Guess what? I didn’t miss a receipt! I did make some changes in the way that I eat this past month, so I suspect that is what I can thank for the money saving. So, if you are looking to trim that grocery budget, you might want to read over what I did to see if you can implement it in your household.

Don’t have a strict weekly budget

I don’t have a strict weekly budget for food. I know where I want to fall for the month, but I want to be able to purchase any amazing deals if I see them. By knowing the big picture of where I want to be it just means that I might have less to spend the last week of the month. However, if I have spent more earlier in the month it will be because I bought something extra or a lot of something so I should not be going hungry that last week just because I have less to spend. For instance, I mentioned buying the roasting chicken for under $5 in a previous post. That was not on my shopping list. But I grabbed it and I also found some cabbage discounted as well as a bag of potatoes that was $1.00 off so I bought those also knowing that I could make potato cabbage soup with the broth I could get from the chicken. So for about $8 of things not on my list, I got a weeks worth of food.

Don’t buy a paper for coupons

I mean it. If you spend money to buy a paper just to get coupons you will feel compelled to use those coupons since you paid for the paper. Even if you do not need anything that the coupons are for. At least that is what happens to me. Plus I fall prey too easily to the thinking pattern of “But I could get it for only 25-cents with this coupon”for things I don’t need. Instead, I look for coupons online right before I leave the house. I hit up coupons.com, eat better America and the manufacturer sites for anything name-brand that I purchase.

Must haves: list, pen, calculator

I always go to the grocery store with these items. As I pick up items I write the price beside it on my list. This serves two purposes. It allows me to keep a rough running total in my head. And it allows me to easily catch when something rings up incorrectly. Since I started doing this I have caught items ringing up incorrectly every single time I go to the store. Right before I head to the checkout I get out the calculator and add up all of the costs, that way when I check out I will know by the total if something didn’t ring up correctly, in case I miss it when it is scanned. This is also a good way to shock yourself by the total if you have added any impulse buys into the cart.

Stick to the perimeter

Since I have embraced healthy eating, I have been sticking mostly to the perimeter of the store. And I have seen a pretty big decrease in my spending as a result. That means buying less prepackaged foods. It’s good for the wallet and the waistline! The times that I do venture into the aisles to buy something my grocery bill always seems to go up. For instance, I can make a pizza at home by making the crust, drizzling some olive oil, putting fresh tomatoes on it, a few spices and a small amount of Sargento mozzarella cheese on it for way less than buying a pizza at the store. How much less? When I make this pizza I put it in a big square baking/cake pan. It makes 4 nice, hearty servings for only 75-cents each, or $3.00 total.

Think outside the box

A key to saving money for me is thinking outside the box. For instance, I have to buy 1-lb bags of walnuts at least once a month. Why? Because my girlfriend gets migraines and the serotonin that is in items like walnuts prevents them. And walnuts are cheaper than medicine! But anyways, when I first started buying them I went to the nuts section of my grocery store in the produce section. They have bins of all sorts of nuts that they sell in whatever amount you want, as well as some pre-bagged ones. The next time I checked the price in the salty foods aisle, which is chips, popcorn and canned nuts. That one was WAY more expensive. Then I ventured over to the baking section. Guess what? Better quality walnuts, also in a 1-lb bag for about a dollar less!

You don’t need meat with every meal

Guess what? A meal can consist entirely of veggies! I know that is not the norm here in the States, but it is true. Heck, even a salad can be a meal! I know - it’s shocking! And so much cheaper than eating meals with meat most of the time. Last month I started only buying meat when I got a super good price on it, like the aforementioned roasting chicken. I decided that I was only going to buy meat if I could get it for about a buck a pound. And that is easier than you think. I have ground sirloin, london broil and some other red meat in my freezer right now. When I would see it at those prices I would stock up. Of course, after going a while without eating meat and discovering that I felt better because of it I have been thinking about giving up meat all together, but that’s another post.

