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• The leftover calendar: Getting more from food dollars

  Posted Jul 08 2008, 05:05 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Saving, Dining, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, Groceries
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  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  My wife and I have been trying to cook more often as a way to combat the rising price of everything. One unfortunate side effect of this is that we've been throwing out our leftovers as we discover them pushed to the back of our refrigerator.

  The solution is to use a leftover calendar. We took advantage of a calendar we already have on a kitchen wall and turned it into our leftover calendar. We found a Sharpie and stuck it on top of the calendar. As we make meals, we write what we made in the box for that day. As we eat the leftovers, we cross it off the list.   Read More...

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• Cut just one cup a week

  Posted Jun 02 2008, 08:44 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Saving, Dining, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, Budgeting
  Rating:

  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  Cut out the morning coffee at Starbucks!

  Bring a bag lunch!

  Stop drinking alcoholic beverages!

  If you've been trying to find areas to trim in your budget, those are likely the first three things you'll hear suggested, right? The Latte Factor! It's horrible that you're wasting money on coffee you can brew at home. It's a travesty! OK, except you don't have a coffee maker at home, have hardly any time in the morning to brew it, and if you don't have it -- oh boy, your office had better watch out because you'll be one cranky man/woman/beast.   Read More...

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• Breathe new life into old things

  Posted Dec 24 2007, 12:39 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Spending, Saving, Dining, Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

  This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

  We live in a disposable society. We've gotten so used to everything being so cheap that we often think about replacement before we think about refurbishment. That's great for companies but bad for our budgets and our environment.

  I experienced this firsthand a month ago when I pulled out my coffeemaker to make a cup of coffee.

  About a year or two ago I took advantage of a Gevalia free coffeemaker offer that gave me two little bags of Gevalia coffee, a travel mug, and a 12-cup programmable coffeemaker for only $5. It was the first coffeemaker I had seen that used little cone-shaped coffee filters, and I thought they were a custom shape you had to buy from Gevalia.   Read More...

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