but aren't necessities, like our CSA share or new bedding.
Sell Your Space
We've rented an upstairs bedroom in our home for several years now and will begin renting our basement apartment soon. There have been lots of benefits to this arrangement outside of finances, but the primary reason we did it was so that we could use the rental income to pretty much cover our mortgage payment each month. I realize that not everyone may be comfortable with renting a room in your home, but we have found that it's led to some wonderful relationships that we never would have found otherwise. As long as you're selective about where you advertise, and about who you interview for the space, then we've found it to be a great bonus in more ways than one.
All in all, I figure our extra income streams actually amount to about $800 or more per month, which is pretty impressive, since a few of them (like rental income) are pretty passive.
What could you do to increase your earnings? Here's to living and saving green! I'd love to hear from you!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Cutting Christmas Costs without the Cutting the Celebration
We've had to cut back on our overall budget in several ways, but holidays was one easy place to trim quite a bit. I love the holidays; the decorating, wrapping, celebrating, and baking. But our culture often tells us that the more we spend on these things, the better. Here are a few ways we trim the budget, while not trimming the spirit.
Decorating
Several years ago, we bought some lighted garland at an after Christmas sale, so it was deeply discounted. That same year, we bought some plastic metallic ornaments, snowflakes, etc. We use these each year to decorate the handrail to upstairs and the mantle. I use a lot of my silver plated stuff to sprinkle in on the mantle to add more sparkle, which I already had. Much of this stuff is sentimental too: Grandma's silver candle sticks, a set of pottery candle sticks given to us by my aunt, a silver platter we bought at an antique store on a date one time. I use wired ribbon to weave through things too, which can be reused each year.
We have several artificial wreaths I decorated over the years which we store in plastic bags. This is the easiest decorating ever... just pull the bag off and hang it on the door!
Outside we do very little. Most of this is because we don't know if it will blow away or get covered in snow or ice for weeks on end. We do put window candles in our windows, and some years, we scavenge tree trimmings from friends to use outside. These trimmings I stick in some all-weather flower pots (not pottery, they will crack if you have big temperature fluctuations) and fill the pot with water. Then, the water will freeze, holding the branches in place. You could do the same with holly branches, etc. These just end up being more festive if we have snow fall.
Wrapping and Cards
I've gotten in the habit of saving large pieces of wrapping paper and gift bags for years. Now we have a substantial stash, so we reuse these. Often we reuse the wrapping paper for kids gifts, since this paper is more likely to be torn. We also reuse tissue paper for stuffing gift bags and for wrapping stocking gifts. My great aunt, who grew up in the Depression era, has mastered wrapping without tape, which is a skill I have yet to learn, but would love to. These strategies save us lots of money, as well as save valuable paper resources.
We save the fronts of gift cards and Christmas cards to use as gift tags or upcycle into new Christmas cards. I also make hand-stamped Christmas and thank you notes, which saves a ton of money over buying gift cards. I use my ink rewards from Staples to "buy" cardstock and envelopes, so I have only the cost of the stamps and ink invested. This year, we'll take advantage of some of the great photo deals out there on photo sites to print a family portrait to give with Christmas cards.
Gift Giving and Celebrating
When it comes to gift giving, we're all about homemade. We make jams and jellies throughout the summer and fall to give. I've also found some recipes for homemade soup mixes, which are fun to give with a loaf of homemade bread. Giving bread is cheaper than giving cookies because there's less sugar, chocolate, or nuts involved, all of which are expensive when compared to the cost of a bulk bag of flour. We also make homemade vanilla extract for the bakers in the family, and I put away a few pounds of herb butter in the freezer made from herbs we grew this summer. For some friends, they'll get a loaf of homemade French bread and a stick of herb butter. All of these are gifts that come from the heart and are genuinely appreciated, and they cost us far less than buying something for everyone on our list. Giving a gift certificate for services is also fun. I gave my mom a gift certificate for a bread a month, which was really fun. She didn't use it every month, but she did enjoy it when she took advantage, and it was nice when she was entertaining for her to not have to worry about that, but just call me to bake a loaf for her.
We also get creative about how we purchase gifts that we need to. We use Amazon credit, I'll use Recyclebank points to give magazine subscriptions, or we'll purchase used and upcycle. We might buy some picture frames at the thrift store and remix them into something that suits the recipient, and give a family portrait that way.
