Friday, January 20, 2012

Habits of the Poor

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/  This is actually a great article and may help some who don't understand the choices people make when they have very little money to work with. These are hard habits to break and part of the reason for this blog.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Menu Ideas on the Cheap

I am sure everyone has heard this over and over, plan a menu and make a shopping list then stick to it. This does in fact work, but when everyone is busy it is hard to take a look at what you have, what you need and also important, what you and your family wants. I have been incredibly fortunate these past months while waiting for tenants and had quite a bit of food given to me. Still, this menu can be pretty cheap if you shop well and when you can use coupons and sales to make your menu decisions. Personally, there are only a couple of places I shop because I don't think that using all that gas, mileage on the car and quite frankly the value of my time makes going all over the place worth any bargains I may get.

Yes, I do coupon. I am not an extreme couponer anymore, that is true, but if I see a coupon for something that we will use, I use it. I get mine online as in my area the Sunday paper just isn't worth it anymore. The paper costs over 2 dollars now, and I only use a few coupons if any because most of it is stuff I wouldn't buy anyway. If you weren't going to buy it, it does not matter if you are getting a bargain because you are still spending money you normally wouldn't have.

On to the menu. This past week I sat down and figured out what I had in my pantry, freezer and refrigerator. Then I went to the store flyers that I go to and listed things on sale that we like. After that, it was online to find recipes that matched these ingredients.

Menu plan for over a week:

Stuffed Shells and Tomato Sauce: We had the shells in the freezer from a long ago sale and a friend gave me a box of plain sauce. She also gave us garlic, but any seasonings you have on hand will do, use your imagination! Garlic and onion powders should simmer a while to rehydrate though.

Seasoned Pork with Creamed Spinach and Roasted Herbed Potatoes: I also had a nice piece of pork from my friend (not sure of the cut though) but assorted chops can be found on sale often. Seasonings are what I have on hand. I purchased some frozen spinach and we have milk in the house. I had some russet potatoes that have seen better days, but added with a couple of red potatoes and a sweet potato (both purchased, but not a whole bag, just two pieces each) and tossed in oil, or whatever fat you have on hand and some herbs and it is quite yummy. If you have  a little to splurge, try some fresh herbs in there too.

Curried Lentils and Rice: I have had two types of lentils in my cabinets for a while. We aren't big legume eaters, but we do like curry, so I found a recipe and will be using my red lentils for it. The rice was given to me, but it is also really cheap. If you are not good at cooking rice, try Freecycle for your area. Someone may be giving away a rice cooker. It does make life much easier. I even got a pound of yeast through them which I am still using. The seasonings I have in my collection.

Golden Sesame Tofu with Rice and Vegetable: When I wrote the menu I was not sure which vegetable to use, but we went with some canned green beans which said friend gave us. If you visit food pantries canned vegetables are often given out, so if you need the help, get it! Do not be ashamed, these are hard times. Tofu is pretty inexpensive when compared to meat. Even my husband liked it. The Whole Foods recipe called for honey, but any liquid sweetener will do in a pinch, just think about how it will flavor the dish before using. I had a lot of sesame seeds from when I was making bento for my daughter, so I toasted those up. This is a very nice dish, even for meat eaters.

Pizza: Flour, yeast, water, salt and a little oil is all you need for the dough. There are a million dough recipes out there, but this is what it boils down too. You do not have to make the perfect thin crust that you are used to from take out places. I  stretch mine on a baking sheet and they love it. The cheese was on sale and I had a coupon, I was going to forgo toppings as it is extremely filling without any, but then at my second store found a stick of pepperoni for a great price. We have also put cut up pineapple on it, leftover chicken etc. With this I am using the mentioned tomato sauce seasoned, but if you like BBQ I have also use that sauce with Monterrey Jack and/or Cheddar cheese and it is quite yummy, especially if you have some chicken left overs or pulled pork etc. Very, very inexpensive meal, and it fills all four of us up perfectly. Rarely are their leftovers, and those are eaten the next day without fail.

