Go Forth, but Cheaply

Here are some tips for budget travel. Sometimes ya just gotta get outta the house.

http://www.alondb.com/Budget/Articles/Money_Saving_Tips_For_Budget_Travel.php

The Cheeseparer

Eat Indian to Save Money on Groceries

This week we had Puerto Rican Rice and Beans. 3 meals and 1 lunch cost practically nada.

Here's another take on frugal feasting:

http://recipeexchange.tribe.net/thread/5706c3b7-2cc7-479e-b702-fb9a98cfd02f#f7c71c90-0d6a-4efe-9798-f12c17bdf7f6

Eating cheap doesn't mean not eating well. It's takes a bit more time and more imagination. Hey, we've all got that. Just do it.

The Cheeseparer

El Cheapo Travel Trips

A Brit can give us Amis a few lessons:

http://plonkee.com/2008/04/23/21-resources-for-budget-travel/

Site is slow to load, but you can do other stuff while you're waiting, or maybe I need a new computer. Sigh.

The Cheeseparer

Mary Mary Quite Contrary and also a little bit frugal

I don't know about you, but last year I spent over $200 on annuals, a few perrennials and bedding plants and didn't have a lot to show for my money, although the garden looked good.

Every year it seems we spend more for fewer plants. I've taken to keeping my geraniums from one year to the next and have had luck with that. You just have to be patient when they hit the sun in the spring and cry "uncle!" They do recover.

Here's a garden site with beaucoup good advice about gardening on the cheap. By the way, you get a lot of bang for the buck with nasturtiums and even a screw-up gardening can grow them from seed.

Read on: http://gardenerstips.co.uk/blog/tips/money-saving-tips-in-the-garden/

On the Road

Here are some great tips for car travel. We like a cooler on wheels for longer trips, packed with granola bars, smoothies, water and lunch. I've noticed a lot of people parked at the food emporiums along the Interstates eating their own brought-from-home-food in the car.

It's nicer to find a river bank or a park or a pleasant scenic spot. Picnics are never out of season.

http://www.kivitv.com/global/story.asp?s=8012796

Don't forget napkins and wipes and a trash bag--reuse a plastic bag from a store. Reuse everything. Good for the wallet, good for the earth.

The Cheeseparer

Eating on the Cheap

Amatriciana Sauce With Bacon and Tomatoes AKA Bucattini all'Amatriciana from the province of Abruzzi

Serves 4-6

I splurge and buy Schaler and Weber smoked slab bacon. We use it for everything and for flavoring several meals, it pays for itself. Meat as flavoring.

1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 oz. slab bacon or pancetta, finely diced
3 T. butter
28 oz can Italian plum tomatoes, crushed (from the Ocean State Job Lot)
1/4 t. chili pepper flakes or to taste
salt and pepper
1/4 cup pecorino Romano cheese

1 lb. bucattini, penne or spaghetti (from the Ocean State Job Lot)

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion until transparent, about 5 minutes.

Add the chili flakes and bacon and saute until the onion is golden and the bacon nice and crisp, about 8 - 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, making sure sauce does not burn, about 15 minutes.

Add salt to taste. Go easy, as the bacon and cheese are salty.

Cook the pasta during the last 15 minutes of the sauce prep. When done to taste, drain and pour into a warm serving bowl or directly into the pan with the sauce, mixing well, adding grated cheese to taste.

Pass extra cheese at table.

Serve with bread sticks and a green salad. Tonight ours will have red leaf lettuce, English cucumber, and arthichoke hearts with dressing and blue cheese.

The Ocean State Job Lot, in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area, sells sale-priced prepared foods. I also bought the artichoke hearts for the salad there. They have interesting ethnic foods, and great buys on jam, coffee, cereal and pasta.

I hope your area offers a similiar business where you can buy cheap foodstuffs. Shop smarter, not harder.

Remembrance of Things Past

Washing out bread bags! That was one of my jobs as a kid, because I had frugal family who had experienced the depression. How I hated it. Hated margarine, too. Still do. My grandparents raised a big garden and kept chickens. As a kid I wore pajamas made out of muslin feed sacks. Soft fabric and pretty patterns. My grandma and I used to giggle about our "feed sack pajamas." Can you beat that? Comments to this blog are always welcome, if clean.

We had a cheeseparing dinner (without cheese) last night. Tuna and noodle casserole. The tuna was on sale. Confession: I hate tuna in water. Doesn't taste right. Doesn't even taste good. So I suck it up and buy the fancy Italian kind packed in olive oil. Of course I drain the oil out, and last night I used the oil to make the sauce, a white sauce with bits of scallion and red bell pepper. Salt and pepper. Sometimes a sprinkle of cayenne for complexity. 2 cans of tuna. 3/4 lb. noodles (on sale at Ocean State Job Lot). Nice thick sauce. Crushed potato chips on top. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Served with a green salad. A bit of ice cream (on sale, natch) later on.

