Save! Save! Save!

Yesterday, when the sun was hot, there was a bit of a breeze and no rain forecast, I washed a heavy wool blanket in cold water and put it on the deck to sun-dry, thereby saving at least $15.00 of dry cleaning fees.  After the blanket was dry (quicker than you could imagine), I air-fluffed it in the dryer and stuck it into the cedar closet for the summer. 

With house guests here for a month, we have been trying to keep grocery bills under control while catering to their needs:  one vegetarian, one picky eater.   My Significant Other and me are voracious and eat basically anything that's food.  So we have been buying cage-free eggs, organic whole milk, and a host of other pricey groceries.  You would think not buying much meat would be cheap, but you would be wrong.  Today, we're having farfalle with mascarpone, hazelnuts, and asparagus.  It's a delicious vegetarian dish, but the ingredients are expensive.  I'm hoping to get two meals or one meal and a lunch out of it.  

The day after, we're having re fried rice with some cheaper ingredients.  For the carnivores, I will grill a small cheap sirloin and chop it up for us to put over the rice.  Tasty and cheap.  Last night we had bratwurst, sauerkraut  and fried potatoes.   I "doctor" my sauerkraut with onion,  brown sugar, bacon, caraway seed, bay leaf and paprika.  Lots of white wine.  I buy a huge jar at Ocean State Job lot for $2.00.  Of course potatoes are cheap and I got some baby ones on sale.  The vegetarian ate Morningstar Farms Buffalo Nuggets ($4.99 for a box).  We had a HUGE fruit salad with 7 different fruits for dessert.  So tasty and nutritious.  Spell check hates this post.  WTF? 

We are also finding that shopping every three days, with some visits to the supermarket, Whole Foods and Walmart is helping.  We also do not bring the guests along to toss stuff into the shopping cart.   Ya do what ya can.   Just about anything is cheaper than taking four to dinner. 

It is amazing how much terminology a 10 year old doesn't know.  Greasy spoon?  Not playing with a full deck?  All sorts of expressions. 

I have to go up and iron the stuff I used to send to the cleaners.  Being cheap has become a way of life.

Cheers

Blueberry Sauce

It's blueberry season and if you buy the frozen ones (on sale), then it's always blueberry season.

That means blueberry desserts, waffles, pancakes, and your very own blueberry sauce served on pancakes, waffles or even ice cream.

In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, stir 1/4 cup sugar and 1 T. cornstarch. Slowly add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup orange juice. Grapefruit or cranberry juice will also work, just something fruity. Grate in a little citrus zest. Orange or lemon are good.

Cook over medium heat until thickening, and keep stirring.

Add 1 cup of blueberries, more if you like, and continue to cook and stir until the sauce is the color of blueberries. The berries should be cooked but not mushy. You may add a pat of butter if you like, but it's not necessary.

I read the ingredients on a bottle of supermarket syrup, and just about gagged. Artificial crud to the max. Yech!

You can make orange, strawberry or even apricot sauce or syrup at home. So tasty. Adjust sugar as necessary.

Serve warm, and bask in the compliments.

Folks, on my last two supermarket trips, I have saved a total of $75.00. Not too shabby, huh?

I'm finding I do more and more shopping at Walmart, now, not just for cat supplies, but more household items and food items.

Yours in frugality and savings,

The Cheeseparer

Do It Yourself Mother's Day Steak House Dinner

Ruth Chris' steakhouse has recently offered a three course meal for $99 for two people. Add the $40 for drinks, the tip and the tax and the transporation and parking and you've topped off at $195.00. And this is the bargain meal.

Mother's Day, like Valentine's Day is the worst possible time to go out to eat. Too may people, bad service, screaming kids--what's to like?

Have yourself a wonderful feed for $30.00. I kid you not. Rib eye's were on sale this week, and I got two BIG ones for $11.35. This morning I used a Pillsbury pie crust ($1.69) filled with blueberries and blackberries to make a lucious dessert ($6.97 for the fruit.)

Baking potatoes purchased a while back, a big bag for $3.00, so figure $1.00 for two big potatoes. That includes butter, bacon bits and sour cream (all bought on sale). Add another $1 for incidentals, and the total comes to $30.00.

We are eating like kings, and Mom just has to cook the asparagus in the microwave and toss a salad. Potatoes bake themselves and Significant Other grills the steaks. The dessert took about 5 minutes after breakfast. It is a free form tart with the berries, sugar, lemon juice, apple pie spice and a bit of instant tapioca thickener. Looks lucious. Actually, if the two of us went out for this it would probably cost closer to $250.00. But these days, we wouldn't.

I washed 8 sweaters and a pair of good slacks, thereby saving $46.00, which will be more than enough to get all my winter coats cleaned. The sweaters look great. I wash them on hand wash and block on towels to dry. I due these two each and dry them on the washer and dryer.

One has to be a little clever and a little creative and pare a bit of cheese. By the way, Trader Joe's has great prices on cheese, and some of their crackers, esp. the flax seed ones are sooo delicious. Discover your inner cheese parer.

When I was a young woman, a couple got married and the wedding reception was in the hotel basement or at the bride's house. Talk about cheap! Weddings, birthday parties, all sorts of events have gotten out of hand. We can still have fun and enjoy our friends while we spend a fraction of the money we formerly did. Build frugal habits for a lifetime.

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.

Savings at the Grocery Store

This week, with a hard memory of our retirement investments tanking, I went over the grocery specials more earnestly than usual, and the store, perhaps responding to the bad economic news, had a number of tempting specials.

We broke down and bought one large pumpkin for $9.99. We usually buy three but the crop failure this year has them at astronomical prices. Hard to do without a pumpkin. Just need one.