Tuna Casserole: This is one of those things that you either love or hate I think. I always hated it myself, but we were given a bunch of light tuna and egg noodles. I used cream of chicken rather than cream of mushroom, which was on sale and I had coupons and it was much better to my tastes. I threw in some leftover frozen peas that were wasting away in the freezer, a few handfuls of cheddar cheese from that cheese purchase and topped it at the end with some breadcrumbs I found that needed to be used up, but you can use anything you like. Chips have been suggested to me as excellent, I know Ritz (TM) are really good crumbled on the top and my recipe suggested french fried onions. I tossed the plain crumbs with some butter, garlic powder and onion powder in a skillet for a little bit. It was not loved, but everyone said that they were fine with having it again. Better than I expected to be truthful.

Shepherd's Pie: Ah, a standby. We had purchased a large box of instant potatoes a long time ago, but if we didn't have that we would use whatever potatoes are on hand to mash. The hamburger was part of my care package, but around here we can find it for about 1.99 a pound sometimes so I buy as much as I can and pack them in 1 lb packages. I have some canned corn from said friend and I got some gravy powder in bulk when I got the potatoes. I think we were preparing for a storm when we got them. You can use pretty much any vegetable, frozen or canned, though I have never tried fresh. I don't know if it bakes long enough for fresh, but hey, one can always try!

Minestrone Soup: Friend also gave me a box of kidney beans. At the discount store chicken broth was on sale, but I also have some in the freezer because I try to save bits from chicken and vegetables and make a broth when I have enough. Throw in some carrots, potatoes and whatever vegetables you have on hand and some pasta or rice and you are done. If you are feeling adventurous you could make some bread or biscuits.

Beef and Chicken Potpies: Okay, this was a cop out meal. The discount store had them pretty cheap and we each got the kind we liked for a fairly quick meal. Not the healthiest, but cheaper than take out.

Sweet and Sour Spam and Rice: Before crying foul, I am not a Spam eater generally. My husband and kids have an affinity for it, so if it is cheap I will buy a can or two. I also will always pick up canned pineapple in juice whenever I can. Add some cornstarch, brown sugar and a little vinegar and you have sauce. One can, four people. There will also be a vegetable as we have some canned and frozen still.

Italian Sausage and Peppers:
The sausage does go on sale, but you can use any raw sausage that you like and can afford. I just sear the sausage, add some broth and chopped onions with cubed potatoes and simmer until almost done, then remove the lid so what remains after a while is a nicely seasoned sauce. The peppers I cook on the side and add in so they don't get mushy, but you can just throw them in if you want.  I had some sausage leftover from our bulk shopping trip many months ago so they needed to get used up.

Spinach Egg Drop Soup: Seriously cheap, especially if you made your own broth. You can used canned/boxed or heck, bouillon cubes are okay too, just a little salty so keep that in mind. Bring to a boil, add chopped frozen spinach, bring back up to a boil and drizzle some scrambled egg over the top. It will cook quickly. Nutmeg is an awesome spice for this dish and to be filling it needs some sort of bread to go with.

Corn Chowder (or Chowdah around here): A  little chicken broth, some milk or if you have it some half and half, corn, potatoes, onions and if you have it some crisp bacon or bacon bits to sprinkle on the top. If you like your chowder thick, make a slurry with some milk and flour to thicken it up, just make sure it cooks a bit to get the flour taste out. My family can not get enough of this. I am too the point where the only pot I have big enough to feed them is my stock pot. Even without bacon. There are no green or colored vegetables in this one, which is a down side, but it is cheap.

Beans, Rice and Cheese: I honestly don't know how this will go, but I have the beans and rice on hand and the cheese was inexpensive, so we will give it a try. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

There was also "homestyle" mac and cheese on sale which set us back about three dollars for a family meal. Making it homemade is not really cheap unless you have access to inexpensive cheese or Velveeta is on sale, which I am not terribly fond of. It is an easy meal my husband can make, so in it goes for a quickie, don't order out meal.

