It's Frugal Being Green

Move Complete

2009-05-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

The Wordpress move is complete. Please visit It's Frugal Being Green at www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com.

All links and feeds should be functioning properly at this point but if you find one that isn't, please email me.

Molasses Crinkles

2009-05-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

This is my grandmother's recipe. These cookies have gingersnap flavor but are soft and chewy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses and mix thoroughly. Sift together and stir in the dry ingredients. Chill dough. Roll into balls the size of large walnuts. Dip tops in sugar. Place sugar side up on cookie sheet. Bake until set but not hard. Temp 325F. 10-12 minutes. Makes 4 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies.

If you liked this post, you may also like:
Fudge
Blueberry Crumb Cake
Mom's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Moving to Wordpress

2009-05-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

It's Frugal Being Green is moving to Wordpress. The site may be down for a few hours but when the move is complete all links and feeds should continue to work.

Mixed Paper Recycling Guidelines

2009-05-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

I mentioned recently that my city is fabulous in what items they will pick up at the curb for recycling. The thing I feel has the most impact is mixed paper. Some people, particularly my next door neighbor, do not know exactly what mixed paper is though. Here is the list my city provided when mixed paper pickup began and which I have posted on my fridge:

Accepted:

Newspapers and inserts
Phone books
White, colored, and glossy paper without food residue
Junk mail and envelopes (plastic windows okay)
Catalogs and magazines (no plastic wrappers - put those in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Cereal and cake mix boxed (liners removed - put those in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Computer and plain fax paper
NCR paper (carbonless)
Paper ream wrappers
Construction art paper (less than 50% painted)
Paper egg cartons
Non-metallic gift wrap and greeting cards
Manila folders, hanging files (remove metal hanging strips)
Shredded paper (place in paper bags, no plastic bags)
Paper bags
Self stick notes
Paperback books
Shoe or clothing boxes (flattened)
Store receipts (NCR carbonless are okay)
Staples, paper clips, labels and tape are okay

Not Accepted: (most of these should be obvious because they are not paper but my neighbor still puts these things in and the city felt they needed to be listed)

Food contaminated paper, plastic or foil (plastic and foil, once washed, can go in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Milk, soy, juice cartons or pouches
Film plastic (e.g., plastic bags, bubble wrap - put these in plastic/metal/glass bin)
Beverage cups, coffee cups
Binder clips (staples and small paper clips are okay)
Thermal fax paper or carbon paper
Donut boxes, fast food cups, take out containers/wrappers
Foam egg cartons (put these in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Foil (put this in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Food and candy wrappers, snack or potato chip bags (most of these can go in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Frozen food boxes/cartons
Hardback books
Ice cream cartons
Paper covered with paint or pet waste
Pizza boxes
Plastic coated papers (photographs)
Tyvek mailing envelopes, padded envelopes (Tyvek can go in the plastic/metal/glass bin)
Spiral bound notebooks or vinyl binders
Tissues, paper towels, paper plates
Waxed cardboard
Blueprints
Courrugated cardboard (continue to bundle and place next to your recycling cart)

April Budget Wrap Up

2009-05-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm always curious about seeing how well other people stick to their budgets so here's my April wrap up. April was the first month I finally got it tweaked right and was able to stay under budget on the whole. In previous months I was being too strict with myself. In April I adjusted my numbers so that I can spend up to 75% of my regular income (just my take home pay from work).

I went over in a few categories: home (annual renter's insurance payment this month), bills & utilities (my city collects payment on water/trash/sewer every other month so it alternates being over and under), personal care (took my coats and suits to the green dry cleaner, first time going to a dry cleaner in 3 years but my clothes needed it), and business services and cash/atm (these categories have an allotment of $0 but I do use them from time to time so if I do they go over budget but are still included in the total so they have to come out of somewhere else).

Overall I spent 94.7% of my budget which means that, in addition to the 25% I force myself to save each month, I saved an extra 5.3%. I did especially good on groceries this month, spending only 49% of my budget in that category (meal planning, focusing on wasting less, and couponing have made a huge difference). It's important to me to be eating good quality food so in May I will be incorporating more fresh produce, nicer cuts of meat, and more organic products.

How well did you stick to your April budget? Will you be making any changes to your budget or lifestyle in May?

Drugstore Deals 5/3

2009-05-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Walgreens and Riteaid are seriously lacking the deals department this week, but Longs/CVS combo ads are here. Looks like the sale prices are lining up with the other CVS stores across the country. Everything Deal Seeking Mom has listed in her "Other Deals" section is now available at Longs. ECB deals are not listed in the ad and not tagged in the store yet.

So here's what I picked up at Longs/CVS this week. Frosted Mini Wheats are the most nutritious of my favorite cereals so this is a great deal for me. Select Kellogg's cereals are $1.88, limit 3. I bought 3 and used a $1/1 mq on each. Spent $2.64. Saved $9.33 or 78%.

Grocery Deals 5/3

2009-05-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

This week I spent $53.06 at Safeway. My savings totaled $48.91 or 49%. I saved $45.45 with my club card (they include the $10 Living Well catalina I spent in that savings). I saved only $2.75 with coupons this week (usually I about match my club card savings in coupons but not this week, at least it covers my $0.81 newspaper subscription). My grocery budget is $200 a month so this week's spending is right on target (it's more than okay that I'm well under budget most other weeks though).

This week I got some great items like flank steak, goat cheese, organic milk, and lots of fresh produce (carrots, organic lettuce, limes, asparagus, and sugar snap peas).

I also picked up some great sale items.

Diet Coke is my biggest vice - this week it was buy 2 12 packs, get 2 12 packs plus a 24 pack of Dasani water free. I also had a $1/1 12 pack coupon from MyCokeRewards. I'm normally very anti-bottled water, but the sensationalism around swine flu and people thinking they need to stock up supplies like bottled water for it has reminded me of another more long term threat I should be prepared for: earthquakes. I'll keep this pack of bottled water in the garage for if and when "the big one" ever hits.

Other good sale items included:

Quaker Quakes - free after $1/1 mq RP 3/29, no limit but I only had 1 coupon
Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cookies - 77% off with club card, limit 3
Scrubbing Bubbles 22oz Bathroom Cleaner - 74% off with super coupon and $0.75/1 mq RP 3/29, limit 1

Meal Plan 5/3

2009-05-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

I got a bunch of gorgeous lemons at the farmers market last weekend and limes are on sale 5/$1 at Safeway so it's going to be a lemon-lime week. This week's menu is going to require a lot more items I don't already have on hand than last week's menu so my grocery bill will be higher but I came in substantially under budget on groceries in April (about half, stay tuned for my April budget wrap up post tomorrow) so I'm going to splurge on fancier meats, produce, and cheeses this month.

Chicken Scaloppine with Sugar Snap Pea, Asparagus, and Lemon Salad from Cooking Light May 2009, homemade bread
Flank Steak with Lime Marinade from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, homemade bread, salad
Rigatoni with Goat Cheese from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, salad
Baking: Lemon Meringue Pie from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book and Lime Meltaways from Martha Stewart: Cookies

Shared in Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

30 Quick, Green, and Frugal Meal Planning Resources

2009-05-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

I posted recently about how I categorize my recipes so I can meal plan based on what I have and what is on sale. Here is a collection of additional resources that can aid you in making your meal planning quicker, greener, and more frugal:

156 Cheap, Healthy Recipes for Ten Common Leftover Herbs @Cheap Healthy Good
5 Easy Ways to Cut your Grocery Bill @Bargaineering
Back to Basics: 12 Ways to Prepare Ground Beef @The Kitchn
Beef Shopping Guide: Cheap Cuts and Cooking Guide @The Kitchn
Buying Fresh, Buying Cheap @The Simple Dollar
Easy Tips to Reduce Produce Waste @BeCentsAble
Eating Down the Fridge @Slashfood
Eating from the Pantry Challenge @Money Saving Mom
Eat This, Grocery Reminder @The Kitchn
Free Weekly Menu Planning Template @I'm an Organizing Junkie
Garden as an Income Stream @Funny About Money
How to Save $100 (or more) at the Grocery Store this Month @Get Rich Slowly
How to Save Money on Grocery Purchases @Free Money Finance
Information Central: 32 Free Food Charts, Checklists, and Wallet Sized Guides @Cheap Healthy Good
Label and Date Everything in the Freezer @The Kitchn
Last Minute Little Dinners for One: Tips, Ideas and 25 Recipes @Cheap Healthy Good
Leftovers Log @The Kitchn
Make Your Own Freezer Meals @Life as Mom
Produce: Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Updated @Focus Organic
Save Money on Food and Eat Better, part 1 @Smart Family Tips
Save Money on Food and Eat Better, part 2 @Smart Family Tips
Seasonal Food Chart @Frugal for Life
Stop Shopping and Clear Your Fridge @Slashfood
Ten Tips for Successful Meal Planning @Bargaineering
Tips for Grocery Shopping on a Budget @Bargaineering
Tips for Organizing a Refrigerator and Freezer @The Kitchn
Weekly Menu Planning for Singles, Couples, and Working People @Cheap Healthy Good
What the Great Depression Can Teach Us about Food and Frugality @Cheap Healthy Good
What to Do With...? 75 Tips for Leftovers and Ingredients @The Kitchn
You're the Next Contestant on The Price is Right @Life as Mom

Do you have a favorite resource that I missed?

Shared in Frugal Friday.
Shared in I'm a Food Renegade Fight Back Friday.

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The Best of It's Frugal Being Green: April 2009

2009-04-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

April 2009 was another amazing month of top quality content for It's Frugal Being Green. Here is a recap of my favorite posts this month:

April 3: Organizing Recipes
April 6: Wasting Less Food
April 13: Couponing Within Reason
April 14: Mom's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
April 16: Food Blogs are an Amazing Source of Free Recipes
April 20: Do I Really Need to Pay for Trash Collection?
April 21: How to Want Less
April 22: Earth Day: Green Is In Our Own Best Interest
April 27: Square Foot Gardening
April 29: Rebalancing Your Portfolio

Here are the top 5 most viewed posts in April:

April comes to a close with 137 RSS subscribers, 28 email subscribers, and 26 followers.

Help grow those numbers in May by spreading the word about It's Frugal Being Green - try out the "Share This" button at the bottom of your favorite post. My personal favorite sharing methods are Stumble Upon, Digg, and Delicious.

Rebalancing Your Portfolio

2009-04-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

April 2009 is the month I reached the ripe old age of 25 and a custodial brokerage account that my parents set up for me when I was a very young child transferred to my ownership. When they set it up they chose 25 rather than 18 or 21 as the age it would transfer to me because they weren't sure how financially responsible I'd be - thanks to their good influence and my rational mind I turned out to be financially responsible by the age of 5. Hopefully this money will go towards a house in the next 5 years (depends how the market looks) so I'm not splurging with any of it and in the meantime I'll be using it all to rebalance my portfolio.

Rebalancing is a tool that helps you buy low and sell high. After you've selected and achieved your asset allocation targets you should rebalance on a regular basis (but not too often - quarterly to yearly is ideal). The areas you are selling to maintain your targets are the areas that are up and the areas that you are buying to maintain your targets are the areas that are down. When you sell those areas that are up you're selling high and when you buy those areas that are down you're buying low.

Tex Mex Beef Enchiladas

2009-04-28T05:30:00.001-07:00

To make these beef enchiladas, I roughly followed this recipe from the PBS Everyday Food website. I used their instructions for the beef mixture and assembly but I already had a packet of Lawry's enchilada mix in the cupboard so I used that up rather than getting the additional ingredients to make the sauce in the recipe. One thing I did notice about the instructions in the recipe is it says to use an 8" square pan but that's going to be way too small, you'll need a 9" x 13". As an extra green step, I reused the aluminum foil I heated the tortillas in to cover my baking dish and store the leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow. I had originally planned to have rice and beans on the side but it was too hot for that today so I just had some mixed green salad on the side, rice and beans will last in the pantry almost indefinitely so I don't have to worry about them spoiling since I didn't get to them as planned.

Shared in the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Mexican Food.

Guest Posting Style Guide

2009-04-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

I welcome guest posting here at It's Frugal Being Green. Here are a few suggestions on what to write about and how to write it. If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please email me with a description of what you would be interested in writing or ideally a rough draft of your article. The more specific you can be in your proposal and the more you follow these guidelines, the more likely I'll be interested and able to use your post.

