Wise Bread (Thursday Bram)

Giving Gifts That Will Save Money

Thursday Bram — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:18:02 +0000

I love the holiday season. I love being able to bake cookies and give them to my friends, put up decorations and — most of all — give gifts. But with only a couple of weeks left until Hanukkah and a few more after that until Christmas, I'm really trying to buckle down with my gift lists.

With the current economic crunch, I know a lot of people are focusing on items they can make themselves or that they can purchase on sale. I'm taking a little bit of a different route this year, though. Instead, I'm focusing on gifts I can give that will help my friends and family save money in the long run. So far, I've found that my choice of gifts hasn't been any more expensive than gifts I've given in years past — and in some cases, it's been significantly less expense. There's several categories that these helpful gifts fall into:

Tools

One of my younger cousins is hoping to buy her first car this year. I know she isn't going to be able to afford something in perfect condition, so I'm thinking a few tools might come in handy. One of our other cousins knows cars inside and out and has promised that, as long as our new driver has a few basic tools, he'll make sure she can handle at least a few minor repairs so she doesn't have to drag her new ride to the shop constantly. The same goes for houses — if you have a few basic tools, you can often avoid paying money for repairs you can handle yourself.

Education

While classes can pay off in the long run, there are plenty of other educational expenses that make for great gifts. One of the most useful presents I received my senior year of high school was a big book of scholarships and how to land them. There are so many different ways to help someone out with their education — and there's lots of warm fuzzies that go along with helping someone else getting ahead. I do think it's worth noting that you shouldn't limit yourself to thinking about college expenses. It all depends on the goals of the gift recipient, and you should talk to him before making a decision.

Just Ask

It's always worth asking what the people you want to give gifts for what they need this year. There's probably something higher up their wish lists that another book or DVD — and there's nothing wrong with giving a useful gift. I've already spread the word in my family that I want a couple of kitchen items to help support my eating-in habit. I bet there's something you'd particularly like to help you out in the New Year — let us know in the section and help us all get a head start on our gift list.

Permalink | 6 comments | Thursday Bram's blog | Channel: Lifestyle

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Going Back to the Root Cellar

Thursday Bram — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:45:38 +0000

By Thursday Bram

My grandmother once told me about her parents' root cellar: it was just a story of something so different from modern day that she thought I would get a kick out of it. But root cellars seem to be experiencing a revival.

Storing food for the winter used to be a big deal. Without a well-stocked root cellar (or a grocery store around the corner), it was impossible to eat well all year around. But with the advent of supermarkets shipping in produce from all over, the root cellar became a historical oddity. Its revival isn't a matter of a lack of produce. Instead, people are turning to root cellars as away to cut costs on produce. Root cellars also offer an opportunity to eat locally-grown produce year round.

What can you store in a root cellar?

Root cellars are officially for roots: potatoes, turnips, beets and carrots are the easiest to store. At the low temperature provided by most root cellars, these foods are unlikely to rot. Squash, onions and garlic can do equally well. Some fruits can also be stored, such as apples, but most must be preserved in some manner. My grandmother's parents kept their preserves and jams in their root cellar, as well as salt meat and fish.

In the summertime — at least before electricity offered other options — many families kept items in need of refrigeration in their root cellars. Milk, butter, fresh meat and more were kept cool by the even temperatures of a root cellar.

What does a root cellar look like?

Creating a root cellar is surprisingly simple. Dig a hole, add some shelves and you effectively have a working root cellar. Most root cellars are underground rooms with minimal insulation and dirt floors. They use the cold of their surroundings to keep food chilled and are ideally constructed below the frost line (four feet in many areas). There are above ground options as well: if you have some sort of shed at ground level, you can pile rock or dirt around it or cover it with sod to help keep temperatures down. Survivalist Ted Wright has published plans for a root cellar that's as simple as digging a whole and swiping a few pallets from a local warehouse.

Don't have an area around your home where you can start digging? The New York Times interviewed a couple last week who turned their basement into a root cellar. In their brownstone, Cynthia and Haja Worley have an unfinished basement lined with shelves. The temperature remains constantly cool, allowing the Worleys to store all sorts of produce.

The Important Details

Keep these details in mind if you want to store foods in a root cellar or your basement:
The food must be dry before you store it.
Some foods require special preparation to ensure they'll last longer. This chart includes information on specific foods.
The ideal temperature of a root cellar ranges from 40 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on what you're storing.
Humidity of 80 to 90 percent is necessary to preserve fresh vegetables.
Soil floors can help increase humidity .

