Living Cheap with a Baby - the Diaper Edition

I don't know about you, but I have always heard that babies are soooo expensive.... Since I reached my twenties I have heard parents tell horror stories about the cost of infants - everything from clothes to formula and how the average family just can't afford to do it anymore. Well, as the parent of three children, I can tell you that doesn't have to be the case. (Anyway, they don't get really expensive until the get to school and they start selling cookies or bringing home fundraiser pamphlets!)

To that end, I will publish a weekly column about "Living Cheap with a Baby." I am more than happy to share what I have learned. Let's start with diapers.

I used disposables for my first two kids, mainly because I didn't consider other options. If your baby goes to daycare, chances are you will have to invest in some disposables because they won't want to deal with cloth diapers. If you find yourself in that situation, be sure to cruise the coupon websites like coupon.com for coupons. Also, look for weekly sales at supermarkets and drug stores. Often the coupons can be substantial - for $2 or even $5 off.

You can also try a warehouse club. They won't take coupons, but in my area Sam's Club sells cases of diapers (equivalent to 2 jumbo packs) for $34. That is about a $6 savings. The drawback is the giant box o' diapers in your nursery, but it is worth it.

As an aside, I would not recommend buying generic diapers. If you have found a good brand, let us know, but I have never encountered a store brand that didn't leak or give my girls a diaper rash. (Generic wipes are fine, however.)

The best option if you can do it is to buy cloth diapers. It involves a bit of an investment at the start in that you will have to buy the diapers. I bought Sun Baby diapers on E-Bay - I got 24 diaper covers and 48 liners (about a 2 day supply before washing) for about $120. In 2 1/2 months these diapers paid for themselves and I can use them until JP is around 2 years old and is ready for pull-ups because they are adjustable.

The diaper sprayer cost about $10 on E-Bay. A diaper sprayer hooks onto the water line on your toilet and is used to spray solids and urine into the toilet. Then you toss them aside to be washed. The sprayer is optional, but it is worth it because it keeps the diapers from staining and from smelling bad while they wait to be washed. If you buy one, get a chrome or stainless steel one because the plastic ones tend to crack under pressure and leak.

If you decide to use cloth diapers, I have some helpful tips.

1. When you are out and about, bring a plastic bag (preferably a resealable one) to store the soiled diapers. This won't work for long trips for obvious reasons, so you may have to buy some disposables if you are going away for more than a day or so. Either that or find a laundry-mat.
2. Bring extra onesies because cloth diapers do tend to leak a bit more.

You will have to wash your cloth diapers separate from your other clothes. There are many different variation on how to wash cloth diapers, but here is what works for me: use half the normal detergent and hot water. The hot water is necessary to get rid of bacteria. Do not use pure soap or fabric softener because they tend to repel water. Then, dry them on your hottest setting (again, bacteria).

Eventually soap residue does build up. For this reason, many people prefer to wash their diapers with vinegar instead of soap, but in my experience they don't get clean that way. When I find that mine are losing absorbency I wash them without soap in hot water twice. That usually is enough to remove the residue.

The drawbacks of cloth diapers are that they are adjustable but at some stages the fit isn't perfect. As a result, the baby might leak out of the leg holes. Generally it isn't an issue once the baby is past 10 lbs or so, but it happens.

Also, because cloth diapers are a little bulkier, it can be difficult to tell if they are wet or not. My son also can readily pee out of even a premium disposable, so we have to check him every hour or so to make sure he didn't wet his diaper. The good news is he has never gotten a rash off the cloth diapers.

The benefits are so large, however, that for many parents, including me, they outweigh and disadvantages. In 2 months these diapers paid for themselves - I figured they will save me well over a thousand dollars in just 2 years! That is a LOT of money!

Further, they are much kinder on the environment. This gem came from the Clean Air Council:

Diapers: An average child will use between 8,000 -10,000 disposable diapers ($2,000 worth) before being potty trained. Each year, parents and babysitters dispose of about 18 billion of these items. In the United States alone these single-use items consume nearly 100,000 tons of plastic and 800,000 tons of tree pulp. We will pay an average of $350 million annually to deal with their disposal and, to top it off, these diapers will still be in the landfill 300 years from now. Americans throw away 570 diapers per second. That's 49 million diapers per day.

Incredible!!

So that concludes the diaper edition of Living Cheap with a Baby. If you have comments or ideas, post them here or e-mail them to us at living.cheap.lone.star@gmail.com.

For the Retirees: How to Snag the Senior Discounts

by Darlene Hinkley


I am writing this for my daughter, son-in-law's, and Angela's blog.  They are far too young to understand the benefits of aging.  I am enjoying this stage of my life far too much to let them know that they are not in the "best years of their life" no matter what people tell them. No work, no kids, and not giving a rats a** what people think.
I am going to share some of the discounts that I have found that I use often.  You probably have your own favorites, so be sure and share them with us.

