Vacation or Staycation

I'LL BE BACK....after my self-imposed staycation in Sunny South Dakota!

See you in 2011 - Happy Holidays!

Groceries: The Pantry Principle

Flour, chocolate chips and potatoes will go into my "pantry".

Grocery prices are on the rise and some experts state that prices will be going sky high in the future. I had a friend ask me how I would recommend starting a pantry, but before I go into the details on that, I have a few comments.

There are several reasons why you would want to stock up on food.

• Emergencies (blizzards, job loss, etc.)
• Hedge against inflation 
• Save time and money 

However, If you need to lower your grocery budget drastically, I would NOT recommend using the pantry principle first. That is an entirely different post! This post is geared toward the people who want to have food on hand for emergencies, hedge against inflation or save a bit of time/money on food.

How do you get started? There are several pieces to this puzzle. The pantry = any food that you don't plan to consume immediately. It could be stored in the fridge, freezer, closet, cupboard or under the bed.

Food
What food do you want to store in your pantry? Someone once wrote,

"Store what you eat and eat what you store."

It doesn't do you any good to store tuna if you hate it. Don't stock up on beans and rice if you have no idea how to cook them. Don't buy wheat if you don't have a grinder. If you hate canned vegetables, then don't buy them.

Look at the meals you cooked for the past week. If you used a lot of meat, frozen vegetables, tuna, canned chicken broth and pasta, then you would stock up on those items.

Money
Obviously if you are going to get a pantry going, you have to have some money! Where is that going to come from?

• Bonus?
• Tax refund?
• Extra paycheck?
• Babysteps using a little every week?

I personally use the babystep plan. Every week I try to set aside a certain amount of money for my pantry. $5.00 is a great start.

Don't have $5.00?

Skip the meat one night for dinner - make veggie soup or scrambled eggs with veggies - use that money. Buy meat that is on sale instead of the meat that you really want. Still don't have $5.00? How about $1.00 - turn the thermostat down a few degrees and wear a sweater or do some jumping jacks. The important part is to get started.

Create Storage Space
We have a small storage area under our stairs with exposed 2X4's. I asked my husband to put some shelves in there that I use as my storage space. Under the bed works great for canned items.

Determine Amount
What's your goal? I like working with monthly amounts, some people work with weekly, quarterly or yearly amounts. Another great way is to figure out the store's sales cycle (usually 4-6 weeks) and buy as many as you need to last until the next sale.

Example 1:

1. I buy an 8 pack of canned tomatoes at Sam's Club monthly.
2. I bought 1 extra 8 pack of tomatoes and put them in my "storage space". Cost $6.00.
3. Throughout the month I use the tomatoes from my cupboard, not my storage space.
4. At the beginning of the next month, before I go to Sam's Club, I take the canned tomatoes from my storage space and put them in my cupboard.
5. When I go to Sam's Club and buy an 8 pack of tomatoes and I put them in my storage space.

Example 2:

1. We drink Yuban dark roast coffee. Here in our small town, I've only seen it at Safeway. 
2. Regular price = $7.99.
3. About every 6 weeks it goes on sale. Sale price = $5.99. 
4. When it goes on sale, buy two cans. One for your pantry and one for your storage space.
5. In 6 weeks when it goes on sale again, buy 1 can and put it in your storage space.
6. Take the can from your storage space and move it to your pantry.
7. Savings - $2.00 every 6 weeks (about $17 per year). Find 10 items like that and you'll have an extra $170 per year.

Obviously, we don't all buy tomatoes, coffee or shop at Sam's Club. These are just a couple of examples for you.


In summary:

1. Get to know your family's eating habits. Record what you eat for a week. Decide what to store.
2. Determine where the money will come from.
3. Create storage space.
4. Create an action plan.

Newbies: Do these steps in order! Do NOT go to the next step until you've completed the previous step!

In my family, we use the pantry principle because it makes my life easier. Back in the day, I didn't ever have any food in the house. We ate take out a lot and spent a ton of money. Today our grocery budget is $400 per month. Previously our budget was $260 per month, but we've decided to support more local businesses and eat fewer pasta/carb based meals.


