Traveling on the Cheap

Now that gas is affordable again, you may be planning a car trip. We like the Microtel chain for cheap lodging, although I've noticed that depending on the season and the part of the country, what's cheap in one locale may not be in another.

Take your lunch! Take your breakfast! Take your snacks! A little pre-planning can save big bucks on the road and offer better taste, nutrition and even unexpected sightseeing.

We have two coolers--one with wheels and a small edition. We make blocks of ice. Every motel/hotel has an ice machine, so there's no problem keeping food cool. Juice, milk, other beverages (we like smoothies and water) are a no-brainer. Muffins, cereal, granola bars and fresh fruit (or juices) make a great breakfast. Lunch can be salads or sandwiches you bring from home. Potato chips? Sure? Fried chicken? Yowsa! Picnic Pork Chops? Holy freakin' crap! This could be an entirely cool experience. Cheap, too.

We use the AAA guides and maps (also roadside signs)to find rivers, parks and scenic places where a roadside picnic becomes a delightful, relaxing experience. Not available? We park in the various interstate oases and discover that others have the same idea. Eat in the car? Or on a picnic bench. Some states (North Carolina) have beautiful rest areas. If you belong to the Audubon society, you can take a list of preserves and wildlife areas.

Kids get to run about a bit. Local color, too. If you must eat out, we really like Panera Bread. Great sandwiches and tasty breakfasts at prices that do not break the bank. Cheap gas, cheap lodging, cheap food. Treat yourself to a nice dinner at a local restaurant. Avoid chains if possible. Get out into the world. Explore.

The Cheeseparer

American Chop Suey

I had some mending and hand-sewing chores (long put off) today, and so I turned on Public Television, which on Saturday afternoon is totally devoted to cooking. The problem was, we are having a really cheapy dinner tonight (and tomorrow and lunch on Monday). This meal is called American Chop Suey, which I learned when I came to the Boston area and discovered a dish by the name on the cafeteria menu.

American Chop Suey is tubular pasta, tomato sauce, ground beef and seasonings baked in a casserole topped with Parmesan cheese. I bad been eating in all my life in school cafeterias. It was one of the few things on the school menu that I would eat.

Now this is tasty, but no one on the PBS or the Food Network is ever going to devote any time to this dish. It's homemade, frugal and plain. Not dreary. We love it.

I put the rest of the ricotta in mine, and used a combo of canned tomatoes and pasta sauce. Again frugal, maybe even cheeseparing. Meanwhile, Ming was roasting delicious chicken and cooking salmon on a bed of veggies and Christopher Kimball was going crazy with smoked and grilled pork chops, all stuff one can get excited over. Todd English was in Japan eating Kobe beef and tongue and noodles and of course Todd is so sexy one can get excited about just strolling through Japanese restaurants with him, vicariously. Then the Foodie Gourmet showed up and they did slow food in Australia and the sight of all that wonderful rhubarb was giving me
palpitations, and the wine and the cute black pigs.

So I finally pulled myself away from the quasi-gluttony and made my way to the kitchen to brown the beef, the onion and garlic, cook the pasta and mix everything together. It's waiting to go into the oven, and I'm still feeling a little let down, but of course the price is right, and unlike Kobe or Wagu beef, it won't break the budget. Hell, it hardly dents it.

Frugally yours, and feeling someone out of sorts,

The Cheeseparer

Don't Spend $400.00!

Todays New York Times had a hilarious article about people who never look at the price of anything suddenly trying to cut back on expenditures. They were clueless. One guy bought a $400.00 electric fireplace to save on his fuel bills. It barely heats anything. Someone else bought a gazillion heads of cauliflower trying to save money. Another person "frugally" eliminated her $12.00 soup purchase and bought $500.00 dog bed. Go figure.

I didn't even know there were $12.00 soups. Not where I shop. Cripes, I could live for a week on $12.00 worth of soup: goulash, onion and chili, and maybe some bean or pea thrown in. Soup is the cheapest thing you can serve.

To save, what you do is not spend money on anything that you don't have to. Nothing. If you discover that the cauliflower is $5.00 per head and you have carried 6 to the checkout counter, tell the clerk you only want one. Or none. Just because it is in your cart, you don't have to buy it. The man who bought the stove should have done a cost/benefit analysis. The woman with the cauliflower is supposed to be good at math.

I don't know.

Today I checked at the resale shops I take used clothing to, and the one wanted nothing until after Thanksgiving, and the other wanted nothing until after December. Wha? The economy must be so bad that everyone is taking old clothes to the resale shops instead of donating them.

Think I'll try EBAY or Craig's List. Really.

I bought all the sale items for ingredients I need to take my Thanksgiving side dish and dessert to our hostess' house. Amazing how much is on sale. I'm taking a Brussels Sprouts/Cauliflower side side and a pumpkin cheese cake with a marshmellow-sour cream topping. Both dishes are rich as Croesus and have some nutritive value, i.e. vitamin a, beta carotene, protein, calcium, well, you get the idea, as well as loads of fat.

It's cold out and we need an extra layer to keep us warm. That's what I keep telling myself. Have you ever noticed how skinny people are always cold? They must dread winter.

The Cauliflower woman has started a blog. EconoWhiner.com. Maybe we should all give her the wisdom of our experience.

Stock Market Terminology Reconsidered

A friend emailed this, and I'm sorry that I can't give credit where credit is due for these humorous (we laugh that we may not cry) redefinitions. Hats off to a clever investor.

CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER -- What my broker has made me.

STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected.

MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW-- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.

YAHOO-- What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS -- What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse.

PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use.