Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Femme Frugal Strikes Back!

I'm back! Yes, I know its been a very long time and I'm so sorry about that. It's been very hectic time for me ever since I returned from Toronto a few weeks ago...Actually that very week that I got back, I had four job interviews, which three of which resulted in job offers! Of course, being the dope that I am, I turned down one (which was 25hrs a week @ $10.50 an hour) that I thought didn't hold much promise for me (and definitely didn't spark my interest) and instead took a part time job as a polling interviewer at Quinnipiac University. The payrate is worse and the hours are less, but the schedule is such that I can work this part-time job in addition to a full-time job when I find one (hopefully soon). The other job offer came from a human resources group, which has been great, finding me temp jobs, while still helping me to look for full-time work. Starting next week I will be a working girl (in the best sense, lol)!


So besides the amazing blessing of having found work in such a terrible job market, I've also been having some great luck with my bargin shopping! Would you like to hear about it?...I thought so...

Well, in the first week of August I was very happy to take up the Walgreens deal on Hershey Bliss candy. This great treat, which I am turning into a useful stocking stuffer, was actually a money maker! I used EasySaver coupons and manufacturer's coupons to get each bag for $1 each and then having bought 4 bags, got a $5 rebate from Walgreens. That same week I picked up 3 boxes of Total cereal for $0.33each using two coupons ($1/1 and $1/2). Next week I stocked up on Bic Soliel razors and extra blades, spending $0.99 on each purchase! These are also destined to be great stocking stuffers. Finally, this past week I used coupons from the 8/24 SS to buy 16oz jars of Dole pineapple at Adams/IGA for only $0.50each! Usually you can't even buy a 12oz can of store brand pineapple for $1, so I stocked up as much as I could. I topped it off by shopping with Kathy on Wednesday and picking up a VivePro Shampoo/Conditioner at RiteAid, both free! (If anyone missed out on this deal, but has the BOGO coupon, and lives in CT, Xpect is also running a BOGO offer until 9/8!)

I promise to post more often, and trust me, there will be plenty of opportunities (especially as the drive to my part-time job takes me right past a Walgreens--yay!). I've got some other exciting frugal conversion news, so stayed tuned!

Best,
Ali

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Frugal Failure: Weekly Frugal Goals

Alison mentioned in her last post about how I've never told you guys anything regarding my goals on this blog.  Which, I was surprised to note, is completely true!  So I'm going to try and outline them for you guys here today
  1. Don't eat out.  To me this means: eating breakfast before I leave my apartment, packing (and eating) a lunch, preferably of leftovers, and going home for dinner.  I don't think going out for a meal with friends falls into this category, but I try to do it less than once a week (which usually isn't overly difficult).  Now, for a disclaimer:  I failed at this abysmally this semester!  Part of it was that my roommate was away, so I had no one to tell me I was bad for eating Dunkin Donuts and Wendy's five times a week, partially it was the insane amount of work that had to be done for one of my classes, and part of it was just sheer laziness.
  2. Watch for sales/coupons.  This just means looking at the flyer before I go grocery shopping.  Looking at the red plum, and seeing what coupons there are, matching coupons with sales, and saving myself a ton of money easily.  I'd like it to mean stockpiling like a lot of the Mommy blogs do, but in a small apartment with just myself and my roommate, this really isn't feasible.  On top of that, my roommate seems to be morally opposed to the idea of stockpiling, for some unknown reason, which makes it hard to do as we split groceries evenly :)
  3. Know whats in my fridge/cupboards.  This is a big one.  If I have 10 boxes of Kix, which only I eat, and Kix go on sale again, I shouldn't buy more, unless I can get them for an amazing price!  What's an amazing price?  See goal #5!
  4. If you don't need anything, don't shop.  This is a big one for me.  I would go to the store every week, without fail, and pick up whatever meats were on sale.  It never occured to me that if I didn't buy chicken, I wouldn't eat chicken untili the next time it was on sale, I would go buy it anyway!  I also wouldn't take into account the amount of food already in my fridge/freezer.  It just wasn't a good strategy.
  5. Keep a Grocery Price Book.  I haven't actually started this resolution yet, but I feel its a really important one to have!  See the article here at GRS, and here at NCN.  I'm sure there are some other great articles about Grocery Price Books... Have you written one?
  6. Walk.  This is a big one for me.  Since I moved off-campus, I have been taking the bus instead of walking, even though it is a 10 minute walk to campus.  This is ridiculous, as it costs me about $1 each way, that I don't need to spend.
Those are my main goals.  I realize they mostly involve grocery shopping or eating, but I do very little else that costs money!  I infrequently go to the movies, or go out dancing or drinking.  Most of my hobbys require little maintenance cost, and the initial costs have long been spent.

So what do you think?

Katharine

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Monday, August 11, 2008

Frugal Failure: Part Deux

Note from Katharine: Sorry it has been so quiet around here lately... the summer semester has been murder, and with Alison away, there was no one to stop me from neglecting the blog.  Hopefully posting should go back to normal in a week or two!

Maybe my goals are kind of crazy, I don't know. Maybe Kathy has the right idea about not telling you all her definite goals. But I think that doing that, being accountable to our readers, and sharing my stuggles helps me stay on track, so I can deal with a little humiliation...