You can also get creative with celebrating. We do lots of potlucks this season, where everyone brings their favorite holiday side dish. Sometimes, we've done a Feliz Navidad theme, which is kind of fun and a nice departure from all the same kinds of foods. By going potluck, it takes the pressure off the host and means everyone got at least one thing they like to eat. By hosting, it means that we get to enjoy everyone getting together, and it's far cheaper than eating out with everyone (and less chaos since most of us have kids).
Baking
I save on baking this time of year with the same basic grocery strategies we use all year. Buy in bulk, use coupons, shop sales, etc. This time of year is a great time to stock up on baking necceties, though. There are always sales and coupons for spices, brown sugar, nuts, etc. I try to save a portion of November's grocery budget just for stocking up on baking supplies so I don't have to buy them later in the year. I'll try to buy enough brown sugar this month with coupons and sales to last us for the year. We'll stock the freezer with fresh cranberries this time of year so we can make cranberry muffins, bread, and cranberry chutney throughout the year. We love all these things, and the chutney is great on bagels with cream cheese or mixed into oatmeal. The chopped frozen cranberries are also great in popsicles or cooked with cabbage as a side dish.
How do you save green at Christmas? I'd love to hear from you!
Decorating
Several years ago, we bought some lighted garland at an after Christmas sale, so it was deeply discounted. That same year, we bought some plastic metallic ornaments, snowflakes, etc. We use these each year to decorate the handrail to upstairs and the mantle. I use a lot of my silver plated stuff to sprinkle in on the mantle to add more sparkle, which I already had. Much of this stuff is sentimental too: Grandma's silver candle sticks, a set of pottery candle sticks given to us by my aunt, a silver platter we bought at an antique store on a date one time. I use wired ribbon to weave through things too, which can be reused each year.
We have several artificial wreaths I decorated over the years which we store in plastic bags. This is the easiest decorating ever... just pull the bag off and hang it on the door!
Outside we do very little. Most of this is because we don't know if it will blow away or get covered in snow or ice for weeks on end. We do put window candles in our windows, and some years, we scavenge tree trimmings from friends to use outside. These trimmings I stick in some all-weather flower pots (not pottery, they will crack if you have big temperature fluctuations) and fill the pot with water. Then, the water will freeze, holding the branches in place. You could do the same with holly branches, etc. These just end up being more festive if we have snow fall.
Wrapping and Cards
I've gotten in the habit of saving large pieces of wrapping paper and gift bags for years. Now we have a substantial stash, so we reuse these. Often we reuse the wrapping paper for kids gifts, since this paper is more likely to be torn. We also reuse tissue paper for stuffing gift bags and for wrapping stocking gifts. My great aunt, who grew up in the Depression era, has mastered wrapping without tape, which is a skill I have yet to learn, but would love to. These strategies save us lots of money, as well as save valuable paper resources.
We save the fronts of gift cards and Christmas cards to use as gift tags or upcycle into new Christmas cards. I also make hand-stamped Christmas and thank you notes, which saves a ton of money over buying gift cards. I use my ink rewards from Staples to "buy" cardstock and envelopes, so I have only the cost of the stamps and ink invested. This year, we'll take advantage of some of the great photo deals out there on photo sites to print a family portrait to give with Christmas cards.
Gift Giving and Celebrating
When it comes to gift giving, we're all about homemade. We make jams and jellies throughout the summer and fall to give. I've also found some recipes for homemade soup mixes, which are fun to give with a loaf of homemade bread. Giving bread is cheaper than giving cookies because there's less sugar, chocolate, or nuts involved, all of which are expensive when compared to the cost of a bulk bag of flour. We also make homemade vanilla extract for the bakers in the family, and I put away a few pounds of herb butter in the freezer made from herbs we grew this summer. For some friends, they'll get a loaf of homemade French bread and a stick of herb butter. All of these are gifts that come from the heart and are genuinely appreciated, and they cost us far less than buying something for everyone on our list. Giving a gift certificate for services is also fun. I gave my mom a gift certificate for a bread a month, which was really fun. She didn't use it every month, but she did enjoy it when she took advantage, and it was nice when she was entertaining for her to not have to worry about that, but just call me to bake a loaf for her.
We also get creative about how we purchase gifts that we need to. We use Amazon credit, I'll use Recyclebank points to give magazine subscriptions, or we'll purchase used and upcycle. We might buy some picture frames at the thrift store and remix them into something that suits the recipient, and give a family portrait that way.
