FHP Taking the Week Off

image courtesy of freefoto.com

I'm taking a week long computer break. It's that super busy time of the semester, my house is once again a wreck, I have several half finished projects taking up space in the garage, and I'm overwhelmed. I was re-reading this excellent article and thought- I can do that! I already take Sundays off, why not a whole week? It really is amazing how much time you suddenly have when the computer gets turned off.

I'll be posting the Bargain Meal of the Week on Thursday, and I'll be back on blogging schedule on Monday. I hope everyone has an excellent week!

Inexpensive Kitchen Tools that Save Me Money

I found myself in a speciality kitchen store recently and could not help but chuckle at their rack of "must haves" for every cook. Most of those items had a specific use for dishes that I may cook once a year. It got me thinking about the items I use most in my kitchen, and with the exception of my (inherited) Kitchen Aid mixer, not one of them cost over $30. A few of my favorite tools can be picked up at the dollar store. Here's what I consistently use in my frugal kitchen:

Spatulas: I'm amazed at how few people use this frugal tool! We use ours all the time to get the last bit of pancake batter out of the bowl, to get the last bit of peanut butter...we even have a smaller one that can get into bottles and smaller jars, thus saving the last bit of BBQ sauce. This inexpensive tool is a must have in every frugal kitchen!

Funnels: I got my funnel set at a dollar store in college, and I use them all the time. I buy giant gallon jugs of oil and transfer them to smaller, more manageable bottles for everyday use. Before I bought my funnel set, I'd waste a lot of stuff trying to pour the item into a different bottle. I also use my funnel to consolidate things like bottles of shampoo or for pouring liquid handsoap from the giant replacement jug to the pump bottle. Waste not, want not!

Non-electric can opener: We did not have an electric can opener until we bought our house- the former owner had left their under cabinet one. Although we like the electric one, we still keep our hand can opener around. There's the obvious advantage of being able to open cans during a power outage, but there are less obvious benefits as well. I mentioned how much olive oil we could get out of the container after it was "empty." Because the can is an odd shape, we can't use our electric opener to open it. Inexpensive non-electric can opener to the rescue!

Silicon Nonstick pad: I'd never thought about getting one of these until I got addicted to the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The doughs are so sticky that I was using an awful lot of (expensive) parchment paper. (I do not have the pizza peel or pizza stone that the book recommends, so I was doing the parchment paper on a cookie sheet method.) It occurred to me to pick up one of these reusable, non-stick silicon pads, and all I can say is where have these been all my life?

Crockpot: A must in every frugal home. This single tool has probably saved me thousands over the years in fast food costs. It's much easier to ignore the siren call of the local burger barn when you know you have a delicious meal already prepared and waiting for you at home. It turns inexpensive, tough meats into delicious dinners. It can make side dishes! It can do anything! I use my crockpot so often that I have two of them- and use them both every single week. If you need some recipe inspiration, head over to one of my favorite crockpot recipe sites!

What inexpensive kitchen tools save you money? Leave a comment!

Go here for other fabulous frugal tips at the Festival of Frugality!

Buying Everyday Stuff in Bulk

When you're shopping, be sure to price by how much is actually in the package, rather than by what the box or the can. It can be intimidating to see that bigger number, but calculated by ounce, it is often cheaper. (Have a cheap calculator in your purse or pocket when you shop, just in case you need to double check- while it's generally true that bigger is cheaper, it's not *always* true!)

For example, we use a lot of olive oil in this house. Olive oil is a bit pricier than other types of oil, but we feel that the health benefits are worth it. When we buy it by the giant jug, we save money over time! The giant jug cost $25.99 the last time I bought it, but I saved anywhere from 10-40 cents an ounce by getting the big jug instead of the smaller ones. An added bonus? I don't have to buy it very often. This jug lasts us 6-8 months. We put it in a Olive Oil Drizzler to make pouring small amounts more manageable. Using a funnel is also a good idea. Don't forget to use a can opener to take the top off when you can't pour anymore- we avoid throwing away almost a whole drizzler of olive oil by doing this!

What do you buy in bulk? Where do you buy it? Any tips on how to get the most product out of a bulk purchase? Share in the comments!

What to do with all that leftover ham?

One of the basic tenants of frugality is to waste not, want not. In this case, I want to not be wasting the tons and tons of Easter ham I have leftover! I hate having the same thing over and over and over, so I try to reuse items in a creative way.

One of the easiest ways for me to deal with tons of leftover meat, like a ham or turkey, is to cut it up the day after into usable portions. I saved some of our ham in a ziplock bag in slices for sandwiches, and cubed the rest. It does take time, but in the long run it is so worth it.

I bought my foodsaver on E-bay for about $60, and it was one of the best things I have ever bought. I was initially skeptical, but I use the thing all the time, and it really does keep food fresher and non-freezer burned for longer. I buy the Wal-Mart generic sealer bags (Great Value) and find that they are of better quality and much easier to deal with than the food saver bags. It is one of the few things I still go to Wal-Mart for.

