Making your money go further

As times have been lean for so many of us and in many cases continue to show no real signs of improvement I thought it might be fun to see what ideas some of you have for ways to cut back a little more here and there to make our limited incomes go a little further. There are so many things we can do, but it seems there are always more things that we haven't thought of so lets start a list of some ways to cut back our spending. I like to think about the way my grandmother lived and use that as a guide to helping me find new ways to cut back. Yes, I do realize that not every one of these suggestions will work for everyone but it is still good to think about where we can make changes to help make those dollars go a little further.

These tips are in no particular order and are far from an extensive list of ways to cut your costs. Please feel free to let me know what ideas and suggestions you have so that they can be added to the list. Thanks.

POWER:
* switch incandescent light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs, you just switch them as your current light bulbs burn out
* turn lights off when you aren't in the room
* plug non-essential electronics into power strips so that the strips can be turned off when items are not in use, we even found one with a switch external to the strip to make it even easier to turn the power to the strip off
* use fans to help keep your house feeling cooler, depending on the temperature outside you may be able to get away without using the AC very much if at all (we bought several oscillating fans for $18 each so we could put a fan in every room of the house)
* use drapes and blinds to help block out the harsh sun in the summer (put them down during the day and lift them at night to help the house cool off more naturally) or cold in the winter (lower them at night and raise them in the morning to let the sun come in and help warm the house naturally), this will help cut your heating and AC bills
* use timers on outdoor lights, you probably don't need them on all day and/or night but only for a few hours

WATER:
* use a bucket to catch the water in your shower as it is warming up, use the water to water plants
* turn the sink off while washing hands and brushing teeth
* buy a water efficient shower head (we found the Kohler K-10240-CP "Forte" which uses only 1.75 gallons per minute and still has plenty of water pressure and gets the shampoo out without problem)
* don't buy bottled water, use a water filter instead to fill a reusable bottle
* use the water from the condensation of your AC unit to water your plants
* use an aerator on your kitchen sink to help conserve water when washing dishes

LAUNDRY:
* hang your clothes to dry, you can use collapsible drying racks inside or outside of your home if you can't or don't want to use a clothes line (I bought several of them for $7 a piece and bought some clothes pins for another $2 per pack of 50)
* use cold or colder water to wash your laundry
* wait until you have a full load to wash your laundry
* use a little less laundry soap in each load, most people use more detergent than is needed to do a sufficient job
* hand wash your cashmere items in baby shampoo instead of taking them in to be dry cleaned, your cashmere will be nice and soft

YARD:
* check your sprinklers periodically to make sure you are not wasting water
* set your sprinklers to go off early in the morning when the ground is cooler and there is still time before it gets too hot, this helps minimize evaporation (I was advised to set my sprinklers for 4am in the warmer months as by 7am the ground is already pretty hot)
* use mulch on your planting beds to help keep the moisture near the plants instead of evaporating (when mulch decomposes back into your soil it makes your soil healthier)
* use a broom to sweep your driveway and sidewalk instead of a hose
* cut your grass a little taller, it will help keep your grass healthier in the heat of the summer and you can even leave the clippings on the grass so that they provide extra shading to protect your grass even more and the clippings will decompose and make your soil healthier
* try cutting your own grass instead of having a lawn person do it for you, same goes for other normal yard maintenance

TRANSPORTATION:
* walk, ride bike, take public transportation, or carpool when you can
* cut back on the number of cars in your house if you can, you may be surprised how easy it is and you can always rent a car if you only have that extra need once in a while (we got rid of our second car 5 years ago and haven't really missed it, yes it makes things a little more challenging once in a while but honestly it is very rare that we really feel a second car would make life any easier)
* be a little gentler on your gas pedal, you will burn less gas and put less strain on your car
* crack the windows in your car ever so slightly in the summer so that some of the hot air can escape, this really does make a huge difference
* try to drive a little less
* drive for closer trips instead of flying, especially if it's for business and they will reimburse you the mileage