I few weeks ago I attempted at the $20/week budget. Since I'm not actually paying any expenses (I gave up my car, I'm living at home, etc.), I thought that this would be completely doable. But I guess the title of this entry tipped you off to how my experiment turned out. Within four days my budget was blown!

It started out innocently, $0.50 for a pinch of organic black chai tea leaves on Friday. That turned into $2 for a pound of stawberries for the waffle brunch that Kathy and I shared. It then escalated exponentially to $12 for lunch at an Indian buffet in New Haven (generally the place is a good deal, but definitely not on Sunday!). Returning home that night with only $5 in my wallet, I devoutly affirmed my commitment to the $20 Way of Life. Little did I know that as I approached the seemingly innocent and frugal public library a fine of $2.50 awaited me! Alas, $3 seemed just too lonely in my pocket, so that night I met up with my friend DJ and went to ice cream with him. Broke in 4 DAYS! Unbelievable... My only redeeming quality was my ability to go completely cold turkey for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Here's how I wanted it to go: $5 for couponing, $5 to take a family member out to coffee (quality time), $5 for necessary expenses, $3 to save, and $2 to donate to charity. It sounded so reasonable, but now you and I will have to wait to find out how my next attempt goes, seeing as spending a week in Toronto will not be workable on $20 or anything close.

Stay frugal!

Cheers,
Ali

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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Homemade goodies--a double money-saver!

Alright--I'll admit it: the homemade spaghetti sauce totally did not deserve two posts...I'm sure anyone who makes their own sauce already as well as those who may have tried to gather some free ingredients must have been thinking "Come ON, already"

But, in case it hasn't come across yet, I love being in the kitchen. As weird as it might sound to those of you who know me, I LOVE food! I love baking treats (so much that I've even let my sister claim credit for my cookies when she gave them as a gift to her boyfriend!) and making full meals for my family from scratch. Yes, I'm clumsy and so I make a mess, but its fun! Which is why, to me, cooking is a double money-saver. Firstly, it prevents me from buying silly, over-priced junkfood that is full of unhealthy preservatives and covered in layers of destined-to-be-landfill-filling wrappers. And, secondly, its something to do! This is a biggie for me lately, because I've been doing the post-college/pre-gradschool jobhunt (one of the hardest things of my life...), and cooking definitely provides a much needed break from that.

This past weekend, I harvested the produce of my sole basil plant! I had grown it from seed, carefully tended and watered it in the spring, and then moved it outside after returning home from college. My reward? Pesto!!! Delicious, fresh, garlicky pesto! Not only was it rewarding for me as a reprive from the curse of my mother's black thumb, but it was frugal and semi-healthy. Ok, so pesto does include a comparatively great deal of olive oil and parmesan cheese and pinenuts, but these are healthy fats, with protein! So far, my family has enjoyed it on sandwiches and pasta. Also this past week, I've been experimenting with freezing cookie dough. After mixing everything together, I use my fantastic cookie scoop ($5.95 at Walmart!) to make perfect little balls of dough, which store perfectly in a tupperware in my freezer. Consequently, almost every night for the past week, my evening has ended with freshly baked cookies! I totally recommend this method for
everyone who loves cookies: moms with little kids who always want to 'help mommy', moms whose teenagers have to fend for themselves after school, young adults too busy to bake very often, and they make a great gift for anyone who may be baking-challenged! Voila! A bountiful supply of budget-friendly bites!

Look for more updates coming soon!

Cheers,
Ali


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Friday, August 1, 2008

Frugal Lessons: Grocery Shopping

I went to the store last night, because I had about 2000 coupons which were going to expire...  And I learned a hard lesson: restraint.  It was difficult for me to stick to the on sale and have a coupon plan I've been using lately, especially since I hadn't shopped in a few weeks.  In fact, I pretty much destroyed it completely... FAIL

I bought a couple things that were on sale, and a couple that I had a coupon for, and most of it was things I needed, but I could have done better.  I didn't need to buy a pound of bacon to have for breakfast, or a steak to have for dinner, but I was craving it!  I didn't need orange juice, but I hadn't had any in weeks, and I had a coupon! I didn't need peanut butter, but we were out of it, and I had a coupon!  I certainly didn't need perogies, but they are a nice treat, and I had a coupon!  I didn't need green beans, but it is really iffy buying them from the farmer's market, and if they didn't have any I would have to go back to the store! I did need toilet paper.  Really, that's all I actually needed at the store.

On the other hand, I had a nice steak dinner last night, with perogies and green beans.  And this morning I had bacon, eggs, and toast, with a nice tall glass of orange juice.  Those 2 meals just kind of cost me $44 though.  Ouch.

How do I kind of justify it?  Well, I cut the steak into small pieces, vacuum sealed them, and have about 4 steak dinners left.  I did the same with the bacon, divided it into sections of about 4 slices and vacuum sealed them to have some other weekend.  The green beans should last me a week or two, and the perogies should last a month or so, they are a sometimes-treat.

Honestly though, its not really justifiable.  I should be going to the store every week!  What if steak had been on sale last week? Then I would have already had some and wouldn't have gone shopping with a craving in mind...  Some of those coupons may have been put to better use in previous weeks, if only I had gone shopping!

How do you deal with being too busy or too lazy to go shopping? Do you have a shopping day? Do you avoid scheduling things on that day? What if something crops up? How do you make yourself go?  Living by myself as I currently do, I could live on whats in my apartment for weeks...

~Katharine


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