The greatest savings is in the kitchen.
Effectively cooking with raw ingredients is cheap. It helps promote good health, and it's a useful hobby to take up.
I bake a lot now, keeps me busy, keeps some snacks in the house. Banana bread is cheap to make, homemade bread, muffins, cookies, English muffins. Ice cream, chicken stock, soup, pudding. If it can be made at home. I will try it.
This week I will be trying to make my own yoghurt at home. It doesn't require anything but a pot, crockpot, oven and milk. Some culture from bought yoghurt to start it. Then you can use you own culture.
I will try it and report back with how it turned out and a proper recipe.
What homemade products do you prefer over store bought? For either quality or price.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Sixty Cent Bread
Quick and easy bread. Takes maybe 30 minutes to make and cook, costs you 60 cents in ingredients.
Recipe:
2 1/5 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil/canola oil
Throw it all in a mixer, use dough hook. (Can also knead by hand.) Add herbs if desired. Turn out onto floured surface, cut into 3 parts, (I usually braid mine as I use it for snack food, can also be used for a hard shell bun or a hard shell loaf) roll out 3 parts into snakes, braid them. Smush together both tips. Cover in butter or oil, maybe some salt if you like pretzels, bake for 20 minutes.
Add milk if you prefer a much softer bread. This is still pretty soft, especially when warm. Think inside of a pretzel.
I used to sell these when I was in college, made an extra $200 a month doing this, and I could do it while studying, or cooking supper. It's super easy, super delicious, as a loaf makes great sandwich bread, I also added dried fruit sometimes for a pull apart delicious bread. Cinnamon and icing works too. Have fun with it!
Happy frugal baking :)
Recipe:
2 1/5 cup Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil/canola oil
Throw it all in a mixer, use dough hook. (Can also knead by hand.) Add herbs if desired. Turn out onto floured surface, cut into 3 parts, (I usually braid mine as I use it for snack food, can also be used for a hard shell bun or a hard shell loaf) roll out 3 parts into snakes, braid them. Smush together both tips. Cover in butter or oil, maybe some salt if you like pretzels, bake for 20 minutes.
Add milk if you prefer a much softer bread. This is still pretty soft, especially when warm. Think inside of a pretzel.
I used to sell these when I was in college, made an extra $200 a month doing this, and I could do it while studying, or cooking supper. It's super easy, super delicious, as a loaf makes great sandwich bread, I also added dried fruit sometimes for a pull apart delicious bread. Cinnamon and icing works too. Have fun with it!
Happy frugal baking :)
Beer Bread
Store bought bread is too soft for my liking, I can't make a good sandwich out of it, and it's expensive!
Here's my homemade recipe for beer bread, inspired when I cleaned out the fridge and found an opened bottle of flat beer, with only a sip taken out.
Recipe:
3 cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 bottle beer
1/2 cup melted butter
Preheat oven to 375F
Bake for 1 hour
Cool for 15 minutes
Throw all into mixer (I love my KitchenAid)
Grease pan.
Bake.
Seriously. That's it. No need for proofing, or scoring. Just mix and bake.
I add herbs, or heartier flour. It's a pretty versatile recipe. Make it suit your needs :)
Here's my homemade recipe for beer bread, inspired when I cleaned out the fridge and found an opened bottle of flat beer, with only a sip taken out.
Recipe:
3 cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 bottle beer
1/2 cup melted butter
Preheat oven to 375F
Bake for 1 hour
Cool for 15 minutes
Throw all into mixer (I love my KitchenAid)
Grease pan.
Bake.
Seriously. That's it. No need for proofing, or scoring. Just mix and bake.
I add herbs, or heartier flour. It's a pretty versatile recipe. Make it suit your needs :)
Homemade Ice Cream
Who doesn't love ice cream!
Though it's awfully expensive to buy in the stores, it's quite cheap to make at home!
I have an ice cream maker (~$20), but you can make ice cream without one.
You have two choices, either freeze your ice cream mixture, and stir it occasionally ensuring it doesn't freeze into one solid mass(this usually takes 3 hours), or you can hand shake your ice cream in a homemade ice cream "machine" consisting of 1 smaller ziplock bag, and a large ziplock bag, kosher salt, and ice.
Place the salt and ice in the biggest bag, and insert the smaller bag (filled with the ice cream recipe) in the the salt bag. Seal all bags VERY SECURELY. Then you just need to shake until the ice cream starts to crystallize You can wrap the bags in a towel to keep your hands warmer. This method yields a soft serve style ice cream.