SHOPPING:
* ask yourself if you really need something before you buy it, often times we think we need something but when we really think about it we realize that we can do without or find a cheaper solution
* slip covers are a great way to breathe new life into an old sofa or chair that is still in good shape other than the upholstery (I like to buy upholstered furniture at Ikea so I can easily purchase new slip covers when my old ones aren't looking so good, we are on our second set of slip covers and have had all the furniture for 6 years)
* trim your own hair or even give yourself or family members haircuts
* look for rebates and other incentives when you need to replace things like appliances (we got money back on both our washer/dryer and our refrigerator which made the more efficient ones more affordable)
* look at all the rebates your utilities and government have available for you (we found a turf rebate from our water department as an incentive to get rid of your lawn, you don't even have to get rid of all your grass to qualify)
* shop second hand when you can, for books I love to shop abebooks.com (a website with tons of independent book sellers carrying all kinds of books, even out of print books)
* if your prescription doesn't change and your glasses are still in decent shape keep them instead of replacing them
* if you really don't need contacts and already have glasses then skip buying contacts
* use a broom and dust pan to sweep your floors instead of a vacuum or Swiffer
* use flower sacks, rags, or microfiber towels (buy these in the automotive department for the best deal) to clean up spills instead of using paper towels

FOOD:
* grow your own herbs and produce, depending on your needs and what various produce costs where you live you can really save a lot of money (fresh herbs are usually several dollars per small container and a small plant is about the same price so don't worry if the plant doesn't survive you didn't really lose much if anything)
* make your own lemonade, it is much cheaper to buy a few lemons and some sugar than it is to spend a few dollars on a bottle of lemonade at the store (I use 2 cups water, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 lemons and boil at least 4 ounces of water to dissolve the sugar in)
* make your own Italian sodas (apple and orange sodas are super easy just put about 1/2 juice and 1/2 carbonated water, for lemon soda use 3 lemons and 1/2 cup of sugar with about 8 ounces of boiling water and the remaining water carbonated)
* pack your own lunch for school or work, even just once in a while like if you have leftovers that might otherwise go to waste
* use reusable containers to pack things like leftovers and your lunch in rather than throwing out all those plastic Ziploc bags
* try adding some vegetarian meals to your diet, it tends to be cheaper than meat and may help you get more creative as you seek out less traditional meal ideas
* get a glass of tap water for your beverage when you go out to eat
* try cutting back on the sodas and other beverages in favor of more water, if you aren't that fond of water try adding a slice of lemon, orange, apple, cucumber or even mint to add a little flavor

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Some very general concepts to keep in mind that will help you find more ways to save money:

(1) using products that have more than one use in them are cheaper in the long run (case in point is the mop I used to use was a Swiffer wet jet so I was always replacing the mop head cloth as well as the specific bottle of solution and now I switched to Method's Omop which has reusable cloth heads that you throw in the washer so even though the initial investment was about the same I have had the Omop for going on 3 years now and haven't had to purchase new mop heads)

(2) doing things the way your grandmother would have done them is cheaper (case in point hanging my clothes out to dry instead of using a clothes drier saves a lot of money on the electric bill and in the summer doesn't really take any extra time)

(3) remember that something may be cheaper upfront but if it doesn't last it will end up a lot more expensive than the more expensive option that will last (case in point is my pots and pans, I originally had a set of T-Fal that cost about $100 and they lasted me about 1 - 2 years and I replaced them with a set of professional grade Calphalon that I spent about $200 on after discounts and other incentives and I have already had those pots and pans for 9 1/2 years making them by far the better deal).


Note: I am trying out a new editor so please bear with me.

French Toast Muffins

Yesterday we had our parent teacher conference at our son's school. Our son's lead teacher told me to feel free to bring coffee and such to eat while we met as it was a morning meeting. Since I love to bake I figured I would take this opportunity to try out a new muffin recipe I had been eying for a few weeks now. French toast muffins. What an interesting idea to make french toast in the form of a muffin, how could I resist but give this a try. I must say they were not too difficult to make and were quite tasty and when they were baking my whole kitchen smelled like french toast, that yummy smell of cinnamon and maple syrup. This is one recipe I will definitely be repeating. Thanks must be given to Kris Holechek and "The 100 best vegan baking recipes: amazing cookies, cakes, muffins, pies, brownies and breads." This has quickly become my favorite cookbook. Everything turns out really great and tasty and no one ever knows the goodies are vegan unless I tell them.

SodaStream

This morning I saw an article on TreeHugger about the SodaStream, it was asking if home carbonation is the next big green thing? Of course I instantly thought about just how much we love the SodaStream that we bought at the beginning of the year and prompted me to look through my list of blog posts to see what I had written previously about our own SodaStream. I was a little surprised when I didn't find a post about our soda stream, I'm not 100% convinced that I just didn't notice it but it made me realize that even if I had posted about the SodaStream maybe I should post again now that we have had it for a while and have really had time to use it.

