No one really likes being in debt. Yet our society claims that it is normal, and as long as you make your monthly payments it's not a big deal.
I have bad news for you. Do the math...it IS a big deal!
Now I am not saying that you're a horrible person for being in debt. Nor am I saying you're financially stupid. I would be a hypocrite if I were saying such things because my husband and I are in debt. However, a month or so ago we finally sat down and did the math.
We had a $13,000 loan that, over SIX years of paying the monthly payments, we would have paid over $16,000 for! That is about $3000 being paid in interest, which means we are paying 25% more than we borrowed. Not to mention, we would have SEVENTY-TWO months of minimum payments.
Now if that isn't frightening enough. We looked at that monthly bill. Our bill even stated how much of our monthly payments was going towards paying down the principal (original loan amount). 2/3 of that monthly payment went straight to INTEREST!
While I am not a fan of debt in any way shape or form, there are certain types of debt that are very difficult to avoid; student loans and mortgages being the main ones. However, that does not mean we should be content with paying so much extra money in interest. So if you, like me, are bent on saving money in every way possible...you will pay down those debts as soon as possible and end up saving yourself thousands of dollars in interest!
As I mentioned previously, I began my master's program last year. And while we tried to pay as much of the tuition out of pocket, we had to end up borrowing. So we came up with a plan, a one year plan to pay off the rest of our debts! I was psyched!!
But...
Here's the bad news with loans, student loans in particular: The whole system of credit and borrowing money is that your "I owe you" changes hands. In this process, mixed with my husband having moved so much in the past few years, some of his "I owe yous" changed hands. So while we finished paying the one lender we thought he owed...another one was claiming an "I owe you" but it was being sent to one of his old addresses and never got forwarded onward...until a month ago.
Needless to say our one year plan now tripled due to having triple the amount of debt we originally thought.
On the bright side, however, this means our spending budget is even tighter and so I will have plenty of new material for the blog since our budget will force us to create more ways to save money.
Back on Track
Despite my love for blogging, when life gets busy it tends to be the first thing that gets forgotten or put on the back burner.
The middle of August (which is when my last post was written) was the cusp of a huge change in our lives. My angst from working at a dead-end 'monkeys could do this 'job brought up many life changing questions. To put a long story short, I began working on my master's in September of last year which coincided with a job change for me and a shift change for my husband. Needless to say we've been in chaos for quite some time now.
A little less than a year later we are, once again, on the cusp of change. My coursework is nearing the end which means my internship is getting closer. This means our surviving on a night schedule, will be no good since my internship will be during the day. Thankfully, my husband's schedule is able to match mine and he is having another shift change to a day schedule as well.
All that to say, I apologize for the lack of postings and (for reasons that will be explained in a future post) I assure you I will be looking for newer and better ways to save even MORE money.
The middle of August (which is when my last post was written) was the cusp of a huge change in our lives. My angst from working at a dead-end 'monkeys could do this 'job brought up many life changing questions. To put a long story short, I began working on my master's in September of last year which coincided with a job change for me and a shift change for my husband. Needless to say we've been in chaos for quite some time now.
A little less than a year later we are, once again, on the cusp of change. My coursework is nearing the end which means my internship is getting closer. This means our surviving on a night schedule, will be no good since my internship will be during the day. Thankfully, my husband's schedule is able to match mine and he is having another shift change to a day schedule as well.
All that to say, I apologize for the lack of postings and (for reasons that will be explained in a future post) I assure you I will be looking for newer and better ways to save even MORE money.
"Sell By" and "Best By" Dates: What They Really Mean
First on the agenda is to report on how our eMeals planning is going. I mentioned last week what our grocery bill came out that week. It was a little higher than I would've liked, but we also got some items from this week's list. This week our groceries came out to $39 (plus $4 for a bad-day Ben and Jerry's remediation). Bringing our average total to about $60 per week. Not bad! I'd say those eMeals are working. :)
Now onto today's topic: "Sell By" and "Best By" Dates
Expiration dates are a huge key for those who need to get the most out of their money. If we don't pay attention to when food goes bad, we could end up wasting money, and wasting money goes against everything this blog stands for. But "Sell By" and "Best By" dates aren't expiration dates...are they?
"Best By" dates are merely for the the grocery stores to keep rotating their stock (and to help them know what items sell and at what rate). They are also the suggestions of manufactures stating the item will have their guaranteed flavor up until that specified date. Eating items after their "Best Buy" date usually isn't dangerous and sometimes you won't even notice a taste difference.