First of all, the term "senior" can mean anything from 50 to 65, depending on the policy of the establishment.
The biggest drawbacks to getting senior discounts is the senior themselves.  They are shy about asking for a discount or if they ask once and are turned down they don't ask anywhere else. Think of it this way, you don't know these people so why would you care what they think?

Another problem is vanity.  The young clerks probably think you are an old fogie if you are over 35, so them doubting you is not a problem. Many clerks will not offer you the discount  fearing the wrath of a old looking young person. An older clerk asking for verification of age is like begin carded when you are 28.

It I encounter a rude clerk (I rarely do), I do not frequent their establishment if I can help it, and I tell everyone I know how I was treated. So don't be shy; you have nothing to lose by asking.


Here are some examples of common places where you can find senior discounts:

• The most used senior discount in my bag of tricks is golf.  Most golf courses offer a senior discount that make playing more affordable. Just check their internet page or ask.
• Of course discounts at restaurants and hotels/motels are some of the best. An AARP card is helpful.
• We have several grocery stores that offer senior days from time to time. The discount can be anywhere from 5 to 15%, may be just on food, or just on non food, or on both.
• Some universities allow their alum to take classes on a no credit basis for free.  Now is the time to take the classes that you wanted to take, but could not fit into your schedule.  Underwater basket weaving comes to mind.
• The National Park Service offers a America the Beautiful Senior Pass for people over 62 and cost a one time fee of $10. It allows a senior and anyone (up to 4 adults) in a non-commercial  vehicle with them free access to the parks. You can only get this pass in person at a National Park.
• Check at museums also, they usually have a discount fee.

More to come when my brain opts to release stored information. 

Angel Food Menu for October

So if you haven't checked out the Angel Food menu for October, it is shaping up to be a good one. Unlike Bill I am not going to list ALL of the items here but I do have some comments that might help those of you who are new. And if you haven't tried Angel Food before, I suggest that you give it a go. Aside from scratch and dent items, it is the best way to save money on groceries!

So the highlight of the October menu, in my opinion, is the seafood box. For $35 you get 6 lbs of seafood including:

• 16 oz oven-ready buffalo shrimp
• 20 oz stuffed crabs in their natural shells
• 16 oz oven-ready battered fish
• 16 oz tilapia
• 11 oz stuffed salmon portions
• 17 oz crab cakes

I have had all of these before except the stuffed salmon and it is all really quality food.

Another recommendation that I have is the allergen-free box. All of the items are processed to remove the top 8 allergens: peanuts, soybeans, milk, eggs, tree nuts, fish, crustacea, and gluten. In these items is plenty of fried chicken, and that is one of the best values in Angel Food. Usually the chicken comes from top vendors like Tyson (even though it will arrive to you without a label). The chicken is very flavorful. The allergen-free box is $25 for 5 lbs.

The steak box is always a good deal too: this month you get 2 lbs ribeyes and 3 lbs strips for $25. Their steaks are usually pretty good quality - mostly lean cuts.

Also notable is the fact that you can pre-order your complete Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner for $36. Each dinner includes a 7.5 lb (average Perdue roasting hen (very flavorful - we had it last year), a 3lb netted boneless ham, cranberries, 3 vegetables, gravy, rolls, and a dessert.

My plan is to order the $41 signature box, the steak box, the seafood box, and the allergen-free box. For $126 I get enough food to take care of dinners for my family of 4 (well 5, but my son isn't eating solid food yet) for an entire month. You just can't beat that.

About the only thing I personally wouldn't ever buy is the produce, as I said - the fact that it usually arrives bruised and/or frozen (it happened to me twice!) is bad news, in my opinion. Aside from that, why would you buy that when you could go to your local farmer's marker and get it fresher and cheaper?

But overall, my final assessment is that Angel Food is a good deal, and October is a great month to try it.

• 
  

Skip the pen(itentiary), feed a duck

Last night my youngest son and I read Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals, a fantabulous collection of Carle’s colorful pictures accompanying some of the truest words ever written. Upon coming to an illustration of a caged bird watching butterflies dancing between snowflakes, he said “Mommy, why is the birdie in a cage?” The question gave me pause. Humans have been caging other creatures for their own pleasure since…well, forever. But how to explain to a 3-year-old that while yes, caging animals for the sole purpose of gaining pleasure from that animal is a true testament to our collective egotism? How to tell him that caging any living thing is cruel and detestable, that other creatures share this great and beautiful earth with us and that it is only through heavily-edited religious stories that we think we have dominion over all of (God? Allah? Shiva? Mother Earth?)’s creatures. But I didn’t have to explain; he rescued me from my own tied tongue. “It’s not nice, mom. The birdie is sad.” A few pages later we came upon a caged tiger pacing the short length of his tiny cage. “"The birdie and the tiger are crying because they can't fly and run or have fun at all. That makes me sad too." Children know so much, yet we rarely recognize their genius because we never stop to listen to them and understand their language. I was humbled by his perception.

