Archive for November, 2009

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Can Walmart Save You $490 A Year?

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Can you save over $490 a year by enjoying a delicious Stouffer’s Easy Express meal with your family of four, instead of going out to a restaurant just once a month? Walmart says you can, and I think they’re right. A recent Parade insert from the Sunday paper included an ad by Walmart which made the statement, “Save over $490 a year”. The ad made reference to Stouffer’s Easy Express Meals, but I had also seen another ad stating the same savings for Wanchai Ferry. I found it to be pretty interesting and wanted to learn more. According to the ad, the savings was based on an independent survey of casual dining meal spending reported by consumers who eat at a casual dining restaurant at least once per month, as compared with Walmart’s price per serving for a restaurant-style entree, salad and bread.

Based on their survey, the average family of four spends about $40 for a meal at a casual dining restaurant. This is almost right on the money with what we spend. We are a family of five, but our three year old usually either eats what we’re eating, or we order a kid’s meal for him. The meal that is suggested in the ad is Stouffer’s Easy Express Lasagna (35oz) on rollback for $6, to be served alongside salad and bread. This would make the meal right around $10 or a little less, a considerable savings over eating out at the restaurant. We usually eat out once or twice a month, but the national average may be a little higher than that.

Most families eat out at a restaurant out of necessity because of a tight schedule, exhaustion, or any number of other reasons. Nearly all of our meal planning is done in advance and planned out so that if we do have a tight schedule, we have something that is simple and quick, ready to eat. We do however enjoy eating out at restaurants. It is a fun experience, we enjoy the atmosphere, and above all we enjoy the food. Our family enjoys eating out as much as the next family, but being budget conscious requires us to really think about where our money goes.

I like that the Walmart ad suggests an alternative for eating out. When I first encountered the ad I was really skeptical about what Walmart was trying to advertise. Thinking about the ad further though I thought about the definite savings that a family would see if they ate the suggested meal. The meal isn’t bad, and I think the lasagna is cheaper than what I could make at home from scratch. In a sense it’s about saving time and money since most families are pressed for time with the numerous activities that a family is involved in, especially with the holidays right around the corner.

On another note though if you find it difficult to say no to eating out, check out Dana’s article from Frugal In Virginia on “3 Ways To Save On Eating Out”.

Posted in Grocery Shopping | 3 Comments »

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

CranberryUpsideDownCake

I discovered the recipe for Cranberry Upside Down Cake a few years ago while flipping through a Family Fun magazine, and it seemed easy enough. The cake seemed so sophisticated that I wanted to bring it for our family’s Christmas dinner. It was a hit, and everyone loved it. It is a more sophisticated take on pineapple upside down cake. The cranberries, buttermilk, and cinnamon help to make the cake seem more like a breakfast item, rather than a cake.

The cake seems completely complicated, but is broken down into simple steps that make it really easy. I usually make this cake for family gatherings, but was able to purchase cranberries at Aldi for $.99 and decided that the cake would work just as well for breakfast as it does for dessert. The best part about making the cake is that I discovered that this is another one of my recipes that calls for buttermilk where I can use my newly purchased buttermilk powder.

Thinking about all the things that can be baked from scratch at home, this is on my top ten list of favorites. It’s something that you won’t find in a bakery, or a coffee shop, but would probably cost a small fortune to purchase if it were sold there. This is one of the reasons I love baking from scratch. I’ve seen the prices at the coffee shop, bakery, and sandwich shops for the generous slice of pastry or bread.  It makes me cringe to think that people pay those high prices when the same thing can be baked at home for nearly the same price as one slice from the bakery.

A few staples in my pantry allow me to be creative and cook high quality meals and desserts. I actually get better each time I cook, and I have a lot of room for improvement. It gets easier and easier though each time because of my mishaps and failed attempts in the kitchen.

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Posted in Baking at Home | No Comments »

My New Staple – Powdered Buttermilk

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Buttermilk

A common staple found at our house is banana bread. Banana bread is simple to make, tastes good, and best of all freezes well; especially when I mess up and make several loaves at once. The recipe I use comes from my Betty Crocker cookbook, and calls for buttermilk. I rarely keep buttermilk on hand since banana bread is just about the only thing I use it for. One of the tricks I’ve learned over the years is to add a little vinegar to my milk for a substitute buttermilk. I still prefer using buttermilk, but the vinegar trick has always worked in a pinch.

