Archive for the 'Food' Category
photo figure credit: ScrapperMom
Michelle asks:
"How was the vacation?"
In a word: Fantastic! We got to meet the newest member of our extended family (on that side, anyway…) who is already one and half! We got to catch up with family that we haven’t seen in over 2 years. We got to know new wives, girlfriends, and old friends a lot better. Thanks to all of them for taking the time out of their busy schedules, providing places to stay, cooking dinner, etc. This picture is the pool at the hotel in Orlando, which the kids loved.
As a follow up to my original post on this topic, I thought I would offer a post-trip analysis on how we did financially. It’s important to note that while we put nearly everything below on our rewards credit card, it will all be paid off by the end of the month because we had already set aside the funding for this trip.
I’ll start with the area in which I feel we did the worst from a frugal perspective: Dining out. In total we purchased 9 meals out and they totaled $378. This breaks down to $42 per family-meal, or $17 per person per meal if we count dear daughter #1 as a half person who shared what we ate most of the time. Given that we ate a total of 22 meals, 9 represents only 40%. We easily could have converted a couple of dinners out into dinners at home, but then again, we were on vacation… We did manage to convert a couple of these meals into lunches the next day since the portions were often too big! I should also point out that this total included drinks with meals as well, which as you know can get pretty expensive. During one meal we paid close to $9 for an 8 ounce rum and coke!
Relating to dining, our grocery bill came in at $141. As described in the initial article, we had a lot of opportunity to prepare meals, especially breakfasts and lunches. If you put all of our food spending together, the per person per meal average comes down to $9.50. The grocery bill includes a 12 pack of beer that we brought to a party, as well as a lot of bottled water that we wouldn’t normally buy at home, but the local water was terrible!
In the category of transportation, we got a great deal on airline tickets: we purchased 3 seats for $597 on JetBlue. The in-flight entertainment, especially Animal Planet and the XM station for Radio Disney went a long way to keeping our 21 month old busy on the flight each way. In total, we spent $378 (Yes, exactly the same as on dining out!) on the rental of a mini-van and the fuel we needed for a week. We drove the van over 500 miles since we went down to Disney, and much of the time the van was nearly at capacity with 4 adults and 2 toddlers in car seats.
Our short jaunt to Disney cost us both on the ticket side and on lodging. We somehow thought that we still had tickets that we could use at Disney, which would have given us “free” entry to the park. Unfortunately this was not the case, and we ended up having to buy 2 adult, single day passes for a total of $160. Yes, that hurt. The Magic Kingdom is a great place, but honestly I think it’s looking a bit dated, and I’ve been to a number of better parks in recent years that cost a lot less than this. But it’s the American Way to take your kids to Disney, right? The lodging for one night was not bad at $90. This was our share of the split on the condo that we shared with my cousin and his family.
We spent a total of $23 on items that didn’t fit into any of these other categories. This included a Christmas ornament from Disney, and a couple of magazines at the airport. We successfully resisted the urge to spend $17 on a fan-assisted squirt bottle in Disney on a 93 degree, scorching hot day. We also avoiding having to purchase every cute stuffed animal that DD#1 got her hands on.
Last, and far from least, we spent $720 at the Dog Kennel. As outlined in this article, our dogs are expensive. It definitely hurts to have to budget 30% of every trip we take to kenneling the dogs, and it’s the first thing that pops into my head whenever we consider a trip. We spent a few years trying to find the right mix of costs for kenneling. In this business, the saying is true: You get what you pay for. We were horrified upon retrieving our dogs from a budget kennel on one trip, and they didn’t want to come home when we tried to get them from a super-expensive kennel. Eventually we found a “just right” kennel that treats them well — but not too well. This is certainly an area that will factor into any future pet decisions. It’s a good argument against having two pets.
In total, we spent $2487. This is a lot less than ScrapperMom and I spent on a lavish Quebec trip a number of years ago, but more than we have spent on a vacation in some time. Was it worth it? It’s hard to put a price-tag on the experiences that we had. If pressed, however, I would have to say that the cost was worth it since it meshes with our values: notice that we have only a couple of magazines and a Christmas ornament to show for this expenditure. We don’t place a high value on “stuff”, but rather experiences and time spent with family and friends. You can’t put a price on that. This trip would have been a lot less fun if we just went to Florida by ourselves…
We’re already looking forward to a mini-vacation in November as we travel to New Jersey to celebrate a wedding!
