Okay, "movement" might be a little expansive for where things are at right now, but I have seen stranger things happen, and in today's world many people are involuntarily forced into frugality by the circumstances of their lives...paycuts, lost jobs, increased expenses on gas or food...the economy is shifting. It's more of a frugal economy now...maybe even a "frugalonomy" if you will ;-)
Living under our means is not just a nicety at this point. It's more of a necessity to ensure that we don't get stuck between a rock and a hard place when things in our personal situation shift and we don't have a choice on making resourceful decisions. If you're just starting down this narrow path, welcome. It's not as painful as you might think. If you're already frugally-minded and are wondering how much further you can go? Frugalonomy will help you fine tune your skills to be the best frugalonomist you can be :-)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Mean green money saving machine
It's no wonder that in a lot of cases, the "greenest" thing to do is also the least expensive. Anytime we can use resources we have already instead of trashing them in exchange for something else, this big blue planet breathes a little sigh of relief. On the quest for living sustainably I think we can take the best lessons from people who actually were sustained by what the earth made.
- Grow your food if you can
Although I have a yard now, for about six years I lived in a condo without any kind of yard so no planting in the ground. After seeing an inspirational DIY project on instructables.com I figured I could have a container garden and maybe something I would plant might grow. Turns out, even with my black thumb, a little effort and water paid off and we could actually enjoy a salad pulled right from our garden.
- Use what your mama gave you
Basically, the newest, hottest, coolest stuff may be new, hot, and cool, but it's also one more thing to add to the stack of last years new, hot, cool thing that's now out of date and in the donate pile. By sticking with old standards even though they might not be the prettiest, you're recognizing that our over-consumption of stuff can contribute to an obese house cluttered with things that sap our energy just like over-consumption of food can contribute to the problem that many in our country are facing today.
Even in an effort to greenify your house, everything you take out has to go somewhere. Replacing your current windows for vinyl windows instead? What happens to the ones that come out? Can the glass or metal be recycled or repurposed? Probably. And the energy-star appliances that are replacing the clunkers are great, but if the clunkers end up in a landfill where they'll sit for thousands of years then is it the greenest option? Try donating those things to organizations that train people on appliance repair, put it on Freecycle, or Craigslist, or see what recycling services are offered by your city for large appliances.
Going green is fabulous. I use cloth diapers, make my own baby food, and by no-VOC paint, but there's always a trade-off. It's just important to keep an eye out for "greenwashing" tactics that so many companies use to make us think that buying this or that is good for the environment. In many cases, the best thing you can do is save your money and use what you have.
Save a buck on the babe
Let's face it- babies are expensive. We can say that we'll get everything we need for the first couple years from baby showers, doting grandparents, and birthday parties, but realistically not everybody has all of those options, and either way people are still spending money on the little one. I kind of think that the carbon footprint of a baby is the highest percentage to their actual size than any other time in their life (especially if that baby is a first grandchild...can you say toys, toys, and more toys?!?!).
I have a 17 month old, and that doesn't always coincide with saving money. There are diapers to buy (we use cloth, but we still had to buy them), daycare from time to time when family isn't available to watch her, and they usually need to eat something. I tend to think that clothes are more of an option at this point, but for the sake of argument let's say it's winter (which is Southern California means it's in the high 60's...brrr) and baby needs a sweater. It all adds up, sometimes to more than we anticipate.
Here's how my husband and I applied our frugal principles to all things baby.
1- Cloth Diapers (link to separate article about cloth diapers)
2- Home made baby food (link to separate article about making baby food at home)
3- Used furniture (link to article about using Craigslist and Freecycle to decorate the nursery)
4- Finding quality, affordable daycare providers in your area (link to article)
5- A frugal wardrobe (link to shopping for clothes on a budget)
6- Other ideas: get lots of free samples from the hospital, ThredUp.com, consignment stores, collect all the baby coupons and follow some good coupon blogs to find deals.