Topics

Your guest post should fit at least one, if not more, of my topics: budgeting, cleaning, cooking, couponing, gardening, green, investing, meal planning, organizing, or recycling. Please make sure your post is applicable to everyone, not just those with babies/children.

Your article will most likely be scheduled for the next available slot on the editorial calendar:
Sunday: couponing, meal planning
Monday: budgeting
Tuesday: green, recycling
Wednesday: cleaning, cooking
Thursday: investing, gardening
Friday: organizing

Images

If you have an image you would like included with your guest post, please make sure you have the appropriate rights to use it (don't just pull something off a google search). Email me the image and I will host it here.

Exclusivity

Any guest posts written for It's Frugal Being Green should not be posted or submitted elsewhere, including your own blog. I do recommend that you do a post on your own blog that links back to your guest post on It's Frugal Being Green and provides follow up information.

Byline

Bylines should be a sentence or two about who you are and what you do. You may include a link to your own blog in your byline. Bylines will be featured at the top of your guest post.

In post links need to be relevant. You can link to your own blog up to 3 times within your guest post as long as those links are highly relevant to the topic you are covering in your guest post.

Editing

I may edit your post as necessary to help it fit the It's Frugal Being Green style.

Square Foot Gardening

2009-04-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm exploring the idea of square foot gardening for the two foot wide strip closest to the house. I have a small space to garden in, only about 5 x 6 feet overall and square foot gardening is ideal for small spaces. I am fortunate to have the major benefit that I do have dirt on the ground rather than needing to build or buy my own planters and all my dirt. Square foot gardening is the idea that you designate an area to be used as your square foot garden, break it down in the one square foot sections, and plant a different produce item in each square foot. When you harvest the item out of one section you replace it with something new.

My dirt does need to be improved before I start. What I'm working in is very heavy with clay and I've struggled to dig holes deep enough for the plants I have planted so far. I'm planning to go out to my city's waste center (dump, recycling, and composting all at one location) where they often have fresh compost that can be picked up by residents for free (it's hard work since you have to shovel it all yourself on both ends but at least you're not paying for dirt). I filled two 36 gallon trash cans with this dirt and put it in my gardening patch last year but now I'm thinking it was not enough as the dirt level is still several inches below the patio. Adding more dirt won't just make it look nicer but will give the plants a more nutritious place to grow. I'll add that dirt around everything and replant anything that seems to get buried to far down. Two more full 36 gallon trash cans should hopefully do it.

I'm not sure exactly what I'll plant there yet but once I have the area prepared, I'll consult my Better Homes and Gardens Garden Book to see what fruits or vegetables are best for starting in my area and at that time.

Shared in Thrifty Green Thursday.
Featured in the All Things Eco Blog Carnival Vol 49.

Longs Drugs Transition to CVS

2009-04-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I decided to call around to a few of my local Longs stores (South Bay Area) and see what I could learn about when I can start getting in on the CVS deals. When I called, the first employee I spoke to asked me to hold but apparently didn't press the hold button so I overheard some confusion between him and his manager about whether or not he could tell me anything about it. I learned that the registers and pharmacy systems have already been converted to CVS. Combo Longs/CVS ads will be coming in the next few weeks. Store remodels, renaming, and full transition to CVS ads and sales will occur this summer. When exactly I can start taking advantage of the deals, I'm still not sure about but hopefully when I get a combo ad I'll be able to glean more information from that.

Today I decided to stop by Longs and see if there were any good clearance deals to be had. Much to my surprise, I walked into the store and there was a big pile of CVS store cards and sign up sheets. On the shelves there were CVS sale tags. For the sake of experimentation, I decided to test out a CVS deal and see if it would work.

I gave this deal a test drive:
Buy 1 Crest Cavity, Tartar, or Baking Soda & Peroxide toothpaste or Oral B Indicator toothbrush at $1.99, Get $1 ECB (Limit 2)
Use $0.75/1 coupon from the 4/5 P&G insert
$0.24 each after coupon and ECB

It didn't work. The deal was not tagged on the shelf and I didn't get any ECBs out of it but I have yet to find any really cheap Crest and it's the one product I'm extremely brand loyal to so I needed more toothpaste and it was worth the cost to do the experiment.

Here's the most interesting part:

At this point, I'll be checking weekly to see when those ECB deals do start getting tagged on the shelf. I expect it to be quite soon.

In the meantime, I'm reading up on how to get the best deals at CVS. Here are the three best posts I've found:

CVS 101 @Money Saving Mom
CVS 101 for Newbies @Deal Seeking Mom
Top 5 Tips to Play @MommySnacks.net

Do any seasoned CVSers have any additional tips for me? Do any fellow Longs transitioners know anything else about what's happening?

Drugstore Deals 4/26

2009-04-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

The drugstore deals weren't as good this week as they have been the past few, or at least I didn't find as many useful to me items.

Walgreens

Nivea Bodywash (used $1/1 coupon, get $5 register reward)
Sunday newspaper at $0.92 (filler to be able to spend my $3 register reward from Skintimate earlier in the month)
Total: $1.91 pretax got $5 register rewards back

Riteaid

Mini Drops Eye Therapy $6.49 with $6.49 rebate

Skintimate Shave Cream $3.99 (another blogger had posted that it was $2.99 but it was $3.99 at my store), used $0.75/1 coupon, $2.24 rebate - for me it came out to a dollar, if it actually is $2.99 at your store it will be free

Grocery Deals 4/26

2009-04-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Other than some asparagus and potatoes for my meal plan this week which I plan to get at the farmers market later today, I only needed some gallon Ziploc bags (used mine up yesterday putting some of cookies in the freezer) so I decided to get in on the Living Well promotion at Safeway. I needed to hit $30 in Living Well products and then I needed to hit $50 total to use a $5/$50 coupon and a free reusable tote with $50 purchase coupon both of which I received in a home mailer a few weeks ago. I made a little spreadsheet in Google Docs which I accessed from my iPhone while in the store to make sure my items were adding up to the proper amounts and I included notes about what I expected the price to be and what coupons I could use on it.

This week I spent $20.12 out of pocket and saved $56.99 which is 77%. Saved $29.81 with my club card. Saved another $27.18 with coupons. On top of that I got a $10 catalina from the Living Well promo and I'll be getting a $2.29 rebate on the Reynolds recycled foil.

(click this spreadsheet to enlarge and see my shopping list, prices, and coupon matchups)

Shared in Best Deal of the Week.

Meal Plan 4/26

2009-04-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm trying my best this week to work with what I already have on hand. I adore this "Eat This" PDF from The Kitchn and have printed it out on a magnet sheet so I can keep it on my fridge for use with a dry erase marker. On the list, I'm putting all the things in the fridge that need to be used soon and I have listed lettuce, carrots, ricotta, parmesan, hamburger buns, and sandwich bread so I'm trying to work in all of those items. I've got chicken, ground beef, bacon, mozzarella, and blueberries stocked in the freezer. The only things I don't already have on hand for this meal plan are the red potatoes and asparagus; the boyfriend and I are planning to go to the farmers market today so I hope to find them there.

Chicken Parmigiana from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, salad
Best Beef Burgers from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, Oven Roasted Red Potatoes and Asparagus
Grilled Smoked Mozzarella with Maple-caramelized Bacon, salad
Baking: Berry Lemon Ricotta Muffins and Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies from Martha Stewart Cookies

For more more ideas and meal planning tips check out my meal planning archives.

Shared in Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

Blog Roll

2009-04-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

Affluent Pauper
A Thrifty Mom
Bargaineering
BeCentsAble
Centsible Savings
CFO: Chief Family Officer
Cheap Healthy Good
Common Sense with Money
Coupon Cravings
Daily Worth
Ethical Style
Feels Like Home
Five Dollar Dinners
Focus Organic
Frugal for Life
Frugal Living Online
Frugal Upstate
Get Rich Slowly
I'm an Organizing Junkie
Life as Mom
Like Merchant Ships
Mommy Snacks
Money Saving Mom
My Baking Addiction
My Frugal Adventures
Save at Home Mommy
Slashfood
Smart Family Tips
Tastespotting
The Good Human
The Kitchn
The Simple Dollar

If you'd like to be added to my blog roll, please send me an email. I will link to you if you link back to me and your blog contains relevant and quality content.

What I'm Reading 4/24

2009-04-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a wrap up of what I'm reading lately. To get daily updates on this check the bottom of the page at www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com.

Finance

Investing 101: An Introduction to Asset Allocation @Get Rich Slowly - asset allocation is the ground work of sound investing
Spend to Save Trap @Bargaineering - this is a very easy trap to fall in to, here's how I manage my spending to avoid spending to save

Food

Eat This, Grocery Reminder @The Kitchn - a PDF checklist you can print to keep track of what you need to use up this week, combine this with a categorized recipe list to make meal planning easy
How to Save Money on Grocery Purchases @Free Money Finance - I'm a combination of the savvy and store brand shopper
Substituting Ingredients Saves Money @Like Merchant Ships - every week when I make out my meal plan, I think of what I have on hand that can substitute for the ingredients I don't have in the recipes I want to make
Planting an Orchard @Life as Mom - my parents have an orchard in their backyard and they've got more than enough fruit to share with me, I've got one lemon tree in my tiny townhouse backyard

Green

Saving Money and the Environment: Where Green and Frugal Meet @Get Rich Slowly - they meet right here at www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com, but they also meet a lot of other places
Reusable Grocery Bags - They Work for Me! @Life as Mom - don't think you have to buy reusable grocery bags, they're free all over the place if you keep your eyes open
Reducing Waste in the Kitchen @Life as Mom - here are my recent tips about wasting less food

What's for Dinner? Gift Basket Giveaway Winners

2009-04-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

And the winners of the What's for Dinner? Gift Basket Giveaway are...

#112 Denise (qwaszx024@)

#106 Krystyn (reallyareyouserious@)

#128 Sashafras of sharingthedeals.blogspot.com

Congrats! Winners have been contacted and must respond with their mailing addresses within 48 hours or runners up will be selected.

Penne with Spinach and Ricotta

2009-04-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

This simple pasta dish was perfect for the 100 degree weather we had here this week. The original recipe called for fresh spinach in a large quantity (1 1/2 pounds) but I'm not a huge spinach fan (I do understand I need to eat some vegetables though) and I had some frozen spinach in the freezer that needed used up so I threw in what I had.

Ingredients:

1 pound penne

1/4 pound frozen chopped spinach

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

8 ounces ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne until al dente according to package instructions, add the spinach during the last few minutes of cooking. Drain, return the pasta and spinach to the pot.

2. Add the olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper. Toss well.

3. Serve immediately, topped with the ricotta and parmesan.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.

Shared in the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Meatless Main Dishes.
Shared at $5 Dinners.
Shared in Manic Martha Moment.
Featured in the Make it from Scratch Carnival #113.

About the Author

2009-04-22T13:28:00.001-07:00

My name is Carrie. I'm a 25 year old woman living in the San Francisco Bay Area. My day job is prepress and marketing in the printing industry and at that job I work hard to think of ways to make our printing more green and more efficient.

Since I live in alone in a high cost of living area and want to have plenty of money left over for saving and investing, I work hard to stick to a budget and live within my means. Many of the topics I cover here at It's Frugal Being Green are what allow me to live comfortably while doing so.

My dad's side of the family is full of (not officially diagnosed) obsessive compulsive hoarders. I have no doubt that hoarding is genetic and I fight the urge on a daily basis. Striving to be frugal, green, clean, and organized are tools I've found to combat the hoarding urges.

Earth Day: Green Is In Our Own Best Interest

2009-04-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge proponent of conservation, environmentalism, ecofriendliness and all the rest of that stuff, but is all of this in the interest of the Earth or in the interest of life as we know it?

On my trip last week, I listened to an audiobook of Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston. It was a mystery about dinosaurs and their mass extinction. It got me thinking that despite the horrendous environmental conditions the Earth experienced and the mass extinction of most life forms, 65 million years later the Earth itself is doing just fine.

Earth Day is about saving the Earth as we know it, so that it can support human life and we can live comfortably. I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all but I think it's an important concept that more people need to realize. Being green is in our own best interest.