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Start The School Year Off Right: A Few Frugal Tips for Getting Through the Fall

Thursday Bram — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:11:33 +0000

By Thursday Bram

School clothes, school supplies, sign-up fees and more: the cost of education, whether public or private, seems to go up every year. As long as it's for your son or daughter's education, it's hard to begrudge a few dollars here and there, though. But there are a few frugal choices available to parents that won't make the beginning of the school year harder. In fact, there's a chance that they may improve the education your child gets, at least a little bit.

Reduced Lunch is Cheap; Brown Bag is Better

School lunch is often a very cheap option for feeding your kids. But if you can brown bag it, instead, it's worth the effort. In certain situations, home-made lunches may not be cheaper than school lunches. But there are a couple of factors that make it better. First of all, you're more likely to provide a healthy meal than the school is. Many school cafeterias rely on meals they can make in quantities easily and cheaply — we're not talking about tons of fresh fruit here. Second, you know your child's likes and dislikes better: you're far more likely to pack a meal that your child will actually eat than what is available in the cafeteria. And is it really cheaper to spend the money on a school lunch that your son or daughter won't eat than to pack a lunch?

The Gift of Time

Growing up, my mom was in my classroom all the time. She went on field trips, baked cupcakes and organized PTA events. Mom spent a lot of time helping out — she didn't have the money to help financially, but she did give what she had plenty of. That's a lesson that a lot of parents seem to miss: they want to buy gift wrap, donate money to the choir fund or otherwise financially support their kids' school, but don't always realize that time is an equally important gift.

There's nothing wrong with telling a teacher that you'd rather volunteer a little time rather than write a check. Even at well-funded schools, it's rare for not a single staff member to be overworked.

Plan for After School

Daycare can cost thousands as can after school programs. Spending the afternoon in front of the television is a lot cheaper but probably doesn't really help your child in the long run. But there are plenty of options beyond daycare and the electronic babysitter: a group of parents might be able to form a group of their own to watch kids or maybe your parents want an afternoon or two a week during which they can spoil their grandchildren. After-school care isn't nearly as limited as some parents assume. If you're willing to think outside the box, you can provide your son or daughter with some fun without breaking the bank.

Permalink | 2 comments | Thursday Bram's blog | Channel: Budgeting

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I'd Rather Be A Brunette: 10 Tips To Save On Hair Care

Thursday Bram — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:55:27 +0000

By Thursday Bram

In high school, I watched a friend drop over $100 on a trip to her favorite salon. I'd always known that her hair looked better than mine, but I couldn't believe that it was simply a matter of money. I didn't want it to be, either. Even in high school, I had other financial priorities than my do. There are frugal options for taking care of your locks, though. It's taken me a while to find them, but I use these tricks regularly.

Skip the repeat: 'Lather. Rinse. Repeat.' is one of the greatest marketing phrases of the 20th century. But it's misleading. To get your hair clean, one lather-and-rinse cycle is plenty.
Eat a healthy diet: You can eat your way to better hair. If you eat a balanced diet — plenty of fruits and vegetables, as well as protein — your body will have the nutrients necessary to grow healthy hair. A balanced diet won't solve every hair problem, but it can head quite a few off at the pass.For instance, if you have an iron deficiency, your hair can thin out.
Go natural: Hair dye is expensive, and it can make keeping your hair healthy much harder. Consider going back to your natural hair color for a while and save some serious dough. The same goes for perms. I've also been known to dye my hair myself. It isn't hard, but I recommend having a second pair of hands around.
Shop around for products: The same tips for shopping frugally for groceries work on hair care products. I buy on sale, clip coupons and pick up bulk bottles. I do have a preferred brand that I tend to stock up on, but it's not the most expensive brand on the shelf. According to a few hair styling friends, the expensive hair products aren't really any better than cheaper options. Wholesale distributors will also often provide great deals, as do online vendors.
Barter: If you really do prefer the job a professional will do on your hair, you don't have to give up those regular visits. But it's worth finding a stylist willing to accept a payment other than cash. During high school, I traded babysitting for haircuts on a regular basis. I didn't have to pay for a haircut and I could generally do my homework at the same time. Barbers and stylists need services as well as cash; you can see what you can trade.
Go organic: Sure, organic brands can be more expensive than their chemically-enhanced counterparts. But many organic shampoos and conditioners do not contain sulfates. While sulfates do remove oil and other junk from your hair, they also strip it and create frizz and other problems. If you can switch to sulfate-free products, you can stop using other products — like anti-frizz mouse. There's a period of adjustment and your hair might be slightly oily in comparison, but after a few weeks, your hair should be healthier.