And, here's where we splurged (link to pic of the $50 wooden activity block from Target).
What other ideas do you have for saving on baby related expenses?
I have a 17 month old, and that doesn't always coincide with saving money. There are diapers to buy (we use cloth, but we still had to buy them), daycare from time to time when family isn't available to watch her, and they usually need to eat something. I tend to think that clothes are more of an option at this point, but for the sake of argument let's say it's winter (which is Southern California means it's in the high 60's...brrr) and baby needs a sweater. It all adds up, sometimes to more than we anticipate.
Here's how my husband and I applied our frugal principles to all things baby.
1- Cloth Diapers (link to separate article about cloth diapers)
2- Home made baby food (link to separate article about making baby food at home)
3- Used furniture (link to article about using Craigslist and Freecycle to decorate the nursery)
4- Finding quality, affordable daycare providers in your area (link to article)
5- A frugal wardrobe (link to shopping for clothes on a budget)
6- Other ideas: get lots of free samples from the hospital, ThredUp.com, consignment stores, collect all the baby coupons and follow some good coupon blogs to find deals.
And, here's where we splurged (link to pic of the $50 wooden activity block from Target).
What other ideas do you have for saving on baby related expenses?
Hypertufa...bless you!
A couple years ago I was browsing through my Martha Stewart magazine pondering where in the world do houses actually look like that, when I came across something that peaked my interest. I love various cement treatments on things (floors and countertops especially...but not at the same time), and there was a whole article on this thing called "hypertufa." When I say it people aren't sure what to say, because they really don't know what I'm saying.
Tufa is a naturally occuring stone in nature that attracts moss and organically develops into this really cool thing. Hypertufa is a man-made (read: fake) version of that naturally occurring stone, but it looks so awesome. When I saw the article with actual instructions I thought to myself, "Self, you never make anything that you see in these magazines, but this looks like something you can conquer." That little pep talk was enough to get me off my duff and out to Home Depot for the following supplies: portland cement, peat moss, and perlite. I figured, if I can get everything at one store, in one trip, with less than one paycheck I'm doing it, and the total was less than $30 for everything I needed to make more hypertufa than I would in a lifetime.
Once I had the supplies gathered it was time to get going. I had the magazine article right next to me the whole time and surprisingly, the instructions were actually right on and I ended up with some awesome looking planters for some succulents. There are so many resources out there on hypertufa, it's like this underground society that singlehandedly supports the portland cement industry.
Here are some more pictures of what I made including a link to my etsy store in case you don't have the time or energy to make them yourself (even though they're so easy and it's really rewarding to see one on your porch). Hypertufa away!!
Tufa is a naturally occuring stone in nature that attracts moss and organically develops into this really cool thing. Hypertufa is a man-made (read: fake) version of that naturally occurring stone, but it looks so awesome. When I saw the article with actual instructions I thought to myself, "Self, you never make anything that you see in these magazines, but this looks like something you can conquer." That little pep talk was enough to get me off my duff and out to Home Depot for the following supplies: portland cement, peat moss, and perlite. I figured, if I can get everything at one store, in one trip, with less than one paycheck I'm doing it, and the total was less than $30 for everything I needed to make more hypertufa than I would in a lifetime.
Once I had the supplies gathered it was time to get going. I had the magazine article right next to me the whole time and surprisingly, the instructions were actually right on and I ended up with some awesome looking planters for some succulents. There are so many resources out there on hypertufa, it's like this underground society that singlehandedly supports the portland cement industry.
Here are some more pictures of what I made including a link to my etsy store in case you don't have the time or energy to make them yourself (even though they're so easy and it's really rewarding to see one on your porch). Hypertufa away!!
Dinner under pressure
I was lucky enough this year to get a few things that I really wanted for Christmas...an immersion blender that I have so far used to make milk shakes (once), and a pressure cooker that I have used numerous times and don't know how I lived without it for so long.