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Hardcore couponers would probably accuse me of blasphemy for saying that couponing may be a waste of time but even Crystal of Biblical Womanhood and Money Saving Mom thinks it’s ok to take a break every once in awhile, see her post on it here. As for me, I wasn’t raised by a hardcore couponer and have only recently discovered the benefits. Living with my mother-in-law for a year also helped spark my frugal side. I do feel there are a couple of problems that I have encountered over the past year or so with using coupons.
First off, MITBeta and I do not buy the newspaper. We have in the past, but found it piled up and was only good for starting the charcoal grill and filling our recycle bins. Nowadays we get all of our news online or through our local NPR affiliate WBUR. Most of the time we are lucky enough to have our parents save the fliers from their papers, but when things get busy we may not see them for a week and then we both forget. Because of this I may end up missing a few of the sales that correspond to the current sales fliers. Another option is to stop at a coffee shop or the library on a Sunday evening and pick up a newspaper that may still have the sale fliers, but I usually don’t have time to do this, let alone remember that I can. On occasion I have bought the paper, only to find that the filers were not included. That made me very mad, so I probably will not actually buy the paper again!
We also don’t tend to buy a lot of processed food, which makes up the bulk of the coupons in the sales fliers. I do like to take advantage of CVS’ing (see this post if you are unfamiliar with the term) and that usually does require the coupons. The nice thing is that if we do get fliers from our parents and they come a few weeks late it is usually ok for CVS since the CVS deals hardly ever line up with the current sales fliers. Also a lot of products that tend to go on sale at CVS may have coupons available to print online.
Since I started using coupons and making more frugal shopping choices in general, I feel that I do have a handle on the costs of items and try to save where I can with or without the coupons. This may mean buying in bulk if that is feasible, buying generic or waiting for the good sales. It always means checking the unit costs in order to buy the cost effective size. I also try to buy only seasonal produce and by menu planning I’m able to more fully utilize all the food I purchase without having food go to waste.
I’m not exactly sure how we are doing with our grocery budget, but I try to be cognizant of the total at the checkout, while at the same time choosing healthy options whenever possible. I have stopped by the local farmer’s market a few times this summer as well to pick up local produce. I typically don’t spend over $100/week on groceries for our family of 2 + a toddler and in the past we have tried to have a $75/wk budget. How about you? Are you a hard-core couponer or do you just try to shop wisely? What is your weekly grocery budget?
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Just about a year ago, ScrapperMom and I decided that we had reached the right end of the Credit Card Contiuum and that it was time to start earning some rewards for buying all of the things that we buy or pay for on a monthly or yearly basis anyway. We went in search of a rewards credit card.
Rewards credit cards come in many different flavors. There are air miles cards, new car purchase cards, free gas cards, free coffee cards, cash back cards, and even dedicated 529 earnings cards. ScrapperMom and I decided that since we could not afford to contribute anything specifically to our daughter’s 529 plan that we would look for a card that would allow us to earn money for her account.
One might think that since we wanted rewards to fund a 529 account, that we would choose one of the 529 rewards credit cards that are available. Unfortunately, the few 529 rewards cards out there have terms that are worse than those available from some other cards. For example, one card we looked at has a limit of $300 in earnings per year. Our goal was to put as many of our purchases as possible on the card, and knew that we would easily exceed the $300 limit. Another card we looked at was linked to a specific 529 plan that did not fit our criteria for such a plan.
Instead, it made more sense for us to apply for a cash back credit card. There are a lot of cash back cards on the market, and they all have different terms. Using the credit card finder at Bankrate.com, we looked through many different cards. Some, like the American Express Blue card have different rates for different spending amounts. You have to spend a lot of money before the rates rise to a level on par with many of the other cards. Most of these cards offer around 1% cash back on all purchases and 3%-5% on certain types of purchases, like fuel, groceries, and fast food.
Ultimately, we chose the Chase Freedom Card. This card offers 1% cash back on all purchases as well as 3% cash back on things like groceries, fast food, and fuel purchases. You can redeem your cash whenever you accumulate $50 worth, but if you are patient then you can collect $200 and trade that for a $250 return (which brings the cash back bonus to about 1.25%). We can’t use this card for most of our big bills like our mortgage, car, and student loans, unfortunately, but we can use it on a lot of the small stuff like cell phones, satellite TV, Netflix, periodic insurance payments, etc.
