Vacation Frugalness

Granted... the most frugal way was to buy our own breakfast and eat IN the hotel room...but I wasn't that organized.  So instead I took our starving children to the hotel buffet.  My husband was still sleeping and after paying an undisclosed amount of money for me and my 6 year old to eat I refused to pay any more money for my husband and baby to eat.  So what did I do?  I asked the waiter for a take-out box.  I then took the take-out box and filled it up with a nice sized breakfast for my hubby and some sides for the babe. So *technically* I only paid for 2 breakfasts instead of 4! I threw food in and ran... kinda felt like that family on Lampoons Vegas Vacation at the buffet.  hahaha. 

But it got me thinking.... what would be some other ways to save for restaurant meals?  My sister-in-law told me that she signs up for the email alerts from local and chain restaurants.  Just this week Mimi's Cafe had a promotion for up to $10 off of breakfast.  She signed up a different email account for all her family members...for for the family of 4 they only paid the tax of $6 because they each had a $10 off coupon with their name on it.  Now THAT is the kind of deal I'm talking about. 

Any other ideas or suggestions you all have? (btw, Happy Mothers Day everyone!)

Cooking Tips for Potatoes and Rice

Here's a tip for cooking mashed potatoes and rice that is energy efficient and it saves a lot of time. I got this idea from the cookbook "Dinner Is Ready" by Deanna Buxton, pages 65-66.

Mashed Potatoes:

Bring a pot of cubed potatoes to a full boil, then turn off the heat. Leave the pan on the burner and cover with a tight-fitting lid. The potatoes will be ready to mash in about three hours.

Rice:

Measure rice and water into a pan. Bring to a full boil. Turn off the heat and leave the pan on the burner. Cover pan with a tight-fitting lid. The rice will be fluffy and perfect in approximately three hours.

And guess what? It really works! I have tried it for both rice and potatoes. They turn out great every time. It's not a super frugal tip, but this shortcut will save you time, and save you a little energy on your stove because it doesn't have to be on so long. And, you don't have to be home while the potatoes and rice are cooking. You can leave and when you come home, it will be ready to eat.

"Debt-Proof Living": Book Recommendation

I am recommending a book about money management. No -- I am not getting paid or anything for mentioning this book. (And no, you can't click on it and really "look inside" -- that's just from the picture from Amazon.com. You could if you go to that website). I have not completed reading the book, so I am perhaps a little hesitant to rave about it, but I have read the first 5 chapters and so far, I am hooked. This book was recommended to me by a very smart friend who manages her money very well, so I decided to give it a try. It is called "Debt-Proof Living" by Mary Hunt. I got it at http://www.amazon.com/ for $11.55 and if you spend $25 then it qualifies for free Super Saver Shipping. This same friend also told me that all of Mary Hunt's books are good, so if you are trying to get free shipping, maybe you want to research some of her other books.

Of course, the truly frugal thing to do would be to borrow the book from the library or a friend......see? I still need help working on this frugal business. :)

I don't have a lot of debt (though I have had it in the past). At first I thought that maybe this book was more about getting out of credit card debt, but it is much, much more. It is about teaching you how to live frugally and to manage your money so that you can live on 80% of your income. One of the things I like most about it is that it is written in language that the average Joe can understand, whereas a lot of money management books are not as simply written.

Here is an excerpt from the book (from pages 60-61):

"Debt-proof living depends more on your spending habits than the size
of your paycheck......The more you practice restraint in your spending, the
easier it will become because, simply put, you're going to get better at
it.......

"Reducing your living expenses so they fit within 80 percent of your
income requires scrutinizing every expense and then finding the best way to
reduce it. By reducing everything a little bit, you may be able to avoid
eliminating any spending categories. This is going to require creativity
and discipline. And your reward for your willingness to endure temporary
sacrifice will be a light at the end of your tunnel, and I promise it's not a
train.

"I don't know what frugality means to you. The word has taken a
good bit of heat in the past few years as a buzzword for some economic
extremists. As a result, many people have come to view frugality with
disdain, assuming it demands a lifestyle based on dumpster diving and recycling
dryer lint. Believe me. That's not it. To me frugality means doing
whatever it takes to keep your living expenses within 80 percent of your net
income.

"Frugality is not about stuffing everyone into the same mold so we all
spend the same amount of money on things like food or housing. Frugality
is about personal restraint, discipline, finding the best value, and not being
wasteful. It's about making choices and understanding that if you say yes
to one thing you may need to say no to something else. And that is okay
because finally you are going to be managing your money in a way that will bring
you tremendous personal satisfaction.

"Because I live frugally doesn't mean I don't spend money. It
means I spend money thoughtfully and with a sense of discipline and
purpose. As my life is blessed and my income increases, 80 percent of my
net income increases as well. It's a beautiful thing."

If you decide to read this book (or if you have read it and already have an opinion), please share it with us. So far, I am really enjoying this book and I hope it will help get my family on a path toward financial security, like it did for my friend. Isn't that what we are all hoping for?