In addition to conserving our environment for our own comfort, I think it's important to be green because being green is being frugal with our natural resources. It may be a bit more expensive to be green now but sooner rather than later being green will be to most economically sensible thing to do.

Featured in the All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume 48.

How to Want Less

2009-04-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

One of the very first posts I made on this blog back in February 2007 was How To Want Less. That post was basically just a link out to a fool.com article that I found extremely inspirational. The heart of being frugal and the heart of being green is using what you have rather than buying something new. More than two years later, let's see how I'm doing on those tips.

Throw away catalogs without reading them. - Done. Even better, I've contacted the distributing companies via website, email, or phone so they aren't even sending me their catalogs anymore (minus a few choice retailers that I do actually shop from).
Don't watch commercials on television. - Done. I have a TV but I don't have cable, satellite, or even get broadcast reception. I only use it to watch content downloaded from iTunes (mostly free) or DVDs, everything I watch is commerical free.
Don't read the adverts in the weekly paper. - Done. I have a Sunday only subscription that costs me $0.81 cents a week that I get just for the coupons. I clip the coupons and put the rest directly in the recycling bin.
Don't hang out in shopping areas for recreation. - Done. I only make trips to stores when I have a specific item planned for purchase.
Take a complete inventory of your house contents for insurance purposes. - Done. Good thing too because I actually needed more than the minimum renters insurance thanks to a fair amount of items passed down from my grandparents and great grandparents.
Do a weekly "27-fling boogie" a la Flylady. - I don't really do this because I don't have much excess after moving several times in the past few years. Maybe I could improve in this area but I don't think getting rid of things for the sake of getting rid of something is anymore frugal or green than buying things for the sake of buying something.
Visualize moving all of your stuff to a new home, or your heirs going through everything after your death. - Done. I've not just visualized but actually done both of these things multiple times, both are a nightmare.
Keep warrenties. - Done but I could do better. They're all stuffed in a random drawer in the kitchen or in a file box. I should be more organzied.
Perform basic repair and maintenance. - Done. I'm especially diligent about this when it relates to clothing.
Loan things you don't use frequently to other people. - I could do better in this department but unfortunately I am a bit stingy and have had a few bad experiences with not getting things back.
Think about what else you might want, instead of more stuff. - Done. I've taken a particular interest in travel, am dedicating savings specifically so that it's possible, and just returned from my most recent week long trip three days ago.

If you enjoyed this article please consider subscribing to my RSS feed.

Shared in Frugal Friday.
Featured in the Festival of Frugality: The Spring has Sprung Edition.

Do I Really Need to Pay for Trash Collection?

2009-04-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yes.

I love how The Good Human canceled trash pick up. I too create almost no garbage. I have maybe one plastic grocery bag's worth of true garbage each week. I've pondered and pondered if canceling trash pickup would work for me but it won't. It won't because while I'm being billed for trash pickup, that's tied in with recycling pickup.

My city is great with recycling pickup. They pick up: cardboard, mixed paper, metal, plastic, glass, batteries, and lightbulbs at the curb every week. It would not be more energy efficient to take all my recyclables out to the recycling center myself when the truck has to go by my house each week anyway to get to my neighbors and it would take me more time than I think it's worth to do it myself.

I'm definitely getting my money's worth when I remind myself that I'm paying for the recycling service despite the fact that it's billed as trash of which I have almost none.

***

The best banking deals for certificates of deposit and savings accounts are typically found at online banks. This is because online banks don't have to pay for as many employees because their operations are run by a fraction of the workforce that a typical bank requires.

Grocery Deals 4/19

2009-04-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

I love seeing pictures of other bloggers' grocery shopping trips so I'm going to start sharing mine at least some weeks.

I stuck very closely to my list and my meal plan only veering away from it for free product coupons (Halls, Milky Way, and Cascade Rinse Agent).

Spent $23.82 this week (including organic milk and lettuce) and saved 36% $13.30. $3.83 of the savings was from my store club card. An additional $8.47 was thanks to coupons (in addition to the free product coupons I used a $0.50 off Daisy brand sour cream, which I pulled out my calculator and calculated that it did make it cheaper than the store brand, and $1 off O Organics salad).

Drugstore Deals 4/19

2009-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Made out pretty well today. Just want to mention to others that you should keep extra Sunday papers in mind as filler items.

Walgreens

Transaction #1

Chapstick $1.99 (get $2 register reward)

Diet Coke 20oz (used free 20oz coupon from MyCokeRewards and got a free candy bar)

2 Sunday newspapers at $0.92 each (filler to be able to spend my $3 register reward from Skintimate earlier in the month)

Total: $0.88 pretax got $2 register rewards back

Transaction #2

3 One A Day Drink Mixes $1.49 each (used $4/2 coupon and will get $1.49 Easy Saver Rebate which makes this a $1.02 money maker)

Diet Coke 20oz (used free 20oz coupon from MyCokeRewards and got a free candy bar)

Skintimate Shave Cream $2.99 (get $3 register reward)

used $2 register reward from transaction #1

Total: $2.35 pretax got $3 register rewards back and will get $1.49 rebate

Riteaid

Could've done a bit better here, another blogger posted that the Bengay patches gave you a $6 rebate but it is in fact only a $3 rebate so after coupons and rebates I paid $2.99. I should've double checked the Riteaid listings but you live and you learn.

Update (4/21): My Riteaid online account is showing two $3 rebates on the Bengay for a total of $6 after all so the patches did come out free.

Photos from my Arizona Vacation

2009-04-19T05:30:00.001-07:00

I'm back from vacation and my Arizona photo gallery over at iStockphoto is growing. If you're interested in seeing pictures from my trip, please check it out. New photos will be added daily for about a month here so make sure you keep checking back.

Upper Antelope Canyon (slot canyon), Page, AZ

If you're interested in becoming a member of iStockphoto (the best source of cheap stock imagery), please send me an email with your name and email address and I can send you a referral link that will get you 3 free credits (only valid for new accounts).

Meal Plan 4/19

2009-04-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

Salad on the side with everything this week.

Spinach Penne with Ricotta and Pine Nuts from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Tex Mex Beef Enchiladas with Spanish Rice from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and beans
Oven Barbecued Chicken from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook with tator tots
Baking: Black Midnight Cake from my mom's recipe (my birthday is on Monday and this will be my birthday cake, my sister is coming in from out of town and will be doing the baking for me) and Molasses Crinkles

Shared in Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

What's For Dinner? Gift Basket Giveaway [ended]

2009-04-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

This giveaway has ended. You can check out the winners here.

Quick, easy, and tasty. I don't buy these boxed pasta dinners often but I do like to have at least one in the pantry for a quick meal. Normally I buy the store brand because it's the cheapest but if these Macaroni Grill kits were competitive price-wise (sale and coupon combined) I'd be interested in buying it again.

Manufacturer's description: The dinner kits include everything needed to create a high-quality meal in one box including premium ingredients such as such as vine-ripened tomatoes, select cooking wines, specialty herbs and 100% semolina pasta. All you have to do is add one pound of chicken or your choice of proteins such as shrimp or Italian sausage. Varieties of Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites dinner kits include Garlic & Herb Chicken Penne, Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta, Chicken Alfredo with Linguine and Chicken Marsala with Linguine.

Three readers will win a What's For Dinner? Gift Basket courtesy of Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites and myblogspark.com. The basket contains a sample of Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta variety, three coupons for you to try the other varieties the next time you visit your local grocer, a colander, serving spoon and cheese grater.

How to enter:

For your first entry (required) tell me your biggest struggle with preparing dinner. Make sure I can find your email address to notify you if you win - either include it in your post or make sure you link to your blog or profile where it is easy to find.

For additional entries you can do any of the following (leave a separate comment for each additional entry):

Subscribe via RSS or email (top of the right sidebar, existing subscribers count too)
Follow (in the right sidebar, existing followers count too)
Add my button to your blog and leave a comment with a link so I can see it
Blog about this giveaway, my blog in general, or any other post on my blog and leave a comment with a link so I can see it

Contest will end Wednesday April 22, 2009 11:59pm. Winners will be posted and notified via email Thursday and must respond within 48 hours.

Organizing in the Kitchen

2009-04-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

I finally got my food storage containers sorted out and organized. Most used items are on the top shelf so I don't have to bend over so much. I do plan to get some sort of rack so that the large flat items like cutting boards in the upper left hand section can be held vertically. I still need to assess what containers are being used elsewhere because I think I have one container without a lid and one lid without a container. While I was at it I sorted out my baking pans too. The trick now will be not being too lazy when I'm putting away the dishes so I don't make a mess of things again.

Do you still need to organize your kitchen cabinets?

Food Blogs are an Amazing Source of Free Recipes

2009-04-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I posted about how I organize my recipes. Most of mine at this time are from cookbooks, but if you want to be more frugal and you don't want to pay for cookbooks or cooking magazines or if you want to be more green and not consume the paper they require, then you'll find food blogs to be an amazing free source of recipes that you can make right off your computer screen rather than printing them out (I do recommend washing and drying your hands first if you need to touch the computer while cooking).

To keep up with all the best food blogs I am an RSS subscriber to Tastespotting. Tastespotting displays pictures of each dish and a very short description, if you're interested in reading more about the item, you can click on the picture and be taken to the source blog which usually contains the recipe. I use NewsGator as my RSS client which allows me to keep track of which items I've already looked at and "clip" my favorites for later. Using an RSS client is an absolute must if you're interested in reading blogs because it helps you keep up with a large number in an organized manner.

When I find items I like on Tastespotting, I click on the pictures to go to the source blogs and if I like those blogs I subscribe to their RSS feeds too (I'm typically only interested in blogs with full feeds so I can easily "clip" the recipe and find it again later). Once I clip a recipe, I put the title into my computerized recipe index followed by the url of the blog I found it on. NewsGator also allows me to make folders for my clippings so I can put them all in one food folder and then have subfolders for categories like chicken, vegetables, and desserts.

Allow me to share a few of my recent top food blog recipe finds (I haven't made any of these yet but they're all on the list and available as meal planning options):

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies @My Baking Addiction
Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte @Annie's Eats
Honey Ricotta Cheesecake with Almond Crust @Baking and Books
Roasted Carrots in Balsamic Vinegrette @For the Love of Cooking
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Shallots and Figs @Food is Luv
Grilled Brussels Sprouts Smoky and Sweet @The Cooking Photographer
Bacon Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dipping Sauce @The Kitchn
Maple Roasted Butternut Squash @Food is Luv
Roasted Sweet Potatoes @For the Love of Cooking
Herbed Lemon Chicken @Food is Luv
Orange Chicken @A Love at First Bite
Ginger Sweet Potato Chicken Bake @$5 Dinners
Sweet Potato Chili @2 Stews

100 Chocolate Recipes

2009-04-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

The recipe list has gotten a little out of control in the chocolate section. I no longer have any doubt that I am a chocoholic. At a rate of one chocolate recipe per week this list is going to take me almost two years to tackle. I also told myself I would not buy any more dessert related cookbooks until I made a dent in this list, but then I saw the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book that is coming out in June and preordered it. And most clearly, I never need to buy another boxed mix or walk down the packaged cookie aisle at the grocery store again.

