stetted » Money talks http://www.stetted.com editing toward a well-fed life in Austin, Texas Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:38:06 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Changing Our Family Tree http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2011/01/24/debtplan/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2011/01/24/debtplan/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:00:20 +0000 Megan http://www.stetted.com/?p=1896 I fumble sometimes when people ask for restaurant recommendations or if I’ve been to the hip new places in town yet. We’ve been in Austin for more than five years now, and we’ve been to astonishingly few restaurants. The truth of the matter is that we don’t get out on the town much. While some [...]]]> I fumble sometimes when people ask for restaurant recommendations or if I’ve been to the hip new places in town yet. We’ve been in Austin for more than five years now, and we’ve been to astonishingly few restaurants. The truth of the matter is that we don’t get out on the town much. While some of it has to do with our son and our inability to find a regular babysitter, he’s not really the obstacle. After all, we’ve taken him to quite a few restaurants that aren’t traditional kids’ places, including FINO, Soleil, and parkside. (Before you start complaining about parents taking kids to “inappropriate”restaurants, you should know that one of the reasons we can take him those places is because he has learned to be well-behaved in public. Parents shouldn’t be forced to eat only at restaurants with balloons or pizza.)

If you read my meal plans you’ll notice I almost never make note of a plan to go out to eat. Sometimes it does happen when we’re too exhausted to cook, but we cook at home as often as possible. At least four days of my workweek feature packed lunches, and about once a month I go ahead and buy a breakfast taco. I’m sure this behavior confounds some people as much as it confounds me when I hear about people in their 30s and 40s not knowing how to cook anything from scratch.

Piggy bank

At some point in perusing this blog you probably have noticed the Snowballing ticker that is slowly going toward its goal. This is the reason we don’t go out: We’re working to pay off all our debt.

(...)
Read the rest of Changing Our Family Tree (815 words)

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2011/01/24/debtplan/feed/ 23 On Food Costs http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/20/on-food-costs/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/20/on-food-costs/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:34:39 +0000 Megan http://www.stetted.com/?p=1015 I have to say, I’m a little surprised at the comments I got on my Food Dollars post. Most of the responses revealed a huge level of frugality when it comes to grocery shopping. When I think about food bloggers I generally don’t think cheap, but at the same time it goes to show [...]]]> I have to say, I’m a little surprised at the comments I got on my Food Dollars post. Most of the responses revealed a huge level of frugality when it comes to grocery shopping. When I think about food bloggers I generally don’t think cheap, but at the same time it goes to show how little food costs us these days. Almost everyone who responded around the “thrifty” level of spending (based on the USDA charts) – and so many of you are cooking whole foods, not convenience stuff.

Peas!

We’re lucky to be in control of our food purchases, but what about those who aren’t? So many have to rely on the local food banks, food stamps, and WIC to be able to have enough to eat. Subsidized school lunch programs provide free food for what is often the only, and best, food the kids eat all day.

041.365, score!

Starting tomorrow, Austin food bloggers will be cooking using items in a typical bag of food provided by the Capital Area Food Bank. We are purchasing our own food, so as not to take any food away from people who truly need it. We don’t know yet how we are allowed to supplement the bags (to stand in for food stamps) but I definitely will be, in order to get in our fresh fruits and vegetables, along with dairy.

It will surely be interesting, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the bloggers do. This will be a lesson not only in frugality, but in kitchen creativity. I plan on doing a recap of every day, including a cost breakdown. My challenge will go a day longer, because Saturday has already been set aside for another cooking project, which you’ll also hear all about.

Tomorrow evening we’ll be touring the Capital Area Food Bank and hearing how the program works. I’ll be posting a recap of what we learn, what my game plan is for the challenge, and how you can help, tomorrow night.

By the way, Food, Inc is on PBS tomorrow night. If you haven’t watched this yet, you NEED to. There are great lessons in there about our food system, and the segment about the fast-food family is particularly on-topic with this challenge.

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/20/on-food-costs/feed/ 1 Food Dollars http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/13/food-dollars/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/13/food-dollars/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:28:22 +0000 Megan http://www.stetted.com/?p=962

I’ve noticed that one of the complaints about Food Revolution is that the issue of budget isn’t considered when discussing processed verses whole foods. Note the lowercase there – whole foods doesn’t equal Whole Foods, or as many people like to call it, Whole Paycheck.

