If you want 100% whole wheat bread, use "white whole wheat" flour. It's still whole wheat, but made from a different strain of wheat and is milder tasting and gives a finer texture than what most people think of as "whole wheat". I bake my own bread (my breadmaker is used at least once a week), and my favorite recipe uses white whole wheat flour, water, molasses, gluten (necessary to make the flour rise well) yeast, olive oil and salt (the minimum necessary to control the growth of the yeast) - sometimes I add some flaxseed meal. That's about as healthy as it gets, and it's excellent for soppin'!
Flamenco and ballet dance classes and pointe shoes. I "justify" it as exercise, but since I'm over 45 I only perform on stage once or twice a year, so it's not as if I'm a professional. I wear out 3-4 pair of pointe shoes a year, and at $50-$60 per pair, they're pricey, but since I don't get blisters it's worth it to get the ones that fit me so well!
A really great preschool for my kids. When I went back to work I knew that childcare would eat up most of my pay check but I wanted to go back anyway because I love my career and eventually the kids will be in school full time and I didn't want to have to worry about looking for a job after being off work for 8 years or so.
I could have gone with an in-home or other less expensive alternative, but I really wanted my kids to get a classroom like experience to prepare them socially and academically for school. Their school has field trips, professionals who visit to discuss their careers and continually works on things like numbers, letters, reading and writing. It eats up about 80% of my paycheck but I think it is worth it to see my children thrive.
Outdoor gear! I budget with Mint.com, and right now it is screaming at me that I have exceeded my already generous budget for "Sporting Goods." My work requires back-country hiking and camping, so I burn through boots and justify a lot of purchases (tents, backpacks, stoves) with the fact that I will use them for work every week as well as for fun. I train to race triathlons too, so that's gear for swimming, cycling, and running. Eeek! I have an REI rewards credit card, so it's nice to get the reward-points back at the end of the year, but also slightly horrifying to see how much I've spent. On the other hand, I hardly spend any money on make-up, jewelry, or dressed up clothing.
Thank you Sonja!! My husband was diagnosed almost a year ago and I have been experimenting with all kinds of expensive bread and flour mixes. Your gluten free flour mix is the best thing since sliced bread!! My husband loves it and he is quite the carb shark so that is saying something. The noodles were awesome as well. Trying the tortillas later in the week. I am a full time working mom on a budget and this has really helped me tremendously! I can bake on the weekend and it is ready throughout the week. You are a gluten free saviour!!!! Thanks again!
I'd forgotten about hair. I could definitely call it a "splurge" that I get my roots done every 3 months and highlights every six months. Fortunately, it only averages out to a little more than $20/month.
Thank you so much for your easy, cheap recipes Sonja! I have relied on them since going gluten free last summer. I just can't get any bread recipes to work out with my breadmaker. But this week I baked a banana pecan bread and a cheese sunflower bread by adapting quick bread or biscuit recipes. I just substituted the flour with your all purpose gf flour.
My new favorite gf snacks are the crackers by Blue Diamond. They are made with nut flours. Pecan are my favorite so far. They are sort of expensive - but so worth it!
Taxi cabs, which really equal convenience. I live in New York City, which has great public transportation, but you definitely have to plan ahead and allow TIME for it, i.e. walk to the subway, wait for the subway, subway stops between stations for no apparent reason, get off subway and walk to your destination; it takes forever! I am often running late, so that means if I want to arrive anywhere at a reasonable hour, I have to get a taxi. Yellow cabs, I love you, but oh do you cost the big bucks!
I splurge on farm-fresh dairy and meats delivered to my door. Expensive mattress was also worth every penny. Skimp on books (library instead), CD's (use pandora), travel (have already traveled extensively), cell phone (no data plan) to allocate that money elsewhere.
Food! I'm a total foodie. I love eating and trying new things. And travel when possible. I refuse to stay in cheap motels/hostels/whatever. I like to stay in pretty nice hotels and eat at fine restaurants when I'm traveling.
Traveling, thats my biggest splurge, me and my girl are in a long distance relationship, and we have to fly bcuz we're over 800 miles apart so of course even when I'm almost broke we have to splurge on tickets!
