Sunday, May 4, 2008
The high cost of food - and a blog challenge
One of the biggest wastes in a food budget is not using the leftovers. I was forever finding that strange looking mound in a plastic container when cleaning out the refrigerator.
Meats - add some cooked vegetables..add a little broth, thicken with flour and add dumplings. Or use it in sandwiches, salads, or quesadilla, etc.
Vegetables - use in broth for stews, soups, etc. Or my favorite way is to make fried rice and add all the leftover vegetables and meat.
Fruit - I always add the one "too ripe banana" to a batch of muffins. Our favorite way to use up fruit that may only have one more day is to cut it up...add a little yogurt and eat for breakfast or dessert.
Bread is one of those things that I always seem to have left - mainly just the crust and one or two pieces that seem a bit dry and nobody wants to eat it. So I put them in the freezer and make croutons or bread crumbs, etc. when needed. It's also good to make bread pudding out of...yum.
Feel free to add your wonderful ideas on how to use those leftovers on your blogs!
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Thursday, November 8, 2007
Is there sex discrimination when dealing with creditors?
I blogged the other day about my credit card interest rate. How I had, in my quest to pay early...been paying too early which then resulted in being late (I know...weird). And the consequence of that was a hefty 32% interest rate (robbery in my book). In the last 1 1/2 weeks I've called them three times, talking to different people, saying this is unacceptable, asking them to lower the interest, yadda, yadda - to which they would kindly reply that they will review our "status" in February...then if we are deemed worthy they will lower it to 19% (how sweet of them). So why am I so angry (other than the obvious)? Because my husband kept saying.."let me call them" to which I was offended and said "you will not get anywhere...I've tried and tried." So he calls anyway and I think "go ahead, you are just going to get frustrated." A few minutes into the call (he is good, let me tell ya') he has it lowered to 14% - not even the crummy 19% they would lower it to in February if we were "good." Now, 14% is still too high in my opinion but that's not the point! The point is I got NOWHERE and they buckled when he called! WHAT?
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Friday, November 2, 2007
Reduce a bill challenge
I'm joining in the Reduce a Bill Challenge at Working For Financial Freedom ...care to join me!? My goal is to keep my electricity bill savings and to lower my food bill...spending $500 which is definitely a challenge for me with doing child care.
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Thursday, November 1, 2007
Why are some lessons so hard to learn?
In years past I have been a procrastinator. O.k., so I'm still a procrastinator but I'd like to think that I've amended by ways when it comes to paying bills. With the new fangled options through my bank of online billing/payments I have, for the most part improved my late ways. However, looking over my Visa bill (which I'm desperately trying to eliminate) my interest has zoomed...yes zoomed to 32%! WHY? Because in my quest to pay things on time and/or early I have made some payments too early (yes...tooooooo early) and my payment didn't get applied to the correct billing cycle. This happened twice, plus I was just plain late a couple of times (we are talking a day or two) and they now are charging me 32%. I cried, I pleaded, I explained...I begged...o.k. didn't beg (I mean I do have SOME self-esteem) and you know what...they don't care. They don't care why, how late, how I was trying to pay early...nope. All they see is that I've been late and I have to now wait until February when they will "review" my performance to see if I've changed my horrible ways. UGH, lesson learned!
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Sunday, October 28, 2007
My electricity bill...
I'm doing the happy dance! My electricity bill came and it's lower than it's EVER been ($110)...even during the summer months! It really paid off (haha) to turn lights off, use cold water whenever possible, turn things off like the printer, coffee pot, etc., when not in use. But I'm sure the big savings is our woodstove. While it is messy to have a woodstove I love the constant heat it provides. So now I'm going to take a little of the savings to buy material for drapes for a large window in my dining room that need to be covered. As the nights get colder it will be a challenge to keep that electricity bill low!
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