Several months ago I was searching the internet for the exact ratio of vinegar to milk for my buttermilk substitute and stumbled upon an article about buttermilk powder. It made perfect sense to me that buttermilk would be available in powder form since milk can be found in powdered form, I had just never thought of purchasing buttermilk this way. I really didn’t think much about the buttermilk powder until I started baking banana bread again this fall. Since buttermilk is a milk product, the price fluctuates based on the market price of milk. One week I might pay $1.19 and the next I might pay $2.19. Of course if I catch it at the supermarket and it’s about to expire I might get lucky and pay $.99.

I lucked into finding the buttermilk powder at Wal-Mart the other day. I wasn’t looking for it. In fact I rarely shop at Wal-Mart. I might step foot into a Wal-Mart about every six weeks because they are the absolute lowest on price for a few of the staples that we buy, but other than that I avoid them like the plague. I made the trip down the aisle with the buttermilk because it was the baking aisle, the aisle with all the stuff that I want in my kitchen, but can’t buy all at once.

The buttermilk I purchased is manufactured by SACO Foods. I purchased a 12oz. container for $3.12 which will produce the equivalent of about fifteen cups of buttermilk; close to one gallon of buttermilk. I don’t have to worry about the milk ruining before I use it, and will be able to store it in the refrigerator with no worries of throwing out spoiled buttermilk. The powder is simply added in with the dry ingredients of the recipe, and the water is added when the liquid ingredients are added to the recipe. This product not only tastes good, but helps me save money as well since nothing will go to waste.

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Posted in Baking at Home, Grocery Shopping | 2 Comments »

Cutting Costs in a Recession: What to Cut & What NOT to Cut

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

Although many articles focus on the recession and how you should react to it in your personal behavior, I think that many of the topics being discussed are relevant regardless of economic conditions. I decided to make a short study of what one might cut and what wouldn’t make sense to cut. It’s amazing to me to think of some of the things that are cut in the budget of the average person.

What NOT to cut:

  • Nutrition. If you want to cut your food budget, stop eating out in restaurants. When cutting your food budget there is a tendency to switch to the worst cuts of meat and the cheapest foods. Your health is so valuable. Good foods can still be purchased on a budget. Buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts, cans of albacore tuna, and of course you can buy healthy pastas on a budget as well. I recently saw a bag of a dozen apples for $2.29. Do cut the junk food lunches at fast food restaurants and frivolous food spending on peripheral snack items. Good breads can be purchased at the bread maker’s discount store. We buy great Orowheat breads all the time at our local bread outlet store. We have some friends in Anthem, AZ outside of Phoenix and they recently had to make a decision about drinking water. Their city’s drinking water is very bad. They made the decision to continue purchasing drinking water.
  • Vitamin supplements. If you feel better when taking vitamins and supplements – keep buying them. My husband takes a fish oil tablet and a niacin tablet and doesn’t feel right unless he has them.
  • Insurance – Health, Auto, and Life. If you have assets to protect, by all means maintain the proper limits of liability coverage on your auto insurance. Don’t be tempted to reduce your limits. If you are the breadwinner for your family, don’t cancel your life insurance. Also, don’t be tempted to go into high deductible health insurance plans unless you have significant personal savings. It’s so tempting to go with lesser insurance plans when you see that you might save $50-$100 per month. However, consider the cost you could ultimately pay for going with a bargain basement insurance plan.
  • Exercise. If you absolutely must cancel a gym membership, make plans immediately to put together some sort of home routine and this may require a small investment in a few DVDs, a mat, and some small weights. Your health will suffer if you’ve been going to the gym for a long time and then suddenly quit altogether. I would recommend cutting cable or satellite TV before cutting your health club membership.
  • Home Air Quality. Don’t buy the cheap filters for your furnace or air conditioning unit. Spending just a few extra dollars keeps your air clean and helps your furnace or air conditioner to run efficiently.
  • Automotive Maintenance. Changing your oil, air filter, or other wear items helps your vehicle to run efficiently and safely. Don’t put off a brake job. Your safety is at stake. Don’t avoid rotating your tires – it could result in your tires wearing out more rapidly.
  • Land Line Phone. This is probably a big surprise since most people think it’s just a waste of money if you’re carrying a cell phone. Nobody calls you on it anyway, right? But, what about the emergency services 911 capability you lose when you cut a landline? Do you have children? If you must, call your phone company and tell them you don’t use your landline phone but want to keep the ability to make emergency outgoing calls to 911. Our local provider has a discounted plan for this type of customer.
  • Employer Match Retirement Plans. This is a big mistake to cut if your employer is giving you free money in the form of a match. Your contributions are also pre-tax, so you reduce your taxable income. If you must cut this, only cut the amount of your contribution that isn’t matched by your employer.