A few semesters ago I had a student who wrote a research paper comparing wild to captive chameleons. He found that wild-caught chameleons kept in captivity died shortly after capture (a matter of months if not weeks). Experts’ best guess why is that the wild animals simply cannot adapt to life in captivity, and the stress quickly kills them.

For those of us with children, zoos and aquatic parks are an assumed part of parenthood. They are safe and closed sources of entertainment for children, and sometimes local zoos are relatively inexpensive to access or have ‘free’ nights or reduced rate entrance days. Zoos, however, not only take your money but use it to maintain the artificial “habitats” for what are ultimately caged animals.

Derrick Jensen’s 2007 essay, “Thought to Exist in the Wild: Awakening from the Nightmare of Zoos” discusses the side-effects of captivity on wild creatures. He writes:

The bear takes seven steps, her claws clicking on concrete. She dips her head, turns, and walks toward the front of the cage. Another dip, another turn, another three steps. When she gets back to where she started, she begins all over.

This is what’s left of her life.

Outside the cage, people pass by on a sidewalk. Parents stop strollers until they realize there’s nothing here to see. A pair of teenagers approach, wearing Walkmans and holding hands; one glance inside is enough, and they’re off to the next cage. Still the bear paces; three steps, head dip, turn.

My fingers are wrapped tightly around the metal railing outside the enclosure. I notice they’re sore. I look at the silver on the bear’s back, the concave bridge of her nose. I wonder how long she’s been here. I release the rail, and as I walk away, the rhythmic clicking of claws on concrete slowly fades.

Unfortunately most of us by now have been to enough zoos to be familiar with the archetype of the creature who has been driven insane by confinement: the bear pacing a precise rectangle; the ostrich incessantly clapping his bill; the elephants rhythmically swaying. But the bear I describe is no archetype. She is a bear. She is a bear who, like all other bears, at one time had desires and preferences all her own, and who may still, beneath the madness.

Or at this point she may not.

Similarly, activists like Ric O’Barry have a lengthy history fighting against the evils of dolphinariums and marine parks. O’Barry was once the lead dolphin trainer for the popular TV series Flipper and worked with five female dolphins who played the star. He grew close to the most used dolphin, Cathy. O’Barry says

She was really depressed. I could feel it. I could see it. And she committed suicide in my arms. That's a very strong word, suicide. But you have to understand dolphins and other whales are not automatic air breathers like we are. Every breath they take is a conscious effort. And so they can end their life whenever life becomes too unbearable by not taking the next breath. And it's in that context I use the word suicide. She did that. She swam into my arms and looked me right in the eye and...took a breath...and didn't take another one.

For my family, zoos and water parks are simply not an option. Looking at other creatures behind bars or thick panes of glass isn’t seeing wildlife. It’s seeing captured creatures not living life, but simply existing. That tragedy reflects the very pinnacle of human arrogance.

But what to do instead? There are so very many alternatives.

Because my family now splits its time between San Angelo and Lubbock, TX, we have a huge variety of outdoor options. If we want to be in nature and see wild creatures, we can simply walk into our backyard. With three huge pecan trees, there’s never a shortage of squirrels and plenty of birds (not to mention the numerous neighborhood cats who come to visit our constant food supply). The above picture was taken from my mother’s backyard one morning several years ago. In what zoo does God speak so directly and with such absolute purity?

During off season (typically Labor Day through Memorial Day, excluding any major holidays or events), there is a local marina park that offers free admission. There are few, if any, people in the 3-mile long park that follows a stretch of the Concho River. The park boasts a beach, calm waters, a few playgrounds, tons of pecan trees (GREAT for foraging!), and lots opportunities for walking. We’ve seen whitetail deer, wild turkeys (often too close for comfort), armadillos, a few different species of squirrels, birds, fish, turtles, snakes, a huge variety of bugs, plenty of fauna, and what we are almost positive was a mountain lion.

Parks like this exist all over the country. Two weeks ago we went to MacKenzie Park in Lubbock, about a mile from my husband’s home-away-from-home. There we found an awesome disc golf course, a beautiful grove of trees, wild natural areas, a so-so playground, and a lovely lake complete with ducks. For me the natural find and blessing of the day (month!) was an abundance of gorgeous dark purple prickly-pear fruit perfect for jelly. And what a jelly it is!