You can also get creative with celebrating. We do lots of potlucks this season, where everyone brings their favorite holiday side dish. Sometimes, we've done a Feliz Navidad theme, which is kind of fun and a nice departure from all the same kinds of foods. By going potluck, it takes the pressure off the host and means everyone got at least one thing they like to eat. By hosting, it means that we get to enjoy everyone getting together, and it's far cheaper than eating out with everyone (and less chaos since most of us have kids).
Baking
I save on baking this time of year with the same basic grocery strategies we use all year. Buy in bulk, use coupons, shop sales, etc. This time of year is a great time to stock up on baking necceties, though. There are always sales and coupons for spices, brown sugar, nuts, etc. I try to save a portion of November's grocery budget just for stocking up on baking supplies so I don't have to buy them later in the year. I'll try to buy enough brown sugar this month with coupons and sales to last us for the year. We'll stock the freezer with fresh cranberries this time of year so we can make cranberry muffins, bread, and cranberry chutney throughout the year. We love all these things, and the chutney is great on bagels with cream cheese or mixed into oatmeal. The chopped frozen cranberries are also great in popsicles or cooked with cabbage as a side dish.
How do you save green at Christmas? I'd love to hear from you!
Friday, October 31, 2014
You Eat for $100 a Month?!
This is often the reaction we get from friends when we tell them our grocery budget. Their next comment or question is either, "We could never do that!" or "How do you do it?!" Since we're all about the can do attitude here, I'll address the second question today with a few simple strategies.
Meal Planning
There is never a week that we don't know what we'll eat. We may not plan the exact day of each meal, but we always know what we'll have throughout the week. This plan is built around what we have in the pantry and fridge/freezer, what's on sale, and what we're in the mood for. Meal planning helps us save money by being aware of what we need to use up (dairy, produce, etc.) and not letting things go to waste. It also means we don't buy things that we don't have a use for. Keeping popping corn and ingredients for homemade cookies on hand helps us control the snack/junk food budget significantly.
Using Coupons
We used to use the Grocery Game for our couponing matchups. When we went to a single income family, we decided to skip the subscription and find another source. We found Southern Savers, which is almost as good and has served us well for the last year and a half. The great thing about both of these is that they match up coupons and store sales for you, so all you have to do is choose what you want from the list and print your list. We use either printable coupons, ecoupons loaded to the store card, or Sunday paper coupons that my grandmother gives us. (We used to purchase a Sunday paper, but that got cut too when we went to one income.) Any given month, we figure we save at least $50, and often more, by matching coupons and store sales.
Buy 'Real' Food
Buying real food means 10 pounds of potatoes, not frozen or refrigerated pre-cut ones. Buying real food means buying a peach we peel instead of one packed in a can with syrup. It means buying flour and sugar to make our own muffins, bread, crackers, etc. instead of paying a premium for some commercial bakery to do that work for us. Buying real food means making our own salad dressing with oil, vinegar, and spices instead of buying one with an unlimited shelf life due to the number of preservatives. Does it often take a little more time? Yes. Is it healthier and cheaper? Absolutely! I figure we save at least $50 a month by buying the real stuff.
If you're just getting into saving on groceries, employ this one strategy. It will save you money and it will be far healthier for your family. A few easy places to start are with salad dressings and condiments, cooking your own rice (instead of boil in a bag or quick cooking), making homemade pizza dough, or homemade popsicles.
Buy in Bulk
You have to be smart about buying in bulk. Take a realistic look at what you use and how often, and gauge your bulk purchases from that. If you're not into baking, a 25 pound bag of flour will go buggy before you use it, and will be a waste of money.
Some things we regularly buy in bulk are: flour (bread and all purpose), rolled oats, sugar, rice, dried beans, Hershey's syrup, butter, vegetable oil, in season produce, spices and nuts (store in the freezer for the longest shelf life). Since we bake a lot, and enjoy it, we use the flour pretty quickly. We get our rice at Walmart sometimes, though I've though about buying Basmati rice at the Indian store in Durham when we visit next (it's generally cheaper at ethnic stores). I did stock up on brown rice at HT when it went on sale 10/$10 a while back. We use Hershey's syrup in coffee drinks, so we go through it pretty quickly. Dried beans are purchased at Walmart, Costco, or another wholesaler. Butter and oil are purchased at Costco, as are spices and nuts. Produce we buy in bulk to dry or freeze, often bell peppers, peaches, and strawberries top our list. It's cheaper to buy them in bulk when they're in season and fresh, and it's so nice to have them for cooking and baking in the winter months.