How does this save anything?

1. Saves time and money - no running to the store because you forgot you needed something. If you store the food that you normally eat, you will always have something on hand to cook. If you go out to eat, it will be because you made that choice, not because there was nothing in the house to eat.
2. Stress! If there is a blizzard coming your way, have you ever tried to go to the store? SO NOT FUN!!! You will have food on hand at home that you can eat.
3. Lost your job? You will have some food on hand to get by for a bit.
4. Money - if you buy these items as loss leaders/sale items then you will be eating "sale" food every day.

Questions:
If you have ANY questions, I'd love to hear them! If you have a question, I can guarantee someone else has the same question.

Any comments about how you use the pantry principle?

This thread has been linked to:
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven
Money Saving Mom
We are THAT Family


P.S. My pantry has backfired on me a few times. Example: When I realized exactly how they make dried milk and didn't want to give it to my family anymore. Black olives - read my post to find out why having a lot on hand backfired.

Crepes

Since I no longer eat flour, traditional breakfast foods have pretty much gone out the window. I've tried making a few "bread" type products using almond flour or coconut flour, but blech. I'd rather not have them.

I read this over in the forums over at Mark's Daily Apple and thought I would try it.

DELICIOUS!!!

I don't want to get into the habit of using too many nuts due to the high Omega 6 fats that are in them, but for an occasional treat they are wonderful. Next time I try this recipe, I want to try to make pancakes out of them instead of crepes so I can make more than one at a time.

From Mark's Daily Apple - you must click over there to read ideas from other people:

Crepes:

Mix in food processor

• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 heaping tbsp of cashew butter (made almond butter by putting almonds in my food processor)
• 1 tbsp of heavy cream

Then add in 1/8 cup of butter, melted warm butter (not hot) and mix again. Thin out with 2 or so more tbsp of cream.

Directions from MDA:

1. Heat your frying pan on a low heat
2. Pour your batter (I use a measuring cup with a spout) into the middle of the pan, and drizzle in a spiral around that initial blob (does that make any sense?!) then quickly swirl your pan so the batter spreads out covering the entire pan evenly and place back on the heat. Crepes should be thin thin thin, and practice will help you get better at this!
3. The edges of your crepes will be the thinnest, and when they begin to curl and brown, flip the crepe. Then it's up to you how long you'd like the other side to sit. Slide onto plate, fill with yummies, fold both sides over the middle and serve!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post has been linked to:
The Grocery Cart Challenge

Dollar a Day Challenge

Can you save $1.00 per day from now until the end of the year?

Sure, no big deal right?

You'd have a measly $16.00 in your pocket if you did that.

MEASLY?




If you are outraged that I said measly, then this challenge isn't for you. If you are thinking that I've finally come around to your way of thinking then this challenge is for you:

Take the "measly" $16.00 (remember, this is exactly $1.00 per day from now until the end of the year) and literally throw it in the garbage.

Now, if you've done that, please pull it out of the trash and give it to the Salvation Army, a church or any other charitable organization.

This challenge has been shared at Life as Mom.

Frugal-Families

My home away from home: Frugal-Families

I know that I've posted about that website before, but a few conversations over there prompted me to write again. I don't need to go there to get information about frugality. You can read about it for free all over the Internet. For hours and hours and hours you can research to your hearts content.

What I *NEED* to go over to Frugal-Families forums for is for "how to" help.

• "My homemade sausage is missing something - can you help me?" Updated recipe coming soon!)
• "Have you ever heard of this recipe before? Is it worth it?"
• "Don't forget to earn more swagbucks today by watching the videos you will earn 2 swagbucks per video. Here's how you check to see what your swagbucks balance is."
• "Here's what I'm working on to try and save money - what are you working on today?"
• "Help! I have no money until payday. Please help me create a menu - here is what is in my pantry."

With each statement AKA "thread" several people will respond to what you write. You can easily search the forum for help in any area of your life! It's a great place that offers both encouragement and accountability.

I've been a member since 2003. I think I used to pay $30 per year when it was Frugal-Moms and now it's only $10 per year. It's not often that a price goes lower over time. As with anything, if you don't participate, you miss out on a LOT!!!

