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Posted
Aug 10 2009, 11:43 AM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Everybody knows that one way to save money on groceries is to eat less meat. In these lean times, lots of people have been rediscovering beans and rice, staple foods of many traditional cuisines.
Now there's an international movement for a Meatless Monday. While the motivations are environment and health, eating less meat is still a good way to save money.
And, of course, being healthier saves money, too.
Our mother loved telling the story about the time she sent for some free recipes from a woman's magazine, which offered to match the recipes to the food budget. The magazine wrote back that they didn't have any recipes for a budget that low and asked if she had considered food stamps. Mom was a good shopper, but she also benefitted from the fact that four of her six children wouldn't eat meat. And everybody went meatless on Friday as part of the traditional Catholic observance. Those Friday night pancake dinners were really cheap.
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Posted
Apr 04 2009, 10:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Kris at Cheap Healthy Good.
Up until a few years ago, the list of foods I loathed was a long one. It included, but wasn't limited to: spaghetti squash, broccoli, asparagus, red cabbage, ginger ale, cauliflower, radishes, lentils, beans, Brussels sprouts, fennel, eggplant, anise, scallops, figs, and of course, the dreaded mayonnaise.
The list goes on (and on), but you get the idea: Growing up, I wasn't exactly a daring eater.
I still hate mayo. I will ALWAYS hate mayo. George Clooney could serve me mayo wrapped in chocolate bacon on a gold-plated reissue of "Who's Next," and I would throw it back in his face. But my opinion's changed on most of those other foods. These days, I'll gladly scarf a floret of cauliflower. Brussels sprouts hold a special place on my dinner table. And eggplant? Well, eggplant is my favorite thing ever, aside from the panda song from "Sifl & Olly." (In fact, you could say I'm drunk on eggplant mystery.)
Granted, part of it is just me aging. At 31, my palate's matured a little, and my tastes now lean more toward savory than sweet. The other part, though, can be directly attributed to recent changes in my lifestyle.
See, a few years ago, I resolved to learn to cook, to eat healthier, and to better manage my money. As it turned out, vegetables and legumes were vital to making this work, because they're exponentially cheaper than meat and much more nutritious than most starches. So, I had to confront my fears. I had to expand my produce repertoire beyond corn, carrots, corn, and carrots.
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Posted
Jul 22 2008, 07:25 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. With presidential hopeful Barack Obama mentioning a potential second economic-stimulus check, many folks are clamoring to know more. Unfortunately, there's not much else to say about it other than that he'd push for one in the short term. I, however, offer a different solution. In order to find an additional $600, you need only cut $50 in spending a month. In reality, that comes out to only $11.54 a week. Reduce your spending by $11.54 a week and you will have created your own stimulus check. That's it. Can you do it? I'm betting that you can, and here are some recommendations for what you might want to trim.
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Posted
Apr 08 2009, 12:41 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Shoppers found Wegmans and Trader Joe's supermarkets among the most satisfying chains to shop at, according to Consumer Reports' latest survey of national and regional grocery chains.
Consumer Reports asked 32,599 respondents about their experiences at supermarkets, supercenters and warehouse clubs in the past year. In total, Consumer Reports' ratings include information from 48,831 store visits.
Rounding out some of the other top-rated chains that shoppers found to be very satisfying were Publix, Raley's, Harris Teeter, Fareway, Costco, Whole Foods Market, Market Basket, WinCo Foods, and Stater Bros.
Wal-mart, the nation's largest grocer and the supermarket where the highest percentage of survey respondents shopped (14%), landed near the bottom of CR's ratings, with low scores for service and perishables. Target proved better than many chains but has only 200 locations with a full grocery store inside.
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Posted
Jan 16 2008, 02:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
China has taken it on the chin for contaminated pet food and toys, but that developing country has taken a huge positive step by banning thin plastic shopping bags. Those white bags are annoying -- they're more common in trees than bird nests -- and wasteful. "While people seem to be more aware than ever about global warming, they don't make the connection to plastic being made from petroleum," writes Betsy Teutsch of Money Changes Things. In the United States, only San Francisco and about 30 Alaska villages have made the move.
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Posted
Apr 29 2008, 12:47 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
To some, 60 minutes may be a TV show, but to Kris at Cheap Healthy Good, it's the time she takes each week to implement her personal system for saving major money on groceries. With the rising price of food, this is something we all need to read about. Before you try her system, she advocates three steps. First: Junk any food on hand "that A) you can't identify, B) is in an advanced state of decay or mummification, and/or C) is old enough to be carbon-dated."
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Posted
Apr 18 2008, 03:47 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The scramble is on by major retailers to get you to spend your tax refund or tax rebate check with them. (By the way, contrary to what many people believe, you don't have to pay that rebate back.) Cathy at Chief Family Officer informs readers that Kroger Co., which owns Kroger stores and a boatload of other chains -- will give you a 10% bonus if you turn that refund or rebate into a gift card at one of its many stores. (For a complete list of stores and a detailed description of the offer, read the press release here.) Sears Holding Co. has announced a similar bonus for Sears, Kmart and Lands' End stores. But are these really good deals?
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Posted
Mar 20 2008, 02:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Melissa at A Penny Closer used to be skeptical about all of the gloom-and-doom talk about the economy. No longer. Now she's having a very difficult time staying within her $75-a-week food budget, even though she's buying less meat. "In the past I could shrug off the pessimism," she writes, "but now it's hit home in a new way and I'm a little nervous." Even pet food costs more. The sale price for the same can of cat food at her local store went from 33 cents to 44 cents in two weeks. What is her plan to cope? No more monthly $50 donations to the "fun money" savings account, even fewer meat-based meals, and more soup-and-sandwich dinners are among her strategies.
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Posted
Aug 17 2009, 08:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Before you decide this post has no bearing on your life, consider whether you or someone you know has celiac disease, a common condition that's often undiagnosed.
A recent New York Times story focused on a music teacher whose illness was overlooked by doctors for years, despite his history of broken bones and stomach problems. The condition, which afflicts one in 100 people, reduces the small intestine's ability to absorb nutrients, which can cause low bone density, anemia, malnutrition and infertility.
Concerned? Read more here. Luckily, you can control celiac disease by eliminating gluten, a protein found in some grains, from your diet. Unfortunately, the NYT story says, many products advertised as gluten-free often cost three times more than their standard wheat, barley or rye versions.
The story offers some tips for cutting those food costs.
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Posted
Nov 16 2007, 09:52 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Want to save a ton of money and enjoy comfort food to boot? Bake some potatoes in your slow cooker. I did this one recent weekend morning and they were done to a tender turn after two hours on the high setting. The aroma was irresistible, even though I'd had a late breakfast, so I split open one of the smaller spuds, glossed it with butter and sprinkled on some coarse kosher salt. Afterward, I realized this was probably the cheapest snack I've had in ages. At 99 cents for a 10-pound bag, the per-spud price was about 4 cents. The butter cost less than 2 cents (loss-leader price plus coupon). The price of the salt was infinitesimal, since it came from a one-pound box I bought at the dollar store . They can make a cheap supper, too, and involve practically no labor. We know that on some nights, we're more vulnerable to the allure of Thai takeout or the fast-food drive-through – maybe Mondays send us reeling, or Thursdays are crunch days at work. So on those nights, plan a spud supper instead
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