Black Midnight Cake (my mom's recipes)
Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Mousse
Fudge
Indoor Smores
Mudslide Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Orange Fudge
Quick Fudge Icing
Rocky Road
Rolo Cookies
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Rocky Road Brownies (magazine tear outs)
Simple Chocolate Fudge
Easy Tiramisu (Everyday Food: Great Food Fast)
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Butter Cake Cupcakes with Sticky Fudge Frosting (Cupcakes!)
Chocolate Covered Hi Hats
Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Icing
Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes
Chocolate Sweetheart Cupcakes
Fudge Marble Cupcakes
German Chocolate Cupcakes
Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae Cupcakes
Mississippi Mud Cupcakes
Summer Smore Cupcakes
White Christmas Cupcakes
White Mountain Chocolate Cupcakes
Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies (Martha Stewart Cookies)
Cappuccino Chocolate Bites
Chocolate Almond Marsala Cookies
Chocolate Charms
Chocolate Cherry Crumb Bars
Chocolate Crackles
Chocolate Malt Sandwiches
Chocolate Orange Espresso Thins
Chocolate Thumbprints
Chunky Peanut Chocolate and Cinnamon Cookies
Cigarette Russes
Cocoa Shortbread Diamonds
Coconut Swirl Brownies
Double Chocolate Brownies
Double Chocolate Coconut Cookies
Giant Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Grammy's Chocolate Cookies
Icebox Spirals
Milk Chocolate Cookies
Mocha Shortbread Wedges
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
Rocky Ledge Bars
Rum Balls
Sarah Bernhardt Cookies
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Surprise Cookies
Truffle Brownies
Turtle Brownies
White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Brownie Pudding (Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)
Brownie Walnut Pie
Chocolate Bar Pie
Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Caramel Bars
Chocolate Pot De Creme
Chocolate Souffle
Chocolate Truffle Torte
Chocolate Truffles
Devils Food Cake
Easy Candy Bar Treats
Easy White Fudge
French Silk Pie
Fudge
Fudge Ribbon Pie
German Chocolate Cake
Lava Baby Cakes
One Bowl Chocolate Cake
Red Waldorf Cake
Simple Fudge
Tiramisu
Toffee Butter Crunch
Vanilla Fudge Marble Cake
Bailey's Irish Cream Brownie Buttons (online)
Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts
Chocolate Caramel Cookies
Chocolate Chip Muffins
Chocolate Fudge Pie
Chocolate Overdose Cake
Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes
Chocolate Walnut Toffee Bars
Cinnamon Chocolate Bundt Cake
Coconut Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
Homemade Twix Bars
MUA Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cups
Samoa Cupcakes
Smores Cookies
Tiramisu

What should I make first? Do you have a food blog with a favorite chocolate recipe? If so, please leave me a link in the comments.

Mom's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-04-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

This is my mom's chocolate chip recipe which she made on an almost weekly basis as I was growing up. As you can imagine, that makes these the best chocolate chip cookies ever.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (I find that this recipe really is better with margarine rather than butter)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 egg

4 teaspoons creme de cacao (or substitute a different liqueur or 1 teaspoon vanilla but the creme de cacao really makes this recipe)

1 cup chocolate chips

Cream margarine and sugars. Beat in egg and salt. Mix baking soda with creme de cacao and add with flour. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake at 375F, small cookies 12 minutes, large cookies 15 minutes. Makes approximately 2 dozen large cookies.

The secret I've found to making cookies work in different ovens with varying temperatures is to take them out as soon as you get the slightest whiff of "mmm, cookies" scent.

Shared in the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Cookie Throwdown.

Couponing Within Reason

2009-04-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

I've been getting the newspaper and clipping coupons since the beginning of 2009. After a few months of trial and error I've finally figured out the right way to use coupons for me.

For personal care products, I pick up any free items at Walgreens or Rite Aid each week (Longs Drugs has discontinued their rebate program in anticipation of the conversion to CVS and my local Target is currently closed for renovation but eventually I'll be hitting CVS and Target each week too). I wasn't too sure about the Walgreens register rewards program at first because I don't like the way the register rewards expire after two weeks - what if I don't find something else to spend them on in time? I've figured out now that I'll use any register rewards I can't roll into another Walgreens freebie on Diet Coke (my one major vice). If I ran out of anything, I'd check for a coupon, check the circulars for a sale price, and pick it up on my next trip to the store but running out of any product category has yet to happen.

For groceries, I've become a pretty big fan of meal planning and sticking to a strict list in combination with thegrocerygame.com. The Safeway ad usually arrives on Tuesday or Wednesday at which point I start thinking about what meals I want to make for the next week based on the loss leaders (pretty much any sale prices that hit the front page of the ad). During the rest of the week I work up my grocery list based strictly on what I need to make my planned meals (I plan dinners and baked goods, I eat leftovers for lunch and, in addition to whatever I might be baking that week, I have nearly a lifetime supply of breakfast foods stocked already - I do need fresh milk to go with those breakfast foods though). Late Saturday night or Sunday morning I check out thegrocerygame.com and add anything to my list that I know I'll use that is 75% or more off the regular price (sometimes those 75%+ off items are good for breakfasts or lunches too). Before I hit the store I check my list against my coupons and see if there are any coupons applicable to the items already on the list.

To make the most efficient use of my time, I try not to make more than one stop at each store a week and I usually hit all three Sunday morning (Rite Aid and Safeway are next door to each other and Walgreens is across the street).

What's a reasonable level of couponing for you and how do you do stick to that?

Featured in the Festival of Frugality at My Life ROI.

Meal Plan 4/12

2009-04-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm on a road trip to the Grand Canyon and other sights in Arizona all week (multitasking photography for extra income and vacationing during my five unpaid days off work) so no cooking at home this week. Here's what I have stocked in the car for snacks and light meals (I'll be eating out once or twice a day):

water
soda
apples
peanut butter, jelly, bread
granola bars
Mom's homemade trail mix with dark chocolate M&Ms, coconut (that she dried herself - I'm impressed!), cashews, and raisins

If you're cooking at home this week you might want to check out my past meal plans for inspiration.

Shared in Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

Sauteed Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce

2009-04-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

This was almost the best thing I ever cooked. The only thing keeping it from being the best was the quality of the chicken I used. I picked up the $1.69/lb boneless skinless chicken at Safeway a few weeks ago and it's just not worth the cost savings to use that over Foster Farms chicken from Costco. I know now that it is worth it to me to pay a little extra for better quality meat.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)

coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh)

1. Sprinkle each chicken breast with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken; saute until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.

2. Pour the wine or chicken broth into the hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in the cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

3. Pour any accumulated chicken juices into the sauce. Right before serving, drizzle the cream sauce over the sauteed chicken.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.

What I'm Reading 4/10

2009-04-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a wrap up of what I'm reading lately. To get daily updates on this check most of the way down on the right hand column of www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com.

Finance

Roth IRAs for Children at Free Money Finance - I've posted before that my parents helped me set up a Roth IRA when I was 16 and had my first job. That will probably end up being the best thing I ever did financially
Microbudgeting: Keep Costs Under Control with a Baby-Step Budget at Funny About Money - I budget on a monthly basis but I can see weekly working out pretty well too. If monthly wasn't working for me I'd give this a try

Food

Save Money on Food and Eat Better: Part 1 at Smart Family Tips - I was just realizing that the money I'm saving by meal planning and couponing is helping me eat better too
DIY Girl Scout Cookies at The Kitchn - a craze is hitting the nation. I've got some of these on my list of things to make
Your The Next Contestant on "The Price Is Right" at Life as Mom - I'm inspired by this post to start keeping a simple version of a price book
Stained Cookbooks at Slashfood - I've always beleived that the best cookbooks and the best recipes are the ones that are the most stained
Save Money at the Grocery Store with these Tips, No Coupons Needed at Common Sense with Money - great tips, but these tips in combination with coupons is even better

Blueberry Crumb Cake

2009-04-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 teaspoon for blueberries

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground all spice (I didn't have all spice so I used cinnamon - I think nutmeg, cloves, or ginger would also be good)

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk so I used regular milk plus a bit of white vinegar)

1 1/2 cup blueberries

for Streusel topping

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter cut into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 9" square pan.

2. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Add the egg and beat until combined. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spice.

3. Add the flour and buttermilk in alternating batches beginning and ending with the flour (the batter will be very stiff).

4. Dust blueberries with 1 teaspoon flour. Fold into batter by hand. Pour into prepared pan.

5. Prepare streusel by working all ingredients together with your fingers until moist crumbs form (make sure the crumbs are large so they form a crisp topping as the cake bakes). Sprinkle evenly over cake batter.

6. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.

Featured in the Make It From Scratch Carnival at I've Got a Little Space to Fill.

Privacy Policy

2009-04-08T08:08:00.001-07:00

Privacy Policy for itsfrugalbeinggreen.com

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We also use third party advertisements on itsfrugalbeinggreen.com to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

You can chose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Last updated April 8, 2009.

Air Fresheners = Air Pollution

2009-04-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Air fresheners have always bothered me. How is something that puts more junk in the air making things fresher and cleaner?

If you think your house has a scent problem here are some green things you can try to make it smell better:

clean everything
open windows
place bowls of baking soda, vinegar, or charcoal out to absorb scents

If you just want to give your house an extra boost of good smell try baking something yummy.

Prevent Water Pollution by Not Using Antibacterial Soaps

2009-04-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

Antibacterial soaps are a big water pollution problem in California (and probably around the world). Much of our waste water flows into streams, rivers, bays, and the ocean. The antibacterial chemicals triclosan and triclocarban are being ingested by fish, birds, and marine mammals. Avoid antibacterial products unless you specifically have a wound you need to disinfect.

Another side effect of the excessive use of antibiotics is super resistant bacteria like MRSA. I myself suffered from a staph infection about 5 years ago (contracted from a pedicure, fortunately just a regular staph infection not MRSA). My doctor instructed me to clean those infection sites with antibacterial soap on a regular basis which is a good use of antibacterial soap, but if you don't have something that needs disinfected, use regular soap.

Invitation to Comment

2009-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

I invite you to leave even more comments on my posts. I read every single one and respond to questions as quickly as possible - if you leave a question make sure you check back for an answer. If I ask a question at the bottom of a post then I'm especially looking forward to reading your responses.

If you're a fellow blogger, please feel free to leave links to relevant posts of your own. Who knows? It might even get your blog featured in my What I'm Reading wrap up that takes place every other Friday.

Comment policy:
Questions are normally answered within 24 hours, please check back for an answer. Feel free to leave links to your own relevant blog posts. Comments are not moderated but spam or offensive comments will be deleted.

Wasting Less Food

2009-04-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

I've been shocked by some statistics I've been seeing about wasted food lately such as:

40% of the waste in landfills could have been composted instead
25% of the food Americans buy gets thrown out

I've been doing a couple things differently in the last few months that have had a huge impact on how much food I throw out.

Immediately freeze all leftovers that I don't plan to eat the very next day. I used to have to regularly throw out leftovers that I had put in the fridge and not gotten around to eating before they went bad. Now I freeze everything in single servings with the main dish and sides all in one container just like the microwave dinners you can buy at the grocery store for outrageous prices.

Buy frozen produce or freeze your own fresh produce. Produce used to be a big (and expensive) waste area for me. I would buy fruits and vegetables with the intentions to eat them but I'd never get around to them or I'd only use a portion of what I had purchased before they went bad. Now I either buy frozen produce or freeze my own fresh produce. The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book has great instructions on what produce can be frozen and what if anything you need to do to prepare it for freezing. Frozen produce is great if you'll be cooking or baking with it but I much prefer fresh produce (purchased in very small portions) for eating raw.

Freeze at least half of every batch of baked goods. Living alone, it's unreasonable (but possible) for me to be eating whole batches of baked goods by myself before they go stale. Now I freeze at least half of every batch as soon as it's cool which allows me to eat more reasonably sized portions and have more variety in my home baked goods.

A major difference that I've noticed since I've started freezing things like this is that my freezer is now stocked with preservative free home cooked items or whole ingredients like vegetables, fruit, and meat. The only processed food in there is ice cream (and I'm planning to get the Kitchenaid ice cream kit before summer so I can start making my own preservative free ice cream too). Six months ago my freezer was filled with expensive convenience foods so not only am I wasting less but this is helping my food budget too.

If you enjoyed this article please consider subscribing to my RSS feed.

Featured in the All Things Eco Blog Carnival Vol 46.

Shared at I'm a Food Renegade Fight Back Friday.
Shared in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

Drugstore Deals 4/5

2009-04-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

I made out very well this week especially considering my late start. The boyfriend was released from the hospital at 11am on Friday so I started shopping Friday afternoon.

Rite Aid

Rite Aid has the Blink Tears free after rebate this week. There is also a $2 mq out for those. I'm especially pleased with this deal because that product happens to be the specific one my eye doctor recommended that I use.

Walgreens

Walgreens has the buy a 20 oz Coke product and get a free Hershey's candy bar going all month. That works great in combination with some deals from MyCokeRewards - last week they had a buy one get one free coupon available and I've used my MyCokeRewards points to order some free 20 oz Coke coupons (used one so far).

The Wal-itin 30 tablet pack is free after rebate this month (in combination with the sale price).

The Chapstick Naturals was free after register reward last week.

The Skintimate is free after register rewards all month.