This will yield two evening dinners and at least one lunch. How frugal is that?

Here is the link for savings hints from the Grandma. Mine was the same way. Loved the photos and the commentary. Love the web for finding such treaures. Frugal Tips from the Past.

http://untraditionalhome.com/?p=309

The 10 Most Hated Money Saving Tips

I love this guy.

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2007/11/the-10-most-hat.html

At least he waffles a bit on the pet issue. Since I stopped smoking (20 years ago), I've always had money in my wallet. And that was before the cost of ciggies went through the roof. I have also saved on cold medicines, sore throat medicines, etc.

Used clothes are cool. Just have them cleaned.

The tip below is the funniest one I've seen yet.
Donate shirts to the Salvation army, then buy them back for 50 cents, already cleaned. Whooeee!

http://blog.andyblume.com/?p=513

A tasty and frugal dinner

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Fried Apples

Buy low fat ricotta when it's on sale. Tasty and nutricious.

The Cheeseparer's Wednesday Extravaganza

This site will help you stay within your clothing budget:
http://1stmoneysaving.blogspot.com/

Save $$ on your water bill AND save the earth—a no brainer:
http://www.walletpop.com/2008/04/14/tips-for-saving-water-we-all-need-to-internalize/

The Frugality Festival:
Everything you need to know to pare cheese
http://www.rather-be-shopping.com/blog/2008/04/15/festival-frugality-121/

Save a little or Save a lot

Household items: we all have to buy ‘em
http://www.moneyaside.com/10-tips-to-save-money-on-household-items

Save a million bucks:
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/04/10/money/doc47fed98810f4e040369549.txt

Cut Your Entertainment Budget:
http://www.moneyaside.com/10-tips-to-save-money-on-entertainment

Family Budgeting
http://www.businessrockford.com/biznews/x623552672

Earth Day is coming up. Give a thought to saving mother earth.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/save-money-save-energy-save-earth,348043.shtml

Today's Money Saving Tips

Above: Make good choices at the deli counter.

Bring your lunch to work: spend time at the deli-counter. There are always weekly specials. You can make your own tuna salad. Don't eat the icky thin-sliced turkey/ham loaded with nitrates, preservatives and water. Yuck. You can roast a turkey or chicken breast on the grill or the oven, have a main course, and take the leftovers to work. Buy (or make) decent bread. Create your own salad at home and carry the dressing and croutons to work in separate packages. You can eat healthy, cheaply and it tastes wonderful.
http://savesavesave.blogspot.com/2008/04/money-saving-tips.html


A blog that’s not exactly light-hearted, but one you should take to heart.

http://moneyning.com/money-tips/understanding-key-saving-more-money/

One of my shabby little secrets: dilute the dishwashing liquid. It will last 4-5 times as long.

You don't have to show up at the party wearing a barrel

Money saving tips on clothing:

The best way is not to buy anything. Most of us have enough clothes hanging in the closet to last for years. You might need socks or underwear or a pair of pj's.

Growing-like-a-weed kids are another matter.

Read on.

http://www.moneyaside.com/10-tips-to-save-money-on-clothing

Money Saving Tips Galore

For your Sunday morning perusal:

http://frugal1stopmom.wordpress.com/

Saving for a Vacation and Educating Kids About Money

I found the Geeky Housewife blog. She has a good take on vacation saving.

http://www.geekyhousewife.com/

The other article talks about teaching children about money. That's a hard one. Take heed.

http://halife.com/finance/money_and_you0331.html

University of Maine has some tried and true tips

Holy cow! I didn't know that universities still had "extention" programs just like in the old days. These tips have been around for a while, but as new generations need to know how to tighten ye old belt, these suggestions are good.

http://extensionnews.blogspot.com/2008/04/tips-for-saving-money-on-groceries.html

Planning menus and cooking for several meals makes a lot of sense and takes much of the work out of cooking. The food channel has a mid-afternoon program that gives details on how to do this.

Here are more grocery saving tips. Never shop hungry is some of the best advice. Take a list. Yada. Yada. You should commit these ideas to memory.

http://www.dchieftain.com/news/79070-04-02-08.html

Cook once, eat twice.

Tips for Organic Groceries and Everything Else

Organic foods tend to be a lot more pricey than "regular" foods, but sometimes the payoff is better. We have been eating organic carrots, and they taste so much better that we will pay the extra money.

The mom below can guide you through finding coupons for organic foods:
http://greenandcleanmom.blogspot.com/

Yum!

This blogger has, like the cheeseparer, collected tips from everyone. You should have enough saved to finance a cool weekend somewhere.
http://beingfrugal.net/2008/04/03/frugal-tips-to-survive-a-recession/