State and National parks are also a great resource for learning about your natural local environment. These parks often offer free days complete with guided tours with expert naturalists. The last one of these events I attended taught me what Mormon Tea looks like as well as information about flowers that I’ve seen growing around me all of my life.

UPDATE: Texas State Park events listing. A lot of these events offer free admission to the park for the day!

The appeal of zoos and other consumer-driven wild facades is that they are clean and easy and that people are virtually guaranteed a glimpse (fabricated though it be) of “wildlife” that isn’t really wild at all. Speaking as a mother (and not a freegan), I can attest to the fact that my children much prefer the natural outdoors…the more natural and less landscaped the better. In what zoo can you walk around as you please, running and screaming and generally acting silly (as all people should do often), where you have the option of flopping down on the grass to watch the clouds go by and share a sandwich? Many of my happiest memories include my family at a park, on a trail, at a beach, or in a body of water soaking up all of the free, natural, wild, and happy surroundings.

Zoos and the like are stressful to your pocketbook, your children, you, and the animals there to masquerade as “happy” for an overwhelmingly blind audience.

Christina Rossetti said it best:

Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.

Weekly Supermarket Deals!!!

Hello everyone...every week, I will be posting the best deals at local supermarkets (for now in Texas only...but will probably post for other states as well...especially if someone can let us know what states they'd like to see). These sales will be ones that are worth looking at (not save 20 cents). 

NOTE: THESE DEALS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE AT ALL STORES. RAINCHECKS NOT AVAILABLE ON ALL ITEMS.

HEB

I will post these deals by how HEB describes them in the circular.

Meal Deals

Buy any 4 Stouffer’s Lean Cuisine Products and get these items free:

• 1 lb bananas
• 1 box Nestle or Wonka theater box candy
• 6 pack Ozarka Spring Water .5 ltr bottles.
• Fresh Express Spinach Salad (9 oz.)

Combo Loco Deals (Must Get In-Store Coupon for free item – normally found near the item you must buy)

• Buy Betty Crocker Fruit Gushers Snack (5.4 oz) get 8 pack Juicy Juice free (SAVE UP TO 2.28)
• Buy HEB Classic Selections Self Rising Pizza (22.76 – 34.46 oz) get HEB Salad Dressing (16 oz –asst. varieties) free (SAVE UP TO 1.99)
• Buy Ocean Spray 100% Juice or Cran-Energy get Ocean Spray Craisins (6 oz) free (SAVE UP TO 1.99)
• Buy Tyson Family Favorites Appetizers (20.5-30oz – asst. varieties) get a Tony’s Original Crust Pizza free (SAVE UP TO 1.69)
• Buy Wright Bacon (24 oz – asst. varieties) get Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits (16.3 – 17.3 oz) AND Simply Potatoes (20 oz – asst. varieties) free (SAVE UP TO 3.86)
• Buy 1lb. HEB New Harvest Wild Gulf Shrimp (asst. sizes) get Zatarain’s Fish or Shrimp Fry (10 oz.) AND Hill Country Fare Deli Style Potato Salad (16 oz) free
• Buy 8” Bakery Lattice Apple Pie get HEB Creamy Creations Premium Ice Cream (32oz – asst varieties) free
• Buy Duracell Saver Pack (asst sizes) and get HEB Milk (1/2 Gal) free
• Buy 1lb. of Butterball Turkey Breast (deli) and get Finlandia Imported Muenster or Swiss Cheese (1/4 lb) free
• Buy Hill Country Essentials Skin Care Item get Hill Country Essentials Mesh Sponge free
• Buy Kiolbasa Smoked Sausage Links (asst. varieties) get Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce (18 oz – asst varieties) AND Bush’s Best Pinto Beans (27 oz.) free
• Buy HEB Fully Cooked Chicken Breasts (25 oz. – asst. varieties) get Nature’s Own Sandwich Rounds (12 oz. – asst. varieties) free
• Buy 2 boxes Kellogg’s Pop Tarts (12 ct – asst. varieties) get HEB Milk (1/2 gal) free
• Buy Kraft Salad Dressing (8 oz. – asst varieties) get Kraft BBQ Sauce (18 oz.) free
• Buy 3 Pepsi or Dr. Pepper 12 packs get Tostitos (9-13oz) free
• Buy HEB Baby Club Pack Diapers (60-96 ct.) get HEB Baby Wipes (72 ct.) free

Texas Showdown Deals (buy name brand item, get HEB Generic Item Free – with in-store coupon)

• Buy Baked Lays Chips (8.75-9oz – asst varieties) get HEB Baked Chips (9oz – asst. varieties) free
• Buy Nature’s Own Honey Wheat Bread (20oz) get HEB Bake Shop Split Top Honey Wheat Bread (24 oz.) free

Albertson's

Best deal of the week – FRESH Chicken Leg Quarters .38 lb (in 10lb bag) – 10 lbs of chicken for 3.80!