The Visine AC gets you a $3 register reward when you buy 2. I had 2 $3/1 mqs in my stash so that was a moneymaker, that deal starts today.

I had a free product coupon for the Always Infinity. I got that coupon from an online sample request.

The Mentos gum is $2/2 all month at some Walgreens. I had 2 $1/1 mqs for those so they were free.

The Orbit gum was a filler to get my pretax total up and make room for me to spend another register reward.

I'm also particularly pleased with myself because I finally remembered to bring a reusable shopping bag in with me when I went to Walgreens.

Did you score any great deals this week?

Meal Plan 4/5

2009-04-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Using coupons for to maximize my grocery budget has made room for me to spend money on grocery items that I would not have skipped or substituted out on in the past such as heavy cream for the mustard cream sauce and the Boston Cream Pie cupcakes and tarragon (I do have a couple spice coupons in my stash right now) and gruyere cheese for the turkey burgers. Coupons have allowed me to eat better more divine meals than ever before on my same old grocery budget. Here's what's in store for this week now that the boyfriend is out of the hospital:

Meatloaf from The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, tator tots and/or leftover Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pears from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast that are in the freezer, and salad
Sauteed Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast and Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Lemon from Everyday Food magazine
Turkey Burgers, Parmesan Steak Fries (both from Everyday Food Great Food Fast), and salad
Baking: Boston Cream Pie cupcakes from Cupcakes! and Blueberry Crumb Cake from Everyday Food Great Food Fast

Shared in Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

Pasta with Easy Italian Meat Sauce

2009-04-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 carrot grated (about 1/2 cup) (I only had baby carrots and didn't want to grate my fingers so I just sliced them)

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3/4 pound ground beef

1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes (I'm not a big fan of whole tomatoes so I used petite diced)

1/2 cup milk

1 dried bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

salt and pepper

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in the carrot, onion, and garlic. Add the ground beef and cook until it turns from pink to brown, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes and their liquid. Stir in the milk, bay leaf, thyme, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook 1lb of pasta (I used Barilla Plus penne) according to the package instructions. Drain, return to the warm pot, add the meat sauce and toss.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.

Shared at $5 Dinners.

Organizing Recipes

2009-04-03T05:30:00.001-07:00

I've finally got a system figured out for easy meal planning based on what I already have stocked and what's on sale that week. Each week I pick one chicken, one beef, and one other main dish and then select starches and veggies to go along. Most weeks I bake one or two items as well.

I have a binder with 8 section dividers that I put my recipes in, mostly magazine tear outs or internet print outs that I stick in sheet protectors. The 8 sections are:

chicken
beef
other meats
non-meat main dishes
starch sides
salads
vegetables
desserts

On the computer I catalog those recipes along with recipes from my cookbooks sorted in the same manner, I include any notes I may want to refer back to such as cookbook, page, seasonal notes, or changes to the recipe that should be made after the name of the item. (I use Textedit - which is the Mac version of Notepad.) I format my file like an outline. My 8 tabs from my binder are the top level headings. Below each of those recipes are sorted by the cut of meat, vegetable, fruit, starch, or other main ingredient they require. This lets me quickly find a recipe based on what I have stocked or what is available for a really good price at the store that week. Recipes I've tried and liked are changed to red and moved to the top of the section, recipes I didn't like get deleted from the list, new recipes get added to the bottom of the section in black. Here's a glimpse of the dessert section of my file (yes I admit almost half my recipes are desserts):

How do you organize your recipes?

Shared in Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

Drugstore Deals 3/29

2009-03-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

A little late this week and no picture. The boyfriend ended up in the hospital Saturday night due to a bicycle accident. Sunday he was still in intensive care so I didn't get any shopping done. He's in regular care at the hospital now and will probably be released Thursday or Friday. Once he's home and settled then I'll focus on blogging and couponing again. He was desperate to charge his Blackberry and the only cord I could find was the one I normally use for my digital camera.

Anyway, my drugstore deals last week were...

Bic Soleil razor at Walgreens: more than free after the clearance price, easy saver coupon, and manufacturer's coupon.

Excedrin Menstrual Complete: free after easy saver coupon and internet printable.

Also grabbed some M&Ms to use my overage on.

This week I hope to get in on the Chapstick and Skintimate register reward deals at Walgreens but I'm not going to worry about that until after the boy is released from the hospital (and hopefully my February Walgreens easy saver gift card arrives - I requested a check rather than a gift card for my March rebates because April is the last month of the easy saver program so I'm not confident in being able to roll it).

In other good drugstore news though, Long's Drugs will be converting the CVS in my area in the next couple months so I will be able to start getting in on the CVS deals.

The Best of It's Frugal Being Green: March 2009

2009-03-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

March was a great month for itsfrugalbeinggreen.com.

Here are my favorite posts from March:

March 9: Pasta Carbarona
March 12: Dishwasher vs Hand Washing Dishes
March 18: Use It Up
March 19: Gardening in a Townhouse
March 23: Organic in a Budget Friendly Way

Meal Plan 3/29

2009-03-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

Fresh Express salad bags and Kraft salad dressings are super cheap this week at Safeway with the mix and match sale so I'll be stocking up on salad supplies for this week's veggies.

Pasta with Easy Italian Meat Sauce and salad
Sauteed Chicken in Mustard Cream Sauce and Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Lemon
Turkey Burgers, Parmesan Steak Fries, and salad

All recipes this week are from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast or Everyday Food magazine.

Update: Unfortunately my boyfriend has had a bicycle accident requiring surgery and will be in the hospital all week for recovery so I did not get any shopping done today and probably won't be eating dinner at home any night this week. This meal plan will likely be postponed to next week as I know he was especially looking forward to those turkey burgers.

Shared in Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

What I'm Reading 3/27

2009-03-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a wrap up of what I'm reading lately. To get daily updates on this check most of the way down on the right hand column of www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com.

Finance

The Hows and Whys Of Our Car Purchase: A 2009 Toyota Prius at The Simple Dollar - I don't need to buy a new car right now but I'm saving for one just in case something happens (a friend recently had her's stolen) and if I was in the market to buy a Prius would be one of my top picks
Defeating Temptation: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When You're Tempted to Buy at Get Rich Slowly - a question I frequently ask myself is "What Do I Want Most?"

Food

Produce - Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Updated at Focus Organic - I'm using these lists to maximize what I get for my money when I buy organic
Last Minute Little Dinners for One: Tips, Ideas, and 25 Recipes at Cheap Healthy Good - I usually make a meal plan with meals for 3 or 4 nights a week but I need something for the other nights and if I'm not feeling like leftovers these ideas are great
Avoid Junk Food by Leaving it at the Store at Feels Like Home - I try to force myself to bake all my own junk food

Green

What Do You Think of Dishwasher Drawers? at The Kitchn - I love them and wish I had them but since I'm in a rental it's not really my choice. Since I live alone it takes me awhile to fill up the dishwasher and being able to do half loads would be perfect
Reducing the Junk Mail Footprint at Green Inc (NYT) - Emailing or calling to get yourself of junk mail and catalog lists not only helps you be more green but will help you want less and be more frugal too

Better Homes and Gardens Garden Book

2009-03-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

My family had a bit of an alternative and green Christmas this year. Nobody got any new presents. Our gifts were items from my late grandfather's home that my parents thought we would appreciate. My grandfather was an obsessive compulsive hoarder (worse than anything you'll ever see on Oprah). We estimate of all his belongings filling 2 houses and 2 20x20 foot storage units, only about 1% of the items will be kept total by all 11 descendants. At this point the houses are completely cleaned out but the storage units have not yet been touched.

This book, the Better Homes and Gardens Garden Book, was published in 1951 (first edition) and probably belonged to my grandmother. It's identical in format to the famous Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook which is unparalleled gold mine of information related to cooking. I haven't gotten to delve into this garden book much yet but I hope to learn a ton about gardening from a 1950s perspective and eventually share my finds with you.

Prevent Water Pollution by Taking Your Car to a Car Wash

2009-03-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

Prevent water pollution by taking your car to a commercial car wash rather than doing it yourself at home. Washing your car at all is important because it will help preserve the appearance and thus the value of your car. Make the car wash a little more budget friendly by using a coupon, I can regularly find coupons for a nice car wash in my area for $10 on the back of my grocery store receipts, in home mailers, or in local newspapers.

When you wash your car at home it uses a lot of water and the soap and dirt run into the storm drains and are not treated before they end up in the environment. When you take your car to a commercial car wash, they recycle as much of the water they use as possible and the waste water is treated.

Not only will this make your more green, but it will help with the current drought situation facing many areas, especially California. The car wash can easily reuse the water where as any water you use in your driveway doesn't get reused.

Reusable Grocery Bags

2009-03-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

Reusable shopping bags are not something you should need to buy. Most people I know have a stash of tote bags that they've gotten free via various promotions and events. Here's how I got mine:

Safeway O Organics bag - when I signed up for my Safeway club card I received a coupon book that contained a coupon for 1 free reusable tote

Chipotle totes - I attended an event following the Tour de California bicycle race a year or two ago and got not only a free burrito but also 2 free tote bags there

The Best Bag - a client of mine at my old job needed a logo, brochures, and business cards for reusable grocery bags they were selling, I got one free from them after the job was completed

TastyBaby - at my current job, my company was exhibiting at the Fancy Food Show just a few booths over from TastyBaby who were giving away tote bags - at the end of the last day they passed the extras out to all the nearby exhibitors

That gives me 5 tote bags, and the tote bags all seem to hold a lot more than the traditional plastic shopping bags, so this is more than enough bags for even my largest shopping trips. I'm really good about taking them to the grocery store but I need to get better about bringing one in with me on trips to the drugstore or Target.

Where have you been able to score free tote bags?

Featured in the All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume 44.

Organic in a Budget Friendly Way

2009-03-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

A year ago I was trying to buy all organic produce and dairy but since I'm trying to be more budget friendly these days I'm cutting back on the organic products a bit.

I'm still always buying organic milk which I drink on a daily basis. Butter and eggs I use less frequently and may or may not buy organic these days depending on how close or far the prices are apart.

For produce, I'm using the FDA and USDA's guide on the 12 fruits and vegetables conventionally grown with the most pesticides. The fruits and vegetables on this list I'm trying to buy organic and others I'm saving my pennies and going conventional.

Apples
Bell Peppers
Carrots (Safeway frequently has organic carrots on sale at great prices)
Celery
Cherries
Grapes, imported
Kale
Lettuce (Safeway frequently has their organic salad mixes on sale at great prices)
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Strawberries

What products do your prioritize buying organic?

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

2009-03-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Don't miss out on the Ultimate Blog Party 2009. There are lots of prizes to be had. My top 3 picks are:

19 - $50 gc to Target
21 - $50 gc to Target
22 - $50 gc to Target
others: 20, 26, 58, 91, 113

If the Ultimate Blog Party is how you found your way here, welcome. It's Frugal Being Green covers topics related to frugality and being green such as budgeting, cleaning, cooking, couponing, gardening, investing, meal planning, organizing, and recycling.

If you like what you see, please subscribe via RSS or email.

Drugstore Deals 3/22

2009-03-22T11:57:00.001-07:00

Here's what I got free this week.

Esencia by Samy conditioner should have a try me free hang tag on it - I found it at Walgreens.

Icelandic Health Advanced Memory Formula vitamins are free after rebate at Walgreens this month. The booklet shows it in a yellow box so I hadn't been able to find it previously but once I saw on walgreens.com that it should be in a white box then I was able to find it.

Starbucks instant coffee packets from a free sample offer online. Not pictured, I also got Head and Shoulders shampoo and conditioner samples which are already used up and some Tampax and Always samples that included a coupon for a free 18 pack of Always Infinity.

Meal Plan 3/22

2009-03-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

One thing I'm especially poor at is making sure I eat vegetables on a daily basis, so this week (and hopefully beyond this week) I'm going to focus on including them with each meal on my meal plan.

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Onion from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Pasta with Easy Italian Meat Sauce and Sauteed Spinach from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Pan Seared Pork with Potatoes and Lemon from Everyday Food magazine and Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

If you have any great vegetable recipes for picky vegetable eaters please comment and share them with me either by including the recipe or posting a link.

Shared at Menu Plan Monday at Orgjunkie.com.