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Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, By the Month

Thursday Bram — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:34:49 +0000

By Thursday Bram

Every blogger who writes about saving money, eating healthy or just plain cooking tasty meals tells their readers to choose fruits and vegetables that are in season. I've had just one problem: I don't know what's 'in season.' I vaguely know that apples are harvested in the fall, and I know that my third grade class picked pumpkins the week before Halloween. Beyond that, though, I'm at a loss.

I've been searching for a simple page that I could add to my shopping list or something equally convenient. Even asking around the local farmer's market gave me only a general idea. After some online research, though, I've got something of a list to go by. Keep in mind that depending on your part of the world, this list may not hold true. This list is pretty decent for the U.S. — I'm not sure about warmer climates, but I would guess it's basically reversed for the Southern Hemisphere.

January

Vegetables

cabbages
leeks
broccoli
cauliflower

Fruits

oranges
grapefruit
tangerines
tangelos
lemons
papayas

February

Vegetables

broccoli
cauliflower

Fruits

oranges
grapefruits
lemons
papayas

March

Vegetables

broccoli
lettuce

Fruits

pineapples
mangoes

April

Vegetables

zucchini
rhubarb
artichokes
asparagus
spring peas
broccoli
lettuce

Fruits

pineapples
mangoes

May

Vegetables

okra
zucchini
rhubarb
artichokes
asparagus
spring peas
broccoli
lettuce

Fruit

cherries
pineapples
apricots

June

Vegetables

corn
lettuce

Fruit

watermelon
strawberries
cantaloupe
cherries
blueberries
peaches
apricots

July

Vegetables

cucumbers
tomatoes
summer squash
corn
green beans
lettuce

Fruits

watermelon
strawberries
cantaloupe
blueberries
peaches
apricots
kiwi
raspberries
plums

August

Vegetables

cucumbers
corn
eggplant
tomatoes
summer squash
green beans
lettuce

Fruits

watermelon
strawberries
cantaloupe
blueberries
peaches
apricots
kiwi
raspberries
plums

September

Vegetables

eggplants
pumpkins
tomatoes
spinach
lettuce

Fruits

grapes
pomegranates

October

Vegetables

sweet potatoes
pumpkins
winter squash
broccoli
spinach lettuce

Fruits

cranberries
apples
pomegranates
grapes

November

Vegetables

pumpkins
winter squash
sweet potatoes
broccoli
mushrooms
spinach

Fruit

cranberries
oranges
tangerines
pears
pomegranates

December

Vegetables

sweet potatoes
mushrooms
broccoli
cauliflower

Fruit

pears
oranges
grapefruit
tangerines
papayas
pomegranates

Bananas, potatoes and celery seem to always be in season. For bananas, at least, I think it's because they have to be shipped into just about everywhere. There are a few holes in this list, admittedly. I didn't find a clear season for carrots, parsnips and a few other vegetables and fruits.

How is this list helpful?

Knowing which fruits and vegetables are in season gives you a clue as to what produce is likely to be on sale at given times in the year. At the very least, it can help you plan your shopping list — and skip the expensive, out of season items. It can give you ideas for menu planning, as well: there's a reason that holiday favorites are popular at certain times of the year.

If you want to go all out on saving money on your food, having an idea of what's in season tells you when to buy produce. While you can buy out of season produce fresh, it may be worth your while to can or preserve some of your preferred fruits or vegetables during the months that they're cheap.

For anyone trying to buy locally, through farmers' markets or CSAs, having a good idea of seasonal produce is also important. You'll have a better idea of what to expect. And with certain 'farmers' looking to take advantage of the local trend, you'll be able to do a little due diligence on what you buy.

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Books on Uncle Sam's Shelf

Thursday Bram — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:53:53 +0000

By Thursday Bram

I get free books in the mail every year. I don't have to review them, pay postage or do anything else with them. Uncle Sam sends them to me because I ask for them. These publications aren't exactly the sorts of books you snuggle down with for a quiet afternoon, but they are extremely useful.

My personal favorite is the Consumer Action Handbook, which you can order at ConsumerAction.gov . It has scores of tips for consumers, from very general advice on avoiding scams to very particular tips on choosing life insurance. But that advice is only about half the book. The other half is basically a telephone book: it's full of contact information for consumer assistance organizations. I'm not just talking about the phone number for your local better business bureau, either. It has the full contact information for Toyota Motor Sales' Customer Assistance Center, FedEx Kinko's Customer Relations department and Whirlpool Corporation's Corporate Headquarters. If I need to ask a question or file a complaint for pretty much any major corporation in the U.S., the federal government has already given me the address.

