Random Savings

In the continuing thread on saving money, I've discontinued using products after they run out. My mom keeps me in a steady stream of Bath & Body Works products, so I don't have to worry about dry skin. Everything else is up for experimentation.

I discovered foundation and powder are a necessity at this point in life - though I don't wear them every day. I'm a mom to two children under 4. If sleep isn't an option, then make-up provides that "happy" glow that apparently can't be faked.

One thing I can live without: conditioner! I stopped using when it ran out. I am a conditioner snob, and don't want to put certain drying chemicals on my head. I faced my elitist views on haircare products, and realized that the choice would be more $18 conditioner, or none. None seems to be working out fine. I got a hair cut and asked if it was obvious I had stopped using conditioner all together. She said she couldn't tell the difference. I miss the smooth, silky feeling conditioned hair has while it is still wet, but the truth of the matter is that is exactly how it feels after putting in some good smoothing gel. So, America - now you know the truth about my head. I am unconditioned.

I also combined all of the 3/4 used shampoos into one bottle. I had four bottles like that. I think I might have some kind of complex, like a "I don't finish bottles of shampoo" complex. Actually, I think I just buy before I run out and get so excited about the new bottle. What I like about the mixed bottle is the layers are separated a little bit, so every few nights the soap is really sudsy because the Ph is different (I think). Anyway, it is like have four new bottles in one. Maybe there is a market for that product -- ReNEW shampoo or something like that.

I'm sure the "what I can live without" experiment has only begun, but so far it's fun!

The Moving Truck...and other shameless plugs

It's official -- after two days on the phone and some wheelin' and dealin' by Luke and I, we've got the moving truck scheduled. In the process, I stumbled on a website that I think rocks! If you are ever about to purchase something, go to http://www.retailmenot.com/ first! People post codes for coupons, and you just enter the name of a store you want to shop at and see what comes up. When I was buying stuff for a baby shower, I put in "Babies-R-Us" and got a code for an automatic 20% off my order. As I've browsed I found coupons for airline tickets, hotels, and almost any retail store. Especially if you are about to purchase something on-line anyway, it makes sense to check and see if you can find a code to use before you check-out.

There is more than just coupons though. When I put in the names of the moving companies we were considering, there were some instructions for getting your cost lowered. Not a coupon per se, just a strategy of using the phone to make your reservation, getting your second-favorite mover down to a low price, and then seeing if your favorite mover will match it. In the end, we saved $70 off our first quote, and got to keep the truck for three extra days.

In a coupon-related note, if you are in the market for disposable or cloth diapers, or really anything for a baby/toddler, consider going to http://www.diapers.com. Despite the diaper-specific name, the store is really more like a Babies-R-Us. My daughter's daycare gets a discount for every new customer that enters referral code PCCC. The code gets you an automatic $10 off your order of $50, plus free shipping. I thought they just carried disposable diapers, but they actually sell all kinds of products for kids for very reasonable prices. Once you place an order, you'll get a referral code that will save you money when people use it. How awesome is that!

Energy Savings

For the past month or so, we have been doing a few things to save energy. The first was to turn off our water heater during the day. Through this process we discovered that we could leave our water heater off for about a day and a half before running out of hot water. The second was to plug our TV/VCR/Speaker System into a power strip and keep that power strip off if we weren't using any of that stuff. Finally, we have been trying to get our landlord to replace our '90 model refrigerator. It's old enough to fight a war and smoke now - quite frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't chosen to do either...we haven't succeeded on that front yet, but I still have hope.

Anyway, we got an electric bill the other day, and it was $50 lower than our "comfort level" of $70 -- pretty amazing! So, this might actually be a legit way to save some cash for our journey.

For the winter, we are going to put film over our windows to hopefully lower the cost of heating, which is pretty ri-diculous in our little apartment. Have you found "green" ways to save money this year?

Saving Money

Two great things just happened that will help us save money for our journey. A record freshman class entered WSU this year, and the shortage of classes led to an opportunity for Luke to teach one section of a freshman communication studies class. In my office, a co-worker is leaving to take another job. I will begin working full time in August to fill her position, which will also give us a little extra money.

We are also changing our lifestyle to try and save a bit. We use reusable bags at the grocery store, as local grocery stores give discounts ranging from six to ten cents per bag. We also turn off our water heater during the day. I was skeptical when Luke made the suggestion, because I can't stand it when the water goes cold. However, we actually forgot to turn it back on one afternoon, and didn't even notice until Luke had taken a shower and I had given baths to everyone else. We'll find out in the next few months if this amounts to any real savings.

What does your family eat in a week?

How random is this! Our local Co-Op is asking members to photograph and document what their families eat in a week. Here's the link:

http://www.moscowfood.coop/content/view/545/78/

Below is what I am submitting for the contest. What do you eat in a week?

What the Joneses Eat:
It’s hard to say what a week of food looks like at our house because we usually shop on paydays, about every 15 days or so. We spend $320 a month on food. In an average month that would equal $80 a week, but it doesn’t really work out that way. On payday, we spend $100 and get everything to make meals for two weeks. Then, we go to the store one more time in between paychecks to restock on milk, apples, grapes and the like. Food takes 10% of our total budgeted expenditures. Rent is 20%.

