The Story of Stuff

Saving money can have some nifty consequences, like helping your heath, or helping the planet, or even helping build a healthier economy! It can change not only your life, but the WORLD!

Check out The Story of Stuff to give you even more reasons to buy less or used stuff instead of feeding the consumerism monster!

Cook Once, Eat All Week!

When I was a wee lass of only tween years, my mom and dad divorced. Mom worked two jobs (real estate by day, factory by night) in order to support herself, my younger brother, and me. Fabulous mom that she is, she wanted to make sure that even though we were often home for dinner without her, that we had good food to eat.

With that in mind, she took every Sunday off both jobs. Every Sunday, she and I cooked, otherwise prepared and froze food for the coming week.

I had, at that point in my cooking career, mastered the omelet...so my job was to create several of them, which were then integrated with small rolls or english muffins, a slice of cheese and sometimes ham, for quick, nukeable breakfast sandwiches. I cooked spaghetti and Mom made sauce. We baked potatoes and stuffed 'em, and other stuff I'm probably forgetting (it's about 30 years later, after all). We packaged everything up in single servings or meals - we used compartmentalized styrofoam plates - and packed it into the big freezer. My brother and I had wonderful, home-cooked meals all week, regardless of whether or not Mom was available that night to cook them. It was great for us, and great for Mom. Not only did we have great food, but dishwashing was minimized during the hectic week, and I'm certain that cooking once a week saved us money - both on energy and because we bought stuff in bulk. I had great fun and learned a lot about cooking in the process, too!

Now that summer is here, and I'm writing this blog, this experience from my youth is becoming especially pertinent.

Our freezer isn't that big, but fortunately, we're only a two-person household. Most of the stuff I freeze is meat purchased on sale and frozen veggies, the same. But I do tend toward cooking only once a week - and I suspect this will be a very hot summer, which will encourage me to do that even more.

I typically boil a bunch of eggs for my sweetheart to have for breakfast or lunch. Sometimes I make tuna salad for him for lunches. A large pot of rice or pasta (and if I'm feeling magnanimous, macaroni & cheese) is usually in the fridge. This week, I cooked a beef roast in the slow cooker (both of which I bought on sale, of course), and we've been nibbling at it in various formats ever since (tacos, mostly, because of the heat, and because we both love tacos). I'm really starting to realize what a useful and economic practice it is. If I worried about us getting bored with the same thing, I might have cooked a smaller roast, and grilled a few chicken breasts, and alternated those things with some vegetarian meals. If I were cooking for a bigger family, I might do a larger roast and several chicken breasts. Pasta or rice or microwave-baked potatoes and microwaved frozen veggies round it out. I buy a lot of produce in the summer, and mostly we eat it raw or lightly steamed...and it all means minimal cooking during the week.

Having a major cooking session one day a week, and reheating after that saves money, precious time, and leftovers. Plus, if you get your household involved in it, it's a great family activity. Give it a try, you'll see what I mean!

Money-saving Websites

As a tireless bargain hunter, I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to save. Because I'm also a bit of a homebody and an introvert, much of that savings is found online. My latest finds:

RetailMeNot: Created by the folks behind BugMeNot (a great privacy saver), this is a searchable database containing coupon codes for zillions of online stores. Like any really good system, it also allows you to add your coupon codes to the database for others to use, and has a feedback system that tells you what is working and what isn't. Search by store or by keyword.

JungleCrazy is a site associated with Amazon.com that holds a database of Amazon.com products that are 70% or more off the retail price! There are some seriously amazing deals here.

And now to list some of my old, tried and true favorites (you'll also find these on the sidebar):

The Bargainist - offers sales info, freebies and coupon codes on tons of stores, as well as some good articles on saving money. They also have an email subscription service that allows you to get your choice of bargain info delivered to your inbox.

Bookmooch - A place to swap the books you have for the books you want.

SwapaCD - is a site designed to allow you to trade your old, unlistened-to CDs for the things you really want to hear.

SwapaDVD - is the same as above, but for DVDs!

Craigslist - Look to the Craigslist nearest you for bargains and freebies on new and used items of every description.

Happy Hunting!

Saving Money - Some Simple Math

With food prices higher than ever, most of us need to take a closer look at how we spend our grocery dollars. One of the best ways to do that is to simply do the math.

Take starches, for example. Unless you and your family are on the Atkins Diet, you spend some amount of your hard-earned cash on carbs. The basics are: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes.

In my area, both bread and pasta run about $1/lb. Rice, between 50¢/lb. and 99¢/lb. Potatoes? 40¢/lb. Got that? Rice is cheaper than bread or pasta. Potatoes are cheaper than either one. Plan your meals and your shopping list accordingly. Also, check out this book:



My second point isn't as specific, but it is equally important, and it is this: Don't be fooled by packaging tricks. This means to always, ALWAYS check the price per pound pricing on items you're considering buying. Think that buying in bulk will save you money? It certainly *can*, but it doesn't always. Somehow, sometimes buying something in lots of little containers is actually *cheaper* than buying something in bulk. I've noticed being the case with both paper towels and tuna recently. Crazy but true.

Next, don't assume that your big box club (Costco, BJ's, Sam's Club and the like) is really saving you money. Once upon a time this was definitely true, but in today's marketplace, you can often find better deals elsewhere, whether it be online, at your regular grocery store, department stores like Target or K-Mart, or even drugstore chains like CVS. The point is, don't assume, CHECK. You might well find some surprises.

Finally, while it's often true that you can get a better deal by driving more, beware! With high prices at the pumps, doing the math is more important than ever. Here's how:

Take your average miles per gallon* and determine how many miles out of your way you would drive for the sale. That should tell you how much of or how many gallons you'll use getting there. Multiply that by the current cost of gas per gallon (and don't forget that most gas pump prices are sneaky - $3.59 is actually $3.599. Round up to $3.60) and voila! You've learned how much gas money it will cost to get you to the sale(A). Now decide how much savings you'll get at the sale(B). Is A bigger than B? If it is, don't go! You'll just be ripping yourself off in the long run. Is B bigger than A? If so, then go enjoy the sale!! Remember to use this formula when deciding whether to drive farther for cheaper gas, too.

So - don't cheat yourself, or allow sneaky marketing to cheat you! Do the math!


*If you don't already know this number, it is well worth your time to work it out. Find out your gas tank size (usually in handbook). Fill it up. Set your trip counter to zero. Drive until you are on empty. Take the number on the trip counter and divide it by the size of your gas tank. Tada! Your average miles per gallon!