27 and Frugal

As I have said time and time again, being frugal means being resourceful. There are many resources we can tap into to save some money while still living fulfilling lives. Families and friends are an excellent resource to use (but not take advantage of). Before you head out and run to the store as soon as you think you may need something, why not see if a friend has the item first. Know a family member who has an item that he no longer uses but keeps around, why not see if you could borrow for it for a short time? It will help them clear up some space and give you a new toy. Need to free yourself from distractions, try lending out your toys to friends so you can get your work done.

There are many different reasons to borrow from or lend an item to a friend, family member or neighbor. Keep these in mind before making a purchase! Continue reading »

These home-made wheat crackers are not only absolutely amazingly delicious but they are also easypeasy! I promise!

Lots of thanks to Cooking For Seven for the awesome recipe!

What You Need

1C Whole Wheat Flour
1C White Flour
1/4C White Sugar
1/2t Salt
4T butter, cut
1/2C Milk
Salt/Seasonings

What You Do

1. Mix together the flours, sugar & salt. Add the butter. Gradually add milk until dough comes together. (Just a few minutes in a stand mixer)
2. On a floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the dough as thin as you can get it. Sprinkle with salt, seasonings, etc. Cut into shapes. Transfer to a stone or any baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes

Original recipe Continue reading »

Being frugal means being resourceful. A great way to be more productive and thus save money is by managing your time better. There are many times throughout the day that we find ourselves with downtime. What is the best use of this time?

I can’t just sit here!

When I first moved to New Jersey, I was continually frustrated at having to sit in my car while someone pumped my gas for me. I thought it was a terrible use of my time (pre-iPhone). I even started keeping tweezers in my car so I could do some eyebrow maintenance while I waited. What I did not realize is that these few minutes would be put to better use by simply doing nothing. Sitting there with some time to myself was something I needed more than trimmed eyebrows. Being able to mentally organize my to-do list or actively think through some decisions made me feel more calm and organized. It became a timeout from technology and distractions.
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One of the simplest ways to save money is to bring your own lunch to work everyday. It is easy to make excuses, “I don’t have time to pack a lunch,” “I get sick of sandwiches,” “I hate leftovers.” Enough already! There are a ton of lunch foods outside of sandwiches that are just as easy to bring to work. There are also many ways to kick your standard sandwich up a notch. Many foods even taste better the next day and are especially easy for cooking newbs!

Chili, Soups & Stews

These meals do not take long to put together. The most time consuming aspect is letting them simmer for 30-60 minutes but you can just watch TV or do pilates while you are waiting.

Chili is nothing other than tomatoes, meat, beans and spices! Put it all in a pot and walk away. Leave it in the fridge and bring it to work the next day. It’ll smell great and taste even better!

Chicken noodle soup is just as easy! I’ve already posted my favorite super-easy chicken noodle soup recipe. It’s simply chicken broth, chicken and veggies. Again, just boil, simmer then eat. Soup reheats perfectly and the flavors usually blend together to taste even better when reheated.

Similarly, beef stew is just beef bouillon, beef, water and veggies. You can season it to your preference. This will be a super easy dinner and an even yummier lunch.

Chili, soups and stews work so well when reheated because it completely eliminates the “soggy food” complaint. It is also very filling and not too messy to eat for lunch. In fact, you probably already purchase soup or chili for lunch at that overpriced cafe down the street!
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When starting to get your finances in check, everyone will tell you to create a budget. Budgets are key to tracking your spending. Included in your budget, should be a category for savings. However, if you do not track your savings any other way, it is easy to lose sight of your savings goals!

Tracking savings allows you to see financial improvement; to see how successful your budgeting actually is!

Savings Tracker

I have created a separate worksheet just for savings within my budget spreadsheet. Savings and spending go hand-in-hand, so it really is important to keep these together.

My monthly budget & savings worksheet can be downloaded here: http://www.27andfrugal.com/files/easy_peasy_2010_budget.xls

If you already have a budget that works for you, simply copy/paste the Savings worksheet and use it on it’s own.

