But I have to admit, it was really convenient.  For a nominal fee, [...]]]> This week, I had a crazy week.  Super crazy.  Busy, not a lot of free time.  So I decided to use an online grocery delivery service.  If you knew just how close I live to a grocery store, you would find this ridiculous.

But I have to admit, it was really convenient.  For a nominal fee, I got everything I needed brought right to my apartment.  Sure, there was an added fee.  But I almost always end up with one “splurge” purchase at the grocery store, especially when I’m shopping tired, stressed, or hungry.  Or all three.  So I figured that the delivery fee was pretty much equivalent to that splurge purchase – except that this delivery fee is calorie free.

I’m thinking I might make this part of my routine.  Online grocery shopping every two weeks, with stops at the store only for produce.  It definitely makes budgeting easier and I think it will help me eat healthier.  If I don’t see those fancy, calorie laden foods, I probably won’t buy them.  And it certainly saves time.

I was discussing this with a friend the other day.  She was debating whether to take the bus or Amtrak from DC to NYC for the holidays.  The busses are really nice.  And cheap.  But like cars, they’re subject to traffic problems.  Amtrak isn’t always perfect either, but it’s got a better on-time record.  At any other time of year, she’d vote for the bus, but with holiday traffic, she’s leaning towards Amtrak.  More expensive, but she’s happy to pay the money for the convenience.

Some people would think this is crazy – how can someone dedicated to proper money management think that purposefully picking the more expensive option makes no sense.  But it’s all about how you want to spend your money.  Some people would rather save the money, others prefer to save the time.  As long as it’s a purposeful decision, either one is correct.

(And as I write that, I wonder why I’ve never stored anything in there before.  Sure, I have to dump it out when I do the laundry, but it wouldn’t be a bad place to store laundry detergent.)

Why, you [...]]]> Right now, I have four boxes of cereal stored in my laundry basket in my bedroom closet.

(And as I write that, I wonder why I’ve never stored anything in there before.  Sure, I have to dump it out when I do the laundry, but it wouldn’t be a bad place to store laundry detergent.)

Why, you ask, do I have four boxes of cereal in my laundry basket?  Because I couldn’t find anywhere else to put it.  I eat the same kind of cereal for breakfast every morning, and go through a box in about a week and a half or so.  So when it was on super sale this weekend, I decided it was smart to stock up.  Then I went to put it in the cabinet… and noticed that there was no room, with the extra cans of soup and jars of spaghetti sauce.  My kitchen is small and doesn’t have great storage, and suddenly, all my cabinets are full.  Which means that I have to start stashing those extra food items elsewhere. 

If you stock up on food during sales or just in case of emergency, where do you keep it?  I know some people have boxes under their beds that are filled with canned food.  Do you have a bureau drawer filled with pasta?  Rice in with your socks?  Of course, if you have a basement, storage is less of an issue, I’m sure, but for those of you in a home without great storage, what are your tips and tricks?

At first, I thought “Okay, so what?  I don’t drink that much soda.  And [...]]]> The big talk in my office right now is the proposed soda tax.  In brief, there is a suggestion that for the health benefit of the general population, we should put an additional tax on soda – one cent for every ounce. 

At first, I thought “Okay, so what?  I don’t drink that much soda.  And what’s one cent per ounce?”  Then I realized how that would add up.  I drink around 5 cans of diet soda a week.  I’ve been trying to cut back, but decided that a diet soda was a better indulgence than the ice cream my brain tells me I want.  I buy the soda in 12 packs at the store.  Suddenly, my 12 pack will be going up almost $1.50!  Considering that I like to buy the 12 packs when they’re on sale for $3, that’s a big increase!

But the question is, will this additional tax make me buy less soda?  Maybe, but probably not.  For people who go through more soda than I do, will they make changes to their lives?  Maybe, but probably not. 

What I would love to see is a tax on junk food used to reduce the cost of healthy food.  Fresh fruits and veggies are expensive! Lower fat meats are expensive!  It’s no wonder people avoid the healthy foods and splurge on junk food.  It’s cheap and tastes good.  Why not do something to cut the costs of healthy food (without sacrificing nutrition, of course). 

Of course, just making it cheap isn’t a guarantee that people will eat it.  People will likely still choose a candy bar over a fresh peach.  I think those people are crazy, but that’s just me.  That said, if we’re going to penalize people for making bad choices, why not reward them for good choices at the same time?

And I am terrible at it.  Terrible! 

Of course, part of the problem is that it’s just me cooking for myself. I’m not cooking for anyone else.  So a casserole that serves 4-6 people is going to last me for a week.  If I’m willing to [...]]]> Batch cooking.  It’s a great way to save time and money.

And I am terrible at it.  Terrible! 

Of course, part of the problem is that it’s just me cooking for myself. I’m not cooking for anyone else.  So a casserole that serves 4-6 people is going to last me for a week.  If I’m willing to eat the same thing everyday, anyway.

