Better Living on the Cheap

No impact

2010-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last night I finally watched No Impact Man on netflix. It was an excellent documentary. Colin Beaven decided to live a year trying to make no impact on the environment. He gave up motorized transportation, only ate local foods, gave up all cleaning chemicals. His wife was very reluctant at first. She loved coffee and TV and shopping. Eventually they turned off the power in their house, using only candles at night if needed. Their small daughter loved it. I have been reading the no impact blog for some time, so I knew the things they had done. What struck me most was his comment that days lasted forever. Also, he pointed out a false question that I see many times. Instead of spending time trying to figure out which products are most sustainable, first decide if you can do without. Doing without is usually the cheapest, most sustainable thing you can do.
I recommend this movie. Very though provoking.

I wish

2009-12-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

I almost wish we didn't have the cooking network and DIY and all of those channels (not that I watch them). But it seems to me that we are raising everything to high art. How many people watch a cooking show and think 'well, I could never do that'. Quite a few I imagine. I guess my point is that we should try things. Just like art and music and singing shouldn't only be in the realm of professionals. So shouldn't cooking and exercising and things like that. Anyone can do it and anyone should. Take back your life and realize how many things you can do.

Finally

2009-07-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

I finally found one of the environmental clips that MTV used to run back in 1989. Believe it or not, this is one of the things that originally inspired me to be environmentally conscious and set me on the path of the lifestyle I want to have. Let me know if you find more of these. I thought they were really good.

The Book

2009-07-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

I finished the Barbara Kingsolver book and it was excellent. Of course now I have all these ideas swirling around in my head of things to do.
Remember I was saving jars to can with? Well, I wasn't making much progress but I started cleaning out the shed on my property and the previous owner had the same idea. So I have a bunch of jars, all shapes and sizes. Some of the odd sizes I won't try to can with but I'm wanting to store things and save seed from my hopefully heirloom french breakfast radishes (fingers crossed) so they will come in handy. I love having jars full of good things to eat, canned goods, beans and rice.
Also, I'm going to look into a cowshare agreement so I can get fresh milk as I want to try making my own butter and yogurt and such.
Must be lunchtime, I'm hungry talking about food.

Books

2009-07-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

I am a total bibliophile. I read books like they are going out of style. Perhaps they are. Anyway, I just started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and already I love it. It talks about how disconnected we are from our food supply. Not knowing how it grows or where it came from or how much energy it takes to get it to our plate. It also looks like it's going to talk about how we as a nation have forgotten how to do things. Most people don't even know how to grow things, produce things, without it being shipped prepacked to us. That in particular is one of the things I'm concerned with. I may write an essay on this topic soon in the future but it really concerns me that people have relegated good cooking, or preserving food, or growing your own food to "experts". You don't have to be an "expert" gardener to grow some of your own food just like you don't have to be a chef to cook good food to eat. We need to take back some of our skills from the so called "experts".

Less Stress

2009-06-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

There has been a big change in my life in the last 6 months which has equaled less stress for me. Unfortunately, I eat more when I'm relaxed. I've gained a lot of weight and now my summer clothes don't fit. But instead of embarking on some expensive diet plan or rigorous exercise schedule, in accordance with the Buddhism I'm reading about, I'm just going to try and be mindful of what I choose to eat. Instead of grabbing whatever is closest, I will think more about each thing I choose and try and remember to decide for better things. My garden is close to producing lettuce and radishes and spinach so I will try and eat more of these things. I will do more walking but I'm not expecting instant results. If I can slow down, I think I will see gradual results.
Wish me luck!

Recipe

2009-06-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the best recipe I've found so far for instant oatmeal. If I'm going to eat oatmeal plain I eat thicker rolled oats. But sometimes I get instant oatmeal if that's all there is. This recipe is also great for kids to make with just a little help with the oven. You can make it the night before for breakfast the next day. I usually have most of the ingredients on hand and it's tasty and comforting.

Baked Oatmeal
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup milk

Beat together all ingredients with mixing spoon; pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Serve with milk.

