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Bread is How Much?

A receipt, debit card and a handful of cash.I feel like Jerry Seinfeld: “What is with the price of bread?”

Right now, the bread brand I usually buy hovers around $3.00. When money’s tight, that’s a lot for a loaf.

With my bank account whimpering like a little kid facing a tetanus shot every Grocery Day, I decided to look into how I can save a little dough on my food bill.

What things could I swap around to save a few bucks?

First went the bread.

In this instance, I spent a little money to save a little money and bought myself a bread machine. That baby’s paid for itself in the past few months. Instead of spending $3.00 on one loaf of bread I spend that money on a bag of flour and get three or four loaves. I haven’t bought a loaf of bread since October.

And making my own for the kids and husband has the added benefit of being healthier. I know exactly what’s going into that loaf and there are no additives, preservatives or words I can’t pronounce.

After the bread I ditched my “convenience veggies.”

I don’t mind cooking at home (which is a huge money-saver in and of itself) but I’m a lazy cook. The less I have to chop and prep to get dinner ready, the better. But I had an epiphany in the produce aisle not too long ago.

Why spend $2.00 on pre-washed, pre-peeled, pre-cut packages of carrots when I can spend $0.89 on plain old packages of raw carrots?

Needless to say, that rockin’ set of knives my husband got me for Christmas is getting a workout. All my veggies now come “unprepared” and I peel, scrape, and cut them myself.

And I’ll be a big girl admit that it really doesn’t take that much longer to do it myself. Plus I save a few dollars every week.

The next money-saving epiphany came while perusing the cheese selection.

Healthy or not, we’re cheese-eaters in this house. Shredded on chili, sliced in sandwiches, snacked on with rice crackers. But now, instead of buying cheese in bags or wrapped in convenient individual slices it comes in a brick and I slice and shred it myself. I save even more pennies if I get the store brand rather than a name brand.

Those are just a start. I see the fine art of couponing in my future. I’m also tossing around the idea of turning my brown thumb green and starting a small vegetable garden somewhere in the yard. Why buy it if I can grow it myself? Of course, growing it myself might be the problem… I can kill AstroTurf.

Anyway, those are a few of the changes I’ve made on grocery day. What tips and tricks have you come up with to help you save on groceries?

And do you have any tips on couponing? Feel free to share in the comments!

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New Goals for the New Year

Okay, so my New Year’s resolution post is a few days late. But since I just got back from a two week trip to England, I’ll give myself a pass. Just this once.

Before I dive into my list though, I have to issue a small disclaimer.

I don’t make actual resolutions anymore. My ability to keep them goes beyond sucktastic. I set goals instead. I find goals easier to meet.

Now, without further ado, I present:

My Goals for 2012!

Become More Fearless with My Writing

I’ve been a writing wimp until recently. Too timid to share my scribblings. Too scared to try new forms of writing. That’s not very smart for someone who’s dreamed of making a living via the written word. I’ve read, studied and even practiced many forms of writing. It’s time to buckle down now and put aside my worry of not being good enough. The more you write, the better you get.

Starting this blog back in November was Step One toward fearlessness. When my harsh critic of an inner editor said “See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I found myself encouraged and eager to try other, new forms of writing.

So, out with my old writing fears for 2012.

Health and Fitness

I believe I’ve mentioned a few times that, due to health reasons, I’ve recently switched to a gluten free diet. Well, it’s time for me to quit thinking of it as a “diet change” and start thinking of it in terms of a “lifestyle change”. I don’t do diets well. Mostly because I start to think about all of the stuff I can no longer have and depress myself. And then go off the diet.

While I haven’t blown my diet (on purpose) in the past two months, I need to refocus. I don’t want to just replace the gluteny junk I used to eat with its gluten free counterpart (which, in some cases, is even more unhealthy).

So, I’m re-thinking my food habits entirely and find myself excited by the prospect of trying to incorporate more whole, unprocessed foods and lean proteins rather than just substituting rice bread for wheat bread. (However, all bets are off if someone finally starts making a tasty gluten free Pop-Tart… What? We’ve all got our vices.)

It’s also time to reboot my fitness program again. Part of a healthy lifestyle is movement, right? While I’ve had to cancel my gym membership (see goal “Pay off Debt“), I still have my awesome P90x and my running shoes. Both of which are getting dusted off and used. It’s time to get, and stay, healthy.

Family Time

When they were younger, the kiddos and I used to pop in a movie or go out for dinner every other Friday night. It was great, though I did sit through many a snoozer of a kid’s movie. But as they got older they started getting involved with school activities, activities with friends, and so on and the every other Friday night Family Night fell by the wayside.

One of my goals this year is to bring that back. At least once a month. I know that teenagers have friends they want to see on Friday nights and they see me every night. But one Friday a month, we’re getting some quality time in whether it’s watching a movie, going out, or letting my kids laugh their backsides off as they school me and the Hubs on some first person shooter X-Box game.

Expand My Brain

I love learning. I could easily be a professional student for the rest of my life. This year there are a few things I plan on cracking open some books on.

  • Continue to study the craft of writing (that sort of goes without saying, but I felt like saying it anyway)
  • PHP
  • HTML5
  • CSS3

The HTML and CSS are two things that I want to improve my skills in. The PHP is a brand new language for me. I’m excited and can’t wait to get my hands on some books.

Pay off Debt

For the longest time, I was completely debt-free (except my mortgage). And that, my friends is a beautiful feeling. But, good or bad, nothing lasts forever and I had a few emergencies come up. Like my 15 year old air conditioner dying in the middle of a Florida Summer. Car engines going kerplunk.

While my debt isn’t atrocious by any standard, it still sucks and it’s my goal this year to take a huge chunk out of it. In order to make this happen, I’ve had to cut some fat out of my budget, like my gym membership. But I’m looking forward to the day when I can give myself the money I’m giving to some corporation every month.

Create a Fulfilling Life

In essence, that’s exactly what the goals above are working toward. Creating a balanced and fulfilling life for myself and my family. I want us to enjoy every minute we have with each other. I think that, right there, is the most important goal of all.

So there you have it. My short list of goals for 2012. What goals to you have? Feel free to share them with me in the comments.

And have a safe and happy 2012!

Be on the look out. I’ll be posting pictures of the family trip overseas soon!