What to Cut:

  • Fast Food Lunches. Cut these immediately. It’s bad for you and also just flat out lazy. If you’re in an office environment and lunches are an essential part of business, figure out a way to do them only when necessary. On days when you can, just take your lunch.
  • Cable or Satellite TV. This is one of the first things to cut. Either step down to a package of lesser cost or eliminate it altogether. $60 per month is $720 per year!
  • Name Brand Foods. I’ve done taste tests on my family between Cheetos and the ALDI store brand and nobody could tell the difference. We just decided that at least half of what we’re eating could go away.
  • Name Brand Cleansers and Detergents.
  • Unnecessary Energy Spending. Slight adjustments to your home’s thermostat can result in big savings. Could you stand to sleep with your thermostat on 66 degrees instead of 72? My husband grew up with his parents putting the thermostat on 60 degrees at night.
  • Traditional Light Bulbs. We’ve made the switch to Compact Fluorescents in every spot we possibly can. Maybe you might not want to put curly Q fluorescents in your living room or where you have guests and want nice warm lighting, but you could certainly use them in your garage or your closets.  Be careful where you use them though – they can heat up if you have them on for a long time in an upside down setting. You may say that the initial cost is high, but your energy savings will be significant. These bulbs also last a long time. Compact flourescents are also now available for exterior lighting.
  • Entertainment. Stop buying DVDs and CDs. Rent DVDs from kiosks like Redbox and download songs you like individually from Rhapsody or iTunes. Don’t go out to movies. Wait until the movie comes out on DVD.
  • Transportation. Are you driving a newer car that is worth $25,000 and has a $384.00 loan payment? Maybe you could sell it and buy something more reasonable that has no payment. Is your $25,000 car really more reliable than a $8,000 car that is well maintained? Do you have somebody you could carpool with to work? Make a contact! Do you live in a city with efficient and safe public transportation? Use it.
  • Beauty and Style. Do you have a high maintenance hairstyle with coloring? Maybe you could go with something a little more basic. I used to have highlights but decided to move away from coloring my hair due to the cost. My husband has decided to go with simple clothing for work and avoid the fashion show.
  • Expensive Coffee at Starbucks or other similar places.
  • Spending Money at Vending Machines.
  • Sodas and Candy

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Posted in Personal Finance | No Comments »

Product Review: Beaumont Donut Store Blend Coffee

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

DonutShopCoffee

If you start to shop at ALDI regularly, your curiosity about many of their products will get to you. I’ve found that most of the time I am skeptical about the quality, but I’m usually surprised about what I get when I buy one of their private label products. I’ve discussed the fact that I’ve seen a name brand manufacturer’s truck drop their milk off behind their store. Most people are aware that private label products are generally made by the name brand manufacturer. It only makes sense. With the way business works, it just makes sense for private label products to be made that way since there is a steep cost to enter the manufacturing world. We decided to try the Beaumont Donut Store Blend Coffee. We paid $3.99 for 12 oz. The stuff smelled great when we opened its trendy mylar package. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a picky coffee drinker. I put Splenda and milk in mine and I just don’t pay too much attention to the flavor of the coffee. My husband is the exact opposite. He is not a daily coffee drinker and he drinks his black for the flavor of the beans. He didn’t find the plain package of Beaumont Coffee acceptable when we reviewed it before. This package was good. I liked the flavor of it and it was a bit higher quality than your standard grocery store packages of coffee. It’s obviously made to compete with Dunkin Donuts coffee and my husband felt it was comparable and he couldn’t find any faults with it. The roast flavor is a bit deeper than the standard coffee and you can tell it is blended. We recommend the Beaumont Donut Store Blend. It’s not Starbucks or Aspen quality, but it is certainly up there with the better commercial coffees.

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Posted in Aldi Grocery Store, Product Review | 1 Comment »

Change Your Buying Habits – Save Money

Friday, November 13th, 2009

I am constantly amazed at how being a conscious consumer could save me literally hundreds of dollars each year. The last few weeks have been a perfect example. I started finding different alternatives for the staples that we keep at our house. The alternative doesn’t even lack in quality, it is in fact either of the same quality or better than what we were previously purchasing. Just when I think I’ve found the best way to do my grocery shopping, I am surprised to find a better alternative.