This week Albertson's is having a pretty good Buy One Get One sale. Here's what you can pick up.

• Fresh 80% Lean Ground Beef (3 lbs or more) (SAVE UP TO 3.89)
• Full Line of Blue Bell Ice Cream and Novelties (SAVE UP TO 6.39)
• 1 lb Driscoll Strawberries (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• 6 oz Driscoll Raspberries (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Sara Lee White Bread 20 oz. Loaf (SAVE UP TO 2.49)
• Red Baron Pizza 14.76-22.10 oz. (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 5.49)
• State Fair Corn Dogs (13.35-16 oz) (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Keebler Chips Deluxe 12.5-18oz (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 4.19)
• Banquet Family Entrees 26-30 oz (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 3.89)
• PF Changs Meals for 2 22 oz. (SAVE UP TO 9.99!)
• Hefty Plates or Bowls (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Nestle Pure Life Water (16.9 oz 6 Pack) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Post Cereals (select varieties and sizes) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Sweet Leaf Ice Tea (64 oz.) (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Campbell’s Select Soup (18.6-19oz) (SAVE UP TO 2.69)
• Albertson’s Pancake/Waffle Syrups (24 oz. – select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 2.69)
• Bush’s Best Black or Refried Beans (15-16oz) (SAVE UP TO 1.29)
• Tom’s Chips or Hot Fries (SAVE UP TO 2.49)
• Nestle Nesquik Milk (13.5-16oz) (SAVE UP TO 1.49)
• Albertson’s Rice, Chocolate or Tapioca Pudding (22 oz.) (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Contessa Dinner Entrees (22-24 oz.) (SAVE UP TO 8.69!)
• Chung’s Chinese Entrees (20oz) (SAVE UP TO 5.99)
• Albertson’s Regular or Whipping Cream (8oz) (SAVE UP TO 1.59)
• Dannon Danimals Yogurt (6 pack “Dan-o-nino or 4 Pack “Crush Cups”) (SAVE UP TO 2.79)
• Bertolli Entrees (24oz) (SAVE UP TO 8.99!)
• Allens Steamed Vegetables (12 oz – select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 2.29)
• Dannon Activia (4 pack “Danactive Yogurt Drink” or 4 pack singles) (SAVE UP TO 2.99)el
• Albertson’s Butter Blend (16 oz) (SAVE UP TO 2.49)
• Cool Whip (8 oz) (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 1.89)
• Kraft Bagel-fuls (10 oz) (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 2.89)
• Laughing Cow Cheese (assorted varieties) (SAVE UP TO 4.99)
• Bakery Loaf Cake (Choc., Butter, Lemon, Cinnamon) (SAVE UP TO 4.49)
• Bakery Mini Muffins (doz.) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Deli Potato Salad (lb.) (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Bakery Apple or Cherry Turnovers (4 count full size or 18 count mini-bites) (SAVE UP TO 4.49)
• Bakery Fresh 7 Grain Bread (also Rye, Marble, Wheat or Pumpernickle) (SAVE UP TO 2.50)
• Nabisco Crackers (select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Bumblebee Solid White Tuna (5oz) (SAVE UP TO 1.99)
• Entire Line of Rubbermaid Food Containers (SAVE UP TO 8.99!)
• 5 Hour Energy Shots (2 pack) (SAVE UP TO 6.99)
• Entire Line of Vitamins (ALL BRANDS – ALL VARIETIES) (SAVE UP TO 13.99!)
• Fresh Express Lettuce Blends (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Cantaloupe (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Cauliflower (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• 4 Pack Vine-ripe Tomatoes (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Medium Yellow Onions (3lb bag) (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Hass Avocados (SAVE UP TO 1.99)
• Boneless Petite Steak (SAVE UP TO 4.19 PER LB)
• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast or Tenders (SAVE UP TO 4.99 PER LB)
• Bottom Round Steak (SAVE UP TO 6.99 PER LB)
• Extra Lean Stew Beef (SAVE UP TO 4.49 PER LB)
• Bone-in or Boneless Pork Chops (SAVE UP TO 5.19 PER LB)
• Honeysuckle White Ground Turkey 93% Lean (1.2 lb pack) (SAVE UP TO 3.69)
• Albertson’s Natural Cheese Slices (8 oz – select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 3.99)
• Albertson’s Block Cheese (8 oz – select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 2.99)
• Oscar Mayer Cold Cuts (16 oz. – select varieties) (SAVE UP TO 4.99)
• Mission Tortillas (10 ct.) (SAVE UP TO 2.99)

So as you can see, Albertson's is the place to shop this week - take advantage of the buy one get one free while they last!

