How I Shop & Eat for Free

Do you know what I love? Getting things I would be willing to pay for completely free. It’s awesome.

The other night, I sat down and looked at the reward points I’ve accumulated, partially through my Visa debit/credit card and partially through MyPoints (reading e-mails*).

The result? $25 at Target and $10 at Starbucks.

*Do you know MyPoints? Essentially, you click on e-mail ads, and they give you points. After you’ve earned a certain number of points, you’re able to redeem them for gift cards! If you’d like a referral, e-mail me!

How to Save When Dining Out

I was telling a friend at work that my dad’s birthday dinner (last fall) seemed to cost an arm and a leg. For all four of my family members to dine, my brother and I split an almost-$100 bill.

“That’s not so bad for four people,” she responded. “My family’s lucky if we can keep it under $200 [for six].”

She has a good point, turns out. I’ve done a little asking around, and most people seem to spend upwards of $20 each (even for lunch?) when enjoying restaurant fare. That’s high for me, but it’s normal, I’m told.

What about you? What’s your average?

In my frugal self, I cringe at spending more than $10 for lunch or $15 for dinner, per person. For anyone looking to lower the bill, consider these spend-less tips for the savvy diner:

1) Split an entree with someone.
Even though I love food, I can seldom pack away the whole portion of a restaurant meal. When possible, I like to split something. This means a lower bill and a smaller portion–both pluses for me.

2) Split an entree with yourself.
When I can’t share with someone, I often take leftovers home with me. I love when I can get two great meals out of an order. True, I’m still spending full price, but I consider it a deal when I’m getting another day’s dining out of it.

3) Drink tap water.
I don’t drink alcohol and rarely drink soft drinks, so water’s the way for me. Usually I ask for a slice of lemon, and I go through three or four glasses. It costs nothing and is good for me!

4) Don’t get appetizers.
Same goes for desserts, though I’ll admit I seldom resist. When trying to save, it’s a wise plan to just get one course at the restaurant. Maybe go out just for dessert or just for appetizers, if your friends are game.

5) Order like a child.
This is so tacky, but I still love ordering from kids’ menus, when I can. Obviously this wouldn’t work at a four-star establishment, but at weekly stops like a Steak N’ Shake or something, I happily order the child’s portion. Delicious and much lower prices.

Have an idea I missed? Share it here! I’ve heard a lot about the restaurant.com certificates and coupon books… anyone a fan?

Cool Link: 14 Frugal Food Ideas

Kudos to Ilene Helen Zundel for her frugal food ideas at Stretcher.com!

Among my favorites:
*Store brown sugar in a glass container in the fridge to keep it from hardening!
*Too much sugar in a recipe? Add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar.
*You can grease a pan with a potato, if you’re out of oil. (Anyone tried this?)

Start Your Morning Right!

At Wellness Junction, Kavit suggests five ways to increase energy in the morning:

I’m going to start implementing Idea #1: Drink a pint glass of water first thing in the morning. He says, if you don’t like water on its own, squeeze some fresh lime into it. Add to that his post on the many values of drinking plenty of H20, and I’m inspired.

This will be easy to do since I already have tons of water and I can drink it while I’m getting ready, in addition to the Nalgene bottle I go through during my work day.

Anyone else have suggestions?

Looking for Food Inspiration?

Take a look at Tastespotting. Stunning, delicious-looking photographs taken from all over the Web.

Click on anything that looks interesting to you, and you’ll be linked to the website with a recipe and maybe a story. A-ma-zing.

What to Eat to Work Better

I recently came across this helpful article from Lifehack.org: “20 Foods to Snack on for Enhanced Productivity.”

I’m thinking I should pick up some dark chocolate, walnuts and yogurt. What about you?

FOUR LUNCH-MAKING TIPS

Last week’s lunch planning worked really well, and it inspired me to aim for more creativity in the weeks to come. Do you have any brown-bagging advice? Share!

Here are some of my favorite tips so far:

1. SOUP
I was really reluctant to get a thermos, and now I have no idea why. It worked wonders. I heated some Campbell’s Wednesday morning while I ate breakfast, then I poured it into the thermos and clamped it shut. More than five hours later, the soup was still warm enough to be delicious.