If you've never used a pressure cooker, be prepared for your culinary life to change. I literally cooked potatoes from rock hard to smashable soft in a total of 5 minutes. I added a little milk, butter, salt, and pepper and had mashed potatoes on the table in less time than it took me to sear the steak I was cooking. When there's a hungry toddler and a hungry husband staring at you from the table, the faster the better!
When shopping for a pressure cooker there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
1- Size: Think about what you're hoping to cook in the pressure cooker, how many people you'll be feeding, and read the info on the box (or the user manual if you can get to it) to see if they make any recommendations first. You don't want to buy one only to get it home and realize that you can't cook the amount of food you wanted to because you can only fill it so full.
2- Price: There are a whole variety of pressure cookers out there at all different price points. The price is sometimes connected to the features or actual components of the cooker (mine, for example, came with an attachable strainer so I could hold the cooker with two hands and drain it at the same time), but sometimes the price is more driven by the brand name. I have a Presto cooker that cost about $26 at a local discount store. They seem to be making a come back, so if you keep an eye out you're sure to spot a deal.
3- Features: As I mentioned already, different cookers come with different features (multiple pressure release valves, the attachable strainer, different pressure regulators), so again think about what you make most that could be sped up by cooking it using the pressure cooker and see if any of the features will make that easier for you. The strainer is great for when I make beans, potatoes, and a whole variety of other foods.
When you get it home, follow the manufacturer's instructions for washing it and preparing it for use, and then just make something. Cut up some vegetables, pull out some chicken, or open a bag of beans and (again, following the instructions provided by the manufacturer), try it out. I waited at least a few weeks before breaking mine open because I was a little intimidated not having used one before. It was S.O. E.A.S.Y!! After the first time I was hooked.
Here are some of my favorite pressure cooker recipes...do you have any recipes that did (or didn't) work well when cooked under pressure?
If you've never used a pressure cooker, be prepared for your culinary life to change. I literally cooked potatoes from rock hard to smashable soft in a total of 5 minutes. I added a little milk, butter, salt, and pepper and had mashed potatoes on the table in less time than it took me to sear the steak I was cooking. When there's a hungry toddler and a hungry husband staring at you from the table, the faster the better!
When shopping for a pressure cooker there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
1- Size: Think about what you're hoping to cook in the pressure cooker, how many people you'll be feeding, and read the info on the box (or the user manual if you can get to it) to see if they make any recommendations first. You don't want to buy one only to get it home and realize that you can't cook the amount of food you wanted to because you can only fill it so full.
2- Price: There are a whole variety of pressure cookers out there at all different price points. The price is sometimes connected to the features or actual components of the cooker (mine, for example, came with an attachable strainer so I could hold the cooker with two hands and drain it at the same time), but sometimes the price is more driven by the brand name. I have a Presto cooker that cost about $26 at a local discount store. They seem to be making a come back, so if you keep an eye out you're sure to spot a deal.
3- Features: As I mentioned already, different cookers come with different features (multiple pressure release valves, the attachable strainer, different pressure regulators), so again think about what you make most that could be sped up by cooking it using the pressure cooker and see if any of the features will make that easier for you. The strainer is great for when I make beans, potatoes, and a whole variety of other foods.
When you get it home, follow the manufacturer's instructions for washing it and preparing it for use, and then just make something. Cut up some vegetables, pull out some chicken, or open a bag of beans and (again, following the instructions provided by the manufacturer), try it out. I waited at least a few weeks before breaking mine open because I was a little intimidated not having used one before. It was S.O. E.A.S.Y!! After the first time I was hooked.
Here are some of my favorite pressure cooker recipes...do you have any recipes that did (or didn't) work well when cooked under pressure?
I still love technology, always and forever
I'm a huge technology fan. I think it kind of runs in my family, and I hopped on that band wagon pretty early. I'm not very smart when it comes to technology, but I definitely appreciate that it's there for me when I need it. It can, however, add up VERY quickly when you start snatching up new gadgets, upgrading your old ones, or collecting .99 cent apps on your phone.