Biscuits like Grands or those made with a mix are fine. To make them from scratch can be just as easy though. EASY BISCUITS...Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and oil a small pan, an 8" square or round one works fine. Place 2 cups of self rising flour and 1/3 of a cup of shortening or oil in a bowl. Using a fork or knife, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. To this add 3/4 cup of milk (or buttermilk or even soured milk). Mix again. Then dump the mix into your oiled pan. Wet your hands with oil or water and press the mixture into the pan. If desired, you can make "pull apart" biscuits by cutting the dough into squares before baking. Bake for about 12-15 minutes then enjoy!
I splurge on a good haircut. Even though I'm budgeting, I realize that paying more for a good haircut is better than trying to go to a 'Cuts R Us' type of chain and hoping for a decent cut. When you look good, you feel good!
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!
I DON'T VEGGIES, DON'T DO GREEN EXCEPT FOR BROCCOLI, AND I HAVE AN ALLERGY TO EGGS. SO LOOK IN THE FRIDGE AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN COME WITH.
JOANN
A few things, but nothing really expensive... salon nail polish (which I apply myself), quality walking shoes (not for style, for function), quality facial products, and flowers for my garden... that's about it.
Hi, it is a really useful post, I like the tip "Use the Web to save $8,000 a year ". Some tips I already knew while others are not. I use Google product search and live cash back to save my money, and sometimes I also use Amazon promotional codes to cut my budget.
I didn't calculate how many money I already save through my money saving skills, but it should be a large amount of money.
I really don't splurge on much of anything, always have an eye on the value of things. The one area that could be seen as a splurge is experiences. I will go out to eat with friends, or take a weekender, despite being perfectly entertained at home, and having plenty of food to eat there. Even when I do this, I trim the fat where I can. My travels are often backpacking/camping, saving major dollars on hotels. I'm a big fan of packing some food, to cut down on the expense of eating out when traveling. My backpacking experience allows me to pretty capable of cooking on the fly. When I take a night out with friends, I tend to order the food and drink specials, more often then not. So, the thing I splurge the most on is experience, but even that does not have to break the bank.
If you want 100% whole wheat bread, use "white whole wheat" flour. It's still whole wheat, but made from a different strain of wheat and is milder tasting and gives a finer texture than what most people think of as "whole wheat". I bake my own bread (my breadmaker is used at least once a week), and my favorite recipe uses white whole wheat flour, water, molasses, gluten (necessary to make the flour rise well) yeast, olive oil and salt (the minimum necessary to control the growth of the yeast) - sometimes I add some flaxseed meal. That's about as healthy as it gets, and it's excellent for soppin'!
Flamenco and ballet dance classes and pointe shoes. I "justify" it as exercise, but since I'm over 45 I only perform on stage once or twice a year, so it's not as if I'm a professional. I wear out 3-4 pair of pointe shoes a year, and at $50-$60 per pair, they're pricey, but since I don't get blisters it's worth it to get the ones that fit me so well!
I splurge on athletic shoes. It is important to have the right gear for some sports though.
I splurge on fresh food, crusty Italian bread and hair conditioner.
I splurge on buying the healthiest organic foods instead of just the cheapest. I figure I owe it to my body!
A really great preschool for my kids. When I went back to work I knew that childcare would eat up most of my pay check but I wanted to go back anyway because I love my career and eventually the kids will be in school full time and I didn't want to have to worry about looking for a job after being off work for 8 years or so.
I could have gone with an in-home or other less expensive alternative, but I really wanted my kids to get a classroom like experience to prepare them socially and academically for school. Their school has field trips, professionals who visit to discuss their careers and continually works on things like numbers, letters, reading and writing. It eats up about 80% of my paycheck but I think it is worth it to see my children thrive.
Outdoor gear! I budget with Mint.com, and right now it is screaming at me that I have exceeded my already generous budget for "Sporting Goods." My work requires back-country hiking and camping, so I burn through boots and justify a lot of purchases (tents, backpacks, stoves) with the fact that I will use them for work every week as well as for fun. I train to race triathlons too, so that's gear for swimming, cycling, and running. Eeek! I have an REI rewards credit card, so it's nice to get the reward-points back at the end of the year, but also slightly horrifying to see how much I've spent. On the other hand, I hardly spend any money on make-up, jewelry, or dressed up clothing.
Thank you Sonja!! My husband was diagnosed almost a year ago and I have been experimenting with all kinds of expensive bread and flour mixes. Your gluten free flour mix is the best thing since sliced bread!! My husband loves it and he is quite the carb shark so that is saying something. The noodles were awesome as well. Trying the tortillas later in the week. I am a full time working mom on a budget and this has really helped me tremendously! I can bake on the weekend and it is ready throughout the week. You are a gluten free saviour!!!! Thanks again!