Frugal-Families works for me! Check out We are THAT Family for more tips!

Disclaimer: If you join Frugal-Families I won't get a monetary reward, but I will see you over there!

The Tightwad Gazette: Investment Purchase

Amy Dayczyn wrote The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I must admit that when I first read the book I was completely and totally overwhelmed. Fast forward ten years and I finally understand how frugality works.

I could go get a full time job but then a lot of the money saving things I do would go out the window. I've figured out that making $10 an hour would net our family very little extra income. (Part time is a whole different story). This is what works for me and my family - you have to make your own choices!

Anyway, on page 83, Amy D talks about:

The Investment Purchase and The Disposable Purchase

She was talking about an investment purchase in their family might include something that you could resell like an antique, as opposed to a disposable purchase which would be something like a can of tuna fish.

She stated "Disposable purchases are those things that we buy for short-term use, such as food, clothing, and entertainment. Certainly food is an investment in nutrition, but tuna fish provides a similar food value to lobster."

Whether you agree with her views or not about tuna vs. lobster is irrelevant. What's important here is the concept. In our family, we have chosen to increase our food budget even though it's a disposable purchase because we found that we wanted to invest in our local farmers and ranchers. We've chosen to eat more protein and fewer starches because our bodies are an investment and I feel a million times better the way we eat now.

It takes time to make these decisions. If you go through life from one emergency to the next, you'll never have time to make the correct choices for your family.

Where are you going to get this time? The best advice I have right now is to buy and read the e-book called Tell Your Time. My advice would be to stop wasting time on unimportant things...now you see why I refer you to someone else! I cannot believe I actually bought an ebook, but that is a whole different post.

If you are new to reading Amy D. and The Tightwad Gazette, I would check it out from the library and read bits and pieces at a time so you don't get overwhelmed.

Are you spending your money INVESTING in your life?!?
This post has been linked to:
11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

** Disclaimer: if you click on Tell Your Time from this website I'll get a bit of money.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm using "week D" as my basic menu plan...with a few changes.

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm trying to simplify and cheapify my current menu plan so if you click over to my basic menu plan for this week, you'll see it's a bit different.

My daughter has two basketball games, one basketball tourney and two practices that I'm working around. Busy last week of ball for her!  In no particular order here's what's happening at our house.

• Chili
• Burgers w/ homemade baked french fries (tips anyone???)
• French toast with scrambled eggs (thanks Prudent Homemaker for the tip!) Not sure what I'll be having instead of the french toast. Possibly a crepe with almond meal? Maybe nothing....
• Meatza with onions, green peppers and pepperoni
• Salad with marinated (I'm thinking lime juice, olive oil, garlic and salt??? anyone???) steak on top (I love having a side of beef in the freezer!)
• Buffalo Wings, salad, celery and carrots (except it'll be buffalo legs because wings were twice as much money)
• Slow Cooker Carnitas

Click on over to "Week D" for links and more info!

This recipe has been linked to Orgjunkie!

Homemaking - The Tablecloth

This homemaking tip comes from my ten eleven (oops!) year old son.

If you spill on the tablecloth, no need to worry, flip it over and use the other side.

Clearly his point is this:

What doesn't matter, DOESN'T MATTER!!!"

Pretty smart kid eh?

Buying in Bulk

 When I buy items in bulk, I have a tendency to use more than I planned. I bought a 6 pack of black olives at Sam's Club with the idea that they would last us three months. Two cans a month, one for a taco dinner and one can for taco salads.

I literally had to hide the cans from myself so I wouldn't break into them. I could eat a can a day, but that would get a bit costly!!!

It doesn't do any good to stock up on things at a low price if you use more of the item.

Can of olives at the grocery store: $1.50 (sale price) * 2 cans per month = $3.00
Can of olives at Sam's Club : $1.38 (regular price) * 4 cans per month = $5.52
Difference = $2.52 per month or $30.24 per year.

