Archive for June, 2009

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Alternatives to Printing Coupons

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

I love being able to use coupons and taking advantage of a sale with a great coupon, but I don’t normally print coupons from my house for two reasons: the cost of ink, and the software required to print the coupons.

How do I circumvent the cost of ink and the software requirement? Sometimes I live without the coupon, but often times I am able to request a coupon to be mailed to me from the coupon printing site. If an option isn’t available for the coupon to be mailed to me from the coupon printing site, I simply move on or email the company directly to see if a coupon is available to be mailed.

The other reason I don’t print coupons and try not to use coupon printing advertisers on my site is due to the spyware that is left behind from installing the software. After installing the software I’ve noticed that my computer runs slightly slower. When checking for viruses, the anti-virus system that I use always notes the coupon printing software as an item that is recommended for removal from my computer.

A couple of alternatives for printing away from home – If you shop at Target, they provide Target coupons that can be matched up with a manufacturer coupon for additional savings. The Target coupons change every two weeks and are for a variety of products available at Target. Target customer service area provides a kiosk designed to print wedding and baby registries. If you access Targets website from the kiosk you can print your Target coupons there, saving on paper and ink.

Another way that I am able to print coupons is if a company provides a PDF file which can be printed from any computer. I’ve printed mine from the library a few times for a small fee. While not free, it is a fraction of the cost required for printing it at my house.

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Making Chicken Stock

Monday, June 29th, 2009

A useful item to have around on a regular basis is chicken stock. Having it enables you to cook many dishes you might come across in cookbooks or on recipe websites. Besides saving money my making it yourself with leftover chicken, you will be making something homemade that doesn’t have all the junk that is in most chicken broths or stocks available at the store. They actually list chemicals on the side of Swanson’s broth.

I store my chicken stock in either freezer bags or freezer containers. I have also frozen it in ice cube trays and then placed the frozen cubes in freezer bags for convenient use later. I love to simmer root vegetables like carrots, onions, parsnips, and turnips in chicken stock and butter. Chicken stock is also useful in Italian dishes, quick soups, and for seasoning in casseroles.

What is the difference between a stock and a broth?

  • Stock is made with bones as well as meat and seasonings. Stock will have a different texture due to the collagen and connective tissues. In laymen’s terms, it will have a little more of an oily texture. When you put it in the refrigerator it will like have a bit of a gel appearance.
  • Broth is made with only meat and seasonings. This is useful for dishes in which you do not want a heavy texture but rather just a flavorful liquid seasoning.

I found this nice instructional video on how to make a chicken stock. This guy is easy to understand. This guy is right on the money about having fresh thyme in your stock.

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Freezing Our Credit – We Had To Do It

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

This is all a true story. My mother recently went on a vacation to the Grand Canyon. When she returned, there were two expensive iPhones that had been delivered to her mailbox. This was a big red flag. She called the mobile phone company and had found out that her account had been accessed without her permission. She also found that an American Express Business account had been established in her husband’s name without his permission. A few other credit agreements had been made fraudulently. Someone had found her husband’s social security number, mother’s maiden name  – everything. It’s impossible for her to find out who did this. She filed a police report and they are now trying to figure out how to clean up the mess.

My husband and I have long been fans of Clark Howard’s podcast. It is a show about money and being cheap. He has been talking about credit freezes for a while. My husband got spooked by my mom’s incident and so did I. We went to Clark Howard’s website and found out how to freeze our credit with all three bureaus. This means that nobody can order a credit report or enter into any credit agreements in your name – including you. You establish a PIN and can have the credit freeze lifted temporarily for a fee supposing you want to take out a loan or get a new job. Sure, this is all a hassle to do but we decided that the trade-offs and costs were worth it. Transunion’s credit freezes are free until July 14, 2009 and we paid $10 each for Experian and Equifax. We spent $40 to ensure that nobody can steal our identities and use our credit.

Some states require the credit bureaus to allow security freezes for free. If you are already a victim of identity theft, security freezes are generally free from the bureaus. You need to know that credit freezes make using credit inconvenient if you intend to establish new loans or credit cards. We have one card and will likely buy our next car for cash so we have no need to establish any new credit agreements. That’s why it works for us. Just imagine every place you’ve ever given your social security number to – insurance agents, banks, credit card companies, medical offices. All it takes is for one disgruntled employee at one of these places to decide to have a party on your credit and you have a big mess on your hands!