Crafting Cheaply

2009-05-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

If you knit or crochet or spin or weave or do anything with fiber or yarn, you know how expensive it can be. Fancier wool or yarn is more and more expensive. In my opinion it's worth it, but sometimes I just want some yarn to try out something and don't want to feel bad if I mess it up. Enter thrift store sweaters! I've gotten 2 or 3 sweaters for a dollar. I just make sure it is 100% wool (or cotton or whatever I feel like knitting with) and feels good to me. I generally don't get acrylic sweaters (well, once I got one part acrylic because I want to make socks with it) and look at the seams. This tutorial is very good and make sure you read it all before you go out and buy. Just to give you an idea, I unraveled one man's sweater and I've made 3 pairs of socks from it so far. At least one more pair is in it, perhaps two. It's fun and I enjoy it and makes me feel yarn rich.

Earth day

2009-04-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

Earth day is tomorrow so go out and do something for the environment.

Earth Day Network

Future planning

2009-04-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

Planning ahead is a great thing for saving money. And it doesn't always take a lot of time. Before you think you have to sit down and plan your life for the next 10 years, do some planning like I do. I'm going to grow a garden this year and I know I'll want to preserve some of it by canning. (dilled green beans anyone?) But I don't have a lot of jars. 2, to be exact. Since I'm planning ahead though, this is what I'll do. Rather than going out to buy a bunch of canning jars, I'll do this. I go to the store and think, 'I'll make spaghetti tonight'. Rather than purchasing the cheapest decent sauce in a can, I peruse the ones in glass jars. (I could be making my own sauce, which I've done, but I'm lazy today) Hmmm, Classico and a few other brands come in nice glass jars that are made for canning. So, I pick the one that is on sale that week and viola! I have spaghetti sauce for dinner AND a nice glass jar to clean out and use to can. Two birds with one stone! And it took hardly any planning on my part. My only advice is to buy the ones with jars that look like canning jars. The other ones may be harder to find lids for.

Food ideas

2009-04-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

I'm always looking for new, good, inexpensive food ideas. I found this today at Spunky Eclectic and it looks like it fits the bill. You could make it as fancy or plain as you wanted. Good for you, good for the environment and good for your pocketbook. If I have time, I'll try it this weekend and let you know.

Earth hour again

2009-04-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

Again my son wanted to do earth hour. Something about turning off all the lights and just interacting with each other, he loves it. He asked, 'mom, can you do earth hour anytime?' I said 'of course! that's the point!'
We should be thinking about how we can protect the earth all the time. One of the many bonuses of this is more quality time with your family just talking to them. Help spread the word!

Earth hour revisited

2009-03-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

My kids and I participated in Earth Hour last night. When I told them about it, I found that they had no clue what I was talking about. To be summed up in my son's question, "if we turn off the lights, does the earth warm up?" So I spent the hour talking to them a little about what global warming is and why it's important. I mentioned ice caps and sea level rising and weather patterns changing. I think they understood a little.
Kids pick up on things so fast I just assumed that had heard of global warming just a little bit. I read a lot on the topic and hope they start reading as well. Don't assume your kid know all about something. Sometimes it's just bits and pieces.
There are a lot of critics of Earth Hour out there (just read the comments on their web site) but I think it's a great tool for raising awareness and my family has decided to participate every week. It's a chance to slow down, talk to your kids, explain a little more of your personal philosophy.
It was fun!

Earth hour

2009-03-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Participate in Earth hour this year. It's an easy easy (and of course cheap) way to show your commitment to the earth. There is more information here.
I'm going to try and do the live blogging thing to get involved tomorrow night. It's a great way to unite people all over the world and raise awareness of global climate change.

My favorite cookbook

2009-02-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

Last night I made some oatmeal bread from my favorite cookbook. Which cookbook is that? The More with Less Cookbook. It is a Mennonite cookbook and I love it because so far everything I've made out of it has turned out good and the recipes are comforting. The dishes aren't fancy, just good plain cooking that so many cookbooks can't even fathom. They spend all their time making up the fanciest dishes with expensive ingredients that may or may not actually be good. This cookbook is awesome and has a lot of tips about using leftovers and low cost ingredients. I got the cookbook on ebay several years ago but it looks like you can get it here.
I also recommend Living More with Less. Both are just great to read as well as the tips given in therm.