Gardening in a Townhouse

2009-03-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

This is my garden which is located in a small patch of dirt off the patio of the townhouse I'm renting. Right now I've got a lemon tree in the middle, a lavendar to the left, an iris to the right, and a bougainvillea that I hope will eventually take over the fence.

I was recently struck by a quote in the March 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living:

"Like most self-taught gardeners starting out, I was uptight. I thought small. Skinny flower beds. Little blobs of annuals - two of these, a couple of those - lost in mulch."

That pretty much describes my garden - lost in mulch. To remedy this situation, I ordered 4 more lavender to fill in around and behind the lemon tree. I picked lavender because it doesnt need much water and here in California we're experiencing a pretty severe drought. I've been seeing deals from Spring Hill Nurseries posted on a variety of blogs I read so I checked it out and estimate that the prices after shipping and whatever online deal they are currently running are about half what I'd pay at OSH or Lowes. I ordered two each of their pink and blue lavenders and paid $11.91 including shipping. I'm now anxiously awaiting their arrival so that my garden can take the next step towards lush.

It's also worth noting that this month's episodes of the Martha Stewart video podcast (free on iTunes) are all gardening related.

Grab My Button!

2009-03-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Copy and paste the text below to add the It's Frugal Being Green button to your blog!

Use It Up

2009-03-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Annie from AnnieNYC originally challenge the internet community to clean up and organize their personal care product stashes by using things up back in July 2003. Her instructions have always struck a cord with me. When you have less it's easier to keep organized. I also believe that it is greener to use up a product than to throw it out when it is no longer your product of choice. Here are Annie's tips on using up personal care products:

"So you've got enough stuff to open your own cosmetics counter, here's a challenge just for you.

Finish up as many products as possible. From face wash to tooth floss, put the tube or bottle or jar in the out bin.

Stuff you bought and you like. Not stuff you swear you'd never use again cuz it gave you a chemical burn. Toss that. All your body and face products that you want to use on your body or face is game.

Take extra steps to use as much as you can or to just be more diligent about it. I've written a couple of tips to get you moving....

Use old acid moisturizers for Neck and decolatage at night and cover this area daily w/ an SPF moisturizer!!! A very good use for older sunblock, use it up before it expires.

Older masks: Use as body mask before the shower. Use moisturizing masks on neck, decollate, shoulders, arms, hands, shoulders, knees and drier mask on back and shoulders.

Use scrubs up first. Don't miss a spot. Get all the old dead skin off. You will be so soft. Use your mostly used up lotions first. Finish them off and make yourself some room to manuever.

Grab closest to finished body washes and lotions and put them up front, you'll go through these in no time. Or so we hope. Same thing for shampoos and conditioners. Store products that you know you won't need this season, just get them out of the way to make choices easier.

Don't skip a step. Get out all your feet balms and cuticle creams, esp. the one's you like the least, so in the end you'll just have one of each item, and it'll be your favorite.

Hair conditioner works very well as shave cream.

Use least product left treatment products religiously. Your smallest or closest to finished eye cream. Trial sizes that you actually want to try. Redkin Smooth for example. I'll use the whole series together and see if it does anything nice.

Figure out which mascaras you bought last and use it exclusively for a while. It will run out in no time."

Use your imagination and think of ways to apply these same ideas to cleaning products or even food items that you have in excess. Something that comes to mind for me is if you have an old not-so-green surface cleaner that you need to use up, you could clean every surface in your house on a regular basis until it's gone. What are your ideas?

Shared at Frugal Friday.
Featured in the Festival of Frugality #170 at MoneyNing.

Frugal and Green Around the Office

2009-03-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

The other day at work we completely ran out of toilet paper. The company has been trying to cut back here and there to save money because of the tight economy but not buying toilet paper ahead of time just isn't the way to go. While pondering the lack of toilet paper, I thought of a few ways everyone in the office could cut back in other areas to save the company some money (and every single one of them would make us more green too):

Use only 1 or 2 paper towels rather than many
Make sure the faucet in the bathroom is turned off completely after you use it
Turn out the lights when you leave a room
Make sure all electronic items are turned off completely when leaving for the day
Turn the heater down from 70 or 72 to 68
Keep the doors to the climate controlled room shut unless you are walking through that door
Don't print emails unless absolutely necessary
If you think you need to print an email consider printing on the back of another sheet
Double and triple check your work before you use any materials
Consider asking someone else to check your work before you use any materials

Featured in the All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume 43 at Focus Organic.

Baking Day: Pecan Sandies and Cherry Turnovers

2009-03-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon turned into another baking day. I made Pecan Sandies from the April 2009 issue of Everyday Food and cherry turnovers which used up some random puff pastry and cherries I had in my freezer inspired by The Repressed Pastry Chef's Apple Turnovers (cherries make much messier turnovers than apples apparently). The Pecan Sandies gave me a chance to test out my new scraper blade for my Kitchenaid mixer and it was amazing; just like everyone has been saying it really does revolutionize the Kitchenaid.

Editor's Pick in the Make it from Scratch Carnival at Funny About Money.

Drugstore Deals 3/15

2009-03-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

I got all of this for $1.25 out of pocket (only paid for the gum - and if I had 2 of the coupons for the Trident it could've been $0.50 out of pocket).

RiteAid has Samy styling products free after rebate this week.

Walgreens has a $6 register reward when you buy 1 Reach toothbrush, 1 Reach floss, and one bottle of Listerine. There is also a coupon in this week's paper for $3 off when you buy those 3 items. And those three items are on sale for 3 for $9 this week. Walgreen's also has the gum for $2 for 2 packs.

I also stopped by Safeway and did my grocery shopping. Got a gallon of organic milk and used a bunch of the super coupons. Didn't need anything other than the milk but the super coupons were great prices.

Other deals I got in on this past week were the free fries and soda at Jack in the Box and a free panty at Victoria's Secret with a card they had sent me in the mail.

I green my drugstore and grocery shopping runs by making sure to do them all at once. Safeway and RiteAid are right next to each other and Walgreens is just across the street. I try to make only one stop at each a week but if another really great deal pops up, there is a different Walgreens right on my way to and from work.

Meal Plan 3/15

2009-03-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Didn't get around to using much of last week's meal plan (I ate out two nights which is normal but I didn't feel like cooking other nights so I ate leftovers from the freezer) so we're looking at lots of meals rolled over to this week.

Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair from Everyday Food magazine
Lemon Parsley Pork Chops with Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

All I really need from the grocery store this week is milk, but Safeway has a lot of good super coupons (like 18 eggs for $0.99) and boneless skinless chicken on sale for $1.68/lb so I'll be stocking up a bit.

See other bloggers' menu plans at $5 Dinners.

What I'm Reading 3/13

2009-03-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a wrap up of what I'm reading lately. To get daily updates on this check most of the way down on the right hand column of www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com.

Finance

Active, Passive, and Portfolio Frugality: Where Should One Start? at The Simple Dollar - this is closely related to my post about passive income from last week
"Why would anyone keep investing when the market keeps going lower every day?" at I Will Teach You To Be Rich - this post emphasizes what I believe to be the basic stock market concepts

Food

Seasonal Food Chart at Frugal for Life - I posted before that one of the reasons I'm really loving Everyday Food: Great Food Fast is that it sorts recipes by season so you can utilize seasonal produce, Frugal for Life's chart compliments that nicely
12 Ways to Prepare Ground Beef at The Kitchn - ground beef is cheaper than steak but I haven't been buying it lately because I had run out of ideas for it but now I've got some new ones
Eating Down the Fridge at Slashfood - I thought I had come up with this frugal food idea to use what you already have on my own but now that the idea is in my head I'm seeing it everywhere
Weekly Menu Planning for Singles, Couples, and Working People at Cheap Healthy Good - glad to see I'm not the only non-family planning my meals

Green

Are Couch Potato Shoppers Greener than Mall Rats? at Green Inc (NYT) - I always thought so. I mentioned that I try to shop online only in my guest post about fashion on a budget at Get Rich Slowly last month
The Five Rs of Basic Frugality at Frugal for Life - I'm not the only one who thinks frugal and green go so closely hand in hand

Dishwasher vs Hand Washing Dishes

2009-03-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

Somewhere there is a green balance between the dishwasher and hand washing dishes. If you only run full loads and turn off the heated dry option, the dishwasher is actually more energy and water efficient than hand washing. The dishwasher also has the advantage of sanitizing items if people in your household are sick. If you have just a few large items to wash, hand washing is more energy and water efficient. You can also take your dish water outside when you're done and use it to water your garden.

In the past, I've been guilty of running un-full loads in the dishwasher and putting large items like mixing bowls in there but lately I've gotten a lot better about which method I use to wash my dishes. My new method is to put all small items in the dishwasher and hand wash all large items (and then use my dish water on the garden). If I need one of the small items again before I've run the dishwasher (it sometimes takes several days to fill it since I live alone), I just pull that item out and hand wash it rather than turning on the dishwasher at that point.

How do you do your dishes?

Wall-E

2009-03-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

I recently watched Wall-E (I rented it on iTunes which I think is one of the greenest ways to rent movies and renting is always greener and more frugal than buying for me since I rarely watch a movie a second time).

Beyond the movie being about robots I didn't really have any idea what it was going to be about. I was rather startled but pleased to see it was about Earth being so overrun by garbage that it was unfit for human life. On one hand the movie shows humans in such a state of reckless consumption that they don't notice their environment (either on Earth or on the space cruise ship) which I hope really wakes a lot of people up and on the other hand it shows Wall-E reusing what the humans considered trash and maintaining himself so that he doesn't need to be trashed and replaced which I hope plants ideas on how to appreciate "stuff" in viewers' minds.

If you haven't watched Wall-E yet, I think it's very much worth a few hours of your time.

Featured in the All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume 42.

Pasta Carbonara

2009-03-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

A recipe from this week's meal plan based on the Spaghetti Carbonara in Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, modified to use what I already had on hand and only require one pot for easy clean up.

6 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into strips
salt and pepper
1 package of pasta (approximately 1lb)
3 eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk

Prepare pasta according to package. While the pasta is cooking, wisk together milk, eggs, and cheese in a small bowl. When the pasta is done, drain and cover the strainer with the lid to your pot to keep it warm. In the same pot you prepared the pasta, cook the bacon. Once the bacon is cooked, add the pasta back to the pot then pour the egg mixture on top and stir. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Featured in the Make It From Scratch Carnival at Feels Like Home.

Buying Meat in Bulk at Costco

2009-03-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

I've found that the biggest ways I can save money on food are related to meat.

The first way is to not eat meat at all. I'm not a vegetarian but I would say I average eating meat less than one time a day. When I do eat meat I usually eat only half a chicken breast or steak at a time and eat the other half as leftovers for a later meal.

The second way is to buy my meat at Costco. I find meat at Costco costs less than half the regular price at Safeway and always below Safeway's lowest sale prices as well. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are usually around $2.49/lb. Ground beef around $2.99/lb. And steaks like top sirloin around $3.99/lb. (They have a large variety of more expensive meats as well but I generally stay away from those.) Costco memberships run $50/yr but you don't have to have a membership to shop their as long as you are accompanied by someone who does have a membership - they didn't used to let you check out separately from the person who has the card but they do now. I tag along with my mom every month or so and pick up one pack of chicken and one pack of beef each time. When I get home I freeze those in individual portions.

Features in the Festival of Frugality #169 at Remodeling this Life.
Shared via Frugal Friday at LifeasMOM.

Meal Plan 3/8

2009-03-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

This week I'm using Menu Maker Mom's Make-a-menu Binder system to use only things I already have (will need to buy sweet potatoes and an onion but that should be it). I'm trying to save a bit on groceries this week since my job is making me take 5 unpaid days off over the next 3 months.

Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair from Everyday Food magazine
Lemon Parsley Pork Chops with Roasted Sweet Potatoes from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Spaghetti Carbonara from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Lots of pasta this week because apparently that is what I have on hand. I'll probably substitute penne and frozen tortellini in two of the recipes since I have those on hand and it'll be a bit more variety.

Steak with Lemon and Chili-roasted Potatoes

2009-03-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

Here's one of my recipes from this week's meal plan. Adapted from Real Simple magazine. I'm making two servings with this recipe since I live alone, one for dinner tonight and one for lunch tomorrow.