Here are some links to become educated:

Clark Howard’s Credit Freeze page

Equifax Credit Freeze FAQ

Transunion Credit Freeze FAQ

Experian Credit Freeze FAQ

Consumers Union State by State Freeze Laws

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Living Frugal and Loving It

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

One of the things I try to steer clear of when starting a conversation with someone new is that my husband and I live frugal lives. The word frugal seems to cause confusion about its true meaning. Prior to the word being trendy, people felt that frugal people were misers or cheapskates. For the most part, I think that frugal people are just really careful about their spending habits.

Living frugal has really helped me to think about the decisions I make in my life whether they be big and make a huge impact on my family, or small and barely cause a ripple in our life financially. The great thing about living frugal is that we are aware of how we spend our money, and focus on what changes in our life have to be made to live frugal yet still live the life that we want.

Before being frugal I hadn’t given much thought to the energy consumption around our house or how it impacts us financially. I’ve always lived by the mantra “turn the light off when you leave the room”, but there is really more to it than that. Becoming aware of all of the little changes that we could make make as a family to both live frugal and energy efficient has challenged me to think of new ways for us to save money.

Another way that helps us over time with our grocery budget is that we stock up on an item while it is at a rock bottom price. I love cooking with red bell peppers, but I am not in love with their high price. The normal price here for a red bell pepper is more than a dollar if not on sale and I feel that it is too much to spend. I was really excited last week when red bell peppers were on sale for $.48 each. I only purchased seven of the peppers, but I am hoping that they will last until the next sale. The peppers cost me about $3.50, and if I hadn’t purchased them on sale would have been closer to $8 or $9. Before being frugal I would have only purchased 1 or 2 peppers even at the $.48 price because I didn’t know I could freeze vegetables. Not all vegetables freeze well, but red bell peppers do.

I’ve written in the past about our older vehicles which saves us a significant amount of money each month since we don’t have a car payment. One of the things that is frustrating about owning an older vehicle with high miles though is that eventually something will break or need to be repaired for it to continue to be reliable. The thermostat on one of our vehicles had to be replaced this week, and rather than putting it off, which would most likely cause even more damage to the car, we had it fixed.

Living frugal has really helped change my mindset about what things in our life can be changed to help us save money. The money that we save grocery shopping, living more energy efficient, and maintaining our vehicles can then be used in other areas of our budget.

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Harvesting Basil + Spaghetti & Tomato Sauce

Friday, June 26th, 2009

img_29702In Oklahoma City today, the temperature was 101 degrees fahrenheit. Our herb garden and pepper plants are really flourishing in this weather. I decided to go out and harvest some basil for some tomato sauce on spaghetti. The sauce was very simple. 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic minced, salt and pepper, olive oil, and a big handful of fresh basil chopped roughly. Simmer this together for 10-15 minutes and serve it over spaghetti cooked al dente and you’re in business for a fresh summer treat. Stay tuned for some more details on my suburban gardening.

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My Financial Wake Up Call, FINALE

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

By putting our spending on paper (or the computer screen), we saw where all the money was going. Later, when we actually understood that a budget should balance and have everything in it, we started budgeting ahead of time for expensive things such as school clothes, car repairs, church camp for the twins, or even Christmas gifts. Our financial situation completely changed. We went from absolutely needing two incomes to seeing the possibility of living on only one income. It wasn’t just the fact we got rid of the credit cards or the car payments, but it was that we had changed our minds about how we spent money. A big car repair would no longer go on the credit card. A car repair would come out of savings.

If you are having trouble with money, you should do what we did. Put all your spending into a spreadsheet, on paper, or into a program like Quicken. You have to see what’s ugly about your money and fix what’s wrong whether it’s credit card spending, unlimited restaurant eating, or perhaps trips to the movies constantly. It takes some discipline and it takes desire to change your financial situation. Before buying cable’s ultra awesome movie+DVR package that costs $150 a month, do a simple calculation and see what it’s going to cost per year. We did that with everything. Annual spending puts things into unique perspective. $10 a week at Starbucks comes out to be $480 per year.