Compulsive coupon-cutting

2009-02-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

I was doing some reading today about people who use like a million coupons and get a basket full of groceries for 10 cents. That's ok but I would think it takes a lot of time to organize that and one thing I read, the person was so proud that she saved so much but ended up going to 6 different stores in one day to shop. It doesn't seem like she is thinking about gas money and time. In my mind, I would rather spend a little more for an item at the store I'm already shopping in than run around to yet another store to find it cheaper. I guess for me the point isn't getting everything as cheaply as possible, it's more of spending my time to do things I enjoy. It's also a problem that you may end up buying things you wouldn't otherwise buy just because you have a coupon for it.
Just something to think about.

Tomorrow

2009-01-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

I've slipped into a time warp and it's now tomorrow. Really.
Here's the breakfast burrito grocery list and prices.
Diced green chili $1.59
Safeway Salsa Bean Salsa $2.50 (on sale reg $3.09)
Ortega green chilies (hot) $1.29
3-10pk Tortillas 2.49 ea $7.47
Aluminum foil $8.49 (on sale reg $8.59)
Eggs (buy one 18-pack, get one free) $4.29 for 36 eggs
2 pks O"Brian Potatoes $6.00 (on sale reg $6.98)
2 lbs sausage $4.00 (markdown)
1 lb Montery Jack cheese $4.99 (on sale reg $5.79)

So let's total it up. I spent $40.62. Next time I won't have to buy aluminum foil as there is still plenty left and I saved what I used to reuse so let's say I used 1/3 of the package. So let's reduce the spent to $34.96. I ran out of tortillas so let's say another package would have been good. So let's say $37.45 total. So I would have had 36 burritos from this recipes (in an ideal world that had more tortillas) and so the average price per burrito would have been $1.04 per burrito. You wouldn't have to put green chili on them but I wanted the spice. Or if you buy green chili in season and freeze it, that would lower the price. If you fried your own potatoes I imagine the price would go down further. I think it's worth it just because the burritos are so much better than what I've bought.

As promised.

2009-01-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

I've decided for tonight that I will make just one recipe of extra food to freeze. Then more for the weekend. I'll be doing breakfast burritos with this recipe from the Pioneer Woman cooks. For potatoes I usually buy ready made frozen O'Brian potatoes instead of frying my own. Freezing fried potatoes is going to be one of my later projects and I could use those. I'm going to double the recipe because I already know my family likes these and they will probably disappear fast and not just for breakfast.

List of ingredients to buy
2 packages frozen O'Brian potatoes
3 packages of at least 10 flour tortillas, the in between size, not fajita size, not burrito size unless you want giant breakfast burritos
2 lbs breakfast sausage, whatever kind you like
1 lb Monterey Jack Cheese
2 dozen eggs
Seasoned salt, I already have this so I don't have to buy it
Salsa, homemade would be good but that will be next summer
Foil, I'm out
Green Chili, buy in bulk in late summer and it's much cheaper

I let you know tomorrow how much the ingredients cost and how many burritos I got out of this.

Freezer food

2009-01-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my sis gave me a book about cooking for the freezer. What? The freezer doesn't eat? Hmmmm. What it means is that you cook for a day, freeze all the meals and then you can eat for a month. I'm going to start this by starting slow. I'm going to make several different dishes and make enough for at least a week if not more. What I have planned so far is breakfast burritos, waffles, meatloaf and some kind of soup. I will also make bread and cinnamon rolls on the weekend. I'll let you know how much it costs and lists of ingredients and recipes if you want to try something similar. This should be interesting.

Freecycle

2009-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of Freecycle? No? It's great. You join the group (mine is through Yahoo! Groups) and then you receive any emails of offers for free things. Or, if you have something you just want to give away, you send an email through the group and other people see if they want it. It's all absolutely free. Generally you just have to pick up the item. Recently I had to furnish the new place I'm living in and have no extra money. Through freecycle, I got a small TV a sofa and a chair in decent condition. If I ever have anything I don't need, that's the first place I'll think of. Go out, join freecycle and help keep useful things out of the landfills.

Today's cheap lunch

2008-09-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Pepper jack cheese stick $.33
Cheese and onion roll .59

Small Banana .29

Total $1.21 plus tax

I feel better now.

