I look at the local grocery ad each week when meal-planning, then buy meat and produce that's on sale. We do not eat a lot of meat, so that helps. I use a lot of frozen vegetables, which are healthy and economical. In the summer, we have a CSA membership to a local farm that is half reimbursed by our health insurance provider.
When deciding where to spend my money on food seasonings, I hit the nursery, not the supermarket. For the same $2.50 I would spend on five stems of basil prepacked in plastic, I can buy a thriving basil plant for the same cost. If you have a plant that lasts 20 weeks, and you normally buy fresh herbs on a weekly basis, that $2.50 has just broken down to less than $0.13 a week. Not to mention there is less wasted since you only harvest what you need and you are saving the earth from all that plastic packaging. This also works well with oregano, thyme, parsley, sage, and especially rosemary. My intitial $5 rosemary mini-bush is 3+ years old and providing continual harvests!
I solicit the coupons I need. I like buying Organic and healthy but admit they are not on sale as often so I literally walk through a grocery store thinking "man I have had Kozy Shack Pudding, Bolthouse Juices, chiquita sliced apples, etc. in a long time" and I go home and email them how much I love them and week later I have coupons for the next sale!
We also mostly plan by what is on sale and what we have on hand.
I solicit the coupons I need. I like buying Organic and healthy but admit they are not on sale as often so I literally walk through a grocery store thinking "man I have had Kozy Shack Pudding, Bolthouse Juices, chiquita sliced apples, etc. in a long time" and I go home and email them how much I love them and week later I have coupons for the next sale!
We also mostly plan by what is on sale and what we have on hand.
We buy less - less meat, less junk food, less from restaurants - so that the things we do buy can be higher quality. We don't buy any soda at all, for example, which means that we can spend that money on organic tea and coffee. We don't buy bottled water, but use a filter pitcher. We eat a lot of beans. I love the bulk bins; I wish more grocery stores had them.
Find a local ethnic grocery store or market and stock up on spices. They can turn ordinary, cheap food staples (like beans, lentils) into amazingly tasty dishes. Look for ethnic recipes that a vegetarian, as the ingredients will also be less costly.
For the most part, I eat what I can find on sale, which means it's in season. I cook from scratch most of the time and don't eat a lot of processed foods. That helps keep the cost down. I use coupons, ideally combined with sales for as many things as I can and that also helps keep the costs down.
Recently I've tried to cut down on meat both for moral and economic reasons. I try to use whatever is cheap/in season from the store as far as fruits and veggies go. I find I waste less if I prepare more on the weekend. So, I'll cut up a whole watermelon on the weekend and have enough to bring for lunch every day and some to snack on at night. Or, I'll make a veggie lasagna on sunday and bring pieces for lunch for the rest of the week.
I make it a priority. Buying clean food is not something that will be compromised. If it came to it, anything else would be cut first.
Personally it makes it easier because I dont buy meat or preprocessed/packaged foods. We eat dinner out maybe twice a month, and never any other meal. I also dont have cable, so that helps.
On Sundays, my best friend and I roast 2 to 4 huge sheet pans of vegetables, whatever's cheap and in season. Bell peppers, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflour, peas, carrots, turnips, broccoli, etc. (Berkeley Bowl, best grocery store ever!) We also make a big pot of whole grain (quinoa, brown rice, or a grain/pea/lentil mix from the Korean market). Then we have lunch and dinner all week! Various sauces help keep it interesting. When reheating, I sometimes mix in an egg or some cheese, or top w yogurt. Because we each live alone, combining shopping and cooking efforts makes it cheaper, easier, and more fun. We spend about $10-$15 each for 5 days of lunch and dinner, and get to hang out and catch up with each other every week. Sometimes we'll mix it up by making some quiche (rice or quinoa crust) or lasagna instead.
I agree with these comments as well. My grandfather gave me his 1990 Lumina before he passed. The car only had 80k on the ODO, and was babied. We averaged 31 MPG while we drove if from Detroit to Phoenix. After a few simple upgrades (Stereo, Tint), we've hardly had to spend anything on it. Sure, some basic maintence items needed to be covered, but the costs of repairs in next to nothing, and almost all of the work can be done by a backyard mechanic. Registration and insure is next to nothing as well.