There are several things that I really love about our SodaStream. First of all is that I don't have to buy bottles of carbonated water and bring them home and find a place to keep them and biggest of all is the guilt that I feel when I throw those plastic bottles into the recycle bin after we are done with them, granted due to the guilt of throwing the bottles in the bin we hardly ever purchased carbonated water. Second, we can now make our own Italian sodas instead of spend a few dollars a bottle on them. I do still occasionally purchase Italian sodas from the store, but I keep the glass bottles from them and reuse them to make my own sodas in. Making our own Italian sodas has been a lot of fun. My husband and I have grown very fond of adding soda water to our morning glass of orange juice, it makes an Orangina style beverage. Another juice we have tried adding carbonated water to is apple juice, it is really tasty this way and makes apple juice a bit more of an adult beverage. Of course my favorite thing to make with the SodaStream is homemade lemon soda.

We have our own lemon tree so this is a good way to put some of those lemons to use, I just make a simple syrup (boil enough water to dissolve the sugar in) and then add the lemon juice and carbonated water. I usually use 1/2 a cup of sugar and 8 ounces of water to make the simple syrup, then while that is cooling off in the soda bottle (I reuse the glass Italian soda bottles from Trader Joe's) I juice 3 lemons and then add the juice to the soda bottle. When the contents are close to room temperature you can fill the bottle the rest of the way with carbonated water. I use a funnel to get all the ingredients into the bottle and of course once the soda is made you will want to put it in the fridge to cool or if you want to drink it right away add some ice to a glass and then pour your soda in.

part time vegan

These days I am a part time vegan, I am aware that saying I am a part time vegan sounds a bit odd and probably even makes some people question my commitment to a change in my lifestyle but this isn't about getting acceptance from others. Over the years I have made a lot of changes in my life and I think how I got here and why this works well for me and my family is an interesting story that may make you think about what is the best way for you to make long term changes in your life, should you wish to make changes.

A few years ago I was introduced to the idea of being a part time vegetarian for environmental reasons and we thought that sounded like a good way to start eating less meat. Both my husband and I had tried to go vegetarian in the past (independently of each other) and found after time that we weren't feeling our best so we went back to eating meat again. It seemed that eating a well balanced vegetarian diet would take more time to plan out than either of us had so as my husband says we were non practicing vegetarians.

When we decided to give part time vegetarianism a try we decided to aim for no more than 7 meals a week that included meat. This may sound like a lot, but if you think about it a lot of people eat meat with all 3 meals every day and that is approximately 21 meals a week. Since we had a newborn at the time this part time vegetarian diet made balancing our diet a little easier on us. Over time we tended to eat less and less meat, but we never gave up meat completely.

About 2 years passed with our part time vegetarian diet I began playing with some vegan recipes due to my ongoing issues with dairy and our son's upcoming birthday where we would have a few vegan and non-dairy friends in attendance. I didn't want these kids to not be able to enjoy the cupcakes or to have to bring their own meals to the party. I found that vegan baking wasn't all that difficult and no one knew the food was vegan if I didn't tell them. My cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and even pancakes were just as good as the traditional diary versions I made.

Over the next few months I ended up being very happy that I had begun learning to bake and even cook and eat vegan friendly meals because my diary issues really started to flare up again. This time I had already done much of the homework to make the transition easier, previously when my diary issues flared up badly I really didn't know what I was doing and had a difficult time eating dairy-free. I do still eat a little bit of dairy here and there, but when I do have a little dairy I often end up feeling really sick after wards.

I have been very happy taking my dietary changes slowly and have found that easing into these changes has made it much easier and I also feel much healthier than in my previous attempt at a vegetarian diet and a dairy-free diet. Now I am a part time vegan and really don't feel deprived. I still have to try making a vegan cheesecake and tiramisu, as those are two very dairy heavy deserts that my husband and I both love.

beating the heat with soup

It has been very hot all week so today I decided to try something a little different for lunch. I made a cold mango papaya soup. The ingredients list was simple... mango, papaya, vanilla ice cream (I used soy ice cream), and maple syrup. I cut the fruit up into tiny pieces and threw it into the blender making a puree, then I added the ice cream (I added a bit too much ice cream) and a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten the soup. It was very light and refreshing, but as I added too much ice cream it wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked. All in all though it was pretty good and I feel it was excellent as a first attempt at cold soup.

Repurposing bread clips

Here is something my husband shared with me recently, he saw it on LifeHacker. Repurposing those plastic tags on your bread to label the cords on your electronics. I thought it was such a simple, easy and yet brilliant idea.

Here is another article with some more ideas for repurposing those bread tags.