Ideally, the worksheet should mimic your savings account, so start with your beginning of the year balance. This sheet will be filled in automatically once you input your savings into the monthly budget sheets. Or simply manually enter in how much you are transferring to savings each month.

The interest does need to be entered manually from your monthly bank statement. Seeing exactly how much or how little interest you are earning every month may make you want to look into alternative saving account options.

The box on the right is the most important part of the whole sheet… your goal! Do everything you can to keep this goal in the back of your mind each time you make a purchase. When you are over 50% of the way to your goal, you will have incentive to put more into your savings every month. Continue reading »

Between The Simple Dollar’s home-made bread post and my new KitchenAid mixer, I had plenty of inspiration to try baking my own bread.

Failbread

My first attempt was a recipe for “Rapid Mix Cool Rise White Bread” that is in the recipe book that came with my mixer. I used it so I could get used to mixing times and speeds. My first loaf came out perfect! I was very very excited at the premise of making my own bread whenever I wanted!

My second loaf, did not rise. I killed the yeast with water that was too hot. So I immediately went out and bought a $5 digital thermometer at target. With that help, my third loaf came out perfect just like the first one.

After two good loaves of bread, I thought I had this baking bread thing down pact. So, I tried to make wheat bread. Boy was I in for a treat. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and my first loaf did not rise.

So I tried again. Second loaf did not rise.

Two failures started to get me down so I switched gears to a white cinnamon swirl bread. Fail. I do not even know what went wrong with this one!

Even though I was definitely starting to get discouraged by this point (and annoyed at seeing all my hard work end up in the garbage) I did not give up. Continue reading »

Last week, I made the last and final payment on my car loan. Now that I officially own the car, I decided to make some adjustments to my car insurance policy.

I called Progressive and let them know that I am now the full owner of the car. Immediately, they were able to remove protection for financed cars decreasing my rate!

I was also interested in removing collision and changing some other aspects of my policy to get my payments down to ~$100/month. When telling the customer representative this, she asked me a few questions to check … Continue reading »

Coupons are one of the most ingenious marketing techniques ever created. They use the same principle new businesses will use to attract customers; Give customers a deal so they are willing to take a risk.

Marketing companies know how loyal we are to our favorite foods, brands and toilet cleaning products. They know that we will not switch just for anyone. However, with the lure of savings, we will try anything!

Coupons Do Not Endorse a Healthy Lifestyle

When I used to clip out coupons, I tried all kinds of new processed foods and cleaning products. Unfortunately for the marketing companies, I no longer purchase processed foods and commercial cleaning products. Most of the items I buy at the grocery store are rarely featured in coupons. When was the last time you saw a coupon for celery? Companies do not care about your health or savings. They know that your $0.50 savings is nothing compared to the mark-up they just profited on your purchase. Continue reading »

There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to weight loss. Many people think that if you are physically healthy, you do not need to think about food. This is the same for being financially healthy. It is often thought thought that if you have a lot of money in your savings account, you do not need to think about money or plan ahead because you have a safe cushion. Reality couldn’t be far from the truth!

Stop Focusing on Diets & Debts

In the case of losing weight, dieting is very short sighted. While on a diet, you will count calories, routinely exercise, eat healthy, and be much more aware of what you are eating. These habits are successful and cause you to lose weight. Having met your weight loss goal, you might now think it’s safe to stop thinking about food. Now that you’re healthy, you will loosen the grip on your food habits; then become confused when the weight comes back.

This bad habit of a short sighted goal can happen when paying off financial debt as well. While aggressively paying off debt, you’ll constantly check your budget, be more conscious of your spending habits, and think more about your financial future. Then, once the debt is paid, you start to think of all that extra money you now have. Maybe you buy something as an reward. Then you find yourself losing track of your spending. It won’t be too long before you find yourself in trouble again.

Learning to be financially healthy and physically healthy is the same process: Make conscious decisions, plan ahead & be patient.
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Back in December, I made some goals for the year 2010. One goal was to pay off my car.