Milk, Bowling & Weekly Question

Hey All.  Sorry I've been MIA, we've been knee deep in preparing for our big move to the South.  I have a feeling I'm going to be coming up with a LOT more frugal ideas now that I know what our Grad School budget is.  Oye.  Here's two ideas for this week:

-Re-using milk.  It may sound gross but it'll save you on average 2-5 cups of milk a week, depending on how much you drink milk.  I've found my kids don't always drink their entire cup of milk nor finish the milk in their bowl.  What I've started doing is creating two "leftover cups" in the fridge.  One that holds the milk they didn't finish drinking, one holds the milk from the cereal.  Usually I can't get my husband or kids (or even myself...) to actually drink the milk but I've been able to re-use the milk when feeding my kids cereal, making oatmeal, even baking.  It may sound gross but as long as your child/husband is healthy re-using it should be just fine and dandy!  If you're really worried then use it to make oatmeal and boil the milk before hand, making sure the germs are out.   It's been great for us, I've extended our gallon of milk at least a half a week longer.  May not be much but over the extensino of a year it adds up to at least 3 gallons of milk saved!

-Kids Bowl Free!  This program hasn't hit Utah yet, but it's alive and well in most other states.  

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

They send you a weekly coupon that is good for children under the age of 15 to bowl free every day from May 1-August 31.  I haven't yet signed up so I'm not sure what the fee is for parents, but if you're looking for a free activity for your children it's a great option!!! 

Weekly Question:

We're moving cross country here in a month.  We're trying to figure out how to cut costs with driving over 2,000 miles.  One idea I've proposed is to determine our path based on where friends/family live so we can stay for free with them.  My husband thinks that's a little too moochy-moochy.  Thoughts?  Would you be offended if someone called you and asked if they could crash on your couch for a night while they are driving?  What other ideas do you fabulous people have for cutting moving costs?

Diaper Trick for a Super Leaky Kid

My daughter is 2. She is the only child I have had that leaks throught her diaper every. single. night. Not kidding. It does not matter what kind of diapers I use-- Huggies, Pampers, Luvs, generic...(ok-- some generics are especially bad) but even the best of the brand-names can not contain this child! Every morning I was faced with a wet smelly kid and needing to wash all her bedding, pajamas, and her favorite blanket. That's the main problem. Listening to her cry for 2 hours while her "blankie" gets washed.

Desperate for a solution, I wracked my brain thinking of what else I could do. Enter cloth diapers. -- don't give up yet......KEEP READING--- I bought a pack of cloth diapers from Wal-mart, 12 in the pack for $11.99. Not too bad. Then I bought diaper pins (4 in the pack for $1-2) and plastic pants (6 in the pack for about $5, I think). I did NOT want to wash out stinky, poopy diapers. That just is not something I can deal with at this point in my life, so I got creative. I put a regular Huggies diaper on her and then I pin the cloth diaper OVER the top of the disposable diaper. Put on the plastic pants and pj's and put her to bed. Every. single. morning she has a wet cloth diaper, but it does a good job of absorbing the "excess" that leaked out the regular diaper, and the rest of her bedding, blankets, and PJ's are dry. It has turned out to be cheaper to wash one cloth diaper each day with my regular laundry than to do an extra load every day to wash all her bedding. Total cost was under $20 and I know I have saved that in laundry detergent, water, running my dryer/washer, the wear & tear on my items, and simply my sanity!!

I realize not everyone has this problem. And BLESS YOU if you don't. But for those of us who do, here's a possible solution. If you have other ideas for a kid like this, please pass them on. Potty training will be facing me soon, and I don't know what I am going to do then!!

Diapers and Generic Items in General

A website I really like is Meckmom.com. Her post yesterday is about generic brand diapers, and there are a lot of comments below the post about generic items in general and how they compare to their brand-name competitors. Just thought I would pass it on to those of you who may be interested in checking out her blog. She has a lot of great ideas for families and organization as well.

I have personally found that generic medicines are almost always a good buy. I prefer to buy most medicines at Costco because the price is so much cheaper per ounce/pill, etc. I have tried the generic brand diapers from Smith's (Kroger) and they were terrible! Very thin, very cheap and they leaked like crazy. I, however, liked the generics from Macey's (Associated Foods in Utah). They are called "Cozy Care" and the diapers are just fine. (I will share a diaper trick I use for my super leaky girl in a separate post).

So.. if you are interested, check out MeckMom. And please, if you want to post what generics YOU use and how they stack up (or DON'T stack up), post them here for us to see. Thanks for sharing!

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Waffles

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspons baking powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 and 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
Directions:
Mix the first 8 ingredients
Preheat a waffle iron. Spray it with cooking spray.
Fill a medium size ladle with batter and pour it onto the waffle iron.
Cook
Serve with maple syrup and/or fresh berries

I made these Saturday for dinner and they were a hit all around. There were leftovers, so I stuck them in a ziplock bag in the fridge. Max, my little boy, loves them warmed up with a little Reddi-Whip on top. The slight peanut butter taste is so good. It's a great way to use the whole wheat in your food storage!