In the past year, we have earned over $750 in rewards that we have applied to our daughter’s college savings. In a typical month, we earn about 75% of our points at the 1% level and the remainder at the 3% level. Since it only takes about 4 months to accumulate $200 worth of rewards, it’s worth our while to wait until that point to cash out the extra $50, since that’s a much better return than putting $50 per month into almost any investment.
Obviously the key to this whole plan hinges on spending within our spending plan. We pay this card off every month with money from our checking account. Again, we don’t use the card to spend on things that we would not otherwise have purchased. One splurge purchase can wipe out a year’s worth of rewards in no time at all.
Many people have difficulty handling credit cards, and I understand that. However, many others have aquired the self-discipline to be able to handle credit cards without breaking the budget. I believe that not using a rewards credit card for things that we are going to buy anyway is just leaving free money on the table. I have spent years giving the credit card companies my hard earned money, and now it’s time to redeem some of it.
Do you use a rewards credit card? What kind of rewards do you get? Do you find it worth it?
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In the fall of 2000, ScrapperMom and I made our first big purchase together: We bought a puppy. As two engineers are apt to do, we researched this purchase to the Nth degree: What kind of dog? Who from? How much? Vet? Crate? etc…
When we finally took the plunge, we ended up bringing home an adorable 20 pound Great Dane puppy (from a reputable dealer…). Two years later, we decided that one 120 pound Great Dane was not enough for one household, and that our little deer (pun intended) needed company during the day, and so we made the mistake of bringing home another Great Dane puppy.
ScrapperMom wondered recently how the dogs fit into our financial picture, and Gather Little By Little spurred me on with a recent post about the rising cost of spending on pets.
Below is the result of the report I ran in Quicken to find out just how much we have been spending on our small horses:
Cost of Unconditional Love
| Category |
Cost |
|
| Vet |
$6,589.43 |
|
| Food |
$6,555.09 |
|
| Supplies |
$4,962.79 |
|
| Training |
$3,687.50 |
|
| Boarding |
$3,645.00 |
|
| Dogs |
$1,966.90 |
|
| Dog Walkers |
$1,362.00 |
|
| Doggie Day School |
$1,102.50 |
|
| Damage Repair Payments |
$218.16 |
|
| Registrations |
$209.74 |
|
| Books |
$171.43 |
|
| Supplements |
$155.15 |
|
| Dog Shows |
$132.45 |
|
| Fines |
$40.00 |
|
Total
|
$30,798.14
|
|
Yes, you read that right. We have spent thirty thousand, seven hundred, ninety-eight dollars and fourteen cents on our dogs since the fall of 2000.
For us, this was a shockingly large number on first inspection. That’s $335/month, on average, for the last 92 months. That’s a little over $11 per day. I can think of worse ways to spend $11, but I still felt that this spending was pretty high in the grand scheme of our general finances, especially when our budget in the “Dogs” category for the past year has only been carrying about $150/month.
My next step was to see how the spending varied over time, since there was definitely a dual (large) income, no kids period where a weekly trip to Petsmart was no expense spared. So I ran a new report:
This report is really inconclusive. On the one hand, it’s looks like spending has tapered off since about early 2007. This correlates with the birth of our daughter, so it’s really no surprise that we have paid less attention to our pooches (sorry, pups!) and consequently spent less on them. On the other hand, spending was way up as recently as the middle of 2006.
In looking at ways to cut spending in the future, I identified a number of categories that are not likely to see much new spending anytime soon: Dog Walkers, Day School, and the Dogs themselves. Additionally, there are some categories that are really not fair to charge to the Dog account, such as boarding, since this is really a vacation expense that gets budgeted for separately. A number of other categories don’t see much spending in the first place.
With the elimination of all of those expenses, we’re still at a $233/month average outlay. There’s a pretty good chance that we won’t be doing as much training, since we don’t have that much time anymore, and the supply bill should stay pretty low since most of the costs there were “startup” costs of ownership. That basically leaves food and vet bills. If you count only those two categories, we’re right down under the $150/month budgeted amount.
I’m sure that we’ll have to end up spending more than this per month, since we’ll inevitably have to buy supplies and other items in the coming years. Maybe we can look for ways to save on food and vet bills for now, and bump the monthly budget up to something like $175 and see how it goes.
How much do you spend on your pets? How much have you spent on your pets? What have you done, if anything, to cut costs on them? What is your cost for unconditional love?
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Obviously with another mouth to feed it might stand to reason that the grocery bill will increase. Fortunately, we have managed to keep the grocery bill in check with a few frugal baby solutions. Some of these items may not work for everyone, but these are the things that worked well for us when feeding a baby on a budget.
