Eat For Less

When we are leading our Financial Peace University Class, I am often asked how I stretch our budget. So, I thought that I would blog a little on how we make the most of our monthly budget.

Today's topic: Eating for Less

Food in the budget is one of those things that can be as large as we want, or as small as we can get away with without starving. It's the one thing that people see as a variable. Planning, and a little bit of cunning, is required. Food prices keep going up and up, and now more than ever it is essential to make the most of your food dollar!

Meal Planning

Just as it is essential to have a plan for your money each month, you should also consider a plan for your meals. Meal plans can be especially helpful in extremely busy households. When you have meals planned out, it can take that part of the end of the day stress out of your life. I usually only plan dinner menus, because, atleast at our house, breakfast is kind of a free for all and lunch is whatever we happen to have leftover in the fridge. I am not that organized that I could plan out every meal and then stick to it.

Meal planning is also helpful in the budget area, because as you plan your menu, you can also make a grocery list. Then, when grocery shopping, instead of going up and down each aisle grabbing things that you think you might use sometime in the near future, you are only buying things that you know you will use in the next couple of weeks.

To plan, I use a form I created. It's a seven column, five row form to represent the average month. I write in the dates for the month, and the month name at the top. I keep these to refer back to for future planning. I have also used a plain spiral notebook, where I use one page per week, and then I have space on each page for the grocery items needed for that week's recipes.

I usually plan two to four weeks at a time. I have a list of favorites that I rely on, and I frequently peruse cookbooks and cooking websites for new recipes. I set aside one night a week - sometimes two if I'm feeling adventurous - for new recipes. If they are good, I add them to my list of favorites, and then work them into the menus in the future. You can set aside a certain night for a certain cuisine… Monday is Mexican, Thursday is Italian, etc. You can also have a slow cooker night.

Once you have your meals planned out, STICK TO IT! Glance at it each night while cooking the evening meal to see what you need to have out for the next evening's meal.

Use your slow cooker!! Nothing is better than having a super busy day and knowing that dinner is already cooking, and will be ready when you are. A great slow cooker cookbook is Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. Check it out from the library to get some great slow cooker ideas. One of our favorites is to do a whole chicken in the slow cooker. The chicken absolutely falls off the bone! If, however, you are a fan of the crispy skin that you get from oven roasting, this may not be the thing for you…

 

Your Pantry

Having an adequately stocked pantry is a must. Keeping a good supply of frequently used non-perishables such as canned fruits and veggies, pastas, rice & grains, cereals, soups & broths, herbs & spices, and such will help reduce the little trips to the store for that one item you thought you had, but, as it turns out, you don't. And, reducing the number of times you have to go to the store will reduce the number of times you are tempted to impulse buy. And, as we all know, impulse buying is detrimental to the health of our budget.

The Back Up Plan…

We've all been there. It's late and the kids are hungry, you're tired and the last thing you want to do is cook. It might seem like a good idea to go hit the local fast food joint's drive thru, but from a budget standpoint, it could be disastrous. Having a back up plan is essential for a healthy budget. Even the most efficient meal planners have one. Because we all (atleast I hope that I'm not the only one!) forget to take the meat out of the freezer, and after having a busy day and running late, there is no way that you can thaw the whole chicken you were planning to cook that night and eat before 1 a.m. The go-to meal has to be quick and easy, and can be ready quicker than you can make it through the drive-thru. Here are things that I've done…

Buy hamburger in bulk, take it home and brown it. When it's cooled, place it in quart size freezer bags, about a pound or so per bag (remember that a pound of uncooked hamburger does not yield a pound of cooked hamburger), lay flat and freeze. For a quick spaghetti dinner, fill a stock pot with water and bring to a boil for the noodles. Then, while that's warming up, open a jar of spaghetti sauce, pour into a saucepan, and add a bag of frozen already-browned ground beef. Cook over medium heat. Then, by the time the noodles are done cooking, the sauce will be ready and you've just made dinner in the time it took to make the noodles. You could even whip up some garlic bread while the noodles and sauce cook. You could also whip up a quick beefy vegetable soup with some canned beef broth and a couple of cans or a package of frozen mixed veggies and seasonings, or a quick chili with a couple cans of chili beans and some tomato sauce and seasonings.

Coupons

I don't use coupons very often. Coupons are usually for items that are highly processed and are additive and preservative laden. We stay away from these kinds of foods for two reasons – first and foremost, I have food allergies and most processed/convenience type foods contain one or more foods that I cannot eat without dire consequences; and two, they are just plain not healthy. In theory, I would love to go to the grocery store, get $1000 worth of groceries and pay only $2.53. But, for me, the health consequences just are not worth it for us. When I do find coupons that we can use, I get as many coupons as I can and really stock up on the items if, of course, they are non-perishable.