I eat meat only occasionally, I buy healthy beans and rice in bulk from a food coop, I buy fresh produce in season from the farmer's market, and I shop the sales at my local grocery store to keep my pantry stocked. I don't buy alcohol or junk food like chips or cookies.
I try to avoid wasting food (i.e., feeding the garbage can), I eat out rarely, and I only go to the grocery once every ten days or so. Stretching out my trips to the grocery store forces me to use leftovers in my fridge and the stores in my pantry, changing some of my food decisions from "What do I feel like eating?" to "What do I have to eat?".
I was actually going to write an article similar to this one and I don't know about you but I took great advantage on Friday when Goldman Sachs was around $145 a share. It went up on Monday by 3% and it didn't really decline this morning seeing as though the stock markey lost around 222 points. OUCH!
Warren Buffett seems to be extremely confident in that Goldman didnot commit any wrongdoing. If Mr. Buffett thought the opposite, he would have called that 5 billion right away because not only did the investment get too risky for Buffett but now he is gambling with his own reputation.
I see a substantial rise in the future for this stock.
I was actually going to write an article similar to this one and I don't know about you but I took great advantage on Friday when Goldman Sachs was around $145 a share. It went up on Monday by 3% and it didn't really decline this morning seeing as though the stock markey lost around 222 points. OUCH!
Warren Buffett seems to be extremely confident in that Goldman didnot commit any wrongdoing. If Mr. Buffett thought the opposite, he would have called that 5 billion right away because not only did the investment get too risky for Buffett but now he is gambling with his own reputation.
I see a substantial rise in the future for this stock.
It isn't economical to be green. Operating a hybrid results in lower polution, but you're carrying around a few hundred pounds of hazardous waste in your batteries. Today's cars (in fact, cars newer than 1977) are much cleaner running than older ones. Recent advances in emission controls have been chasing diminishing returns and jacking up the price by requiring expensive "smog control" features. Fuel efficiency and emissions are linked, but even if your driving habits are poor and your mileage is low, your emissions are still really low, just not as low as possible. Relatively speaking, hybrid or not, all cars from the last three decades are very clean burning cars. It's not the car, but the driver that determines fuel economy. Buying a hybrid just doesn't make enough sense.
I have recived one and i already activated but the thing is that once i but money in they start taking out a dollar at a time. one day i dicaided to lod up the card to make a payment for my school i payd 4.95 to lod it up and so i did i put excacly $75 in it when it was time to pay my school that same day the agent told me that i only had $60 in it .I trayd to talk to them by phone but the only thing that i get is the answering servic not a real repesenetive so since then i have not used it . If read carfuly on the letter they send to you it doesn't tell you how much they charge you per day or even per hr ithink that they shold be more truthful with the people about what the are going to charge them.
Good points. I have a 7 year old car, and while that's definitely not very old, it still makes more sense to pay it off and keep it for at least 3 more years before even thinking about getting a different car. And I say 'different' instead of 'new', because my next car will be used, as it is more economical.
I think the real value of holding a "clunker" is the mindset that one holds while doing so. I don't mean low aspirations; on the contrary, many people who are frugal do aspire to finer things. The thing is, you want to strategically pick your spots, and focus on what's more important. For many of us, its saving for retirement, unforeseen future medical conditions, child's college expenses, etc. Driving a clunker often means just shifting resources that could be given toward a car, to more important long-term needs.
I'm not knocking the value of hybrids in an environmentally conscious way - rather, I am pro-hybrid. I would just rather drive an older, conventional car that has been well maintained and has already been paid for, instead of buying a newer car. I drove a car to over 200,000 miles before selling it a few years ago. The good thing was that I sold it while it was still in good working order and before repairs were needed. I sold it within a few hours of having it "on the market", and had no guilt that people might have when selling a lemon, because it was a good car. It was a great scenario - I drove a car that was fully paid, extracted more value than I thought I could out of it, and sold it before further investment was needed.