2 russet potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks

1 scallion, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

1 piece of steak (your choice of cut, I'm using top sirlon which was $3.99/lb at Costco)

1 lemon

Heat oven to 425F. Mix the potatoes, scallion, oil, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and thyme in a medium bowl. Transfer to a roasting pan and cook, stirring once, until crisp and golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove the potatoes from oven and transfer to individual plates (or reusable food storage containers). Switch the oven to broiler mode. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Put on the same roasting pan you used for the potatoes. Broil the steak to the desired doneness, top sirlion takes about 10 minutes per side for medium-rare which is the way I like it. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes (this will make it so the juices don't run out when you cut it). Cut the steak in half (since we're doing 2 servings). Serve with potatoes and lemon wedges.

Featured in the Make it from Scratch Carnival at I've Got A Little Space to Fill.

Featured in the Weekend Eats Carnival at Ramble On.

Features in the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Hot and Spicy at LifeasMOM.

Generating Passive Income During Time Off Work

2009-03-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, my employer announced that everyone would need to take 5 days off unpaid every 3 month period until the economy recovers so that we don't need to lay anyone off. In addition to my 3 weeks of paid vacation time which cannot be applied to these unpaid days off, I now have 7 weeks off per year.

In my unpaid time off, I feel that I need to focus on generating passive income. My main source of this income over the past several years has been selling my photography at istockphoto.com (it's not easy and it does require the right equipment and technical skills, but if you're otherwise passionate for photography it may be a good option for you too).

My favorite way to do my photography is while traveling (I love architecture, scenery, and wildlife) so it's time to utilize my vacation fund. I'm saving $450 every 3 months which will be my budget for my trips. It's important to have that vacation money saved up in advance of spending it, especially in the current economic climate. I don't expect I'll be able to travel on all 5 of my unpaid days off on that budget but I should be able to do 3 or 4 days at a time. I live in California and am looking at traveling to relatively close locations like Arizona, British Columbia, and Colorado.

These photography trips will allow me to multitask during my forced time off by vacationing while generating more passive income. That passive income will smooth over my budget while my regular income is lower than usual.

Featured in the Festival of Frugality at Funny About Money.
Featured in the Money Hacks carnival at MoneyNing.

Kindle for iPhone

2009-03-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

I'm thrilled to see that Amazon has released a Kindle for iPhone application. I love the Kindle concept (no shipping/transportation or materials cost on the environment) but I wasn't able to justify shelling out $359 for another gadget when I already have an iPhone (and there's not room in my purse to keep another gadget with me at all times anyway). The best part about this app is it's free - I get all the benefits of the Kindle by using what I already have at no additional cost (beyond buying the books).

My only hesitation about the Kindle is book cost. An average book runs $9.99. You don't have the option to buy or sell used books, there's nothing like a public library, and as far as I can tell it's not easy to share books with your friends and family. This is the same concern that has kept me from purchasing movies via iTunes (I haven't been purchasing DVDs either though - just renting). I'll probably test out the Kindle for iPhone application on a few titles that I'd otherwise buy new, such as new releases that I want to read right away, but continue using the library for the most part.

I'm starting out with the free sample of In Defense of Food which is a book I've been wanting to read and haven't been able to get at the library yet.

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It's Frugal Being Green

2009-03-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

The best things you can do to be frugal make you green and the best things you can do to be green make you frugal. Somewhere within that balance hangs this blog.

Today Less Is More becomes It's Frugal Being Green. After the transition is complete, this blog will reside at www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com but haveless.blogspot.com will still get you there so no need to update your old bookmarks or links.

Enjoy!

How Much Can You Really Save by Going to a Cheaper Gas Station?

2009-03-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a question I've been pondering for years and I finally did the math to get myself an answer. How much can you really save by going to a cheaper gas station?

I follow gas prices at gasbuddy.com. The Costco station in my town is almost always the cheapest in my region. Today it's $2.10 per gallon. The Costco station is 7.2 miles round trip from my house. The 76 station about 300 yards down from my house is $2.21 today. I usually get about 10 gallons of gas at a time so overall I save $1.10 by going to the cheapest station vs the closest station.

My car averages 27.21 miles per gallon (I also track this using gasbuddy.com's fuel logbook feature). It takes me 0.26 gallons to get to Costco and back. Thus I calculate that I use $0.55 worth of gas to get there and back.

$1.10 - $0.55 = $0.55

After calculating the cost of gas to get to a further station, I'm only saving $0.55 by making the trip. Costco also almost always has a line so I waste quite a bit of time to save that $0.55. I only get gas three to four times a month so making the trip to Costco every time to save $2.20 a month just doesn't add up. I'll be going to the closest station from now on.

Meal Plan 3/1

2009-03-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

Meals for the week of 3/1

Baked Pasta with Winter Squash from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair from Everyday Food magazine
Steak with Lemon and Chili Roasted Potatoes from Real Simple magazine
Turkey Chili from Real Simple magazine

The Best of Less Is More: February 2009

2009-02-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

February 2009 has been the month that I feel this blog has really taken shape. I finally feel like it's going somewhere. I hope you agree and enjoy reading Less Is More.

Here are a few of my favorite posts from February here at Less Is More:

February 3rd: Recycled Paper: Closing the Recycling Loop
February 5th: Learning About Investing as a Child
February 7th: Get Rich Slowly: Fashion on a Budget
February 10th: Adjust Your Thermostat
February 12th: Asset Allocation
February 16th: ING Sub-accounts for Travel and Auto
February 17th: Fruit Trees and Global Warming
February 26th: Money Notes from Schwab's On Investing Spring 2009
February 27th: Martha Stewart's Cookies

And my favorite February posts on other blogs:

February 4th: Cheap Healthy Good's What the Great Depression Can Teach Us About Food and Frugality
February 5th: The Good Human's How To Save Energy and Money in Your Kitchen
February 9th: Centsible Savings' Using "Free Product" Coupons Wisely
February 12th: Coupon Cravings' Five Tips to Start Making Meals for $5 or Less
February 12th: Blueprint for Financial Prosperity's Ten Recession Busting Money Tips for Young Professionals
February 12th: Blueprint for Financial Prosperity's 20 Easy Money Making Ideas
February 17th: CFO: Chief Family Officer's Why You Need to Read More Than One "Deals" Site
February 19th: Blueprint for Financial Prosperity's Ten Tips for Successful Meal Planning
February 19th: Get Rich Slowly's How I Cut My Television Bill in Half
February 21st: New York Times' Strategies: The Index Funds Win Again
February 24th: Slashfood's Stop Shopping and Clear Your Fridge
February 24th: Greenhab: The Browns Go Green's Slashing Plastic

Martha Stewart's Cookies

2009-02-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

Since I loved Everyday Food: Great Food Fast so much, I had to pick up Martha Stewart's Cookies when I spotted it at Costco.

Martha Stewart's Cookies is a baking book with recipes for cookies, blondies, brownies, and bars arranged into sections by texture. The last section of the book also has a lot of useful information on the function of various ingredients and tools which I find absolutely fascinating. I see baking as a fun form of chemistry - interestingly, both Martha Stewart and my mother studied chemistry in college which I think is the root of why I'm such a big Martha Stewart fan.

I haven't baked anything out of this book yet but if it's half as good as Everyday Food: Great Food Fast then it'll be a hit.

Also, while I'm on the subject of Martha Stewart, I've really be enjoying her video podcast available on iTunes. Twenty or so new segments are released each month.

Money Notes from Schwab's On Investing Spring 2009

2009-02-26T05:30:00.000-08:00

I just got done flipping through Schwab's Spring 2009 issue of their On Investing magazine. Some things I thought hit particularly close to home for me (a 20-something woman who paid way too much in capital gains taxes in 2007) include...

How Roth IRAs can help young investors:

Contributions come from after tax money. The dollars in the account can grow tax free. (You can play around as much as you want buying and selling and experimenting with stocks without making a mess of your income taxes if you do so inside your Roth IRA.)
Paying taxes now instead of later can be especially appealing if you expect to be in a higher income tax bracket when you retire. (When you're an entry level employee you're probably not making as much as you will be at the end of your career and thus you'll be in a lower tax bracket - take this opportunity to pay as little tax as possible on your money for investing.)
You can still contribute to a Roth IRA for 2008 until April 15, 2009 as long as your adjusted gross income is under $116,000 (single) or $169,000 (married filing jointly).

Develop a tax-smart retirement portfolio (these guidelines will help you minimize the amount you pay in taxes on your investments):

Investments in individual stocks you plan to hold less than one year, mutual funds that generate significant short-term capital gains, taxable bonds, and real estate investment funds should be in tax sheltered accounts like your IRA or workplace retirement plan.
Investments in individual stocks you plan to hold more than one year, tax-managed equity funds and low-turnover equity funds such as index funds, municipal and savings bonds should be in your taxable accounts such as brokerage, bank and mutual fund accounts. (I could improve my index fund asset allocation plan by aiming to have my CDs and S&P 500 investments in my brokerage account and my small cap and international investments in my Roth IRA.)

Women and investing:

Did you know that the average woman in her 20s or 30s has less than $500 saved, yet her average unexpected expenditures in a given year are $2,000?
While a three to six month emergency fund may sound like an obvious financial strategy for the seasoned investor, you'd be surprised to discover how many of your friends, coworkers and loved ones don't have this basic financial cushion. (After a bit of overly aggressive investing when I should have been saving in cash, I finally have three months worth of expenses available in cash. I hope you're saving too.)

Eco-friendly Laundry Tips

2009-02-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

I like the idea behind using eco-friendly laundry detergent but after trying a few different types, I just don't feel like they're effective or budget friendly. Instead, I'm using concentrated free and clear (no added dyes or fragrances) types of detergent from the traditional laundry brands.

I'm also using these laundry tips to make my laundry as eco-friendly as possible while still using the detergent of my choice.

Washing

Only run full loads
Avoid fabric softener - I only use it on knit/crocheted blankets and sweaters
Use cold water (I use hot only if I have a full load of towels, sheets, and/or white socks)
Wear your clothes more than once between washings - the only things I won't rewear are socks, underwear, and the shirt layer closest to my body

Drying

Air dry rather than using the dryer
If you insist on using the dryer, divide your clothes by weight (light knits vs denim) rather than by color
Always clean out your lint trap before running your dryer
If you have more than one load to dry, do them in a row to utilize the heat still in the dryer from the first load

Take Your Own Cup to Starbucks

2009-02-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

When you take your own reusable cup to Starbucks you get $0.10 off your drink. It's not much but it adds up. I also find that if you order a tall sized drink, they'll put however much coffee necessary in your beverage to fill your cup.

In theory, taking your own cup is supposed to benefit the environment, but how many recyclable or biodegradable paper cups does it take to make more impact on the environment than one plastic or metal cup? I'm willing to bet the number is pretty high so you'd have to use your reusable cup many, many times before it actually makes a difference. I only stop by Starbucks a couple times a month so it'd take me years to get enough uses out of the reusable cup for it to be worth it, but since I already have one I take it and use it anyway.

Adjusting Your Budget for New Monthly Expenses

2009-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Up until now, I had perfect vision, but this month I needed to get glasses and contacts. This puts a major crimp in my budget. I'm fortunate to have vision insurance through my job but that insurance only covers my exams (I still have a copay) and $150 towards glasses or contacts per year. I used the insurance for my glasses (it didn't quite cover the whole cost) but I have to pay for the contacts out of pocket. My eye doctor recommends monthly disposables for my prescription needs and they'll run me about $50 a month.

Now contacts aren't a total necessity but I definitely prefer them. I'm used to seeing myself without glasses and just can't get used to the way I look with the glasses on. If I wear my contacts I can use the regular sunglasses I already have rather than needing to get prescription lenses for those. I have peripheral vision in focus with the contacts. And the contacts don't collect water in the rain or oils from my face and hair the way the glasses do so I feel like my vision is clearer throughout the day.

If I couldn't make $50 a month for the contacts work I could do without but since I can make it work and I prefer the contacts, I'll adjust my budget to include them. Fortunately I don't owe estimated taxes for the 2009 tax year so I can easily migrate what I was allotting for taxes to eye care.

A budget should be flexible. Make sure you allow for changing circumstances.