Because I made use of coupons and sales and what I have on hand, I spent roughly 100.00 for two weeks of meals and oatmeal, dried fruit etc. for breakfasts and lunches. I even got some generic cookies for a treat. Eggs, milk, bread, yogurt (coupons!) and some additional things like flour and sugar  were also purchased, so if we had been a little more frugal it would have been even less. I also have enough here for some more bland dinner options, many in fact. Meatless Spaghetti and sauce can be tedious as can rice and beans, but we also have plenty for that too.

If your cupboards are bare do not despair! (no, that was not rhymed on purpose). First off, see what you do have. If you are in a bind, go to a food pantry! Please, do not go hungry because you are ashamed or feel that there are others more deserving. You deserve to eat! Sometimes we need help to stretch those food dollars, that is how I did it. While it isn't often you get fresh meat at the pantries, they often have tuna or canned chicken. The canned beef is palatable if drowned in a sauce you like, but try to avoid it. Frozen generic vegetables are rarely bad, although you may find a stem or two in them. Find uses for legumes. My family does not like them, but i am pretty sure that they will be okay with these recipes because of the flavors. Also, try for your food stamps. I might get flamed for that, but they are there to help. If you can, get them. Record numbers of people are on them because of the economy, you are not bad for getting them.

Once I am done with this set of menus I will do it again and post the results because I will have far less items on hand at that point, making it more of a challenge. Also, search for coupons! You don't have to be a fanatical couponer to get some savings. There are many sites on line, and I will make another post about that type of online support soon.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

On Banking

I will admit to being completely uncomfortable with our banking systems in the United States. Even with that, and my dismay as programs such as the "dead peasant policies" that many have on their employees, which means that they collect insurance if an employee dies while working for them, there are also frugal reason why one should very seriously consider who they bank with.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. If this is a mortgage, are they going to sell it to another company who will in fact change the terms without you having any say. This is important because it costs money to refinance with another bank if you don't like the terms or don't trust the company.
2. Are they charging for your checking account? There are many small local banks and credit unions that do not charge for these services.
3. How do they handle overdrafts? I have just done some research on one popular and large bank and found that they are very tricky about this. They will "hold" money that has been withdrawn through an ATM or POS machine and approve more money if you need it even though you have spent it, but then, when the hold is gone, you are suddenly overdraft and are paying fees for each one. The bank I was looking at, as of four years ago, would charge more if you had overdrafted in the last 12 months and continue to charge until you have your balance back up again. This is even with overdraft protection. Read those papers that the new regulations require banks to send out in regards to this. If you have trouble understanding it, you can ask the bank or go online, or if you are really lucky, ask a friend who is a banker or lawyer to help you understand what you are agreeing to.
4. Do they pressure you to create accounts or loans that you don't need? We had to deal with a bank for a while where every time we walked in to do anything, we were cornered and questioned why our mortgage wasn't with them or why we didn't have a checking account with them. My daughter has since transferred to our bank, and believe me, they tried the guilt trip and attempted to make us question our decision. No bank should pressure you like that whenever you need their services.
5. New one I found out, if you write a check, will the person cashing it at your bank be charged a fee if they don't have an account with them? We just had that almost happen to us with a check. Then they wouldn't accept it and they would not tell us why. Since this was a business issue, it was imperative that we know the basic issue. Was the account closed? Was there not enough to cover it? I don't expect or want any personal information like how much is actually in there or social security numbers, just whether it is going to bounce on my account. I worked in a local bank many years ago (when it still took 5 days at least for a personal check to go from one account to another) and we were allowed to say whether or not the funds were available at that time. I couldn't promise it would be there when the check went through and I definitely couldn't give a balance, but letting them know if the funds for that particular check was there at the time was perfectly acceptable. In that, I am not sure if it has changed, but it is not unreasonable to asked.
6. Make sure you understand any and all fees associated with your accounts. Late fees for loans, overdrafts, low balances, ATM charges, replacement cards and online account payments are some that you should know before making the commitment to bank with them.

