Saving Money

  • Food & Nutrition, Nutrition, Saving Money

    Grocery Haul: October 2018

    Grand Total: $101.63

    Happy fall!  This month I’m really trying to be intentional about eating more, hence why my TJ’s bill keeps creeping higher and higher (FYI I don’t just shop at TJ’s–I’ll explain my strategy in a later post).  My desire to eat more isn’t just about preparing for winter hibernation.  Because of my under eating, I often wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning because my body is craving food.  Needless to say, this messes me up for the rest of the day even if I do  fall back asleep.  If I can manage to get this under control, I’m looking forward to sleeping more, and I also think it’ll be interesting to see how my body responds to getting more food on a regular basis.

    My new-ish item of interest at Trader Joe’s are these vegetable spring rolls….One box includes five pieces and they came up to $3.99.  They are filled with edamame, kale, cabbage and mushrooms.

    This is my second time buying these spring rolls, and there’s a reason–they’re pretty darn good. The first time around, I  baked them following the instructions on the box.  The second time, I used my roommate’s air fryer, which gave them a really nice crunch in only about 7 minutes.  I prefer the airfryer because it’s quicker and more fun to use; however, since I meal prep’ed with these and therefore put them in the refrigerator rather than eating them immediately after I cooked them as it’s suggested, the crunch pretty much just went away.  I know that this isn’t ideal and that the texture is less than desirable, but, even with the slight sogginess, I’m still here for it.

    My lunch this week.  In addition to spring rolls, I made stir fry with TJ pre-chopped vegetables, marinated tofu over brown rice. I also sautéed kale.

    Am I the only one that is willing to make small taste-based concessions for the peace of mind of knowing that your food is taken care of for the entire work week?  Meal prepping for me is more about saving time and money rather than eating perfect meals.  I’m willing to eat a semi-soggy spring roll or two.

    Onwards and upwards.  We’re already half-way through the semester!

  • Exercise, Saving Money, The Academy

    Back to School Pt 1: Shopping & Saving

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    brown pencil on black and green book
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    As I prepare for my 22nd year of school, I realize how much the meaning of ‘back to school shopping’ has evolved for me.  When I was younger, it meant a new outfit, a hard cover binder and my mom’s money.  Now, I’m far more selective when deciding on what I actually need because back to school shopping money comes from the same pot as rent and food.  So, in all of my years of back to school season, the most effective tips I’ve learned for saving money are:

    1. Keep your old notebooks.  Instead of buying new notebooks, tear out the used pages and store them in a folder with the course syllabus and other relevant handouts.  Use the older and lighter notebook for the new semester.  This helps with reducing clutter too.
    2. Stock up on supplies at new student programming.  Be humble, take the free pens, post it notes, water bottles, etc. and save your coins.
    3. Try to find a digital copy online or buy it used.  Half of the books I bought in undergrad and a quarter of the ones I bought in grad school are probably sitting in a box somewhere collecting dust.  You don’t have to buy it new.  I actually really enjoy buying gently used books especially when other people leave their (light) comments so I can get a sense of how other people interpreted the text.
    4. Thrift stores and consignment shops for clothes.  This can be time consuming, but if you find some good pieces, it’s totally be worth it.   I don’t buy used workout clothes, but I am a fan of places like Ross and TJ Maxx, which usually have pretty good prices on their athletic clothes and equipment.

    When I taught high school, ‘back to school shopping’ had very little to do with me and everything to do with my classroom.  I had a frequent buyer account at Office Max, and I would literally just buy entire boxes of spiral notebooks and binders.  I wore out my FedExKinkos discount like no other.  I loved my kids.

    Now that I’m a  graduate student, I’m not making nearly as much money, and I don’t have to decorate and provide supplies for my own classroom–teachers don’t get enough credit (literally and figuratively).  This time around, what I’m buying is more about me, which is nice.  I’m teaching 3 days out of the week, and I’m not taking any classes, so I didn’t have very much time to shop.  Here are the few things I did pick up:

    1. Work attire. 3 new shirts from Express, 1 pair of pants from Old Navy, 2 pairs of flats from DSW
    2. 2 folders. the one I repurposed was falling apart.
    3. A nice thermos. I’ve found that having tea or something warm to drink when I have to do public speaking helps calm me down.  I already have one that I keep in my office.
    4. Dance classes. as an act of pre-emptive self care, I signed up for a salsa performance team.  The ten week commitment is a little daunting because I can’t always anticipate my workload even though I’ve tried to plan as much as possible. I think having  forced exercise that I actually enjoy will be a great stress reliever.  If nothing else, I already payed for it, so I plan to be there.
    5. Spanish classes. This is the only way I’ve found to really hold myself accountable for maintaining and improving my fluency.