We feed two adults, one three year old, and in a secondary way the 4 month old baby. When we got married 4 years ago, it seemed like food never lasted and could be scarce. (Our budget then was half what it is now). Now we have a well-stocked pantry, and always have delicious food to eat. We invite friends over to eat too. We buy a lot in bulk food bins, rarely let leftovers go to waste, and cook/eat small portions. Rather than let excess fresh veggies go to waste, I shred and freeze them and then re-introduce them into other meals. I constantly “recycle” leftovers, making yesterday’s bean dip into today’s enchiladas and tomorrows taco soup. I make our bread. I don’t know if it saves money to make it, but we usually slice it thinly and the loaves are generally smaller. Overall, I think our sandwiches are smaller because of the bread, which means we waste less meat and cheese with the toddler.

We buy organic milk, get our meat at C&L when we can, and buy Tillamook cheese and yogurt. We don’t have a Costco membership, but our friend does. We go once every few months for a bag of shrimp and chicken breast. Unfortunately, we don’t get to buy organic produce too often, but someday I will have my own yard and garden, and I expect to save big then! We love invitations to other people’s gardens. We shop the co-op for bulk foods, cheeses, and Organic Valley milk. The Co-Op often has the best prices on organic milk, and the quality and selection in the bulk section is awesome.

Costco
1 sleeve of bulk 4 pack of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, honey almond flax
1 chicken breast
16 shrimp
5 ½ cups bulk AP flour

Winco
½ cup cream of wheat
24 oz asst’d. tilamook yogurt
4 bananas
1 can frozen minute made orange juice, from concentrate
3 Hebrew National Hotdogs
¼ lb pork picnic roast
1 chicken leg quarter
2 eggs
3 Hotdog Buns, whole wheat, no corn syrup
1 ½ tbsp fleischman’s yeast
1 ½ tbsp salt
4 flour tortillas, Don Panchos made in Oregon
1/4 lb. cheddar Tillamook cheese from 1 lb. block
1 oz goat cheese
8 tbsp jiffy peanut butter
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp salt
4 tbsp pepper, from peppercorns
½ packet lawry’s taco seasoning
¼ c. Panko crumb
¼ c. Tempura, sun luck
Coconut milk, roland
1 green pepper
3 red peppers
½ cup olive oil and canola oil
1 bag baby spinach
4 onions
2 heads garlic
1 bunch spring onion
1 new potato
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
3 heads broccoli
1 cup frozen peas
2 lemons
Lemongrass
Cilantro
Basil
Parsley, Italian flat leaf
8 apples
1 apricot
1 bag grapes
6 graham grackers
4 frozen strawberries
4 fresh strawberries
1 cup breyers vanilla ice cream

Safeway
21 cans Dr. Pepper (mom has a serious addiction…okay??)
¾ lb cod
14 oz pinto beans

Moscow Food Co-Op
1 gallon fat free Organic Valley milk
½ cup Fairhaven Rye Flour
½ cup Montana Gold wheat flour
1 c. bulk jasmine rice
½ c. bulk basmati rice
1 cup masa
Tsp crushed red pepper
Wasabi powder
1 14 oz can Muir Glen no salt added tomato sauce

Locally grown
Cherries from Tukey Orchard
6 tbsp raspberry jam from my bosses raspberries in her back yard (so…pectin, sugar, raspberries?)
Chives from my barrel

International Store, Pullman
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Chili sauce
7 hot peppers
1 ginger root, frozen and sliced

Unknown Sources
1 cub burger (cougar country)
1 chicken strips, fries, two pieces of toast basket (cougar country)
1 pint milk (cougar country)
1 lolipop (from candy bowl at luke’s work)
Goldfish crackers (leftovers from one of dad’s events)


Menu:
Monday: Kashi cereal, 1 banana, 1 container yogurt; leftovers and spinach salad for lunch; snack of cherries and goldfish; dinner at Cougar Country=chicken strips, burger, fries, milk for Abi, water for us.
Tuesday: Kashi cereal, leftover lunch with apple; dinner of homemade baked fish sticks (panko, tempura, cod) and broccoli with wasabi soy sauce, milk; wine and raspberries for mom and dad
Wednesday: Kashi cereal and juice; leftover lunch with apple; goldfish and apples snack; Picnic @ Sunnyside for dinner= hot dogs, soda, chips, fruit salad
Thursday: Kashi cereal, juice; broccoli, spinach, red pepper salad; snack of grapes and goldfish; Vietnamese-style garlic Shrimp, spicy fried rice made from leftover rice, coconut rice steamed, broccoli, steamed; peanut sauce, milk
Friday: Kashi cereal, 1 banana, 1 container yogurt; leftovers lunch with apple; goldfish crackers, juice, and grapes snack; Friday lollipop (1); chicken and bean enchiladas, green pepper and tomato Spanish rice made from leftover coconut steamed rice, strawberry milkshakes dessert
Saturday: cream of wheat with raisins for breakfast, juice; grapes, an apricot, goat cheese, 1 ½ PBJ’s on homemade bread, and crackers for lunch; tamale meat in leftover shrimp marinade with rice for dinner, milk
Sunday: 2 eggs with sausage crumbled in them; 5 homemade tamales for lunch(small), 3 graham crackers and juice for snack; broccoli red pepper chowder (meatless) with homemade bread for dinner

Cost Cutting

We try to keep our grocery budget to a minimum, but a desire to reduce costs so we can spend more of our budget on travel has me looking to cut expenses again. I was using google to look at grocery budget information, and came across this. I thought it was really interesting. Follow the link to see what people from countries around the world eat in a week.

http://francismove.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-other-cultures-eat-in-week.html

I guess when I hear that families in x country live on $1 a day, it never sunk in that a family might consist of more than four people.