I am no longer in the banking business, so some of the rules have obviously changed, but you should know all of these things before going in and giving them your money. It is your money and in truth they are borrowing it and making investments. That is why runs on banks cause such problems, because the banks rarely have enough in actual cash to cover everyone's accounts at one time. Sure, some fees are fair and cover their expenses, but some banks are worse than others.

Also, watch where you use your ATM. I have been charged up to 5.00 to use a machine for cash. Try to plan ahead and take out all the cash you will need for the week from an ATM that does not charge you, or if it does at least you are only being charged once rather than many times as you withdraw as needed.

I doubt I need to remind everyone to keep careful track of balances. In this day and age it is remarkably easy to do, even if you do not use a check register. In an age of ATMs and POS machines, this accounting seems to have fallen to the way side. Look online, see what is available against what they say is in there. These are two different things. The available amount is what they consider you actually have, and don't forget to check and see that all your charges have gone through and use simple math to figure out how much you have left. I still think that old fashioned registers are the best, but also realized that this is much harder to do now that you don't have a check number to put down to identify the withdrawal.

Now, for the most part I practice what I preach, but I still haven't changed my money market to a regular checking despite never having a balance that keeps me from being charged and the charge is always more than the interest earned. So, on that note, my husband and I will be changing account types as soon as possible.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Internet savings

Since we have three students in the house, well minus one now that I have graduated, we really need internet. Going to the library isn't out of the question, but many people use it so there is a wait and also you only get a little time on the computer. When researching this can be a problem. My last paper took hours and hours of research time, mostly online.

The first thing that you want to do is look at the different providers in your area. Verizon Fios for us is FAR more expensive than Comcast, but in different parts of the country things change and there are more choices in some places. Look them up! The difference in price can be huge.

Another thing to check is to see if they have "student packages". These are usually only a limited time offer, from Fall semester until the end of Spring Semester, but can be a big help. Also, check daily for good deals. We got our internet and telephone for 50.00 a month (which comes to over 60.00 with all the taxes and surcharges). Internet is becoming a necessity it seems. Right now one can still live without it, especially if their college has facilities or their local library, but it does appear that everyone wants you to have an email address, including possible employers.

I think that the free email services are well known by now. While an address usually comes with an internet package, there is also Hotmail, yahoo, and Gmail plus others that are not as well known. I recommend having two, a professional one, usually with your name in some form that is easily recognizable and one for the sort of mail that gets you spam. My experience with Gmail sorting out spam has so far been excellent. I have rarely found anything of importance in the junk folder. I have one address for all my professional needs, and then I have my original which is connected with blogs such as this one, a Facebook page, recipe and coupon sites etc.. That also makes it easier to be sure that you don't miss that important email that is offering you an interview or giving you a job.

As it may have been noticed, I have yet to take advantage of the "ad sense" program here. I will be doing so at one point though because it will help to earn real money. Also, there is a program called MyPoints where you can earn points through clicking emails, making purchases from affiliated stores, using their grocery coupons, filling out surveys and getting friends to join. The link I provided will not be a referral for me though, as they seem to have suspended that particular way of acquiring members. They also have other ways. You will get mail that you don't want though, but that is what happens with many of these programs. You might want to make a different email for this.

With MyPoints you are collecting points for gift certificates or to make donations to causes, but with Inbox Dollars (and this link IS a referral link, if you click and join I will also get credit for your usage) you get actual money. It isn't a lot, particularly if you don't have a lot of time, but it does add up and could make you some pocket change. If you are really up for it, I am sure that much more can be made, but it takes time on the computer. They also offer grocery coupons and affiliated stores that will help you add to your account.