I've found a couple ways to cut down on our tech expenses but they didn't all come easy. It took me a while to finally make the FINAL, cut-it-off call to our cable company, but I honestly haven't looked back. Sure, there were calls to them with threats to cancel, then came the discounts, free movie channels, introductory offers, and such. I realized that by caving to the offers I wasn't fulfilling the real goal I had in calling...to cancel so I could save real money. The free movie channels were fine except we probably watched two movies in those six months, and I really didn't want to be spending $70 a month on TV that I sometimes felt burdened to watch (you know that feeling when your DVR is full and the only way it can keep recording is if you have a weekend marathon of all the episodes of Chuck, Biggest Loser, and The Office). There were times I would turn it on "just to see what was recorded" and find myself hypnotized by that glowing screen for hours on end. I had to say no more, so I broke up with my cable company and suddenly found out that there really are more hours in the day!
I still need a fix from time to time, though, so we bought a $20 HD antennae from the store (after my husband attempted to make an HD antennae that only sorta kinda picked up a small signal every once in a while if he was holding it and touching the tv at the same time) and found out that some of the public broadcasting channels actually have some useful information. We also use the free version of www.hulu.com (there's a paid version that's $8/month...too rich for my blood) and can watch almost all the same shows that we were previously paying $70 a month for. I don't even miss some of the shows I used to watch. Come to think of it, I can't even remember some of the shows I used to watch even though at the time I would be mad if the DVR didn't record it or stopped working half way through.
I've also heard that www.netflix.com is similar to Hulu with slightly different offerings (also $8/mo), so you can check both of them out and decide which would be more appealing for you.
I can't say that I've given up TV altogether, but at least I'm not paying my cable company to suck hours out of my day (okay, let's be honest, I paid them and GAVE them those hours of my life willingly, but it's so much more fun to just blame them than look in the mirror).
Some other time we'll talk about saving money on phones using things like skype, Magic Jack, and a variety of other options that will probably pop up between now and when that post actually gets written.
I've found a couple ways to cut down on our tech expenses but they didn't all come easy. It took me a while to finally make the FINAL, cut-it-off call to our cable company, but I honestly haven't looked back. Sure, there were calls to them with threats to cancel, then came the discounts, free movie channels, introductory offers, and such. I realized that by caving to the offers I wasn't fulfilling the real goal I had in calling...to cancel so I could save real money. The free movie channels were fine except we probably watched two movies in those six months, and I really didn't want to be spending $70 a month on TV that I sometimes felt burdened to watch (you know that feeling when your DVR is full and the only way it can keep recording is if you have a weekend marathon of all the episodes of Chuck, Biggest Loser, and The Office). There were times I would turn it on "just to see what was recorded" and find myself hypnotized by that glowing screen for hours on end. I had to say no more, so I broke up with my cable company and suddenly found out that there really are more hours in the day!
I still need a fix from time to time, though, so we bought a $20 HD antennae from the store (after my husband attempted to make an HD antennae that only sorta kinda picked up a small signal every once in a while if he was holding it and touching the tv at the same time) and found out that some of the public broadcasting channels actually have some useful information. We also use the free version of www.hulu.com (there's a paid version that's $8/month...too rich for my blood) and can watch almost all the same shows that we were previously paying $70 a month for. I don't even miss some of the shows I used to watch. Come to think of it, I can't even remember some of the shows I used to watch even though at the time I would be mad if the DVR didn't record it or stopped working half way through.
I've also heard that www.netflix.com is similar to Hulu with slightly different offerings (also $8/mo), so you can check both of them out and decide which would be more appealing for you.
I can't say that I've given up TV altogether, but at least I'm not paying my cable company to suck hours out of my day (okay, let's be honest, I paid them and GAVE them those hours of my life willingly, but it's so much more fun to just blame them than look in the mirror).