Now, if you could have an old, "clunker" hybrid, that might be the winning ticket!
In thinking like an entrepeneur, its important to keep in mind that you want to be someone who directly contributes to the profitability of a company. Whether its bringing in more revenue or finding ways to cut costs - being known as someone who positively impacts the bottom line will help make you less replaceable, and could help you advance your career.
Those working in corporate settings need to be mindful of the corporate culture, but be able think outside the established framework. This is where real value can be added, and an entrepeurial mindset can be beneficial in those settings. I have seen it work very well.
It would mean less "consumer" spending on fuel when smart type cars become more available, "but" you would pay that much more for everything else. Why? Because 18 wheelers, Busses, and Jets depend on fuel also, it does not really matter if it's the same type, as long as the payment is there. If you do not believe that, just look at the different fuel costs over the last 20 years alongside each other. In time things will change, but from a bottom line view, for "most" people, that time is not now. $
Mostly sound reasoning why hanging on to an older car makes sense. But the higher fuel consumption is an issue worth looking into more closely. For an individual, there is not likely payback for purchasing a car that gets better fuel economy - do the math and the cost savings from an extra 10 mpg doesn't justify a new car purchase. (at 67% of annual fuel spending - I would save about $900/year. Not worth it to me, personally.) But the savings to society of using less fuel - if every driver were to cut fuel consumption by 30%, the reduced demand would mean less drilling and lower cost of other petroleum-dependent products.
I don't believe that hybrids are the answer though.
So true, holding on to your current clunker makes sense for you. But if we put them all together, we can make a needed change. But then, we should be trying to break out of car-culture altogether.
I look at the local grocery ad each week when meal-planning, then buy meat and produce that's on sale. We do not eat a lot of meat, so that helps. I use a lot of frozen vegetables, which are healthy and economical. In the summer, we have a CSA membership to a local farm that is half reimbursed by our health insurance provider.
When deciding where to spend my money on food seasonings, I hit the nursery, not the supermarket. For the same $2.50 I would spend on five stems of basil prepacked in plastic, I can buy a thriving basil plant for the same cost. If you have a plant that lasts 20 weeks, and you normally buy fresh herbs on a weekly basis, that $2.50 has just broken down to less than $0.13 a week. Not to mention there is less wasted since you only harvest what you need and you are saving the earth from all that plastic packaging. This also works well with oregano, thyme, parsley, sage, and especially rosemary. My intitial $5 rosemary mini-bush is 3+ years old and providing continual harvests!
I solicit the coupons I need. I like buying Organic and healthy but admit they are not on sale as often so I literally walk through a grocery store thinking "man I have had Kozy Shack Pudding, Bolthouse Juices, chiquita sliced apples, etc. in a long time" and I go home and email them how much I love them and week later I have coupons for the next sale!
We also mostly plan by what is on sale and what we have on hand.
I solicit the coupons I need. I like buying Organic and healthy but admit they are not on sale as often so I literally walk through a grocery store thinking "man I have had Kozy Shack Pudding, Bolthouse Juices, chiquita sliced apples, etc. in a long time" and I go home and email them how much I love them and week later I have coupons for the next sale!
We also mostly plan by what is on sale and what we have on hand.
Marla,
Great chronicle of the beginning of a fun hobby. You're right - homebrewers are a happy, helpful lot. To Matt Maresca: Jump on in! The beer is fine!
We buy less - less meat, less junk food, less from restaurants - so that the things we do buy can be higher quality. We don't buy any soda at all, for example, which means that we can spend that money on organic tea and coffee. We don't buy bottled water, but use a filter pitcher. We eat a lot of beans. I love the bulk bins; I wish more grocery stores had them.
Find a local ethnic grocery store or market and stock up on spices. They can turn ordinary, cheap food staples (like beans, lentils) into amazingly tasty dishes. Look for ethnic recipes that a vegetarian, as the ingredients will also be less costly.