Exercise

2008-07-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

It's easy to get caught up in an exercise craze. If you watch TV at all, you are bombarded with exercise equipment, beautiful people that have used the exercise equipment to become beautiful.
Why spend all that time and money? Why buy the equipment, the clothes, buy into the belief that you need all of these things to be healthy.
I'll share my motivation with you. I always get bored with an exercise program eventually. Seems you are just doing the same thing all the time. Yet, I walk nearly every day. My secret? I have a purpose to the walk. I walk across town to meet my carpool ride to work. I have to get there, so there is a purpose to the walk. It makes me feel good in the early morning and I'm getting exercise.
So have a purpose to your exercise. I've even read of people that knit while riding an exercise bike. That way is killing two birds with one stone. Exercise AND knitting progress.
What could be better? And cheaper!

Quick snack

2008-07-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my boys want a quick snack and I've started making a list of things I've come across that are quick and cheap and good. That way if they want something, I have a list of ideas.
One of their favorites is cinnamon toast. I just toast whatever bread we happen to have, then butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Lately I've had red sprinkles to put on top as well. It's a hit!

Entertainment

2008-07-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

In my hurried and stressed out life, I give myself a lot of opportunities to rest and relax and meditate. I know there is no reason I have to spend money to have fun. I know there is no reason I have to spend money to relax and rejuvenate myself. So why don't I?
Today I was sitting outside, eating my very cheap lunch ($1) and I started noticing the leaves on the trees, how they were moving in the breeze, and it occurred to me that I don't do that very often. I sit out there at least 3 times a week and I don't take the time to notice much of anything. It can be a joy just to observe nature and people. A time to meditate and relax and get my inner chaos in order.
Stop and smell the roses!

Potato recipe

2008-06-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a little recipe I made up a few years ago. Someone had given me instant mashed potatoes. I know, yuck. So I developed this to make them more edible and they turned out really good. I was impressed with myself.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make four servings of the instant mashed potatoes according to the recipe. Stir in 3 eggs. Then add a few spices you have on hand. Salt, pepper, garlic, oregano. Any thing like that but not too much. Grease a cookie sheet and then put large spoonfuls of the mixture on the sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove and serve immediately.
Easy, cheap and tasty.

Katie

New to you clothing

2008-06-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's morning, you've just gotten out of the shower and you head to the closet for something to wear. Then you sigh deeply, nothing new since yesterday. You know deep in your eco-heart(and moneyless heart) that it's better for the environment and better for your pocketbook (do people use that term still?) to wear your clothes until they wear out. But deep in your fashion-conscious and new-wanting ego you want new clothes once in awhile. Going to the thrift store to find a few things can satisfy this temporarily. You can find some really good quality clothes there if you are willing to look but have you thought of this?
Remember in the old days (mine anyway), people used to hand down clothing. Sometimes it wasn't a good thing, I remember getting clothes from my cousins in California and they had this odd smell. But you can make it a good thing. You don't have to beg, you don't have to go around asking people for their clothes, just a comment now and then, saying "Look at this great blouse I got! So-and-so was cleaning out her closet and gave it to me!" That way you are indicating to other people that you'd be willing to accept their clothing they don't want anymore. It may take a few months but suddenly someone will be saying "Hey, I have some nice pants I need to give away because my closet is stuffed, would you like them?" Even if something doesn't fit/look quite right, if it's good quality, you can work with it. Look to websites like Wardrobe Refashion for inspiration and good ideas.

A Good Lunch

2008-06-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Do you want a good lunch? Are you tired of bringing leftovers from home? But eating out is too expensive? Learn the cheap, but good lunch.
If you have a decent grocery store nearby it's easy.

Store brand box of crackers on sale $1.50
Avocado on sale $1.50
Bring your own water $0.00
Total $3.00

The crackers are a bonus because they can last 3 days.

Bagel $.55
Yogurt on sale $.50
Total $1.05

You get the idea. One piece of fruit with a bagel. Just hunt for combinations that you wouldn't otherwise think of. Look for things on sale and base a meal around that.
Be creative!

Any questions or comments, let me know!
Thanks

A quickie

2008-03-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

You know those catalogs you get in the mail. The ones that you get because you ordered something 2 years ago? Instead of browsing through them, toss them immediately. Then you won't even be tempted to spend money. It's doubtful there is anything you really need in there. Go one step further and write them to get off the mailing list. You save your time, your money and paper.
Go to it!