Every month [...]]]>

Cherry tomatoes

I’ve noticed that one of the complaints about Food Revolution is that the issue of budget isn’t considered when discussing processed verses whole foods. Note the lowercase there – whole foods doesn’t equal Whole Foods, or as many people like to call it, Whole Paycheck.

Every month the USDA compiles a table of food costs (based on the Food Pyramid) in the country, at four income levels. For a family of two adults and two children under 6, the monthly cost of food in February 2010 ranged from $507.80 (thrifty) to $987.40 (liberal). You can view the tables, which go back to 1994, here.

Now, I’m probably opening a can of worms here, but I’d love it if everyone would share their approximate monthly food cost. Feel free to share more information, such as how much of that budget goes to eating out, liquor/wine, convenience foods, and if you shop at farmers’ markets and the like. Please share even if you don’t live in the United States, but let me know where you are so I can convert the dollar amount.

I’m opening this up to allow anonymous comments. As money is a sensitive topic, I want to make sure everyone is comfortable sharing, therefore you don’t need to leave your name.

On Monday I’ll compile the comments and discuss what we’ve found.

So… what’s your food budget?

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/13/food-dollars/feed/ 15 Watching Our Money Work http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2009/07/25/watching-our-money-work/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2009/07/25/watching-our-money-work/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:12:48 +0000 Megan http://www.stetted.com/?p=203 Almost a year ago we started in on paying down our debts using the debt snowball method. I’m happy to say that so far we have paid down $22,000.

This is amazing to me. We have been paying on our debt ever since we got married (and before that, separately, of course), but we [...]]]> Almost a year ago we started in on paying down our debts using the debt snowball method. I’m happy to say that so far we have paid down $22,000.

This is amazing to me. We have been paying on our debt ever since we got married (and before that, separately, of course), but we never saw any kind of traction. A year ago we had six credit cards. Now we’re down to two, and by the end of the year those will both be gone as well.

Thing is, I know we could be doing even better. We’re not really on the full-speed-ahead intensive plan. We are still spending money on going out to eat and random things we “need”. But we’re working on it. A lot of the extra stuff we might buy comes from my husband’s second job money, which isn’t factored into our monthly budget.

Thankfully it appears we are saving a good amount of money on our groceries, even without clipping coupons or stockpiling. According to the USDA the “thrifty” budget for a family of two adults and one child under five is somewhere between $361 (two adults no kids) and $524 (two adults two kids). In June we spent just about $325 on groceries. This is actually more than I would like to be spending, but I’m still amazed that what we spend is considered a very small amount. After all, we’re spending $82 a month on our CSA share and I try to buy high-quality whole foods.

But I’m also cooking a lot from scratch and not buying prepackaged convenience foods. OK, we do have chicken nuggets and toaster waffles (I have a toddler after all) and my husband keeps buying ramen noodles, but dinner these days is almost always from scratch. And you know what? Macaroni and cheese is just as easy to make from scratch as it is to buy a box of Kraft. You’ll get one more pan dirty but the trade off is worth it. Plus, for the same price you get twice as much pasta. And, you know, it actually tastes like cheese on there.

I do get frustrated with it sometimes. I’d love to be able to buy the stuff I want, especially camera gear or kitchen gadgets. But it feels good to laugh at CapitalOne when they let me know they sent the new card “I requested”. Little do they know it was cut up immediately after it arrived.

We have a spreadsheet that tracks all of our bills and I love putting the new balances in. Honestly, I will spend hours calculating the budget and trying to project when each thing will be paid off. I’m a dork that way. But it gives me something to look forward to. I already feel like our lives have changed, not using the credit cards. I wonder how different life will be once we are debt free?

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2009/07/25/watching-our-money-work/feed/ 3 Oy with the world http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/10/03/oy-with-the-world/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/10/03/oy-with-the-world/#comments Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:08:40 +0000 Megan http://megan.stetted.com/blog/index.php/2008/10/03/oy-with-the-world/ I figure you’re probably bored with looking at my grocery receipts. Strangely, I’m not yet. This month I added up all the crap food we bought and it easily hit $50. Stuff like ice cream, chocolate, chips, etc., took a big chunk of our money. The question is, do you consider the organic selections to [...]]]> I figure you’re probably bored with looking at my grocery receipts. Strangely, I’m not yet. This month I added up all the crap food we bought and it easily hit $50. Stuff like ice cream, chocolate, chips, etc., took a big chunk of our money. The question is, do you consider the organic selections to be junk? After all, Green & Black’s organic chocolate is still chocolate, and Garden of Eatin’ cheese doodles are still cheese doodles. We’re a work in progress, I guess. One of these days I hope to be one of those people who reaches for carrots or an apple when they want a snack, but I grew up on junk food and it’s been rather hard to kick that habit. At least we paid off another credit card.