New Pots and Pans

2009-02-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

I got my federal tax refund last week and went to Macy's where I picked up this All Clad set of pots and pans today. Macy's has a deal where you get the 5.5 qt cast aluminum pan and a pair of oven mitts free at the time a purchase and has a mail in rebate for another cast aluminum au gratin pan that I'll be getting later.

I've been wanting new pots and pans for ages. My old ones are the cheapest non-stick set that was available at Costco when I moved into my first apartment. My mom always had stainless though so I was never happy with non-stick and recently the non-stick coating has started chipping off of my most used pans which is extremely bad for you if you ingest any of it. I'll be disposing of the chipped pans and putting the ones that are still good in a box for my sister to use when she gets her first apartment (she's in a college dorm right now).

So this 3 ply aluminum and stainless steel construction from All Clad was the most similar I could find to my mother's set (which was discontinued probably 30 years ago). It contains the sizes and shapes of pans I use most often and I got the set for about $550. A bit expensive all at once but cheaper than buying the pans individually and a good price for what should hopefully be all the pans I need for the rest of my life.

Now I just have to decide what to cook first.

Review: Gorgeously Green

2009-02-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life is a book directed at women with suggestions of how to live a greener life. I was unimpressed with the book, however, because most of it's suggestions were to immediately toss out anything "ungreen" that you already own and run out and buy a replacement. I feel that it's far greener to use up what you already have and replace with greener alternatives as those replacements are needed. I did like the checklist at the beginning and end of the book which is a simple way to get thinking about some green alternatives. It includes items like:

Are you aware how many bags of trash you generate weekly?
Do you try to buy things with less packaging?
Do you know about native plants?
Do all members of your family try to conserve water?

If you are looking for ways to become greener, the book is worth looking through, however think of the products it suggests as future alternatives rather than immediate needs.

How Do You Organize Your Food Storage Containers?

2009-02-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

I love reusable food storage containers because they're so much more eco-friendly than Ziploc bags, plastic wrap, or the like, but this cabinet is easily the most disorganized place in my house. I need help getting this cleaned up. How do you organize your food storage containers?

Fudge

2009-02-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Here's my favorite fudge recipe. Adapted from one of my mother's recipes.

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sour cream

2 1/4 cups sugar

5 oz small marshmallows

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix chocolate and marshmallows in large bowl. Blend sugar, butter and sour cream in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat to rolling boil stirring constantly (use a wooden spoon). Turn heat down but maintain rolling boil. Boil 6 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla and pour hot mixture over chocolate chips and marshmallows. Stir until blended. Pour into buttered pans and let stand 24 hours. Cut at room temperature. Makes 2 1/2 lbs. 1 cup nuts optional. 9" square pan or 3 dozen mini muffins.

Shared in the Ultimate Recipe Swap at LifeasMom.

Cleaning Schedule

2009-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

So you want to keep your house clean but you don't want to have to spend hours cleaning at a time. I break my cleaning down into 30 minute chunks that I do each day.

Sunday - Laundry

Monday - Bathrooms

Tuesday - Garden/Watering

Wednesday - Garbage/Recycling

Thursday - Kitchen

Friday - Garden/Watering

Saturday - Vacuum

Aside from these chores, I put things away as I'm done using them and do my dishes nightly. If I get a day or two behind I still don't have too much to do at once. If I'm having guests I'll take the time to dust and wash the windows but otherwise there isn't much to do.

What's your cleaning schedule?

New Car at 30% Off MSRP

2009-02-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to yesterday's saving for a new car post, I'd like to mention that I tagged along with my dad while he bought a new car yesterday afternoon. I would describe my dad as the cheapest person on the planet, he is a shrewd negotiator.

This was his first new car purchase since 1992. His 1992 Chrysler minivan is long past totaled but failed it's smog check this year. The State of California is giving him $1,000 for it since it's in working condition but doesn't pass smog (yes, that program does still have funding available).

He was looking at replacing that Chrysler with another Chrysler since he thought he could get about 30% off MSRP due to the financial state of Chrysler. However, Volkswagen is now producing minivans called Routan based on the same design Chrysler uses. (I'm not personally thrilled with the environmental friendliness of minivans but the other car my parents have is a Honda Insight and they need something that fits more than 2 people and/or has some cargo space sometimes so I suppose it balances out.) Volkswagen is more convenient for service for him because the dealership is only one mile from his house. (It may be cheaper to get service somewhere other than the dealership after the warrenty runs out but any service covered by the warrenty is free.)

After hours of negotiating, we were able to get 30% off the MSRP at Volkswagen as well.

If I needed a new car this would be the time to buy it (but fortunately mine is still in great condition), if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never have beleived 30% off MSRP was possible.

Fruit Trees and Global Warming

2009-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

I live in a townhouse and don't have a ton of space to garden (I have a small patch of dirt about 5ft by 5ft). I finally decided that a semi-dwarf lemon tree would be the perfect thing to plant in that space.

I arrived at that decision because, after years of experimentation with gardening, my mom decided that fruit is the most cost effective produce to grow (Get Rich Slowly also found fruit trees to be a winner in their garden project). She has a small suburban California yard in which she has planted a variety of dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees. Currently she has two apple trees, a lemon tree, an orange tree, two kumquat trees, a peach tree, and a cherry tree in the ground with room for four more trees (basically they're all planted in the lawn in the backyard, but with all the kids grown my parents don't have much need for a lawn anymore).

The lemon tree has been there my whole life so I've always been accustom to being able to quickly run outside and grab all the lemons I could possibly want for cooking and being able to have fresh lemonade by the pitcher full. After moving out I discovered much to my surprise that lemons can easily cost $1 each.

While consulting my mom over what variety of lemon would be best for my cooking purposes, my dad suggested I get a lime tree instead so that we could trade fruit. I decided that I really use lemons more and my mom commented that the climate in the San Francisco Bay Area is a bit too cool for limes to fully ripen. In a later conversation my mom mentioned that the oranges on her orange tree have gotten sweeter over the 20 years she's had the tree, the sweetness correlates to the warmth of the climate and I think we can attribute that change to global warming.

So shortly after I purchased my lemon tree (only $20 at Lowes - it'll pay for itself in approximately 20 lemons and convert some CO2 back to oxygen in the process), my dad decided he needed to buy a lime tree to put in one of the remaining 4 spaces for trees in his yard. He's hedging his bets that global warming will soon lead to ripe limes.

ING Sub-accounts for Travel and Auto

2009-02-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

In 2009, I started a couple new sub-accounts over at ING. I already had my emergency fund and my fun money there (fun money is all my extra income beyond my regular paychecks - basically any money I didn't budget to earn). I added sub-accounts for travel and auto expenses.

The auto fund receives $100 from each of my paychecks. I also transfer all my mileage reimbursements from work there. The auto fund pays for insurance (I pay every 6 months rather than monthly to get a discount), maintenance, registration, and eventually a new car (or at least a down payment for one). It will also be available if I need to use my insurance deductible (which I keep at $1000 - and have so far not had to ever use - for a lower premium). It doesn't pay for more frequent expenses like gas and parking.

The travel fund receives $75 from each of my paychecks. Travel is something that is very important to me to be doing and this sub-account is a way for me to save up for it in advance of the trips and not feel guilty about plunking down large chunks of money at once when I do have enough saved to go on those trips.

Sub-accounts are very easy to set up at ING and are a great way to budget for expenses that occur less often than monthly.

Meal Plan 2/15

2009-02-15T07:00:00.001-08:00

Meals for this week. These four items should yield me plenty of leftovers to get through the entire week.

Risotto from Fanny at Chez Panisse (my favorite kids cookbook)
Maple Roasted Chicken and Sweet Potatoes from an old issue of Real Simple
Baked Pasta with Winter Squash from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
Stir fry with strips of beef and snow peas (no recipe, I'll just wing this one)

eBates

2009-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

eBates payments for the fourth quarter of 2008 should be arriving any time now. I'm expecting $51.27 back this time around. eBates is a reputable and safe site that gives you a percentage back on purchases from it's participating online retailers. You need to log onto the eBates site and go through their links to the participating retailers each time you make a purchase and rebates are credited within a few days. Payments are sent quarterly. Sites I shop at through eBates include American Eagle, Apple iTunes, J Crew, Nordstrom, Travelocity, and Williams Sonoma. If you're not already a member and are considering joining please use my eBates links so we can each get $5 when you make your first purchase.

If you are already an eBates user, how much are you getting back this time?

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

2009-02-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of the most insightful books I've read in a very long time is Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. If you've ever needed a reason to appreciate budgeting and investing and not living paycheck to paycheck, this book is it. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is the author's first hand tale of working minimum wages jobs and living a minimum wage lifestyle in various regions of the country. She works jobs waitressing, cleaning, and folding clothes at Walmart and is really taken advantage of in each of those positions. This book should make anyone feel greatful about their job and financial position.

Master Shopping Lists

2009-02-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

How do you organize what you need to buy when you go to the grocery store? Obviously you should be using a list. But what items should be on that list? Everything you need for the next week that you don't already have should be on that list. What about items for stocking up?

It's easy to keep everything on one list with a master shopping list. At Target, Real Simple sells "Time to Get" magnetic pads for your refrigerator with many items already printed on them and blank space to write in more. Or here are some examples of master shopping lists and how to create them:
Create a Master Shopping List from Real Simple
Rachel Ray's Master Shopping List
Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine - Shopping List at the back of every issue

I suggest going through your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and writing down everything you keep in there on a regular basis. Type it up on the computer so you can modify it as necessary and keep one copy printed on your fridge each week to use.

As the week goes by, I highlight items I've used up, see that I'm running low on, need for a recipe I've found that I'd like to try, or just plain want.

Come Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, I plan my menu for the next week and circle all the items I need to get at the store.

Then I peruse ads and coupons (and couponing blogs to make sure I didn't miss any great deals) and figure out what other items that are highlighted are a good deal - circle those and get them now also. And if there are any great deals that aren't highlighted but are on my list, I can stock up now if I don't have too much on hand already.

Asset Allocation

2009-02-12T13:58:00.001-08:00

Asset allocation is, in my opinion, the most important way to diversify your investment portfolio and minimize risk.

My accounts are with Schwab and I follow their Aggressive Allocation plan (I've got approximately 40 years until retirement - as I get closer I'll shift to Moderate and then Conservative).

My portfolio is a bit out of balance right now (I may have been a bit too aggressive in my first few years of investing and I purchased large cap stocks almost exclusively).

Twice a month, I make an automatic transfer into my Roth IRA ($5000 per year divided by 24 = $208.33 each transfer).

I'm focusing on buying index funds at this time and I have choosen 3 Schwab funds (Schwab funds have no transaction fee/commission for Schwab customers to buy and sell which allows me to make frequent small purchases and take advantage of dollar cost averaging). These funds are SWPIX (S&P 500 Large Cap Index Fund), SWINX (International Index Fund), SWSMX (Small Cap Index Fund). I also keep my cash inside CDs within my investment accounts for maximum interest.

So twice a month when I get an email notification that my automatic transfer has been received, I log onto my Schwab account. Check my asset allocation chart. See how much extra cash I have and invest that in whichever one of my large cap, small cap, or international areas is most out of balance.

As I get older, I'll adjust to moderate or conservative allocations by putting my new money into fixed income or cash rather than buying more stocks.

What's Your Go To Cleaning Product?

2009-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

What's your go to cleaning product? Mine has always been Simple Green.

I like it for two reasons. One - it's effective. Two - it's environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and biodegradable.

My mom was always a big fan of using Simple Green to clean everything because she either had small children or small pets down on the floor and didn't want them ingesting anything unsafe. I find that Simple Green and some elbow grease gets the floor or the shower or whatever you need to clean cleaner than a Swiffer or a Magic Eraser any day.

Adjust Your Thermostat

2009-02-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hopefully you're already using a programmable thermostat. If you're not it's time to get one and install it. If you are, are there any adjustments you can make to your program?

I recently adjusted mine so that it turns itself on 30 minutes later in the morning. I had it set to come on at 6:30am when I need to be waking up at 7:30am but I found that every morning around 7am I was warmed up and ready to get out of bed. Since I don't need to be up at 7am, I decided to make 7am the time the heat comes on so that I'm warmed up and ready to get out of bed at 7:30am.

You've probably noticed something about the way your programming is set up since you set it up and have a change or two worth making to help you save money on your heating bill and contribute a little less to global warming.