But through the Federal Citizen Information Center , I can order a slew of other publications. Some have small charges, but most are available for free as long as you are comfortable with a PDF rather than a print copy. The FCIC brings together publications from a variety of federal agencies and makes them easily accessible to citizens. You can even sign up for email alerts and newsletters on certain topics.

Are you a teacher? The FCIC has posters, lesson plans and more .

Are you worried about your cholesterol? The FCIC has a fact sheet on how to control high cholesterol, inclduing diet tips.

Are you trying to get the most out of your tires? The FCIC has a brochure on how to maintain your tires

While not every piece of information distributed by the government is perfect, most of what is available through the FCIC are basic reference materials. Much of the information in these publications is available elsewhere, but usually for a fee. The Investing Basics kit available on the FCIC website, for instance, is similar to books available for as much as $30. Who wants to pay that much for something they can get for free?

Technically, I suppose these publications aren't precisely free — at least for U.S. taxpayers. The funding to develop each of these publications comes directly from the federal government's budget, which is in turn funded by taxpayers. Just one more reason to take advantage of Uncle Sam's 'free' publications: you may have already paid for them.

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Low-Carb: Less Carbon in Your Meals?

Thursday Bram — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:44:01 +0000

By Thursday Bram

These days, it’s pretty much accepted practice to have a high carbon diet — the tomatoes in your salad may have ridden on a truck for days to get to you and the fish you’re grilling tonight may have caught a trans-Pacific flight to get to your table. We’re talking some pretty high carbon emissions just to make a meal.

Environmentally-speaking, some low-carb — carbon, that is — is good for your diet and, considering the cost of food that has to be trucked into your area is rising, it might do your wallet some good as well.

Most grocery stores don’t label locally-produced foods very clearly, but there are a couple of clear starting points for removing some carbon from your diet. Beef and dairy are ranked as the foods with the highest associated carbon emissions — although the fault doesn’t entirely lie with the transport. Cows, the source of both, are notorious sources of carbon emissions. As any farm kid can tell you, they produce methane — and lots of it! A reduction in the numbers of cows would go a long way towards reducing carbon emissions. Consider reducing the amount of beef and cheese you consume — consider poultry as an alternative, even if you can’t get it locally.

Locally-grown produce is often suggested as a way to cut grocery bills and a local farmer’s market does offer a lot of good options. But, for most of us, they aren’t really a year round option. If you’ve got the time to spare, you might consider canning some local fruits and veggies — but honestly, most of us probably won’t. In that case, it’s worthwhile considering those canned varieties available at the grocery store. The occasional piece of fresh fruit isn’t going to ruin the environment, but out-of-season produce requires plenty of energy (and the associated emissions) to either grow or ship in from warmer climates. Long lasting canned goods are a better deal.

One kind of food makes for the absolutely worst carbon emissions, though: the kind that gets thrown away. Not only is the energy used to get food to the consumer wasted, but then the food decomposes as well. Planning out meals ahead of time and reducing waste as much as possible is one of the clearest techniques most of us can use to lower our carbon footprint. And, we get the added benefit of saving money when we don’t buy food we won’t use.

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The Best (Inexpensive) Souvenirs

Thursday Bram — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:15:08 +0000

By Thursday Bram

As a rule, we don’t buy souvenirs for their usefulness. A t-shirt from the Hard Rock Café or a shell sculpture from Hawaii isn’t going to increase your productivity — in fact, dusting it may just make your life that much harder. But souvenirs are good things to have: they’re meant to remind us of the amazing experiences we’ve had. Your souvenir doesn’t need to be useful or productive.

As you travel, there are many options for meaningful yet inexpensive souvenirs, which I like because that means I can save up and travel again that much faster. Personally, I also try to find souvenirs that I’ll have the opportunity to see in my day to day life, so that I have the benefit of my happy memories every time I put on a piece of clothing or walk by a pretty picture on my wall.

Use your camera. I take as many photos as I can when I travel. And, while I get plenty of shots of the local sites, I also make a point of taking photos of the people I travel with and the friends I make along the way. After I get home, I don’t let my photos languish in a scrapbook. Instead, I do things with them:

print and hang photos on my wall
use photos as wallpapers on my desktop
make my photos into personalized cards, bookmarks and anything else I can think of

Buy local clothing. Instead of picking up yet another t-shirt emblazoned with a city name, try for something that you’d be excited to wear. I’ve found gorgeous embroidered tops in Morocco, beaded sandals in Israel and a fantastic rugby jersey in Ireland. And because I managed to find places that catered to a local clientele, I could, at the most expensive, pick up an outfit for the same price I would pay at home.