I’ve been watching the financial stuff with interest. I find the whole thing fascinating, and not just because I’ve always thought the stock market was a poor indicator of what is actually going on in the economy. It’s about time they decided to fix a few things, although I don’t think the current plan will work. For one, I don’t think I should be punished and have to take care of the stupid decisions other people made. It’s true that the banks gave mortgages to people who probably shouldn’t have gotten them, but both sides are at fault for that. I’ve got thousands upon thousands of debt and I know I have to suck it up and take care of it myself. Maybe I could just print more money like the government does. That wouldn’t dramatically increase inflation or anything!

Ah well. All I can do is take care of me and my own.

October groceries so far: $32.07

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/10/03/oy-with-the-world/feed/ 0 August in review http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/31/august-in-review/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/31/august-in-review/#comments Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:54:56 +0000 Megan http://megan.stetted.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/31/august-in-review/ As you can probably tell, we didn’t manage to stay under $200 for our groceries this month. I tallied everything up and subtracted non-food items, and in the end we spent about $237.75 on food. However, we also ate out more than we should have (especially at lunch) but those totals aren’t included.

This was [...]]]> As you can probably tell, we didn’t manage to stay under $200 for our groceries this month. I tallied everything up and subtracted non-food items, and in the end we spent about $237.75 on food. However, we also ate out more than we should have (especially at lunch) but those totals aren’t included.

This was our first month tracking spending so closely, and we’ll now be able to fine-tune our budget and tweak where needed. Most of all we need to curb that “Oh, I don’t want to eat, let’s eat out” urge we are used to pleasing. There were also things we bought at the grocery store that probably weren’t needed, most notably the junk food. We’re both trying to get over the junk food madness but it definitely is hard. Fat and sugar and salt taste so good!

It is interesting to track things like this. Because you are paying attention to what you’re spending money on, it makes you think twice about what you put in your cart. Even though we did buy junk food most of it was on sale. Buying in bulk is awesome. I pay more for the foil packets of tomato sauce instead of getting the cans, because one packet is the perfect size for one pizza, but I know I could buy a bigger can and split it. The “ethnic” section of the grocery store is the best place to buy staples. For some reason a bag of lentils from the Indian section is so much cheaper than a bag from the dried beans aisle. Good luck even finding a bag that big in the dried beans aisle.

In terms of our debt, we paid off two credit cards this month. We are on track to have three more, plus my lowest student loan, paid off in November. Husband has taken a side job of about 20 hrs/week doing more programming, and I’ve been experimenting with online surveys and being a ChaCha guide (more on my results later). Obviously his extra work will bring in more money than mine, but every bit counts.

September will have some extra budget issues: Bob’s birthday, buying a new carseat for Reese during the Britax sale, refinishing our starter emergency fund since we went over budget this month. Hopefully that will all be taken care of with the extra income. After that we’ll be setting aside some extra money for travel in December, and throwing the rest at debt. It’s a pretty awesome feeling to see those last payment dates creep up more and more!

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/31/august-in-review/feed/ 0 Grocery trip, Aug 3 http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/grocery-trip-aug-3/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/grocery-trip-aug-3/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:22:48 +0000 Megan http://megan.stetted.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/03/grocery-trip-aug-3/ Purchased at HEB in Pflugerville

HEB large eggs (12) $1.99
HEB flour tortillas (10) $0.89
HCF 1% milk (gallon) $3.89
Dole orange/straw/banana juice (.5 gallon) $2.00
Fruity Pebbles (17 oz) $1 **sale/coupon
Crisco shortening $2.12
HEB tomatoes diced (14.5 oz) $0.68
HEB tomato paste $0.44
HEB mexican [...]]]> Purchased at HEB in Pflugerville