Recipe:
2 cups Whipping Cream
2 cups Blend Cream
3/4 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
You mix it all together in a bowl, chill it in the fridge, and follow your "machine's" directions. This recipe is very versatile I have added mint extract and choc chips, or peanut butter and choc chips, you can add cocoa powder for a chocolate ice cream base. I have even added candied bacon!
Though it's awfully expensive to buy in the stores, it's quite cheap to make at home!
I have an ice cream maker (~$20), but you can make ice cream without one.
You have two choices, either freeze your ice cream mixture, and stir it occasionally ensuring it doesn't freeze into one solid mass(this usually takes 3 hours), or you can hand shake your ice cream in a homemade ice cream "machine" consisting of 1 smaller ziplock bag, and a large ziplock bag, kosher salt, and ice.
Place the salt and ice in the biggest bag, and insert the smaller bag (filled with the ice cream recipe) in the the salt bag. Seal all bags VERY SECURELY. Then you just need to shake until the ice cream starts to crystallize You can wrap the bags in a towel to keep your hands warmer. This method yields a soft serve style ice cream.
Recipe:
2 cups Whipping Cream
2 cups Blend Cream
3/4 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
You mix it all together in a bowl, chill it in the fridge, and follow your "machine's" directions. This recipe is very versatile I have added mint extract and choc chips, or peanut butter and choc chips, you can add cocoa powder for a chocolate ice cream base. I have even added candied bacon!
Cut the Cord!
We cancelled our digital cable and have not looked back for one second.
One day we bought a $800 desktop, while it was on sale at FutureShop, hooked it up to our living room tv (our only tv) and called Bell to cancel our cable service.
It cost us $180 to cancel our Bell service, but it was $200 a month for said service, so that was a no-brainer. See what your contract entails, sometimes you can cancel for free if they broke anything in the contract, such as mistakes during billing periods or denying services that you were paying for. Read the fine print!
We stream and torrent everything we enjoy watching now. As well at we have a Netflix account that is shared between my whole family, and several friends. This means we don't pay a penny for Netflix. Setting up the American Netflix Hack was a must, as our Canadian Netflix has limited titles, especially in the movie department. This is the video I watched showing me how to set up the hack, and this is the website you can download the program at. I used ProXPN which is a free service, you can easily turn it on and off. I have yet to notice any sort of a glitch or error while running the program.
Once we cut the cord we were also able to sell my boyfriend's xbox360, and still trying to sell my PS3. This is because we play most everything on our desktop now. Steam is a great company to buy desktop games from, as well as they have great sales every once in awhile, and fantastic indie games to try out.
I am still in the process of trying to find a way to hook up my PS3 controllers to my desktop, so I can play games off of Steam in comfort.
Anyone else cut the cord? How was your process?
One day we bought a $800 desktop, while it was on sale at FutureShop, hooked it up to our living room tv (our only tv) and called Bell to cancel our cable service.
It cost us $180 to cancel our Bell service, but it was $200 a month for said service, so that was a no-brainer. See what your contract entails, sometimes you can cancel for free if they broke anything in the contract, such as mistakes during billing periods or denying services that you were paying for. Read the fine print!
We stream and torrent everything we enjoy watching now. As well at we have a Netflix account that is shared between my whole family, and several friends. This means we don't pay a penny for Netflix. Setting up the American Netflix Hack was a must, as our Canadian Netflix has limited titles, especially in the movie department. This is the video I watched showing me how to set up the hack, and this is the website you can download the program at. I used ProXPN which is a free service, you can easily turn it on and off. I have yet to notice any sort of a glitch or error while running the program.
Once we cut the cord we were also able to sell my boyfriend's xbox360, and still trying to sell my PS3. This is because we play most everything on our desktop now. Steam is a great company to buy desktop games from, as well as they have great sales every once in awhile, and fantastic indie games to try out.
I am still in the process of trying to find a way to hook up my PS3 controllers to my desktop, so I can play games off of Steam in comfort.
Anyone else cut the cord? How was your process?
Managing Money and Debts
Next up was to issue the flow of money.
We were poor every week after paycheck and couldn't figure out why. I built a spreadsheet and saw where our money was leaking. Now we have $500 a month to pay off debt.
It was important to both of us to have spending money, but we had to find a way to limit ourselves. So we set us a separate bank account for each of us, and we get $100 a week, anything extra left over and it goes towards our personal debt. This gives us motivation to try and spend less, as well as not allowing us to overspend.