For the most part, I eat what I can find on sale, which means it's in season. I cook from scratch most of the time and don't eat a lot of processed foods. That helps keep the cost down. I use coupons, ideally combined with sales for as many things as I can and that also helps keep the costs down.
Recently I've tried to cut down on meat both for moral and economic reasons. I try to use whatever is cheap/in season from the store as far as fruits and veggies go. I find I waste less if I prepare more on the weekend. So, I'll cut up a whole watermelon on the weekend and have enough to bring for lunch every day and some to snack on at night. Or, I'll make a veggie lasagna on sunday and bring pieces for lunch for the rest of the week.
My hints are pretty basic, but very effective:
1. Cook from scratch. I can't overemphasize this.
2. Cook what's on sale.
3. Minimize the use of meat. My husband is a "meat and potatoes" man so this can be a challenge, but I do my best.
I make it a priority. Buying clean food is not something that will be compromised. If it came to it, anything else would be cut first.
Personally it makes it easier because I dont buy meat or preprocessed/packaged foods. We eat dinner out maybe twice a month, and never any other meal. I also dont have cable, so that helps.
On Sundays, my best friend and I roast 2 to 4 huge sheet pans of vegetables, whatever's cheap and in season. Bell peppers, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflour, peas, carrots, turnips, broccoli, etc. (Berkeley Bowl, best grocery store ever!) We also make a big pot of whole grain (quinoa, brown rice, or a grain/pea/lentil mix from the Korean market). Then we have lunch and dinner all week! Various sauces help keep it interesting. When reheating, I sometimes mix in an egg or some cheese, or top w yogurt. Because we each live alone, combining shopping and cooking efforts makes it cheaper, easier, and more fun. We spend about $10-$15 each for 5 days of lunch and dinner, and get to hang out and catch up with each other every week. Sometimes we'll mix it up by making some quiche (rice or quinoa crust) or lasagna instead.
I agree with these comments as well. My grandfather gave me his 1990 Lumina before he passed. The car only had 80k on the ODO, and was babied. We averaged 31 MPG while we drove if from Detroit to Phoenix. After a few simple upgrades (Stereo, Tint), we've hardly had to spend anything on it. Sure, some basic maintence items needed to be covered, but the costs of repairs in next to nothing, and almost all of the work can be done by a backyard mechanic. Registration and insure is next to nothing as well.
I eat meat only occasionally, I buy healthy beans and rice in bulk from a food coop, I buy fresh produce in season from the farmer's market, and I shop the sales at my local grocery store to keep my pantry stocked. I don't buy alcohol or junk food like chips or cookies.
I try to avoid wasting food (i.e., feeding the garbage can), I eat out rarely, and I only go to the grocery once every ten days or so. Stretching out my trips to the grocery store forces me to use leftovers in my fridge and the stores in my pantry, changing some of my food decisions from "What do I feel like eating?" to "What do I have to eat?".
I was actually going to write an article similar to this one and I don't know about you but I took great advantage on Friday when Goldman Sachs was around $145 a share. It went up on Monday by 3% and it didn't really decline this morning seeing as though the stock markey lost around 222 points. OUCH!
Warren Buffett seems to be extremely confident in that Goldman didnot commit any wrongdoing. If Mr. Buffett thought the opposite, he would have called that 5 billion right away because not only did the investment get too risky for Buffett but now he is gambling with his own reputation.
I see a substantial rise in the future for this stock.
I was actually going to write an article similar to this one and I don't know about you but I took great advantage on Friday when Goldman Sachs was around $145 a share. It went up on Monday by 3% and it didn't really decline this morning seeing as though the stock markey lost around 222 points. OUCH!
Warren Buffett seems to be extremely confident in that Goldman didnot commit any wrongdoing. If Mr. Buffett thought the opposite, he would have called that 5 billion right away because not only did the investment get too risky for Buffett but now he is gambling with his own reputation.
I see a substantial rise in the future for this stock.
Cite for the 25% figure please!
[ Note, I'm not doubting that number, it seems quite reasonable. I would just like a source I can point others to. ]
What ever happened to quoting sources? I'm in agreement with the article, but where does this 25% CO2 info come from?