Over the weekend, I made my favorite eggplant parmesan recipe.  It’s light and healthy and freezes exceptionally well.  And I love it.  So I probably will finish it by the time the week is over.  It’s been great coming home and knowing that there’s good, nutritious food for dinner, and all I have to do is pop it in the microwave.  Clearly, I should continue this trend of cooking on the weekend, maybe even cook two or three things, and then freezing it so that I have options for the next few weeks.  And yet, I never do it.

I think part of the problem is that I always make the same few recipes when I try to cook for the week, so I just get bored with them.  Sure, I can eat eggplant parm for a week, but I don’t really want to eat it next week too.  I have a lot of cookbooks at home, and I’m tempted to take two of my favorite healthy cookbooks (Crazy Plates and Looney Spoons) and try to make every single dish in them.  Maybe not the appetizers or desserts, but everything else.  I’m sure I won’t actually accomplish that, but instead of always making the same dishes, this way I can try new things and batch cook all at once.  And be healthy – that’s key for me.

I’m in awe of people who cook one day a month and then feed their families for the next four weeks.  I don’t know how you do it.  But I’m sure it frees up a lot of time and saves money too.  I suppose it helps if you have a big freezer, but either way, it’s definitely an accomplishment.  Maybe someday.  For now, I’m happy to feed myself for a week.

“I guess I have to get used to bringing my lunch,” she said.  “My husband saw the credit card bill and got mad [...]]]> Yesterday, at lunch, I was in the office kitchen heating up my lunch (delicious leftovers from the dinner I cooked Sunday night) and a co-worker I rarely run into at lunch wandered in.

“I guess I have to get used to bringing my lunch,” she said.  “My husband saw the credit card bill and got mad that I was wasting so much money on food.”

Of course, the first thing that rolled through my head was that perhaps they should be more open about their spending so that they don’t have those issues, but I didn’t say a word.  Instead, I commented about my own lunch policy.

“Oh, I bring my lunch most days.  I never go out more than once a week and really try to only go out twice a month.”

“Really?  You don’t seem like the type to bring your lunch.  Why do you do it?”

“Couple of reasons, really.  I like to try to eat healthy, and that’s easier to do if I bring my lunch.  I also like to go to the gym on my break and don’t have time to do that and go get carry-out.  And, of course, as you know, it’s expensive to eat out every day.  I just can’t afford to do it.”

“Oh, come on.  I know what you make.  You can afford it if you want to.”

Wow.  So this woman I never talked to was now criticizing my spending?  I was a little offended, but let it slide.

“Well, sure, I could, but then I would have to cut other things out of my life that I would like to keep.  It would be very easy to drop over $200 a month on eating out at lunch.  That’s $200 I can spend elsewhere.”  I considered mentioning savings, but didn’t think that would go over well.

“See, you could afford it,” she said.

Clearly, I didn’t get through to her.  But hey, it’s not my place to tell you how to spend your money.  I just advocate mindful spending.  If you want to spend $200 a month on lunch out, so be it.  For some people, it’s their vice.  They don’t like to go to movies or buy music or clothing.  They like to eat out every day.  And that’s okay.  But you have to prioritize.  If you eat out daily, you spend money that you could have used for something else.  If the lunches are higher priority, then go for it.

For me, eating out isn’t high priority.  So maybe I don’t seem like the type to bring my lunch, but I am.  Crazy co-workers aren’t going to convince me to change that.

I was at the grocery store, picking up a few items on my list, and one of the things I needed was cat litter.  Now, I usually buy the medium sized container.  It weighs 20 pounds.  There is a smaller container [...]]]> This weekend, I saw something that reaffirmed the adage that bigger is not always better.

I was at the grocery store, picking up a few items on my list, and one of the things I needed was cat litter.  Now, I usually buy the medium sized container.  It weighs 20 pounds.  There is a smaller container and a larger container, but for me, the medium size works quite well.  On my list of tasks this weekend was to clean out the litter box and refill, which takes more than 20 pounds of litter, and while I usually have at least one half-full container at home, I hadn’t kept up with my purchasing.

I had never really looked much at the big container.  I’m not sure what it weighs, but it’s big and heavy and I walk to the grocery store.  20 pound containers fit in my awesome tote from L.L. Bean.  The bigger ones would not.  But since I needed more than 20 pounds, I considered it.

Until I noticed the shelf tag.  Cost per pound for the 20 pound container?  Around 41 cents.  Cost per pound for the bigger container?  44 cents.  Forget that!  Conveniently, 2 20 pound containers fit in my shopping tote,  so that was the final decision.

I’m lucky that my grocery store posts all of these numbers.  Of course, if something is on sale, the sale tag doesn’t show the cost per unit, but I can work around that.  I think the assumption is always that buying the bigger container will save you money.  And that’s what the manufacturers want you to think.  If your store isn’t like mine, you might want to consider walking around the grocery store with a calculator every so often, just to get an idea of unit prices.  Who knows what you might find out?