Except for the specials, I only bought groceries I needed for this week. We're trying a new cheese spread for the cocktail hour. We've discovered some of the pretty good "spreads" made in-house at the store are about $5.00 a pound, which is a decent price, cheese-wise.

So the final grocery total came to $65.77 and the savings were $40.73. That's not bad. I didn't have to buy any paper, plastic or cleaning products. We bought a 24 case pack of cat food earlier in the week at Walmart. BTW, Walmart has the best and the cheapest cat litter. We never buy anything else.

I potted up 8 geraniums that I saved last winter and put in the big whiskey barrell by the side of the house. They grew and flourished and will spend the winter indoors again, thereby saving beaucoup bucks.

I made spaghetti alla amatriciana this week. We got three meals out of a pound of spaghetti and a 28 oz. can of tomatoes and 1/4 lb of bacon. This works out to pennies a meal. Can't beat that. Tasted first-rate, too.

Cheaply yours,

The Cheeseparer

Collecting Junque and Collectibles in a Faltering Economy

This is from Kovel's email newsletter. Some good thoughts. I had just about given up on this blog, as no one is reading it, but what the hell?

From Kovel's:

News, News, News
COLLECTORS VS. THE ECONOMY
Collectors should be able to survive a bad economy better than most. We are used to buying "used" things. Antiques and collectibles are all recycled parts of the best of the past. Buying good "used" furniture from consignment shops or a Salvation Army store is a challenge, but a knowing collector can search and find a worthwhile antique. Vintage clothing is praised by our friends and we brag about shopping at secondhand stores. We are trained to barter and negotiate prices by our years of buying at flea markets. Now it is acceptable to use the same money-saving techniques at local department stores. And of course we understand the financial gains from a garage sale, cashing in old gold and silver, and redecorating by refinishing, painting, and reworking some inexpensive "finds." We learned to repair our antiques, so we have always balked at buying a new blender when an old one can be made to work. We already like to cook from scratch, so let's do everything the old-fashioned way. Let's "waste not--want not." And don’t forget to clip grocery coupons and make the kids turn off the lights when they leave a room.

Hearty Breakfast

Woke up to gloomy weather and rain on a bleak Saturday. First thought was "ugggh!" and the next thought was oatmeal!

Oatmeal is cheap and filling and nourishing. It even tastes good. We make sure it tastes good by sticking a few plump golden raisins into the pot right before it's done. 2% milk with a dollop of cream and a spoonful of demarara sugar (or brown) puts the icing on the cake, so to speak. Of course you will want a helping of juice or fruit to balance the meal.

At our house we don't "do" instant oatmeal. We buy the stuff that has to cook for five (5!) whole minutes, which gives you time to set out the bowls, tiding up the kitchen, pour the juice and get your head centered. It tastes better, too. For a real (non cheeseparing) treat, sometime buy the steel cut oats when they are on sale. I also like Silver Palate oats, but don't have anymore coupons. Occasionally the house brand oatmeal can be purchased for a dollar.

Oatmeal also makes good filler for meatloat, and good bread, and you canmake make oatflour out of it in the Cuisinart and use it in cookies. Good source of fiber, too. So what are you waiting for?

It's tasty anytime, so don't procrastinate until you get a gloomy Saturday.

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/

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

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

Money Saving Tips Galore

For your Sunday morning perusal:

http://frugal1stopmom.wordpress.com/

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/

A humorous look at cheeseparing

Maureen Lang has an internal debate about how to save money for a vacation.
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/lang/866286,033008lang.article

Saving money is sort of like losing weight. If you already eat healthy meals and don't "do" junk food, you have far fewer options than if you're a burger and fries person. Likewise, with personal finance, if you are already frugal and clip those coupons and shop those sales, how to make further cuts is more difficult.

Maybe my readers have some ideas?

The Cheeseparer

Cheeseparing Tips From All Over

Today’s cheeseparing tips from all over:

Tried and True Tips for Grocery Savings:
http://www.courant.com/business/custom/consumer/hc-savemoney.artmar27,0,3570490.story

And MORE: http://www.mlive.com/food/index.ssf/2008/03/savvy_shoppers_share_tips_to_f.html

I liked the idea of planning your menus around the meat and produce specials. In the Boston area there are occasionally BOGOS (buy one get one) on meat, and you can pop one into the freezer for a “free meal” later in the month.

47 Ways to Save!

TechnoCrunch has a handle on saving 47 different ways.
http://www.techocrunch.com/47-tips-on-how-to-save-money-every-day-without-much-effort/

May The Eastern Bunny Bring Coupons Galore

Here's the Friday stuff:

From the Contra-Costa Times.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_8622799?nclick_check=1

The tip about using the Sunday funnies for wrapping kids birthday presents is great. I used to do that a million years ago. The presents always looked cool.

Cook and home and save money. Save even more money with these tips:
http://sixoclockscramble.blogspot.com/

Wallet Pop:
http://www.walletpop.com/2008/03/21/get-a-great-start-on-a-healthy-frugal-and-green-life/

Eat Ethnic!

One of the best ways to cut your grocery bill is to cook "ethnic" meals. Goulash soup, Puerto Rican rice and beans, stuffed cabbage, pasta with tomato sauce--the list of yummy, nourishing recipes imported from countries near and far is amazing. One of my favorites is to take the scraps from a chicken or a pork roast and make fried rice.

In the coming weeks, I'll feature some of my favorite cheap ethnic treats. In the meantime, here's more cheap living (grocery) tips from our friends in California:

Stretch your food budget! http://www.insidebayarea.com/food/ci_8622808