Sales and Warehouse Clubs

Being aware of how much things cost is key to stretching your budget. If one store has a sale on items, 10 for $10, but another store's regular price is $.89, it does not make much sense to hit the so called 'sale'. Always have an idea of where you can get your main pantry items for the cheapest you can find.

Price compare by per ounce or per count prices. The bigger the box or container does not always mean the better value. I have found several items that I buy the smaller package because the price per ounce is less than it is for the bigger package. I think that manufacturers know that consumers have come to expect that the bigger sizes are better values, and have thus adjusted their pricing accordingly, to make the bigger items, the ones that are more likely bought, the more expensive ones when you figure out the price per ounce. I have found this to be true on cereals, pastas, rice, sugar, flour… you get the picture.

At warehouse shopping clubs, bigger is what you get. But, not everything is a deal. Don't pay extra on your membership for the privilege of getting coupons, or rebates, or anything of that nature. It just doesn't pay in the long run. These gimmicks are not offered as a way to save YOU money, it's a way for the club to make more money for THEM. For instance, at Costco, for an extra $50.00/year, you can get a 2% rebate on your purchases. That's $2 for every $100 you spend. Just to earn back in savings the extra money you spent on the membership, you'd have to spend $2500 in a year just to earn $50.00. Unless you routinely buy big ticket items there, you most likely will not come out ahead in this deal.

Also, pay attention to price per ounce/count. Again, here like the grocery stores, bigger is not always the better deal.

There are deals to be had at the warehouse clubs, but just make sure that what you are saving is more than the cost of the annual membership and the gas it takes to make the special trip. For instance, I buy about 12 gallons of milk a month. I usually save over $1 per gallon buying at Sam's Club. That means in a little over 3 months, my $40 membership to Sam's Club has paid for itself on milk alone, and the rest is gravy.

I hope that you find some of these tips useful, and help you Eat For Less!

Well, it's been a while since I've had time to post anything, so I thought that I'd kind of catch up...

At the beginning of April, we went to Santa Fe. Hope is really interested in everything Native American. We went to Bandelier National Monument and explored all the ruins there. There were cliff and talus houses, along with a ruin that was in the bottom of the canyon. We even climbed up into an alcove in a cliff to see a ruin up there. We explored the old part of Sante Fe and bought some jewelry from the Native American artisans that go there to sell their wares. We saw the church with "The Staircase"... We also went to Pecos National Monument and Fort Union National Monument. Busy weekend! I would have loved to have more time, but we can always go back! I am going to add a blog just about our trip, as soon as I get it finished! Stay tuned...

May 1 was Hayleigh's First Communion! It was kind of bittersweet, because it was a last 'first' for us... She was the center of attention all day, which was quite overwhelming for her. I'll add a separate blog on that, just because I have lots of pictures to share!

Summer has begun, and true to Colorado style weather, we went from cool weather to hot weather in a matter of days. We were all anxious for the warmer weather to come ~ seems like we had such a cool spring! The last week or so we've had lots of smoke in the air from all the wild fires in southern Colorado and Arizona. We've barely been able to see the mountains! But, today the winds changed and our sky is now the awesome blue we know and love!

We signed up this year for the Kids Bowl Free program. We can bowl 2 games each day for free! The girls absolutely love this and ask to go almost every day. We did have to invest in bowling shoes or we would have spent a small fortune on shoe rentals. They have improved already, although Hope tends to get frustrated easily because the ball doesn't do what she wants it to do... We're only on our 3rd week of bowling, so we have the whole summer ahead of us. Hannah is probably going to give me a run for my money before summer's end!

We're also going to go to the movies every Wednesday morning! Our Cinemark has a summer fun pass, where each Wednesday they show a different family/kids movie. My mom was kind enough to buy us passes. It'll be fun!

We still have schoolwork to finish, and I still have to test Hope this year. I'm sure that we'll get it done, maybe do schoolwork a day or two each week. A plus, though, is that I can count bowling as P.E., and add that to our school hours!! Yipee! Even after summer's over, we may still go bowling occasionally...

James is back into his traveling mode... He has been spending lots of time out in Limon/Burlington/Goodland getting surveying done out there. He had hoped to get lots done while it was still cool, but when it was cool it was also wet, so they didn't get much done and now they have to work in the HEAT!

That's about it for now... Looking forward to a fun and *BUSY* summer!!

Remembering Luise Theodora Moeri Bigler

Early Sunday morning, February 13, 2011, my grandmother peacefully passed away. She was tired, as I imagine most of us would be, at the age of 87. Not tired of living, so much, as she was tired of taking medications, tired of not being able to eat foods she enjoyed, tired of dealing with the slow, steady decline of her physical body, and not being able to do a darn thing about it.