Eat fruit with meals

If you buy in-season fruit you can get it really cheap a lot of the times. And it seems like apples are always pretty inexpensive. So, why not cut up an apple to go with your meal? It just might be more cost effective to take that meal and split it in two and have an apple with it.

Don’t buy more than you can eat

I used to buy things that were great deals that would spoil before I could use them. I always cruise down the area where they have the pre-cut fruits and veggies to see what is marked down. Sometimes you can get great deals there on items that have been reduced. When I bought the cabbage that I mentioned earlier, I bought two halves from the pre-cut section as they ended up being cheaper than buying a fresh whole head of cabbage by about 20-cents. I just had to use it sooner. I also bought a half of a seedless water melon for $1.15 from that section as it was reduced. Now, I used to go to the store buy up things like that as well as lots of other fresh fruit at the same time. And it always seemed that I was tossing things like strawberries that had gotten moldy before I got the chance to eat them. Now I only buy what I know will get eaten before rotting. If I run out before the next trip, I can always make a small trip for more!

And that is how I have managed to lower my grocery bill. Hopefully you will be able to implement some of these steps as well so that you can start seeing some savings!

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I know a lot of people that have a different definition of “eating healthy” that I have. To clear that up, I define eating healthy as such:

More fresh fruits & veggies, less packaged/processed items, and a conscious effort to eat low sodium as well as trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

So, let’s look at time-saver “healthy” eaters. I know a lot of people like this. These are the people that used to sit down with a big bag of Doritos for a snack but now eat a 100-calorie pack of Cheetos instead. Since they are consuming less, regardless of the fact that it is crap, they consider themselves to be eating healthy. I consider that just eating less crap in one sitting. Time-savers are also big on “healthy” frozen meals. Nevermind the fact that they could make the same thing from scratch and possibly eat it with some nutritional value. When asked “Why not make it yourself to really make it healthy?” they respond “I don’t have that kind of time!” Hence my dubbing them “time savers.” These time savers can often be heard complaining about the high cost of eating healthy.
I admit it - I used to be a bit of a “time saver” myself. I ate a lot of those “healthy” frozen food items that are chock full of sodium. When I started reading more about health and nutrition and realized how out of whack the sodium content was on things like canned veggies, soups and frozen meals I started experimenting in the kitchen.

Now I fall into the other category. I have started eating healthy and am just amazed by how my grocery bill and gone down. And I rarely get to use coupons for savings as most of the things that I buy are fresh. I have started making more and more things from scratch. I make everything from pizza to cakes to spaghetti sauce from scratch. Sure, it takes a bit longer to make your pizza crust from scratch as opposed to using a 99-cent pack of Betty Crocker pizza crust mix. But you know what? A 5-lb bag of flour is only $1.84 and I only need 2 cups of flour for the whole crust! See those cost savings. Sure, a few more items go into the pizza crust, but you get the point. Just last night I made some cake brownies from scratch. The box of Duncan Hines mix I used to buy is $2.33 in the store. The recipe I used called for 1.5 cups of the aforementioned flour as well as a few other things. It was well under the $2.33 - plus it made twice as much! And it was healthier. I plan on tackling bread making next!

My household used to spend an average of $400 a month for two people on groceries. That was a lot of processed crap! Now we average around $200 - and that is buying a LOT of fresh fruits and veggies each week!

Recently, I bought a 6-lb roasting chicken on sale for almost $5.00. We ate chicken pretty much for every meal for about a week straight and still ended up tossing some meat due to poor planning. That was a bummer. Here is how we stretched the chicken:

• Night 1: Roasted chicken with veggies
• Day 2 day: pull off all meat, then put carcass in pan with water, onions, spices to make broth
• Day 2 lunch: Chicken and swiss sandwiches with salads
• Day 2 dinner: soup from the broth
• Day 3 lunch: sandwiches again
• Day 3 dinner: soup again
• Day 4 lunch: soup again
• Day 4 dinner: chicken taco salads
• Day 5 lunch: still more soup!
• Day 5 dinner: chicken sandwiches again
• Day 6 lunch: the end of the soup
• Day 6 dinner: chicken sandwiches again

By day 7 it was getting to where it needed thrown out. What I should have done was made chicken and rice with some of it or even stashed it in the freezer for later. And remember - that chicken did not even cost $5.00!