    All of that pretty much took my first paycheck before I even got it #adulting; however, I trust that the return will be far greater.  I’m proud that I made these purchases with my overall well-being in mind. So, ‘back to school shopping’ is back to being about me, but I definitely have a better understanding of what, as an almost- ABD-grad-student, is going to help me feel confident and comfortable.

    Are you purchasing anything new for the semester?  Are you recycling anything? Is back to school shopping just another capitalist gimmick to get us to spend our coins? Let me know.

  • Food & Nutrition, Saving Money

    When good decisions go bland

    More and more I find myself dissecting the nutrition facts on the back of foods before I purchase them.  I’m becoming that person; however, it’s sort of a necessity because ensuring that I get enough protein in my diet is a daily struggle.  This is on top of the fact that there’s often hidden sugars and other ingredients that manufacturers  slip into their foods unbeknownst to the customer thereby turning a seemingly healthy food into a hazard. So what do you do when you read something on the label that you don’t want to?

    Image result for chobani greek plain yogurt
    Source Image

    True story: The grocery store up the street had a 4-pack of Chobani yogurt on sale for $2.99!  Yes…..that’s not a typo.  Because there are few things that make me happier than a good sale, I ran to the dairy aisle because usually a single cup costs about $1.53 (and I also just spend time taking in the free A/C). While I surely have vegan aspirations, buying yogurt is a relatively easy and quick way that to get protein in, so when it’s on sale, I definitely try to stock up. When it came time to decide which flavors to buy, I’m not sure why I thought Chobani would be any different, but all of the fruit in the bottom varieties had anywhere between 13 and 15 grams of sugar per serving whereas the plain unflavored only had 4.  Good for my body but bad for my taste buds.

    According to a Business Insider article, there are other major yogurt brands that have almost double of what Chobani has.  La Yogurt (original, lowfat, cheescake flavor) and Brown Cow (chocolate flavor) for example both have 28 grams of sugar, which is almost like eating a Double Chocolate Brownie from Starbucks just to put things in perspective.  Essentially, most yogurts should be classified as a desert.

    I reluctantly bought two pack of plain greek yogurt knowing that it just wasn’t going to taste good.

    So now I’m stuck with all of this yogurt that I know is better for me but that I’m actually not all that excited about eating.  I find plain greek yogurt to be bitter and pretty unappetizing.  Was it worth it?  Do I really have the time, energy and interest  to try to make my yogurt appetizing?  So far, I just add any combination of cinnamon, honey and or raisins to try to sweeten things up a bit, but I honestly feel like it’s just extra work.  Why can’t yogurt be tasty and healthy?  Am I asking for too much here?

    Other instances where good choices go bland are mostly when I skip on the condiments.  BBQ sauce is another favorite of mine, but it’s loaded with sugar.   I love the idea of butter with everything, oatmeal, eggs, toast, etc, but I usually refrain because I simply know better.

    The challenge here then is to find alternatives that satisfy my tastebuds but aren’t self defeating.  So for now, I’m using raisins, honey (trying not to o.d.) and cinnamon to improve the taste.  I can also incorporate it into my smoothies, and overnight oats which is ideal for plan yogurt rather than flavored.  It’s honestly, not so bad; it just takes a little effort.

    Have you recently made a decision to go bland?  How’s it going for you?  Any life hacks to make bland taste better?

     

     

     

  • Food & Nutrition, Saving Money

    Grocery Haul: July 2018

    Grand total: $85.50

    This is a bit more than I usually spend, but given that I’m working in the library every day during the week, I bought a lot of snacks like raisins, dates, nuts, trail mix and instant coffee.  The nuts especially are relatively more expensive than the other things that I bought.

     

     

     

     

     

    Highlight Buy: Instant coffee packets

    I am by no means a coffee snob.  The most adventurous thing I’ve ever ordered at Starbucks was probably a white hot chocolate.  When I can’t get free coffee from school,  I order a small “tall” black coffee and add sugar–that’s it. My highlight for this month  buy is the TJ instant coffee packets because they get the job done-no frills just facts.

    The instant packets from Trader Joe’s come with sugar and cream already included, which means that I don’t have to grab a handful of sugar packets from Starbucks.   I used to buy the instant packets from Starbucks, but the Trader Joe’s version costs $1.99 for ten packets, and it’s super convenient to just grab one from my desk when I need a little caffeine boost.

    Until next month!