"Sell By" dates, however, that are found on dairy and meat products are good for guidance when discerning how long an item will be good for. The item will be good PAST the sell by date, but for how long depends on which item.
My favorite resource on this topic is a website called Still Tasty. On this site you can search just about any food item cooked/uncooked. It will then supply you with optimum storage conditions (will it freeze well? will it survive humidity?) as well as estimates for how long an item will last based on where you store it (pantry, fridge, freezer). It even mentions the temperatures it assumes your freezer and fridge are set to in order to provide proper estimates. Not only is it detailed and user friendly, Still Tasty states the sources it uses to bring you these estimates (many of which are government certified sources).
Along with the website they have an iPhone app, for $2, that will even alert you when your food is going bad based on when you bought it. For now, my husband and I have it fairly under control with our meal plans, so I didn't buy it but I could see how it would be very useful if you don't have each food item assigned to a meal (though I recommend that you do).
Either way, if you're ever unsure about an item in your pantry/fridge/freezer, or if you're looking to properly store items...Still Tasty is the best and most reliable resource I know.
Now onto today's topic: "Sell By" and "Best By" Dates
Expiration dates are a huge key for those who need to get the most out of their money. If we don't pay attention to when food goes bad, we could end up wasting money, and wasting money goes against everything this blog stands for. But "Sell By" and "Best By" dates aren't expiration dates...are they?
"Best By" dates are merely for the the grocery stores to keep rotating their stock (and to help them know what items sell and at what rate). They are also the suggestions of manufactures stating the item will have their guaranteed flavor up until that specified date. Eating items after their "Best Buy" date usually isn't dangerous and sometimes you won't even notice a taste difference.
"Sell By" dates, however, that are found on dairy and meat products are good for guidance when discerning how long an item will be good for. The item will be good PAST the sell by date, but for how long depends on which item.
My favorite resource on this topic is a website called Still Tasty. On this site you can search just about any food item cooked/uncooked. It will then supply you with optimum storage conditions (will it freeze well? will it survive humidity?) as well as estimates for how long an item will last based on where you store it (pantry, fridge, freezer). It even mentions the temperatures it assumes your freezer and fridge are set to in order to provide proper estimates. Not only is it detailed and user friendly, Still Tasty states the sources it uses to bring you these estimates (many of which are government certified sources).
Along with the website they have an iPhone app, for $2, that will even alert you when your food is going bad based on when you bought it. For now, my husband and I have it fairly under control with our meal plans, so I didn't buy it but I could see how it would be very useful if you don't have each food item assigned to a meal (though I recommend that you do).
Either way, if you're ever unsure about an item in your pantry/fridge/freezer, or if you're looking to properly store items...Still Tasty is the best and most reliable resource I know.
Dinner: Time Saving Tips
While this blog is about money saving tips, there is also the need for time saving tips. In our day and age "time is money" can seem like a very applicable statement so in light of this, let me offer some tips that are working out well in our household:
Last week I mentioned that we would actually begin using eMeals, and we have. We've been using their Family Plan meal plan and making it stretch over a two week span, rather than their 2 person meal plan. We only shop for half of the meals on the eMeals list this week, and next week we finish the others. Three to four different meals per week, leftovers the other times. This is an attempt to save time, more than to save money because we only have to cook half the time. Normally I would freeze the leftovers so we could cook one week and relax the week after, however my husband is not a fan of the freezing leftovers concept. So, we have reached a compromise.
So far we have been cooking one night, and eating the leftovers the very next day. Some people may not like the repetition being right in a row, but it works for us. Since our dishwasher still hasn't been installed yet it's been working out to cook one day, wash dishes the next. And may i say, if you don't have a dishwasher I so HIGHLY recommend this system. Dishes no longer pile up like crazy, nor do we feel like dinner prep/eat/cleanup time lasts forever.
Last night, for example, was our 'wash the dishes' night because Wednesdays are our busy nights. However the recipe for our dinner tonight called for marinating the chicken overnight. Instead of having to have cooked two meals in one night, my husband washed the dishes while I cooked the chicken and made the marinade. And tonight, we get a free lazy day. How wonderful!