See, healthy eating is really not expensive. It all depends on how you define healthy.

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I am talking about people that on the way to see the person they are giving the gift to, they stop some place and grab a gift card.

I have no problem with gifts cards as gifts. So, make no mistake about that. I just find it highly insulting that someone could care that little that they grab the easiest thing that they can on the way.

I know someone like this. He does this for family members as well as friends.

How hard is it to put a LITTLE thought into it. At least pick up the gift card sooner than on the way.  Everyone knows what you are doing since you put the activation receipt in with the gift card.

I’m just saying - it’s kind of insulting. If they care so little, why do they bother at all?

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If you click on the link above, just scroll down until you see the “Latest Numbers” heading on the right sidebar. Below that will be the most recent data for unemployment rates by state. You can find the same info through some of the other links on the page. There is even some data for large cities like Los Angeles.

Looking at the Latest Numbers, keep in mind that the national average for May (the most recent numbers) is 5.5%. So, say you are living in California and having a hard time finding employment then you will notice that their level of unemployment is above the national average. And if you are looking for a state to move to, then you might want to take notice of places like Utah and Maryland that have state unemployment rates below the national average.

It is important to keep in mind though that this does not mean you will be able to find jobs in your specific field. However, it is a good measuring stick of how the economy is in a particular state.

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The most common means of money making for teens during summer vacation are paper routes and baby-sitting jobs. A paper route job is great if your kid has the discipline to get up early each morning. It is also great because it only takes a few hours of work each day meaning that it can be paired with another money making idea as well. And baby-sitting jobs are good for teens as a lot of responsibility is required for the position. However, most baby-sitting jobs are not constant which means that your teen will not have a steady stream of income. In fact, baby-sitting jobs are best paired with other money making ideas for teens.

A traditional lemonade stand is not something that you and your teen will want to overlook. If you live in a large subdivision or near a park or even in a place with a lot of foot traffic or construction workers then an updated version of a traditional lemonade stand is a perfect money making idea for teens. Teens can sell lemonade, bottled water, baked goods and other snacks. This particular money making idea is great because it teaches so much in terms of finance. Your teen will need to evaluate the cost of potential items to sell and then calculate the return on investment to see if it is a worthwhile item to sell. Pricing for items will provide another lesson in terms of supply and demand as well as things like the break-even point.

If you happen to live near a golf course or country club, your teen might want to inquire to see if they can “clean” the golf course at the end of each day. When I was a kid my brother did this. The owners of a country club allowed him to come onto the greens to pick up any debris as well as lost golf balls. Then he would take his loot of found golf balls and sell them to golfers the next day. The golfers got nice golf balls at low prices, the country club got their greens picked up for free and my brother made a nice amount of money off of the golf balls.

If your teens like pets, then offering a pet sitting, pet walking and/or pet grooming service for the neighbors is a fantastic way to make money during the summer. The majority of people are likely to be stuck at work all day which means that this is a great market for teens that are available during the day. It is important that you do not let them take on too many clients at once though and may want to suggest that they have a friend join them in this effort.

Offering to help people out around the house is great way for teens to make money during the summer. If you live in an apartment complex your kid could offer to come and pick up people’s trash to take to the designated location for a set fee each week. Cutting grass is another great way for teens to make money during the summer. Teens should go door to door in the neighborhood offering their grass cutting service for a set amount of times per month at a constant rate. Washing neighbor’s cars is another great way to make some money during the summer; however it typically can only be done on weekends as most people are at work during the day. And if you live in a subdivision where a lot of the families have swimming pools, your teen could offer their pool cleaning services. If your teen does one of these things then this is a great opportunity to teach them about invoicing clients and dealing with accounts receivable issues as they arise.