Breastfeeding: This one is a no brainer when it comes to saving money, but I understand that it doesn’t work for everyone. I was determined to make breastfeeding work for us and made sure I had a lot of resources ready in case I got in trouble. It doesn’t necessarily come naturally for either mom or baby. As MITBeta and I found out, it is also a multi-person sport in the beginning, so don’t worry about leaving those Dads out! We realized early on that in order to get the baby positioned correctly and to keep her awake we needed about 4 hands. Also remember in the early days that it is important to watch your baby for clues and not the clock. Breastfeeding works on a system of supply and demand, so in the early days you really want to feed the baby whenever she seems hungry. This will help build a good supply of milk. Visit KellyMom for some great tips on all aspects of breastfeeding. This website is invaluable. The first fews weeks are long and I spent a lot of time on the couch or in a chair, but just made sure the MITBeta had a little table supplied for me with snacks and a drink and I soon became a natural. In the coming months I forgot all about the hard first month as it gradually got easier and easier.
A friend gave me some great tips when I was pregnant and they all helped make the process go smoothly after our daughter was born. Make sure you get all the support you can/want/need in the hospital. Ask all the nurses to check to make sure the baby is latched on correctly. They typically have lactation consultants on staff that can make sure you are doing it correctly as well, so you can avoid problems that can quickly derail your breastfeeding experience (latch-on, supply, and pain are some common ones). Make sure you buy some lansinoh (this product is very important in the early days). We also had a nurse make a home visit (this was covered by insurance because we were in the hospital less than 48 hrs after baby was born) and that was a great opportunity to ask questions and correct any potential problems. We also had a birth doula who came to see us for a post-partum visit as well.
I also found it advantageous to have a pump on hand (you can rent hospital grade pumps, buy cheap manual pumps or invest in a pump that would be good for daily pumping sessions if you plan to pump and work). I have an Ameda pump. My milk came in a few days after we got home from the hospital and even though my little one is took to breastfeeding like a champ, she sometimes just couldn’t handle that kind of volume! Plus I was back at home and now had no one around to help me out. I found it very useful to have my pump all set to go, just to relieve some of that early discomfort and make it easier for the baby to latch on. Now even if you decide you don’t want to breastfeed, having some type of cheap pump may be helpful, since your body will think you want to make milk no matter what, at least in the beginning. Having the number of someone you can call if you run into troubles is a good idea. This could be a lactation consultant, doula or LLL leader (see below).
Your local La Leche League is also a great source of support and encouragement. They typically have meetings once a month. I have been going to the LLL group meetings in my area since our daughter was born and I find a lot of great support there for a lot of parenting issues, not just breastfeeding. It’s always good to run things by other mothers who have been in a similar situation so you can make sure that everything is normal.
If you have tried breastfeeding and have decided that formula is the way to go for your family, you should check out this post about taking advantage of the great deals at CVS. By playing the “CVS” game you can save a lot of money on formula.
Homemade Baby Food: This sounds like a lot of work, but is surprisingly simple. The nice thing is that you really only have to do it for about 4 to 6 months. I started introducing new foods around 6 mos. I tried one new food every few days. I would make a batch of one type and freeze it in small portions (ice cube trays work great for this, see photo above). After a few weeks I had built up a little stash of different items. Some examples that we typically had on hand were sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears etc. Most things can be cooked until soft and mashed up in a blender or food processor or even just with a fork. Things like mashed potatoes, avocado and bananas are super easy. No special tools needed.
By around 10mos your baby will probably be trying to eat what is on your plate, so you can usually find something on your own plate that you can mash up and give her. Our daughter was grabbing for what we were eating by around 10 mos and by 12 mos I was not pureeing anything anymore. So it was a short amount of time and definitely a money saver. This is a great website: Wholesome Baby Food that has a lot of information on introducing new foods and recipes and tips for pureeing foods. It also gives you tips on when you should introduce different types of foods.
We took a road trip to Washington DC when our daughter was around 8 months old. I brought a lot of frozen food cubes in freezer baggies, along with yogurt and string cheese. We had access to a freezer where we were staying so it was easy to continue feeding her on the road. I was also breastfeeding so that made things easy while we were out and about sightseeing. I fed her in all kinds of places, including the Air and Space Museum and the top and bottom of the Washington Monument!
Hopefully these tips will get you off to a good start, and if you’ve got any more, let’s hear them in the comments!
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