Level 2: Dollar Diva
Shop Wisely
Decrease the number of trips you make to the store—any store. This will decrease your exposure to “wants” thereby decreasing impulse purchases. Really, it works! Not to mention, it is good for the environment. Think about how many ways this reduces your carbon footprint. It also decreases wear and tear on your vehicle, and how much you spend on gas. Calculate how much cutting out two or three extra trips saves you in gasoline expenses.
To make this calculation, multiply the price per gallon of gas by the number of miles driven roundtrip. Then divide that answer by the miles per gallon your vehicle gets. Or check out this online fuel-cost calculator that does the work for you, or this road trip calculator for long trips between specific cities.
For instance, gas at $3.50 per gallon multiplied by 30 miles roundtrip, and then divided by 20 mpg. fuel efficiency equals $5.25 per trip. That may not seem like much, but how many trips do you make in a month? And what could you purchase, pay down, or even earn through investment, instead? Even if you saved—and invested—only that $21 per month at 8% for 25 years, you’d have almost $20,000. Don’t believe me? See how much you can earn.
Here’s where to calculate how much more quickly you could pay off your car. And here is my favorite calculator site for mortgage, credit card, student loan, and other financial decisions.
Remember, the above example takes into account only the savings generated by decreasing your gasoline costs. Think about how much less money you probably spend on impulse purchases at the store, or food to eat while you’re out shopping.
How, specifically, could you improve your financial situation by decreasing the number of shopping trips per month? Take the challenge and let me know.
Grocery Budget Extreme Makeover Part XI
Homemade Helpers: Baking Powder
Hello, my fellow frugal friends. The last time I tried to buy baking powder at the local grocery store, they were only selling a brand with sodium aluminum sulfate in it. So, when I needed some earlier this week I decided to do some research and found a few different, but similar, recipes for making it on the cheap at home! I thought you might appreciate the do-it-yourself nature.
According to the SmittenKitchen:
To make your own baking powder–some say with fewer metallic undertones than the commercial stuff–mix one part baking soda to one part cornstarch and two parts cream of tartar.
Baking powder recipe from Gourmet.com
Baking powder recipe from About.com
According to Wikipedia, to enhance leavening without baking powder in recipes like those of the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet):
Baking powder is generally just baking soda mixed with an acid, and a number of kitchen acids may be mixed with baking soda to simulate commercial blends of baking powder. Vinegar (dilute ethanoic acid), especially white vinegar, is also a common acidifier in baking; for example, many heirloom chocolate cake recipes call for a tablespoon or two of vinegar. Where a recipe already uses buttermilk or yogurt, baking soda can be used without cream of tartar (or with less). Alternatively, lemon juice can be substituted for some of the liquid in the recipe, to provide the required acidity to activate the baking soda.
On Monday, I successfully used the baking powder recipe from Gourmet.com to make these tasty muffins (not SCD), and the baking soda/yogurt combination to make the SCD “Mom’s Blueberry Muffins” recipe from Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
If you decide to try it, I'd love to know how this homemade baking powder recipe works for you.
Grocery Budget Extreme Makeover Part X
Level 2: Dollar Diva
Challenge Yourself
Look at the three most expensive items on your grocery receipt and find less expensive alternatives. Click here and here to see how others answer the question, “What’s your most expensive grocery item?”
Every month I reevaluate all of my grocery expenditures and search for lower cost alternatives. Here are a few items where I have found less expensive options.
For me, the most costly items are specialty foods for my younger daughter who is on the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet). Once I finally learned to cook some simple meats for her (twenty three years of being a vegetarian meant my meat cooking skills were nil), I replaced the Applegate Farms hot dogs, which were $7.99 per pack at the only store that carried them, with local organic meats from the farmer’s market for between $3.50 and $6.00 per pound. In a pinch, when I couldn’t find local, organic meat—or couldn’t stomach the cost at Whole Foods—I did buy grocery store chicken, but those of you with kids on the SCD know how potentially dangerous that can be given the possible additives.
I also stopped buying cheese, another food of which we eat a lot, at the grocery store. Now, I buy it in five-pound blocks at the restaurant supply store, where they slice it for free. This means that I can make provolone taco shells, SCD cheese “crackers,” toppings for spaghetti squash, and so on without feeling guilty at the cost of the small packages. Earlier this month I paid $2.59 per pound for provolone, and $2.99 per pound for Swiss purchased this way. Another additional benefit is that they slice it extra thin, which extends the number of servings, and makes it easier to melt when we use it as toppings for pizza, etc. Just in case you’re wondering, when I get it home from the store, I separate it into four or five quart-sized freezer bags and store it in the freezer until we need it.
Convenience foods, specialty items, meat/seafood, dairy, and out-of-season produce are often the most expensive purchases for American consumers. How about you? What are your three most expensive food items?