2. CLEMENTINES
Can I tell you a secret? I’m almost totally convinced that clementines are the reason I haven’t gotten a cold this season. Everyone I work with has gotten sick, but so far I’ve been well. Two clementines a day, apparently, is just what the doctor ordered! Extra bonus: easy to peel and very tasty!

3. BATCHES
I like making something that can be used for a couple lunches: roast beef or brownies or homemade macaroons, for example.

4. WORK STORAGE
When in doubt, I always know I have some stuff in my desk. I keep a bag of chocolate pretzels, some M&Ms, crackers, granola bars… I don’t plan to use that stuff in my daily lunch, but if I’m ever in a pinch, it’s nice to have a backup.

More to come, I hope!

Here’s my Plan for This Week.

FOOD PLAN: I did some research this weekend on new lunch ideas and am eager to try a few interesting recipes. I have all the supplies I need for the entire week, and I’m armed with ideas of what to do so I don’t face the whole ah-maybe-I-should-just-buy-lunch crisis again. Just to help myself stick with the can-do attitude, I’ll be posting this week’s lunches in this entry, throughout the week.

MONDAY: roast beef sandwich, chips, two clementines, homemade macaroons.
TUESDAY: leftover orange chicken/rice (thanks, Mom!), cheese & crackers, two clementines, homemade macaroons.
WEDNESDAY: chicken corn chowder soup–in my new thermos, chips, a clementine, homemade macaroons, green grapes.
THURSDAY: roast beef sandwich, chips, two clementines, lemon wafers.
FRIDAY: second half of Potbelly meatball sandwich (from dinner Thursday, before my new class), chips, two clementines.

CLOTHES PLAN: I took a 3 X 5 card and wrote the days of the week on it. Then I went through my closet and systematically figured out what to wear each day. This morning, I was ready 15 minutes faster and had time to enjoy my breakfast. As an added bonus, I won’t have to wonder “Did I wear this last week?” when prepping next week!

Financial Surprises I Hate, and Don’t Hate

There will be no Frugal Foodie Thursday post today, I’m sad to say. Instead, all I have to offer is a series of random, money-related thoughts from lately:

1) I have a glorified HMO insurance policy. SURPRISE! Or, at least it was a big surprise to me, today, when I spent 20 minutes calling my doctor, then the insurance carrier, then my benefits administrator. I have a POS, the most expensive insurance policy offered through my company. I pay $170ish per month and have a $50 copay for prescriptions.

The similarity to PPOs (read: the reason I got confused) is that you can go to out-of-network doctors. However, these doctors (here comes the surprise part again) may or may not be covered. You must ask for a list of in-network physicians.

End Result: An extra $65 to pay my doctor, for an ankle checkup in October. Fun times.

2) Tomorrow is Food Friday! No lunch-making! This, if I’m honest, is why there’s no frugal foodie post today. I’m tired, friends. Tired and lazy and barely getting food to my mouth some days, much less making something delicious. I. resolve. to. change.

End result for tomorrow: A plan to share Takeout Taxi with two coworkers. We order from cool restaurants and have it delivered for a surcharge of $5, which we will split. So I’ll spend around $12 tomorrow; it’s in the budget, so I’ll allow it.

3) Failure to plan is planning to fail. Cheesy!? It’s true, though, in a lot of life: Picking out outfits in the morning can waste an extra 10-15 minutes of time.  Finding something—anything—to eat for breakfast wastes another 10-15. When I don’t think ahead, I always end up regretting it. Must. change. this. too.

End result: This week, I would not let myself buy coffee, even though I left my only travel mug at work two days in a row and couldn’t bring home-brewed with me. I have wasted at least an hour in total in my morning routine.

Looking forward to the weekend: to rest, to regroup, to plan. More later.

Make Your Own Pizza!

As I’ve written before, I’m a tried-and-true pizza girl, all the way. Love, love the stuff.

So for this week’s Frugal Foodie Thursday, I have to point you to a new pizza dough recipe I’m dying to try: Fast & Easy Pizza Dough from Wise Bread.

My favorite topping of all time? OK, it’s a tie:

1) sliced tomatoes and garlic.

2) BBQ chicken, sliced, with BBQ sauce mixed in with the regular sauce. YUM.