  • Our couscous is now purchased in bulk. This is a staple at our house, and where I was previously purchasing the boxed couscous for about $.40 an ounce, I can now purchase it for about $.15 an ounce.
  • We purchase our sun dried tomatoes in a dehydrated form rather than soaked in oil. I had a brand that I was really happy with, but was a little disappointed with the price. We were purchasing these in oil, but found that we could make the same purchase with dried tomatoes and add the oil ourselves (since we don’t always need them soaked in olive oil).
  • I just found powdered Buttermilk at the store. I had been planning to make this purchase and as luck would have it I noticed it as I was walking down that aisle. Rather than purchasing traditional Buttermilk at the store, the powdered Buttermilk will last much longer, and cost me a lot less.
  • We eat spinach about once a week at our house, either fresh or frozen. This week I found a new source for our spinach. I usually purchase our spinach at either of our local grocery stores in the pre-bagged area. Sometimes if the spinach looks fresh enough in the produce area, and the price is lower than the bagged spinach I purchase it from the produce area, chop off the extra stems and get cheaper spinach. Tonight while purchasing milk at Braum’s I discovered that the spinach at Braum’s is actually cheaper than either of my grocery stores. Lesson learned that not everything at Braum’s is over priced.

If I were a typical consumer, I would continue with my normal shopping trips, always purchasing the same brand. I know that I am not a typical consumer, always on the lookout for an alternative to how we currently do our shopping, and pleasantly surprised when I find the alternative. You have to be an unusual consumer to find the best price which requires you to get out of your comfort zone and do something a little different.

Manufacturers know that we are creatures of habit and will continue with the same brand year after year. Just take baby steps to find those new alternatives to save money. Don’t go crazy and change ten things at once only to be frustrated and disappointed, returning to how you usually do things. Make small simple changes over time that allow you to become comfortable again and create a new comfort zone for your grocery buying habits.

Posted in Grocery Shopping | No Comments »

You and Coupons – They Are Your Friend

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

A few days ago my husband joined me on a small shopping trip to Target to pick up a few things. Our bill came to a little more than $30 and after coupons we ended up paying $14.02. He was surprised at the low amount and made the comment that it was people like me that would cause stores to stop allowing coupons because of the low amounts we pay. I explained to him that every coupon I had was legitimate and that Target would get reimbursed by the manufacturer for every coupon I used, allowing the store to lose no money on the transaction. He knows that they are reimbursed, but thinks that these types of transactions will cause alarms to go off somewhere in corporate where they will re-examine the whole coupon policy.

It’s difficult to say how many consumers are actually using coupons, but when I make a trip to the grocery store, nine times out of ten I might see one other person who is using coupons. I think this low use of coupons is what causes the hesitation of some cashiers to accept coupons. In some cases they may be inadequately trained, but how does a store intend to train them on coupons if people rarely use them. Coupon use may be on the rise right now because of the economy, but how many people will continue to use coupons once the economy or their financial situation improves.

We don’t use coupons because we are in a dire financial situation. We use coupons because they help us save money in one area, so that we are able to use that money in another area. Many people think that you have to be poor to use coupons, and it’s simply not the case.

Don’t be afraid to use coupons if you are using them the way they were intended. On the other hand, if you have a coupon that makes something free, don’t purchase twenty of those items in the same transaction. It makes cashiers seem uneasy about giving the store away, causes them to call the manager over, and may cause you more frustration in the end with your entire coupon order. If a cashier or manager refuses to budge on the acceptance of a coupon, I’ve found that it’s easier to ask for the item to be removed from the order, rather than argue twenty minutes about it causing further frustration. Most of the time if you ask for an item to be removed from your order, they figure out how to push the coupon through.

Posted in Coupons | No Comments »

Great Food – Good Restaurant Deals

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

One positive thing about the economy putting the squeeze on families finances is that it has not only forced families to be thriftier with their finances, but it has forced eating establishments to change with the times as well, offering lower prices, and more options. Our family doesn’t eat out very often, but I am reminded by the change by reading the emails that come to my inbox each week. It’s a win-win situation for most families because most families already eat out at least once a month anyway, and it will cost less because of some of the offers available. Restaurants have done what they can to not only stimulate the economy, but their own pocket as well, to avoid becoming the next victim of a restaurant closing.

Right now Chili’s has an awesome offer on their menu for “3 Courses for $20″. What does this really mean? Chili’s is offering a three course meal for two, for the price of $20. The offer includes an appetizer to share, an entree, and a dessert to share. Head to Chili’s to find out if your Chili’s is participating and to see what’s available on their 3 for $20 menu. My favorite on their entree menu is the Big Mouth Bites, It’s a toss up between the crispy onion strings and the burgers as to what I like best about the meal.

How about TGI Friday’s 3 course meal for $13.99? This is actually offered through their Give Me More Stripes program and a coupon is emailed to you. They have twelve entrees, five appetizers, and two desserts two choose from for their three course meal.

Posted in Brick & Mortar Deals | 2 Comments »

6 Ways To Save In The Laundry Room

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Most people aren’t in a position to replace their old appliances in the laundry room for shiny new energy efficient appliances. While changing the appliances alone could save hundreds of dollars over the course of the appliances lifetime, other changes can be made as well that will help keeps costs down. I have a front load energy efficient washer and dryer, and while these do save me time and money, I still use these tips to save even more.