Lately I have been ignoring the emails because I have been so very busy something had to go. Since I am now just job hunting, I have a little more time to click through the ads and things. The hardest part to remember is to look their first before making online purchases! I have some anxiety issues about shopping in malls and such, so during the holidays everything but the stocking stuffers come from internet purchases. Yes, the shipping can make it less frugal, but if you are finding really good deals, which sometimes includes free or reduced shipping, it can be frugal. There area also some places where you can order online and have it shipped free to a local store for pick up. Payless shoes used to do that, but they seem to be closing down all around. I do believe Best Buy also has this program. So, you find a sale, you see if one of your pay sites is affiliated with them, enter the store through that site and you can find great sales, free shipping and also get points or dollars for the effort.

A final note on this for now. Be aware! Anyone asking you for money to join is probably misleading you at best, completely fraudulent at worse. Any site asking for your social security number or demanding a telephone number (this is usually optional, not mandatory) should also be approached carefully if at all. I never give out that information unless I am absolutely sure of the site I am using, such as the FASFA site for student loans. Also, the federal loan and grants site is a government site with .ed.gov as the end of the address. Any others are going to make you pay for something that you can easily do yourself, so do not fall for it!

Now I am off to update my accounts and start making some money again. Have a great day everyone!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Looking for Help

The last few days have been, well, interesting. I am currently trying to find a job after graduating from University in December. The market is pretty grim to be sure. Still, I am posting resumes on job sites and creating cover letters for specific jobs like a crazy person. I have had a few bites from job services, but I haven't looked into them yet. Some charge, and seeing as we really don't have the money, I will not be using their services.

In a fit of blind panic set off from seeing that the monthly passes for our public transport may go up 21 dollars in a few months, something that my family relies on, I started looking for more help. In my searching I found: http://www.fairfoods.org/ which is an organization for Massachusetts, I believe the Boston area. This organization will, twice a month (or more if you can travel) give out produce and other foods for 2 dollars a bag. You have to bring your own bags of course. The important thing about this for those of you who do not live by Boston is that you can go to your local government sites, either the state site, which is where I found this, or you town/city's sites. From my state site there is much information on services available, from weatherizing to help paying for heat to seeing what programs you qualify for, including SNAP (food stamps). While online I wasn't approved for SNAP, when I went in I found that there are forms that take our situation into account and we did get help. We now get 90 dollars a month, which is something. For your state website use this link: http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State-and-Territories.shtml and there is a list of all the states and territories.

If you have children under 5, check out the WIC program. This voucher system helps you to get formula (if you are not breastfeeding), cheese, milk, juice and cereal. In some places you even get vouchers for local farmer's markets. This is extremely helpful and they are a bit more generous in how much you can make in order to qualify than SNAP is.

As far as the job search goes, I am applying for things that I had hoped were far behind me. Because of my disability there are some jobs that I have been strongly advised not to do, but when you are broke you do what you have to. If I do end up in that type of job, hopefully it won't be for long and all will be well. I am also looking for sites that help to create resumes and job specific cover letters. I will post what I find.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Bills, what to do?

I am pretty sure that everyone here knows to keep their heat down and if you can afford it, on a timer. You know to unplug appliances and chargers that are not in use, and to keep all of your appliances running efficiently. Maybe what you don't know is that many local utility companies have energy saving programs.
One example is when we moved into this house we had a very gross and old refrigerator. We dealt with it because we didn't have a lot of extra money, but at the time, this was before the housing bubble, we could save a little for improvements. Not much, so I looked into my electric company's energy saving project. They sent a person to my house who put in three or four florescent bulbs (this was 15 years ago, so they were very expensive) and even better, subsidized a new refrigerator for us that was better on electricity! We got a lovely Maytag refrigerator that is the right size for our household, brand new. We paid 250 dollars for it, on time payments. They even took away our old one which would normally have cost us an additional 20 dollars for the city to pick up. I strongly encourage you to look at your companies and see if they have this service available and then do it. If you are in a really bad spot like we are for now, the co-pay for a new appliance, if it is offered, may feel out of your reach. I get it, no money is no money, it doesn't matter how much it will save in the long run. Still, see if there is somewhere you can cut back for a few months and make payments if at all possible.

Both utility companies (electric and gas) offer special rates for people under a certain income level. You will find the program on their web site or maybe another source that has services listed for your area. If you are on food stamps (SNAP) you are usually automatically eligible for this lower rate.