Find the local bookstores. I know plenty of people who like hitting up the local history section, but I prefer to find a couple of local authors who write fiction instead. My favorite find was a set of mystery novels set in Cardiff, written by a local man — I feel like I got a lot more local color than even a history of Cardiff could give me. And there’s nothing wrong with finding your local books at a used bookstore: local histories and such are notorious for rapidly going out of print, making a used bookstore a surprisingly good option.

There’s nothing wrong with a keychain or a coffee mug, but there are so many options beyond the hotel gift shop. If you have any time to just look around your destination, and find a small market, a used bookstore or any other opportunity for truly unique souvenirs, I highly recommend it.

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Pricing Eggs, and New Egg Products

Thursday Bram — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:30:22 +0000

By Thursday Bram

During my last trip to the grocery market, there was a sign in the egg case announcing that, yes, the price of eggs are rising. I’m guessing that there have been a few complaints.

There are several reasons for that rise, with consumers blaming everything from the Atkins diet to ethanol — Atkins because of a higher demand for beef, eggs and other food high in protein and ethanol because of the use of corn (also used for chicken feed) in ethanol production and an upwards trend in corn prices. One key issue is actually the rapidly rising cost of transporting eggs from the chicken to your kitchen; that is to say rising gas prices mean rising food prices.

The cost of a dozen eggs has jumped, on average, 60 percent from where it was a year ago, and grocery stores are passing that cost along. Organic products, by the way have seen an equivalent jump, pricing plenty of buyers out of the market.

There isn’t a simple solution to combating rising food prices. I’ve been concentrating on making as much of my menu from scratch as I can. But even staples are costing more than they did even a few months ago.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped companies with coming out with new egg products, such as ready-to-serve hard-boiled eggs . For $4.59, you too can buy a bag of already cooked eggs.

Elizabeth Passarella, at The Kitchn , has reviewed these gems (marketed to those of us without 10 minutes and a pan full of water, perhaps?).

They tasted stale, the whites were rubbery, and the yolks were pretty hard. Our bag contained 11 eggs and cost $4.59, which isn't a premium we're willing to pay.

Elizabeth, thanks for your review — personally, I think I can skip the taste test. I’ll stick to buying an uncooked dozen for half the price. I know I’ll be surprised at how well these pre-cooked eggs will end up doing. I’d like to think that they won’t sell, but I know plenty of people will buy them just to save a few minutes.

And the price of eggs (cooked or raw) will keep going up. In the next year, the USDA predicts that 31 percent of American corn production will not go to food. Instead, it will be used in ethanol production. One third of American corn crops will raise food prices even further, from eggs in a Maryland grocery story to bread in Haiti and Bangladesh.

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Restaurant Recipes at Home-Cooked Prices

Thursday Bram — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:50:36 +0000

By Thursday Bram

There are some meals that I am a flat out sucker for — one restaurant’s appetizer, another’s entrée, several deserts. But eating out is one of the less frugal approaches to meal planning. I can’t justify going to Olive Garden every week just because I find it impossible to get enough of their spinach-artichoke dip, even if I could get good coupons.

Some restaurants have started packaging some of their foods for the freezer aisle at the supermarket. It’s a less pricey option than a full meal at the restaurant, but still is more expensive than I think is worthwhile on a regular basis. Worse, most of those frozen dishes don’t taste quite the same as their fresh made counterparts.

If I want those dishes on a regular basis, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll just have to make them myself. Recently, I’ve been hunting for those addictive recipes from my favorite restaurants, and it’s been surprisingly easy to find many of them.

Take that spinach-artichoke dip from Olive Garden, for instance. I found the recipe at:

Every Last Recipe’s Restaurant Clone section
The Secret Recipe Forum
All Restaurant Recipes

And Olive Garden publishes it (and many other recipes) on the restaurant’s website! While not all restaurants are so nice, websites like those above often have ‘copy cat’ or ‘clone’ recipes. Using these terms in a search, along the name of the restaurant is the most effective way of finding a given recipe. The main drawback of this system is that it’s easiest to find recipes from large chains. The odds of finding your favorite dish at an independent restaurant of any type are fairly slim.

Some of these recipes are a bit more complex than those that I normally rely on and include ingredients not normally on my shopping list. However, I’ve found that adding an item or two to my shopping list is far less expensive than dinner out. I’ve also been able to substitute just a bit with stuff I already have in my pantry and still get that same great taste I’ve been craving.

And, if it’s a sauce or dressing of some sort you’ve been craving, there’s something else you should know about. There are companies that sell clones of certain restaurant sauces. While you could go to the effort of mixing up your own batch of T.G.I. Fridays’ Jack Daniels sauce, you can also buy bottles of a clone of the sauce from GrillinChillin.net.

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