Eat Less Meat
I know for some it's tough to believe, but we've really embraced the weekday veg routine and really only eat meat once or twice a week. Even then, it's usually a small portion, like in a stir fry or on a pizza. Eating less meat has really freed up our budget to buy more dairy and fresh produce, including fruit, which is key now that we have a little one who begs for fruit. (His favorite is bananas, which he's mastered the ASL sign for!) We've found some creative recipes for lentil sloppy joes, black bean enchiladas, and bean burgers, which we really like. Since we love stir fry and pizzas, it's easy to add a little meat or do without.
Soup Once a Week
Unless it's high summer and Benny can't stomach the thought of soup after a long work day, But otherwise, we do soup once a week. It's easy to do in the crock pot on busy nights, which conserves energy too. We have a ton of great recipes. There are always leftovers for another dinner or a few lunches. The broth, noodles, or rice stretch the other veggies and any meat, so it's really budget friendly. With crackers, toast, or cornbread, you've got a complete meal, especially if you add a side salad or a little dessert. What's not to love?
So, there are our "secrets" to sticking to our $100 grocery budget. Do you employ all of these? Some? Only one? I'd love to hear from you!
Meal Planning
There is never a week that we don't know what we'll eat. We may not plan the exact day of each meal, but we always know what we'll have throughout the week. This plan is built around what we have in the pantry and fridge/freezer, what's on sale, and what we're in the mood for. Meal planning helps us save money by being aware of what we need to use up (dairy, produce, etc.) and not letting things go to waste. It also means we don't buy things that we don't have a use for. Keeping popping corn and ingredients for homemade cookies on hand helps us control the snack/junk food budget significantly.
Using Coupons
We used to use the Grocery Game for our couponing matchups. When we went to a single income family, we decided to skip the subscription and find another source. We found Southern Savers, which is almost as good and has served us well for the last year and a half. The great thing about both of these is that they match up coupons and store sales for you, so all you have to do is choose what you want from the list and print your list. We use either printable coupons, ecoupons loaded to the store card, or Sunday paper coupons that my grandmother gives us. (We used to purchase a Sunday paper, but that got cut too when we went to one income.) Any given month, we figure we save at least $50, and often more, by matching coupons and store sales.
Buy 'Real' Food
Buying real food means 10 pounds of potatoes, not frozen or refrigerated pre-cut ones. Buying real food means buying a peach we peel instead of one packed in a can with syrup. It means buying flour and sugar to make our own muffins, bread, crackers, etc. instead of paying a premium for some commercial bakery to do that work for us. Buying real food means making our own salad dressing with oil, vinegar, and spices instead of buying one with an unlimited shelf life due to the number of preservatives. Does it often take a little more time? Yes. Is it healthier and cheaper? Absolutely! I figure we save at least $50 a month by buying the real stuff.
If you're just getting into saving on groceries, employ this one strategy. It will save you money and it will be far healthier for your family. A few easy places to start are with salad dressings and condiments, cooking your own rice (instead of boil in a bag or quick cooking), making homemade pizza dough, or homemade popsicles.
Buy in Bulk
You have to be smart about buying in bulk. Take a realistic look at what you use and how often, and gauge your bulk purchases from that. If you're not into baking, a 25 pound bag of flour will go buggy before you use it, and will be a waste of money.
Some things we regularly buy in bulk are: flour (bread and all purpose), rolled oats, sugar, rice, dried beans, Hershey's syrup, butter, vegetable oil, in season produce, spices and nuts (store in the freezer for the longest shelf life). Since we bake a lot, and enjoy it, we use the flour pretty quickly. We get our rice at Walmart sometimes, though I've though about buying Basmati rice at the Indian store in Durham when we visit next (it's generally cheaper at ethnic stores). I did stock up on brown rice at HT when it went on sale 10/$10 a while back. We use Hershey's syrup in coffee drinks, so we go through it pretty quickly. Dried beans are purchased at Walmart, Costco, or another wholesaler. Butter and oil are purchased at Costco, as are spices and nuts. Produce we buy in bulk to dry or freeze, often bell peppers, peaches, and strawberries top our list. It's cheaper to buy them in bulk when they're in season and fresh, and it's so nice to have them for cooking and baking in the winter months.