The keys to our turnaround:

  • Elimination of impulse purchases on credit cards
  • Having goals that were realistic and having a timetable for achievement of the goals
  • Establishing an emergency fund through regular savings
  • Defining “emergency”
  • Budgeting for almost everything – including clothing, music and video purchases, movies, and recreational events
  • Trimming back all spending to almost nothing and then slowly back things as we were comfortable with them and as the budget allowed
  • Agreement or consensus between both of us about what we were going to do. This alone made the whole project fun

I suppose the main idea behind my Financial Wake Up Call is that we had to change our attitudes and philosophies 100% for this to work. Both of us had to be in agreement that it was necessary. These days we have no debt other than our home and the very end of my student loan. Having next to no debt to service with payments is the only way it is possible for me to stay home with the kids. We changed from a “I want it now” philosophy to one of waiting and saving. We decided it was no longer worth it to have new cars when the old ones worked just fine.

We used the free Office Suite called Open Office for our budget. The program is called Calc is very similar to Excel. Below are some links to Personal Finance websites or particular articles you may want to read:

Quicken

Dave Ramsey

Mint.com

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Are You Losing Money on Energy Bills?

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

No matter the time of year, identifying and closing up leaks, gaps, and drafts will save you money on your utility bills. There are many ways to conserve energy in my house and be efficient about it at the same time.

Check for indoor leaks – check around doors that lead into the garage, windows, outlets. Can you see light? If you can, that means air is escaping.

Weather stripping  or expanding foam insulation around doors & windows – this is very inexpensive to do. It only takes your time. You could have one pesky crack or leak that is costing you a lot of money on an annual basis. ($7 a month in the form of a higher energy bill comes out to be $84 per year. What could you buy with $84?)

Caulk around windows and make sure the caulking is neat and tight

Have your AC unit cleaned and checked – an AC unit that is dirty runs inefficiently. It will require more energy to run.

Change the air filters in your duct returns – this also helps air get to your AC unit and keeps it operating efficiently.

Insulate your home to modern standards – do you live in an older home? If you do, chances are you have outdated levels of insulation in your attic and possibly no insulation in your walls. Upgrading your insulation will save you money over the long term.

If you have old equipment, buy a new Heat and Air unit. Standards have changed over the years. New HVAC units are designed to use less energy and run more efficiently than old ones.

If you live in a hot weather state, install solar screens and watch your electric bills go down.  (What is a solar screen? A solar screen goes on your window like any other screen but is fitted with a material that blocks the sun’s energy from entering your home. It may seem like it would block light from entering, but the material still allows the sun’s light in your home.)

This information came directly from ONG Natural Gas Matters March 2009 letter included in my bill:

“Check for indoor air leaks around baseboards, doors, fireplace dampers, attic hatches and air conditioners.

Fill gaps around pipes, wires, electrial outlets, foundation seals and mail slots.

Examine and repair caulking and weather stripping, especially around windows and doors.

Consider upgrading your windows and doors.

Plug and caulk exterior holes for faucets, pipes, electrical outlets and wiring. Be careful when sealing exterior openings to leave adequate ventilation for the fuel-burning appliances inside.

Get in your attic and look for deficiencies in insulation. Look for spots where you can see light coming in the attic.”

When we moved into our home last year, we noticed that the air conditioning unit was working overtime in the late afternoons. We have a bank of 8 windows on the west side of our home which faces the sun. We installed solar screens for approximately $500 and this has made a huge difference in the temperature in our home. I would estimate that our electric bill has been around 25% less this year. The key to the solar screens is the solar-tex material that prevents 70% or more of the sun’s energy from coming into your home.

Here are some valuable links:

U.S. Department of Energy Tips

Alliance to Save Energy Tips

Energy.gov Tips and Guide

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Meals For Less Than $10.00: Almond-Crusted Chicken & Sauteed Spinach

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

img_2967On this particular evening, my husband already had a heavy lunch at a fundraiser luncheon and we had made some cookies that morning. I was looking for something to cook that wouldn’t leave us feeling stuffed for the rest of the evening. I found this great recipe and decided to make my own version of it. Everybody loved this meal, including the kids. My daughters love the spinach, and it is slowly becoming one of my favorites (prepared the right way).