Some other time we'll talk about saving money on phones using things like skype, Magic Jack, and a variety of other options that will probably pop up between now and when that post actually gets written.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
My to-do list can shove it
Yes, I said it. I verbalized what several of you have been wanting to say to that daunting list with unchecked boxes for years. I told it to take a hike. We moved just a couple weeks ago and have way to much stuff for the downsized house that we moved into (about 400 sq. feet smaller than the one we were in before). While I'm excited about the opportunity to simplify and frugalize, I'm not so excited about the boxes that multiplied like bunnies in the U-Haul or the clothes that are pushed under my bed because our closet is half as big as the one at our old place. There are, literally, a million things that I need to do to get our home in some semblance of order.
All that said, last Sunday my babe and my baby (aka my awesome husband and sweet little girl) were napping and I had uninterrupted me time. I'm all about wringing as much as I can out of my time, money, and resources in general to be a good steward, but the best thing I could do for me during that two hours (oh yeah, baby, two FULL hours) was spend time outside in my garden. I know some of you are like, "my garden IS my to do last that's been staring me in the face," but for me gardening feeds my soul and I was a little hungry after a stressful couple weeks (I mentioned that we moved, right??).
So, I looked at the boxes, the clean dishes in the dishwasher and the dirty ones in the sink, thought about the laundry in the dryer, and decided to go outside instead. I'm still riding on that gardening high, so I can easily say it was worth it. All those other things eventually got done...well, the laundry may still be in the dryer, but I was able to get some seeds started, some weeds pulled, and some flowers watered. I don't often have an opportunity to have that much dedicated me-time, and since I created my to-do list I realized that I have control over the stress it causes me.
Maybe I'll just tuck that list into a drawer and take it out when I'm ready for it instead of letting it hover within sight during my every waking minute. Now to clean out that drawer...something else to add to the list.
All that said, last Sunday my babe and my baby (aka my awesome husband and sweet little girl) were napping and I had uninterrupted me time. I'm all about wringing as much as I can out of my time, money, and resources in general to be a good steward, but the best thing I could do for me during that two hours (oh yeah, baby, two FULL hours) was spend time outside in my garden. I know some of you are like, "my garden IS my to do last that's been staring me in the face," but for me gardening feeds my soul and I was a little hungry after a stressful couple weeks (I mentioned that we moved, right??).
So, I looked at the boxes, the clean dishes in the dishwasher and the dirty ones in the sink, thought about the laundry in the dryer, and decided to go outside instead. I'm still riding on that gardening high, so I can easily say it was worth it. All those other things eventually got done...well, the laundry may still be in the dryer, but I was able to get some seeds started, some weeds pulled, and some flowers watered. I don't often have an opportunity to have that much dedicated me-time, and since I created my to-do list I realized that I have control over the stress it causes me.
Maybe I'll just tuck that list into a drawer and take it out when I'm ready for it instead of letting it hover within sight during my every waking minute. Now to clean out that drawer...something else to add to the list.
Frugalizing
You know, I've discovered a few things over my 30-ish years on the planet, and one of them is that more things are flexible than we think. One of those things is price. In our free trade, capitalist society, people put a price on something based on the value, not always the actual cost of the item. That value is a bit subjective (can I get a holla' from my garage-saling peeps?), and more things are open to value interpretation than meets the eye. That's how places can put out coupons and still stay open for business. What they actually charge (even with the coupon) is still usually more than what it costs them, but when someone's using a coupon even for a measly amount they feel like they're getting a good value...beating the system in a way.
In our family, we take advantage of the flexibility by trying to find any way we can save money on something (without wasting too much time). So, now whenever dear hubs or I have an idea to do something, we always think of ways to do the same thing but for less money. I call it frugalizing but you can call it whatever you want (just don't call it late for dinner). It's a fun exercise in creativity and actually gets us using the old noggin instead of the old wallet.