I have many wonderful memories of her. She felt that family was the center of all things, and that is definitely where her heart always was.

I remember how she always took an afternoon "rest" and would lie on her bed with her feet propped up on the wall. I always thought this was bizarre, but she swore that the increased blood flow to her brain helped her feel rejuvenated.

I remember how she would arrange sleepovers with the neighbor's daughter, Kristi, who was just a bit older than I. We would eat popcorn and stay up late and watch Shock Theater or Twilight Zone on the TV she had in the guest room. We weren't too old, maybe 8 or 9, and we'd get scared out of our wits, but that just added to the fun. For Grandma, that's what it was all about.

I remember how we had a family dinner each and every week. It was always so important to her to have the family gathered at her house weekly so she could keep up with everyone's busy lives. I loved these dinners. I loved walking in and discovering what good things she had cooking. I loved being able to see my Dad and my Aunt Meredith & Uncle Ray, and Mariah when she came along each week. Sometimes, my Uncle Randy and Aunt Marva would come down from Denver where they lived. Those were fun times.

I remember what a fantastic cook she was. Cooking and homemaking were passions of hers. She was always reading a new cookbook or leafing through a cooking magazine, gathering new recipes, because, Lord knows, she didn't have enough! My grandpa made her a recipe box that holds an insane number of recipe cards, and the box is overflowing. We always teased that she had at least 101 different recipes for liver! She definitely inspired me to be a good cook. I look at my own kitchen and find that I am a lot like her in this area, with my tons of cooking magazines and cookbooks, and miscellaneous recipes gathered from here and there all stuffed into a folder which is about 3 inches thick. One time, when I was probably 13 or 14, I was helping her get dinner ready, and she wanted me to open a can of pear halves. I decided to get creative and put the pear slices on a plate, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top and put a cherry in the pit cavity. She made such a big deal of me 'creating a new recipe'. Thinking back, I wonder how many people do that sort of thing, but she sure made me feel like I was special and unique and talented to create this groundbreaking new recipe.

I remember hearing stories of how she was a nurse before she got married. And, how she used to smoke. This was funny because later on, she used to really get on my grandpa for smoking. She wanted him to quit and would nag at him incessently each time he lit up a cigarette. He just took it in stride, and continued to puff away, saying, "Yes, Dear."

I remember how her sister, Dani (Janet) used to drive her insane, but she loved her dearly at the same time.

I remember what a fantastic conversationalist she was. There was never a lacking of conversation when she was around. And I don't mean that she just talked a lot. She truly knew the art of conversation.

I remember she always, at 5 o'clock sharp, had 'Drink Time.' She always put out hors d'oeuvres, even if it was just cheese and crackers. We'd head to the basement where the bar was and my Grandpa would serve up their drinks, and she'd have her martinis. If there were any other adults, then the kids were not allowed to sit at the bar. When I was about 16 or so, I was considered old enough to stay at the bar during drink time. I felt so grown up!

I remember summers spent playing in their back yard and in the kiddie pool. One summer I decided to roller skate on their back porch. I fell and landed on my tailbone. She made me lie on the floor in the den, with an ice pack on my bare butt. Another year, I made a little hideout behind a lilac bush in a corner of their yard. Several times I hopped the rear fence and would walk up and down the small drainage ditch. She always warned me to be careful, even though I never saw more than a trickle of water in it.

She volunteered by brailling for the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. She was certified by the Library of Congress. When I was about 9 or 10, she tried to teach me to braille. She was so proud of me! Eventually, I was practicing less and less, and so the lessons stopped. I imagined that she was disappointed, but she never let on.

I remember coloring Easter eggs each Easter, and, of course, Cookie Baking Day at Christmas. Oh, how I loved Cookie Baking Day. My brother and I, our cousins, and sometimes Kristi and Ricky, the kids across the street, would all gather at my grandma's house with all my aunts and uncles for the sole purpose of churning out a huge amount of Christmas cookies. We made several varieties. We always got to take lots home, and best of all, there were always lots there at grandma's house when we came over during the holidays.

Celebrating birthdays was always important to her as well. We would have a big birthday celebration at her house, and the birthday person always got to pick what she would make for dinner. We'd always have cake and ice cream, with my grandpa always having Ice Box Cake and my Dad always having Cheesecake. My Dad's birthday was on Christmas Eve, so my childhood memories of Christmas Eve are filled with memories of family, good food, and togetherness.

I remember how thrifty she was, and how she loved to go 'garage-saling' and to the thrift stores. When we bought our new house (14 years ago, now) she bought us a book on how to get the most out of everything, because, as she told me, houses are expensive and you need to stretch your money.