I had a plan: To make a car payment of $500 in October & November (over double my minimum payment) then pay off the last thousand dollars in January; Six months ahead of schedule.

Then I lost my job.

My hopes of paying off my car anytime soon were gone. Instead, I used the extra cushion I made for myself in the previous months and didn’t make a car payment in December or January. During this time, I put as much money as I could into savings since I had no idea how long I would be unemployed.

In the middle of February, some light started to shine through. I received a federal tax refund that was close to my car pay off amount. I decided that I felt comfortable enough using the entire check to pay off my car instead of adding it to the savings. A week later, my decision was justified when I was offered (and accepted) a new job. I used my entire tax refund to pay off my car, leaving my savings intact.

And now… I own my car! Continue reading »

With the price of fabric, it’s not always cheaper to make your own items but if you can find good fabric on sale, this is a cheap and relatively quick project. Oh and it’s easy! As you can see by my crooked stitches, I’m far from a talented sew-er.

1. Lay out your fabric

2. Figure out what size you want each placemat. Mine are 18×12 which conveniently is the size of this cutting board. You can just cut a rectangle out of newspaper as well.

3. Cut out each rectangle. (Hopefully you’ll have a better sewing space than my make-shift one.) Continue reading »

Being laid off from work is like being dumped. Only worse. Not only do you emotionally feel rejected, alone, and abandoned; but you also have to deal with losing your entire means of financial support. Below are some tips to deal with the emotional and monetary woes that go along with being unemployed.

1. Develop a routine

Keep a weekly routine just as though you’re still working. Wake up in the morning (no sleeping past noon), eat some breakfast, search and apply for jobs, fix lunch, work out, make dinner then relax. Yes, there will be gaps in there and you need to be self-disciplined to use them wisely. In general, stick to a normal day-time schedule. Go to bed at a normal time and get up at a normal time.

Sure, you can stay in your pj’s for a while but the more you keep a real-world schedule the easier it’ll be to keep a healthy mentality. The easier it will also be to re-adjust to a work schedule when you find another job.

2. Set a goal

Set a goal in something else in your life that you enjoy doing. Now is a good time to spend more time with those hobbies that are often ignored. The idea is to keep yourself busy but still focused on something productive.

One example is to set a workout goal. Have you always wanted to run a 5k but didn’t feel prepared? Simply, budget out $25 and sign up for one. Schedule this training into your day and stick with it. Since being unemployed can cause you to feel down, meeting this goal will provide a nice boost to your self esteem. Continue reading »

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

Friday was another crazy day on the job front so I let loose on my budget a little and celebrated throughout the weekend. Friday evening, however, I just wanted to relax. I played some more Kingdom Hearts, watched the Olympic opening ceremony and had a relaxing night at home.

Friday Total Cost:$0 Continue reading »

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

Friday was great day. I scored two job interviews and was given a KitchenAid mixer as a gift from my boyfriend! To celebrate, we went out to a local bar with some friends in the evening. One drink was bought for me but really the evening was just spent socializing. After the bar, we walked across the street to a pizza place where some people ordered food but I declined the cheap grease and made myself a snack at home.

Friday Total Cost:$0 Continue reading »

Netflix 101

Netflix has a slew of subscription plans. Their bottom tier is $8.99/mo for 1-disc-at-a-time but unlimited discs throughout the month (this is what I use). This means that I can only have one Netflix DVD in my home at a time, however I can rent an unlimited amount of DVDs every month. The 2-discs-at-a-time plan is $13.99 and 3-discs is $16.99. With all of these plans, you can also stream Netflix Instant Watch movies & television shows without any extra charge; this is included in every unlimited plan.

Netflix DVDs have a 1 day turn-around. If I mail out my postage-paid DVD on Monday, the distribution center receives it on Tuesday and immediately sends out the next DVD in my queue, which I will receive on Wednesday. If you want to watch something in between those days, you can use Netflix Instant Watch.

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