Scratch and Dent Sales - for Groceries??

MSN featured an article today on going to scratch and dent grocery stores to get your non-perishable food - you can view the article here: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/cheapest-food-this-side-of-a-dumpster.aspx

Basically what these stores do is take the dented cans or items with damaged packaging, or items close to their sell-by date and resell them for literally pennies. When I first heard of this, I was skeptical. Like many of you, I thought that there must be something wrong with the food. Don't they tell you to avoid food with damaged packages or dents? Can't you get botulism that way?

The answer is yes, and no. According to the MSN article: "According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture fact sheet, beware of any can that is swollen, leaking, extensively rusted, has visible holes or punctures, or is crushed/dented badly enough "to prevent normal stacking or opening with a manual, wheel-type can opener."


So don't say we didn't warn you. But often the can or package in question is perfectly fine, even though is has a sizable dent, or even when it is difficult to open with a can opener. We here at Living Cheap have been doing this for years, so like we promised, we won't recommend anything we ourselves haven't tried!

Bill, Angela and I, in fact, get a lot of our food this way - through cast-offs from grocery stores and even the food bank! Angela in particular through the years has all the connections for finding these castoffs, much to the benefit of all of her friends and family (and random people on Freecycle). And speaking for Bill and I we have never encountered food that was compromised in any way in quality. For example, I made chicken parmesan yesterday using crushed tomatoes that came from a scratch and dent, and I regularly eat soup for lunch that comes from dented cans. Our kids love the canned fruit - and except when we make an effort to make a big meal we rarely have a breakfast or lunch that wasn't either free or bought for pennies on a quick-sale bin because of damaged packaging or an upcoming expiration date.

There are several directories online for finding your local scratch and dent grocery store, such as Anderson Country Market's site: http://www.andersonscountrymarket.net/directory or http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/discount-stores/97055-salvage-grocery-list-state.html  There aren't many outside of bigger cities, but the items are so inexpensive that it is worth bringing a big box and loading up whenever you make that trip to Dallas.

If you live in a city without one, the best strategy is to search the discount or quick sale bins at the grocery store or even drug stores. Ask the manager what they do with the dented cans and if they just throw them away, offer to take them off their hands. Don't be shy - in this economy if you don't ask someone else will!

Pringles Giveaway

As we find giveaways, we will post them. After all, who doesn't like free stuff?

Pringles is giving away a free can of Pringles Extreme chips on Facebook - one per household, while supplies last! http://popart.pringles.com/pringles-facebook/

Also, check out HEB's site for a few contests. First, you can enter your favorite grill recipe for a chance to win $5000 or one in over 800 prizes: http://www.heb.com/hebonline/page/grill-master-cook-off

Not a cook? No problem! Play their instant win game instead (on the same page). There! Now don't say we never gave you anything!

Got an Idea for Cheap Living?

We have tons of ideas for living cheaply and saving cash! But in the spirit of community that we here at Living Cheap embrace, we want your ideas too! We will try out the best ideas and post our feedback - whether it is how to save money on food, travel, clothing, or whatever you found to be useful.

The best ideas might even win a prize - TBA!

So e-mail your ideas for living cheap to Living.Cheap.Lone.Star@gmail.com

Good News for the Retirees

Good news for you retirees living in Texas and elsewhere! My (Nicole's) parents are joining the crew as they have time and insights to share their tips and tricks for living on a budget in retirement. After all, we all have to watch our budgets whether you are just starting out or a pro at pinching pennies. My mother, as I said previously, is the queen of living on a budget - first as a single parent and then as someone who took early (pre- Social Security) retirement. She and my stepfather Don have a lot to share about stretching your dollars and still having a good time, and they have definitely been role models for us.

I will let them introduce themselves when they have the time, but we are excited to have their perspective here at Living Cheap!

Freeganism and subversive shopping

Strictly speaking, being a freegan means that a person lives by a set of ideals that virtually eliminates waste by repurposing items that other people deem trash. We’re dumpster divers, trash diggers, scroungers, and urban foragers. We recognize that the staggering volume of wasted food and other commodities will sooner than later be a leading factor in the collapse of the comfortable society in which we live. Many of us have learned what is and is not edible in our natural surroundings and take full advantage of the foods that are naturally plentiful as they come ripe. Freeganism generally means shunning meat, so unlike Nicole and Bill, my perspective is largely vegetarian in nature, but I and my family do eat the occasional bit of meat (but only certain kinds – I’ll get to that later).

Freeganism also means co-opting, or creating a sustainable practice of shared resources with family, friends, neighbors, and perfect strangers. It’s learning to do with no immediate gratification and appreciating what’s serendipitously thrown into our paths. Sometimes this idea works, sometimes we just do without, and sometimes we just give in and go grocery shopping.