These are just a few ideas to get you started thinking about some great ways for your teens to make some money during their summer vacation. You can even encourage their creativity and ask them if they have any money making ideas too. It is also a good idea to use these money making ideas to teach them about other principles of personal finance such as saving and investing. In fact, you may even want to try to talk your teen into putting some or all of the money that they earn over the summer into an IRA for retirement.

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So, that is what I started doing. I started buying more cans of veggies to eat with my deals and a lot of those little fruit cups that you can take in your lunch. While my intentions were good, I was still making bad choices. Pick up a can of veggies and take a peak at the amount of sodium. Shocking, huh? And fruit cups? Well, fruit does not naturally make high fructose corn syrup, now does it?

I knew that I needed a little help when it came to making wise choices with my food. I started looking up all sorts of stuff on the web so that I could become better informed. I looked at the USDA Food Pyramid info. I looked up what type of diets are recommended for people with health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems. I looked up what type of foods the people eat that are the healthiest in the world. (Answer: Mediterranean diet) I signed up for newsletters on things like food, nutrition and fitness on sites like Lifescript.

So, with all of that info I started making more changes. I stopped buying those cheap freezer meals for lunches at work. Instead, I spent weekends making big batches of things like soups that I could take in my lunch during the week. I started looking for canned veggies that listed “low” or “no” sodium. And if that was not an option I bought frozen or fresh veggies. I kept my fruit buying to the product section. I started using more olive oil and less butter. And I kicked my Diet Coke habit.

The most important thing that I learned to do was to experiment in the kitchen. There was never a lot of variety in the recipes in my household. So, I started looking up healthy recipes and making it and seeing what happened. I also started experimenting with spices as opposed to sauces and other condiments. It seems like most condiments have either high fructose corn syrup (barbecue sauce) or a whole lot of sodium (soy sauce).

And you know what? I am still learning stuff about eating healthy! Just this past week I saw on a health centered blog that most bread that you buy has high fructose corn syrup! I was shocked! However, I did not think my bread would have it as it is called “Healthy Life” - but lo and behold it does. In fact, it is the second ingredient right after flour. Disgusting! But apparently you can get bread without HFCS at Trader Joe’s. Or there is always making your own. I am contemplating doing just that.

I also came across another great resource from a blog. It is a book called The World’s Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating (Amazon link) by George Mateljan. It is a really thick book and was selling for over $30 when I looked it up. But I checked my local library and they had a copy of it that I checked out. I have not gotten through the entire thing yet, but it looks like a great resource. Lots of info on individual foods and what benefits they provide.

Links:

• USDA Food Pyramid info
• What Should You Eat? at the Harvard School of Public Health
• Diet and Nutrition info from the American Heart Association
• Lifescript - they have some great health newsletters
• Mediterranean diet info from the Mayo Clinic
• Eat Better America - great articles and recipes
• The World’s Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating
• Diet Blog
• Building Nutrition blog
• The Office Diet blog
• Squawkfox blog - this one is not entirely food related but does have some great food posts.

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You see, I just have several websites that I work on that bring in enough money for me to not have to worry. But there are all sorts of things that you could do. If you tinker with graphic design or fixing computers, that is definitely something that you could take up part-time. Freelance writing is something else that you could start part time.
If you are unsure of what you could start, I suggest checking out Entrepreneur magazine and their website. On their site you can get info on the Top 20 Part-Time Businesses to Start and you can get info from their magazine each month. Entrepreneur magazine is one of the few magazines that I actually subscribe to. If you are just starting out you can probably get a lot of great ideas from it. I suggest heading to your local library to look through some copies before spending the money on a subscription though.

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Considering the high cost of rent in cities like New York and Los Angeles, I was not too terribly surprised to see them on pretty much all of the “worst” lists for each profession. I was, however, surprised by the cities that consistently ranked “best.”

You can click on the link above for the complete story and slide show if you want. You will see that Dallas and Houston made it onto almost all the lists as a “best” city. Charlotte and Denver were also tops on a lot of the lists. I would have liked to have seen a list that took into account the local unemployment rate as well instead of just the standard of living you could expect.

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Be sure to check out all of the other great entries in this week’s carnival!

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