Sunday afternoon I sat in her house, looking at photo albums. One big one was through the years, from the 1970's to the 1990's, a few were from the cruises that she and my grandpa took, some were of the weddings of my Dad, Randy, and Meredith, a couple of ones were of their 50th wedding anniversary celebration. Two that I found had really old black and white photos. They were the really old album kind, with heavy paper pages and photo corners to hold the pictures in. One had pictures of her childhood, the other had pictures of my dad and siblings as they grew up. Photos of my great grandparents when they were younger. But, what struck me the most as I sat missing her, wishing I had had more time with her, is that she lived a life full of love and family. What a great legacy to leave us with.

Looking Back on 2010

Well, another year has flown by. 2010 was not remarkable for us, but still full of activities and fun. I am excited to see what 2011 has in store for us. I thought that I would post a little review of our year.

We took a couple of field trips in March, first to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I know it as the Denver Museum of Natural History. That's what it was when I was growing up. And it was much smaller. They still have all the exhibits that I remember and have added some cool stuff, too. In the dinosaur exhibit, we found a display from Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska. The girls got excited because we had been there in October (of 2009) and they recognized it. We also explored the wildlife dioramas and the Native American exhibit. Hope has been reading lots of books on Native Americans and so she liked this one the best. We also went to the Denver Mint and the Capitol. The mint tour was alot shorter than I remember, probably because of 9/11, but it was still interesting and fun to see the old architecture. They just don't make buildings like that anymore, which is a shame, because the attention to detail is incredible. After that tour we went on to the Capitol. We were able to see both the House and Senate working, and even got to talk to a pro-homeschooling legislator, which was interesting. Turns out, his family is a homeschooling family, and he understands how important our homeschooling freedoms are. We explored the attic at the capitol, and even went up into the dome.

In May, we celebrated Hope’s First Communion. She looked so pretty and grown up in her dress. She insisted that I make her a little white purse to match her dress. I mean, after all, the pattern was included with her dress pattern, and the pictures of the girls wearing the dress were holding the matching purse, so of course she needed it. I have to admit, it was cute. The next weekend we made a trip to Bent's Old Fort, which was a trading post on the Santa Fe Trail. It's been reconstructed, but it is really neat nonetheless.

Then it was time for Mother's Day, and we had a nice cookout at our house and celebrated with my mom and my grandmother. And to wrap up the month, we went to Bishop's Castle, which is a medieval type castle being built by hand.

July was another busy month. We celebrated 4th of July at our cousin’s home. It was nice to get together, but the weather did not cooperate so we spent the evening indoors with no fireworks. A few days later we celebrated Hayleigh’s 7th birthday. She’s getting so big! A couple days later, we headed to Nebraska for my Great Uncle Dale’s funeral. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time visiting with family we don’t see often. There are rumors of a reunion being planned for this coming summer. And then my brother and his family came for a visit and we made another trip to the Denver Museum of History and Science.

August brought pickle making time. On a sprig of dill we bought, we found a caterpillar. We kept it in a jar with plenty of dill to eat, and then it formed a chrysalis. We waited and waited, and finally it came out and we set it free. The girls absolutely loved it!

October brought more birthdays and Halloween. Hope turned 9 and Hannah turned 12. Hope had her first sleepover, and we turned it into a ‘Detective Party’ since she absolutely loves Nancy Drew and sleuthing. Hannah had a Halloween themed sleepover (as usual). For Halloween, the girls went as M&Ms. Hannah Was purple, Hope was yellow, and Hayleigh was green. They were adorable!

December brought even more birthdays ~ my grandmother’s, mine, and my mom’s. For my grandmother’s, we went out to lunch and played trivia, went to her house and decorated for Christmas, and then went to Red Lobster for dinner. My Uncle Skeeter and his wife Robin came down from Denver to help decorate and go to Red Lobster with us. For mine, we went to my mom’s house where John grilled yummy steaks and my mom made me a Cheesecake! I have not had cheesecake in what seems like forever, and it was so good! They gave me a Nook eReader which I absolutely love! Christmas eve we went to Mass where Hannah’s youth group acted out the Gospel as it was read. She was an Angel. After mass, we went home for a nice dinner and decorated the Christmas cookies we hadn’t had a chance to while watching The Nativity Story and A Christmas Story. Christmas Day we opened packages and had cinnamon rolls and then we were off to my mom’s house for Christmas Dinner, where we enjoyed Prime Rib, Au Gratin Potatoes, veggies, and homemade rolls. For dessert we enjoyed a delicious Raspberry Tiramisu that John had made.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve at home with a pot of Chili and homemade brownies. We played Phase 10, and except for Hayleigh and Stitch, we made it to midnight.

We hope that you had a great 2010 as well, and wish you the best in 2011!