Freeganism defined.

I really, honestly believe that in a perfect world everything would be free and we’d never, ever, EVER experience the problems of waste, ignorance, or poverty that frequently plague people all over the world. While a lot of things are free and can be obtained for free, the reality is that we must pay for damn near everything, even information. I guess that’s both good and bad for me, because as a university instructor in West-Central Texas my rent depends on my ability to dole knowledge out to sometimes very reluctant minds.

But I do get to forcibly cram subversive ideas into these 18-22 year olds’ malleable minds, which is cool. But this isn’t a blog about how cool it is to be me; let’s get back to business.

Let me add a quick note: I will never claim that I and other freegans don’t rely on commercial enterprises to attain my food. Feeding a family of four in West Texas’s soaring, never-ending 100+ (or billion+ degrees if you actually live here) temps means that dumpster diving for foodstuffs is not always the best idea, even if or when it’s readily available. And who really wants to venture out to pluck wild pomegranates in the middle of July anyway? Gross – definitely not me.

My shopping habits, however, take advantage of what will almost certainly be thrown away because the supermarket assigns what often seem to be arbitrary expiration dates to produce, meats, and dairy products. I rarely pay full price for anything other than staple fruits. Rarely do I pay full price for vegetables, because so often pre-packaged veggies “go bad” before people buy the stuff. The people who work in the aforementioned sections either don’t give a damn about how well their department runs (and really, who can blame them?), or they are overburdened with work and never have the time to put clearance stickers on all the stuff that will “expire” the next day. This is where I come in. I have become a master at looking for the expiration dates on everything. If the item “expires” that day or the next, odds are you can get one of those underpaid workers to mark the stuff down half-price or more. And if, like me, you’re feeding a horde of hungry boys, the fact that those 99 cent mushrooms will get pretty gross after about three days in the fridge doesn’t really matter because they’ll be gone within a day anyway.

The same tactic can be taken with meat and dairy products too. Because we don’t really eat meat that originates from land-dwelling animals, I usually cruise by the fish and dig through the individually store-packaged fish fillets to see if anything’s been marked down or will be tossed the next day. If something’s marked to go out the next day, I can typically get the meat counter folks to mark the stuff down at least half-price. I’ve done the same with chicken, pork, and beef too (though not recently). I regularly get the dairy dudes to mark milk down. Rarely do I pay more than 50 cents for a gallon of milk set to expire in one or two days. The milk, however, stays good for at least five days, so my cow juice horking family doesn’t care about the numbers.

There is a trick to getting stuff marked down, though, and it might be a little surprising. You’ve got to look for the higher-end stuff like organic and free-roaming/range products. Most people can’t afford to pay 6$ for a gallon of organic milk, so it sits there until someone like me swoops in or it expires and gets tossed.

Now many people snub their noses at my shopping behavior. It’s “gross” or “cheap” or whatever other stupid assessment they manage to come up with. What those people don’t realize is that not only do we eat cheaply, but we eat VERY well for around $40 a week.

I get foodstuffs elsewhere too (as any good freegan must), but that info’s for future posts.

Buying and wisely using nearly-expired fresh and minimally processed supermarket foods will not only save your budget, but also the health of the earth and your family.

Welcome to our Third Contributing Author

We wanted to extend a warm welcome to our third contributing author, Angela Shaffer. Angela is a good friend of ours and brings in a unique perspective, that of a freegan. Many of the things that Bill and I have learned came from Angela's advice and insights as a local and a as a native Texan. Aside from that, she is a damn fine person and writer in her own right. We look forward to her contributions!

Angel Food Ministries

If you are looking to save money on groceries, we recommend Angel Food Ministries. I know, I know. You are thinking, "wait a minute, I need to save money but I am not ready for charity yet!" or maybe, "Oh no! Not another religious group looking to push their agenda on me in the guise of a service!" Well, it isn't that way at all. It isn't a charity and except for a piece of paper spreading the Word that is inserted into your box, no one will ever try to convert you or even speak to you about religion at all.

Angel Food began in 1994 in Georgia and now serves 44 states - chances are pretty good that you can get it in your area. The idea is they obtain food at cost or below cost from vendors (they don't state who these are but I can tell you we have gotten items from Tyson, Marie Callender's, and other brand names in our box, as well as the one time the kids refer to as the "big score" in which we got what looked suspiciously like the Burger King crown nuggets). They then group items in various "boxes" for sale.

The food is not of inferior quality or out of date. We have never had any problems, particularly with the meat or frozen items. They do this to help families - any family as there are no questions asked, no income qualifications, save money on food.