You may have noticed that I have left out internet, cable and phone. That is because everyone has different needs. Personally I really believe that now we really need to have SOME access to the internet, if not at home, then at a cafe or library. If your needs are small these are excellent ways to check email and a social program or two. In our case we really needed to have internet in the house due to my research heavy workload at college and even more pressing, that both of my girls require a lot of access for their schools too. It is assumed that you have easy access to the internet. As an aside, my oldest daughter's professor actually assumed that all the young adults had data plans and smart phones! My daughter uses a flip phone. I thought it was strange because it is a community college, which is where people often go to cut college costs.

We found a plan through Comcast that gave us a land line phone and a limited bandwidth internet for 50 dollars a month. It has gone up about 12 dollars in the years that we have had it, but so far it hasn't changed. We don't have cable television, but we do pay 8 dollars a month to stream Netflix which helps us not rent movies that inevitably go back late, and we can watch what we want without paying 100 dollars a month for basic cable which, let's face it, kinda sucks now. I do wish we had BBC, but that is neither here not there, it is a small sacrifice. For cell phones we went about it this way. Our first phones were pretty cheap, but with all the payphones disappearing and my youngest daughter's school not allowing them to make phone calls from the office, they are sort of becoming a necessity. So, we got the inexpensive phones and use a pay as you go plan. 25.00 for three months. Each phone call is 25 cents a minute and each text is 20 cents. This is taken from the 25 dollars, so no surprise bills. My oldest pays her own, which is very helpful. My younger child knows that she must be very careful with using her phone and she has had to remind her friends that she can't just text all the time. It took a while, but they finally figured that out. When I got my student loan I paid the 100.00 for a year of time for her and myself. Since we only use it for important things for the most part, it isn't hard to keep the costs low.  So, 75.00 for three months worth of time. not too bad. I would rather not "need" this, as just a decade ago I had our phone turned off as a luxury because we had ready access to a pay phone. Not any more. My husband needs it for work, I needed it at first because I was away from home and my youngest was in elementary school and I felt safer with her having one on her because of the school's policy on using the phone at the school. If you feel you can do without, then by all means do! 

Weatherize. I know, we all know this, but it is important. There are less expensive ways of doing it. They aren't necessarily attractive, but they work. A long sewn up tube of a nice heavy cloth filled with sand or rice makes an excellent device for placing at the bottom of your doors. I do not know about you, but I remember my Gramma having these, with faces on them! You can also stuff newspapers in cracks to alleviate some of the loss of heat or cold.

Trash pick up. Many places include this in their taxes, but we have recently started being charged per bag, but recycling is free. With four people, three of whom are girls who have more trash and a cat who uses litter, we are able to keep our trash to under 1 33 gallon bag a week most of the time. We are lucky and have a garbage disposal, but we also have a compost. If you don't, maybe one of your friends would appreciate the contribution. We recycle everything possible. All junk mail, all glass, all plastics 1-7. If you order take out (come one, we all splurge if we can, it helps morale) look at the bottom of your clam shell. It may actually not be Styrofoam but a plastic and recyclable. They also have ones that are compostable which can go in with the papers. Since we really can't buy a lot of things, packaging is kept down, so it isn't terribly difficult to keep the trash down.

This sort of has to do with the trash. Go to www.freecycle.org and look up your area. Not only can you find things you may need second hand, but you can also list things that you want and, more importantly for me, things you want to give away. We recently had someone looking for clementine boxes! I have also found homes for my broken pottery, old toys and a fryer that was pretty gross. Yes, I was honest and told them that it was gross, dishonesty is a bad thing anyway, but especially here. If people get taken they tend to not trust you. We have found homes for many things that normally would have been thrown away, and since our trash costs, well, you can see where this goes.

So, look up your utilities, see if you can downgrade your cell phone and internet connection and take advantage of special pricing and programs to help you save money. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! It is not only earth smart, but money smart too. Good luck!