Other eMeals Benefits:
-every meal plan comes with 7 dinner menus (sides included) and recipes, as well as a grocery list ordered by store department...saving time even in the grocery store
- not only do you have a meal plan but you also have the recipe available to anyone so either my husband or I can cook dinner, depending on who gets home first. (whereas when I made the meal plan, I cooked because I knew where the recipes were)
-the meals a wonderfully planned to make use of all the items you buy. For instance one recipe only calls for half a pineapple...good thing recipe number 7 calls for the other half of that pineapple!
I can't comment on the saving money part as we're only on the first week of the month, but I can say we spent only $75 this week on groceries, and about $15 of that was for groceries that will last us the month or will go towards next week's grocery list. To us, that's right about on target with our budget...I'll let you know how it goes come the end of the month.
All in all, eMeals is so much easier. It may take the joy and accomplishment from coming up with your own recipe or meal plan, but there's always room for tweaking it to feel accomplished, and room for making your own ingredients (dressings, marinade, sauces...) instead of just buying it because it's on the grocery list. Basically, it leaves the creativity up to what time you have available, and for me...the best creativity comes when I do it because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. :)
Last week I mentioned that we would actually begin using eMeals, and we have. We've been using their Family Plan meal plan and making it stretch over a two week span, rather than their 2 person meal plan. We only shop for half of the meals on the eMeals list this week, and next week we finish the others. Three to four different meals per week, leftovers the other times. This is an attempt to save time, more than to save money because we only have to cook half the time. Normally I would freeze the leftovers so we could cook one week and relax the week after, however my husband is not a fan of the freezing leftovers concept. So, we have reached a compromise.
So far we have been cooking one night, and eating the leftovers the very next day. Some people may not like the repetition being right in a row, but it works for us. Since our dishwasher still hasn't been installed yet it's been working out to cook one day, wash dishes the next. And may i say, if you don't have a dishwasher I so HIGHLY recommend this system. Dishes no longer pile up like crazy, nor do we feel like dinner prep/eat/cleanup time lasts forever.
Last night, for example, was our 'wash the dishes' night because Wednesdays are our busy nights. However the recipe for our dinner tonight called for marinating the chicken overnight. Instead of having to have cooked two meals in one night, my husband washed the dishes while I cooked the chicken and made the marinade. And tonight, we get a free lazy day. How wonderful!
Other eMeals Benefits:
-every meal plan comes with 7 dinner menus (sides included) and recipes, as well as a grocery list ordered by store department...saving time even in the grocery store
- not only do you have a meal plan but you also have the recipe available to anyone so either my husband or I can cook dinner, depending on who gets home first. (whereas when I made the meal plan, I cooked because I knew where the recipes were)
-the meals a wonderfully planned to make use of all the items you buy. For instance one recipe only calls for half a pineapple...good thing recipe number 7 calls for the other half of that pineapple!
I can't comment on the saving money part as we're only on the first week of the month, but I can say we spent only $75 this week on groceries, and about $15 of that was for groceries that will last us the month or will go towards next week's grocery list. To us, that's right about on target with our budget...I'll let you know how it goes come the end of the month.
All in all, eMeals is so much easier. It may take the joy and accomplishment from coming up with your own recipe or meal plan, but there's always room for tweaking it to feel accomplished, and room for making your own ingredients (dressings, marinade, sauces...) instead of just buying it because it's on the grocery list. Basically, it leaves the creativity up to what time you have available, and for me...the best creativity comes when I do it because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. :)
Homemade Food and Craigslist
One of the best ways to save money and increase quality, is to make/bake/cook/mix it at home. No more prepackaged anything, is our goal.
I've tried my hand at homemade pesto sauce, seasoning mixes, tomato sauces, pizza dough, and so on. Even my husband has made a Chipotle knock-off burrito which is becoming his new staple lunch of choice. No more $10 burrito, hello $2 burrito. And next in line is homemade salsa and (now that we have a breadmaker) homemade bread).
It builds satisfaction, decreases cost, and creates fun challenges. Any premixed/cooked item whether in the grocery store or at a restaurant, we wonder how easy it would be to just make it ourselves. Yes, it does take more time out of our day so we experiment on the weekends, make what we can, and store the rest for during the week (thank you rubbermaid and pyrex storage containers).