For example, we love going out to eat. It saves me from the time in kitchen and the clean up afterwards, but it doesn't save much in the way of money. So, we've started to compromise and when we do go out we frugalize and go someplace that's running a special or has a coupon out. One of our favorite eateries offers a free drink on Wednesdays with the purchase of a tostada (our favorite meal at said eatery), so we save up our dollars and our calories...tostadas aren't cheap on the waistline either, and head over when we can get our drinks for free. Considering they offer free quesadillas for kids under 6 every day (that just gave my favorite eatery away to some of you ; ) ) we save a few dollars just by timing our visit to the day they're running the special. There are so many Taco Tuesday deals at all sorts of Mexican restaurants, you can buy enough to last the week and put 'em in your freezer ***not really sure if you can freeze them but it's worth a try in a pinch***. They might charge $2.50 every other day of the week, and it's not like tacos cost less to make on Tuesdays, but marketing to people's desire for a good value drives their business and hopefully builds repeat customers who come back the other six days of the week. Another thing we do to frugalize when we go out to eat is share one meal between the two of us. Not only does that help save money, but it helps save some calories in the meantime. This is one of the most obvious ways we save on food when we go out, and you're probably thinking "duh, doesn't everybody do that?" Nope.
There are a million ways we can frugalize things...have swap parties with friends to trade clothes, or books, or kids toys to save the cash but get something pre-loved and fun...check out the free section on Craigslist or sign up for freecycle.com to get furniture that you can slap a coat of paint on and call it a day...cut off the top of dated notepaper to use as general scratch paper...and so much more.
The next time you want to do something that you're not sure your bank account can support, just frugalize it. You'll be super surprised at how far you can stretch your dough when you add a dash of frugal into the mix.
When have you frugalized to save money, time, or other resources?
In our family, we take advantage of the flexibility by trying to find any way we can save money on something (without wasting too much time). So, now whenever dear hubs or I have an idea to do something, we always think of ways to do the same thing but for less money. I call it frugalizing but you can call it whatever you want (just don't call it late for dinner). It's a fun exercise in creativity and actually gets us using the old noggin instead of the old wallet.
For example, we love going out to eat. It saves me from the time in kitchen and the clean up afterwards, but it doesn't save much in the way of money. So, we've started to compromise and when we do go out we frugalize and go someplace that's running a special or has a coupon out. One of our favorite eateries offers a free drink on Wednesdays with the purchase of a tostada (our favorite meal at said eatery), so we save up our dollars and our calories...tostadas aren't cheap on the waistline either, and head over when we can get our drinks for free. Considering they offer free quesadillas for kids under 6 every day (that just gave my favorite eatery away to some of you ; ) ) we save a few dollars just by timing our visit to the day they're running the special. There are so many Taco Tuesday deals at all sorts of Mexican restaurants, you can buy enough to last the week and put 'em in your freezer ***not really sure if you can freeze them but it's worth a try in a pinch***. They might charge $2.50 every other day of the week, and it's not like tacos cost less to make on Tuesdays, but marketing to people's desire for a good value drives their business and hopefully builds repeat customers who come back the other six days of the week. Another thing we do to frugalize when we go out to eat is share one meal between the two of us. Not only does that help save money, but it helps save some calories in the meantime. This is one of the most obvious ways we save on food when we go out, and you're probably thinking "duh, doesn't everybody do that?" Nope.
There are a million ways we can frugalize things...have swap parties with friends to trade clothes, or books, or kids toys to save the cash but get something pre-loved and fun...check out the free section on Craigslist or sign up for freecycle.com to get furniture that you can slap a coat of paint on and call it a day...cut off the top of dated notepaper to use as general scratch paper...and so much more.
The next time you want to do something that you're not sure your bank account can support, just frugalize it. You'll be super surprised at how far you can stretch your dough when you add a dash of frugal into the mix.
When have you frugalized to save money, time, or other resources?
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