They offer typically one or more options for their "Signature" box, which costs $31 and is designed to feed a family of four for a week or a senior or single person for about a month. Then they also have steak boxes, grill boxes, and even vegetable boxes for between $22 and $30.

Sample Menu:
(this month's menu can be viewed here)

• 4 lb. IQF Leg Quarters
• 4 oz. Beef Back Ribs
• 1 lb. 80/20 Lean Ground Beef
• 2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders
• 1.5 lb. Bone in Pork Chops (4 x 6oz.)
• 1 lb. Ground Turkey
• 18 oz. Stuffed Manicotti (Cheese)
• 12 oz. Smoked Sausage
• Betty Crocker Seasoned Potatoes
• 7 oz. Cheeseburger Dinner
• 16 oz. Green Beans
• 16 oz. Baby Carrots
• 2 lb. Onions
• 1 lb. Pinto Beans
• 1 lb. Rice
• 7 oz. Blueberry Muffin Mix
• 10 ct. Homestyle Waffles
• Dessert Item

You can even order and pay online at most sites for a $2 convenience fee, which is quite handy. The food is then delivered to a host site (typically a church) the last Saturday of the month.
https://www.angelfoodministries.com/

Nicole's take:
I really like that the meat in particular is so inexpensive. There is no way I could get a box with 5lbs of strip steaks for $22 at the grocery store, and if I did, it would be shoe leather. Angel Food meats are usually really quality cuts. I also like the fact that it inspires me to be creative. For example, once we got a whole chicken in our signature box. Never having cooked a whole chicken before, I looked up recipes and came out with a really great dish!

I would caution against buying the produce boxes though unless you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables very quickly. These tend to get handled roughly at times during shipment and sometimes arrive over-ripe so they have to be eaten rather quickly. Also, I don't find these to be as good of a value.

Bill's take:
I definitely agree with Nicole on the meat boxes.  You really can't go wrong.  One time we ordered a "Summer Grill Special Box" and got 3 lbs Steaks (Mix of T-Bone, KC Strip and Ribeye) (This pays for the whole box if going to Albertsons or the like), 2 lbs angus burgers, 2 lbs of sausage and 4 bacon wrapped turkey filets for around $29.  The seafood boxes (when available) also pack a great value.  3 lbs of tilapia filets, lb of breaded shrimp with tails, 1lb of popcorn shrimp,  1/2 lb breaded clam strips and 6 big lump crab cakes for around $30.

This may be one of the best ways to save money when it comes to buying meat in bulk, possibly even better than wholesale clubs (no markup!)

An Introduction to Living Cheap

So today my husband Bill and I were talking in the car about how the economy has affected us. Neither of us were unfortunate enough to lose jobs, but as a college professor (me) and an undergraduate student studying English (him) with 4 children between us, we know what it is like to have to look for ways to stretch our dollars. We have learned a lot over the years, both from personal experience and from our friends and family who are also living frugally.

My mother is one of the best sources of information that I have - each time she comes down here she is armed with new ideas for cheap and free things to do with the kids. "I sure wish we had known some of these ideas earlier, you know, where to go for the best prices and how to save money on area activities..." I said. "Why in the world aren't you doing a blog??" she replied. And an idea was born.

Before we begin, you might like a little background on us. As I mentioned, I am a college professor at a regional university in West Texas. I am not native to Texas, but then, who is? Half of the Rust Belt lives here! Anyway, I am originally from Michigan and when I dragged my (then) husband and my oldest daughter Laura down here so that I could finish my PhD work at Texas Tech, we just sort of stayed in the area. Laura (age 9) would be mortified if she knew I wrote that, by the way, so if you live in the area and see her, don't tell her I told you that she was really born in Ohio ;) 

Bill is originally from Massachusetts, and he moved down to Texas to be with me over a year ago now. He wasn't able to find work in his field (oxygen equipment) so he is going back to school. For nursing, we first thought, but he quickly realized that writing was his real love so he switched to English and is now studying to be a high school English teacher. So lest you think some sort of spicy inappropriate teacher/student liaison is going on here, let me reassure you that it isn't that way at all. (You know you were wondering.... :)

So every week we will post a new idea we find about reducing living expenses, or fun and cheap things to do. We are a family so we will focus on families but there a lot of these ideas can be helpful for single people as well, or college students, or seniors.... well... you get the idea.

Mainly we will focus on Texas but a lot of our ideas will be national in nature as we travel. So, we will label our posts accordingly. If it is about Texas we will label it "Texas" along with the location "Lubbock," "Concho Valley," "El Paso area," or the like. If it is outside of Texas we will label it "National" and then by the state. 

We will only post about places we have actually been or services we have actually used, but if you would like your product or service to be featured on our blog just e-mail us at: Living.Cheap.Lone.Star@gmail.com. New ideas are always welcome.