It isn't economical to be green. Operating a hybrid results in lower polution, but you're carrying around a few hundred pounds of hazardous waste in your batteries. Today's cars (in fact, cars newer than 1977) are much cleaner running than older ones. Recent advances in emission controls have been chasing diminishing returns and jacking up the price by requiring expensive "smog control" features. Fuel efficiency and emissions are linked, but even if your driving habits are poor and your mileage is low, your emissions are still really low, just not as low as possible. Relatively speaking, hybrid or not, all cars from the last three decades are very clean burning cars. It's not the car, but the driver that determines fuel economy. Buying a hybrid just doesn't make enough sense.
I have recived one and i already activated but the thing is that once i but money in they start taking out a dollar at a time. one day i dicaided to lod up the card to make a payment for my school i payd 4.95 to lod it up and so i did i put excacly $75 in it when it was time to pay my school that same day the agent told me that i only had $60 in it .I trayd to talk to them by phone but the only thing that i get is the answering servic not a real repesenetive so since then i have not used it . If read carfuly on the letter they send to you it doesn't tell you how much they charge you per day or even per hr ithink that they shold be more truthful with the people about what the are going to charge them.
Good points. I have a 7 year old car, and while that's definitely not very old, it still makes more sense to pay it off and keep it for at least 3 more years before even thinking about getting a different car. And I say 'different' instead of 'new', because my next car will be used, as it is more economical.
I think the real value of holding a "clunker" is the mindset that one holds while doing so. I don't mean low aspirations; on the contrary, many people who are frugal do aspire to finer things. The thing is, you want to strategically pick your spots, and focus on what's more important. For many of us, its saving for retirement, unforeseen future medical conditions, child's college expenses, etc. Driving a clunker often means just shifting resources that could be given toward a car, to more important long-term needs.
I'm not knocking the value of hybrids in an environmentally conscious way - rather, I am pro-hybrid. I would just rather drive an older, conventional car that has been well maintained and has already been paid for, instead of buying a newer car. I drove a car to over 200,000 miles before selling it a few years ago. The good thing was that I sold it while it was still in good working order and before repairs were needed. I sold it within a few hours of having it "on the market", and had no guilt that people might have when selling a lemon, because it was a good car. It was a great scenario - I drove a car that was fully paid, extracted more value than I thought I could out of it, and sold it before further investment was needed.
Now, if you could have an old, "clunker" hybrid, that might be the winning ticket!
In thinking like an entrepeneur, its important to keep in mind that you want to be someone who directly contributes to the profitability of a company. Whether its bringing in more revenue or finding ways to cut costs - being known as someone who positively impacts the bottom line will help make you less replaceable, and could help you advance your career.
Those working in corporate settings need to be mindful of the corporate culture, but be able think outside the established framework. This is where real value can be added, and an entrepeurial mindset can be beneficial in those settings. I have seen it work very well.
It would mean less "consumer" spending on fuel when smart type cars become more available, "but" you would pay that much more for everything else. Why? Because 18 wheelers, Busses, and Jets depend on fuel also, it does not really matter if it's the same type, as long as the payment is there. If you do not believe that, just look at the different fuel costs over the last 20 years alongside each other. In time things will change, but from a bottom line view, for "most" people, that time is not now. $
Mostly sound reasoning why hanging on to an older car makes sense. But the higher fuel consumption is an issue worth looking into more closely. For an individual, there is not likely payback for purchasing a car that gets better fuel economy - do the math and the cost savings from an extra 10 mpg doesn't justify a new car purchase. (at 67% of annual fuel spending - I would save about $900/year. Not worth it to me, personally.) But the savings to society of using less fuel - if every driver were to cut fuel consumption by 30%, the reduced demand would mean less drilling and lower cost of other petroleum-dependent products.
I don't believe that hybrids are the answer though.
So true, holding on to your current clunker makes sense for you. But if we put them all together, we can make a needed change. But then, we should be trying to break out of car-culture altogether.