The only downside we've run into with this whole Homemade Experiment...are the dirty dishes. Oh the dirty dishes are so many! While I've lived fairly happily in an apartment without a dishwasher for a couple years, this whole "make everything at home" thing is exhausting! Not to mention, it's also discouraging. I avoid cooking sometimes simply because of the dishes it will add to our already dirty pile. :(
So I finally gave in. I was now on the forefront of our search for a dishwasher (which my husband had been on board with even before finding our apartment). For $75 we purchased our very own, brand new never been used, dishwasher! Yup...brand-new....and for $75. Thank you Craigslist and the seller who never installed this dishwasher before they ended up moving. Now my husband is tasked with building an enclosure, and our plumber is finally coming to install it this week. Yay!!!
Homemade food + dishwasher = saving money, saving time, increasing quality, and no more dreading the dirty dishes. This is how you spend money in the right places and get what you want at a bargain price.
I've tried my hand at homemade pesto sauce, seasoning mixes, tomato sauces, pizza dough, and so on. Even my husband has made a Chipotle knock-off burrito which is becoming his new staple lunch of choice. No more $10 burrito, hello $2 burrito. And next in line is homemade salsa and (now that we have a breadmaker) homemade bread).
It builds satisfaction, decreases cost, and creates fun challenges. Any premixed/cooked item whether in the grocery store or at a restaurant, we wonder how easy it would be to just make it ourselves. Yes, it does take more time out of our day so we experiment on the weekends, make what we can, and store the rest for during the week (thank you rubbermaid and pyrex storage containers).
The only downside we've run into with this whole Homemade Experiment...are the dirty dishes. Oh the dirty dishes are so many! While I've lived fairly happily in an apartment without a dishwasher for a couple years, this whole "make everything at home" thing is exhausting! Not to mention, it's also discouraging. I avoid cooking sometimes simply because of the dishes it will add to our already dirty pile. :(
So I finally gave in. I was now on the forefront of our search for a dishwasher (which my husband had been on board with even before finding our apartment). For $75 we purchased our very own, brand new never been used, dishwasher! Yup...brand-new....and for $75. Thank you Craigslist and the seller who never installed this dishwasher before they ended up moving. Now my husband is tasked with building an enclosure, and our plumber is finally coming to install it this week. Yay!!!
Homemade food + dishwasher = saving money, saving time, increasing quality, and no more dreading the dirty dishes. This is how you spend money in the right places and get what you want at a bargain price.
Meal Plan Savings
Between the craziness of life and a few bumps in the road, this blog hasn't been managed as much as I would've liked. Still recently married, life is still in adjustment mode and with that comes experimenting that can occasionally end in failure.
A few weeks ago we hit one of those experiments that failed. I enjoyed this money saving concept and only bought what groceries I could get on sale. Great, right? Not entirely. We ended up having some food go bad because we had some miss matched food and had no real plan of how to use it all.
It's a common mistake, I know. But it's a mistake that, when you're on a tight budget, is the hardest mistake to swallow. It's the mistake that makes you want to stop trying. Well we didn't stop trying to save, but I was discouraged from this blog. However, we have bounced back.
I once heard it said that "failure is the manure of life." Yes it stinks, but it also allows growth to blossom where it falls. That's exactly what happened. Throwing out food that went bad hurt, but it was enough to kick us into a routine that wouldn't set us up to do that again. Before every shopping trip we now go through the grocery store circulars, and match the sale prices with recipe ingredients. This time, we have a plan.
It may take more effort up front, but it also makes life easier during the week when we're trying to figure out what to eat for dinner because we already have it planned out. But, we are also signed up for (and have been we just, haven't been using lately) eMeals. Every Wednesday I get 7 dinner meal recipes, cooking instructions, and an organized grocery list emailed to me for a very minimal subscription fee.
Lately we've been meal planning on our own, but only ever planning a main dish...eMeals plans out your main dish and pairs it with a side dish as well. You better believe next week, we'll actually make use of eMeals. Intentional buying, means no more wasted food, which means spending money wisely and that is the entire point of why I write what I write.
For those of you interested in this subscription I'll teach you a little secret to save even more money on the eMeals subscription (instead of $4.80 a month, it's now $2.40 a month). Go to google and search "Groupon emeals" because 70% of the time there is a Groupon in some region of the US for 50% off. Not all the time, but before you pay full price, always check to see if you can save a little more. ;)
A few weeks ago we hit one of those experiments that failed. I enjoyed this money saving concept and only bought what groceries I could get on sale. Great, right? Not entirely. We ended up having some food go bad because we had some miss matched food and had no real plan of how to use it all.
It's a common mistake, I know. But it's a mistake that, when you're on a tight budget, is the hardest mistake to swallow. It's the mistake that makes you want to stop trying. Well we didn't stop trying to save, but I was discouraged from this blog. However, we have bounced back.