Tonight we will be having this Spinach Rice Ham Bake for supper. I am making some modifications. I am using 4 oz bargain bleu cheese 4 oz sharp cheddar, and I am not using my microwave. I am melting it on the stove. I am also adding some broccoli, since I don't have enough spinach. It's all about using what you have!

Since my husband loves Popeye Pie so much, that will be on the menu in the coming month as well. Since I am curious, I am going to keep a tally of how many meals I get out of this one ham. As of today, we will be at two- Easter dinner and tonight's casserole. I will not include my husband and the roommate's lunches, as they pack their own and I don't want to hover over their shoulders asking how much ham they're eating.

Work Lunches From Leftovers

If you have access to a microwave, take dinner leftovers for lunch! The guys are taking this for lunch tomorrow. The guys round out the meal with a piece of fruit or two and a dessert. The meal on the right features the lasagna I made using our super bargain produce. The meal on the left is bargain chicken which was marinated in Italian dressing and baked. Much better than a burger of the .99 cent menu- for your wallet and your waistline!

The trays are from TV dinners. I save them and just run them through the dishwasher. We also use these trays for chips and dips- the chips in the big compartment, the dip in the small one. If you never eat TV dinners, maybe somebody at work would let you have the tray after they are done. I'm looking for those tupperware plates with different compartments and a lid, but I have yet to see any at yard sales or thrift stores.

Stopping an Unfrugal Habit

I am challenging myself to stop an unfrugal habit. It's kind of a strange one, and one that won't add up to much savings, but a penny saved is a penny earned.

Mine is related to Kleenex. Plain old tissues that I try not to pay more than .75 cents a box for. Every day when I get dressed, I stick a tissue or two in my pocket. I rarely end up using these tissues, and by the end of the day, they are in shreds in my pocket, so into the trash they go. At about a penny a tissue, I'm wasting 5 bucks a year clinging to an old habit. I may tuck a handkerchief in my pocket as a "security blanket," but I really need to stop throwing away clean (but shredded) tissues every single day.

Why should I worry about five bucks? I like Amy Dacyzyn's thoughts on the topic: Thinking about the little things gets you into the habit of thinking frugally! Plus it drives me nuts when people say that x idea won't save much, so it's not worth doing. I'm fine with that for some ideas, because that really is true, but it seems like a lot of people in my life use that excuse to not do *anything* frugal, then complain about never having any money. Gah!

Do you have any little habits do you have that cause you to literally throw away money? If you gave it up, was it difficult?

Goals for 2007

What do you want to get done in 2007?

I want to do several things. We'll see how it goes!

FHP's Goals:

1. Find a way to earn a little bit of money from home, without having the home job take over my life. Crystal at Biblical Womanhood really inspired me with this post.

2. Clear out clutter from our home. We're pretty good at this, but the move from the apartment to the house showed us that we have a lot more stuff than we think. This can even tie in with my first goal, as I'm selling some of my books on Amazon, and I plan to E-bay some things. The DAV also picks up donations from our new neighborhood about once a month, so we've designated a bag in our closet to put things while we wait for the "we're coming to your area!" card in the mail.

3. Recycle more. Our trash pickup has recycling, so there is really no excuse.

4. Get things we need from yard sales, Freecycle, and thrift stores as often as possible. I already do this a lot, but I know that there have been a few things that I did not really *need* ASAP that I ran to Target for. I'm always annoyed when it turns up at a yard sale for less than half than I paid. I must learn to be more patient. Along with this, perhaps try to recoup the cost of my clothes, etc through getting something to sell when I shop. I got this idea from Meredith at Like Merchant Ships. I have not tried it yet, but it seems like a really great idea! Now I must figure out what will sell and what won't...

5. Eat out less, and when we do eat out, only eat at places that we have coupons for. We vow to eat out less every year. Buying the house helped us be a little more motivated.

That's my list for this year!

Waste not, want not: Pumpkins

I've never made pumpkin puree out of fresh pumpkins, but this year I was inspired to try. The week before Halloween, I bought two big pumpkins for 5 dollars. On the evening of October 30, we carved them into Jack-O-Lanterns. We also put the seeds out to dry so we could have one of my childhood favorites- roasted pumpkin seeds. Yummy and nutritious, and a great snack to enjoy while you wait for trick or treaters. (In my case, so I would not nibble on the candy I bought for them!)

The day after Halloween, I made the puree. I used this method. I spent about an hour and a half of hands on time cutting, peeling skin, running chunks through the food processor, and more time when oven time was considered. All together it took about three hours to do, including cooking time.

From my two big pumpkins, I got 30 cups of puree. I'm storing them in bags in the freezer. That's equivalent to fifteen cans of pumpkin, which would cost about 16 dollars. That's not bad for five dollars spent. Even when my time and the electricity to run the oven and food processor is considered, I think that's a nice bargain. We love to eat pumpkin muffins, and I always make several pumpkin pies for Christmas and Thanksgiving. I felt great using all the pumpkin. What we did not use we put into the compost heap. It makes me feel much better than simply throwing it away, which is what I usually did in the past once it got ooky.