Find 5 items you are wasting $2.52 per month on:
$2.52/month * 5 items * 12 months = $151.20 per year

If you can't control yourself with your bulk purchases, then buying in bulk doesn't WORK for YOU. It may seem like it's a waste of money to spend more on one item, but you are winning the fight and losing the battle.

Cheese, peanuts, bacon, protein, mushrooms (canned) are a few other items that come to mind. What other items can you think of that you could save money on?

Check out other frugal tips at: Life as Mom.
This post has been linked to 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven.

How To Feel Poor

When someone asks you to go out to eat, how do you respond?

Sure, I don't have any money, but I have a CREDIT CARD!

or

I can't afford to go out to eat.

or

I am choosing not to go out to eat today.

If you want to go out to eat with a friend AND have the money allocated so you can go out to eat, then go out and enjoy!

Make the right choice today.

You can choose to be rich or choose to be poor based on your attitude.

This change your attitude tip is posted at We are THAT Family.

Pocket Change, Grocery Shopping & A Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed. CONGRATS to MaryR!!!

** FYI: I wrote the first part of this post back in August of 2009.

I bought pop yesterday for $.40/2 liters. Not a big deal right? However, if I did that every single day throughout the year that would be $146. Not only that, I didn't even want the pop and it's not healthy! I'm trying to buy more "real food" - in this case I was thinking "but it's only $.40".

Today, December 2010: here are a couple of pictures of my current purchases

Okay, for some reason I can't add my other picture, but imagine if you will:

• 4 dozen farm fresh eggs
• 1 bag spinach
• 1 can of Yuban coffee
• 1 bag red apples
• 2 avocados
• 1 cucumber
• 1 pear
• and a partridge in a pear tree (just seeing if you are paying attention)

Anyway, very little junk food now enters my cart.  It's taken over a year to get over the mindset of "it's a good deal so buy it!" Now having said that, I did buy some Apple Jacks for my husband today. Not because it was a good deal, but because he happened to mention that he would like some (he rarely mentions anything). Fortunately it was on sale for $2.00 a box.

Giveaway from CSN Stores!!!

Want a little help with your Christmas shopping?

The folks over at CSN Stores have generously offered to give one of my readers a $30 gift certificate to any of their online stores.

Do you need some gift ideas?

Luggage anyone???? They have several different brands to choose from including: Delsey Luggage, The North Face, London Fog and American Flyer. I have a makeup case similar to this one by Baggallini and I love it!

I was able to review an item for them a few months ago and purchased a piece of stoneware that I absolutely love!!! 

To enter this giveaway leave your name, email address (ie. jaebroeder at yahoo dot com) and your best money saving tip at the grocery store in the comments. This giveaway closes on Thursday,  December 9th at 9:00PM MST.
Note: CSN Stores has several items with free shipping - the $30 gift certificate cannot be used toward the shipping costs and international fees may apply.



This post is linked to:
Grocery Cart Challenge

Menu Plan Monday

So I had a great menu planning idea right? You know how you think you FINALLY figured something out and then KERRRRSPLAAATTT.

I just doesn't work. So you might as well just give up and not do it at all right?

WRONG!!!

The problem with buying a side of beef and then making a menu plan based on said side of beef is this: You will run out of ground beef loooooong before you run out of steak. Actually that probably doesn't happen to most people. I am not a huge fan of steak so we rarely make it.

So this week I'm supposed to be on "week C" of my menu planning system. That is the one week that I haven't posted yet.

Here are the other weeks if you are interested:

• Week A
• Week B
• Week D
• Week E

Anyway, I am still going to be using the menu plan idea, but tweak it a bit. For example, every week I'm going to have salad and smoothie night on Wednesday. The meat in the salad as well as the vegetables will change.

Breakfast Plan and I'll be adding PB oatmeal too (I haven't been serving oatmeal at all, but the PB Oatmeal has been a HUGE hit with everyone - I make it on Thursday so there is an easy breakfast already made for the weekend.)