The credit cards stay at home now, and are being paid off. We only use them for paying bills online, and then we immediately transfer funds to pay them off again.
Credit card debt is the absolute worse: highest interest rates and far too easy to use. I actually found a way to pay mine off completely by using some on my line of credit I had left from completing college. Now I can put my credit card payments towards my line of credit as well, creating a snowball effect that will speed up my debt repayment and shorten the path to a debt free life.
We both have pretty hefty student loans, that will take between 10-15 years to pay off if we stick to minimum payments. We are leaving those loans as a last priority due to low interest rates. We will continue to make minimum payments on every loan, but they will be the last to receive the snowball effect. If all goes according to plan we should be able to be debt free within 8 years!
What do you do to manage your flow of cash, and to reduce your debts?
We were poor every week after paycheck and couldn't figure out why. I built a spreadsheet and saw where our money was leaking. Now we have $500 a month to pay off debt.
It was important to both of us to have spending money, but we had to find a way to limit ourselves. So we set us a separate bank account for each of us, and we get $100 a week, anything extra left over and it goes towards our personal debt. This gives us motivation to try and spend less, as well as not allowing us to overspend.
The credit cards stay at home now, and are being paid off. We only use them for paying bills online, and then we immediately transfer funds to pay them off again.
Credit card debt is the absolute worse: highest interest rates and far too easy to use. I actually found a way to pay mine off completely by using some on my line of credit I had left from completing college. Now I can put my credit card payments towards my line of credit as well, creating a snowball effect that will speed up my debt repayment and shorten the path to a debt free life.
We both have pretty hefty student loans, that will take between 10-15 years to pay off if we stick to minimum payments. We are leaving those loans as a last priority due to low interest rates. We will continue to make minimum payments on every loan, but they will be the last to receive the snowball effect. If all goes according to plan we should be able to be debt free within 8 years!
What do you do to manage your flow of cash, and to reduce your debts?
Cutting Costs
This May, I had just moved into my first apartment, with my current boyfriend. This made for a lot of new responsibility as well as new financial challenges.
We liked the area, and the price was right. As well as we were taking over the lease for his elderly father so it worked out well.
We both work minimum wage, but I'm a cook, and took over the meal planning/budget.
Most of our shopping is done at Costco, with the occasional offset of small purchases at Superstore. Costco offers large cuts of meat and small prices. I already knew how to break down meat into portions, but a quick YouTube video taught my boyfriend. It is worth the time you invest in chopping up those proteins, and if you have space for a deep freezer I am sure it would be even more profitable. As it is now, we just use the freezer in our refrigerator.
Toilet paper and frozen fruit are also dirt cheap here. Fresh produce isn't worth it unless you have a mormon sized family. The muffins freeze well, but can be made cheaper at home, also they mould super quickly if left unfrozen.
If you buy your gas at Superstore, you receive coupons for groceries. It's only a dollar or so each time we fill the tank, but it adds up, money is money after all!
Laundry was our big change eater. $1.75 for a wash and $1.75x2 for a dry (the dryer is half the size and needs two runs). So I bought a drying rack. $10 and has saved us that within two weeks.
We never run the dryer anymore, and can even dry up all our bed sheets inside on a rainy day, if we run some twine throughout the house. Makes for a welcoming smell to come home to.
I cut out paper towel, but then I realized I was washing dish cloths so much I was paying the same as I would for paper towel. Problem solved: bucket of bleach and water under the sink. Cloths goes in there, after a week they get wrung out, rinsed out, and dried. No machines! No bacteria!
I started unplugging everything we didn't need plugged in 24/7. Unsure how much it saves. But it makes us think twice before using the microwave. I don't think I've used it in months. So that's a bonus. The microwave made us lazy, and we would buy quick frozen meals just to eat quickly. Having to turn on the stove meant we have to make meals from scratch, which is fun once you know what you are doing, and can play around with your spices.
Cut the cord! No more Bell Aliant! Bought a desktop on sale and hooked it up to our living room tv. We stream, download and Netflix everything now. Also did the American Netflix hack (Canadian Netflix is sorta lame.) Sold our old laptops and his xbox360. We were paying $200 a month for tv before, and didn't enjoy it. Now we have shows we follow, more free time as no commercials and more gaming power! WoW runs ultra smooth. Good choice. Also no more commercials means no more in-your-face product-pressure.