Eat Less Meat
I know for some it's tough to believe, but we've really embraced the weekday veg routine and really only eat meat once or twice a week. Even then, it's usually a small portion, like in a stir fry or on a pizza. Eating less meat has really freed up our budget to buy more dairy and fresh produce, including fruit, which is key now that we have a little one who begs for fruit. (His favorite is bananas, which he's mastered the ASL sign for!) We've found some creative recipes for lentil sloppy joes, black bean enchiladas, and bean burgers, which we really like. Since we love stir fry and pizzas, it's easy to add a little meat or do without.
Soup Once a Week
Unless it's high summer and Benny can't stomach the thought of soup after a long work day, But otherwise, we do soup once a week. It's easy to do in the crock pot on busy nights, which conserves energy too. We have a ton of great recipes. There are always leftovers for another dinner or a few lunches. The broth, noodles, or rice stretch the other veggies and any meat, so it's really budget friendly. With crackers, toast, or cornbread, you've got a complete meal, especially if you add a side salad or a little dessert. What's not to love?
So, there are our "secrets" to sticking to our $100 grocery budget. Do you employ all of these? Some? Only one? I'd love to hear from you!
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Gleaning to Keep the Budget on Track
We've always enjoyed gleaning and foraging for food. I suppose it comes from liking the outdoors and enjoying the time outside in the sunshine. It's only become more fun now that we have a little one to share this with (though sometimes he eats more of the harvest than we come home with!).
A few of the things we consistently forage or glean are blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, and sometimes peppers or zucchini from a friend's garden. We can consistently count on gleaning blackberries from the roadside in our neighborhood. We seem to be the only ones who pick them, aside from the wildlife, so we can generally harvest several gallons over the growing season. We also glean blueberries from my aunt's property (they no longer live here full time), and raspberries from friends who are overrun with them. We put these in the freezer or use them to make jam for gifting and for winter enjoyment.
We gather apples from friends' trees for apple pie filling, apple crisp, and applesauce. We generally freeze the applesauce, though you can also can it in mason jars. There are also many local apple trees along public sidewalks, so gleaning would be an option there as well. This year, we put several gallons of applesauce in the freezer to use for winter fruit and for baking.
Sometimes, we have friends who ask us to "garden sit" for them while they're gone on vacation over the summer. This leads to all sorts of wonderful bounty, mostly squash, zucchini, and peppers. We've also "chicken sat" for friends, which means that we collect several dozen eggs over the course of a week or so (they have 14 hens).
Recently, I've begun expanding the idea of gleaning to other areas. I realized that we're always the ones to ask for the turkey carcass after holiday meals, which yields a lot of yummy stock and enough meat for a batch or two of soup. Last year, we were gifted with four turkey carcasses after the Thanksgiving pot luck at church, which was a wonderful gift when we were just getting used to a much stricter budget.
When we have Sunday dinners at Mom's house, I will often save veggie scraps and bring them home to make veggie stock. She will sometimes splurge on mushrooms or other veggies that are typically more expensive and out of our budget, so it's nice to use the trimmings for a savory stock. I'll also save the broccoli and cauliflower stems from her house to add to our freezer bag for soup. Broccoli and cheese soup is just as tasty with the "trunks", and broccoli isn't always a cheap veggie, so it's not something we make often, though we love it.
At school, kids often throw away unopened milk cartons. They're required to take the milk as a part of a "healthy, balanced meal," but it amazes me how many of them eat very little of what is actually on their tray. I volunteer to take any unopened milk to use at the house, or if I have an abundance, I will take it by the food pantry at church.
The same gleaning principle can be applied to bread. I have a freezer bag I keep in the freezer with the ends of loaves of bread, cracker crumbs, etc. When the bag is full, I buzz the whole contents through the food processor to make bread crumbs for a variety of meals (pecan crusted chicken is probably our favorite, but you could top any casserole). By keeping it in the freezer, it means the bread won't go stale or moldy while I'm waiting to collect enough to do something with.
It always pains me to see people just throw away these remnants, since they can yield such tasty meals. I know it's from ages gone by, but saving these things isn't a skill that we should lose just because it's convenient to pick up something at the store. Often, gleaned produce is more nutritious (because it's fresher) and/or organic, which makes me feel better about feeding it to my family.