Dinners:

1. Ham and Bean Soup
2. Cinnamon Stewed Pork
3. Taco Salad and refried beans. Smoothie Night!
4. Zuppa Toscana Soup
5. French Toast and Scrambled eggs (I won't eat the french toast so I'll have to figure out something for me - this has been requested a LOT. My poor family is still in shock from the carb based plans to the anti carb plan so I'll be adding a few more carb things in my menu for my family.)
6. Open
7. Open

Here are the sides I'll be serving:

baby carrots, sauteed broccoli or cauliflower, salad, green beans, peas, green/red peppers, roasted veggies, sweet potatoes, fruit, cheese, cauli/rice, bread

Note:
My husband usually eats lunch at work, I eat leftovers and the kids have either beans and rice, fried rice, chicken/tuna salad sandwiches/lettuce wraps or leftovers. They get to have school lunch once per week.

This post is linked to:
orgjunkie
11th Heaven Homemaking Haven

Homemaking - Vacations



Homemakers don't take vacation days...we create them.

Ever noticed how busy you are when you get home from vacation? Everything is still there - nobody else does it for you.

You have to decide to give yourself a break.  Nobody else can do it for you.

Let other people in your family help.

Flylady always says that "housework done incorrectly still blesses your family." Other people can help you around your house. It might not be done exactly the way you would do it, WHO CARES? Will it matter in five years?

Go ahead, schedule your bon bon day today!

Groceries - Eat Less Protein

To reduce your grocery spending, many frugalites will tell you to decrease the amount of meat you eat/protein you consume.

Unfortunately, to do that, often times we add in starches from breads or pastas so that we feel full. I was telling my husband that I either need to increase the grocery budget or serve less protein. Since he doesn't like to spend much money either, we've decided to serve less protein.

In my family, we need to eat quite a bit of protein in the morning so we can make it to lunch without eating a snack. However, at lunch and dinner we don't need to eat as much protein.

I'm finding that I spend more money buying meat and/or protein, but less money on snacks so it seems to balance out.

Of course, just like anything, there is conflicting information out there. Some sources say we need to eat .8 grams per pound of body weight, some say 1.5 grams per pound of body weight.  Regardless of which number I plug in, we've been eating too much.

As a frugalite, I'd say that in order to reduce the food budget, you should make sure you are getting the amount of protein that you need and then add in fruits, veggies and soups in order to reduce your spending. Don't be tempted to add in more starches - they will make you HUNGRY!!!

This post has been linked to:
Life as Mom.
Money Saving Mom

P.S. Here's a list from Mark's Daily Apple that shows how much protein is in various foods.

Grocery Shopping - Frugal Tip

Ang over at inmyorangekitchen ended an excellent post about buying real foods without coupons with this statement:

"But I would love to be able to say, "I saved 50% on my groceries!"... "

Occasionally, I feel the same way. I read blogs where someone spends $50 to feed their family and get totally frustrated.

When I think about it though, I realize that technically they didn't SAVE any money at the grocery store, they actually have SPENT money (disclaimer - some times people leave a grocery store with items and don't actually pay anything.)

I went to Safeway and according to my receipt, I saved 36% off of my grocery bill. REALLY?!?!

Two items jumped out at me. Shrimp and toilet paper.

• Would I have spent $17.98 for 2 pounds of shrimp? Absolutely not. I actually spent $10 for 2 pounds of shrimp. We usually have shrimp and cocktail sauce at Christmas so I bought it ahead of time. I would NOT have bought the shrimp had it been $17.98. Did I save $7.98? NO, I spent $10.00.
• Supposedly I saved $5.00 on the toilet paper I bought. Not true. I wouldn't have bought it there had it cost $5.00 more.

Some people would have bought the shrimp and toilet paper regardless, therefore those people have saved money. No, wait that's not true. They actually SPENT money. 

Time to Change your Attitude.

When you go to the grocery store you are:

SPENDING MONEY NOT SAVING IT

You know the saying: It's not how much you make, it's how much you spend...works the same at the store.

It's not how much you save, it's how much you spend.

I have to say one more thing....when you buy fruits and veggies, notice how much money you DON'T save at the store. Most of the time it's the processed food where you are "saving" so much money. I buy some processed/convenience food too just don't get caught up in the thought of "how much money you have saved buying junk food."

Check out other tips at:
We are THAT Family
Life as Mom