On my last grocery trip I had purchased a bag of spinach intending to use it for a salad, but opted to use it in this evening’s meal to be certain that it didn’t ruin. The spinach recipe works well with either fresh or frozen spinach, it really depends on what you have on hand. If we hadn’t had cookies all day I would have also added mashed potatoes to this meal because our three year is a big fan of them as well as everyone else.

3 chicken breasts ($3.75)

1/2 cup crushed almonds ($1.00)

1/2 cup bread crumbs ($0.20)

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary ($0.20)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt ($0.05)

1/2 cup 2% milk: ($0.15)

2 medium eggs ($0.30)

1 package of Fresh Express (9oz) fresh spinach: ($1.98)

3 cloves of garlic ($0.15)

1/2 small white onion ($0.20)

8 tablespoons regular Olive Oil: ($1.20)

1 teaspoon kosher salt: ($0.10)

1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper: ($0.10)

TOTAL: $9.38

Recipe: Pour six tablespoons of olive oil in the pan on medium high heat. Place one chicken breast between plastic wrap and with the flat side of a meat mallet, flatten chicken to about 1/2 inch thick. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  In a shallow bowl combine the milk with the eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs, almonds, rosemary, and salt. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then bread crumb mixture. Cook chicken in pan flipping half way through the process. Remove chicken from pan.

In same skillet add two tablespoons of olive oil to pan (use judgement based on remaining oil) cook onions on medium high heat until onions are translucent.  Add spinach to pan and cook on medium low for 4-6 minutes until spinach is wilted. NOTE: I omitted cooking time on the chicken since we have stainless steel cookware that tends to cook very quickly.

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New Car vs. Old Car

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

I’ve talked before about my debate on whether or not we should purchase a new car or continue to put money into our two older vehicles. While they both generally run well, even with preventative maintenance we know that inevitably they will both need to be replaced in the future. I came across an article in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine that addressed the same problems we are thinking about with our older cars. While I think that their estimated dollar amounts for upkeep of the average car are a bit high, I do like the comparison of purchasing the new car vs. maintaining the older car.

Many people consider the purchase of a new car as an asset, defined as something that has an exchange value. A new car depreciates the minute it is purchased and taken off the lot. While it does have an exchange value I wouldn’t consider it a viable asset. My husband is fond of saying that besides your underwear, your car is one of the only things you’ll own that can be guaranteed to be worth $0 at some point in the future if you keep it long enough. Of course he is joking since there would be some salvage value, but the average “daily driver” car definitely has no appreciating value.

Our family has two cars that are essentially free other than maintenance expenses. Recently, we looked into buying a newer car. This would cost around $10,000-$12,000 for a Honda Accord that is a few years old. Supposing we borrowed for this car, it would cost us around $250.00 per month in a payment and an increase of around $40 per month in insurance to add Comprehensive and Collision coverage (we do not currently carry these coverages). In contrast, we are spending approximately $500-$750 on either of our cars in an average year changing oil, transmission fluid, or making minor repairs such as thermostats. It’s just a better deal. We’ve also investigated all the typical objections such as “a new car is more reliable.” Our old cars are very reliable if you maintain them and are willing to spend a few bucks here and there and have a budget for an occasional major repair. A new car is just more fun and I admit it. However, it is an American tradition that we’ve decided to look past.

Here are two good articles you might want to read about the topic:

Keeping Your Clunker – MSN

Keep Your Clunker – Kiplingers Personal Finance

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Weekend Project: Hiding an Electric Meter Box with Grass

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

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We moved into our home last fall and realized immediately that the lady who built the home just never had time to do anything to it beyond what the contractor had done. There are two unsightly utility boxes in our backyard and I just had to do something about them. Recently, I came across some discount plants and bought 6 containers of ornamental grass. I placed three plants in front of each meter or box. We could have bought some more mature grass that would cover the meters immediately but these plants were only $0.25 each! This means we’re covering both meters for $1.50. I’ll have fun nurturing them this summer and watching them grow.

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