Gleaning can also go beyond food into the realm of clothing. I've learned to just ask friends for hand-me-downs for the little guy. Often, they're more than willing to clean out their closets and unload the "junk" on us. I've also used this strategy for maternity clothes in the past, which are often worn only a few times. I have a few friends whom I love their style, both for themselves and their kids, and just being willing to ask means that I have cute clothes for myself and little man. I don't mind trading some baked goodies or homemade applesauce for clothes, and often this is for a busy mom who really appreciates something homemade and wholesome for her family.
These basic principles really allow us to stretch our food and clothing budgets. I know there are others in other parts of the country who can glean other foods (I saw on The Prudent Homemaker how she had recently gleaned olives). Do you ever go gleaning? If not for yourself, maybe for Second Harvest? I'd love to hear from you!
A few of the things we consistently forage or glean are blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, and sometimes peppers or zucchini from a friend's garden. We can consistently count on gleaning blackberries from the roadside in our neighborhood. We seem to be the only ones who pick them, aside from the wildlife, so we can generally harvest several gallons over the growing season. We also glean blueberries from my aunt's property (they no longer live here full time), and raspberries from friends who are overrun with them. We put these in the freezer or use them to make jam for gifting and for winter enjoyment.
We gather apples from friends' trees for apple pie filling, apple crisp, and applesauce. We generally freeze the applesauce, though you can also can it in mason jars. There are also many local apple trees along public sidewalks, so gleaning would be an option there as well. This year, we put several gallons of applesauce in the freezer to use for winter fruit and for baking.
Sometimes, we have friends who ask us to "garden sit" for them while they're gone on vacation over the summer. This leads to all sorts of wonderful bounty, mostly squash, zucchini, and peppers. We've also "chicken sat" for friends, which means that we collect several dozen eggs over the course of a week or so (they have 14 hens).
Recently, I've begun expanding the idea of gleaning to other areas. I realized that we're always the ones to ask for the turkey carcass after holiday meals, which yields a lot of yummy stock and enough meat for a batch or two of soup. Last year, we were gifted with four turkey carcasses after the Thanksgiving pot luck at church, which was a wonderful gift when we were just getting used to a much stricter budget.
When we have Sunday dinners at Mom's house, I will often save veggie scraps and bring them home to make veggie stock. She will sometimes splurge on mushrooms or other veggies that are typically more expensive and out of our budget, so it's nice to use the trimmings for a savory stock. I'll also save the broccoli and cauliflower stems from her house to add to our freezer bag for soup. Broccoli and cheese soup is just as tasty with the "trunks", and broccoli isn't always a cheap veggie, so it's not something we make often, though we love it.
At school, kids often throw away unopened milk cartons. They're required to take the milk as a part of a "healthy, balanced meal," but it amazes me how many of them eat very little of what is actually on their tray. I volunteer to take any unopened milk to use at the house, or if I have an abundance, I will take it by the food pantry at church.
The same gleaning principle can be applied to bread. I have a freezer bag I keep in the freezer with the ends of loaves of bread, cracker crumbs, etc. When the bag is full, I buzz the whole contents through the food processor to make bread crumbs for a variety of meals (pecan crusted chicken is probably our favorite, but you could top any casserole). By keeping it in the freezer, it means the bread won't go stale or moldy while I'm waiting to collect enough to do something with.
It always pains me to see people just throw away these remnants, since they can yield such tasty meals. I know it's from ages gone by, but saving these things isn't a skill that we should lose just because it's convenient to pick up something at the store. Often, gleaned produce is more nutritious (because it's fresher) and/or organic, which makes me feel better about feeding it to my family.
Gleaning can also go beyond food into the realm of clothing. I've learned to just ask friends for hand-me-downs for the little guy. Often, they're more than willing to clean out their closets and unload the "junk" on us. I've also used this strategy for maternity clothes in the past, which are often worn only a few times. I have a few friends whom I love their style, both for themselves and their kids, and just being willing to ask means that I have cute clothes for myself and little man. I don't mind trading some baked goodies or homemade applesauce for clothes, and often this is for a busy mom who really appreciates something homemade and wholesome for her family.
These basic principles really allow us to stretch our food and clothing budgets. I know there are others in other parts of the country who can glean other foods (I saw on The Prudent Homemaker how she had recently gleaned olives). Do you ever go gleaning? If not for yourself, maybe for Second Harvest? I'd love to hear from you!
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