Grocery Shopping

2008-03-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

You see a lot of tips on how to save money shopping but here are mine.
1. Make a list before you go. Then you don't forget anything and you aren't as tempted by things you don't need.
2. Always check the per unit price. Usually a bigger size is a better per unit price, but not always. I have found things on sale where 2 of the smaller size was cheaper than 1 of the big size.
3. Just buy what you need. Don't be tempted by the 10 items/$10 kind of pricing. It encourages you to buy a lot of something whether you need it for not. Just buy the 2 items for $2 if that is all you need.
4. Buy things in bulk. If you like oatmeal, buy it in bulk. If you buy spices, buy them in bulk. I have glass canning jars that I refill with oregano, basil and garlic powder. Health food stores generally have spices in bulk and they are much cheaper. For oatmeal, I bought the container once and now I refill it with oatmeal that costs $.89 an ounce. And the oatmeal tastes better too.
5. Buy the brand that is on sale. Unless you know for sure that the cheaper brand is no good, you can save a lot of money on store brands.
6. Don't go grocery shopping when you are hungry. You will end up picking up a lot of things that look good but that you don't really need.
7. Do plan to buy just one goodie for yourself. That way you don't feel like you are being mean to yourself. Sometimes my goodie is V8 juice, so it doesn't have to be something sweet.
8. Buy vegetables. They are good for you and generally cheaper than prepackaged, premade things.
9. Steer away from prepackaged meals. Some seem cheap if on sale but really, you only get one meal out of each one so they really aren't that cheap.

If you take just a little extra time, you can save yourself a bunch of money.
Let me know if you have any comments or other ideas!

A great blog to read

2008-03-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Zen Habits

I've been reading this for a few weeks and it gives a lot of great ideas. As always, you don't have to do everything he suggests, you can pick and choose what works for you.

The death of cooking.

2008-03-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Do you know how to cook? I mean really know how. I'm not talking just heating up frozen dinners or chicken nuggets. I'm not talking about buying cinnamon rolls in a can and putting them in the oven. Real cooking is going the way of many other skills. We watch and listen to singers and decide that we could never sing because we can't sing as well as they do. We watch New Yankee Workshop and decide we could never make anything as beautiful as Norm Abram can make it. Skills like this have become relegated to the realm of professionals. Therefore we are required to just buy things ready made. Food has become the same way. With people like Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray and Mario Batali out there, we can't make food like they do so we shouldn't even try. Just buy it ready made and you are good.
I say, let's take back the skills. We hear that homemade food is better and cheaper and that is true. But who has the time and skills to do this? Everyone does. Living cheaply means that a few skills need to be learned or relearned. The trick is not to change everything you do all at once. Decide this week that you want to cook one thing from scratch. Plan ahead of time what you want to make and what you need. Using recipes from these shows is fine. Inspiration is always a good thing. At first you may not have many of the ingredients called for but as you do this more and more, suddenly you will have on hand many of the basic things you need for good cooking.
Just take one small step at a time. In the future I'll be giving you a few basic recipes I have used over and over. I use them because they are fast, and good, and versatile.

Let me know any comments, ideas and questions you have about my posts.
Thanks!

Basic Things

2008-02-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'm starting this blog with an eye to give people cheap living tips. I did a little internet research to see if there was anything out there resembling what I want to do but I didn't find a whole lot. One cheap living blog just wanted to sell you cheap junk, one was just grand philosophical statements that really didn't tell you anything.
My idea is that people would really like some small ideas of things they can try right now to make their lives less expensive and better at the same time. Like you, I've read book after book of simple living ideas and tips and tricks but it all seems a bit overwhelming at time.
With this blog, I hope to give you just a slow trickle of ideas to try. If you like them, you can incorporate them into your lives, if they don't work for you, that's OK too. The whole simple living thing is really about doing what works for you.
Why do I think I'm qualified to do this? Well, things have been tough for me the last few years and so I've had to cut back on so many things I used to spend money on. While there is a difference (big difference) between living simply because you want to and because you have to, I'm sure some of the ideas of things I have done will work for at least some other people.
I welcome any comments or ideas or if you just have a story to share, I want to know.
Thanks for reading and I look forward some good things.
Katie