HEB large eggs (12) $1.99
HEB flour tortillas (10) $0.89
HCF 1% milk (gallon) $3.89
Dole orange/straw/banana juice (.5 gallon) $2.00
Fruity Pebbles (17 oz) $1 **sale/coupon
Crisco shortening $2.12
HEB tomatoes diced (14.5 oz) $0.68
HEB tomato paste $0.44
HEB mexican blend cheese $2.28
HEB pizza blend cheese $2.28
HEB ranch tortilla chips $2.00
Pork chops $3.01
Bananas (2.38 lbs) $1.17
Green bell pepper $0.88
Nectarines (2 lbs) $2.59
Avocado (2) $1.00

Total: $28.22

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/grocery-trip-aug-3/feed/ 0 A confession and explanation http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/a-confession-and-explanation/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/a-confession-and-explanation/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:13:31 +0000 Megan http://megan.stetted.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/03/a-confession-and-explanation/ Since this blog is called Confessions of a Northern Transplant I probably should post a confession every once in a while, right?

Like most Americans, we’re in debt. I’m not going to give the actual number, but let’s just say it includes credit cards, student loans for me and the husband, and our car. It’s [...]]]> Since this blog is called Confessions of a Northern Transplant I probably should post a confession every once in a while, right?

Like most Americans, we’re in debt. I’m not going to give the actual number, but let’s just say it includes credit cards, student loans for me and the husband, and our car. It’s been a source of consternation for a while now, but recently something clicked and I hardly feel stressed out by it.

Part of the click has been from joining a local group centered on debt reduction. The support there is amazing and I’m learning a lot by reading their perspectives. The other thing was to actually write down all our debt in one place. I used the Debt Snowball worksheet, calculated out the number of payments, and figured out the corresponding month for each last payment. And suddenly everything was OK.

Well, not exactly, but I feel a lot better about the situation. There is a clear destination now, and the road map is pretty clear. Even though all it took was some simple math to get to this point, it is amazing the difference already, in my mind and actions.

As the posts below show, I’m tracking our grocery expenses here, and what we eat. Although we already don’t spend a ton on our food, I think this is still a pretty visible way of tracking our spending and habits. Plus I know lots of people are curious how to spend less money on food and still eat well. Hopefully I can give people some ideas!

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/a-confession-and-explanation/feed/ 0 Meal costs, Aug 1-3 http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/meal-costs-aug-1-3/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/meal-costs-aug-1-3/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:03:13 +0000 Megan http://megan.stetted.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/03/meal-costs-aug-1-3/ Friday Aug. 1
Pizza (cheese with roasted garlic)
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none

Saturday Aug. 2
Vegetable lasagna (spinach, zucchini, onion)
Ingredients purchased: none, but I should have gotten more cheese and sauce
OOP cost: none
Notes: Lots of leftovers

Sunday Aug. 3
Pork chops w/ [...]]]> Friday Aug. 1
Pizza (cheese with roasted garlic)
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none

Saturday Aug. 2
Vegetable lasagna (spinach, zucchini, onion)
Ingredients purchased: none, but I should have gotten more cheese and sauce
OOP cost: none
Notes: Lots of leftovers

Sunday Aug. 3
Pork chops w/ garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and bread
Ingredients purchased: Pork chops
OOP cost: $3.01
Notes: It was a pack of four, so two will be frozen and saved for another meal. The potatoes were leftover from last Thursday and I made the bread.

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]]> http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/meal-costs-aug-1-3/feed/ 0 Menu, August http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/menu-august-1-19/ http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2008/08/03/menu-august-1-19/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:55:37 +0000 Megan http://megan.stetted.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/03/menu-august-1-19/ (we haven’t finished making the list for the month; I’ll edit this post when we have)

Pizza
Veggie lasagna
Pork chops
Fajitas
Orzo
Quesadillas
Peanut chicken
Pizza
ate at Pecan St. Grill & Deli
Beef-cornbread bake
Falafel
French toast
Leftovers
Chicken popovers
(we haven’t finished making the list for the month; I’ll edit this post when we have)

Pizza
Veggie lasagna
Pork chops
Fajitas
Orzo
Quesadillas
Peanut chicken
Pizza
ate at Pecan St. Grill & Deli
Beef-cornbread bake
Falafel
French toast
Leftovers
Chicken popovers
Pizza
dinner with friends
ate at Taco Cabana
Grilled Cheese
Tilapia
Veggie stir-fry
Pulled Pork
Pizza
ate at Chuy’s
Lentil Chili
Jambalaya
Mac & cheese
BLT
Chicken bacon pasta
Pizza
Burgers & onion rings
Chicken soup

Monthly budget: $200

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