I'm definitely going to add this to my wishlist. It seems like a great way to consciously see how much you're moving throughout the day. Thanks!
I'd forgotten about hair. I could definitely call it a "splurge" that I get my roots done every 3 months and highlights every six months. Fortunately, it only averages out to a little more than $20/month.
ART, ART and more ART! :-)
Thank you so much for your easy, cheap recipes Sonja! I have relied on them since going gluten free last summer. I just can't get any bread recipes to work out with my breadmaker. But this week I baked a banana pecan bread and a cheese sunflower bread by adapting quick bread or biscuit recipes. I just substituted the flour with your all purpose gf flour.
My new favorite gf snacks are the crackers by Blue Diamond. They are made with nut flours. Pecan are my favorite so far. They are sort of expensive - but so worth it!
Taxi cabs, which really equal convenience. I live in New York City, which has great public transportation, but you definitely have to plan ahead and allow TIME for it, i.e. walk to the subway, wait for the subway, subway stops between stations for no apparent reason, get off subway and walk to your destination; it takes forever! I am often running late, so that means if I want to arrive anywhere at a reasonable hour, I have to get a taxi. Yellow cabs, I love you, but oh do you cost the big bucks!
I tend to splurge on clothes for my hubby and children. I tend to get carried away win I buy for them.
I splurge on farm-fresh dairy and meats delivered to my door. Expensive mattress was also worth every penny. Skimp on books (library instead), CD's (use pandora), travel (have already traveled extensively), cell phone (no data plan) to allocate that money elsewhere.
Food! I'm a total foodie. I love eating and trying new things. And travel when possible. I refuse to stay in cheap motels/hostels/whatever. I like to stay in pretty nice hotels and eat at fine restaurants when I'm traveling.
Thanks Grissom!
Traveling, thats my biggest splurge, me and my girl are in a long distance relationship, and we have to fly bcuz we're over 800 miles apart so of course even when I'm almost broke we have to splurge on tickets!
Biscuits like Grands or those made with a mix are fine. To make them from scratch can be just as easy though. EASY BISCUITS...Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and oil a small pan, an 8" square or round one works fine. Place 2 cups of self rising flour and 1/3 of a cup of shortening or oil in a bowl. Using a fork or knife, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. To this add 3/4 cup of milk (or buttermilk or even soured milk). Mix again. Then dump the mix into your oiled pan. Wet your hands with oil or water and press the mixture into the pan. If desired, you can make "pull apart" biscuits by cutting the dough into squares before baking. Bake for about 12-15 minutes then enjoy!
I splurge on a good haircut. Even though I'm budgeting, I realize that paying more for a good haircut is better than trying to go to a 'Cuts R Us' type of chain and hoping for a decent cut. When you look good, you feel good!
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!
I DON'T VEGGIES, DON'T DO GREEN EXCEPT FOR BROCCOLI, AND I HAVE AN ALLERGY TO EGGS. SO LOOK IN THE FRIDGE AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN COME WITH.
JOANN
A few things, but nothing really expensive... salon nail polish (which I apply myself), quality walking shoes (not for style, for function), quality facial products, and flowers for my garden... that's about it.
Hi, it is a really useful post, I like the tip "Use the Web to save $8,000 a year ". Some tips I already knew while others are not. I use Google product search and live cash back to save my money, and sometimes I also use Amazon promotional codes to cut my budget.
I didn't calculate how many money I already save through my money saving skills, but it should be a large amount of money.
Great post and thanks!
Grissom.
wow thanks so much. i personally thought u were crazy but i was desoperate and tryed it. it works.
I really don't splurge on much of anything, always have an eye on the value of things. The one area that could be seen as a splurge is experiences. I will go out to eat with friends, or take a weekender, despite being perfectly entertained at home, and having plenty of food to eat there. Even when I do this, I trim the fat where I can. My travels are often backpacking/camping, saving major dollars on hotels. I'm a big fan of packing some food, to cut down on the expense of eating out when traveling. My backpacking experience allows me to pretty capable of cooking on the fly. When I take a night out with friends, I tend to order the food and drink specials, more often then not. So, the thing I splurge the most on is experience, but even that does not have to break the bank.