1. Use less soap – Really unless you’ve rolled around in the dirt (your kids may have) the recommended amount of soap is just that; a recommendation. I do tend to use more soap in the summer because the kids get their clothes dirtier, and let’s face it we all perspire.

2. Dry one load a week on the clothesline – This is easy for us since I already dry our jeans outside when it’s nice or hang them to dry inside when we have inclement weather. If you feel ambitious try drying more than one load a week without the dryer.

3. Cut your dryer sheets in half – I’ve been doing this for years and it has no negative effect on my clothes. During the summer I don’t use a dryer sheet for static electricity, but in the winter I cut my dryer sheets into strips of about six.  Not a huge savings, but a savings none the less.

4. Wash clothes on cold – I wash the majority of our clothes on cold water because they get clean in the cold water too. I do use hot water for washing whites, sheets, and towels, but the rinse is cold so I’m only using the hot for one cycle of the wash. I think washing the clothes in cold water keeps them looking nicer (less fading) longer.

5. Wash and dry full loads – This is something my mother used to strictly enforce, and until I started paying my own bills couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. I think that the clothes actually get cleaner when the load is full (not overstuffed) versus just a few articles of clothing in the washer since the clothes agitate against each other.

6. Wear it more than once – I wear my jeans more than once, provided I haven’t been incredibly messy that day while cooking. I’m still trying to convince my daughters that this is a good concept.

Posted in Simple Living | 1 Comment »

Our Computer Disaster: Online Backup or External Hard Drive?

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Although I didn’t stop posting a few weeks ago, I didn’t have a computer. I live in thunderstorm country and we had a terrible storm that resulted in some sort of power surge that fried our computer. That gives you an explanation regarding why I haven’t had any photos on the site over the past few weeks. We had a surge protector, but apparently that doesn’t mean much because our computer was down for the count. We didn’t back anything up. This wasn’t because we’re not smart people or anything, but because my husband works two jobs and I’m managing three kids and a house. We just dropped the ball in terms of backing up all of our important computer files. We had the last four years of photos, my husband’s music collection (13,000 songs), and of course other things such as resumes and various documents. To make a long story short, a good friend of ours is a computer professional. He is the opposite of most computer guys – he’s nice, patient, and understanding. He came to our rescue by somehow surgically removing all of our files and putting them on a spare external hard drive for us. Needless to say, he saved us tremendously. My husband’s music collection not only has a bunch of rare and hard to find music, but also music he is working on or has played on. We ended up purchasing a new computer last week and while we were waiting for it to come in the mail from Apple, I had to write all my blogs at the library and post them there. We will not let this happen again. So…what type of method should we use to avoid this?

There are two methods of backing up data and media files for the average home computer user: online backup or external hard drives. I’m not even going into the cost comparison because it’s just far too complicated. External hard drives cost money ($100 on average) and these wear out. Also, I’ll just tell you up front that we decided against using one for a few reasons. First, if our house burns down or is in a tornado we are in the same boat as two weeks ago. Our files are lost. Computer equipment wears out quickly. For this reason, we decided that external hard drives are more suitable for additional storage and not the best method of emergency backup. I did a simple search and found that a 1 Terabyte external hard drive by a name brand manufacturer could be purchased for $120. That is a lot of storage, but we don’t need that much anyway.

We looked at online backup companies. Mozy.com and Carbonite.com are the leading companies providing this service. Both cost about $60 per year. The positive attributes here are that there is no equipment to buy and the backup is at a remote location. Mozy allows monthly billing of $4.95 per month. We are looking for an affordable backup that will be available if our computer is stolen, destroyed, or malfunctions. We signed up for Mozy.com. The one negative with these companies is that the process of backing up files is slow. If you have a large amount of files like we do (140 GB), it will take approximately a week or so for all the files to transfer online. I should note that this estimate is using high speed cable. If you are using satellite or DSL, it will take longer. After the initial backup process is complete, the service then can be updated daily as your files change. We just decided that in our case not only is an external hard drive sort of expensive, it is also impractical and no longer fits our needs. I should disclose that the reason we decided on Mozy.com is that a friend of ours from church uses it and likes it.

I need to note that there are a few ways of backing up photos. You don’t have to get an online backup. You could simply either print the best ones using a photo developer or you could open a special Gmail or Yahoo webmail account and send messages to your webmail address as you take the photos. Just save the best photos and title the emails by event.

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Posted in Emergency Preparedness | 3 Comments »

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