I once heard it said that "failure is the manure of life." Yes it stinks, but it also allows growth to blossom where it falls. That's exactly what happened. Throwing out food that went bad hurt, but it was enough to kick us into a routine that wouldn't set us up to do that again. Before every shopping trip we now go through the grocery store circulars, and match the sale prices with recipe ingredients. This time, we have a plan.
It may take more effort up front, but it also makes life easier during the week when we're trying to figure out what to eat for dinner because we already have it planned out. But, we are also signed up for (and have been we just, haven't been using lately) eMeals. Every Wednesday I get 7 dinner meal recipes, cooking instructions, and an organized grocery list emailed to me for a very minimal subscription fee.
Lately we've been meal planning on our own, but only ever planning a main dish...eMeals plans out your main dish and pairs it with a side dish as well. You better believe next week, we'll actually make use of eMeals. Intentional buying, means no more wasted food, which means spending money wisely and that is the entire point of why I write what I write.
For those of you interested in this subscription I'll teach you a little secret to save even more money on the eMeals subscription (instead of $4.80 a month, it's now $2.40 a month). Go to google and search "Groupon emeals" because 70% of the time there is a Groupon in some region of the US for 50% off. Not all the time, but before you pay full price, always check to see if you can save a little more. ;)
A Good Education Is Worth Every Penny
One thing that is always worth one's money, is a good education.
We should all pursue learning and the best education we can afford...and I'm not just talking about those who are grade school or college age. No, we should never stop pursuing opportunities to learn no matter how young or old we are. Thankfully there are countless opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, and some for very affordable prices.
The library is a good place to start. So long as you can read, you can learn more about nearly any subject for free (or for mere pennies if you forget to return the books on time). But books are not the ideal learning material for many people, myself included. I learn much better when I can hear a voice, and better yet see demonstrations. While books are nice, I simply don't grasp the concepts as much as I would in the classroom. So for those of you who like, and/or are accustom to, lecture style learning don't fret for I have found us another free solution. :)
The new frugal favorite of mine (and my husband's) is using an app called iTunes U. If you haven't heard of it, either get the app now on your mobile device or simply access it through the iTunes Store. On here you can access FREE lectures from numerous colleges and universities (some even in video form) from nearly any university course topic.
My husband has put a hold on pursuing his postgraduate degree due to life adjustments, however he has not put a hold on pursuing his education. He enjoys using iTunes U to listen to several courses from a variety of well known seminaries allowing him to not only continue learning but also to gain a diverse education.
Me? My recent favorite is working on that growing culinary hobby of mine by listening to Science and Cooking from Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science. The science behind culinary techniques is absolutely fascinating, and the videos allow me to watch the demonstrations of some world renowned chefs!
Learning and increasing one's knowledge is absolutely worth every penny, but when you can get such high quality education for free? Well, to pass that up would be foolish.
We should all pursue learning and the best education we can afford...and I'm not just talking about those who are grade school or college age. No, we should never stop pursuing opportunities to learn no matter how young or old we are. Thankfully there are countless opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, and some for very affordable prices.
The library is a good place to start. So long as you can read, you can learn more about nearly any subject for free (or for mere pennies if you forget to return the books on time). But books are not the ideal learning material for many people, myself included. I learn much better when I can hear a voice, and better yet see demonstrations. While books are nice, I simply don't grasp the concepts as much as I would in the classroom. So for those of you who like, and/or are accustom to, lecture style learning don't fret for I have found us another free solution. :)
The new frugal favorite of mine (and my husband's) is using an app called iTunes U. If you haven't heard of it, either get the app now on your mobile device or simply access it through the iTunes Store. On here you can access FREE lectures from numerous colleges and universities (some even in video form) from nearly any university course topic.
My husband has put a hold on pursuing his postgraduate degree due to life adjustments, however he has not put a hold on pursuing his education. He enjoys using iTunes U to listen to several courses from a variety of well known seminaries allowing him to not only continue learning but also to gain a diverse education.
Me? My recent favorite is working on that growing culinary hobby of mine by listening to Science and Cooking from Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science. The science behind culinary techniques is absolutely fascinating, and the videos allow me to watch the demonstrations of some world renowned chefs!
Learning and increasing one's knowledge is absolutely worth every penny, but when you can get such high quality education for free? Well, to pass that up would be foolish.
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