We got a kitten. Called around and found the cheapest vet, and started volunteering at the SPCA to receive more discounts. Also started fostering kittens, it's free, they pay for food and litter, and this way we didn't have to buy a second cat as a companion for our terribly hyper kitten. Win win. Since we started fostering she has calmed down, learned how hard she bites, and doesn't bite or claw during play anymore. I guess she was just socially awkward.
We were both buying snacks for the bus, and at work. Now I make snacks that fit it a 1 cup mason jar. Jello, homemade pudding (cheaper than the packaged stuff), applesauce, yogurt and fruit. Muffins in jars. Cookies. Whatever. It's easy for us to grab and go, limits the need for buying snacks all the time, allows us to eat healthier, and the jars are super easy to clean.
I work the nightshift at work, which means I cannot always get the bus home, which also means I have to fork over $18 a cab ride. When I did the math, I realized it would be just as cost efficient for us to own a car, and more convenient to boot! We bought a used car, a 2011 Nissan Versa, which is super easy on gas and easy to park downtown. As well as we have something to trade in if we ever move to a different location and no longer need the vehicle.
What ways have you found to cut costs out of your lifestyle?
We liked the area, and the price was right. As well as we were taking over the lease for his elderly father so it worked out well.
We both work minimum wage, but I'm a cook, and took over the meal planning/budget.
Most of our shopping is done at Costco, with the occasional offset of small purchases at Superstore. Costco offers large cuts of meat and small prices. I already knew how to break down meat into portions, but a quick YouTube video taught my boyfriend. It is worth the time you invest in chopping up those proteins, and if you have space for a deep freezer I am sure it would be even more profitable. As it is now, we just use the freezer in our refrigerator.
Toilet paper and frozen fruit are also dirt cheap here. Fresh produce isn't worth it unless you have a mormon sized family. The muffins freeze well, but can be made cheaper at home, also they mould super quickly if left unfrozen.
If you buy your gas at Superstore, you receive coupons for groceries. It's only a dollar or so each time we fill the tank, but it adds up, money is money after all!
Laundry was our big change eater. $1.75 for a wash and $1.75x2 for a dry (the dryer is half the size and needs two runs). So I bought a drying rack. $10 and has saved us that within two weeks.
We never run the dryer anymore, and can even dry up all our bed sheets inside on a rainy day, if we run some twine throughout the house. Makes for a welcoming smell to come home to.
I cut out paper towel, but then I realized I was washing dish cloths so much I was paying the same as I would for paper towel. Problem solved: bucket of bleach and water under the sink. Cloths goes in there, after a week they get wrung out, rinsed out, and dried. No machines! No bacteria!
I started unplugging everything we didn't need plugged in 24/7. Unsure how much it saves. But it makes us think twice before using the microwave. I don't think I've used it in months. So that's a bonus. The microwave made us lazy, and we would buy quick frozen meals just to eat quickly. Having to turn on the stove meant we have to make meals from scratch, which is fun once you know what you are doing, and can play around with your spices.
Cut the cord! No more Bell Aliant! Bought a desktop on sale and hooked it up to our living room tv. We stream, download and Netflix everything now. Also did the American Netflix hack (Canadian Netflix is sorta lame.) Sold our old laptops and his xbox360. We were paying $200 a month for tv before, and didn't enjoy it. Now we have shows we follow, more free time as no commercials and more gaming power! WoW runs ultra smooth. Good choice. Also no more commercials means no more in-your-face product-pressure.
We got a kitten. Called around and found the cheapest vet, and started volunteering at the SPCA to receive more discounts. Also started fostering kittens, it's free, they pay for food and litter, and this way we didn't have to buy a second cat as a companion for our terribly hyper kitten. Win win. Since we started fostering she has calmed down, learned how hard she bites, and doesn't bite or claw during play anymore. I guess she was just socially awkward.
We were both buying snacks for the bus, and at work. Now I make snacks that fit it a 1 cup mason jar. Jello, homemade pudding (cheaper than the packaged stuff), applesauce, yogurt and fruit. Muffins in jars. Cookies. Whatever. It's easy for us to grab and go, limits the need for buying snacks all the time, allows us to eat healthier, and the jars are super easy to clean.
I work the nightshift at work, which means I cannot always get the bus home, which also means I have to fork over $18 a cab ride. When I did the math, I realized it would be just as cost efficient for us to own a car, and more convenient to boot! We bought a used car, a 2011 Nissan Versa, which is super easy on gas and easy to park downtown. As well as we have something to trade in if we ever move to a different location and no longer need the vehicle.
What ways have you found to cut costs out of your lifestyle?
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