MegfromAllAboutAppearances's comments

Frugal Food: Rice - Blog Entry

09 Apr 2008 07:50 AM

I finally got a steamer recently and rediscovered how good brown rice can me. However, my husband tends to make too much when he steams it and I usually have thrown out half of it because it gets dry and frankly, I get sick of it. Well, then I tried something. I added a little vinegar leftover from a jar of pickeled banana peppers, some olive oil, a little bit of feta cheese, and some pine nuts (I get them at Sams, so they aren't outrageously priced). Then I mixed in some grape leaves. I would have rolled them, but the container made it impossible to get them out in one piece. Anyhow, the resulting cold salad was absolutely out of this world!

I plan to do some more leftover experiments and I'll be adding them to this page: http://www.fruwiki.com/index.php5?title=Leftover_food

Groceries: Making a List and Checking it Twice - Blog Entry

06 Apr 2008 11:36 AM

My husband and I have done the same thing with ketchup -- and a few other things.

Having a list definitely helps. Even though we have a grocery store nearby, forgotten items means extra trips which means wasted time and gas. And often, I forget things that I wanted to use with other things that are on their way out, so forgetting something might mean throwing something else out before it gets used.

I've been pretty bad about lists in the past, but I'm getting better. I've been using RememberTheMilk.com's lists for to-do's and grocery lists. The mobile version has been a huge help to me, as has the Gmail addon and Firefox bookmarklet. Since I'm constantly around either my laptop or phone, I have no excuse not to use the lists. (Of course, pencil and paper are still a great alternative, but I always end up loosing those or forgeting to use them at all.)

Saving Money With Cookbooks - Blog Entry

05 Apr 2008 12:43 PM

I love cookbooks and have about a dozen, but I don't know that I've ever really followed a recipe from one. I mostly use them for grocery shopping inspiration when I don't know what I want to put on the list. There's one recipe for pizza crust that I occasionally refer to, but only because I use a few of the same measurements and ingredients for making steamed buns.

My husband sometimes looks up recipes online, though. Maybe because he's the real cook in the house, whereas I just slap stuff together and pray.

A Guide to Inexpensive Composting 3 - Blog Entry

04 Apr 2008 12:24 PM

Maybe I should start selling earthworms! I'm in north Florida and I can't turn up a shovel full of dirt here without it being full of long, fat earthworms. My husband put a huge pile of grass he dug up on a concrete patio and it composted itself. When I went to shovel it over the yard, the thing was practically moving.

We started composting not so much because we need it to make our dirt richer (it's really good as is), but because we didn't want to throw out food that could be turned into something useful.

We really enjoy composting. Our city gives away free composting bins (actually, just a piece of fencing, lol) and we use one of the boxes our kitty litter comes in to keep compostables throughout the week next to the garbage can.

Frugal Cat Tips - Blog Entry

29 Mar 2008 11:37 AM

As I learned this past December, keeping the house kitty safe if well worth the time and effort. A little piece of ribbon cost my husband and I about a grand, and a whole lot of worrying.

Homemade toys are great, just so long as there's nothing that can be swallowed.

Other ideas: Grow your own catnip Grow your own wheatgrass (aka "kitty grass")

We do shell out for Science Diet. Everytime we've tried to switch it has led to a lot of problems because we have a kitty with a very sensitive stomach. Turns out, though, our cats eat less in volume than our friend's kitties who eat cheaper stuff.

Letting the cats go potty outdoors might also be cheaper, but again, we prefer to have fewer vet bills and don't trust our cats to be street smart. We have switched litter a few times. Sometimes you can luck out with generics, but make sure to check that it is clumping litter unless you don't care. A little baking soda can also help you get through using a particularly crappy litter.

Being Frugal Can Make You Healthier - Blog Entry

18 Mar 2008 10:44 PM

Well said! My husband and I are giving up our gym membership next month when the contract is up. We've probably walked more around the neighborhood now this month than we did on the treadmills in two years. Because whereas we used to go see a movie or eat out, nowadays we spend our quality time on walks. We're getting healthier, and having better quality time.

He's even started giving up all but the occasional soda and has switched to drinking a lot more home brewed tea. And now he's buying a lot fewer snacks (though he's still a big meat eater, but at least that's got some nutritional value).

I kicked the soda habit years ago, but this year I gave up lean cuisines. Turns out, real food is just about as easy to prepare and a lot healthier. We recently came across a weekly grocery receipt from last year this month. It was over 10 times what we paid this week.

Don't Believe Frugality = Happiness? Try This! - Blog Entry

16 Mar 2008 07:03 AM

My husband and I have downsized in a lot of ways that before I would have thought we could just never endure. Turns out, we are happier now.

Our debt is still huge but we're making progress finally, but it has less to do with the money we're saving and more to do with the pride we take in learning new ways of doing things. And figuring more things out has become a bit of a game. Plus, we're excited to finally have some new stuff to talk about and discuss after being married for nearly 7 years.

And if that weren't enough, a lot of frugal things work better. Just using baking soda helped me take off a stain on the stove that half a dozen name brand cleaners couldn't! I couldn't wait to find someone who'd take those useless cleaners off my hands so we could replace them with baking soda and vinegar.

Bottom line, we tried it to save money, but even if we had plenty of money, we'd still do a lot of things frugally. Maybe that's the silver lining of us getting into debt.

Finding Free Magazines - Blog Entry

12 Mar 2008 11:30 AM

I do surveys for e-rewards and have gotten a couple subscriptions through them. Some survey things are pretty shady, but I haven't had any problems with them spamming me or anything.

Reasons We Spend Today: Social and Economic Cues - Blog Entry

05 Mar 2008 09:17 AM

Wow, sooo true! Nowadays, it's considered unpatriotic not go out and buy, buy, buy.

My Frugal Turkey Meals - Blog Entry

04 Mar 2008 05:59 PM

Yay, turkey!

I just got done eating some turkey with horseradish sauce. Yummy : )